The pink Post-It note read:

"Dearest Neku,

One would not be far off to compare, say, friendship, to an adorable puppy. Both, one could say, are vigorously sought after, yet equally difficult to tame. Understanding either is nigh impossible. (Though it is fun to put little bows on them sometimes, and do their hair in little foofs.)

And so, it is both with a conscious misunderstanding of the workings of friendship and in said virtue's name that I have stolen your headphones and will be waiting for you at the beach if you want to receive them.

Joshua"

While not the most friendly or conventional of invitations, a king without his crown is like a musician who cannot play, or to be more precise, like a boy named Neku who cannot play his favorite tunes and jam out all wicked-nasty like. So it was with a mixture of reluctance and utter determination that this victim of friendship gone desperate to the point of such blackmail stepped into his plum-colored J of the M swim trunks, not without pondering the skills required to fit such a lengthy message in gel pen all on one miniature Post-It note, and headed out the door.

In typical summer fashion, the boiling sun hit Neku's pale skin like an unwelcome blanket, and in the cloudless blue sky, it gave a glare so lethal he had to squint to see two steps in front of him. Beach goers as tanned as toast chattering and milling around in the golden sand made him feel foreign with his clown-sized sneakers and the ashen stick figure that suggested Neku had never seen the outside of his apartment, let alone of his room. Just get the phones and get out of here, he reminded himself dismally.

"Neku! Over here!" A familiar voice hollered out somewhere close to shore. He recognized it as Shiki's, and breathed a sigh of relief knowing Joshua hadn't just invited him out to an awkward day for just the two of them. He walked towards where she was sitting, sprawled out on a beach towel underneath an enormous green umbrella. Stacked next to her was a pile of magazines with girly headlines screaming things like "this season's hottest fashion," "ultimate bffl quiz" and "topless Prince pics." The latter of the three was probably Joshua's, Neku thought, unsure of whether he was holding back a laugh or resisting the urge to throw up.

"Omigosh, Neku!" Shiki sat up a little and put down the novel she was reading to look at him. "I can't believe you came! Josh said he invited you, but I didn't really think you guys were that good of friends, so…" She eyed his oversized swimsuit and tried to hide a look of disgust. "Um… wow, nice swim suit…"

"Thanks," he mumbled, completely missing her sarcastic vibe. "Hey, have you seen Joshua?" Neku looked around warily, though his search wasn't helped by the blinding sun.

"Yeah, I think he's over in the water, talking to Mr. H."

Neku wondered how he hadn't spied him earlier, as he began to wander in the direction of the waves. Josh was the only one here besides Neku who was as pale as a snowman. There he stood, wading where the water came up to his kneecaps, next to Mr H., drifting on an inflatable raft. Neku saw Josh point to him as he approached, and felt like turning on his heel and running back to Shiki, but something told him that for his beloved phones, a minute with Joshua might be on the margin of "worth it." Maybe.

No. No it wasn't. Just hearing Joshy's high-pitched giggle reminded him how much he didn't want to be around this guy.

"Oh, Neku, how nice of you to join us," Josh Joshua'd. " I'm flattered you accepted my invitation."

Neku looked ready to punch him. "Give me my headphones, Josh."

"Aw, but Neku, you just arrived. I'd be so disappointed if you left right now." He made a pouty face and touched Neku on the shoulder, causing him to recoil.

"Josh—"

"Come on, Phones," Mr. H. said, "live a little! J's been telling me you've been avoiding him for a while. You're not going back to the old you, are ya?"

"No, Mr. H.—" So Josh had already gotten Hanekoma on his side.

"Ha ha ha! Come on, Phones, enjoy the moment! J's your friend, ain't he?"

"Not really…" He felt the familiar ghostly hand on his shoulder as Joshua pulled him away towards deeper waters with a smile. "Let's do something fun, Neku." Neku shuddered at the thought of Joshua's idea of "fun." I'm not rubbing sunscreen on his back, if that's what he wants. The incessant giggling wasn't inspiring much confidence either.

"Josh, what are you—"

The next thing he felt was a forceful shove followed by a faceful of water. Although Neku struggled to swim to surface, it is a well-known fact to the scientific community that Nekus can't swim. He wiggled around like a flamenco dancer and waved his arms wildly, but to no avail. Trails of bubbles fled from his lips. Is this it? Am I going to die here? His body brushed against the sea floor.

And then he stood up, upon realizing the water was only about four feet deep. He whirled around, ready to strangle Joshua. Neku didn't care if the kid was the composer, the fact remained that drowning was not fun. Joshua had a hand on his chin and kept an innocent face, raising his eyebrows as if daring Neku to do something about it.

"What the hell, Josh!"

"Jumping to conclusions, are we? I'm offended that you think I would push you." He put a hand on his heart dramatically. "Really now, Neku, that would be rude of me. And I'd never do anything rude to my best friend Neku." Because, of course, stealing one's headphones and using them as bait is perfectly polite. Cause they're friends.

There was a deep, yet nasally laugh from behind Neku, but he didn't have to turn around to know whose it was.

"Bwahahaha! Damn, Phones, you swim like a girl!" Beat was holding his stomach, doubled over with laughter. "I didn't even push you that hard, yo!"

"Ah, there's our culprit," said Josh with feigned surprise. "You see, Neku, if you had been a bit more observant, then—"

"Shut UP, Josh." He had had enough of this. "Where are my headphones?" But Josh only smiled and giggled to himself. "You don't need headphones to swim, Neku," he said, playfully splashing the irritated redhead. Too bad I'm not swimming, Neku thought.

"Yeah, Phones, dun be a wuss." Beat hit him on the back, though lacking in Joshua's grace, the blow sent Neku falling face-first into the water. His two friends nearly died laughing.

"Neku, hehe, are we going to need a paper weight? You seem to have trouble, hehehe, standing up today." If it weren't for the fact his headphones were exclusively designed by CAT and damned expensive, Neku might've just forgotten about them. But he had to try. There was no way these two could win over him.

Neku frowned a frowny frown. He took a deep breath, put his hand in the water and anchored his feet into the ground. If they want me to play along, then fine. I'll make the most out of this.

And then he splashed Joshua in the face.

"BWAAHAAHAHAAAH! PHONES GOT YOU GOOD, PRISSY!" Beat looked like he was going to pass out for lack of air, he was laughing so hard. His massive foghorn laughter caught the attention of nearby swimmers, who looked at them scornfully. "Kids, these days," they (probably) scoffed (I'm not an omniscient narrator, here).

If Neku had ever seen Josh angry before, it was nothing compared to what he saw now. Teeth clenched and distressed hands running over his soaking wet hair, what at first appeared to be surprise in his eyes quickly turned to unfathomable rage. His eyebrows furrowed. "How could you, Neku?"

"Like this." Neku hit him with another wall of water, earning a round of Beat's roaring laughter. "Did you catch that?"

"Yes, Neku. Yes I did."

"Gonna do something about it?" He folded his arms with a smug come-at-me-bro look on his face.

And yes, Joshua did something.