#W1D4 says hi

[overheard-by-a-stuffed-cat]

Neku: Is this the part where you tell me that if I hurt her, you’ll kill me?

Eri: No. If you hurt Shiki, she is perfectly capable of killing you herself.

[gay-jesus-probably]

I dont get why everyone thinks Neku didnt care about Rhyme being erased on W1D4. He was obviously horrified by it, ran in with Shiki with 0 prompting to protect Beat, and all three of them were on the same page of wanting the shark noise erased to avenge Rhyme. Like, he even had some internal dialogue about being upset, and Rhymes erasure reminding him of his best friend dying (even though he didn’t have the memories of what exactly it reminded him of).

Yeah, he ended the day by saying he didn't give a damn and generally acting like a dick, but I mean this is Neku still near the start of his character development. Pre-game Neku is all about pushing everyone away, because he doesn't want to lose anyone he cares about again, so he tries to not have anyone he cares about. Even without memories, his mind still follows the same patterns. Actually bonding with people is difficult and frightening to him, which is why he’s such an ass at first. But on w1d3 he actually gets along with them, so on d4 he's somewhat friendly, and starts to bond with them. It's a hesitant step out of his comfort zone.

...And then that step gets him punched in the face by Rhyme's erasure, and he tries to rapidly retreat to the zone of not caring. Hence him being a massive prick after erasing the shark noise. That isnt Neku not caring about Rhyme, that is Neku caring a whole lot, and trying to beat his feelings down with a stick.

...honestly, all things considered its kind of a miracle the character development stuck with Neku, because literally every time he opened up it immediately backfired on him. He bonds with Beat and Rhyme; Rhyme promptly gets erased. He actually befriends Shiki; she gets taken hostage to make him play 2 more weeks of the game. He genuinely clicks with Joshua; an entire clusterfuck of emotional hell ensues. Seriously if I were Neku I'd come out of that mess twice as reluctant to interact with people, idk how he ends the game with better social skills.