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

Date: 18 April 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: temporary character death


The drawing by one of my Big Bang partners, John, for this chapter is available on tumblr and Twitter (TWEWYCrimes or TwewyBigBang2022) or on AO3 directly in the fic!

Enjoy your Reading !


"Ph-...Phones?" Beat stammered as he fell to his knees beside his friend's body, his shorts immediately tingling a crimson red.

Joshua pursed his lips. The Reaper was running fast and he didn't have time to deal with her and Neku. Not in his condition. Lowering his gun reluctantly, he raised his hand to Neku and concentrated as hard as he could. Damn it, preserving a soul shouldn't take this much effort! Gasping, Joshua extracted Neku's soul, definitely dropping the gun so he could support it with both hands. It wasn't really visible in the RG, but Joshua wasn't totally there either, and he stood high enough to see the delicate ball of light between his fingers. It was moving frantically, much like his Composer form, obviously panicked even if very unaware of what was going on. Gently closing his hand over the other, taking care to spread his fingers to give her space, Joshua began to hum the Shibuya Vibe to try and calm her down a bit. Soon, the soul stopped fidgeting around, preferring to stretch out and wrap itself shyly around his knuckles.

With most of his attention focused on the little life between his fingers, Joshua spared just enough brain power to make Neku's body disappear. He had barely finished when Beat pounced on him, grabbing his collar hard.

"Hey! What are you doing asshole! Phones is... Neku is...!" He yelled before stopping in mid-sentence, his lips unable to seem to articulate the word.

With difficulty, Joshua tore his eyes away from the ball of light and raised them to Beat. The boy was breathing heavily and his heart was beating so fast that Joshua could hear it even with his human ears. Big tears blurred his pupils, but despite his tremors, his eyes remained steady and his hands firmly on Joshua's collar.

"Calm down, Beat," Joshua murmured without bothering to remove the hands that were half-choking him. It wasn't like he really needed to breathe, after all. Besides, he'd have to let go of Neku's soul to do that and that was out of the question. "I couldn't resurrect him right away so I made his body disappear. You wouldn't want anyone tripping over his corpse would you?"

"What? No, I... are you going to resuscitate him?" He stammered, the collar slipping slightly out of his fingers.

Good question. Joshua really shouldn't. He had no reason acceptable to the Higher Planes to do so and it wasn't even possible in his current state but...

"It will be Neku's choice." Joshua nodded and Beat suddenly let go of him, his rage deflating as quickly as a punctured balloon, leaving only a lost look tinged with sadness. Taking pity on him, Joshua sighed and with pain, gently removed a hand from Neku's soul and placed it on Beat's shoulder.

The boy immediately looked up, his eyes focusing on Joshua's before sliding to the Angel's other hand, which was strangely folded over his chest. It was almost as if he were cradling something, hand curled towards his chest, fingers splayed but folded without being tense... yet there was nothing-... There! Now that he was paying attention, there was a kind of rounded glint in the hollow of Joshua's fingers and Beat could have sworn he was hearing sounds, like muffled music that reminded him strangely of Neku. And the more he concentrated on it, the more he felt like he could see that light, hear those sounds better, and he just needed to get a little closer so that...!

"Beat." Joshua called firmly, his fingers digging into the teenager's shoulders and it was as if Beat had suddenly fallen to the ground. Wobbling dangerously, it was only the other's hand, unchanging on his shoulder, that kept him from actually falling. "Don't go up so high, you wouldn't want to become one of my Reapers again, would you? Although I'd welcome you with open arms, we're a bit underpowered at the moment, you see. But, well, Neku wouldn't be too happy to see you back at the UG so soon after your return to life."

"No..." Beat muttered, still a little stunned.

"Of course. So here's what you're going to do, Beat, you're going to find Rhyme as planned and together you're going to join Shiki at WildKat. Tell Sanae I sent you there to let you in. And you're going to stay in the café until he tells you it's okay to go, okay?"

"I... yes... but Neku?" Beat stammered and it showed how shocked he was that he didn't even say his nickname anymore.

"Let me take care of Neku, okay?" He said as he tightened his hand on his chest and Beat tried very hard not to focus on the light filtering through the Angel's fingers. "I need you to keep the others safe."

"Okay, okay, I can do that! I'll get the girls, we'll go to WildKat and you join us with Neku." Beat resumed with a determined look.

But Joshua didn't acquiesce, he only tightened his fingers around Beat's shoulder before letting go, his hand automatically returning to collapse around the other against his chest.

"That's the plan." Joshua murmured as he looked down and Beat reflected that he'd never seen him like this. Eyes fixed on the ground, lips tight and curled as he was around this thing he couldn't see, Joshua looked tiny, a far cry from the terrifying god of a month before. "That's the plan..."


Hope you liked it ! Go see the other Big Bang fics, you won't regret it ;)
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