city / reigned

              This new…. thing that happened in Terra, it was nothing short of strange. It wasn’t like it spooked the demon however, as he was from a place that didn’t have a sun of it’s own — but in a place that closely resembled earth, well, it kind of reminded him of a horror game or something. NORMALLY he’d be totally down for that sorta thing, he thrived on games after all !! But he seemed to be in a bit of a pinch right now having no powers… WELL… That was a lie. He was still able to make people feel better about themselves, but what use was that here ??

              The answer was simple, really. It just wasted his energy which he was sure to be to the other’s chagrin. Of course, Levi didn’t find himself caring too much about that though — from the looks of it he was just some self important kid that could float who he only bothered to grunt at in response, taking a look at their bleak situation himself. It wasn’t IDEAL but at least he had years of experience strategizing to get himself through this… Well, if the kid would bother listening to his input at least. 

              He could try at least , and if the other was bullheaded he’d just ditch. 

             “ Running won’t do us any good, so if there’s any monsters around it’d be better to hide for a bit until they pass. ” He shrugged, getting a distinct feeling that the other’d disagree — before he could comment though, he continued,  “ If you come down here though we might be able to use your floating to throw them off so I could try and do something… ” It was still a work in progress thought, but normally he’d have more time to think about it before pitching it. 

Honestly, as weird as things are, it almost feels a little...underwhelming, honestly. Just some unruly beasts and having everything go dark? That’s just another day in Shibuya ( okay, he’d consider his game to be better than whatever you’d call this, on the basis most people weren’t this defenseless. At least you gave them a chance for their lives ). But seriously, if the sky wasn’t like, turning in on itself, could they really call this a disaster? Like something that they should be taking serious? Well, for mortals, every little thing could be a crisis if they spun it the right way— or the wrong way, Composer supposes. 

And for all he might belittle and disagree— his world is not so closed off that he cannot listen. Understand the perspective he’s taken on this, no; that’s maybe asking for a bit much. But listen Joshua can do: granted, that was the bare minimum that was necessary if they really expected to make some kind of progress here. He’s hardly got an idea of what he’s aligned himself with, anyways.

Miriam, despite the time she’s had for herself, to learn and to grow, still acts very human. She breathes and smiles and sleeps much like people do, and it shows in the slightly incorrect gestures. It’s her way of trying to adapt to her change, though the old whispers of things hang onto her limbs more persistently than she had initially hoped. Adapting was supposed to be fast, right? Supposed to be easy. 

It’s not, and she still sits up at night wondering about things. How disappointing, that life was not like the stories she experienced as a girl. 

It doesn’t sit well, being questioned. Miriam bristles, and bites down on a tirade, before fixing the stranger with a displeased expression. “Can I help you or something?” She’s not sure what else to say in that moment, and something about ‘got a death wish’ is leaving her in a state of confusion. 

She squints, and looks the other over, trying to interpret the haze of colors she’s seeing. “I hate to break it to you, but I never want someone to greet me like that ever again. Like, who the hell does that? What the hell, man.” It’s not quite a tirade, more of a sneering reactivity. “I can be out if I want to be out, and I can handle myself just fine. Thanks.” 

Still able to act human— you wish you could relate. Or maybe Joshua hadn’t really been all that human in the first place? He’d always been good at watching people: even without an ability to pry into their mind, reading people had came to him pretty easily too.  It’s pretty easy to act; what he is acting as, however, remains to be seen. She’s not entirely easy to read.

“Help...? I wonder...tee hee. Can someone like you really help?” Don’t worry, if nothing else— you’re certainly helping keep him entertained! It’s pretty amusing to watch the way she bristles up with even a small push. A coy smile; oh, Composer could have greeted her in a much more unkindly manner, but it’s probably for the best that he’s greeted her as he had. Or maybe it’s just the lack of an ability to do much more to her than you had. Well, it doesn’t change what has already happened. No use crying over spilled milk, and all that.

To be perfectly honest, going to fight the beasts lurking about would have been the first thing he would have done… assuming he had his powers at least. But considering he was only at a fraction of his prior strength, perhaps it would be best for him to avoid danger.

Still, that wasn’t going to stop him from wandering around the city, even if the seemingly endless night made things rather difficult to see. Hell, at this point, he had absolutely no idea where he was. Nothing looked familiar— yet to be fair, he was still trying to find his way around the city, before the endless night set in, that is.

Hearing… a sound, he stops in his tracks. After spending a few moments looking for the source of the sound, with no luck in finding it, he keeps walking— although the entire time, he kept looking around, as if worried that something would suddenly… jump out, perhaps. Yet the second he feels something tap his shoulder, he spins around, moving his left arm to throw a punch.

…Only for the punch to stop short. Realizing he was about to punch a person and not a monster, Kyoya pulls his fist away, scowling a little.

“…Can I help you?” Well, he sure sounded like he was in a bad mood. Well, he was. After all, for a very brief moment, he thought there was a monster behind him.

Well, it looks like they’re all making poor choices tonight, hm? At least they should have some offensive abilities; well, if he levitates out of the beasts reach, that might count for something. As far as Joshua is concerned, he’s simply just doing him a favor by keeping him on his toes— a darkness like this really isn’t something that should be taken lightly. Either stranger is stronger than he looks, or some kind of foolish...or maybe both ( it’s probably a bit of both, if you were to ask him. Humans are silly like that ).

Of course, he doesn’t expect a retaliation like that: even if he probably deserved at least that much...if not more; even without any kind of foresight, you can spot the beginnings of a strike and prepares to move aside. He’s pretty impressed when he never has to exert that effort. Of course, now he’s really just tempted to push his luck and see if he can goad him into attacking him. Because, you know, why not? It wasn’t like things were already bad enough as they were. Get an extra spicy kick of adrenaline, for shits and giggles. Just a thought. ( Okay, most things are not ‘just a thought’ with Composer, so should he be worried? Probably )

Hm, now what do we have here? Stranger seems pretty out of place in a city like this, looking as ragged as he does— out here in the forest, however, seems like it suits him perfectly. If that could be considered a compliment or an insult, is up for interpretation. Good thing that Joshua’s decided not to openly antagonize him...well, over that, at least. It’s not like him to not step on toes at all; if nothing else, he does so carefully in consideration of current circumstance ( you’d rather not have to handle too many foes at once ).

How interesting. A detective, they say? Admittedly, Composer doesn’t really have any intimately personal reference for what detectives are like ( they don’t exactly strike imagination, after all ), but this isn’t quite it. It’s just a little...amusing to watch a child play pretend, or something akin to that; in your eyes, at least— not all of it is fake, certainly, but it’s almost like wearing a pair of shoes you can never fill. Sorry, was his intuition off? All right, so maybe a few assumptions were made ( isn’t it quite a sight to see what potential humans can have, even so young? It makes him almost want to— ).

Hey, Cinderella, don’t you think it’s a little late to be out playing dress up? Not that there’s hardly any difference between day and night when everything’s cloaked in darkness like this, but she doesn’t look like she has any place out here. But she does seems like she might be at least be useful for a task like this at least, and Joshua should put her to use if she’s out here...what? That’s mean? It’s just the truth. He’s just keeping an eye out for on her. After all, he doesn’t need omniscience to know something doesn’t feel quite right: but whether or not she knows that is a mystery to him. Of course, Composer’s eyes don’t see anything different from anyone else— so perhaps it’s not a matter of what he sees, but who. Let’s leave it at that for now; he’s gotta have some entertainment value in this. 

     So he was  FINE  with the music— Ramuda concluded. Not to his liking but tolerable. It might’ve been terrible knowledge to pass onto the male as not only did it mean he could continue on, but a part of him was now interested in finding a track the other  TRULY  didn’t like. Off the bat this guy didn’t seem like the average teen. Was he perhaps some spoiled rich kid where he came from ? He sure  ANSWERED  like one.

          “ Nope ! I may look like this but I’m a whole adult ! I even have my own fashion line back home, see ? ” Just for a moment, he flashed the sketchbook in hand to the other. Already three different designs had been penciled onto the pages.  ORIGINALLY  they were meant to be clothing to make for himself while in Terra but by the third he’d drifted to a new idea for the brand itself. Setting the book aside, he shifted in place to fully face his roommate.

     “ Hmm… Don’t wanna answer huh ? Well that’s fine ! ” As  ODD  as any kid might be, they usually didn’t care to conceal their age. Either this guy was similar to him— frequently mistaken to be younger– or he  REALLY  didn’t give it out to strangers. “ What’s your name then ? Or is that secret information too ? In that case I could just keep calling you Kid ! ”

You’d be hard pressed to find music that he didn’t find passable, quite honestly— for someone who always has a distant melody lingering in his veins, tunes will always resonate with some part of his being, regardless of Joshua’s personal opinion...which might be a bit apathetic in itself, in turn. Only the most harsh, dissonant notes would really leave a sour taste on his tongue ( well, more than that, really, but that’s neither here or there; and rather rare, usually ). One of those ‘pleasant’ things that came with not being ‘human’.

“Hm...I’d take you to be maybe a half adult at best.” Less of a remark of his height, more of one to indicate his demeanor; intuition might not be backed by anything here— so really, he’d be at least a little surprised if he wasn’t entirely off. He spares a glance at the sketchbook turned towards him; and of course Composer can acknowledge some kind of talent, a decent sense of Imagination was probably there, but those thoughts are mulled over and kept to himself. “A child prodigy, maybe? It’s not unheard of, after all.” Nah, if he’s insisting that he’s an adult, he probably is one— not that that’ll stop him from treating him otherwise. So maybe he’s being a little petty about being treated like a child. Whatever.

not too long ago isaac was in a similar situation to this, sitting across someone, drink in hand, debating the value of their world. this boy has the captain’s charm, certainly, and all the biting wit that comes with it, but not his kindness. isaac finds no fault in that.

he can’t, however, says he fully agrees.

“  disgusting ?  ”   his eyes trace the path from their shared table to the ceiling, to the exit, to the thick rays of sunlight hitting the floors, and how there is a slight glimmer, when he looks long enough. he’s slow in looking back to joshua, as if he’d rather look elsewhere.    “  not the word i would use. unsettling, perhaps, if one is unused to a such a sudden change.   ”

the coffee is hot on his tongue, but isaac doesn’t mind. he sets the cup down, folds his hands atop the table.   “  every world has its share of secrets. ugliness they try to keep hidden. we are here, enjoying a drink, when instead we could be fighting to keep our skins intact.  ”    a brow arches.    “  is this not hospitable enough to you ?  ”

Composer doesn’t mind the disagreement that resounds from the other— once, long ago, he might have even taken it as a personal offense to be disagreed with so plainly. That is then, this is now: he knows people do not understand each other so easily ( whether or not it is worth putting forth the effort, that is another story ). Besides, things are more intriguing when people don’t see eye to eye. It’s boring when everyone agrees completely. Megumi might have thought that was best for saving Shibuya, but could you have really called that city, a blur of minds forced into the same way of thinking, alive? He hadn’t found that discordant melody worth saving, but in the end you’d been swayed into salvaging nonetheless.

Here too, feels like he’s been struck by a dissonant chord in his core— perhaps that explains why he is more quick to call the feeling this place gives him one of disgust rather than simple unease. Or perhaps Joshua is just being dramatic, see if he might get a rise out of him. Who’s to say? ...By the way, did he upset you? He’s terribly ( not ) sorry about that. “Perhaps disgusting is a strong word, but unsettling might be an understatement, used to such or not.” Rather, it’s probably because of his own capabilities that leave him feeling so strongly on this matter. A disgust that leaves him more bitter than the drink in his cup. How spiteful.

A bored yawn, feet are far from touching the ground as he moves along— most of the time, he’d hardly muster the energy to do so, but this is really more beneficial for him given the city’s current predicament. Irritating to use his energy on this, but he’ll take whatever little advantage he can get here. It at least helps him feel like he’s not completely powerless here.  

...Of course, if anyone asked, he was definitely just slacking off and not greatly underpowered. No biggie.

( Ah, what Joshua wouldn’t do to have some of his foresight back— intuition can only get him so far in the end )

Hm? The darkness? The odd tunnels? He’s taken an interest in such, of course—  even passively, it would not do to remain ignorant, if nothing else: distaste for being uninformed is quite high on his list. He at least had enough awareness to understand the circumstances, but, well; that’s only second in to his current companion. If he’ll be useful to him is more pressing, perhaps, but he’ll keep him entertained, at least. If they don’t accidentally attract unwanted attention before then.

Oh? How interesting, it seems that he’s no longer alone in this...hallway? It might be a hallway, hard to say when it’s as dim out as it is now. You’d call yourself a proxy of sorts, wouldn’t you— not in the same sense that Composer would call another; not that he has knowledge of that fun tidbit. Probably for the best, he’d just use that as an excuse to pick a fight for fun, see what he’s capable of; but he’s not able to go all out here either. Again, for the best, but that means he’s left to his own devices to entertain himself.

He’s using his vantage point from above to his advantage to torment some poor soul. A wise choice of action when there’s danger lurking about? Nope, not one bit, but who is he if not looking for some kind of trouble— sorry, make that cause trouble. As if there wasn’t enough going on as it is. A shot in the dark with the toy gun in his hands: ready, aim, and...whoops, sounds like he’s hit something ( so maybe it wasn’t such a blind shot after all ). He’d best take responsibility for his actions...by being even more of a menace, of course.

How curious. A chipper little thing, isn’t she— not literally speaking, she’s taller than Joshua is in this form, but, well. That’s not quite all, he thinks. He’d personally akin her to a brightly tapering soul though, but, hm...well, it’s probably just his imagination. Even if it’s not his imagination, and his intuition being somewhat on point, that’s probably not enough to dissuade city god.

        Neku Sakuraba—ever an artist, ever particular for only a few certain but niche details and for the small things that stick to his memory forever—would be lying if he hadn’t forgotten how obnoxious his old partner was.

        He’s forgotten a lot, of course: his own identity, when it was once required; an old friend, if one ever existed; and most of his memories of the past, back when the world felt grey and bleak and ever stagnant. But Joshua still sticks out as a rotten nuisance—a rulebreaker, a rival in persistence and selfishness, perhaps to two extremes—and with a week and some extra to prove it, Neku won’t ever forget it. Maybe that’s what makes these conversations worse: this is all stuff that he should expect, but it doesn’t make him want to shut him up any less.

        ( At least there’s a possible reason behind all the trust, at least to an outsider: how, no matter what insidious ideas slip from Joshua’s mouth, Neku can at least expect some kind of consistency from them.

        …And, sure, it’s a terrible, inexplicable thing to trust—but the mind and heart both work in inexplicable ways. )

        “Definitely not since last month,” Neku answers, without hesitation. He would pretend to think about it for a bit, just to breathe before Joshua continues, but it’s not like it’d help after the next comment. How nice of him to bring that up—you know, being dead yet again, because it’s not as if Neku can go about his day and stay alive. Still, he’s obligated to answer ( and even if he isn’t, it doesn’t stop him from wanting to, ) so he bites his lip, glues his arms close to his chest and swallows down his growing anger.

        “That must be great for you,” however, is what he ends up saying. The remark is stained by ash and fire, and followed up too quickly. “I never knew! I mean, you didn’t bother showing your sorry face after everyone came back, so I thought you were as good as erased.” No, he didn’t; he thought the very opposite, but of course now, of all times, his snark would take over. It’s not as if Joshua says anything that’d bring the conversation back a level.

        “Of course it would. I wasn’t planning to die tonight, anyways.” Even with the risks he was taking, or the apathy brewing at his side? Perhaps, after everything, a death wish would upset his friends—but there’s certainly one it doesn’t seem like it’ll affect, right? For him to ask that is remarkable, especially when logic dictates that there is only one way he could’ve taken the position he holds now. Neku won’t pry, though: even to someone that he still wants to understand, there are some places where even trust and bravery can falter.

        Ah, right. Well, as exhausting as it is to talk to Joshua, Neku can’t deny that he still wants to talk to him, regardless. ‘Change’ is too weak a verb for the effects of three weeks, and though his old partner may want to sever ties, Neku would rather hold to them without letting go. Perhaps it is impossible for a human thrice killed and a boy with the talents of a god to talk to one another; but, even if it should be impossible, or if all the heavens will try to stop him, Neku will reach out to him anyways. Still, “Just because you’re still a pain in the ass doesn’t mean I’d say no,” is how he replies—and that is all from him on the matter.

        “I am using it, genius. But I wasn’t told where 104 was today, was I?” Maybe your advice is, for once, appreciated, Josh. “They put me in the southern region. Where are you supposed to be?”

        ( If it’s on the other side of Terra, then maybe tonight its citizens will get to see one of its visitors disappear. )

Joshua is an enigmatic being, who moves to his own rhythm and beat, and works to melodies that otherwise fall upon deaf ears. And like any well produced composition, there are repeated beats that he will hit predictably— but he much prefers being an erratic tune that skips and jumps across an arrangement of notes, an element of surprise among a smooth harmony ( very much like the dissonant noises that he himself oh so very much loathes ). Neku is very much the same, in his mind; there are parts to his proxy that he has come to expect, and moments ( like now ) that take him very much by surprise. Even if such doesn’t really get conveyed by his demeanor, it’s entertaining. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.

( Well, it is easier to pretend like humans hold no true value to him; than to pretend like it’s alright to draw closer than you should )

“See, you should understand, then.” A brief moment where he can pretend to smile as he watches for a reaction to his words; since he doesn’t exactly have the advantage of being able to pry at his leisure. Is he upsetting you, dear? There’s no good in bottling up your anger like that. It’s best to just rip the band-aid off and tackle that subject— Composer’s expression flickers for a moment, might betray the fact that this is not a subject that he speaks with joy. Person who likes to speak in cryptic riddles, in circles and around subjects; to acknowledge something so straightforwardly is a bit rare. Perhaps it speaks to how he really feels on the subject. No further expression of his thoughts beyond that seep through.

Strain doesn’t go unnoticed, of course— he wouldn’t expect anything less, honestly. It says enough that he can manage to speak to him as he is, as restrained as he is. He’s not quite pushing to get Neku to blow up at him ( although he’s not against it either, whatever is most productive to his end goals, really ). It’s not like Joshua didn’t know his presence had been wanted, in some capacity, but he can’t quite explain that to proxy. Not now, at least. Maybe eventually. For now, he’ll just raise his brows, as if to be surprised; really, he’s probably just mocking him. “Really, Neku? Did you want me dead that bad? I thought you were smarter than that. With no Composer, Shibuya would have...” He doesn’t think he needs to finish his sentence for Neku to get the gist of what he means— although truthfully, he can only guess what would happen to Shibuya without any Composer at all. He’d almost think he was concerned, if it wasn’t for the snark. How silly of a thought that is! 

“Glad to hear it. Apathy doesn’t really suit you anymore. Although I truly wonder if either of us can actually die here, I’d rather not test that hypothesis tonight.” That’s probably going to be the nicest thing you’re getting out of him tonight, so things can only go downhill from here! Anyways, he has no desire to die when it isn’t by his own hand ( in a sense ), so as long as they’re being sensible here, things will be fine. Probably.

It really is something to see how far his proxy has come— the Neku that he’d gunned down in Udagawa’s streets surely wouldn’t have chased after him ( well, not for the reasons that he does now, anyways ). He’d gotten to see some of that process up close, himself; tried to influence that, for both better and worse. The boy who continues to keep a hand out in offering to an otherworldly being: Composer wants to laugh at that idea of kindness, even after everything. For whose benefit is Joshua really acting for here? It’s hard to say, really.

( The growth that had blossomed forth in three weeks, the changes that had begun to flourish in the city afterwards— Shibuya had changed, and he along with it. He had stayed his choice then; and again here, he finds himself hesitant in following through with his plans...or perhaps because of that, he finds himself more certain in doing as he had decided )

“Is that really all that you think of me?” He muses, a coy murmur; and perhaps, if he were the kind of person to be honest with himself, he’d express some kind of gratitude. The lonely boy god who exists beyond a facade of masks, you cannot remain in that kind of vulnerability, so he simply shrugs his words off. “Well, it’s of no consequence to me. I hope you don’t regret that choice.”

“Well, it shouldn’t be that hard for you to put two and two together then, right? I mean, unless you’ve already been here long enough have names down, telling you details like that would be pointless.” Besides, even if he’s not being as cryptic as their dearly departed math enthusiast, Joshua is still being admittedly cryptic ( within good reason, of course ). Speaking of which— did you really expect him to give you a straightforward answer, Neku? He’s been pretty kind in how honest he’s been answering him so far, it was inevitable that he’d start being avoidant again at some point. “Hm? Around, of course. Now, shall we get going? I’d like it if we don’t have to race against the sunset.” Well, maybe he can be persuaded into giving a more straightforward answer, but it’s not really relevant to the task at hand.

...After all, Neku, Joshua never said the mission was to escort him. Of course, he’s curious on seeing how long it takes him to figure that one out— he’s banking on the fact that he’s probably not too well oriented with this place to give him at least a little bit of time to drag things out.

shiki had her own share of secrets, to be sure — but it was despite them that she’d made friends with neku, and maybe while shiki’s own secrets wasn’t as high stakes as joshua’s, she’d still guarded them with the best guards she could have mustered, driven by fear that neku would realize that… she wasn’t really who she said she was, after all.

( isn’t that a common point for both of them? maybe joshua couldn’t emphasize with the fear, most certainly, but not being who you said you were at the same time being yourself… isn’t that just more than a little… relatable? )

she has no idea of the burdens that laid on joshua’s shoulders. for her — he was only cryptic composer that people had kept talking about, the head honcho in charge of the game — how odd it was! to see such a person be the same age as she was. she was just starting her life and struggling for it — while he dealt with the end of many.

clenching her fists at her sides, she trembles. tears showing, her voice failing— her melody distorts, helpless anger boiling over into a crescendo. each word and non word out of the composer’s mouth strike hopelessness in her heart. and she almost feels like she has to choke for breath.

“you’re a monster.”

this is not anger. this is hurt. a bleeding wound that came from each sentence joshua struck down into her being — joshua did not need his powers to spear her with the truth.

to weigh a single person’s life as a profit-loss equation. each mechanical word sounds inhumane to shiki’s ears.

“he spared you! doesn’t that mean anything to you?”

voice breaking, almost pleading — can’t you see?

the pit of despair in her stomach comes up to engulf her. neku… accepting his death… no. that wasn’t it. that couldn’t be it. the tears welling up overflow and down her cheeks. she’d lost neku…? after losing eri in the worst way possible — after not hearing her out and having to go through a death game to fix it— she’d lost.. another friend?

“aaah-!”

crying, holding herself. she doesn’t want to believe it. but— she has to be strong, right? for neku… for rhyme… for beat and eri.

“of course humans break promises… we’re not perfect. we’re not … we don’t do everything right all the time, but — we’re still better than you! to say you don’t regret it… how could you? can’t you see neku trusted you?”

voice in anguish, and she doesn’t care that it’s a god that she’s speaking with.

“i don’t care about your plan! how could you just… think of him like that…? how can you just write him off…? you obviously meant something to him, so why are you pretending he meant nothing to you?!“

because human relationships … couldn’t be fake like that, right? when two people connected, when two people trusted each other, then…

neku deserved better. neku didn’t deserve this. why…?

( she doesn’t know, about coming back alive. she doesn’t know about the details of the game. how joshua might have changed — her point of view is before that, and for her, the future was a blurry uncertainty. that was why she stumbled so much, wasn’t it? unlike joshua – it was because one didn’t know the future that one could hold fear, could be human. maybe joshua was learning.  )

“you’re … you’re the worst.”

shaking. trembling. despite her need to be strong — her voice breaks.

Relatable? Commonality? Is this so called monster someone you want to have something in common with— and over that, of all things? Well, he can’t say he’s surprised by her...tenacity; after all, Shiki was the perfect partner to work with Neku at his worst. But he is not a proxy with room to change; you are not static, but much less receptive to straying from the path he has set for himself. Really, it’s for the best that she doesn’t understand the kind of weight, to almost struggle to keep his head raised. The truth is a much more depressing thing, and Joshua’s not looking for sympathy. 

Playing god is a lonely role, but if he’s content in it, why change? 

( That is a lie, of course. There is nothing content about way of being for Composer, perhaps it is stubbornness that clings onto that as an excuse. The fear of change, you would understand that too...right, Shiki? )

Brows raise a little, mask breaks briefly to express surprise; and then any sort of emotion flickers away. A monster? Well, he’s far from being human, surely, so he cannot deny her in that. A retaliation to the cruel words he had struck her with, that’s fair enough. Which is to say, he’d rather she get angry at him. You can’t change if you don’t clash— ah, wait, that’s not his motto, whoops! Well, maybe this clash will be productive in some manner nonetheless. “I told you. As according to plan. Nothing more, nothing less.” If she had not come from the future that she did, she’d know that truthfully, it had meant something— enough for Composer to go back on his word. Enough for him to be willing to assure four friends would be able to reunite at Hachiko once more, while Joshua watched from afar. She does not have that knowledge, however, so it is easy for him to claim that it holds no meaning to him, pleas fall on deaf ears.

A cruel god? No, Shiki is right in calling him a monster. Even deities know how to act more human than you do.

Ah. She’s upset. Granted, that was the point— but that doesn’t make it any easier to see. Another reminder of how different mortal and deity are. How depressing. “Better is subjective. Humans are meant to be flawed, after all.” It’s just that Shibuya’s citizens had perhaps been too flawed, once; a disgusting poison that had ate away at Composer until he’d been convinced it was best to just toss it all away, like he had once before with his own life. “Ah, yes. Trust your partner. Really, that’s Sanae’s thing more than mine— but he’s not entirely wrong, trust is necessary for the game. As you can see, though, you are no longer a part of that. It’s easy to toss away something that doesn’t matter anymore.” Besides, it’s real rich irony, how hypocritical when the angel had betrayed him, in the scheme of things. Forgiven, of course; Producer is too useful to him to really hold a grudge against. But trust? Joushua had been lying to Neku from the start: there is no place for trust when he’s never spoken the truth.

It’s easy to act like he can rid himself of the bonds of the game because he wasn’t supposed to mingle with his people like that to begin with. He was supposed to just watch from afar and give his judgement, assure that the city flourishes with potential— he is not supposed to be as human as he is right now, and it is hard to decide how he should be acting. He might be very much human in appearance, but...well, how much of you is really Composer right now remains to be seen.

“Pretending? What makes you think that? Hee hee...Shiki, don’t tell me that you're projecting yourself onto me? You don’t know me, after all.” If she stood here before him, after he returned her fee to her, perhaps he might understand some of the conclusions that she has reached: but she does not, so it is much easier to brush her off as being wrong. It’d probably be wise of him to not underestimate how perceptive she can be. “Besides, look at your own tone. Past tense. Things that are in the past should stay that way. You don’t understand the situation, and it would be good for you to not try to.”

( It’s okay, Shiki, he doesn’t fault you for not knowing better! It’s not like Joshua wants to acknowledge change either, or maybe it is that it’s so easy to fall back on old habits here, unattached to city: or much else at all here. Composer hasn’t been human in a long time, after all, to act human, well, there’s only so much pretending can do. Shame that he has no foresight here, he’d love to peek into the future to get a sense for what might happen here. )