Story: Mind the Gap (French version available : "Intervalles")
Date: 29 May 2022
Beta: None
Fandom: The World End With You
Disclaimer: No, I do not own TWEWY and do not make money with this story
Summary: Just after the Long Game, Joshua saved the rest of the Hashiko Gang but have been condamned by the Angels for his choices : He is bound to Shibuya whith half his powers restrained. Worst, the futur judgment of M.H depend of his good behavior. Coco makes a deal with Hazuki: he lets her enter Shinjuku to save Tsugumi if she brings Neku and Beat to him.
Trigger du chapitre: None I can think of
The drawing by one of my Big Bang partners, Soundofez for this chapter is available on tumblr and Twitter (Soundofez or TwewyBigBang2022) or on AO3 directly in the fic!
Enjoy your Reading !
When Joshua materialized in Traverse Town, he found Neku where he had left him, in the middle of the Fourth district greenhouse. Only he was awake now. Well, awake... the equivalent of it in a dream. Aware would be a more appropriate term.
Sitting in the grass, he was caressing a Neko, who was surrounded by a veritable battalion of dream-eaters. So yes, Joshua might have gone a little overboard in rounding up all of Sora and Riku's protectors, but for one thing, the two boys had finally come out of their dream journey and didn't really need them anymore. And secondly, Joshua wasn't taking any chances with what had happened in the last month. Organization XIII had almost ruined his reconstruction of Rhyme's soul. What's more, they clearly hadn't helped the treatment of the other three when he'd sent them to join her after the Long Game.
"Joshua?" Neku called, and the Angel raised his hand as the human tried to stand up.
Joshua approached Neku, passing the legion of dream-eaters to sit gracefully not far from him. A rabbit slightly braver than the rest shyly approached Joshua but didn't go so far as to lay its head on his lap as Neku's Neko thankfully did. "Well Neku, making new friends?"
"New?" Neku muttered with a frown. "No... I know them... this isn't the first time you've brought me here, is it?"
"No indeed." Joshua replied calmly before hesitating slightly. Neku was clearly confused, he must not have realised he was dead again, it wouldn't even be surprising if he had temporarily forgotten what had happened with Reaper Atarashi. "The dream world is particularly suited to the reformation of a soul, you see? You can give them new experiences or simulate old memories in a controlled situation. It's very effective when a soul has started to disintegrate after an Erasure, you can recreate certain parts while the most important piece is still there."
Neku's eyes suddenly sharpened and the calm imbued by the dream-eater broke without warning. "Erased? But I wasn't erased, I was... oh fuck, there was this crazy girl and she shot me and you were there and...!" Neku exclaimed and Joshua could almost see the memories unfold before his eyes. "And... I died."
"And you're dead." Joshua nodded.
Neku looked at his hands for a second, speechless. It wasn't until the cat returned to nudge his hand with his muzzle that Neku shook his head and leapt to his feet, almost pacing in front of Joshua. "So what am I doing here? I'm de-...dead not erased so my soul doesn't need to be rebuilt or anything. Shouldn't I... I don't know, make a new Game? No, wait, Higashizawa said I couldn't participate after the third one, is that why I'm here? I'm dead, really dead, can't come back to life? Or maybe he was-!"
"Neku dearest, calm down, let me explain." Joshua tried to pacify him. The teenager gave him an incredulous look, as if he didn't even dare to believe in answers from him. And, well, it was true that, except in the Reckoning Room, Joshua hadn't been the most direct with him, either during the Game or when he avoided him afterwards. Despite this, Neku took a deep breath and sat back down with an anxious but thankfully not frantic look on his face. "I can't resurrect you." Joshua declared and Neku immediately opened his mouth, cutting him off. Joshua admitted that perhaps he could have phrased it differently.
"Wait, why can't you resurrect me? You already did, in fact, it was just over a month ago!"
Joshua pursed his lips and looked away. "The Long Game had some... consequences." He murmured as he fiddled with a lock of hair. "Some of my powers have been sealed and resurrection is one of them. Another... Angel, if I may say so, comes by every month to resurrect the winners of the Game, but he won't agree to resurrect you without good reason. And as Megumi told you, you're really banned from the Shibuya Game, and I can't repeal it right now."
"Since when do you play by the rules so much?" Neku growled, but he was clearly more scared than angry.
"It's a bit more complicated to make your own rules when you no longer have the power to back them up." Joshua replied with a bitter smile. "Besides, I won't be the only one concerned if I break them this time."
"What do you mean?" Neku asked with a frown.
"It was made clear to me that Sanae would be the one punished if I were to venture out of line," Joshua replied calmly, but it was obvious that cold anger was seeping from his words.
"Mr.H?" Neku replied in a blank tone. "Because he's... your Producer?"
"Ha, you did read his reports after all..." Joshua murmured. "You should never meet your heroes, eh."
Neku looked away.
"But all that doesn't answer the main question, what do we do, now, if you can't resurrect me? Am I definitely dead?" Neku insisted and Joshua let go. They would talk about Mr.H. again later.
"Not quite, you have three pretty much legal options we can use first." Joshua expounded and Neku seemed to light up all at once. It was terrifying what hope could do to someone. "The easiest option, but one that I doubt you'll fully appreciate, is to make you a Reaper."
"A Reaper?!" Neku exclaimed with enough negativity that Joshua almost felt sorry for Kariya and the others.
"It's not a bad plan, you know? Not all districts do, but the Reapers in Shibuya are allowed to continue their human life with just... a little extra work. It changes a bit depending on the rank, but if you want an example, a lieutenant-Reaper like Kariya has to spend an average of four hours a day for a week every month on his job as a Reaper. During the three weeks he is not on active duty, he only has three hours a week to do paperwork or sort out new souls. What's more, Reapers receive a pension and with all the free time they have, they can largely continue an artistic activity or another part-time job without worry... as long as they have the necessary points, of course."
"Spare me the recruitment speech, Joshua."
"I'm just laying out the options so you can make an informed choice." Joshua sighed. "The second one isn't my main choice but... well, it's your choice. If you wish, I can have you stay in the dream world, in stasis if you prefer, while I get my powers back."
"Why don't you like this one?"
"Angels are not usually very hasty beings and even less forgiving. I'm afraid earning their forgiveness will take a few years."
Neku winced and Joshua would have been tempted to do the same if it wasn't so unseemly. "And the third option?"
"Well, you're banned from playing the Shibuya Game... but there's nothing stopping you from playing another Game." Smiled Joshua, but he didn't look very happy.
"Another Game? You mean, from another city? And that's legal?"
"Oh yeah, that's totally within the law, souls don't necessarily stay where they die, you know? As a rule, if they don't get harvested by a Reaper first, they drift to the town they feel closest to but, well, they can get caught along the way too." Joshua explained absentmindedly before refocusing on Neku. "Those are the three options I can give you. All you have to do is make your choice."
On his life (ah!) Neku had no idea if the overly powerful jerk was bullshitting him or not. In fact, he could have lied about the whole conversation and Neku wouldn't have noticed. Three weeks of games had given him a good base, but he wasn't fooling himself, he knew he didn't know much about it after all. But... well, Neku had said he trusted him. And anyway, it's not like he had any thoughts of what else he could do.
So...
"Okay, fine." He said more to assure himself of his decision than for Joshua's benefit. "I don't want to wait decades to come back to life, and there's no way I'm becoming a Reaper. I don't really want to do a Game on top of that, but I suppose if you've bothered to offer it to me, then I should be able to handle it." Neku slowly expressed before pausing, hesitant.
"So, you choose to participate in another Game?" Joshua asked, unreadable and Neku swallowed hard.
He had only been back to normal life for a month.
Just one month...
Neku looked up resolutely, staring into Joshua's violet eyes and grabbed his wrist to pull him towards him. "Okay for another Game, but you'd better explain the rules to me first this time."
Joshua blinked, a little taken aback, before smiling gently. "Obviously."
Hope you liked it ! Go see the other Big Bang fics, you won't regret it ;)
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