dreamcrystals | open 💀 first recording

Sender: Beat
To: Everyone
Subject: Passive Dream Recording
Warnings: Some spoilers for the OG The World Ends With You.

Whenever this time of the year came around, a sense of dread would bubble up deep within him. It would start in his stomach and slowly make its way up to his throat, settling itself there. It was uncomfortable and no matter what he'd do to try to gulp it down, it remained stuck.

This day was no different.

Beat seems to be a few years younger, wearing a slouchy beanie with a skull sewn onto it, his hair pulled back and tucked underneath it. His usual headphones are absent from his head. He’s dressed in a school uniform, but his surroundings do not depict him to be in any such place.

Instead, he wanders Shibuya aimlessly—riding down the streets of Dogenzaka on his skateboard, perusing new albums available in Tower Records, even just hanging out at the convenience store by the Moyai statue. Everywhere but where he was supposed to be.

He reaches into his pocket to pull out his phone, navigating his way to the unread message from someone named “Rhyme”.

Are you coming home soon?

A moment passes before he types up a reply:

ill head home when i feel like it

His message was cold and he knows it deep down. But he sends it anyway, tucking his phone away before he continues loitering about the city.

By nightfall, he finds himself staring up at a modest two-story home, standing just outside its gate. He doesn't know how much time has passed since he's gotten here, but he lets out a sigh, steeling himself for what was to come. The gate’s hinges creak slightly as he pushes it open, a plaque on the gate reading the family name “Bito”.

The lump in his throat still remains.

It isn’t before long that he finds himself standing in front of a Japanese man, dressed in business attire, his tie loose around his neck after a long day at work. To his side sits a rather tall woman with blond hair, an apron draped in front of her dress. He’s filled with dread once again, the pit in his stomach growing larger and deeper as a tightness begins to form in his chest.

Beat reaches out and hands over a card toward them. On it are his grades for the semester. They are well above the passing grade, but nothing spectacular. He knows they’re nothing spectacular. He knows he isn’t anything spectacular. Not in their eyes.

The expression on his face is hard to read as they go over his grades and Beat hasn’t said a single word throughout. His lips remain a straight line and his eyes appear to be downcast. Is it apathy? Is it fear?

He opens his mouth, ready to put himself down, ready to fight them. That’s how it always is after all.

“Good job, son.”

The words catch in his throat before they could leave him. Beat’s eyes widen and his mouth hangs open, staring at them. They look back at him with proud smiles on their faces.

“You did well, Daisukenojo,” said the man.

Beat recoils when he hears the name but doesn’t say anything at first. He continues to stare at them for a moment longer, dumbfounded by the turn of events. “Are you two serious?” he finally asks. His usual manner of speech is missing, but the same inflections and brash tone of his voice remain.

“Of course we’re serious.” This time it’s the woman who speaks, looking back at him incredulously. “You did your best, didn’t you? As long as you do that, we couldn’t be any prouder of you.”

The man stands from his seat and walks to Beat, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Let’s eat out tonight to celebrate, all four of us. How does hot pot sound?”

Beat looks at the man, then the woman. Finally, the surprise on his face disappears and he lets out a laugh. His voice almost cracks when he speaks. “Yeah, hot pot sounds great, dad.”

He hears a quiet ring of a bell nearby. Turning towards the source, he sees a young girl with blonde hair and blue eyes smiling at him, a bell pendant hanging from a leather strap around her neck. He smiles back at her, blinking back the tears that begin to pool at the edge of his eyes.

And then he wakes.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Honestly, it feels pretty bad that someone younger than him pities him like this. He figures she means well, but he's not sure if he can face her in the state he's in right now.]

i think we good with just talking like this for now...
thanks though

i dunno if things are ever gonna get better with them
they been like that my whole life so i dont see them changing outta nowhere

[It isn't necessarily so much that she pities him as more she is just worried. Confused. But she is trying to figure it out and help even just at least by listening.]

That's okay. At the least, I can listen? Talk like this. However you want to say this.

You don't think so? I guess maybe I might be more inclined to believe the best in people, to see the good. I know Syaoran-kun has told me to be more careful back home. But maybe something might give them the push. You never know? I'm not sure how much you want to to into it in telling me how different they are from this. I don't know if this is helping at all.

writing i guess
man i miss texting yo
my hands starting to cramp up from all this writing

sounds to me like you just got a good heart
i...

[Just how much does he want to say? They barely know each other, only having spoken to each other a couple of times.

Beat would be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt but when your inadequacy in their eyes is something you've lived with all your life, it was hard to see otherwise. But it had been a lot of the same thing over and over again, and even he could only take so much.]

i guess i just dunno what that push gotta be you know?

and you helping sakura
u helping loads
thanks yo

Texting is quicker. I guess I am used to writing though, with school.

A good heart?

I am? I wasn't sure exactly. How much of this you might have wanted to show or talk about, or how much of it might be changed. I just figure. People were there when I dreamed. When I dreamed of the cards earlier, so. I figure I can at least be here for you.

if it was really up to me i wouldnta wanted anyone to know about this
dont want anyone knowing

[There's a pause as he stops writing for a moment. What did he not want people knowing? That he was such a screw-up? That he couldn't live up to what his parents expected of him? The dream he had didn't show that. At least not directly.

Then why did he still feel like absolute trash? Like he was useless.]

i just aint one to talk about the stuff i dream about

It's hard. I didn't intend for everyone to see my dream earlier either. Outing me with my magic. It just happened. I'm sure everyone understands we don't really seem to have much if any control over it. You don't have to tell us more than you want to.

[A few thoughts come to mind when she says that at first. That at least it was just because of her magic and not about things that she might've been struggling with. But she had been keeping it secret too from what she says, just like he had about his relationship with his parents. About his situation back home. So he is able to hold his tongue for now, or rather his quill.

But the vulnerability he feels still gnaws at the forefront of his mind. That, while he was didn't hide much about himself, there were still a few things he doesn't want to show to just anyone right off the bat.]

well all i gotta say is i dont think that there aint nothing i can do to change my folks minds
they been like the for as long as i can remember and theyve stopped giving a damn about me

I can't speak for them. But. I'm sure Rhyme still cares about you. And you have friends here that do. At least. I do. Maybe I might not know you as well as some others, or as well as your friends back home, but. Even so.

[It does not change or help the situation with his parents. She knows that. But she does at least want to say her piece in reassuring him some others at least did give a damn, as he put it.]

[Sakura was right. He knew that Rhyme cared for him when he was back home and his sister made sure that he knew that, even if he would get embarrassed about it.

In fact, it was her opinion that the really cared about. And the rest of his friends', both back home and here. Sakura included. Even if there was still a part of him that felt a sting from his parents' lack of acknowledgment, that bit of reassurance helped more than he would've thought. ]

thanks
told ya you was helping yo

[She is well aware she is younger than most here. Not necessarily taken the most seriously or seen as that capable, or more, not seen to be able to help as much. Even she herself sometimes feels that way a little, that she isn't sure how to help. But at the least, she can listen and try be there for Beat. For others, when dreams like this happen.]

I hope so. At the least, I can listen. Even if my family has a different relationship to yours.

[It's definitely something he can keep in mind for the future. At least now he knows that the offer is at least there. But for now, he's a little tired of thinking about his parents and dwelling on it just puts him in a mood he doesn't want to deal with right now.]

honestly i glad your sitchiation with your fam aint like mine
but thanks for the assist yo
least now i know i can hit ya up if i feel like talking about it

Of course you can! Even if I might just be able to listen. Even if I might not be able to do much else to help, I can at least do that. If and when you or anyone else need it.

open 💀 first recording | passive dream

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