Story: Mind the Gaps (French version available : "Intervalles")
Date: posted the 10 of March 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 are a lot of troubles until...
Trigger of this chapitre: None I can think of
Enjoy your reading!
Joshua hurried along Catstreet, his hands in the pockets of a perfectly fitting coat. It was one of Shiki's very first collection. Eri, still lacking the restraint of the others, had begged Joshua to model it for their website. Seeing her fall to her knees, hands clasped and Shiki red as a peony in the background had been enough to place a smirk on his lips and a consent in his mouth. He'd thought about it a bit more afterwards, hesitating to leave any trace of himself in the RG but... well Sanae had managed to have a double, even triple life with his job as Producer, Bartender and CAT, why not Joshua? He had no reason to before but now? He had four of them waiting in the building across the street.
Pushing open the door of the café, he immediately went upstairs where he could hear laughter before slowing his pace. They didn't need to know he'd rushed to join them, after all.
"Josh!" greeted Shiki as she tried to push Eri away, who was wielding a marker with a maniacal grin. Behind them, Rhyme was proudly sporting cat whiskers and Beat was trying his best to erase a squiggly swirl on his cheek.
"Ah, at last! We thought you weren't coming anymore!" Eri exclaimed losing her target who took the opportunity to run and hide behind Beat.
"Oh you know, the end of the year is always very busy at work." Joshua replied lazily as he sat down next to Rhyme. There were a number of snacks lying around on the table and he grabbed the first one crossing his fingers. A hand placed a cup of coffee in front of him and Joshua smiled in thanks to his neighbour.
"Even on the last day of the year? Wow, your boss is really uncool, poor you." Eri pitied him. Beside her, Beat puckered his lips, trying to hold back from saying something. After all this time and the problems with Neku, his partners knew he wasn't the highest authority, but they still felt like Joshua had more power than he actually did. To be honest, this assumption was clearly the Composer's fault. He hated feeling so weak and feeling their trust in his powers through their pact was... a little addictive, it had to be said.
But as the day had proven again, that was far from the case.
Before the Long Game, a classic Shibuya Game was held about once or twice a month. There was one exception, however. Even though it should have been a Game week, New Year's week was always a holiday. Absolutely no one worked, not even to do paperwork or a little soul-sorting (which did accumulate noticeably faster around the holidays), and there could even be two weeks off for the Reapers if the 31st and 1st fell on a Sunday and Monday. Even though the Reapers already had a lot of time on their hands, this was the only full holiday they had from the Game and it was religiously awaited every year.
But, this time, there were the Shinjuku Reapers, and like much of the other Shibuya tradition, the Executor and his puppet took pleasure in completely obliterating it. Worse still, they had kept the Reapers macerating for weeks, never confirming whether or not this holiday would finally take place. The few Reapers in Shibuya and Shinjuku who were still talking to each other had drastically raised the anticipation in both camps. It must be said, even if they were used to it, the pace was still very severe for those in Shinjuku as well and the possibility of a full week's break had brightened their eyes. This common goal had even brought the two sides a little closer together and he had noticed for the first time in months the Officers chatting cordially with each other. Kariya had even asked Hayano Kamachi if she could teach the young Hanako one of her techniques. Well, not so young anymore... She had celebrated her fifteenth birthday last month and had officially gone from apprentice to Wall Reaper. It had taken her a little longer than the six months usually allowed, but Joshua had kept 777 and Reaper Review manipulations quiet to keep her safe as long as possible. She was very young after all, and the only survivor of all the new Reapers inducted before the Shinjuku a way, Joshua felt a little like she was the last Reaper in Shibuya, all the others after her having never known his way. He supposed he felt a bit attached, somehow, if not to her, to what she stood for.
And, well, it amused him too that she seemed to worship Neku. Because yes, the rumours about the hero of the Long Game had continued, even gained momentum under Kariya's discreet whispers. It was a classic tactic, to take a proven fact and twist it to make it more extravagant, more extraordinary, until its protagonist became a true Hero. A symbol of hope for others. A promise: the Player who had once revolutionised the Game would return and save them again.
Kariya didn't believe it for a second, nor did the other officers of Shibuya. But they all kept the myth alive for the younger ones, and within a year the whole story had become a true prophetic legend for the newcomers after the Long Game. Even those from Shinjuku.
Joshua thought it amused him even more because he believed it, in a way. He figured that, after he got his powers back, or even just when Neku had regained enough strength, if he played a new Game... well, Neku might be his partner and Proxy, but still, it wouldn't be an intervention by Joshua himself, would it?
But that possibility remained only a dream for now...
In the meantime, when finally the New Year's week had come, everything had exploded. As if taking sadistic pleasure in it, Shiba had made a general announcement to nip the holiday rumours in the bud, launching the next Game.
So it was with trepidation that Joshua had watched the Reapers go to work that day, and of course... well, It goes just has he had though it would : Shibuya as well as Shinjuku, they hadn't given the players a chance. A real bloodbath had taken place and before all the players had time to get into a team: there were none left.
This was a new record for Shibuya, Joshua thought gloomily as he watched the last player get wiped out before the first hour of the first day was over.
No end-of-year miracle for them, that was for sure... obviously they'd been forced to shut down the Game that week. Not for long though... there were always more deaths during the holidays and it wouldn't be hard to find souls to repopulate the Game. But the Shinjuku system had taken a hit, there were no more top teams after all that. The whole ranking would have to be started from scratch.
A problem that wouldn't have happened with the Shibuya Game system... Joshua thought viciously. Well, at least this way, his Reapers had gotten their expected holiday time and so had Joshua. And Rhyme, Shiki, Beat and Eri didn't need to know the reason why he was much more available this week...
Think about letting a review on your way out and see you the 20th for the continuation!
