A padlock and multiple chains clawed their way over the wrought iron door that led to the Dead God's Pad.

"Well, so much for talking to Kitaniji." Joshua crossed his arms. He probably should have expected this.

"They out of their vectors?" Joshua detected something in Sho's voice, something that made him feel somewhat unsafe. "We did all that for…"

"Sho. We did what we had to."

But Sho grabbed the chains in his fists, shaking them as hard as he himself trembled. "Someone better open this zetta fucking door or-"

The ping of their cell phones was barely audible over Sho's shouts.

"Thanks for your service." The boys read. The text was signed with a Smiley face alone.

Sho growled as if he was still in his noise form. "That's all those yoctograms are gonna give us?"

"Shame after we went through all the trouble of completing their silly errand."

Sho regarded Joshua with disgust. "Errand? You… That's it. I'm done with this garbage."

"Sho?"

"I'm serious, J. I'm no hitman. I'm no assassin. I ain't doing this anymore. I quit."

He melted into the RG to try to escape, but Joshua followed after him.

"Sho! You can't be serious! Sho!"

But Joshua was never able to keep up with Sho's speed. Before they had even left the sewers, the older boy had disappeared. He assumed that his partner had gone home, maybe to finally reconcile with his brother. Or perhaps he was just storming about the city angrily. Either way, Joshua knew better at this point. He would not go upset him further.

He hung around the door a little while longer, hoping to find some hole or kink in the chain. It seemed impenetrable. He sighed, leaning against the door.

It suddenly occurred to Joshua that this was the first time since he had become a Reaper that he had time to himself without any goal in mind. It was nice, realizing he was alone and didn't have any pressing matters or manipulations to take care of. Maybe it would be all right to let Sho calm down and just focus on himself for a little while.

Joshua walked slowly out into cavernous halls of Shibuya's underground. He took a few moments to admire the murals on the walls as he ambled. His thoughts went to Neku, sitting alone (for sure now, with Tanomura gone) in mourning. He knew he ought to talk to him, but he couldn't.

Even just considering speaking to Neku sent daggers of fear into his mind. Because there was a small part of Joshua that was as ashamed of what he and Sho were doing as his partner was. Sure, erasing the officer wasn't his first choice for a pleasurable activity, but he understood that certain sacrifices must be made in order to get what you want. Couldn't Sho understand that? Couldn't Neku understand that?

They wouldn't. And that was why he could never speak to Neku again.

But that didn't mean he wouldn't keep an eye out for him. Even eight months after he'd made that promise to himself, he still walked up the steps to Udagawa to watch the boy. Sometimes he would even sit as Tanomura had, leaning towards the transparent boy just enough that he could hear the earbuds without falling through him. Of course, Joshua noted that soon his dear old friend had bought (found? Stolen?) a pair of bulky purple headphones far too big for his eleven-year-old head. He would grow into them eventually, Joshua assumed. For now, though, it just made the white-haired boy snicker.

He would not tell anyone this, not even Sho, but he often talked to Neku in the UG. He would rant to him about his life, about the difficulties of being a Reaper, about Sho. And Neku, wordlessly bobbing his head along to the music and drumming his fingers on a rail, appeared to be the best listener.

He tested himself at that spot as well. It was in the back streets of Udagawa that he taught himself how to properly use his cell phone. Granted, he already was doing quite well with button mashing, but he really preferred to know what he was doing.

It came in handy those scarce few times that Sho needed to fill a quota. For the older teen only chose to complete the bare minimum requirements to stay alive as a Reaper, never losing his hatred of what he was and what he was meant to do. Joshua supposed it was a rather contradictory and frustrating existence that the other boy led. He wanted to help Sho so that he could actually enjoy this afterlife. He wanted Sho to stop pretending to still be alive living with his brother.

To be perfectly honest, Joshua feared he would lose his friend. It was already clear that Sho disproved of Joshua's acceptance of his role as a Reaper. He wanted to remind Sho of what a great team they were, what a powerful duo they would continue to be if they tried. But Sho was no longer interested in pushing his limits.

And if they were to spend time together, Jun would most likely be involved.

So Joshua hung out with Neku.

It wasn't like he had much to worry about. The Composer seemed to have dropped off the radar after her revenge mission- for naturally Joshua had figured out the connection between the screaming curly-haired girl wailing her friend's name at the trial and the confused expression of Tanomura as he learned his game partner had ordered his death. A friend for a friend? Joshua had told Sho about this, but this only made his friend more disillusioned with the Reapers as he learned he had been used to kill for other's gain twice.

But today wasn't about Sho, and it certainly wasn't about enjoying Neku's music.

He began the day with that, though. It helped calm his nerves. Then he stood in front of the mural, Neku at his back. He gripped the cold metal in his hands, not truly ready to rip it off.

But he did anyway.

As soon as the green pin was dropped, Joshua was drowning.

In a way, it was almost like scanning with the player pin. Except, instead of choosing to listen to a specific person's thoughts, he was bombarded with those of everyone around. And instead of only hearing what was on their mind at the time, Joshua was exposed to the raw, naked fabric of their existence swirling around his ears.

There were so many people, there was so much music all wanting to be heard, all demanding, all commanding, all at once, and something was protruding from his back and there was so much pain, so much power, and everyone's sounds and tunes warping together into this monstrous cacophony that there was no way to block out, no way out, no way to stop it, he was lost, he was nothing, he was no one, he was engulfed by all of them everywhere and there was no-

Joshua found himself on the hard concrete. His forearm had just barely brushed the pin after he had collapsed.

He lay there for a few moments, rediscovering his breath and his resolve. One was found sooner than the other.

From the ground, he rolled over and craned his neck up to check on Neku. To his surprise, the boy appeared disturbed. He didn't look at Joshua-he clearly wasn't aware of his friend's presence, but Neku had still been able to sense his distress.

A faint smile danced over Joshua's lips. Now that was interesting.

He finally pushed himself up on his wobbly legs. He would try again, but not today. He wasn't sure his body or his mind could take it. But he would try again, and he would be able to handle the music at some point.

Exhausted, Joshua felt he had no choice but to return to his current home. Not the house he grew up in, of course. Even invisible, he would never step foot in that place again. Too proud to sleep on the streets, Joshua was forced to do what many Reapers lacking their own homes often did.

He pulled open the wooden door quietly, not wanting to disturb the household with any strange activity. He crept up the stairs, having learned by now which ones creaked and which ones didn't. His face lit up at the sight of his bed. He collapsed almost instantly. And when the real owner of this bed fell through him a few hours later, the incorporeal Reaper didn't even notice.

The next morning, Joshua stole only a small amount of food from this house. He knew he would have to start looking for a new home to occupy. The family was starting to question the loss of their food and the occasional door left mysteriously open.

But that wasn't his priority today. The eleven-year-old found himself back on the streets of Udagawa. Climbing the stairs past a couple of practicing skaters, the orange hair of Neku came into view. But he was not going to listen to any of Neku's music right now. Now it was time to more or less torture himself.

The metal clinked as the pin hit the ground. That sound faded quickly as it was overwhelmed by the music of thousands of souls living very distinct but closely intertwined lives. Joshua was dimly aware he was on his knees, wings slowly erupting. He may have been screaming, but that may have just been another part of this insane beat.

He counted the seconds he was able to tolerate this madness.

Five... Six… Seven… Eight-

Too much. It was all too much. He was disappearing again, losing his identity among these thousands aching to be heard. He reached out and grabbed the pin.

At least he had done better that time.

And he would do better. He would. He had to.

And five weeks and three days later, he did do better. He did great. In fact, he had spent a large chunk of time listening and understanding the music this time. He could discern an individual person from the tune, learning their desires and strengths and weaknesses and traits from the way the notes played. He couldn't affect their music in any way though-he could only listen. The first person he "explored" fully in a musical way was Neku. His music was quite dichotomous. Despondent, lonely tones mingled non-harmoniously with unconventional, persistent beats. And there was something else there twirling its way through underneath those other two sections. Something he couldn't quite place, but something he filed away in his brain for later.

For, as he was growing more confident in his own abilities, he'd had an idea.

He'd been so worried he would lose Sho as a friend, as a Reaper, and as a partner if he didn't do something. He hadn't known what. But now he had a thought, a plan to give Sho that little push to remind him why they work so well together and why he shouldn't give up on his amazing potential.

Just a little push.

Hello Friends!

Hope you are enjoying this last chapter of Reaper Days (which I may be changing to a Japanese name…that or Yuki NoYouni Shiroi is becoming White as Snow.) Anyway, for convenience purposes I'll keep posting the few chapters of this next story as part of Reaper Days, so keep your eyes peeled for the first chapter of Kami no Akai Yuki (God's Red Snow).

On that note, it may be quite a while before this comes out. I'm hesitant to announce a hiatus, because knowing me I'll have the next chapter up in a few days and then disappear for four months without warning. So I'll put out the warning now: due to family things and returning to school, I will be writing with extreme infrequence. You have been cautioned.

And now for something completely different, thoughts on what Joshua plans to do "for" Sho?