Standing Tall

There was a part of Joshua that wondered if Neku's friends wondered if he had kept him with him all this time, after that wretch Coco had murdered him…

And there was a side of Joshua that had wished he had. Because while he often tried to fight back pesky emotions, he was still human.

And in some regards… maybe things would have been easier that way. For a plethora of reasons. Joshua would have enjoyed the company, and Neku wouldn't have been in the void…

But Josh could never do that to Shiki.

Why? Because the two of them were friends, of course.

And, no. Joshua didn't just mean from the little bit of time they'd spent together before Coco had shot Neku.

There had been when Shibuya had been destroyed before… and he, the Composer, had taken the soul pieces of Neku, Shiki, Beat, and Rhyme to a place called Traverse Town, where they could hopefully be put together once more. And they had been.

And there were countless other universes that Yoshiya could see—in being kind of omniscient—where things had gone just a little bit differently, and he'd struck up a friendship with that girl, as well as with Neku.

…Just like how there were some timelines where he and Neku did become something more, but it didn't matter now.

So, Joshua did nothing—as he and Neku both danced with their loneliness—and almost dreamed of a time where he could imagine himself being so selfish again.

When Neku finally figured out how to free himself—because of course he would; Joshua was banking on him figuring out everything he needed to from Shinjuku to save Shibuya—and helped to save the day once more, Joshua asked Neku if he might want to stay in the UG with him and become the Composer. Of course, he did.

And Joshua, who was usually so clever, actually forgot then that if Neku were to do that, he himself would die, he was so flustered… Neku made him that way. But thankfully, he was a master at covering up, too.

F-fortunately, Neku didn't take him on his offer. And to be honest? Joshua wasn't even really pained when he spoke of returning Neku to dear Shiki.

But later… when he stood on a roof with his dear friend Haz… and talked about emotions as if they were an alien substance, this was actually a guise.

Because Joshua actually understood them all too well, didn't he?

And that was why Shibuya was still standing proud, twice over now.

Author's Note: I LOVE JoshNeku, but I'm a bit more of a NeShiki girl. But I still had to write this after Neo… especially since I at first thought that maybe Neku was with Josh. LOL.

I even wondered for a second if they might make them canon.

So, this is almost me taking a theory I had from Neo, that was proved false, but working it into canon:)

Hope you all enjoyed!

I'm actually so glad I've finally written something for these two!