This update is brought to you by Angel. Whoever said putting Saro under pressure didn't get things done applied the wrong kinda pressure.
...ha ha, that was accidental. Anyway. Moving on now.
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In the dark back room of the dear little Cafe on Cat Street, Joshua opened violet eyes that flinched at the intrusion of light as midday sunshine cut through a part in the curtains. The Composer hissed between his teeth before the light winked out again via telekanisis, and he plonked the phone back on his bedside table.
To say he had not been a a good mood for the last few days would have been a gross understatement.
The whole of Shibuya could feel the pressure of the negative energy, of the frustration and cold fury. The sun's warmth seemed not to reach the ground, and the Game itself had been put on hold as Reapers worked overtime just keeping the Noise levels down enough for a team of Players to last through a mission.
How dare she go, he thought stubbornly, absently spawning a few Drakes as he growled and considering jumping Planes and getting on with his day. Mainly, hunting down Neku and prying Rhyme's phone number out of him. Which was hard work even without the fact that Neku was on the other side of the border, too. Damn them all.
If they set foot in Shibuya while his mood stayed this dark, they was a very good chance of his threats coming to fruition. Being the Guardian of the Middle Plane came with its perks.
"Joshua?"
The boy on the bed looked up suddenly, unaware of how absolutely feral his eyes looked in the gloom before he relaxed and sat upright. "Mr. H," he almost smiled, his eyes still faintly hostile. "Good morning."
The barista smiled and rubbed his permenant stubble. "Is it really, though? I was washing dishes when I saw a Neoclassical Drake destroying my garden."
"It jumped planes?" For a moment, by accident, Joshua almost seemed to care before Hanekoma shoved his hands in his pockets and gave Joshua a wry look. "No, it got a hold of my gardener and he went raving mad with the hedgetrimmers." A chuckle bubbled from under his black vest as he smiled in a way that made even Joshua think for a second on whether he was joking or not.
"Did you take care of it?"
"It shouldn't have been there in the first place, but... yes."
Joshua was sorely tempted at this point in time to use his maximum powers of cruelty and mockery to drive away his last companion and grovel in hatred and self-pity. But...
"I love you.... Because you can't love me back."
Her words, those especially, had been stuck in his mind and his throat for some time now. He simply sighed and looked down, the picture of a begrudgingly repantant child. The Composer sensed Hanekoma smile sadly.
"So," the Ex-Angel quiered, in that effortlessly chumy way of his that made Joshua bristle with envy even as he scooted over to make room for the other to sit down, "what's the plan?"
"I'm going to bring her back," Joshua replied coldly, aware of the sudden Noise spawning outside his window. He flicked open his phone from where he sat, hit a few buttons, and tilted his head at the rush of static that followed. Hanekoma was the only person who could make him feel responsible and all that shi-
"If that's what you want me to understand, I may as well die. I won't believe it, because I believe in you!"
This time, he let the cafe owner take care of the Noise eruption. The pale-haired boy drew his legs up on the mattress as the feeling ebbed. "Whatever it takes, I'll finish what I started."
"At least you're sticking with something," quipped Hanekoma, as he chuckled and tilted his head to stare at the ceiling. Joshua noticed this, of course- classic Mr. H behavior when worried- take it all as a joke.
"Are you worried about her, or me?"
"Can't it be both?" The older-in-body man sighed, and turned warm brown eyes on his companion. "And stop looking for a reason to get mad at me. You know who I'd pick, because I know which one of you is more likely to hurt the other."
Suddenly, the boy was gone, teleported outside and jumping Planes. Hanekoma rolled his eyes skyward.
"Neku, please tell me you're out of his range."
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Neku was, but Shiki wasn't. Joshua picked up her Soul lingering in front of 104- he could sense her apprehension from Cat Street, as tuned into her Vibe as he was. What is it about that batch of Ex-Players that their Souls seem to glow brighter than others?
Normally, Joshua would have popped in front of Shiki, smirking as eviliy as ever, and simply taken her phone as to get Rhyme's number. But today, he would have to be slightly more subtle, and trust to luck- ok, so he never trusted anything to luck- that he could make her think the number.
Out came the phone.
'I should call Rhyme today', was the sudden idea that popped into her mind. The suprise on her face was normal of imprinting- after all, it was total thought train derailment most of the time.
But I just called her yesterday, Shiki thought back with a slight scowl. He sensed her suspicion.
'Oh, but I totally forgot to ask her about getting together for lunch sometime!'
"Oh, yeah," she agreed out loud, quickly tapping a number on speed dial and waiting for it to go through.
Something slammed into Shik from behind, and the phone was knocked from her hand to the ground, landing face-up with a clatter and almost getting stepped on. It was only there for a split second, but the Composer had sharp eyes. Eyes that matched his satisfied smirk as he turned away and started to return to WildKat when he sensed her pain.
Perhaps he'd hit her harder than he should have. Shiki was holding her shoulder and looking around her in shock. She would certainly have a bruise in the morning, he surmised.
Too bad. Perhaps Neku could give her a massage next time they-
"Because I love you."
Joshua hissed between his teeth, rolled his eyes, then jumped planes a few feet away, in a convinient blind spot in the crowds. "Good morning, Shiki."
Shiki looked up at him, starled, like a deer caught in the headlights, her short black hair falling in front of her glasses with the movement before she shook them out of the way, and muttered something quickly into the phone before hanging up.
"Good morning, Joshua," she said, forcing a little bit of cheerfulness into her voice. Joshua considered playing innocent and asking who she was talking to, but instead tiled his head very slightly to the side.
"I saw that man run into you. Is your shoulder all right?"
"It hurts," she confessed, and Joshua had to close his eyes so she wouldn't see them roll. Obviously. Honestly, why is Neku wasting his time with-
"You hate anything you don't understand and everyone you can't control."
"Hold still," he sighed, with an air of long suffering as he tocuhed her shoulder and erased the damage he had caused. Shiki smiled, still looking a little pale. "Thank you, Joshua. Did you just stop in to help me?"
"I was in the neighborhood," he replied evasively, then dipped his head and vanished before he would be detained by any more questions. The sooner he talked to Rhyme, the better.
Moments later, he was perched on the very top of Pork City, dropping Planes and fishing out his cell phone while he absently enjoyed the faint warmth of the midday sun. The whole of the UG was starting to relax along with it's Composer, now that his little wayward project was on the line.
"Bito residence?" came the almost chipper voice on the other end of the line.
For a half second, Joshua was caught off guard- he hadn't expected her to pick up so quickly, really. Besides, what was he doing? She wanted nothing to do with him, and he couldn't touch her if she was outside of the city.
"Hey, Rhyme," he murmured into the phone.
"...Hello." Her voice was wavering, stripped of the cheer and strength of only moments prior.
"I came to say goodbye."
"How you been any better?" Joshua was suprised by the softness of his own voice. Rhyme seemed suprised, too. "I'm doing ok, I guess. A... little better every day, I think. It's peaceful out here, you know."
Abrupted, he demanded, "so, when you get to feeling a little better, you're coming back, right?"
"...I ..."
He could almost feel her resolve slipping, picturing her sad scowl as she tried to balence her selfness nature with self preservation. "I miss you," he purred, and it tasted like poison on his tongue- he savored it, but this time with a little twinge of guilt.
"Hey!"
Beat had picked up the phone. "Who is thi'," he growled, in typical borderline illiterate fashion. Joshua cussed in a low voice and hung up.
The clouds were gathering around the city again, and as the Composer jumped Planes and from the top of the building, his eyes were far darker than the shadows cast by the building of his city.
Yes, indeed, it was his city. And its people were there for his use.
"You've been given power, but with that power came chains..."
As he called the darkest souls in Shibuya to him, he couldn't help a small, tight smirk. Tomorrow they would see which one of them was chained...
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Yes, I came up with that title for him, and I hope it catches on. Since the Reapers Game is for all the young dead stuck in limbo, I decided that the UG was kinda a middle plane between life and the afterlife. Or something. Yay~