Story: Mind the Gaps (French version available : "Intervalles")

Date: posted the 20 of November 2023

Beta: None

Fandom: The World End With You

Disclaimer: No, I don't own TWEWY, and I'm not making any profit from this story.

Summary: Just after the Long Game, Joshua saved and resurrected the rest of the Hashiko gang but was condemned by the Angels for his actions: He is confined to Shibuya and half of his powers have been sealed. Neku dies again, but without his powers, Joshua cannot resurrect him. He takes him to safety anyway, which leads to M.H being banished by the Angels. Joshua is left alone to manage Shibuya, well not quite since he's got Shinjuku's scum on his hands. Months pass, Joshua is struggling to manage the UG without Sanae and Kitaniji and Shiki and the other reach out with an offer of friendship. But Shinjuku's Reaper strike a coup and Joshua loose a lot of powers. He still tries his best to make the city survive. He became friend with the Hashiko Crew, keep in touch with Neku in his dream and, finally, after 3 years, succed in launching a game with his Tuners which will decide of the futur of Shibuya. He chooses a proxy, Rindo Kanade and then wake up Neku.

Trigger of this chapter: None I can think of

You maaaay find this chapter a bit familiar if you just binged read this :3 Hint:Chapter 1

Enjoy your reading!

It was strange to be there again. Sitting above the station, the sun reflecting in the shop windows, making the city glow. He had said a quiet goodbye to this sight just a week before, as a precaution, not being sure if he would ever see it again.

But he had done as he pleased.

So there he was again, enjoying the wind on his face and wondering what was going to happen next. It must be said, Kubo had not been shy in his attempt at an Inversion. All his officers were dead, he no longer had a Conductor, and there were barely a quarter of his Reapers left. He hadn't even been able to save a few here and there when he came across them as they were being wiped out, fearing that any intervention on his part could be the one that would lose him the Tuners' Game.

But all this could wait a few more hours. He had already waited a week, after all.

The sun was beginning to dip slightly behind the tall skyscrapers and a real crowd was gradually emerging from the buildings to enjoy the late afternoon at a brisk pace. Joshua wondered when he would be able to put his friends among them. Glancing behind him, Joshua stared at the bluish bubbles with a conflicted expression. There, two steps away from him, in two transparent shields, floated his partners. Two, because Hazuki had intervened. It was only because the Shinjuku composer had acted before he could that Joshua hadn't caught the girls and completed his set.

It would have been so easy to let them disappear. It would have been enough to wait for Kubo to do his job, not to have spent months thwarting him in his tasks or educating Hazuki on the virtues of a patchwork city and friendship. And that was all. Instead, he'd done all that and had no regrets. Still, he was a little nervous: it had been a week since their Tuners had given any sign of life. But Joshua knew why, it was the same reason Neku and Beat were still in stasis. They were waiting. They were all waiting for Hazuki to make a choice. Because Joshua was no longer the main character in the Tuners' experiment. He'd already done it, after all; he'd put his partners ahead of his pride... in Shibuya. Even so, Joshua would argue that his choice to save Shibuya would only have been effective for a few hours of ascension, after which the city would have undergone an Inversion as predicted. So had he really prioritised his partners over the city? For his Tuners, yes, it would seem. Or at least, that's what Joshua assumed, given that they hadn't come to claim their dues after a week.

And that was why Joshua was here.

He'd carefully left Hazuki to stew, letting him watch Rindo Kanade, alone, every day. And now...

Now he allowed himself a break, a time-out, just a little intermission before the next act. In a few minutes, maybe hours, Hazuki would come to him, undecided, and it would be up to Joshua to give him the final push he needed.

But in the meantime, he was enjoying his time on hold, surrounded by his city and his partners. At peace.

That is, until the flutter of a wing made him smile.

"The rules of politeness state that you must notify the Composer before you can visit his district." Joshua stated calmly, looking away from the protective shields to focus on the newcomer. "But I suppose an exception can be made for friends."

"Thank you, friend." Haz replied softly.

Seeming, quite rightly, to take Joshua's smile as an invitation, Hazuki approached his counterpart before sitting gracefully beside him. Only then did he gaze around the city with a certain curiosity. "Its music is not as discordant as I expected after losing so many key players."

"Shibuya is strong and it's far from being all UG," Joshua replied, "It'll get over it."

"What about you?" Hazuki suddenly asked, and Joshua shrugged.

"I've still got what's most important to me. The rest... I can deal with."

Hesitantly, Haz pointed at the bubbles on Joshua's other side. "Them?"

Yes

"For the most part," Joshua confirmed. There was no reason to hide it from him any longer.

"And... what about him? Will he be alright?" Hazuki asked, pointing at a barely visible shape in the human rabble below them. But the two almost-Angels didn't need their eyes when his despair could be heard all over the city. "I took out his enemy, saved the city and even gave him time... but he's not getting any better." Hazuki continued in frustration.

Joshua raised an eyebrow, barely restraining himself from scoffing. It wouldn't help his case, after all. "Well... his friends are all gone."

Hazuki frowned. "Can't he make new ones? After all, he only knew one before the Game."

"He could." Joshua agreed. "But never ones like them. Besides, finding someone who interests you, who understands you, who you want to spend time with and share your secrets...

It's not so easy to make a good friend, don't you agree?"

Hazuki, with his flagrant lack of companions, was forced to nod, looking thoughtful. There was a contemplative silence, and Joshua was happy to let him be.

"I'm stagnating," Hazuki suddenly declared. "I haven't been evolving since Shinjuku's Inversion. No, even before that. I'm the one who poisoned him." Hazuki admitted softly before turning to Joshua. "You were like me, but you've evolved, even Mother says so. So... I could change too, couldn't I?"

"The fact that you're asking yourself the question is already a change in itself. So if that's what you want, yes, without a doubt." Joshua smiled and turned back to the city, to Hashiko, to Rindo Kanade. Hazuki followed his example and took a long look at the boy. Then, slowly, he took a familiar badge from his pocket and raised it to his face.

"OK." He said suddenly before looking at Joshua again. "I'll try. And I'll offer to save Shibuya. But it'll be his choice." Hazuki warned him. But Joshua wasn't too worried: he had no doubt Rindo would take the chance. But after that... well, he hoped he'd show the initiative his Tuners had been complaining about, or they could suffer a far worse end.

But Joshua had a feeling that, for once, it would end well.

Think about letting a review on your way out, and see you for the last chapter the 30th of November!