Story: Mind the Gap (French version available : "Intervalles")
Date: 23 July 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: Canon death of a secondary character
It was a complicated chapter that one and I'm not a fan of it o but I thought it was necessary, at least to give context to the next one, so I posted it anyway...
Enjoy your Reading !
"Please Coco!" Tsugumi begged, tears streaming unabated down her cheeks.
"STFU!" The smaller girl shouted as she threw herself forward, narrowly avoiding an ominous laser beam. Sensing the situation slipping away from her, Tsugumi shifted her focus, meeting Sho's gaze from across the battlefield.
"Minamimoto, please! She... she saved your life!" She shouted. Feeling the boy consider his options, she insisted a little more. "I can't... please, we're not going to last much longer! Get out of here! Save your life... save her!"
"NO!" Coco screamed louder as she sent one of her own icy rays crashing into the mass of Noise surrounding them. There was barely a lull through which they could see Tsugumi's exhausted form, Neku behind her, before a new wall of Noise blocked their view. Like a living cloak, the mass of Noise swarmed more and more, making every effort to get inside the protective dome that their two teammates maintained. "Don't you dare listen to him, Mini-Moto! I saved your life, you must obey ME!"
"Tss." Sho said as he jumped back, narrowly avoiding the charge of an avian Noise. Gasping, he dodged another blow, skidding with difficulty on the asphalt before activating his own psych, clearing just enough time to respond.
"Hey, Zeptogram, I can't pick you up like this, is there any way out of the barrier?" He called, raising his voice to be heard over the shouts of Coco and the Noises.
Inside the barrier, behind Tsugumi, one hand on her shoulder to support her despite his own shaky legs, Neku swallowed hard. Almost all of his concentration was focused on the thin dome of light surrounding them, holding back the titanic battle in front of him. One moment of inattention and the barrier would fall... and the Reversal would activate. Even now, he could feel the energy released by their opponent pressing against the edges of the dome, and if he hadn't been connected to Tsugumi and her brother, he never would have been able to keep it active this long.
As it was, it was going to fall soon anyway.
"We can't." Tsugumi answered for him, and Neku was infinitely grateful. Not to mention the risk of losing attention, just admitting the words that sealed his surely final death was out of Neku's reach. "If we stop the barrier, the Reversal will happen right away, you won't have time to take us. There's no other way, you have to leave. That at least... that at least you'll get away, that we didn't do all this for nothing." She muttered at the end. With the sounds of the Reaper's fierce fighting above their heads, Neku was the only one who could understand her. But Minamimoto had heard enough. Out of the corner of his eye, Neku saw him teleport behind Coco and put an arm around her stomach. In less than a second, they were gone, the image of Coco, her arm raised and her face contorted in a final cry of despair imprinted on his retina long after they were gone.
"Thank you..." Tsugumi sobbed towards the desolate stone corner where the other two were before turning her head towards Neku. Her hand came to rest on the boy's, pressing it against her own shoulder. "I'm sorry." Before Neku could reply anything, a huge noise made them look up at the fight still going on. Their enemy had managed to drive one of his ethereal blades into Tsugumi's brother's torso and he was falling in spades, quickly approaching the ground.
"NO!" Tsugumi yelled as she took a step towards her brother, her arms raised in his direction as if to catch him. But, held back by Neku's hand, she seemed to remember her role and stayed put, barely holding the barrier from collapsing with her brother.
Wide-eyed, they watched helplessly as he fell endlessly until he crashed to the ground two steps away from them. In the sky, the Angel-like creature did not even glance at them as it slammed into the barrier, slicing through it before disappearing immediately.
As if it had pierced Neku's heart rather than the dome, the boy fell to his knees, taking Tsugumi with him, breathing too fast to be normal.
"Neku!" Tsugumi sighed as she knelt beside him, one hand under his shoulders.
"It's... fine." He gasped as he leaned heavily on Tsugumi. With his brain in knots, he tried desperately to keep the barrier up. Just a few more minutes. For them. "Your brother..." He stammered, forgetting for a second what he wanted to say next before pulling himself together. "I can still... hold on for a bit. Go to him."
Through blurry eyes, the boy saw Tsugumi give her brother a longing look before she refocused on him. "Thanks but...I'll be fine." She suddenly smiled but silent tears were streaming down her cheeks. "They're waiting for you, aren't they? You won't have to say goodbye." She promised out of the blue with a look of such determination that Neku wanted to believe her. But he had to face the facts. Over her shoulder, he could see the dome cracking, the cracks taking root at the Angel's hole before running all over its surface. And in his soul, he felt it all the more. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how much he thought, no matter how much power he had, the barrier was slipping away from him, breaking and slipping through his fingers like snow in the sun. The barrier shook violently and Tsugumi lifted Neku's trembling body, hugging him with all her might. A gasp... a second... and great wings emerged from Tsugumi's back in one fell swoop as her face elongated into a golden beak. Tsugumi, in her Noise form, wrapped herself around the boy, using her wings to cover him from head to toe. Neku, even in his delirious state, could literally feel the girl's Vibe on his skin, his life energy crystallizing in a desperate hope for protection. Less than a second later the barrier exploded and a shockwave rippled through the earth around them, shaking the ground. Through the feathers, eyes wide, Neku saw a huge Reaper symbol streaking the sky in a bloody red. It was the only thing he saw before a hand forced his head into Tsugumi's neck, just in time to save him from being blinded by a crimson flash.
When he looked up again, there was nothing left of the Shinjuku of a minute before.
Bits of buildings were floating everywhere and the ground beneath his knees was now dust. Worse still, the sky was still a dark red and cast a crimson shadow over the entire desolate landscape. How was he still alive? How could Tsugumi...? Breathing hard and his head ringing as if a thousand bells were swinging inside his skull, Neku wiped his face. There was blood on his sleeve. A weight slid down his shoulders and he heard a thud. Turning his head slowly, he met Tsugumi's misty eyes. She was human again. Before his frightened eyes, her skin began to glow and bubbles of light rose above her body. Neku had seen this before. Several times during the Long Game and dozens of times over the past three weeks.
She was fading away.
"No... no, Tsugumi..." Neku murmured, his body wavering dangerously as he tried to take the girl's hand. Suddenly, there was a noise near them and Neku spared an exhausted glance to see Tsugumi's brother pulling himself out of a pile of rubble. Incredulous that he was still alive, Neku saw him bring one hand in front of him... then the other... pulling his body forward, still in his Noise form and riddled with bloody holes. Laboriously, he crawled towards them, stopping only when he was able to touch his sister.
"Tsu..." He croaked and the girl sketched a smile, a tiny thing that seemed more of a reflex than a conscious thought. Suddenly, the Conductor grabbed Neku's arm with surprising strength considering her condition. "Sakuraba... Tsugumi... help me stabilize her, sync with me once again." He ordered and Neku... nodded. Everything was a blur, he could barely string two conscious thoughts together. To be honest, there wasn't much else he could have done. Closing his eyes, he searched for the great flame of power that symbolized Tsugumi's brother, flinching when he found only a single ember on the verge of going out. He too was about to...! Shaking his head, Neku mentally grabbed onto the ex-Conductor before letting himself be guided. Something began to heat up near his waist and Neku looked down to see Mr. Mew, still slung over his shoulder from when he'd woken up next to it in Shinjuku three weeks earlier. The stuffed animal lit up slowly and Neku realized that this was where Tsugumi's brother was trying to place her. Half-conscious, he added his power to the Conductor, grabbing the flickering soul of his teammate and pushing it along the seams until it rested where the heart should be. But it wasn't over, they had to attach it to the plush so it wouldn't disappear and they began to infuse their Vibe, molding temporary chains around the soul as if they were sewing it to the cat. "Yes... there... like that... keep going...keep going..." The conductor murmured and he nodded absentmindedly.
A new thud startled Neku.
His eyelids were heavy, yet he lifted them to find the Conductor's lifeless body on the floor. His eyes burning, he saw his body explode into light and fly over them before vanishing into the red sky of Shinjuku. In Neku's mind, his flame had been extinguished for good, his last glow gone to save his sister.
But... Tsugumi wasn't out of danger yet.
And Neku was capable of saving her.
Letting out a shuddering breath, and pushing aside all the panicked thoughts that were trying to drown him, Neku continued to bind Tsugumi's soul the same way his brother had shown him. With each new chain, he stopped, praying that it would be enough, but no, her soul was doing its best to get out. So he kept going... and going... and going... and pushing every last ounce of his own life energy into the plush. And when at last! The soul remained in place, carefully contained by the regular seams and the fluffy cotton...
He collapsed too.
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