Rhi: ...

Nix: and steal her good rper juice

Rhi: i think that's a wonderful idea

Kasa: how 'bout no I need that

Nix: *grabs kasa*

Nix: *puts Kasa on Rhi's tentacles*

Rhi: wait when did i get tentacles

Rhi: i mean

Rhi: *waggles tentacles at kasa*

Kasa: ...

Kasa: no

Nix: don't reject rhi-san's tentacle love

Rhi: ...

Rhi: i reject rhi-san's tentacle love.

Rhi: and i'm her.

"Don't think about the d, don't think about the d, don't think about the d..."

"..."

"FUCK!"

Beat saw the bolt of electricity coming before Joshua did, which was surprising since he was the Composer and Beat was just a human. Or maybe not just a human, but a winner of the Long Game. He still retained some of that speed that he'd gotten when he'd had the Reaper wings, after all.

Beat didn't even think twice, couldn't think twice before shoving Joshua out of the way. The bolt pierced him like he was made of paper and he could vaguely hear Joshua's voice. It was loud, but he couldn't understand what he was saying because he was fading... fading away.

At least it hadn't hurt as much as slowly bleeding out after the car had hit him and Rhyme.

At least this time he'd finally been fast enough...

...

But this was only temporary, right? Just a measure put into place until he could finally tell the different between his Shibuya's Composer and those from other dimensions. Hopefully Josh wouldn't make too much of a deal out of this. Well, whatever. It was worth a try.

It had been a tiring day for the elder Bito. Farm work had been exhausting today, since his father had hurt himself. Beat had to do most of the work to make up for it. Their mother had helped out, but she wasn't used to the hard labor like he and his father were.

So, he was glad when he plopped out and relaxed under the stars in the grassy field near the cow pasture. A dirty blanket under him kept the grass from making his bare upper torso itchy--he'd taken off his shirt once the sun had set. His eyelid felt heavy to him as he watched the stars, a low yawn escaping his lips.