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

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EeveeGen9988: Hello, everyone! Sorry for the wait, this chapter was a bit too sloppy to upload before so I wanted to fix that. I'm sure NO ONE appreciates or wants to read something that is edited poorly so I hope you understand my reasoning. I would have gotten this chapter out sooner but I got a bit busy and it took a while to make sure this chapter was okay enough to upload and meet my standards.

Is this the last chapter I have to revise from paper to computer...? YES! I no longer have to retype up the chapters from a paper copy to an electronic version now! YAY! *throws confetti into air and dances around* In other good news, I already have the next chapter typed up (because I had inspiration =3)!

Oh and... guess what! It's the 50th chapter for the story! *throws even more confetti into the air* I kinda found this to be a bit weird considering where we are right now... At least this chapter is special because of how long it is... right...? *looks around nervously* Yes, no, maybe so? *shrugs* Unsealed Fates had more of a exciting 50th chapter to celebrate with I guess... =| Yeah... about Unsealed Fates... I'm in the middle of writing the next chapter as well, just to let all the TWEWY UF fans who are reading this know... I'm a bit stuck, but it's only because I need to study up on certain mannerisms of a certain character to continue on with it... Right now, I'm trying to wrap my mind around how to go about writing that character... =|

*sees confetti on ground and sweat drops* Oh... um, I might need to clean this up... *sighs and brings out broom, EeveeGen9988 tries to sweep up the confetti and grumbles about it*

In other news, I was wondering whether or not I should increase the word length of the chapters. Y'know, get more story in for each one and move the story along faster... as long as it runs smoothly and is sequenced nicely... Y'know what I mean? The reason I brought this up: I've noticed when I've been writing lately that I've been writing chapters at longer lengths than I used to in the past, so I was wondering if it would be alright for everyone.

Anyways, volia! Enjoy! =3

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Fun fact: Izo's hairstyle is slightly inspired by the Kingdom Hearts character Zexion! SURPRISED!? Zexion's type of hairstyle was almost perfect for Izo's character and it fit for our lovely grumpy blue-haired poet, yeah... I mean, when I was developing Izo I was thinking about Zexion at the same time... funny, right? *sweatdrops* However... Izo's personality wasn't inspired by Zexion... seeing that Izo's personality in the beginning wasn't quite perfected and stable at that time... but it slowly mutated into his cold and ruthless demeanour! Muahaha... meh. =p

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Week ?, day ?:

Chapter 49: Repairing The Freezer:

"What's this?" A thick book was thrown in the air. "A retarded dictionary?"

Howls of laughter continued as they played catch with the stock book.

Maroon eyes glittered; the 10-year-old was annoyed that they were cornering him here during the lunch hour. All he wanted was to read the new book he signed out from the school library. But no, oh no, one look they gave upon spotting the book already told him he was their fresh target.

Izo said nothing to those provoking jeers; he wouldn't because he was too exhausted from working on the homework he missed from absence of school because of being sick. But he knew even if he did recite a witty comeback, it would merely invite these upperclassmen to continue their charade. And considering they were in a stray dead-end that the school was designed with, the droopy haired child knew if he were to escape they would outrun him and drag him back into the gloom they stood.

He adjusted his small dull blue glasses, watching with chafe that the precious volume he was recommended was frivoled with.

"I don't like his silence, boss!" crowed the older kid closest to him; right away Izo was conferred to an elbow.

The blow forced him to crumple to his hands and knees, unable to stifle his yelp. He right away protected his sore side, scrunching his nose in displeasure (but mostly pain) as his saggy bangs draped his maroon eyes as usual. A few seconds later, he realized the usual weight of his glasses on his nose was absent. This made him want to facepalm...

'Great... now they'll mock me about being a mole!' Of course, Izo never interacted with these older students before, but there was always a chance they could use that insult on him. ...Who was he kidding!? They probably would use that insult on him! Just seeing him paw at the ground for his glasses would perfect the image... leaving him at their mercy...

He inhaled shakily, peering down at the blurry gravel.

Over the years his hapless vision hindered him, but he got better at steering around at the case of losing his glasses. ...Just not right now... other days were better... But overall, he managed to an extent... Especially when he woke up every morning when his 15 and a half-year-old... sister, Rei, loved to 'borrow' his glasses.

That was the thing about Rei, despite how old she was she still acted immature at times. Not that Izo wanted to say he was more mature, she just… Izo just knew she wasn't all that bright. As much as Izo would rather say she was unique, he never voiced that he felt like he was more mature than her. He might have at times suggested to her that her ideas weren't that great, but it made him feel awful inside every time her face fell upon his words.

Sometimes, it was unbearable to live with each other under the same roof because of her antics. Sometimes, he felt it was fun spending time with the person he wished he could call his sister, yet despite his adoption, it felt weird to call her that. But most of the time, her antics often led to him being accused wrongly for them and getting punished... ...He never liked being punished for something he never did! It hurt... It made him upset and sad... even when he told his side of the story and they would believe Rei! He never told lies! He didn't see the benefit of lying... Yet Rei always seemed to use it on a whim! Izo hated that!

...However, when Rei brought him home from school last week when he was sick, even missing her afternoon classes, and plopped him onto the couch in the living room to watch the Shakespeare Marathon... she earned herself his appreciation during those fever induced days. She wasn't all that bad... when she wasn't pestering him.

A crack caught his ears, causing him to frown. Already he knew he'd have to call Rei when school was finished to whisk him off to home, which was either receiving a piggyback ride from her or walking together.

Right away he made a grumble when one student cried, "Whoops! I think I stepped on something?"

"When will you learn to be more careful, Grizzly!" angrily yelled the last student, who was the one that led his friends to corner Izo in the first place.

"I'm not a bear!" shouted the boy back. "I'm Yukio!"

"Whatever!" Stomps were hard before the leader roared and laughed, "Oh my, this is juicy! You broke his babby glasses! Maybe your lumbering isn't so bad!"

Fury bubbled throughout his body; Izo couldn't help but tremble from his suspicions being answered correctly. He raised his head up; ignoring the pain that protested from his side when his hand left it to lift his floppy bangs up to tuck them behind his ears.

Izo glared at the boy who held the book smugly. "You're such a wimp, kid." The leader smirked before Izo faintly saw him rearing his arm back, holding the book high. "Poetry sucks! Poetry is stupid! No one can understand a single, horrible, word!"

Before Izo could brace himself, the book was swung at his face abruptly.

Pain flooded his face as the book smashed into it, hurling him roughly to the ground. He yelled out as left wrist sobbed from unbelievable agony he had never felt before in his whole life. He grimaced, only for his face to throb harder. Izo could already feel his blood spilling over his face... quickly becoming numb... Yet his attention slipped from his face, back to the pain his wrist wailed out and crowned winner. This was the reason why he couldn't control his screams he released as he thrashed on the ground.

His maroon eyes stung strongly, but he refused to cry. Ever since he left that horrible orphanage (especially that woman who had ran it and was thankfully in jail), he swore to never let one measly tear leak out. Why? That woman taught him some valuable things at least, and one of the things he interpreted from her was: Crying wasn't tolerable, it was a nuisance, and it showed you were a weak brat that no one would take you seriously...

Crying… it only exposed you as a weak individual. Izo knew showing weakness was worse than getting stabbed by knives. But sooner or later, he realized, crying wasn't the best mechanism when you scraped your knee or tripped or never got your way. Crying was useless, it was an inconvenience. After that caretaker told him crying was useless, he began to understand after a while, even before Genji took him away and filled a case against that woman... Crying got you nothing and took you nowhere. After all, crying was WEAKNESS…

As soon as he collapsed in pain, screaming as his weight on his wrist caused him more agony, his senpei who elbowed him muttered warily, "You know… his silence was better... Someone might hear him! What do we do?" he hissed anxiously aloud soon, "Boss! What do we do!?"

"His screams are hurting my ears," growled the leader, he clicked his tongue before he snapped, "Grizzly! Shut that brat up!"

Izo screamed harder as he was lifted, being forced to slump against the large person supporting him. But he felt someone's hand clasp tightly against his mouth, muffling his screams as their arm slipped across his belly to grip onto his side. He shrieked as that side that was wounded gained unwanted pressure, the pain he felt increased and the urge to sob was harder to contend.

"It's almost the end of lunch, boss." Izo could barely focus on who was talking anymore, he screamed and his bangs cast darkness into his vision. "We should get ready for class-"

"Not when Lil' Blue here is yowling!" spat the leader furiously. "We gotta shut him up so we don't get in trouble because he ran to them crying!"

'I-I won't cry!' thought Izo indignantly as pain consumed his attention. By now his throat felt raw from screaming, but the pain was too much! 'I won't-'

Suddenly something brushed against his face, causing him to squirm from the pain. "Say… I wonder what your face looks like now…"

Izo got a bad feeling that churned his stomach. 'Don't…'

"Too bad your blue bangs are hiding your bleeding face." The hand slid under his bangs. "It confuses me… why you want to hid behind your bangs?" Soon he felt fingers surround them. "I don't like it when people hide from me… especially when they're in the wide open… But-" The fingers tightened harder, causing Izo to yelp as the leader kept his hand locked on his hair. "-let's fix that."

As the warning bell rung, Izo screamed as his head jerked forward sharply as new pain etched from his forehead. No longer was his blurry vision behind dark blue drapes, it was gone. His forehead already had blood spilling from where most of his bangs formally lived, from his own skull. He wanted to press his hands to the nearly naked location his bangs used to be, but the person supporting him had his arm tightly pressed against his right arm while Izo's left arm… it hurt horribly as he tried to move it. His wrist hurt too much, it felt almost dead and weightless to him now!

More than ever did his eyes sting, but he found it became harder to hold back the hot liquid his own body produced.

Laughter, cruel laugher tormented his ringing ears. It sickened him…

The breeze striking his bleeding forehead, even the parts unaffected by the blood, strangely didn't feel as cold as he expected it to. It should have, seeing that he never had his bangs cut to the point that everyone could see his pale forehead. But none of that mattered to him… he felt so dizzy… it was so confusing…

Even as he screamed on the top of his lungs; stifled to muffles by the person trapping him, pain assailing his body; which he felt was numbing fairly fleetingly, the next bell ringing; warning him he was late for class… he felt too dizzy to care about any of those things...

His exhaustion he felt from lack of sleep was lulling him, easing his mind to empty as it finally caught up to him. Izo felt himself growing limp without a smidge of control, conceding to new darkness patching over his vision…

Week 2, Day 3:

"…D-Do you think Izo's okay?" Mayu glanced at Joshua with concern written all over her face. "I-I mean…" Slowly she looked back to Izo.

Joshua looked at the dark blue haired teen as well, frowning deeply.

Ever since the GM left, Izo didn't return to his normal gruff self (as Joshua expected and hoped he would). Izo would be practically popping out poems about Leiko passionately with not much of a breather or thought, so it was hard to tell if they were short ones or a long formulation of his love for the unnerving girl. Either way, it slowly became background audio for Joshua.

When they tried to get him to rivet on the mission, it was as if he was deaf to them unless they mentioned Leiko. But that would steer him back to blabbering about nothing else but Leiko. Once and awhile he would speak nothing but French in a lovey-dovey manner, probably about Leiko because Joshua heard her name pop up a lot.

He seemed so happy… but he clearly wasn't in a state to help them with the mission.

"I… I want to say it's… n-nice… to see him this… happy…" Joshua said nervously as he cried internally as he watched Izo waltzing around without a partner (he was probably pretending he was dancing with Leiko again). Joshua scratched the back of his head as he gulped, "B-But… eheheh… it feels creepy… seeing him act like this… ugh…"

He hung his head. 'Smite me now... Smite me, Composer, now… Too. Much. Exposure. To. Happy. Happy. Izo…' he wanted to sob on the spot. 'I can't take another second of love smitten Izo! ARGH!'

"The mission comes before feelings." Ayumu said hollowly, nodding slightly in Izo's direction. "If Izo can't function the way he is now… either you two have to do the mission on your own… or we break Izo out of Leiko's influence…"

"I call latter!" exclaimed Joshua franticly as he trembled on the spot, he let out a sob as he waved his hands wildly in the air. "I call latter!" As Mayu stared at him with worry, he sobbed desperately, "Please… I can't stand another second observing how that witch destroyed our poor friend, Izo Shuuito…"

"Leiko's not a witch." Ayumu said quietly, his pewter eyes blinked. "She's the Gamemaster. Even thought she has powers that can be described (or heard) as magical, it must be her Psych. Alth-"

Joshua quickly joined his side and covered Ayumu's mouth. "It was supposed to be a insulting nickname to her!" growled Joshua harshly while Ayumu continued speaking regardless. "I can't think of anything else to call her... and she creeps the hell out of me!"

As soon as Joshua removed his hand, freaking out about the germs that lived in Ayumu's mouth were now on his hands, Ayumu tilted his head to one side before he spoke, "Rei can be more creative with dubbing people than you, Josh."

Hanging his head, Joshua pulled Ayumu in for a hug as he whispered sadly, "You wound me, brother, oh how you wound my little sensitive heart…"

"Well, it's true that a human heart is smaller than you think, and that-"

Again, Joshua sadly had to return his hand to Ayumu's mouth.

"It was a poetic statement!" Joshua half-shouted in frustration, feeling glum that Ayumu was being too logical and hurtful to him. For a second he waited, wondering if he really should keep his hand on his brother's mouth. But it seemed too cuel to do that to the petite blond. Plus, Ayumu was helping him figure out a way to bring the old Izo Shuuito back.

Once he removed his hand, intent on rushing to the drinking fountain to cleanse Ayumu's germs off, he was starting to run when Ayumu spoke, "Izo's better at making poems and reciting them, Josh. We both know that."

'Dammit…' Joshua facepalmed with his germless hand as he darted for the drinking fountain. 'You make me so, so sad, Ayumu! Even when you speak with such innocence and honesty… your older half-brother cannot help but want to cry…' Of course, Joshua knew Ayumu didn't know he was actually insulting his half-brother's skills, so Joshua couldn't hold a grudge against Ayumu for criticizing his weaknesses.

After he did a thorough wash, he returned to his Partner and half-brother. Looking at both of them, Joshua crossed his arms as he asked, "So, any ideas to fix the freezer?" After a second he giggled.

"W-Well…" Mayu swayed a bit on the spot, fumbling with her hands as she murmured softly, "Izo was the o-one who brought you back to your s-senses…"

'Beautiful…' Joshua let out a sigh and slumped. 'If he wasn't fawning over Leiko right now... Being the only ONE who knows ANYTHING about bringing anyone back to reality… Just our dotty luck…'

"W-Was I…" Joshua gestured to Izo who was laughing loudly and skipping around the district with his arms high in the air, facing the sky. "L-Like th-that…?"

Mayu widened her eyes and shook her head wildly. "N-No!" she squeaked in surprise, her pretty eyes softened as she gazed at him sadly. "Y-You d-didn't do anything…"

Joshua let out a heavy sigh, hanging his head. "But I did… I tore out Izo's hair…"

"You're not horrible!" cried Mayu as she flew at him, giving him an embrace as she sniffled, "It wasn't your fault… I-I know it wasn't! Please…" Her turquoise eyes met his lavender, watery as the ocean. "D-Don't… bully yourself, Joshua… please..."

His heart quickened as he felt his cheeks dust with blush. "I…" he bit his lip before he choked out, "W-What exactly… did I do?"

"Joshua…" Mayu murmured unhappily and afraid.

"Please… tell me…" Joshua said swallowing a sob, he returned the embrace gently. "Mayu? I need to know… It'll help… Izo… I can help him only if you tell me… Please, Mayu…"

"He's right." Ayumu nodded. "Mayu, I couldn't see what happened. You're the only other witness other than Izo. So since he is out of the question… and the victim this time…" He twitched his shoulder. "You're the only one who can help Joshua now."

"A-Ayumu-kun…?" Mayu breathed slowly, soon letting Joshua go but soon clasped his fair-skinned hands. For a few seconds she seemed reluctant, but then she caught Joshua's eye promptly. Joshua waited as she searched his eyes, so he gave her a warm smile and nodded.

It was a few seconds before she shifted, beginning to speak timidly, "A-After… After she used her p-parasol… y-you just… seemed so relaxed and h-happy…" Joshua gave a nod, remembering parts of that correctly. "You were h-humming and sighing f-fondly," she went on explaining nervously, frowning as she squeezed his hands hander. "A-Adoring… a-admiring her…"

Joshua widened his eyes in surprise, Mayu was sniffling and he thought he saw tears forming at the sides of her pretty eyes. He couldn't help but realize how sad Mayu was; she didn't seem to like chatting about this with him. Right away Joshua wanted to wipe her tears away. But how she held onto his hands almost like she needed them for support and comfort, he couldn't bare to kill what she thought was keeping her from breaking down completely.

"H-Hey…" he said gently, softening his eyes as he stared at her with concern. "You won't catch me blubbering about her looks like Bluey out there." He rubbed the side of one of her hands with his free thumb. "I promise you… I don't want to admire a cruel person like her again."

At once Mayu's breath stopped, but then her eyes brightened with relief shimmering in those watery pools. It was almost like time stopped for him, he couldn't help but admire how beautiful her eyes were. Mayu seemed cheered up by his words and warmth swelled in his chest from seeing her grow happy. He wished she could always be this happy around him, shinning her soul out to everyone rather than dimming it because of being reserved and self-conscious around everyone she met. She had her moments when she forgot the situation when she truly was fervent about something she felt strongly about, and he wished he could see more of that rather than her crystal shell she devoted herself to…

"After that?" Joshua flinched; Ayumu's voice briefly startled him. Mayu half closed her eyes, slightly looking away while blushing with a weak frown. When he saw Ayumu, the petite blond was standing where he had been the whole time. Now silent with his lips set in a flat line, Ayumu tilted his head to one side.

"Oh, yeah, right…?" Joshua shook his head with a sigh, then he glanced at Mayu with a nod. "Mayu?"

She took a few seconds before she went on in a near frightened whisper, "I-Izo knew something w-was- wrong… I-I saw how dis-disgusted he was with you being…" She whimpered before she shook her head. "'Injected by moonbeams' hexed oscillation'…"

"It means Izo was saying you were a fool in love," Ayumu put in hollowly. "I remember he said he would 'surcease her hex'." Ayumu then tilted his head. "Which is an understatement due to-"

Joshua shook his head before he sighed, smiling a little. "Okay, okay… Give Mayu a chance to explain, Ayu."

"I'm not a girl."

"Mayu?"

The said girl jolted before she gave a nod. "Ayumu-kun is right, Izo s-seemed to know she did something to you," she murmured with concern. She half-closed her blue-green eyes before she shifted. "H-He went over, asking questions. But you seemed to be h-happily t-telling him the only one you wanted to l-listen to was… L-Leiko…" She rubbed the side of her eyes with her dark jean sleeves. "I-I remember…" she whimpered, whipping her head away with stress twisting into her expression. "H-He put a h-hand on y-your sh-shoulder, b-"

She closed her eyes tightly, shaking as Joshua looked at her confused and appalled. "What happened?" he asked firmly, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "D-Did I do something to him?"

Mayu let out a sob before she whimpered quietly, "Y-You…" she bit her lip hard before choking out in ragged sobs, "s-slapped him, d-down to the ground!" Joshua widened his eyes, raking his brain for any memories of this. "B-Before he could get up, you grabbed his h-hair and pulled him to his feet with it and- punched him- and punched him- r-r-repeatedly! Izo k-kept yelling out at you b-before… b-before…" Right away she hung her head sharply and fast, letting out a wail as her body shook harder, "You grabbed more of his hair- tearing it out- screaming and laughing- telling him to s-stay away from the Gamemaster- a-a-and his hair was what freaks like him had- and Leiko probably would never consider him to be worthy of her!"

Vaguely he remembered finding Izo's hair in his hands, seeing Izo's livid glare…

"I-Izo got angry, screaming profanities at you… saying how much of a 'moonstruck cretin' you were before he punched you…." Her voice died, swallowed by her sobs as she pried her hands away to press them to her face.

Joshua gaped at her, horrified as he took a step back stiffly. 'I-I don't remember doing that… I-I DON'T! I remember brushing someone away, not trying to erase him! How could I say that!? I didn't mean to! I-I would never insult him cruelly- o-or slap or punch him- or-or tear out his hair!'

Guilt seized his heart, making him press a hand to his chest as pain crushed it. He couldn't believe he was that horrible! He couldn't believe what Leiko did to him made Joshua sever the mutual respect (at different levels) he and Izo had for each other.

Was that the other reason Izo wanted to not work together with him and Mayu? Was he so livid with Joshua that he rather drag Ayumu around than working together and share the hardships of missions and fights? Whatever the reason was, Joshua knew one clear thing he had to do: He had to make it up to the dark blue haired teen, even if Izo kept distancing himself from them for what Joshua had done. It wasn't a small favor that was required, it had to be more… But what could he do? He knew nothing other than the fact that Izo enjoyed creating poetry, was an orphan, was grumpy and aloof, didn't seem to like having his hair pulled out (clearly)… But other than that, the frozen boy could be dubbed a mystery.

The only person who Joshua could think of that was the closest to Izo was Rei. Yet he seemed to dislike her as well, even though Rei mentioned once that he was brought into her family at a young age… Joshua knew Rei was the only go-to person who might know what Izo liked or how to calm him down (sort of). ...However, Joshua could hardly tell if anything or anyone made Izo happy.

Happiness… it seemed nonexistent when he thought of Izo. The dark blue haired boy always seemed rude, grouchy, and bitter… How could those traits mean happiness!?

When Joshua glanced back at Izo, who was singing about his love now, he gave a shudder. 'I can't dwell more with Izo being like this…' he thought uneasily, biting his lip. Izo fell into laughter as the ashen blond continued with his thoughts, 'We need to help him… H-He might do something he'll regret later... Well, more than he already has…'

Soon he wrapped his arms around his sobbing Partner, closing his eyes as he inhaled deeply. "Mayu… I won't let myself become like that again…" She sniffled as she slowly drew her head up, her eyes puffy and her face shining from tears. "Right now, we need to save Izo. Got it?"

She sniffled again before letting out a watery sounding, sad whisper, "O-Okay…" When he let go she began to wipe her sleeve across her face, breathing softly as she sniffled a couple more times. "D-Do you think… h-hitting him… will work?" she asked softly in sadness, blinking her puffy eyes.

"It's worth a shot." Joshua gave a small and bittersweet smile. "We can't leave Ayumu here with Izo when Izo's stuck this way..."

"Are you proposing that we work together today, brother?" Ayumu asked as he picked at his long sleeves.

Joshua nodded and ruffled his half-brother's slightly messy hair; he stared back at Izo determined. "Yeah, Izo might not take it so well…"

"I agree," Ayumu replied emotionless. "He dislikes affection… so hearing about how he sucked at her lips and… other stuff I think, might break his spirits for today."

'It's hard to tell when Izo is disheartened.' Joshua frowned, patting his brother's head. "Let's tell him our arrangements when he's back to being a grouchy grump."

Suddenly Mayu giggled quietly, stopping when Ayumu tilted is head and Joshua gave her a confused glance. "S-Sorry!" She frowned and lowered her gaze. "Th-That was… an impolite way for me to r-respond. I-I'm sorry!"

She was about to bow down when Joshua stopped her. "Don't worry, Mayu..." Joshua placed a hand on her shoulder gently. "We have our days."

Mayu still didn't seem pleased or relieved by his words.

With a quick glance to his timer, Joshua let out a heavy sigh. "2 hours and 43 minutes… Let's hurry, guys."

Ayumu raised his hand. "I'll punch him."

"What!?" Joshua shouted out in appal, he shook his head before he dashed over to his half-brother. "No, no, no..." Joshua soon placed his hand on the petite blond's shoulder, nervous enough to chuckle when he shook Ayumu's shoulder a little. "We're talking about Izo, Ayumu! Izo Shuuito!" He hoped Ayumu would understand the situation here! Him punching Izo!? Ayumu would be history!

"I can hit others." Ayumu groped for Joshua's hand. "Anyone can."

Joshua chomped on his lip. 'D-Did Ayumu hear what I just said!?' He didn't know emotionless people could be so difficult...

Often times in the past Ayumu would try to go against Joshua's word for some reason. And these were occasions when Joshua knew the danger his half-brother would be in if Joshua didn't intervene in some way. A vague memory of this would be when he tried to get a cat away from Ayumu when he was still mildly allergic to them. Ayumu really wanted to hold a stray cat and got rashes on his arms and legs, and it was until Ayumu hugged the cat too tightly and got bitten by it that he let go of it. Sadly, Ayumu kept trying to scratch and rub at his rashes until he finally fainted at least half an hour later. It was a good thing Ayumu's allergy went away when he was 12 years old.

...Punching Izo would be another of those occasions.

If he could convince his half-brother to back down from this terrible idea, his soul would be at peace. Maybe reminding Ayumu of his status would do the trick...

"But not you..." Joshua sighed, shaking his head as Ayumu moved his hand up Joshua's arm towards his shoulder. "You have no drive or power, Ayumu."

"I fought Ryou and Sora once and won, remember?"

"You got suspended and Auntie Chise was disappointed in you," said Joshua curtly with a frown, remembering the events and felt frustrated. "Only because they called her a…" He hesitated before he snarled, narrowing his eyes, "'Blind Hag'!"

"But I still can punch people." Ayumu tapped his shoulder. "Let me punch you."

Joshua flinched a bit. 'Punch... me?' Things weren't looking good... it was as if every card Joshua threw at Ayumu was deflected back... Changing his half-brother's opinion didn't appear to be working... But he had to try harder! Ayumu's safety was on the line! A different approach was a must right now! And an idea came to him...

Why go against the flow? He wouldn't let Ayumu near Izo... but Joshua had to figure out the extent if he did approve of Ayumu's venture (somehow)... Humouring Ayumu a bit might give the scraggly haired teen some idea of the statistics for Ayumu's chance of survival if Joshua's other attempts failed...

Joshua let out a hearty laugh. "Really? Try?"

Ayumu reared his hand before punching the ashen blond… very lightly. It felt like a moth tapped him on the shoulder.

"Uh…" Joshua shook his head before staring at Ayumu blankly. "I thought you were going to punch me?" How was that a punch?

Ayumu tried again, but yielded the same results.

With a sigh, Joshua ruffled Ayumu's hair. "You got no drive… You got, no, drive…"

"I see." Ayumu nodded before tilting his head. "Then you should punch Izo, Josh-"

"Glad you understand, Ayumu!" Joshua chirped cheerfully, patting his half-brother's shoulder with a grin. 'Phew! That was a close one!'

Joshua felt relieved, both that his brother accepted his current strength physically was nothing like his mental power and that Ayumu wouldn't get harmed now that he conceded to Joshua. He was glad his half-brother wasn't going to punch... no, tap Izo. Hitting Izo would probably be a dangerous move, and Joshua knew it would be better if he was the one to deal with him. As much as he feared what would happen in the aftermath.

He didn't really want to ask Mayu if she wanted to do the honours... Mayu wouldn't stand a chance… she was too, too gentle and sensitive. And judging by her quivers as she watched Izo... it had to be Joshua's job to punch Izo! Although, Joshua prayed Izo would spare him from erasure, but it was likely Joshua would return to that dark void sooner than he imagined.

Before he approached Izo, he pleaded mentally that Izo would forgive him for doing the actions he was about to do…

Joshua walked over, inhaling deeply to calm his nerves. His hand was clenching already, he wanted to get this done and over with swiftly. So as he joined the merry poet's side, Joshua took a big gulp. 'Gomen, Izo… Gomen, gomen, GOMEN!' He swung his fist where it landed near Izo's nape, forcing him to bend over after losing his balance a bit. Right away Izo clutched his head, letting out a very short shout before he fell to his knees. He stiffened, then slowly went limp.

Breathing harshly, Izo's shoulder twitched before he shook his head. At once Joshua backed away, feeling uneasy and afraid of what was going to happen.

Izo shook, stiffly getting to his feet with his shoulders rigid and his head down. Suddenly he raised his head, turning around with an ugly frown instead of the fake smile. Joshua's breath caught as Izo darkly glared at him, the air around them chilling and growing still. "You…" Izo's face was taut once more and he shook, livid as the air continued to grow colder. Then ice began to crawl across the ground around him, making Joshua back away more. "You… you fucking cretin!"

At once Izo flew at him, Joshua side-stepped to dodge only to slip on ice, meeting the ground and becoming dazed. He rolled away before Izo stomped down, feeling dizzy before he got up, only to side-step to dodge more of the walking freezer's punches. "What is the reason that you-" Joshua got struck at the back of his head, making him stumble forward slightly as his vision faltered briefly. "-clouted me!? Imbecile! Cretin! Brat!"

Joshua spun around to catch Izo' fist, but then he received a blow to his jaw. As his jaw ached, he managed to mumble out in irk, "I-I had to snap you out of it, Izo!"

"Out of what!?" More ice formed around him, snaking under Joshua's footing. "That- That-"

"Nice, wonderful feeling!?" supplied Joshua sharply, crouching defensively as he glared at Izo. "Like you're in the clouds!? Nice, warm, lovely swelling that makes you want to curl up and sleep soundly? HAPPY!?"

"Shut up!" Izo seized Joshua's arm and clenched hard, causing Joshua to cry out as Izo's nails dug into his fair-skin. "You don't-" Maroon eyes glittered with fury. "EMPATHIZE!"

"I do!" snapped Joshua angrily as he kicked towards Izo's shins.

Izo yelped as Joshua slipped again, both of them crashing down to the icy and normal pavement. Before Izo could recover, the ashen blond twisted around to thrust his hands down on Izo's boney shoulders. Izo cried out but Joshua clasped on, feeling the dull black jacket brushing hard against his palms as its owner struggled. "Liberate me, DAMMIT!"

Joshua pulled Izo up before smashing his back into the ground, pushing down to pin the aggravated poet. "Be QUIET!" spat Joshua as he glared coldly at the pinned boy. "LISTEN TO ME!"

Izo let out a snort before growling aloofly, "I haven't had much of a selection!"

"Enough of your snark, Izo!" Joshua bit his lip, his blood boiling so much he wanted to swear profanities into Izo's face. "I understand you may be confused…"

"LIBERATE ME, IMBECILE!" Suddenly a spike of ice burst from the ground beside Joshua, causing him to wince as pain clipped his shoulder. "I DON'T CARE!"

Clenching harder (and painfuller by the sound of Izo's cry), Joshua fixed his hardened glare into those blazed maroon eyes. "Take a hold of yourself! Calm, down!"

"NOT," piercingly snarled Izo as another ice spike erupted, slicing into Joshua's shoulder. Joshua bit his lip to muffle his cry of pain, barely moving to impale his shoulder more. "WHEN YOU ARE IMMOBLING ME VERSUS MY VOLITION!"

"I'll let go if you won't punch or kick at me!" shouted Joshua harshly as he snorted. "Otherwise, I have no choice but to keep PINNING you here!"

Izo let out a snarl, profanities, and struggled hard. But Joshua kept his hold, even though ice continued to burst from the ground and splintered through different parts of his body.

He noticed something about Izo at this strange time... When Joshua saw the fiery, yet cold fury blazing in his eyes, he felt like Izo was acting as though he was throttling against a caged animal inside. However, at the same time, the ashen blond felt like Izo was that caged animal that someone else was trying to restrain and throttle themself… It was unusual, but somehow it made sense while at the same time.

Finally Izo let out a shrill yell, and Joshua thought he saw the poet's maroon eyes glow harshly before Izo blinked. Slowly he grew limp and slumped onto the ground, huffing, puffing, and wheezing before settling with a pant. His struggles must have drained all of his energy, leaving him to let all tension seep from his body. Joshua let out a sigh, he released the aloof poet before he realized he was fading all across his body. Even the pain came, unpleasantly telling him to stay where he was on his hands and knees.

"Better, dear?" asked Joshua, tired but was able to manage a smirk.

At once Izo frowned at him, snorting and huffing in exhaustion, "Feh… Do you… agnize… how creepy… you make… that… sound?" he wheezed frostily, "Don't… call me… that… again…"

"Tee-hee~" Joshua kept his smirk as he hummed cheerfully, "Okay, dear~"

Izo let out a lucid swear.

Carefully Joshua twisted and moved, out of the ice spikes, lucky that he wasn't alive or else he'd either be dead or have fainted from blood loss.

Just as he got up to stand, he was using Rosetta Restore to treat the injuries. As the radiance of red healing nearly finished, filling him with clement warmth, Izo finally sat up.

After looking around, the dark blue haired teen sighed, rubbing his temples with a grimace. "What…?" He shook his head, squinting his eyes. "I haven't the foggiest clew as to… as to why I'm undergoing this… cephalalgia…?" He groaned, pressing both of his hands into his temples.

"Ah, what?" Joshua was confused.

"Headache," Izo snorted in annoyance, grimacing as he groaned, "Imbecile..."

"Oh…" Joshua blinked as he stared at Izo. For a second he thought that was a French term Izo spoke of… was it? He still wasn't sure... "...Do you… need aspirin?" Joshua asked cautiously, remembering that Mayu mentioned having it on hand yesterday. "Because Mayu might be able to shar-"

"I don't need them!" growled Izo crabbily, growling more as he groaned, "I don't!"

"Okay! Okay!" Joshua whipped up his hands in alarm and sighed, shaking his head at the headachy teenager. "Just letting you know they're there in case it becomes too painful."

"Feh." Izo snorted, now raising his head to scowl at him with his visible maroon eye. "I've had umpteen already thanks to the Tyke and any other imbecile I've encountered…"

Joshua gave a nod, but then grunted. "You're not the only one who feels confused after the GM jabbed you with that evil umbrella, y'know…" he said flatly, glancing away to not look at anything particular. "I'm not you, but… do you want to know what you did?"

"I did nothing!" growled Izo bitterly, Joshua looked behind his back to see Izo was stiffly getting up.

"Oh, really~" Joshua chirped as Izo grumbled, clenching his head as Joshua hummed teasingly, "Tell me, Izo, what you remember?"

"Feh, no…" growled Izo as he turned away sharply.

"Nothing but… bliss?" Joshua trotted over, stopping behind the spindly teenager. "Warmth that makes you want to just… I don't know… feel good?" Izo let out grumbles, his body rigid with his stance unfriendly. "Does this ring a bell?" asked Joshua with a giggle, stepping in front of Izo a few steps away then spun to face him. Right now he really hoped his memory was on good terms with him...

Clearing his throat and tilting his head up, he rested his hand over his heart then raised the other as he exclaimed, "My lady, I perchance a GLIMPSE… Is fair, is rare, as I no longer GLARE!" The ashen blond smirked as he continued in a singsong, giggling as well, "With eyes as PETALS… With skin as SNOW… Who in the WORLD would know you as our FOE…?"

Right away Izo snorted, stalking over as he grabbed Joshua's neat shirt collar hard, "Stop annihilating the sublime art of VERSE!" His face was twisted in anger, choking Joshua a little as he tightened his hold on the button-up shirt's collar.

"Wow, you seem to hate it when people mock your poetry, Izo," remarked Joshua playfully, still smirking at Izo.

Right away Joshua cried out in pain the moment he was shoved to the ground.

"That supplication for LOVE is not MINE!" snarled Izo as he glared at Joshua, shaking as he roared icily, "I would NE'ER develop poems for that- that INFELICITOUS CRUSADE!" He lashed out as he snorted, frowning deeply. "ADJOURING for the blemished maladroit passion are IMBECILES! FOOLS! DAMNED, STAR-CROSSED SIMPLETONS who ROT from what, they, CRAVE!"

'So, he's oblivious to what happened…' Joshua thought dolefully for the disheveled teenager, crossing his arms as he noted many characteristics that Izo had yet to notice. How his blue hair was unkempt from all the waltzing he did with Leiko… How rosy his cheeks were still from experiencing all of that exertion he had with Leiko and Joshua… How his jacket was creased… of course, it mostly looked like that after his skirmish with Joshua. And finally, it would seem after kissing Leiko some traces of her lipstick was still marking his lips…

"…Are you sure about that?" Joshua asked smirking with a chuckle. He rapped his index finger on his lips briefly before stroking them. "You seemed so affectionate with the GM… You should wash your face after that little… kiss? Hmm?"

Izo's expression hardened and his maroon eyes grew dark and artic. "I would never… NEVER osculate with that HARPY…" The air grew bitterly cold, causing Joshua to shiver up a storm. "How dare you even IMPEACH ME of that FABRICATION!" roared Izo furiously spitting as he clenched both of his hands so hard they were deathly pale as snow. "I am not ONE to DESCEND into THAT VAXUOUS BANE!"

Joshua narrowed his eyes. 'Wait 'til you see the lipstick, Bluey… Just you wait…'

"If you don't believe me," Joshua grumbled as he got up, fixing the undone buttons his shirt experienced. Grimacing at how creased the collar was, he muttered under his breath darkly, "Look at a mirror… or, take a picture of yourself, Izo…" With a cold chuckle, he smiled. "I'm sure you'll find something to interest you, Romeo…"

Izo grumbled and growled, turning away with a swear. He took out his phone then turned it to face him, clumsily having his thumb search for the button to snap his picture. Upon the click, Izo thrust his phone at Joshua without a glance. "Feh."

"Take a peek, dear," said Joshua in frustration, turning his head away with a frown. "I'm pretty sure from the last time I checked, you still have your glasses on…"

"I don't need to fixate on my own ikon," growled Izo grumpily as he scrunched his nose and closed his eyes, adjusting his small oval glasses almost in an air of hauteur.

"Oh come on!" cried Joshua in vex, impatiently seizing the cellphone and Izo's hand roughly. Before Izo could react he flipped Izo's hand around to make it show the cellphone's screen. "Look!"

Izo let out a sigh, opening his eyes. Immediately he stiffened, his mouth popping open with an ugly gaped frown. Joshua silently observed the aloof poet, seeing Izo's eyes flickering franticly then extending to full-blown saucers. Right away Izo released his phone (Joshua still held onto the stormy blue grey cellphone to make sure it didn't share the same fate as his orange, not mint conditioned one), his hands flying to his face. His long fingers pawed his lips, freezing as they met the substance no males wanted to find on their lips. He shrieked, backing away hastily as he clutched a wad of his blue locks. He shook his head, biting his lip before he froze.

Joshua felt awful for his friend, reaching forward as he asked nervously, "I-Izo? Are you alright?"

Without responding, Joshua was knocked to the ground as Izo flew past. Joshua let out a short cry of pain before he sat up, turning his head to see Izo's fleeing figure.

"Where are you going!?" shouted Joshua fuddled and alarmed, hauling himself to his feet as he cried, "We still have the mission to do!"

Izo was already out of sight.

To be continued… Hope you enjoyed the chapter =3