Story: Mind the Gaps (French version available : "Intervalles")
Date: posted the 30 of September 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. He became friend with the Hashiko Crew, keep in touch with Neku in his dream and, finally, after 3 years, succed in launching a game with his Tuners which will decide of the futur of Shibuya. He chooses a proxy, Rindo Kanade and then wake up Neku.
Trigger of this chapter: None I can think of
Enjoy your reading!
Joshua was always impressed when things fitted together perfectly when there was absolutely no reason for them to. In particular, the extra year and a half he'd allocated to Atarashi Coco had ended a fortnight ago. So there had been absolutely no inter-district hassle for Joshua to call his Reaper back to Shibuya. In fact, it was a little strange that he hadn't done so earlier, but it could easily be seen as a magnanimous gesture on his part. A sort of holiday after a very long posting.
Unsurprisingly, the Reaper had arrived at the meeting point, a small café on the border between Shibuya and Minato, with a cautious face and her Vibe ready to move plans at lighting speed. Not that she could escape Joshua, even in her current state, but he praised her survival instinct. The fact that she'd come at all was surprising in itself, but he guessed the polite and above all mysterious message he'd sent about their illicit rendezvous in the RG and Neku's future had hit the nail on the head.
Anyway, that's where they were now, in the RG, in a café that had absolutely nothing to do with the Game or Joshua, and only after making sure that neither Kubo nor his Tuners had followed him in any way.
Atarashi was clearly nervous, playing with the straw of her fancy juice. On the one hand, Joshua would have loved to make her squirm a bit more, on the other, he himself didn't particularly want to put up with her company any longer. So he'd kept it short, sharp and to the point and given her Neku's coordinates and the seals to draw to free him from the protective tags Joshua had piled around him. Any lingering doubts about Coco's choice for this mission vanished when the young girl sighed with relief at learning where Neku was. Joshua assumed that, even though it was she who had brought the boy into this mess (and had greatly complicated things for Joshua), they had still been partners for three weeks.
And, well, Joshua was in the best position to know that it forged bonds, whether you liked it or not.
"You can, like, totally count on me! Coco had assured him in all seriousness as she stood up. "I'll get Nekky back as soon as I can!"
"I don't doubt it," Joshua had lied elegantly before reminding her: "But do wait until he's able to take two steps without collapsing or he'll be obliterated by the first Noise to come along."
He had the distinct impression that she had held back from rolling her eyes, but he had preferred not to read her thoughts to confirm it. They already disliked each other, there was no reason to accentuate it when it did him no good. And yet, if Joshua had really wanted it, it was easy to see a parallel between them. Both having landed in the UG probably too young, both having been partners with Neku, both having killed him, both becoming his friends... But as Joshua had absolutely no desire to create a link, it was just as convenient to ignore it.
"One last thing." Joshua had called when she was about to disappear. "I can't imagine the state of his clothes after three years, they must be horribly out of date so, you'll give him this."
Coco had immediately glanced into the bag Joshua had handed her, whistling in appreciation when she saw the brand. "Gatto Nero? Their clothes give, like, really cool boosts in the UG. And that jacket, it's clearly good stuff, but I don't recognise that model... Is it from the super duper fresh new collection?"
"Something like that." Joshua had replied before sending her off, not really wanting to explain how he'd got the clothes. He didn't even know why he'd done it, either. But thinking about Neku waking up had made him think about his other partners and therefore about Shiki and the jacket she'd made for him and... well, Neku would need all the protection he could get and there was no doubt that this outfit was the best for him. Strong feelings were a good alternative to control and it was impossible to say that Shiki didn't have them in spades. She had pinned all her hopes on this jacket and, inevitably, so much passion had sunk her Vibe into it too. An off-the-shelf garment simply couldn't compete with this, no matter how well-made it was. What's more, Shiki's jacket had been complemented by Eri's trousers, T-shirt and matching shoes. These were all part of the Gatto Nero line and didn't have as much Timbre in them, but they had the advantage of having been created for Neku and, above all, to highlight Shiki's jacket and, that's exactly what they were doing: accentuating its strength.
So yes, it had been a spontaneous decision, and it was a good thing Shiki had left it at WildKat, because he wouldn't have been able to pick it up from her new flat in Nakano. He could have sent her a message, she'd have brought it to him herself if she'd known Neku was waking up but... He was a bit nervous about breaking the news to her, to be honest. Not while she couldn't see him herself, anyway. So yes, stealing, but was it really stealing if he took it from his own house and gave it to the person it was meant for? That was open for debate.
In order to have a little less trouble on his plate, Joshua decided that it wasn't. And he carefully didn't think about how angry Shiki was going to be that he hadn't warned her about Neku once she got back from her business trip. With any luck, Neku would be back in the land of the living by then and she'd be too busy with that. Or Shibuya would have been wiped off the map and she wouldn't remember them.
That worked too.
Think about letting a review on your way out, and see you the 20th for the continuation!
