Septet
Abyssmal
When one stares into the abyss, they say that sometimes, the abyss stares back.
In this case, though, "The Abyss" is a pair of inhumanly bright eyes, and "staring" can be easily exchanged for "being a total jackass".
Blush
"You look really cute in that dress, dear- Angelique Lapin suits you well."
"...Shut up."
"Teeheehee! That dark blush on your cheeks just makes you even cuter!"
Cantata
When they made love- by holding hands, by snuggling, by intercourse, even by flirting arguing with each other in public- Joshua noted how Neku's music would grow louder.
It was a special sort of music then, borrowing a chord or two from his own, and that it played just for him made him feel more like the city god that he was.
Da Cappo
At the very end of the Reapers' Game, at the end of their own personal game, with guns and tears and "BANG!", Joshua forced Neku to see before- to see the kind of person he was three weeks ago, and to see how fucking Joshua killed him and forced him into the Long Game in the first place.
And at the end of it all, he couldn't even properly bitch about it like he wanted, because really, he had come out a better person, and Josh had been doing what he thought was best for Shibuya.
Of course, Neku still brought it up sometimes, but it didn't carry the same weight as it did when he'd first met the little snot.
Elegy
The day Neku became the new Conductor, he, Joshua, and Mr. Hanekoma (Conductor, Composer, and Producer) collaborated with 777, Tenho, and B.J. to create a special song in memory of the many Players who'd been Erased in the Long Game. If it'd been anyone else suggesting it, Joshua wouldn't have cared, but it was Neku's idea, and as bothersome as humans could be, the Composer could forgive his Conductor's sentimentality. He wouldn't be Neku without it, after all.
Fermata
Joshua enjoyed being able to wake up at the crack of dawn (sometimes earlier). It gave him a few hours to listen to Shibuya's music without human interference.
But there were some days, like today, where he'd allow himself to drift back to sleep nestled in the arms of his still very much live Conductor, only hours after he'd gotten rid of an especially powerful Noise.
And for the reason Neku was staying with him that night in particular, Joshua let it slide when he woke up again at noon and found his Conductor still happily snoozing.
Glissando
When they fought Noise, their minds and attacks were always perfectly synchronized, the puck passing between them effortlessly, like a singer sliding from the bottom of the major scale to the top.
Harmony
In the joint choir club of St. Michael's and St. Ursula's, Joshua, the tenor, sang the melody- subtly heard, but noticeably manipulative of his fellow singers. Neku sang the bass harmony, his voice complimenting Joshua's in a way even Minamimoto-sensei found enjoyable. Or, at least tolerable.
Introduction
Looking back, Neku wants to hit himself for not having noticed it at the time. There was just no way Joshua would've known his name before asking for it if all he'd been doing was watching.
But he did know- had most likely known it even before shooting him- and that was more than a little creepy.
Jarring
Having forced himself to grow accustomed to it, the Composer finds it a little strange that his newest Conductor doesn't worship the ground he walks on like all the others did. But it's a nice change.
Klangfarbenmelodie
Sometimes, if his emotions were too far out of his control- a rarity, especially for him- his music would abruptly change mid-note, sometimes multiple times in the same chord. Usually some cuddles and a bit of preening were enough to even things out, though- especially after Def Märch concerts, when Joshua'd accidentally get high off the overflowing love and creativity flowing between the band and their audience.
By the time he'd been able to pick up on it without Joshua needing to say or do anything, Neku had gotten pretty good at dealing with it.
Ligature
Everything was going smoothly, exactly as he'd planned. Though he wasn't counting on his proxy to grow so attached to the Misaki girl in his first week. Even though it made his transition into the second week smoother, too, Joshua already decided he didn't like her. She was the one Player who's mere being in the Game was a hitch in his otherwise perfectly smooth plans.
His dislike of her wasn't due to his proxy's fondness of her at all.
Really.
Movement
As Conductor, Neku sometimes accompanies Joshua to meetings with the Angels. Seeing them, he can't help but be aware that he's still just a small part of something so much bigger than him- something he may never be able to fully understand. But at least he's closer to the top of the metaphorical food chain than the bottom.
Nocturne
They're walking down the streets of an alternate Traverse Town, and the eternal night is clear and the stars are brighter here than they ever were in Shibuya, but Joshua doesn't really care about that as much as that Neku's alive again, and safe.
"Hey Neku...do you...do you ever miss Shibuya?"
"Shibuya? It sounds familiar, sorta, but Josh, I can't miss a place I've never been to."
And that kinda hurts, but it's also comforting, because a tiny part of him is still the Composer- is still Shibuya, even if it's been overrun by heartless- and never wanted Neku to forget what he'd done for him and him alone, but the rest of him is glad that the reborn Neku can't ever associate him with the god of a city, can't love him only for that, and can freely love him as Yoshiya-the-human-who-was and not Joshua-the-god-of-a-dying-city.
Oppression
In some worlds, Joshua was an actual saint, kinda like Jesus. In others, he was a possessive, egotistic maniac.
The first time Neku had stumbled in by accident, the Joshua of that world wanted to keep him. Thank every other Joshua copy out there that his Josh, the one who killed him twice and still earned his trust, was able to save him.
Neku doesn't try to visit other worlds now, afraid he'd accidentally stumble on that one again, and in a way, maybe that could also be a form of oppression by Joshua-the-dictator.
Punishment
"Oh calm down, dear- it really wouldn't kill you to at least smile at my puns every now and then."
"...I hate you."
"Well then, I guess I'm in for some sort of pun-ishment, hmm?"
Neku glared at him tiredly.
"Okay, fine. I'll stop," Joshua pouted, then muttered under his breath, "killjoy..."
"I heard that, Yoshiya!"
Queue
There was a long list of Players this time- even compared to the amount in the Long Game. Most of them were suicides over a presidential debate- people killing themselves because the person they hoped to win the election wasn't as good of a liar as the other guy. Honestly.
Humans.
But there were still so many of them, even after he'd given Neku half of them.
Ugh...he hated paperwork!
Rambunctious
Neku often compared Joshua to a rambunctious child. Maybe he wasn't as loud, but he was just as annoying.
But maybe that made Neku the immature one for falling for someone like that.
Synergy
Neku and Joshua always worked better together than Neku and Shiki, or even Neku and Beat. When Neku agreed to work under him, they produced even greater results, which only seemed to increase as time passed and Neku no longer had a reason to really stay in the RG.
Tropical
After a few centuries of work, Hanekoma kicked both Composer and Conductor out of Shibuya and into a more tropical world so they could take a much-needed vacation.
By the end of it, they both agreed that it was indeed much-needed. And if their music was almost identical with how intermixed it was with each other's, well...that was their own business.
University
It was all about the experience, really, since dead people don't need degrees. Neither of them had taken into account that Neku would've had to live on campus, though, and though Neku regretted his choice a month into the school year, he forced himself through it. Absence makes the heart grow fonder, after all.
Voracious
Neither of them really ate too much in general, but they were voracious people in their own way. Joshua was always willing to try Ken Doi's experiments just so he could savor the love and creativity of them. Neku ate them for the taste.
Worrywart
Joshua would never directly say it, but he was always worried (irrationally, he knew) during the days between Neku leaving Shibuya for universityand him coming back for him every Sunday.
Xeranthemum
There were a few times Joshua gave him flowers- small bouquets with roses, both red and blue (which immediately tipped him off because those just weren't natural) and xeranthemums. He googled the symbolisms behind each flower, and it just figures that Joshua would use flowers to say something so sappy.
Red roses for love.
Blue roses for impossible miracles.
Xeranthemums for immortality and eternity.
Though he'd be lying if he said he wasn't touched by the sentiment.
Yew
It was almost over...and then Joshua said those fateful words.
"Let's play a new Game."
Whatever.
He'd just fought Kitaniji three times with little more than a few seconds of rest in between. He'd somehow survived three weeks straight fighting the incarnations of death themselves! He could handle one more game!
Zarnich
He woke up in the hall of judgement with a pair of arms wrapped around his torso. The taste of the poison still lingered in his mouth, but he didn't try to get rid of it.
"I got him for you, boss!"
"Good. Let's finish this quickly so we can get Neku-kun...properly settled."
Even if this twisted new Composer was going to force him to forget about Joshua, he wanted to at least remember how the bastard had killed him just for this.