Story: Mind the Gaps (French version available : "Intervalles")
Date: posted the 30 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
Enjoy your reading!
"How did she manage to regain control? She has no soul." Hazuki asked with morbid curiosity. It was the first time Joshua had seen him so interested in something.
True, it was a magnificent show. Matsunae Tsugumi, in an explosion of Timbre, had demolished one after another of the players and Reaper standing in her path. Yet, as emotionless as she usually was, her agitation was betrayed by her Noise form that simply wouldn't go away. With deadly grace she would swoop down on any poor soul unfortunate enough to cross her path. She did not linger on them, however, and those who were strong and intelligent enough were able to escape her. She clearly had an objective in mind. Joshua suspected that at first she'd tried to go in the direction of her soul, but the Enforcer had immediately retaliated when his puppet no longer followed his strings. The mere sight of Kubo had been enough to make her turn around and she had now been slashing at him for a good half hour with varying degrees of success. An Officer-Reaper should never have been able to stand up to an Angel, no matter how low level, but there were several events that evened the odds.
For one thing, Kubo was posing as a Lieutenant-Reaper these days, so he was forced to drastically reduce his powers if he didn't want his colleagues to suspect him. If he stuck strictly to his rank, it would already be difficult for him to fight Tsugumi, who had a higher rank. But even worse, despite the loss of her soul limiting the fluctuation of her Vibe, there was enough rage in her to unleash her Noise form and keep her in a deadly assault.
So Joshua enjoyed the all-too-rare pleasure of seeing Kubo being smashed headfirst into the asphalt again and again and again.
Of course, even if he couldn't outwardly display his powers, that didn't mean he couldn't use them on himself to protect himself. So it wouldn't do him much good, but the sight was still enjoyable.
Now, if only Shiba would stop sending the players to their deaths one after the other... most of them had already been nuked in Tsugumi's initial rage but it hadn't stopped. The Conductor had promised them a resurrection if they could take down that 'Special Noise' and that's all it had taken for them to throw themselves to their deaths.
Oh, of course, Joshua didn't care much for the Players. Shinjuku had already ruined their potential with their long-winded games.
The problem was that they were disappearing so fast that they wouldn't have time to subdue Tsugumi before they were all going to bite the dust. And in that case, they would send in the Reapers.
And knowing his conductor, the survivors of Shibuya would be on the front lines.
Sighing, Joshua took his eyes off the battle and focused on his companion. Once again, he and his Shinjuku counterpart were perched above 104 watching the battle raging in the scramble crossing. "She's not in control." He replied belatedly. "But her body still has access to her Vibe, and the Vibe is powerful enough for simple impressions to remain."
"I see." Hazuki replied before turning away from the fight, as if he had suddenly lost interest in it. " Her brother was strong as well. They both wasted their potential."
Joshua winced, Hazuki reminded him a little too much of Mother at that moment. Well, not surprising considering she was his handler as well.
As if the slightest thought had summoned her, their Tuner suddenly materialized behind them, her Timbre immediately wrapping them in a secure cocoon.
"Mother." The two Composers greeted in one voice.
"Joshua. Ezekiel." She called as she walked towards them. They had risen in the meantime, and when Mother did not attempt to speak, they stood shoulder to shoulder for a few more seconds watching the battle below them.
"He shouldn't play like that." Mother murmured disapprovingly. Joshua blinked but did not react otherwise. There was no point in feeling any hope if he was going to be crushed immediately afterwards. Even if Mother disapproved of Kubo's actions, it wasn't like there was much she could do. Indeed, she had a much higher rank than him and was immensely more powerful, but unfortunately, Mother liked to respect the rules. And especially the hierarchy. And while Hazuki and Joshua were dependent on her and Father, Kubo was not. He may have been temporarily her Producer, but that wasn't his real role. No, he was an Executor, like a roving cleaner who went from town to town doing the dirty work. It was a completely different job than a Composer or Producer who was tied to one city. And so it depended on a whole other branch of management.
So, yes, Mother had ample power to act on Kubo if he displeased her. But unless he committed a very serious fault that impacted her own work, it was highly unlikely she would act.
"Aren't you going to intervene, Joshua?" Mother asked as she turned to the Shibuya Composer, Hazuki watching him curiously over Mother's shoulder.
"That's not my role." He replied without answering. It didn't take much looking to understand the mockery in his tone.
"Indeed." Mother replied firmly. Her voice showed nothing but her Timbre seemed to waver between approval and annoyance. It was no wonder, he was doing exactly what she wanted after all, but not as willingly as she would have liked. Still, the Stamp around him eventually warmed up nicely, a way to show her approval as she turned to the Shinjuku Composer. "Ezekiel, I'm surprised to find you here."
"It sometimes seems appropriate for me to absent myself from Shinjuku to observe the choices of its citizens when events out of the ordinary occur." Replied the young Composer diplomatically.
"I agree, but this mess hardly seems important enough to require your presence. Wouldn't your time be better spent continuing the rehabilitation of your district?"
"It would appear so, Mother." Hazuki replied as monotonously as usual, but Joshua almost thought he detected a hint of disappointment. It had to be said, cleaning and transforming a space after an Inversion wasn't particularly challenging. It was even excessively slow. Which, now that Joshua thought about it, was probably why Hazuki's visits had recently increased.
"Well, let's get going, in that case, I wanted to see your recent progress with the remnants treatment." Mother replied before turning to Joshua again. With barely a hesitation, she placed a hand on the Composer's shoulder and nodded. "See to it that you continue your good behavior, Joshua, and we might consider a reward. In the meantime, we'll see each other next week for our regular appointment." And then, with a final squeeze on his shoulder, she disappeared. Hazuki quickly nodded in Joshua's direction before doing the same. No doubt he wasn't going to have a very good next few hours and Joshua didn't envy him. Even if Hazuki was serious, Mother was expecting a whole new level of skill that he hadn't yet learned to deal with, inexperienced as he was.
Sighing, Joshua sat back down on the ground, his feet dangling in the air. Below him, the fight had evolved as he thought it would. The entirety of the Players had been wiped out, even those who had hidden away from the fighting had been thrown to Matsunae by the Reapers and wiped out without warning. However, the Shibuya reapers weren't the only ones fighting, as Joshua had feared. Uzuki, Kariya and 777 were certainly on the front lines, but Kaichi Suzuki, Hishima Sakazuki and Ayano Kamachi were fighting just as fiercely. Joshua wondered for a second if they had managed to get along while he was spending his time in the RG. But no, it must have been because Matsunae was an old classmate. As if to put him in doubt, it was at exactly that moment that Joshua noticed a pair of Reapers trudging away from the fight. The first soul was recognisable even before he laid eyes on it, he knew its music as well as his other Reapers despite the dissonant notes that interfered with it. It was little Hanako, badly beaten and barely conscious. She was half carried by a Reaper from Shinjuku, a Lieutenant Joshua had never paid much attention to. Shoka Sakurane, if he remembered correctly. The Shinjuku Reaper seemed to be trying to wake up the younger girl, patting her cheeks while frantically looking over her shoulder at the still raging battle. Suddenly Sakazuki narrowly avoided a blade and it sped past the two Reapers. Ayano Kamachi yelled a warning and the young Sakuran was fortunately quick enough to avoid it, throwing herself to the ground with her charge.
"Hmmm... maybe..." Joshua hummed before straining his ear. He felt nothing. It was just him on that roof, Hazuki and Mother were gone, he couldn't sense Father or any other divine entity anywhere, and Kubo was far more busy. Exhaling softly, he wiggled his fingers slightly, barely a movement, a simple wave that could have passed for an annoyed spasm as he turned back to the fight. But immediately, behind him, the young Hanako took a sharp breath, her eyes opening wide as she shook with all her limbs. Sakurane waited no longer and pulled the young Reaper to her feet, pulling her out of the danger zone.
Joshua stood there, his eyes focused on the fight and his fingers relentlessly motionless until it was over.
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