Story: Mind the Gaps (French version available : "Intervalles")
Date: posted the 30 of June 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
Oopsie, was so excited by Artfight that I forgot this chapter ^^' But, hey! We're still the 30 somwhere in the world, hu?
Enjoy your reading!
The soft click of the keyboard lulled Joshua to sleep. Lying on Rhyme's bed, his feet dangling outside and his gaze fixed on the ceiling, he felt incredibly relaxed for once. That was exactly why he'd come all this way. After yet another disastrous meeting with the Executor, sorry, his Producer, he could do with a break. However, Neku was getting better and better at spotting him when he visited his dreams and he didn't feel up to facing him at the moment. So Rhyme had easily been his first choice. She was always the one he went to when he was in the mood for company, without having to deal with all the social dancing that went with it. She was just as happy as he was to stand next to each other and let everyone do what they wanted. In this situation, that meant her typing away at her computer keyboard and him taking her bed hostage and staring at the ceiling. He was contemplating the world. Or at least that's what he liked to tell himself, but Rhyme always laughed at him afterwards, telling him that no, he was just sulking. Joshua would usually respond to this untruthful insult with an outraged denial, and they would finish their ritual with a cup of tea and a quiet chat. However, it was still a little early to leave his contemplations. But when an annoyed growl made him turn his head towards Rhyme, he thought he might as well stop early for once.
"Who are you and what have you done to sweet Raimu Bito?" he taunted.
Rhyme gave him an incredulous look over her shoulder before rolling her eyes and rolling back a little in her seat so Joshua could see the computer. "Someone very dishonest wants to trade me one Passifloril for three Razanbam, as if I was a noob."
Slipping his elbow under him, Joshua raised himself slightly to glance at the screen. On it, a chat took up most of the space and contained two pictures of strange creatures. "Ah, FanGo." He acknowledged dispassionately.
" You know it?" asked Rhyme, surprised.
"Of course," scoffed Joshua, "I know all that goes on in my town. The game's quite popular with teenagers, even young Reapers play it."
"Really? Like who? Kariya?" Rhyme asked curiously, pressing her 'friend' tab as if she really expected Joshua to tell her so she could send them an invite straight away.
"No, of course not, I said young. Kariya is far too old to put that much effort into a Game, one of phone included." Joshua replied, smiling all the brighter when he saw Rhyme twitch at the double meaning of the sentence.
"Then who?" She insisted, not picking up on Joshua's very tasteless pun.
"You don't know them," Joshua assured as he sat down on the bed. "They weren't Shibuya Reapers when you played. One in particular is crazy about it, she spends all her spare time on it and abuses her Reaper powers to get to rare spawn areas faster."
"I have classmates who would do the same thing, if they could." Rhyme laughed.
"About that, you remind me, that Reaper, she's playing with a human about your age at the moment. She talks to him all the time, even during Game hours."
"A human? A live one, you mean? Do I know him?" Rhyme asked, looking a little worried.
"No, no, he's not in your school and before you ask, he doesn't know anything about the UG. The Reaper is just another internet friend to him." Joshua replied, waving his hand as if it were just an unimportant fact. But Rhyme wasn't fooled, Joshua was interested or it wouldn't have stuck in her head until he'd told Rhyme about it flat out. Even despite their friendship, she freely admitted that having Joshua's attention could be a good thing, but often a very bad one. His interest in a living teenager reminded her a little too much of Neku, and Rhyme didn't like that very much.
After all, it was Joshua's interest in Neku that had made him kill him. But it was also that same interest that had resurrected him, all his friends and the town. The same interest that was still saving his life now, years later.
"But how do they communicate? Or even playing Fango. Oh yes, the RNS! Aren't there any worries about that now?" Rhyme asked, trying to distract him away from the pair of Reaper and human. Fortunately, it worked like a charm, Joshua explaining the new features of the RNS and the problems they'd had setting it up. At least, until he saw her discreetly taking notes.
" Say," He suddenly asked, squinting. "Didn't you mention you wanted to hack it? You wouldn't be trying to gather clues to access the network, would you?"
Rhyme gave him her best innocent smile, a terribly cute thing that physically prevented his vis-à-vis from thinking anything negative about her. Fortunately for Joshua, he'd mastered the same trick since he was a child and was therefore carefully immune to it. All the same, he gave her an amused smile, tempted to congratulate the younger woman. If only Beat would stop only seeing the little girl she no longer was... though, he'd probably have a heart attack and Joshua didn't want to deal with that.
Just then, a high-pitched noise sounded from the computer and Rhyme immediately turned, as if on the lookout. It was a notification, Joshua was hearing it everywhere these days, from the streets to the music in Shibuya. That was how popular the game was, but the Composer doubted the pattern would stay there for long, it was just a fad. There were few motifs that stayed permanently in the city's symphony. Joshua's theme was one, Sanae's another. Ramen Don, Tower Record, 104 and Hachiko had all made their mark years ago. But even all of them, one day, would disappear. Ramen Don was already beginning to fade away, its theme replaced by that of another trendy restaurant. Nothing was forever, after all, and anyway, Joshua didn't really want it to be. Besides, like this, listening to the city's music was never boring, there were always new parts to discover, differences to find and old classics to cherish.
"There's an event at 104!" exclaimed Rhyme and Joshua blinked, refocusing on the girl. "A thousand platinum level Drakilion, first come, first served and you can grab as many as you like."
Joshua raised an eyebrow, not needing to read Rhyme's face to understand that she was thinking about their last conversation. As if to confirm it, Rhyme turned slightly towards him, looking at him under her eyelashes. Rhyme had never asked him to use his powers for her. And Joshua knew she wouldn't this time either. And, indeed, Rhyme simply smiled before standing up happily.
"Do you want to check with me if we can try and catch one?"
"Hmm... why not but it's at least a fifteen-minute walk. Even if we leave right away, by the time you get there and do the mini-game, there won't be any left." pointed out Joshua.
Rhyme tilted his head, thinking. "If we run a bit, it might do. But you hate running... Oh well, there'll be more..."
But Joshua had stood up, interrupting her in the middle of a sentence by holding out his hand, a sly smile on his lips. The kind that would have made Neku squint and Beat bolt for the hills. "What's the point of running when I can get there much quicker otherwise? I'd take you with me but I seem to recall the UG isn't in your current holiday plans, hm? So give me your phone, I'll go and grab you one."
Rhyme blinked in surprise before pursing her lips doubtfully. She was well aware that Joshua wasn't the sort of person to do something for free for others without finding an interest in it. Or at least, not when the other person was aware of the favour the Composer was doing them. But Joshua only raised an eyebrow at her suspicion and lifted his mobile phone. On it, the FanGo icon was clearly visible on his home screen and Rhyme opened her eyes wide.
"You can't refuse platinum levels. After I've captured one for you and one for me, I'll have plenty of time to grab a few more, and a second phone won't hurt." He said before a smug smile curved his lips. "The carrot is even more useful than the stick, you know, and I wouldn't say no to a few extra carrots to manage my recalcitrant rabbits."
Rhyme could have done without the metaphor, but she still couldn't help returning his smile.
"Here." She said, handing him her own phone but she didn't let go of it immediately when he took it in his hand. No, instead she held it tightly, lighting it up with her best innocent smile. "Don't forget to add me as a friend to pick up the extra Drakilions."
"I'm afraid I can't." Joshua replied condescendingly, pocketing the phone. Without further ado, he disappeared into the UG but obviously not without having the last word: "We already are, after all."
Think about letting a review on your way out, and see you the 10th for the continuation!
