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: Hi, everyone! Sorry if this chapter took a while, it originally was going to be longer but then a big scene didn't quite turn out as well as I hoped so I had to change it completely. Although, with the added scene, this would have been over 10000 words long. So since it flowed better as two separate chapters I broke the chapter up in half. This would have come out sooner if it hadn't been for rewriting a whole new scene and the fact that I'm now busier than before!

Plus, I will be busier now so the uploading of new chapters will take longer, so please bear with me. *bows* I'll try my best to upload as many as I can when I am able to!

…

Week 2, Day 3:

Chapter 52: Painted With Distortion, Part 1:

Everyone took on a silence as they traveled towards their destination, something that Joshua felt strange about. It wasn't any different than being with Mayu, but something about it was different. Joshua didn't like what it was. It was easy to assume that there was nothing wrong with silence, but Joshua felt somewhat disturbed by how they moved forward with next to no words spoken.

Joshua followed at the back of the group, watching his half-brother, Partner, and Izo warily. He still felt frustrated that they wasted time negotiating whether or not to follow the rules, and even though he knew it was right, he felt that it was unnecessary. They could already be at Udagawa! But no, they had to oppose the offer Rei gave! All because of Izo...

He mostly watched Izo as they passed through each district, narrowing his eyes at how he stalked forward grumpily. How could Izo gain favor with the group when he barely was social to begin with!? He was grumpy, rude, antisocial, cold, and a jerk to everyone! What was there to like about him!? Why would anyone listen to him when he was well-known for being rude to everyone he met!? Unlike him, Joshua reached out to people… yet Izo seemed to shove them away. And despite that, Mayu and Ayumu failed to listen to Joshua, instead they listened to Izo… and he couldn't understand why!

Slowly he clenched his fists, trying to keep his breathing steady as he continued to follow the group. He didn't want this to bother him, but he couldn't help but feel bitter about it. And thinking back to earlier, he recalled Ayumu had to basically tell him to stop talking to Izo and that he was scaring Mayu! Did everyone deem his decisions weren't noteworthy enough to follow!? Was that it!? That he wasn't making decisions that they liked and that made it better to hear out Izo instead!? Joshua could barely believe they thought taking Rei's offer was a bad idea! It was a perfectly practical one! But no, Izo persuaded them to forgo the offer… and do the objective despite the amount of time they would lose… It didn't make sense!

For a moment he wanted to let out a yell of frustration, but he tried to hold it back. He had to stay composed; he wasn't a child! The moment he acted like one, the odds were that he wouldn't be seen as sensible to anyone! So he firmly pressed his lips together, trying not to clench his hands, and continued to march after his companions.

They entered Udagawa within good time; seventeen minutes in walking was better than thirty or forty. At least their walking speed wasn't nonchalant, so he could give them all marks for good travel time. He even felt relieved that they didn't waste too much time with any Walls or Reapers, so his mood had somewhat improved during the time they left Rei and now… Not much, but enough for him to not blow up at people.

Looking around, Joshua breathed out flatly as they were briefly covered by the shadow of a roof, "This place looks as shady as the news channel makes it out to be…" After a moment when they had to cross the road, he added as he let out an uninterested sigh, "I can say that not I'm surprised."

Mayu slowed down at once, soon joining his side when he caught up to her. "It c-certainly does," she said quietly, glancing at the turned-over trashcan that they were passing. There was a tortoiseshell cat pulling a fish skeleton out of it, and Joshua could only grimace at the cat; remembering when Ayumu had an allergic reaction to one. He heard Mayu squeak just before they were at a comfortable distance away from the stray and its meal, "It's g-giving me some ch-chills."

"Oh, is it frightening for you?" Joshua asked, suddenly feeling his frustration subside enough for worry to fill him. "I can hardly imagine that you wouldn't be scared. After all, it is Udagawa."

"N-No, I'm a bit thrilled also," she replied with a weak smile. "I-It's interesting!"

Joshua frowned at once. "Oh?" He slightly grimaced, feeling slightly disappointed by her remark. "You are?"

"Mmhmm." She nodded as her eyes sparkled. "It's quiet, and it's secluded…" She trailed in her sentence for a second or two before she added in a quiet remark, "It must be such a nice place for those who want some peace and quiet."

He had to wonder whether or not Mayu watched the news, but it was rude to assume she didn't. After all, this must have been the first time Mayu was visiting Udagawa, so he didn't want to ruin it for her by pressing in the information that it was dangerous every moment he could. He had to admit it would be rude (also obnoxious in that regard), and his earlier comments about the place didn't help one bit, considering how they were indeed safe from the infamous people who stalked its street. And of course, it was up to her to decide whether or not she should be wary of the district, not him… but that didn't mean he wouldn't worry about her safety. They merely had different opinions, and that was alright, considering how they were different people.

"Of course it would be," he replied in amusement, smiling as she gazed at a nearby building. "Although, I can't say the place is suitable to my standards."

'Especially with all the crimes, gangs, and murders I hear about,' he thought to himself bitterly, trying not to show his discomfort in the shady streets. After a moment, he grimaced. 'And I can't forget Ryou and Sora, considering that they live in this district…' He paused his thought before rolling his lavender eyes. 'Well, they used to live here. Now they're stuck in the Game with us, hurray…'

Suddenly as they came back into the sunlight again, he noticed how Mayu's glossy hair shimmered in it. And her pretty eyes glowed also! Right now they were shimmering pools of water, and he couldn't help but admire them, be captivated by how sunlight could capture such beauty in her features... For a second he felt his heart beat faster, blinking a bit as he gazed at her-

Abruptly he banged into something hard.

"Ouch!" he yelped as he fell down, instantly brining up his hand to touch his throbbing cheek. The left side of his face (along with his chest and abdominal region) felt slightly numb as he sat there, grimacing as more pain waved through him. He could only hope he hadn't chipped his teeth, but if he did, he felt as though Ayumu wouldn't be the only one who had lost a valuable feature of his face now.

"Joshua!" cried Mayu in horror as she covered her mouth with her hands, instantly joining him and fell to her knees when he sat up. "Are you okay?"

"Perhaps…" Joshua groaned as closed his eyes, feeling slightly lightheaded as he swayed. "I didn't expect…" He peeked an eye open, seeing a stop sign in front of him. Groaning mentally at the pathetic irony of the situation, he closed his eye as he finished, "That stop sign."

"Then next time survey where you're proceeding, Aleck!" spat Izo harshly as Joshua opened his eyes again, spotting him beside Ayumu a few steps away as he curled his lip. Joshua could only feel a ball of anger form in the pit of his heart from that statement, and of course, Izo himself.

"I was watching!" protested Joshua in frustration, frowning back as he hissed in a painful breath. He certainly didn't want to admit that he was watching Mayu; he didn't want to make her feel awkward and guilty about this…

"Then why did you crash into it?" asked Ayumu as he tipped his head to one side. He picked at his sleeves as he noted apathetically, "You wouldn't have crashed into it if you were watching where you were going, Josh."

"I didn't crash into it! I-" Joshua closed his eyes again, breathing in as he tried to compose himself. "I bumped into it, that's all." That sounded a lot better than admitting that he did.

It was suddenly silent, and Joshua wondered why it was so he opened his eyes only to cry out in surprise when Izo pulled him up forcefully. He gazed into Izo's furious maroon eyes as he snarled, "That's the uniform thing, dammit! You collided into that sign!"

"I didn't crash into it!" protested Joshua as Izo continued to hold onto his collar, glaring back at him with annoyance as Joshua huffed, "And it would be kind of you to let go of me, Izo."

Izo shoved him back abruptly, and Joshua managed to stay standing up.

Frowning, Joshua turned back to Ayumu when he called over to him, "Then why are you acting like you're injured, Josh?"

"I'm not injured!" cried Joshua with disgruntlement, shaking his head as he called back to Ayumu, "I merely bumped into it, and I'm completely fine, Ayumu!"

His younger half-brother didn't reply to that.

Izo glared at Joshua for a few more seconds, snorting rudely before he growled out harshly, "Then sojourn your cavilling and histrionics!" With that, he turned around and stalked over to Ayumu, dragging him off.

The ashen blond grimaced at once, shaking his head at that. 'I'm not… 'cavilling'… I wasn't! …Whatever that is...' Biting his lip, he closed his eyes. 'Ugh, it's not like I'm the only one in Shibuya who has bumped into things, so why was Izo blowing up at me about that? It makes no sense at all! It doesn't! Ugh...'

"Are you still in pain, Joshua?" asked Mayu fretfully, and Joshua turned to see her gazing back at him with worry.

"A little bit, but it's nothing to be worried about, Mayu," he replied simply, feeling his body was more numb than in pain. So he could say he wasn't exactly trying to deny the truth... "We better get going, or Bluey's going to scold us about lagging behind," he added, somewhat annoyed he sounded more bitter than teasing than he wanted to.

"But are you okay?" asked Mayu gently, suddenly reaching out towards him. Joshua widened his eyes as she touched his cheek, suddenly wincing and gasping sharply in pain, causing her to withdraw her hand with shock. "Oh no! You're still hurt!" she whimpered with horror.

"I said, it's nothing to be worried about, Mayu," said Joshua mildly as he smiled, hoping he wasn't grimacing instead. "A little pain doesn't hurt anyone."

She instantly covered her mouth, her eyes flashing with horror. Joshua at once frowned at that, shaking his head as he quickly spoke with appall, "Okay, maybe that wasn't the best way to phrase that!" Turning away, he said loudly, "I'm sorry for scaring you!"

'Great job, Yoshiya Kiryu… The worst time to pull out a bad, bad pun like that!' he scolded himself mentally, wanting to facepalm himself hard at least three times for saying that. 'It's one thing to scare her, but to mortify her while trying to reassure her is low for me! I'm such an idiot!'

"No, no!" Mayu cried out desperately as she frowned at him as soon as she uncovered her mouth, looking down instantly as she added meekly, "You didn't scare me, Joshua. I-I was just worried…"

"But I still scared you at least once today…" he muttered as he closed his eyes. "Yet you're still talking to me like nothing's wrong…"

He suddenly felt her hand on his cheek again, but he didn't wince this time. "…Wh-What do you mean by that?" she asked timidly in puzzlement, as though she could hardly believe what he was saying.

"You know what I meant; I scared you earlier." he said crestfallen as he sagged his shoulders, sighing as he wanted to pull away from her. "When I saw that you were hurt by Izo."

"…It wasn't Izo," she said as soon as he opened his eyes, seeing her quiver a bit. "And you didn't scare me."

"Of course I did," he said bitterly, finally walking forward and feeling her hand slide off his cheek. "I was too harsh with you, and now I mortified you, Mayu." With a sigh, he added quietly, "There's no more evidence to find for denying the truth, seeing that it's true…"

"Joshua?" she squeaked in surprise from behind him. "W-Wait!"

He continued on, trying to ignore how his face was numb and that his vision blurred a bit. When he found that he was crying, he hastened his pace, trying to make it so his Partner wouldn't see him like this. After all, he scared her two times today, so it was better that they could stay away from each other for a while. Especially if he was crying…

Suddenly he felt his wrist was snagged onto, promptly stopping him from continuing. He lowered his head, feeling his bangs fall over his face as he shook while standing there. He seriously didn't want Mayu to see him cry; he didn't want her to be near him right now!

"J-Joshua…?" he heard her murmur sadly, causing him to want to curl up in shame right now. "P-Please, look at me…"

He kept staring at the ground through his scraggly bangs, not wanting to turn around. He didn't want her to look at him, not until he stopped crying, not until he was certain he wouldn't scare her anymore.

"J-Just go on without me," he finally said, trying to hold back a sob. "I-I'll catch up with you, don't worry." He already cried in front of Rei, Izo and Ayumu, even the Conductor and Composer, so right now he didn't want to let it be known he was crying again, in yet the company of another person. He was stronger than that…

"No!" He flinched, keeping still as he heard Mayu's footsteps travel around him, holding onto his wrist as though she was trying to keep him from running away from her. He saw her lemon-coloured strapped sandals as he stared at the ground, feeling his tears rolling down before dropping. At least a few fell onto her feet, and upon hearing her gasp, he knew he failed at keeping his tears a secret.

"Why not?" he asked, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "We're already going to be scolded by Izo about keeping them waiting, so it's better that you should go on so you don't receive the worst of it."

"Not without you." He frowned at that, clenching his eyes shut at once. He held back his sob that desperately wanted to tear out of his throat, but then he heard her murmur timidly, "Y-You're scaring me, J-Joshua."

"I know I did," he said wretchedly, sniffling slightly as his heart dropped from her admitting the truth. "I guess that's three times now, and you know what they say: Three times the charm..."

"N-No, you're s-scaring me because y-you're c-crying…"

Joshua stiffened, feeling his heart constrict suddenly. Before he could come up with a comeback, he felt arms wrap around him and felt himself stiffen again, feeling utterly like a flat plank now because of that. The warmth he felt, the closeness of another person… all because he was not strong enough at this moment was too much for him. All the barriers he was putting up fell. Suddenly his tears came out easier, and his energy for keeping them back felt zapped, so he let himself cry.

He felt so awkward at the time; he knew it shouldn't be like this. He should be the one comforting Mayu, not the other way around. It just didn't make sense to him; it had to be him comforting Mayu… Yet his body seemed to crave the comfort, and before he knew it he was sobbing into her shoulder, shaking as he did so.

It was despicable, and he couldn't help but hate himself for crying right now. But soon he felt himself grow tired as he did so, soon feeling himself leaning into the warmth of the hug. Soon all he did was sniffle, soon raising his head slightly to find that Mayu was slightly shaking, and he trembled at once.

"I-I guess I needed to clear that out of my system," Joshua said bitterly, closing his eyes as he felt weary. "Thank you, Mayu."

Instead of drawing back, like he expected her to, she murmured sadly, "You never scared me before, not until now, Joshua."

"But, you-" Joshua bit his lip, sniffling slightly. "But you were!"

"All those other times, you startled me," she replied softly, and Joshua felt some weigh that was on him disappear as he widened his eyes. "I get startled easily, and I thought you knew that." Suddenly he heard a sniffle come from her, "A-And to think that you cried because you thought you s-scared me… is horrible that I hurt you like that!"

"No, no…" he said dejectedly with another sniffle, now wrapping his arms around her as she sniffled again. "It's not your fault... It's not your fault!"

"B-But I caused you to think that you were scaring me, and that was terrible of me to do that to you!" she cried and he bit his lip in worry. "I'm sorry, Joshua! It's my fault!"

"No, I should be the one to say sorry, Mayu!" he cried out desperately, hugging her harder as he murmured sadly, "Please… it's my fault. Please don't cry, it's my fault."

"Joshua…"

He breathed in deeply, faintly smelling cherry blossom perfume from her. The sweet scent somewhat relaxed him at this point in time, and he closed his eyes as he whispered bitterly, "I won't let you say it's your fault, Mayu. It wasn't your fault, it's mine. For assuming I scared you, for crying, making you cry… It's not your fault."

After a few seconds it was silent, and he breathed in again. But then he heard Mayu murmur, "Th-Then... whose fault is it?"

"Maybe, neither of ours…?" said Joshua finally, exhaling as he pulled himself out of the hug. After he saw how her glittering vivid turquoise eyes were gazing at him in astonishment, he smiled as he continued, "Yeah, maybe it's not us, and it doesn't matter."

The shorter girl blinked slowly, soon drawing up a neutral expression as she nodded. "I-I guess so…"

"Well, I guess it's decided then," he said with a sigh of relief, blinking as he wiped his tear stains off of his face before he smiled. "Neither of us is to blame."

Faintly smiling, she nodded reluctantly.

Joshua checked the timer to find that they had less than two hours left, causing him to curse as he widened his eyes. "Looks like we need to hurry. We must've spent too much time here…"

"I don't think it was a bad thing," Mayu said suddenly, causing Joshua to frown at her in confusion.

"Why's that?" Joshua asked in confusion.

"We cleared up a miscommunication," the smoky black haired girl replied with a small grin, cheerfully putting in as she grabbed his hand and squeezed it gingerly, "And that means there's nothing that can divide our trust for each other, seeing that everything's okay between us again! Right?"

Joshua was shocked by her response, not used to seeing her turn cheerful like that so unexpectedly. But in the end, he grinned back, nodding as he giggled, "Hehehe… it would seem so, Partner."

Mayu frowned at once. "Partner?"

"And what's wrong with me calling you 'Partner'?" asked Joshua as he frowned back, confused that she didn't seem to respond positively at that. "Don't like it?"

"No, it's not like that," she said quickly, turning around to walk ahead. Joshua furrowed his eyebrows as he watched her, soon seeing her turn her head to look behind her as she added cheerfully with a faint smile, "Partner."

Joshua couldn't help but grin at that.

Of course Izo wasn't close to being grumpy when they joined him and Ayumu; Izo was completely enraged with them. It took a while for them to explain to him that Joshua merely was a bit more injured than he thought he was and needed to rest, upon planning it along the way to them courtesy of Joshua's brilliant idea so he wouldn't have to admit he was crying, so Joshua was glad Izo seemed to take the story... Although, Izo still seemed suspicious of them, and Joshua knew that because Izo was glaring at them the whole time after they relayed their story.

After spotting the mural from afar, Joshua gasped before he let out a cry of joy, "The mural! We made it!"

"It's just the mural, Josh," said Ayumu as Joshua pulled him along, lucky that he didn't have to take long to regain custody of guiding Ayumu from Izo again. "There's nothing to be happy about."

"Once you get your emotions back, Ayumu-" chirped Joshua as he led him up the steps, grinning happily as he continued, "I bet you'd be leaping for joy that you're here!"

"I don't think that's something I would be happy about," replied Ayumu emotionlessly. "It's San-"

At once Joshua halted to whirl around and put his hand over Ayumu's mouth when they were halfway up the steps, muffling Ayumu's voice as Mayu timidly went up the steps while Izo stalked past them, sending a glare Joshua's way. As soon as Mayu and Izo were far enough away, Joshua released his hand from Ayumu's mouth and hissed in a frustrated, hushed voice, "No one's supposed to know that it's Sanae's, Ayumu! Why do you think he uses CAT as his alias?"

The petite blond merely stared past him. "'Kay, so you want me to be quiet about that, right?" asked Ayumu quietly.

"Exactly, Ayu~" chirped Joshua with a giggle.

For a while it was silent, then Ayumu tipped his head to one side after Joshua started to frown at him. "Oh, Joshua, you know I'm not a girl," Ayumu slowly said emotionlessly, causing Joshua to sigh as his spirits lowered from hearing that.

"Ayumu, you know you don't have to say it as though you're pretending to be not angry at me," he said sadly, shaking his head as he added bitterly, "Or as though you're not able to use sarcasm."

"But I am pretending. For you, Josh," Ayumu replied emotionlessly. "Why must you act as though I'm not emotionless?"

"Because on Day 7, you're going to have all of your emotions returned to you, Ayumu!" chirped Joshua with a smile, turning back to guide him to Mayu and Izo. "Then you'll be back to being my happy half-brother!"

"If the Composer does allow me to have my emotions," said Ayumu, causing Joshua to halt abruptly.

Trembling for a moment where he stood on the stairs, Joshua gritted his teeth as he growled out coldly, "There's no 'if', Ayumu… You will get your emotions back." With that, he pulled Ayumu over the rest of the stairs and swerved straight towards Mayu and Izo.

Letting go of Ayumu, Joshua brightly smiled as he cheerfully chirped, "Well, here's CAT's mural, Mayu!"

After she regarded him with a flinch and look of shock to him, Mayu turned back to stare at the wall art in wonder. She breathed out a nearly breathless gasp, "It's… amazing!"

"I know, it's something nobody should miss out on," remarked Joshua gladly, pleased that she loved it. It made him happier that he allowed her this chance at seeing it, making him more proud of himself. "I'm glad you like it, Mayu."

Mayu turned back to grin at him, her pretty eyes sparkling brightly as she gave a speechless nod. It was as though she so happy at being here that she couldn't form words to express it, and it made him any happier knowing that. With that he nodded back with a wide grin, watching as she went back to admiring the mural as his heart swelled with warmth, feeling slightly lightheaded from seeing her so delighted. Her positivity was almost contagious to him...

At once Izo shot a glare in Joshua's direction, letting out a growl of annoyance as he snorted, "Why are you elated, Aleck?"

"And why shouldn't I be happy, Bluey?" asked Joshua cheerfully, deciding to ignore the nickname and Izo's attitude. He wouldn't let Izo ruin his mood now, not when Mayu was this happy. In fact, she glimmered with joy, as though glitter could form at any time around her.

Izo's visible maroon eye became a slit. "You're excessively elated."

"There's nothing wrong with happiness, my good old blue grumpy grouch," replied Joshua teasingly as he giggled merrily. "It's something that you should feel more of~! And be less cold-"

"You're pushing it, brat!" snapped Izo coldly, and Joshua felt himself sweat when mist swirled around Izo and the air straightaway became frigid.

"...Not to mention you, Izo..." grumbled Joshua as his mood lowered instantly. He turned back to Mayu, wanting to conserve his body heat by hugging himself as best as he could… hoping that Izo wouldn't turn him into an ice statue to add to Sanae's gallery.

Once again sunlight was streaming down on them, and Joshua saw Mayu's smoky black hair shimmer again in the light. He blinked again, wondering why Mayu looked so great in when it was sunny outside before he joined her side, deciding to admire the mural with her.

At once he smiled, glad to have come so far to see this great work of art. It was worth his time to be here, especially if he was sharing this moment with Mayu, who was positively happier than he ever seen her before. He went to look at the part of the mural she was looking towards, feeling his heart fill and bubble with warmth…

Joshua frowned.

"...Something's wrong with the mural," he said in a low voice, drawing the attention of everyone. His heart at once tightened as he stared at the mural with horror, depleted of the happiness he had felt.

"Feh, nothing's erroneous with this imprudent wall of vandalism, Aleck," growled Izo as he crossed his arms, giving Joshua a pointed look.

"No, something's wrong with it!" he cried as he felt sick with horror, gazing at the part of the wall that wasn't supposed to be there.

Instead of the grinning black cat, there was a small silver-furred creature that looked as though it was bouncing towards them. If Joshua wasn't as experienced as he was, he wouldn't have recognized the creature if it hadn't been for its light blue and dark blue tattooed limbs and tail.

"It's a Noise!" he shouted out with anger, clenching his fists. "It's not supposed to be there!"

At once Mayu stepped back, gaping in horror. "A N-Noise!?"

Izo growled in frustration, flicking his long fringe away as he growled, "That has to be the Noise we must rout!" His bangs soon slid back over his face, but Izo seemed to ignore that as he went on in frustration, "But how can we cajole it out of the vandalism?"

"Oh, so it's a part of the mural?" Ayumu said as he tipped his head to one side, his slightly messy hair went over his face slightly as he went on, "Huh, there's no way we can fight it then."

"Of course we can, Ayumu," said Joshua brightly, soon narrowing his eyes as he glared at the small Noise. "We have to, or CAT's work will be ruined."

"That's right!" Mayu gasped with horror, staring at the silver-furred Noise. "The poor guy must have put in so much time and effort with this mural… and now it's been tampered with!" As Joshua blinked, he flinched when he saw her clench her fists. "Th-That's horrible!" she yelled in anger, narrowing her eyes. "We must do something!"

"We will, as soon as we can get the Noise out of the mural," said Joshua, feeling himself sweat from seeing Mayu so furious. He didn't know why Mayu became so angry suddenly, he would have thought she would be worried rather than angered by seeing this… But right now, pondering why she would be furious about this was not important; getting the Noise off of it was. "Any suggestions?"

"Obliterate the vandalism, done," growled Izo with a snort, crossing his arms as he rolled his eyes. "What else can we do?"

"No!" shouted Joshua and Mayu at the same time, pausing to look at each other in shock. It was a little while later that Joshua turned back to Izo.

"We can't do that, Izo," growled the ashen blond with anger, giving a glare to Izo with a shake of his head. "This is city property."

"I don't care whether it's private or public property, Aleck," growled Izo grumpily with another roll of his eye. After a pause he grumbled in irritation, "We have constrained time to combat the Noise, trek to the subsequent vandalism, combat that Noise, trek to the subsequent vandalism-"

"We get it, Izo," said Joshua flatly, being rewarded with daggers from the frosty poet. "But we won't destroy the mural."

"But if we need to, we will, Josh," said Ayumu as he blinked his pewter eyes, Mayu shot Ayumu a dismayed look as he went on, "If we can't get the Noise off of it, we will have to. There's no other way then."

"Ayumu, just listen to me!" yelled Joshua as he shook his younger half-brother's shoulder, wanting to scream sense into him but he held off by breathing in and containing himself to be as calm as he could. Brushing his hand through his scraggly bangs slowly, he sighed. "We need to think within the box, not outside of the box like Rei encouraged us to do last week. We can come up with an idea that fits the bill for the RG and the UG, so we shouldn't jump to destroying architecture until then, alright?"

"Sure." Ayumu nodded. "But if we can't, you know the drill."

Not pleased with that, Joshua turned back to Mayu as she looked at him. "Have you come up with anything?" Joshua asked hopefully, trying not to sound frustrated when he continued, "Anything that doesn't include destroying public property?"

"M-Me?" Mayu asked in a stutter, pointing at herself with surprise.

"Yes, you!" he said in a chirp, smiling at her supportively. "Have anything?"

"N-No…" Mayu soon whispered sadly. "I-I'm sorry…"

"Oh…" Joshua felt his shoulders droop at once, feeling a bit awkward. He'd thought Mayu had an idea, seeing how many fantastic ideas she came with yesterday, so it was a little startling that she didn't have anything in mind. But it couldn't be helped; Joshua felt that it wasn't bad that Mayu didn't have an idea. He shouldn't just rely on her to have a plan that needed be coaxed out by him to be shared… although he felt disappointed in that regard.

With a smile, he said as cheerful as he could, "W-Well, that's alright! We just have to keep on trying…" He immediately sent a glare to Izo. "Without destroying the mural in mind."

The dark blue haired boy darkly glared at him, looking completely livid. "Feh…"

"Have you at least Scanned yet?" asked Ayumu suddenly.

Joshua frowned at once, giving Ayumu a look as he replied, "Not yet, we haven't gotten the Noise off of the mural yet."

Ayumu blinked. "Do we have to it physically?"

"No, we don't. We should leave the mural alone, just get Noise off without ruining it." Joshua frowned as he studied his half-brother, wondering what he was trying to get at. "Why are you asking about that, Ayumu?"

"Josh," Ayumu said as he held his hands together. "Just Scan."

It took a while until it occurred to the ashen blond that Ayumu must have figured something out, so he inhaled before he nodded. "Okay… I guess I'll try that," he replied unsurely, frowning briefly as he stared at his half-brother. A moment later he added, "Thank you, Ayumu."

"You're welcome, Josh." Ayumu nodded.

Pulling out his Player Pin, Joshua equipped it to his shirt before he used its Psych. The sounds around him hushed, and he looked around the royal blue abyss for a while before he froze. There was a tiny blue Noise Symbol on the adjacent wall before him, staying still instead of squirming around like the other Noise symbols. Joshua instantly drew himself out of Scanning, blinking as his surroundings returned to normal.

'I can still see the Noise, even if its not moving around,' he thought in amazement as he stared at the spot it was dwelling in. 'Yes… I think I can get it to battle us from Scanning! We don't even need to move it first- just get it to battle us! Ayumu's a genius!'

"D-Did you s-see anything?" asked Mayu quietly, holding her hands together as she stared at him.

"I did!" chirped Joshua excitedly. "I saw the Noise- its Noise Symbol was on the mural! Scanning allows us to get to it easily!" Turning to Ayumu, Joshua nodded with a wide grin as he chirped, "That was a great idea, Ayumu!"

The petite blond nodded, blinking as he spoke, "I thought the rules wouldn't change, even if it was on an solid object."

"Well, it would seem Scanning yet again has helped us," remarked Joshua eagerly, turning back to the small Noise that resided on the mural. "I don't think we need to destroy the mural now, so all we need to do is Erase it!"

"Indeed..." growled Izo, instantly reaching into his pockets to pull out a spool of thread. "We must trounce the Noise swiftly."

"Okay, then I guess everyone is ready," said Joshua brightly, instantly reaching out his energy to his Pin again.

"B-But what about Ayumu?" asked Mayu in a squeak, interrupting Joshua before he could enter the dark blue abyss of Scanning.

"Yes, I can't fight, Josh," Ayumu chimed in emotionlessly, tipping his head to one side as he spoke, "I need to not get hit, so what do you think will work best for this fight?"

"Well…" Joshua frowned, turning to face Ayumu as he sighed. "We'll... just have to make sure you're out of range, Ayumu." With a bittersweet smile, he reached out to ruffle Ayumu's blond hair. "...Do you think you'll be okay on your own?"

"I'll try my best to," Ayumu replied emotionlessly, standing nonchalantly as Joshua withdrew his hand. "Don't worry about me, Josh, just worry about the Noise."

"That will do." The lavender-eyed boy turned back and activated his Psych again, stepping closer to the wall and tapped the Noise Symbol. Right away it twitched and began to glide around the surface of the wall, almost as if it was crawling on it, and Joshua promptly stepped out of Scanning.

"Here it comes!" Joshua shouted before his vision was engulfed in white.

To be continued… hope you enjoyed the chapter! =3