TWEWY: A Fall Into Honor:

This story is about how Joshua became the Composer. The story is from Joshua's point of view, and others if the story needs to. This is a prequel of the game The World Ends With You. TWEWY is made by Square Enix. And I own the OCs. This is a FAN FICTION and not the real prequel. Enjoy! =3

Week 2, day 2:

Chapter 45: Tipping Towards The Target:

Vivid lights dazzled and danced around them, then they met growling Noise.

"Stay by my side!" called Joshua as he glanced at his Partner, who was giving the Noise uneasy glances. She whipped her head to him, nodding. "We'll try to find something for you to work with, Mayu!"

The green fox suddenly teleported beside them, Joshua used his Thrash Splash Pin to strike it but it already was gone. He cursed before letting the rushing water against his skin evaporate into cerulean particles. 'I guess we better act fast, that fox is quite the devil!'

After Scanning Tatsuya when they found him, Joshua had taught Mayu to Scan so she could Scan Tatsuya, and she found that Negative Noise were messing with the poor guy. So now they were pitted against them, trying to drive them out from destroying Tatsuya's Soul anymore than they already had.

"I see a wreckage pile over there!" Mayu cried as she pulled on his white button-up sleeve, directing him to it. Yet before they could dash to it, she became petrified the moment that Fox Noise popped up beside them, now a two toned spotted mushroom.

Joshua growled in annoyance as it kept teleporting in different directions around them, "Let's go before it gets tired of taunting us!"

They ran off just as it reappeared again.

Joshua kept on eye on his Partner to see that she was following him the whole time, to make sure she wasn't in any direct path of danger. So when two of the Thrash Minks were going for them together, he guided Mayu away until they got to the wreckage safely.

As soon as Mayu began dismantling it, examining each metal piece pensively, he charged up his Windy Whirl Pin.

"We don't need you to bother us, so I'll just have to send you away!" He blew the Noise away with powerful gales, knocking them into midair rolls like they were wagon wheels. The only Noise he failed to keep away was that stupid green fox!

The smoky black haired girl had just taken out a metal rod and hammer when it popped up in front of her, causing her to gracelessly tumble down to the ground with a yelp. Joshua ran over to Mayu just as the Noise leered down at her, and he made sure she was fine before he glared at it.

"That was a dirty trick!" snapped Joshua as it let out a high pitched giggle. "Stay away from my Partner, Noise!"

Suddenly it warped over to Joshua's right side, causing Joshua to pull himself and Mayu away from it as it howled.

Green flames started to circle around it and Joshua thrust Mayu away in a flash. "Watch out!"

Just as he started up his Thrash Splash Pin after its recharge, he turned back to face it only to have flames strike into his face.

Right away he backed away and covered his eyes, crying out as more flames from the fox flew at him. He tried to blink them, yet pain stopped him. He couldn't tell if his eyes were tearing up from pain or melting from how agonizing it was! Worse of all he couldn't see anything!

Long before his Thrash Splash's Psych was cancelled, he felt the bitter sensation of being utterly useless now that he was blinded. He couldn't help but wonder if Ayumu ever felt like this-

His legs were struck and he tumbled to the ground, through the pain he tried to open his eyes again but his back was being battered by what he assumed to be the Thrash Minks. Many times he tried to roll away or get to his feet, but the Minks were following him the entire time regardless of his every attempt of escape.

He knew couldn't counter anything thrown at him at this point in time. He had to heal himself before he was erased! But as he tried to send energy to his Rosetta Restore Pin he found that its healing Psych never came.

'NO! No, no, no! Don't tell me it came off!' Panic seized at him at once, just as more bouts blustered his body. 'Where is it!? This is not happening!?'

He could only struggle to find his Pin by pawing at the ground, yet he was stopped by the constant onslaught of the Noise.

If he couldn't find his Pin, he was done for!

Suddenly clangs pierced his ears, almost as if it cut through the layers of sounds everywhere and emotions rushing through him.

Joshua heard the Fox Noise's distorted yelps before they went mute. 'What's going on!?'

His eyes continued to tear up as more cries of Noise rose into the air, preceding after more clangs and sickening thuds. He wanted to know what was happening so badly, yet was forced to listen as he slowly curled up in a ball to protect himself.

He didn't know how long it was until he felt a soft hand shake his shoulder.

"Joshua…?" Mayu sounded like she was next to him! She sounded quite worried… "A-Are you o-okay?"

A hand grabbed his, easing him out of his protective position and helping him to his feet. When he felt it let go, he felt himself violently shake as the breeze hit his sweltering eyes.

"My eyes hurt!" he cried franticly as he forced his hands to try to rub out the constant waterworks. "I can't see anything!" He felt as though the longer he rubbed his eyes the more tears would rush out, causing even more pain to come to them!

More importantly, he lost Rosetta Restore!

Suddenly his head was titled upwards when fingers touched his chin, he tried to protest as air struck his eyes again but he felt something small and wet land on them. He hissed in pain, feeling someone flinch beside him before more droplets fell on his eyes. He tried to move his head yet the fingers holding his chin slightly tightened their grip.

He let out a sigh of annoyance, wanting this to be over soon.

It was a while of waiting impatiently until his eyes started to feel a little better, along with his tears slowly reducing as well. He blinked and squinted as soon as those fingers left, scowling when everything was blurry. He rubbed his eyes until he tilted his head up more for that liquid, as painful as it was…

Soon he could see well enough, despite everything at the edges were blurred.

"F-Feel better?" asked Mayu sheepishly and concerned. When he turned to her, he noticed her holding a little bottle and a black dropper. Joshua realized Mayu was the one putting in those droplets, so he instantly felt a bit guilty for behaving so rudely to her.

"Th-Thank you…" Joshua said quietly as he blinked, soon composing himself to stand taller as he remarked, "If you didn't have that eyedropper and bottle… I might have rubbed my eyes to nothing!"

Mayu shyly smiled, yet the frustration he felt for how blurry it looked was made him curse that Fox Noise's existence!

He blinked more as she murmured quietly, "I-I always carry around some eye drops… M-My father always advised me to." she looked away with a weak smile. "He always worried that I-I wouldn't be prepared for certain s-situations…"

Joshua smiled at her warmly. "Well, I think that's very generous of him. He sounds like a good man…"

'He sounds a lot nicer than my father.' thought Joshua a bit bitterly as she put the bottle away. 'Father never seemed to care about Ayumu nor Chise… He must have thought they were too much of bothers to associate with… or even help them…'

After a few moments of actually having no tension, he spoke curiously when he blinked at Mayu as his vision blurred a little again, "That was quite helpful! What else do you carry around?" With a smirk he added, "You seem to carry many useful items, Mayu."

She blushed red before replied while she tapped her wrist with her index finger each time she named the items, "Eyedrops, mouthwash-"

"Can I borrow some of that later?" asked Joshua eagerly, but then he flinched as she giggled at him. "I… might need some…" He blushed before he let out a sigh, slowly bringing his hand back to rub the nape of his neck. 'Wow… that was abrupt and rude of me…'

Mayu blinked at him before she went on, "My cellphone, cough drops, elastics, breath mints, aspirin, and…" she blushed a little before she finished while blushing harder, "P-Pepper spray…" Instantly she hid her face, Joshua caught her frown.

"Uh… yeah! That's pretty much any item for any emergencies that I could think of…" Joshua said uneasily while frowning, he chuckled as he smiled again. "He must have loved you a lot, Mayu…"

'Especially if he gives his daughter pepper spray…'

Mayu promptly frowned for a trice then smiled gently, "He was one of my best friends… We did a lot of things together when I was a little girl…" she soon sighed glumly and looked away from him. "But… he got busier as a researcher… and that was when Mao and Mio were born…"

That awkward silence came back. Joshua thought it finally left forever… yet, he was mistaken…

"J-Joshua?" said Mayu nervously.

"Huh? …Yes, Mayu?" Joshua said curiously, glancing over to her.

His Partner ambled over and grabbed his hand gently. He felt metal touch his skin before Mayu's hand left his. As soon as he saw what it was he gasped, staring at it in awe.

"M-My Pin!" Joshua exclaimed as he held it up to examine it before he looked at Mayu in surprise. "I-I thought I lost it!"

"When you pushed me out of the way, I found it on the ground." Mayu said softly, lowering her gaze from his. "I… I didn't want you to become sad that you lost it…"

Joshua stared at her for a while before he hugged her, causing her to flinch in his arms. "Thank you…" He smiled when he remarked brightly, "See, I told you how observant you were."

He noticed that Mayu was blushing crimson.

When he let her go, he equipped Rosetta Restore and instantly began to use it to heal himself. His eyes slowly felt pain ebb away as the soothing red radiance enveloped him, soon aiding his vision to sharpen and become normal again.

As soon as he blinked them a couple times, he smiled happily. 'Yes! I can see better!'

It was so nice of Mayu to make sure he had his Pin… it made him happy inside that she did this for him.

"A-Ah!" Mayu gasped suddenly and pointed past him. "Tatsuya!"

Joshua dropped his smile and spun around, spotting the teenager heading back to the Molco Main Centre.

"That's right!" exclaimed Joshua fretfully before he began running after him. "We told him to meet us back inside! Let's hurry!"

"R-Right!"

"I promise to be a good boy…" Joshua muttered to the grimy handed stout man who tossed him out previously.

"You should be grateful that I am merciful!" spat the man before lumbering off with his buddy.

Joshua let out an irritated sigh before he thought with ire, 'Slimy oaf! One day I shall return to rub those paws clean 'til they're blood and bones! Clean of germs! One day!' He clenched his hand and bit his lip, frowning uglily. 'One… day…'

Mayu didn't make one comment on his anger.

"Hey! Ya guys!"

Joshua was brought out of his scheming for revenge to see Tatsuya trotting up to them.

At first, the teenager rubbed the back of his neck before he sighed. "There ya guys are! I've been searchin' for ya for a while!"

"Those brutes fancied a tea party with us…" grumbled Joshua with a quick glare at said people.

Tatsuya shook his head and chuckled at him, his dark brown eyes now bright instead of dead. "Nah, don't worry about those two! They're the security of this place and are as serious as planks!"

Joshua muttered a quick insult to those brutes then smiled pleasantly at Tatsuya, he tilted his head to one side as he quirked warily, "What happened to me being a 'Snobby Prick'?"

"Err, well," he said sheepishly, "I jus' had no clue to why I felt so angry and annoyed and stuff, y'know?"

'Must have been the Negative Noises' doing…' thought Joshua as he crossed his arms. "Well, do you feel better now?"

"Yup!" chirped the black haired teen with a toothy grin. "I felt like I won the lottery! Jus' after brooding about my lil' bro, Shuto…" he cringed before letting out a gasp, "Shuto! Oh my god! How long has it been!?"

Joshua checked his 'watch' that told them they had 43 minutes left. "Hmm… About… ten minutes since we saw you give up on the search outside…"

Tatsuya became pale immediately, soon groaning and did a facepalm.

"M-Maybe… w-we c-c-could help?" Mayu timidly suggested before drifting to stand on Joshua's right.

"Y-You would!?" Tatsuya's eyes widened as he seized Joshua's neat shirt collar hard. "R-Really!? A-After how rude I was!? Ya ain't lyin'!?"

"I-If y-you d-don't ch-ch-choke m-me F-FIRST!" choked Joshua as he attempted to regain oxygen.

At once Tatsuya dropped Joshua on the ground before he gave a fist pump in the air. "Yes!"

'If his brother wasn't involved… I would murder him!' thought Joshua darkly as he got up and dusted himself off, scowling at the thought of those ecstatic germs on him.

Tatsuya showed them to a private room (Joshua silently questioned why he would have access to one) and Joshua chose to sit down on a plush couch just as Tatsuya locked the room.

"If ya're wonderin' how it's possible for us to even be her', let's jus' say I'm the top pindog aroun' Molco…" said the bandana-wearer as he flopped into a beanbag.

"What do you mean?" asked Joshua as he quirked up an eyebrow, doubting he was in charge of this facility.

"Heh, I'm the Tin Pin champ!" Tatsuya jabbed his thumb into his chest. "The whiz at Tin Pin Slammers! Do you know abo-"

"Plenty!" snapped Joshua as he turned to scowl at the wall.

"I-I d-don't…"

Joshua widened his eyes and gave Mayu an apologizing look; she poked her two pointing fingers together as she went on, "I… I n-never p-p-played…"

"Then ya should!" Tatsuya grinned at her and she weakly smiled back.

Just seeing that exchange made Joshua feel frustration grip him, he clenched his hand that was resting on the couch arm to scowl at the older teenager. He didn't like how friendly Tatsuya was acting towards Mayu when they just started to breathe words to each other…

As that emotion boiled his blood, Joshua tried to calm himself down. 'I shouldn't feel like this… Mayu should have a chance to speak to people…'

Joshua smiled his best at Tatsuya and whisked his hand. "Well, can you tell us about, Shuto?

Tatsuya nodded before he began sadly, "My bro, Shuto… he loves the game…" he stared down at his lap when he sat taller. "Ever since that day… when he saw me in action for the firs' time… I was his inspiration… his idol… is best bro in the world… For all the years I competed and won…

"But then, my parents received my acceptance letter for the collage I applied to earlier than I wanted them to…" Tatsuya let out a sigh as he closed his eyes. "And they urged me to study harder than I normally have, to put more time and dedication in to prove to them I wasn't bluffin' 'bout what I wanted to be… And…" He hung his head. "They were jus' so proud of me… I could see their happiness shinin' through their eyes like beacons! I didn't want to let them down, and I wanted to go to collage regardless of what my buds thought… and I guess my bro as well…"

"Say… what are you going to take?" asked Joshua curiously, yet tried to hide the venom in his tone from his frustration.

"Mechanics. Tin Pin sort of made me curious about how things work… funny enough…" responded the black haired teenager with a shrug. "I used to tear apart my dad's car's wheel axels when I was nearly 13, and he would be so angry until I found a way to fix it, sometimes improve it, but I fixed it… So he started me on action figurine kits… I'd do them so fast he hardly had the salary to buy me more… Then I'd go back on his car wheels, steerin' wheel, whatever I can take ahold of with my nifty hands really…

"So, I kept the letter a secret from my lil' bro up to today, and told him about it… He was so, so happy for me…" He frowned as he looked at Joshua gloomily. "But I told him also… I'm steppin' down as Tin Pin's champ…"

"He didn't want you to, did he?" asked Joshua with a frown.

Joshua understood in a way, seeing that Ayumu disapproved his choice on going to Sanae's café for information on the Reaper's Game every time.

"Of course… he screamed, beggin' me not to…" explained Tatsuya glumly and hung his head. "I decided this on my own; I knew I'd be too busy with collage to even protect the title… But Shuto loves Tin Pin so much, he told me I was a 'big meanie' and didn't understand… And I know he's a little kid, but he needs to understand that life is not fun and games always, y'know…? Life starts to shrug off bein' simple and rides into complicated and serious commitments… and Shuto won't understand my decision until he's my age…"

Joshua blinked, it seemed like Shuto didn't like change… Of course no one liked it… but it always happens despite how many times you punch, kick, scream, cry, beg, or declare 'that's not fair!'. Maybe if he talked more with his older brother; he could be explained about this better… However, Joshua knew these sorts of things took time despite the pain and confusion… And Shuto was alone right now; bad things could happen if he didn't have an adult with him…

"He may not like it, but you need to explain it to him so he understands." Joshua mused grimly as he rested his hands on his lap. "We saw him run past us, so we could look for him in that direction… yet he could be somewhere else by now…"

"I'll check around Spain Hill and districts near it…" said Tatsuya as his eyes appeared sharp and focused when he glanced at Joshua. "He likes those mexidogs they make there… and he might be ventin' in the Stride…"

"'Stride'…?" echoed Joshua a bit confused by that name, it sounded familiar…

"Another Tin Pin place," explained Tatsuya as he stood up quickly. "It's smaller than her', so it doesn't have many competitions or Tin Pin Royals."

'Oh yeah!' Joshua got up just as Tatsuya was unlocking the door. 'Ayumu mentioned that place! If I remember correctly, he said…' Joshua bit his lip, trying to dig through his failing memory. '…A kid gave him his Pin there! What did Ayumu call it again…? Flimsy Whip? Whimsy Flit? Argh! I can't remember!' He shook his head, frowning bemused while still trying to recall his half-brother's Pin he brandished.

"H-He went s-somewhere in the direction o-of Cadoi City, I-I think…" Mayu mused softly as she gazed at Joshua apprehensively.

"Great! Ya go there and I'll split the other way!" Tatsuya threw open the door and exited, he poked his head back in a second later. "Comin'?"

"U-Uh, oh dear me! I-I think I dropped my wallet near the vending machines!" yelped Joshua as he searched his pockets, he whipped his head up and waved his hand dismissively. "Go ahead! We'll meet you here in…" he checked his 'watch' ticking down from 39 blood red minutes. "45 minutes!"

Tatsuya had already bolted away, and Joshua could hear him calling out for his little brother already.

"L-Let's find your wallet…" Mayu murmured as she glanced at him.

"We don't have to, I have it." Joshua said simply as he patted his pocket. "We needed an alibi so we wouldn't walk out with him, only for him to realize we aren't with him anymore…" He let out a sheepish chuckle. "We don't want him to freak out and give us more Negative Noise to fight, right?"

"O-Oh!" Mayu looked away while blushing, she seemed embarrassed. "G-Good plan…"

Joshua gestured to the door lightheartedly. "Shall we? Ladies first…"

She merely blushed deeper before they briskly set out.

Mayu walked ahead of him, glancing around their surroundings. "I-I don't see him…"

"Me neither!" cried Joshua in frustration as he caught up with her, holding his chin thoughtfully. "We didn't catch a good glimpse of him, did we…?"

'Especially how he got away so quickly…' he noted darkly to himself. All he could remember was that he had brown hair and Joshua judged him to be 7 years old. He could only grimace at his fabulous recollection skills.

After a few more seconds he gazed at his Partner, smiling bittersweetly at her when he noticed how upset she seemed by this. "Hey… don't be so glum, Mayu… It's not like we both have photographic memory…"

Mayu lowered her gaze to stare down at the ground for a while until she smiled weakly.

"He must have left this district, though…" Joshua mused as he gave a sigh; he shook his head before eyeing Shibu Department Store then Towa Records.

Joshua had no clue where that kid would go, but he was sure a 7 year old wouldn't want to let his emotions explode in a department store. So Towa Records seemed to be the place. Plus, he was certain any kid loved music.

Often times when him and Ayumu were still in elementary school, Ayumu would always beg his mother to go to Towa Records to browse music CDs and records. And he knew Ayumu had always been fond of the type of music that music boxes played.

When Joshua visited Auntie Chise's home for the first time, as well as meeting her and Ayumu, he remembered finding Ayumu in his room listening to the same music box his mother had given him. Instead of playing with the few toys he had, he kept listening to it. Joshua remembered showing Ayumu how to wind it up fully to hear the whole song, and Ayumu responded to this by acting as though Joshua made magic appear in front of him. It strangely had an eerie lamented melody… Personally… it always made Joshua feel horrible inside every time he heard it play.

To this day… Ayumu still held onto that music box.

But… Joshua couldn't forget that he mistook Ayumu for being a girl that day as well from how long his younger half-brother's hair was, which was why he called Ayumu by Ayu. If he had known Ayumu was a boy, he would have nicknamed him Yu, but Ayu suited Ayumu better for a nickname so he stuck with the feminine nickname, as much as Ayumu hated it.

Joshua snickered a bit, confusing his Partner.

He soon suggested his opinion on Shuto's whereabouts to Mayu and she accepted it timidly without any complaints.

The Wall was still down luckily, and that Reaper from before was there… Joshua thought he was…

Instead of wearing the generic red hoodie, that Reaper had it tied around his waist while wearing a Natural Puppy combo complete with a simple green tie. He was grinning blithely and only stopped them to ask what their opinions were on his outfit.

To Joshua, if he didn't have the trademark webbed Reaper wings he could almost pass as a mundane RG citizen.

Yet a bored looking woman with a small black book came over and informed him to put his hoodie back on. Joshua could only guess she was a Support, Harrier, or perhaps a Officer Reaper, but he could only assume she was an Officer because of the fact she was chastising him. And after she left, Joshua and Mayu left for Towa Records as elusively as they could when the poor Support Reaper starting bawling.

"I feel bad for him…" Mayu glanced back with her pretty eyes glittering in sadness.

Joshua kept the same pace as her when he sighed. "Reapers like him must have rigorous dress codes I guess…"

The bawling from the Reaper grew louder.

"L-Let's hurry before it haunts me forever!" proclaimed Joshua desperately as he grabbed his Partner to spirit her away before it was too late.

Once he was out of earshot of the Reaper's bawling, Joshua panted as he released Mayu who was bemused while gazing back to the other district, "Ah! We're safe! I think!"

"Feh, from what?"

The ashen blond flinched, realizing he had halted nearby Izo.

Maroon eyes scowled at him skeptically from behind those partly cracked spectacles, and Izo was silent as he waited for Joshua to respond to his question.

"O-Oh!" Joshua flinched again and stared at him stupefied, promptly slapping a hand to his forehead as he yelped, "I-I didn't even notice you there!"

Izo simply scowled at him grumpily, frowning as he grumbled, "Indubitably… it's not arduous to comprehend that so well…"

Joshua sighed as he shook his head, smiling slightly as he chuckled. "You got me there…"

The dark blue haired teen let out a growl. "Hmph…"

"And where's my brother, Izo?" asked Joshua haughtily as he crossed his arms. "Hmm…?"

Izo growled and pointed, Joshua gazed past him to see.

Ayumu was staring sightlessly at those two twins they saw in the Scramble Crossing, his back was turned to Joshua, Mayu, and Izo. Joshua saw this as strange; it was almost pure luck that he was staring towards something at least.

"D-Does he know those c-children?" asked Mayu timidly to the aloof poet, she lowered her gaze as she added, "H-He… a-acts like i-it…"

Izo growled again, clicking his tongue before he snorted, "Feh, I don't care! The Blind Brat can be as bizarre as he wishes to."

"Anyways!" Joshua said loudly in irritation, he glared at the frozen boy. "Why aren't you doing your part in the mission, Izo?"

The dark blue haired teen tsked before he growled coldly, "We're done already, Aleck."

"Oh! You are?" Mayu cried out in astonishment, but when Izo shot her a dark glower she shrank back and avoided his intense scrutiny. "I-I m-mean… g-g-good j-j-job, I-I-Izo…" She meekly lowered her gaze afterwards, whimpering fearfully.

"Look at what you've done!" snarled Joshua furiously as he glared at the bespectacled teen. "You're scaring her! Why are you being such a jerk, Izo!"

Izo adjusted his cracked small oval glasses, then he gracefully swept his long fringe to the side and Joshua caught his glittering maroon eyes. "If she fears me, she fears me, Aleck." growled Izo just as his bangs fell back over his right eye, he snorted in annoyance, "Don't chide me of these paltry matters!"

Joshua grumbled to himself. 'He's such a jerk! I wonder why any girl would even swoon before this wintry poet!?'

"U-Um… J-Joshua?" He was drawn out of his annoyance for the walking freezer when Mayu held the pamphlet out gingerly with jittering fingers. "T-The map?"

He widened his eyes, gasping as he shot a look of realization to Izo, "That's right!" Joshua got the pamphlet from his Partner, turning and unfolding the pages until he was on the marked map. "D-Did you get a text when you were done, Izo?"

The teenager in question raised a blue eyebrow, frowning grumpily as he snorted, "Feh, indeed…" He took out a stormy blue grey cellphone that was polished and shiny, flipping it open with a jerk of his hand before he dialed it to the exact same ambiguous image they received. Instead of the blinking amber dot like they had, he had a blinking cobalt blue, which was closer to the corner of the ugly image. Joshua could only assume that was Towa Records' site.

"We need to mark this pamphlet," Joshua explained mindfully as Izo crossed his arms with a growl. "Could you bring your phone here, Izo?"

The dark blue haired boy stood stiffly for a moment, then he complied with a roll of his narrowed eyes and Joshua imagined he was thinking, 'Feh, why not?'.

When he hovered it over the pamphlet, nothing happened.

Izo threw a glare at Joshua, quirking up his eyebrow again. He didn't appear too happy… the ashen blond discerned grimly. Izo probably thought Joshua was trying to make him look like a fool in front of everyone, and was frustrated because of that.

"It… happened last time…" mumbled Joshua confused, feeling absolutely self-conscious now as he gave a glance to Mayu. "…Why isn't it working…?"

Izo growled, "Feh." he crossed his arms, looking absolutely sour. "Next time you want to demonstrate an element of noteworthiness to me... actually possess the element that is noteworthy and feasible, Aleck..."

Joshua scowled at him, crossing his arms. "It, worked, last time..."

The poet's frown deepened. "Hmph..."

"I-I z-zoomed in-into t-the im-image when it ha-happened…?" Mayu quietly murmured as she shyly gazed away at no one. "Ma-Maybe it c-could w-work… l-like its l-locking o-onto the lo-location?"

"Are you soliciting us that, or tête-à-tête?" Izo growled rudely as he narrowed his maroon eyes into slits at her. She jumped before edging away slightly.

"Give it here!" Joshua ripped the cellphone away fluently before he began pressing buttons, trying to find a way to make it zoom in. He was quite aware Izo was condensing the air to the temperature of what a blizzard would stew up from his rage, but Joshua disregarded him the best he could. He instead focused on his task, finding it more problematic than it should have been. 'Argh! Why is it so hard to zoom in!? Don't tell me this cellphone is from another country!?'

What really made him stop his work was when ice spawned and blanketed Joshua's own earnest fingers.

He gawked at them bewildered before his eyes wandered to Izo, letting out a sigh before he rotated his hand and loosened his grip to drop it into Izo's awaiting pale one... A second later, Joshua started shaking his arm desperately.

Well… at least Joshua no longer had to focus on holding Izo's cellphone… his frozen fingers were incapable of letting go of the cold steel device.

For a while Izo yanked at his device, but he finally growled in irritation, seeing that he failed to pry it out from Joshua's frozen clutch. Joshua felt tempted to shake his whole arm again, but from how Izo glared daggers at him made the ashen blond rethink his idea.

He handed Mayu the pamphlet, seeing that it made no sense to hold it when it could be damaged from their next attempts. Yet just as she held it close, Izo let out another frustrated growl and simply tugged the ashen blond's arm forward, lunged forward to drag Mayu over painfully by her arm; making her squeak and yelp in terror, and hovered the phone (courtesy of Joshua's arm) over the pamphlet. He pressed a tiny button at the side that Joshua failed to notice, and then the image zoomed in. Once the cobalt beam struck the page, Mayu withdrew from them with haste.

"Well! I could have done that blindfolded!" growled Joshua throwing his arms up in ire. "Why didn't you tell me this, Izo!?" Izo promptly pulled down the scraggly haired teen's arm that held his cellphone captive.

"If a fool decides to coggle with bravado-" growled Izo as he started up his attempts to free his phone again, snorting and wrenching harsher while digging his nails into the ice, "-let- them wallow- into their- rubble!" He began to pull hard enough that Joshua could practically feel his arm coming out of his shoulder blade!

"OW! Are you trying to rip my arm OFF!?" snapped Joshua shrilly as he tried to pull back from the irascible poet. "Let go of me!"

"What are you doing to Izo, Josh?" Ayumu said quietly but loud enough for Joshua to hear over his pained yelps and shouts, not bothering to even turn around to hear more of his poor older half-brother's torture.

"HE'S RIPPING OFF MY ARM, AYUMU! MY ARM!" yelled Joshua as he howled out in agony. "ARGH! CAN'T YOU HEAR MY SUFFERING!?"

"Oh." Ayumu moved his head slightly. "Sounded like he was cutting it off."

"NOT, HELPING!" roared Joshua as he clamped onto his lips, soon glaring intensely at the spindly teenager. "If it weren't for you… LITERALLY, freezing people now-"

"I am not, freezing, ANYBODY!" snarled Izo exasperatedly as he glared back at Joshua, "I don't, HAVE, DAMN, RIME, NECROMANCY!"

They both flew back, crashing hard into the cemented ground.

Joshua was dazed briefly before wiggling his fingers once he recovered, watching as ice shards and powder slid off them. He let out a sigh of relief as he sat up. 'Great… at least my fingers aren't a part of Izo's cellphone now…' With one quick glance to Izo, he noticed how the dark blue haired teen was irritably scrubbing off bits and pieces that still clung onto his cellphone. 'Thank heavens!'

Slowly he got up, dusting himself off, before groaning in pain. 'Ngh… my landing is killing my spine…' He ignored it before rolling his shoulder around. 'My arm socket feels fine… I guess…'

Suddenly a breeze brushed on him and he saw Mayu before him, and his hand was grabbed before he could react. "H-Hey-" His voice died when he noticed she was checking over his hand, plucking off the remaining ice which caused him to blush a little. "…Y-You d-don't h-have to do th-that, M-Mayu…" his heart quickened as he watched her work deftly. "R-Really…"

"I-I want to…" she replied a bit firmly, flicking off each particle with care. "Th-They m-must be n-numb…"

Joshua didn't know why, but it strangely felt nice to let her do this, as uncomfortable as it was. Warmth swelled in his chest, and he exhaled as he closed his eyes. Her soft touches tickled his hand, and he slowly relaxed by focusing solely on that, feeling peaceful inside… This felt much better than what Leiko did… Instead of being lost in a thick haze, his mind felt clear.

"Are you done?"

Joshua almost yelled out in ill temper, snapping his eyes open in a glare at the frozen hearted boy. Izo glared back coldly, along with what seemed to be disgust.

Why did Izo look like that? Joshua didn't know or care! Now all those nice feelings drained out, and Joshua's heart raced from his rage he felt now! But there was one urge; tingling through his hands…

He wanted to punch Izo.

To be continued… hope you enjoyed the chapter =3