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

Date: posted the 30 of May 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 tries his best to make the city survive.

Trigger of this chapter: None I can think of


Guess who was about to go to bed when they realized that, yeah, we are the 30 and it mean putting a chapter out there. Oops.
Enjoy your reading!


"Josh!" Shiki called, Eri shaking her arm behind her head. Not that Joshua needed their help to find them, the pact always guiding him without fail, but the intention was always appreciated. They were sitting in the grass on a blanket, various bentos neatly arranged in the middle. Above them, cherry trees were showing off their last flowers of the season, the petals escaping with every gust of wind and landing in the girls' hair. Fortunately, there weren't many people in the park for once. It was the end of the cherry blossom season and, more importantly, it was Tuesday. Tuesday 21 April to be precise.

Neku's birthday.

As in previous years, they had all got together to celebrate. They had originally planned to meet in the evening, but Rhyme had suggested taking advantage of the day off the weekend to watch the cherry trees in peace. Shiki was a little reluctant at first, they had just started their final year of high school after all. But Eri had pointed out that they were mainly revising the previous year, so it was the best time to skip a day. The argument was valid and the four teenagers happily skipped class in favour of a picnic in the park. Fortunately, they were old enough now that if you saw them out of uniform, you'd think they were at university. So Joshua didn't even need to direct the police away from them anymore so they could have a quiet afternoon.

"Do you know where Rhyme and Beat are?" Shiki asked as Joshua sat down opposite them.

"They're on the other side of the park on the skateboard, they won't be long." Replied the composer without even checking. He had been surveying their location less than a minute before, after all.

"It's a bit creepy, but it's still really handy. It would be super useful every time Shiki gets lost in a new fabric shop and doesn't answer her phone." Eri teased and Shiki immediately blushed.

"That was once!" She took offence, but quickly shut up when Eri scoffed and even Joshua raised an eyebrow. "Yeah well, okay... By the way Josh, I still haven't managed it, I can sometimes sense Rhyme and Beat when they're close, but I can never work out where you are."

"That's probably because they're there while Josh is... er..." Eri began before looking around and then leaning over and whispering, "In the Underground."

Not quite, it was mainly that Joshua's entire presence was closely linked to the town and therefore encompassed them all. In any case, Joshua laughed softly, amused that she had taken his warning so seriously. Not that her whispers would help if a Reaper approached her in the UG or even read her mind, but Joshua was there for just that reason. And besides, he'd been engraving protection and jamming memes into their jewellery for a long time. In any case, he was relieved to see that Eri seemed to have adapted well to all the revelations they had dropped on her nearly three weeks earlier.

Beat had been one hundred per cent willing to explain the UG to Eri. Not surprising when he'd almost spilled the secret in front of her more than once. Rhyme, on the other hand, had been surprisingly more cautious. She partly shared Shiki's concern about involving Eri in the UG when she didn't need to be. Less so, though, because as she said, just by hanging out with them and Joshua, she was already connected to the story, whether she knew it or not. In the end, they had agreed to let her in on it, or at least part of it. Joshua had vetoed it and chosen what to say and what not to say, and fortunately the others hadn't objected. So they had explained the UG and the RG, the Noises, their creation and impact, the Game and the state of stasis Neku was currently in. They hadn't said that Joshua was the Composer, just that he was part of the Game's administration and had met the others when they'd played themselves. Having managed to prove to her that they weren't making fun of her by Joshua disappearing in front of her eyes and reading her thoughts, they'd obviously had to calm her down. It was a good thing they'd been in the workshop when they'd told her, because Eri had been truly hysterical, upset by the fact that Shiki had died and she didn't even remember it.

But Eri wouldn't be Eri if learning about other planes of existence didn't bug her for more than half an hour. Soon she was asking a thousand questions a minute, terribly curious about this other dimension. It was a good thing Joshua hadn't mentioned parallel worlds, or they'd still be there...

The status quo had returned somehow. Eri was clearly unsure most of the time and had trouble understanding what her friends had gone through, but at least she knew now. She'd been a little hurt that they'd kept it from her for so long, but she hid that disappointment admirably. She understood the enormity of existence in other frequencies, and that it went far beyond questions of trust between friends. Or at least, that's what Joshua had caught in her head, and he wasn't going to talk her out of it. Many of the strange events of the last two years were also suddenly making sense, and other tensions they'd barely noticed were there had eased noticeably. In particular, Eri understood much better the attachment they all had to Neku and never again spoke to Shiki about forgetting the boy.

However, Joshua was clearly aware that he had only escaped Eri's vitriol because she didn't know the details of the Game and, above all, thought he was a mere Executor. Her reaction would surely be more explosive if she knew what he had done to his partners, even if they themselves seemed to have forgiven him.

But the others didn't seem inclined to snitch, and it wasn't Joshua himself who was going to throw himself under the wheels of the bus so... well, somehow, nothing had ever gone so well in their little group.

"Hey!" Beat called behind them, and the three fashionistas turned their heads to see the Bito siblings speeding down the alleyway at the controls of the eldest's trademark skateboard. "Sorry I'm late, yo!"

"No worries! We're just getting started, come on." Eri smiled happily, their previous conversation suddenly out of her head. The siblings didn't take long, Beat dropping down next to Joshua, nearly crushing his knees in the process. Pushing Beat off him without any remorse, Joshua pressed himself a little closer to Shiki, leaving room for Rhyme. Yep, perfect. The Composer had managed to find himself between the two quietest members of their little group and, even better, Beat was next to Eri. He exchanged an amused glance with Shiki: somehow, these two were always a good source of entertainment, especially together.

After that, it wasn't long before the meal took place. As well as the girls' bentos, Beat had brought back an assortment of filled buns he'd made with his mother which were, to Joshua's surprise, incredibly good. The Composer himself hadn't bothered and had simply bought an incredible number of different cans. Everyone had been able to drink as much as they wanted, but one in particular had found a place above a box of nuggets at the foot of the cherry tree between Shiki and Eri.

Joshua was finding it very difficult not to look at her, the little mound of offerings, all the time, and he clearly wasn't the only one. Obviously, what had to happen happened, despite the happy conversation, there was inevitably a blank when Eri finished laughing at Beat's latest lame joke.

And, well, with no conversation to occupy the mind, the main purpose of this little impromptu party was all the more obvious.

"Is... is he better now?" Shiki asked softly after an uncomfortable silence in which only the clatter of chopsticks sounded.

Joshua chewed his mouthful slowly, not really wanting to answer the question. Because, in truth? Yes, yes, Neku was much better. Of course he was better, two years sleeping, protected by Joshua and stimulated by memories from another universe... it had been months since he could have been resuscitated.

The trouble was... well, Joshua still couldn't.

Even though the latest boost, courtesy of Mother, put him at about the same level of power as a very young Composer, some of his powers remained invariably out of reach. It was as if his Tuners had taken care to block out this particular ability, a thought that frankly didn't reassure Joshua. He knew that hoping to hide Neku and their history from his "parents" was a little too naive but... It wasn't as if they'd explicitly acted on the problem until now and so he'd kind of hoped...

But anyway.

So he couldn't resurrect Neku. However, with his current powers, enthroning him as a Reaper was a real possibility. Well, it would have been if it wasn't for the whole Shinjuku thing. Because yes, he could make Neku a Wall-Reaper, hide his interest under a red sweater and have him mentored by Kariya. The little girl, Hanako, was doing very well, after all, and Neku would be a thousand times stronger than her once he got back into the swing of things. But that's just it, he'd be a thousand times stronger.

But that still wasn't enough against the Angels.

There were already crazy rumours circulating about him in the Reaper ranks... even if the Shibuya team were careful not to let anything get through, there was no way Neku was going to be able to go unnoticed for long. He was too brilliant for that. So what? Knowing Kubo, nothing Joshua would fancy.

But...

"He's better." Joshua confirmed with a small smile that showed nothing of his annoyance. "I think he'll be ready to wake up soon."

Immediately, a wave of hope flowed through the bonds of their pact. The smiles were not far behind, bursting from every lips, their eyes shining with joy. It was so strong that their emotions overwhelmed Joshua's, making him smile for real. It was addictive, he realised. It wasn't the first time it had happened, them sharing the same joy or sorrow with each other like that. Amplified and sacralised by their little circle. And how he hoped it would last...

"Soon" Joshua whispered again, and it sounded like a promise.

He only hoped he could keep it.


Think about letting a review on your way out, and see you the 10th for the continuation!