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

Date: posted the 10 of April 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 try his best to make the city survive.

Trigger of this chapitre: None I can think of


I'm a bit dtressed about begening my new contract soon... I'll have less time to write but no worries, this story is still on track!

Enjoy your reading!


"Another museum?" Joshua asked as he moved near Rhyme. In the middle of a Saturday afternoon, the public building was so crowded that Joshua didn't even had to use his powers so that no one would notice him. In a way, it was a good sign: full museums proved that Shibuya was doing better. In another way, it was still very annoying. "Aren't the others with you?" Joshua added, although he knew the answer. Still being in Shibuya, it was very easy to keep track of them. Shiki was in the Gatito offices at 104 and Beat was hanging out at the skatepark. So the question was not whether they were there, but why they weren't.

Rhyme, always looking for a new dream, regularly spent weekends at the museum and its adjoining library. So much so that she had invested in an annual pass which she abused shamelessly. Yet, despite her frequent visits, she was rarely there alone, always accompanied by her parents, Beat, Shiki or Eri and even school friends. So Joshua had been somewhat surprised when he had felt her Vibe lingering in the museum without any companions around her. But he had more pressing things to do than indulge his curiosity, so he pushed his pact far back into the back of his mind and concentrated on his paperwork again. However, after unconsciously checking a few hours later, he realised that she was still in exactly the same place and did not seem to have moved all morning. And she was still alone.

Needing a break from his overly boring job, Joshua figured he could always go see her. Just to take his mind off things. And that's how he'd ended up next to her on that bench, looking at a painting he couldn't quite understand. Oh, technically it was good, but there was no passion in it. Clearly, its author wouldn't have lasted long in the Ga-...

"No, they were busy and besides, I wanted to be alone for a little while anyway." Rhyme replied and it took Joshua a second to take his eyes off the painting and focus back on the conversation at hand.

"I can leave you, if you prefer."

"No, no, it's fine." Smiled the schoolgirl. "I've done everything I wanted to do and besides, I'm glad you came to see me, Josh."

"You say that like we don't see each other every week." The Composer exaggerated before realizing, surprised, that it was almost true.

"We don't run into each other every week... even though we see you more now than we used to." Aloua Rhyme. "And besides, we're still in a group, so you can't say we've spent much time just the two of us."

"No, that's true." Admitted the Composer, blinking. "I hadn't thought that... well, what would you like to do?"

"Are you free now?" She asked surprised and Joshua played with one of his locks of hair. If it had been Shiki or Beat who had asked him the question, he would have only nodded without giving any details. But this was Rhyme, the girl who always listened to his complaints about the UG without any judgment. And, well, it felt good to have someone to complain to about the Game, now that Sanae was gone and he had isolated himself from the Reapers. The only other people he could have talked to were Mother and Father, but no doubt they would take the opportunity to ascend him. He could also have lamented to the other composers but he had avoided them since losing his powers. They absolutly couldn't notice his weaknesses or he would be as good as dust in the wind.

"I'm done with the Game for now and everything is ready for the last day tomorrow." He replied nonchalantly. " So I suppose I can spare you a few hours."

"I'll take it!" She smiled as she got up from the bench. "Come on, it's really getting hot and I'm desperately craving an ice cream."

"Hmmm, sure, why not." Joshua smiled lazily as he followed her out of the museum. She wasn't wrong, summer was really starting to set in and the sun was beating down hard. So it was no surprise that the streets were packed with people on this Saturday lunchtime, Shibuya vibrating with life. Despite the crowds, the fervour in the air was particularly pleasant. Especially considering how hard he'd fought over the past year and a half to get Shibuya back to being this vibrant.

They took their time walking through Shibuya, taking advantage of the still mild heat to chat quietly. The ambiance was teasing, it was interesting to see another side of Rhyme not oriented by the presence of their friends. He was slightly worried, however, that the mood would turn sour as they made their way through the subway to Miyashita Park. That was where Rhymes and Beat had died. But apart from a slightly smaller smile, there was no reaction. It was a far cry from the panic attack he had witnessed a few weeks after the Game.

Rhyme had evolved too.

They were on their second ice cream on one of the park's conveniently placed benches when the conversation took a turn Joshua hadn't anticipated.

"You know, I didn't think there was that much paperwork involved in the Game." Rhyme replied thoughtfully after Joshua interrupted their discussion of new musical talent because of an email notification. His Conductor had filled out his Game project forms incorrectly again and he'd had to quickly transfer the file to Uzuki before he could return to their conversation. "And I thought we couldn't receive messages between the UG and the RG? Didn't you say that the Noises were creating interference and that's why you couldn't answer us sometimes?"

"Yes, but one of the new Reapers has developed a network to make the connection." Joshua replied, pointing his phone at Rhyme. With a flick of his thumb, the RNS home page appeared and he scrolled through the options. "From what I understand, he's set up multiple routers every few degrees between each major plan level. This allows the signal to run from the UG to the RG and back again."

"Wait so the planes aren't like a ladder? With each bar being a well-defined plane? But rather like... like a radio? With clear frequencies that are the UG or the RG and an infinite number of other frequencies in between where you can see one plane or the other more or less well?"

"That's not the metaphor I would have used but yes, that's the concept." Joshua replied, tucking a wild lock of hair behind his ear.

"Oooh, I understand much better now." Rhyme murmured. "When I was a Noise, I thought that..." She said before stopping short, her eyes darting around before shaking her head and plastering a new smile on her lips. "Well, that's interesting! And the network works well?"

"Hmmm... there are a few hiccups sometimes and I suspect some emails never arrived but it's updated regularly and it's getting better and better." Joshua replied, allowing Rhyme's sudden change of subject.

"Soooo..." Rhyme stretched as she leaned forward, a smile a little too innocent to be true on her face. "That means you have no excuse to ignore our messages now, right?"

Joshua looked at Rhyme, his face suddenly white before suddenly returning the smile. "Bold of you to think I needed an excuse to ignore your messages." Rhyme let out a small, surprised laugh and Joshua watched her shoulders shake with delight, making him relax. He hadn't been entirely sure his answer would go over well.

"But if the Reapers have access to the RG, and you're getting our messages, then the network is two-way." Rhyme remarked once he had calmed down before pointing to Joshua's phone where the RNS page was still open. "In that case, I wonder if I could access your private server too. From the RG, I mean."

"Sure... if you're given access." Joshua replied, "But unless you become a Player again or one of my Reapers..." Because there was no way he was leaving Rhyme to the Shinjuku clan. "...I'm afraid you'll have to hack it."

"I might you know." Rhyme replied before insisting at Joshua's dubious look, "I'm taking a coding class right now and my teacher says I'm doing great!"

"Oh, I don't doubt that, but it's going to take a little more than three computer classes before you can hack into an inter-dimensional network." Joshua teased her.

Rhyme only gave her usual innocent smile in response. But her eyes burned with excitement and for the first time since the Game, Joshua felt the girl's imagination flare to full power. Joshua doubted he would lose, but at least if he did, he would gain another formidable guardian to defend Shibuya.


Think about letting a review on your way out and see you the 20th for the continuation!