Story: Mind the Gap (French version available : "Intervalles")
Date: 21 July 2022
Beta: None
Fandom: The World End With You
Disclaimer: No, I do not own TWEWY and do not make money with this story
Summary: Just after the Long Game, Joshua saved the rest of the Hashiko Gang but have been condamned by the Angels for his choices : He is bound to Shibuya whith half his powers restrained. Worst, the futur judgment of M.H depend of his good behavior. Coco makes a deal with Hazuki: he lets her enter Shinjuku to save Tsugumi if she brings Neku and Beat to him.
Trigger du chapitre: Mention of temporary dead character
Enjoy your Reading !
"I don't care, I'm staying here."
Joshua gritted his teeth.
It had been over an hour since Neku's friends had been clumping around in the sewers. They'd started out calling for him, but when he didn't show up, Beat had started hurling insults as the two girls resolutely flanked him. They had more or less stood where the door to the Reapers' rest room should be, blockading, or at least trying to. Yes, because Joshua wasn't there. He hadn't even been in the city center when they'd started, instead being on the border with Shinjuku, trying to figure out how his latest trouble had happened.
When Neku had chosen to participate in a new Game, Joshua had done it right. He had gritted his teeth and approached his Nakano counterpart to negotiate Neku's entry into her Game. It must be said, his choice was well thought out. In spite of his little... disagreements with the Nakano Composer, it had to be said that she was a sensible and fair person. She ran her game in the same vein as Joshua, that is, with an emphasis on the evolution and growth of the players' imagination, and she had the highest resurrection rate in Tokyo. Her game was played with a new partner every day and a lot of points were given on mutual aid. The Neku of the past wouldn't have survived two hours, but the Long Game had carefully machine-gunned teamwork into his soul and Joshua wasn't worried: Neku would shred Nakano's Game.
That is... if he participated.
Joshua had made the deal. He'd even agreed to allow two new Nakano franchises to set up shop in Shibuya in exchange, even though he'd fought tooth and nail to nip the projects in the bud for the past few years. But when he'd had to pass on Neku's soul, not being able to go on his own, being carefully constrained to Shibuya thanks to his Tuners, he'd had to improvise. That's how he'd ended up borrowing Shiki Misaki's stuffed animal in the middle of the night before carefully placing Neku's soul inside. The boy had a strong bond with the object and since it had been more than bathed in Shiki's Vibe when she controlled it to fight, it was surprisingly resistant to most Vibes as well. He had then chosen a human at random, given the plush and convinced his mind to go as fast as possible to Nakano Station to pass the plush to his contact there.
But... someone had intercepted him.
And Neku found himself in Shinjuku.
It wasn't... ideal. Shinjuku was definitely one of the last games he would have chosen to send Neku to. Sure, they had a high resurrection rate, easily four to eight people at each game but... well, it was pretty random. Their game was played in teams and took place every week without interruption. The winning team had the option of resurrecting and the losing team would be eliminated altogether. Those in the middle were forced to continue playing. No matter how good Neku was, if he fell into the wrong team he could be stuck in this Game for weeks... or worse.
And all this was without counting on the current climate.
With the Shinjuku Composer looking to make an Inversion at any moment, Joshua had no idea how Neku would fare. Suffice to say, he was in no mood to entertain three worried kids. But if they kept making noise like that, his Reapers would eventually get curious and Joshua had even less time for that other potential headache. So he finally appeared before them, ready to face their worried recrimination and terrified anger. Ah, and he, who only five days ago had wanted to join them but dared not show himself for fear of attracting unwanted attention. If he had known...
"Shout a little louder, Beat, I'm not sure everyone in Osaka heard you." Joshua replied sarcastically as he materialized behind them.
Beat turned around and Shiki let out a surprised yell.
"You fuc..!" Beat began at once but his sister's hand clamped down on his mouth at the speed of light and he fell silent.
"Joshua, right? Neku's friend?" She asked and Joshua cocked his head to the side. It was true that if he'd been around her a lot, it was mostly when she was in Noise form or in her dreams... She couldn't remember much. But still, that wouldn't be how he would introduce himself. It was strange to be defined by someone else. Neku's friend', huh...
"That's right. I'm Yoshiya Kiryu but Neku calls me Joshua. You can use that too." He said wryly and the girls nodded. Beat crossed his arms and mumbled dismissively.
"Joshua, do you know where Neku is? Beat said he was de-... in...in the UG." Shiki stammered. "And assured us that you had a plan to bring him back but it's been four days and..."
"And it hadn't taken that long when you resurrected us after our Game." Rhyme continued as tears began to bead on Shiki's lashes. "What's going on? We just want to know, can we help?"
Joshua longed to leave them there and go isolate himself above 104. This was even worse than he'd imagined, their terrified emotions were hurting his head from this close and he knew it was partly his fault. It would be easy to ignore them if they were just ordinary humans, but no, he'd had to let his curiosity speak for itself and make a pact with them. As it was, their pact increased everything and left him unable to ignore them completely. They were lucky that he had full control of his Vibe or they would be completely overwhelmed by Joshua's own feelings. Taking a breath, he tried to calm himself. "Neku is fine, for now. He's participating in a new Game to get back to li-..."
Taking a step to the side, Joshua avoided in extremis the fist that Beat had planned to ram into his face. Carried away by his momentum and with nothing to stop him, Beat continued his run before falling with a scream into the foul water of the sewers. Well, almost. By Joshua knew not what shred of mercy, he had caught the teenager with a snap of his finger and laid him back on the doc. The girls had immediately moved past him to check on the older boy, squatting beside him. Obviously, Beat was more shaken than anything else and as usual, this state doesn't hold with him. "You're making 'im play a Game again?! You have to be totally twisted to-...!"
"Believe me, Beat, if I could have done without all this extra work, I would have." Joshua cut in coldly. "If you'd just let me finish my explanation...? Hmmm? Thank you. As I was saying, Neku is currently participating in a new Game to Return to Life. To be exact, he's participating in another City's Game... even if it's not the one I was planning on sending him to." he muttered, clicking his tongue. Excuse his irritability, it was always annoying when a well-laid plan would go so wrong. "That's because the consequences of the Long Game have impacted me as well: I'm no longer allowed to resurrect people as I please. With Neku banned from the Shibuya Game, we had to improvise."
"But a Game... when we just got back... wasn't there another way?" Shiki murmured.
Joshua hesitated for a second. Giving them the options he'd proposed wouldn't help them at all and might even create tension with Neku when he returned but... he compromised. "I gave Neku three options and this is the one he found most acceptable." He said diplomatically. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have other things to worry about that are far more important than the petty concerns of human children." he declared, staring specifically at Beat. Unsurprisingly, the teenager immediately became annoyed and Joshua turned around and rolled his eyes.
He was about to go up a plane when a small hand grabbed his wrist. Turning his head curiously, he met Rhyme's gaze.
"Thanks." She smiled sadly. "For helping Neku. And for taking care of our 'little human feelings'. You didn't have to answer us and reassure us."
"Yes, thank you Joshua." Shiki added as she moved closer to them. "Will you... will you be able to keep us updated on how Neku is? And tell us if... if he..."
Not sure what else to do, Joshua turned his head away, staring at the dusty wall before him. "You can always go see Sanae if you want news." He said before wetting his lips. "But I'll keep you up to date. If I think of it."
A new chorus of 'thank you's' rose at his words and Joshua was even surprised to hear Beat's gruff voice join the lot. Rhyme let go of his hand and he wasted no time in disappearing into the underground. For a first contact (that they would remember at least) Joshua supposed it hadn't gone too badly. Anyway... he couldn't wait until Neku would be back, so he could play mediator...
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