Chapter 1
Yoshiya 'Joshua' Kiryu sat moodily on top of the 104 building. The thoughts of his proxy, Neku Sakuraba, echoed in his head. Trust your partner. And I do. I can't forgive you, but I trust you…You took care of things, right? Otherwise Shibuya would be gone, and my world with it…Hey did I mention? I've got friends now! We're getting together for the first time in a week. See you there?
This 'Pact' stuff was harder to get rid of than he thought.
Joshua the Composer, god of Shibuya, had tried to destroy His land. In order to do so, He made a bet with His Conductor, Megumi Kitaniji. A proxy had played His own game for him. In order to win the game, He had made a Pact, an otherworldly bond, with the proxy. And when He saw what a person the proxy had become, He had decided that Shibuya should remain after all. The only troubling thing left was that the pact with Neku still remained. Neku's own thoughts were constantly showing up in His head. Perhaps Neku knew this. Hadn't he just sent Joshua a telepathic invitation?
"Howdy, Josh," Sanae Hanekoma landed gracefully next to Joshua on the building. "What's on your mind?"
"Mr. H. I was just thinking about that last game. Those kids went through hell together." Joshua giggled internally, listening to himself. 'Those kids.' He was hardly older than they were, since time had come to a standstill for him the day he became a Reaper. Still, he didn't feel like he was maturing mentally either. Well, perhaps mentally, but not emotionally.
"Not feeling a little guilt, are we?" laughed Mr. H. "Joshua, no matter what you think, you're still somewhat human. You were Neku's friend, whether you wanna admit it or not. I think you only shot him to mess with his head. You were gonna restore Shibuya all along."
"Mm. Maybe. He certainly thinks we're friends. Just invited me to go meet up with him and his friends…" The Composer relaxed.
"You should go!" encouraged Sanae. "When's the last time you actually had a friend, Joshua? You got me, but I get paid to keep you in line. You had-I repeat, had-Kitaniji, but you just erased him."
"I'm the God of Shibuya. I can't afford—"
"That's one of the things I'm supposed to tell you," the barista rubbed the back of his neck. "Your Soul is officially refined enough to ascend to a higher plane. You've got a spot in Heaven, if you want it. Good going, boss."
"Hmph. And I can take this spot whenever I want?" asked Joshua thoughtfully.
"Say the word, J. There's no initiation ceremony. I snap my fingers and you grow angel wings on the spot. If they haven't stripped me of that power yet," groaned Hanekoma, remembering that he was a fallen angel for the thousandth time. He had come clean with Joshua while he had gone to fetch him from the Tin Pin dimension. "This whole mess is gonna have repercussions upstairs, you know." Joshua ignored him. "What, you seem down." Again, no response from the Composer. "It's their world. They get to decide what to do with it. We just—" But he was cut off as Joshua shot into the air. Reluctantly, Hanekoma laughed and spread his wings. "Some folks just don't take no for an answer," he muttered to himself. And he took off after Joshua, delighted to see him heading for Hachiko. Towards Neku and his friends. "'Atta boy, Joshua. Kid like you deserves friends," the Producer said, again more to himself than to Josh. He turned and started flying in the other direction. Just in case he got expelled from the angels, it would be nice to have a RG life again. He had a café to get into shape.