Just a Name

~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~

"It's just a name and they couldn't get it right." The gang decides to chill out a couple of days at some resort. The plan sounds great but Shiki's got problems. They keep messing up her name. Set 10-15 years after the game. Written in Shiki's POV. Minor cussing. Major NekuxShiki fluff. Gift fic for Amulet Misty.

~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~

"Umm, hi. I'm with Eri."

Finally! We all finally got our acts together and actually did something about our plans. I mean, sure, the plans were always there when we talk but we never really did anything about them. And look where I am right now. A resort! A place where I could just relax and I even have my friends with me. The best part? No work! Well, for the following days at least but who cares? I'm just here for some much deserved R&R.

We wanted to get here together but it didn't work out. Work stuff. You don't wanna know about it. So here's the deal. Eri got in on some people's tabs. Actually, it's more like she's friends with certain people, I mean, just who isn't friends with her? I'm still of course her one and only BFF so it's all cool. But get this. She managed to talk one of them into having us all stay a couple of days for free. No charge. Wow, that's just Eri for you.

But the thing with Eri was that she wasn't that much of a planner. She always did skip out on a few details unless they're about clothes. So that's why I'm here. Clueless. And hoping that I'll be able to go far with just saying her name.

"Ah, you must be Mrs. Sakuraba." The receptionist said.

I literally froze in shock. Excuse me? Did I hear her right? I mean, come on. I must have spaced out and daydreamed that up or something. There's absolutely no way she could've called me that.

"Hm? Did I mispronounce it, Mrs. Sakuraba?" And I stand corrected… Woah, what?!

"N-no! You must've got me wrong!" I blushed furiously and started waving my hands in front of me. I always wished that I'd never do this flustered habit of mine in front of strangers or anyone at all but then again though I kept on forgetting to fold a thousand origami cranes to go with the wish.

She blinked to which she checked her paper again. "Mrs. Shiki Sakuraba, right?"

I gulped. My face must be so red that I think it's turned into a shade that's yet to be discovered. Great. "Yes, I'm Shiki but-"

"Here's your cardkey. Your room is on the second floor, third room on left of the eastern wing." She handed me the cardkey as if I didn't have a choice. Yeah, right. Like I have a choice in things anymore since apparently I don't even have a say on my name. She gave me her practiced smile. "Enjoy your stay, Mrs. Sakuraba."

"Thanks… I guess." But that's not my name.

Way to start the day. I just want to become invisible. This never happened. I did not hear that. Please, just let me forget this whole awkward thing. If I ever hear anyone else calling me that… you know, I really don't want to think about it. Oh, look, another employee. Hopefully, he'll be better than this one.

"I'll be assisting you with your luggage, Mrs. Sakuraba." Kill me now.

It's just a name and they couldn't get it right. Somehow even though I'm not the one carrying two bags which practically weighed like lead, I feel like my body's heavy all of a sudden. I'm not even walking, I felt like I'm was just dragging my feet. Maybe I got a super delayed reaction of motion sickness from the bus ten minutes ago. Or maybe it was that conversation or whatever you call it since it was obviously one-sided. Uggh, I rubbed the temples of my head. Don't go there, Shiki. Go back there and you'll come back with more than just a migraine.

"Which room, ma'am?" The guy asked me.

After a few more steps, I stopped. "Just here's nice."

He offered to bring in the bags too but I rejected the idea in the most legal way possible. Legal but not polite… What? You don't think I can pull off stunts like that? You think I'm a good girl who lives by the book?

Fine. I wasn't really that rude but I wasn't polite either. Well, I wasn't as polite as I would always be… which is still pretty polite by other people's books. And what am I trying to prove here anyway? Point is that I was still pissed because he picked up his superior's job.

Which was to torture me. "Alright. Have a nice stay, Mrs. Sakuraba." He left. But did he really have to say that?

My hand was on the door to steady myself. I can't do this anymore. They mixed up our names. That's just it. No more to it. Is this life's twisted way of bringing back karma down on me? Probably. I finally picked up the strength to slide in the cardkey. What's supposedly next on the list is to actually get inside but fate has a sick way of screwing things up.

A cleaning maid comes out of the room across me. She spared a glance to the room number and then back at me. Please don't tell me- "Mrs. Sakuraba?"

I mentally screamed. "Yes?" Don't ask. I'm too tired to even argue with her. So I'll just play along just this once. I think I'll cut out on today's bonding and skip right into sleeping once I actually get to the bed since nobody bothers anymore to check the names on the guest lists.

"So it is you." She smiled with practiced ease. "You'll love it here." Totally. I had to stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Take care, have fun and just relax, Mrs. Sakuraba." Again with the name. Thankfully, she left right after. At least she knows when to make an exit.

The door's shut and I'm finally alone. Well, not completely alone. I strode and flopped myself onto the bed. Softness check: it passed. I unzipped the duffle bag and finally let him breathe. Figure of speech kind of breathing. Who else? You know who I'm talking about. Mr. Mew and I were reunited once again. In a way, I'm never alone. I pulled him to my chest and just laid there.

Mrs. Sakuraba…

I tightened my hold over my only companion at the moment. I curled more into a ball. It's just a name… and it's not mine.

Huh? My vision's getting blurry. My hands went to rub my eyes instinctively…

They touch something wet instead.

I removed my glasses and bit the inside of my cheeks. More of that wetness streamed. It's a cruel joke. Really, that name is just some stupid painful joke. I mean, it could happen but Neku hasn't let it yet. I haven't even seen the signs that he would. I curled up more on that thought. I could always go for modern and pop the question but- I blushed- I could never do that! Plus, Eri would never let me. Why do things have to be so complicated? Hah, look at me getting all emotional over a name. If Neku saw me right now he'd probably make some snarky comment. It would probably be blunt too but I know he'd mean well. Just like how I know I lot of other things about him.

Neku…

"So what do you think?" I know that voice!

I sat up while wiping off the tears. Let's hope that I didn't cry too much for him to notice. My glasses were now back on my face and it's confirmed whose voice that was. "Neku!" Out of habit, I just hugged him. I felt like I haven't seen him in years when it was actually just a few weeks. I nuzzled into his chest.

"At least someone missed me." I felt his chuckle rumble through him.

"Someone has to. I figured if I didn't then nobody would." Then we were back to comfortable banter. Okay, flirting. Same diff. I walked back and sat on the bed expecting he'd follow me but he was rooted on the door. Wait, how did he even get another cardkey? Never mind. He's Neku. He was staring hard at me and he never pushed me into saying things but I just let it out. "I swear Eri's pulled another prank on me."

He frowned. I unconsciously cupped my face. It's dry. Was it obvious that I've been crying? "Still haven't figured it out, huh?" Figured what out? He fished something out of his back pocket and tossed it to me. I almost dropped it in an effort to catch it. Nothing registered in my mind to what it was but then I took a look at it. My mouth went dry. Suddenly, it was harder to swallow.

It was a small box.

Oh, shit.

Wait so that wasn't… they weren't… oh, shit. I must be overthinking things. For all I know this could be just a pair of earrings or a necklace. My eyes snapped up to look at him but he gazed at me with such intensity that I instantly looked down and at the box.

Shit just got real.

"Yeah… so what do you say?" He started straightening one of his front spikes the way he always does when he's either nervous or embarrassed. It was an honest and reassuring gesture.

How else was I supposed to answer to that? "…No."

He flinched and he went wide-eyed. "What?"

"Did I stutter?" I didn't notice that I was holding my breath. Exhale. Deep breath. "I won't take your half-assed proposal."

Don't get me wrong. I really hope he won't get me wrong. I'm all go on this but just not like this. I'm not looking for a picture straight from a fairy tale. Hell no. Once you get enough years on your back- not like I'm that old- you tend to not fuss about the little details. But what I wanted was for him to at least say it to me. And I'm still mad at him for that stunt he pulled this morning on me.

He just stood there in I dunno, shock? Disappointment? Anger? Really, I couldn't even tell. But it was definitely awkward, no, more like tense. Yeah, there was too much tension in the room. Did I push him too much? Maybe I should've just said yes. But then again, can't I at least have that? Can't I just hear him say those words? But what if because of my own selfishness things just fall apart devastatingly? Oh, no. I pushed him too far. Stupid selfish Shiki! Quick, take back what you said and just say goddamn yes because dammit you know that you want it anyways.

"Look." And he did but it was a blank stare. What have I done? I bowed my head to avoid eye contact and bit my bottom lip. I don't think I can do this. He must've thought that I rejected him. Well, I didn't exactly say it in a way that would make him think otherwise. My voice was small. "What I meant to say was-" Were those footsteps I heard?

At first he was in front of me. Then he was kissing me. Hard.

After realizing what was happening to me, I did what anyone else would do. Follow instincts. So I kissed him back. But he pulled back a little and mumbled instead, "Piggy."

My brows furrowed. His eyes looked to my right. Oh, Mr. Mew was watching. I giggled a bit. Honestly, he has the weirdest concerns. I turned Mr. Mew around and apologized fondly since he had to see that. Then I focused my attention back to Neku. "He's not a pig he's a cat." Then we continued where we left off.

We were at it for a while. Maybe for minutes, an hour? Who times these things anyway? It was heated and needy at first but then we finally got to our senses and slowed down. The more we kissed, the gentler his kisses were as if he thought I'd easily break. His concern was enough to make my heart pound faster. But he eventually pulled back, his forehead on mine, and our eyes locked. And with all seriousness he spoke. "I'm sorry."

Wait! This is all backwards! "I'm the one who's supposed to say that."

"No, just hear me out. Please." I winced. Neku hardly uses that word. He practically looked like he was begging. I didn't know what to say so I just numbly nodded. "That was unfair to you. But I thought that this way it would've been… I dunno different?"

I blushed so I tried to hide it by shying away a bit but his forehead just followed mine. "You know that I'm okay with not different, right?" I'm okay with anything as long as it's you.

He soothingly brushed away my bangs. "Yeah, that's why I'm saying that what I did was a dick move." He sighed and his warm breath fanned my mouth. I closed my lips. We're talking about something important and I really don't want to screw this up with hormones and kiss him senseless. As tempting as that sounds, this conversation would secure our future- and more than just kisses. And I think he heard me or maybe he still had the scanning ability from the Game because he finally said it. "Hey, Shiki, will you marry me?"

My heart pounded harder and I felt like it never did beat this hard. That's right. This is the Neku I fell in love with. Blunt and straight to the point but he always meant well. "Sure. Partners for life, Neku." My first and last partner. My only partner in the Game and now my soon to be husband.

"I accept, Mrs. Sakuraba." He took my glasses and started kissing my eyes. It's what he does whenever I cry. And then I realized that I was crying. I was happy. Truly happy and complete. Finally.

We started with a pact and soon we're gonna extend it with vows. Our kiss right after was sweet and long. I slowly fell back and he laid beside me, our lips never leaving each other's. In the back of my mind, it barely registered to me that I accidentally hit Mr. Mew. My lips smiled against Neku's when I realized that Mr. Mew has never missed an important event in my life. It's a shame he couldn't be the ring bearer. Neku grunted a little. I think maybe he noticed that I got distracted. My bad, I kissed him harder. His hands were intertwined with mine and we were a whole lot closer than we normally would be. Like a lot closer. On more than one level. And I sincerely hope for Neku's sake that Mr. Mew wasn't watching.

It's just a name… and it's going to be my name. I guess they were right all along.

~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~~xoxo~xoxo~

Shinra-ex-SOLDIER

Honestly, I've had the outline of this idea since the news of "Hype-chan" (the mysterious girl at the end of Solo Remix). But I've lost inspiration to finish it. Now I got something better- motivation. It turned out longer than what I had in mind but that was a nice surprise.

Here's to a wonderful birthday to the wonderful Amulet Misty. The only other NekuxShiki writer whom I really bonded with.
*You hear glass shattering. A bond has been strengthened.* (Persona reference. Btw, not into P4. Hate that. P3 pawns.)

To the sensitive readers, please do forgive the cussing. In my opinion/headcanon when they do grow up they'll be cussing but as for Shiki, at least not out loud.

Thank you for reading this. Hope you enjoyed it. Ciao!