[ The 16th. July 16th. Six months minus one day after January 17th, one year minus one day after July 17th of the previous year, and one year and six months minus one day after the day he was made to be no longer an Angel. Hanekoma and Neku are both gone. Shiki has been here even longer than he has. Rhyme and Beat are both Players, far too fragile to rely on, far too distant to trust.

Tomorrow, he will probably die.

It's strange, in a way. He's never been afraid to die before. But he's caught up now in so much more than he was any of the previous times he was faced with death. This time, if he dies, there's no telling what will happen to Shibuya back home. And that's what he's afraid of.

This entry is public. This entry isn't anonymous. Maybe it's his way of saying goodbye for now. ]

Why are you afraid of death? Or, why aren't you afraid of death? Home, here, or both.

[ A few moments later, after drawing up a filter, he adds this to the message. ]

[ Filtered to Shiki Misaki: 100% ]

I have a favor to ask.

I've gathered that some of you out there are rather old. I'd think if you were immortal, individual years would start to lose their meaning with time. So, what do you think constitutes a memorable birthday? Every ten years? Every one hundred? How old do you get before you stop taking notice of single years?

[ The camera is covered, but Joshua is making no real effort to disguise his handwriting. He's too upset for that. ]

What should you do if you're so homesick you honestly, truly cannot stand it?

[ A few minutes later, the following is added. ]

[ Locked to Haruhi - 100% ]

The friendship club might have to wait a bit longer.

I'm guessing most if not all of you have felt the phenomenon where time seems to move at different rates, even though you know it's all in your mind. So tell me, does being in Luceti cause time to feel different to you than it did when you were back home?

[ Two years. It's been two years, and after experiencing as much time slip by as Joshua has, feeling those two years is a less-than-welcome change.

As a distraction, he spends the day painting a side of his building that has been blank ever since a certain someone went home. It's certainly not Hanekoma's style, but it's similar to it, the color scheme the same though the designs are more fluid, less blocky and more streamlined, with harsh points instead of rounded curves.

Maybe this is his way of making peace with it. Maybe he's finally moved on.

Maybe he's just that homesick. ]

[ The entry opens with audio. ]

Wha--

[ But the voice is cut off almost immediately by the sound of sudden coughing. Red splotches appear on the page, and after only a few seconds, the feed audibly cuts off as the journal is quickly shut. A few minutes later, a written entry starts up in its place with the splotches still visible. ]

What day is it?

And who decided to poke around my home while I was gone?

[ The following goes up on the journals later on in the morning. ]

A rather large collection of sheet music appeared in the shops some time rather recently. If you were looking for any that you'd hoped would follow you to Luceti, I might have picked it up.

[ Soon after that, the sound of a violin can be heard coming from in front of House 38. If you're quiet, it can even be heard all the way from the town center. What's he playing, you ask? Well, anything.

Maybe your favorite song. Maybe something hauntingly familiar. Maybe a rousing song. Maybe it's even battle music!

Seriously, he'll be playing anything if there's someone with that canon here. Who needs a fourth wall.

Joshua is sitting out in front of House 38 on one of the chairs from inside, sheet music on his lap has he sight reads it. Care to stop by and listen? ]

[ Joshua was used to empty space. For more years than he'd cared to count, it had been all he'd ever spent most of his time in. He didn't need friends. He didn't need companions.

Without his city, maybe he'd grown too attached to his Producer. That had to be what it was. The one bit of it all that stuck with him, even here. Even through all of it, Sanae was his one connection to what he was. To Neku, he was a friend. To Shiki, he was a bother. But to Hanekoma, he was the Composer, even here with no Shibuya to watch over. He'd said that if he ever found a way home, he'd be sure to bring Joshua with him. So was this an accident, or was that a lie?

Early Tuesday morning, a written message goes out over the journals. Joshua doesn't trust his voice right now. ]

Kat's Kradle is closed until further notice.

[ After that, he heads down the stairs, doesn't bother locking the front door, makes himself a cup of coffee, pulls a stool up to the bar, and sits. He doesn't drink the beverage. He just holds the cup in his hands and stares off into space blankly over the counter top. Not moving. Not thinking.

But there were a few things left behind, and at least one of them should be dealt with. So if the intended recipient doesn't show up at the formerly-a-cafe before the early evening, he's finally going to move and make his way to house 44, a note in his hand. ]

You know, I never did like the enforced dynamic of Valentine's Day and White Day. To save you all the trouble of worrying what would be proper, I've decided I will be the one to deliver chocolate on Valentine's Day to my male friends. I expect reciprocation on White Day from all of you, hee hee.

This means you, too, Neku.

[ With another giggle, the feed cuts.

Afterward, Joshua can be found out and about delivering chocolate. This is made a bit more difficult by the fact that he doesn't actually know where all of you live, but he's got chocolate for Hanekoma (dropped off before he left the house, of course), Neku, Hisoka, and Haruhi (yes, he is delivering that one mostly to be jerk). He also has a few more in case he bumps into anyone he's not particularly close to but he'd be amused to give anyway. Yes Hisoka he is trying to find your house, and if you don't show yourself soon enough he will start pinging you. Hard. With mind-beams. Ooooo mind-beams~ ]


(( First journal comment is reserved, but feel free to wait Go ahead and respond, or bump into him in person ))

[ Hey, Luceti. Have you been missing your daily dose of snark and rainbows?

Actually bundled up for the first time since last winter is a Joshua, making his cheerful, if slightly lethargic, way from House 38 to Community Housing 5 and back again. One thing that might also be noticeable is that for the first time since the summer, he looks like a 15-year-old.

So yeah. Surprise.

And after he gets back into warmth (yay being affected by temperature again?) he'll just put out a little public service announcement. ]

It seems I'm finally back to normal.

[ Joshua's wandering through the town, no destination in mind except for avoiding Kat's Kradle, looking around with a slightly bored expression on his face.

For those of you who can see mushi, you might just happen to notice that the boy has somewhat of an entourage. There's a group of mushi gathering all around him, but they all seem to avoid getting within a couple feet of him. The actual amount that he's collected varies depending on how close he happens to get to the light vein, but he doesn't seem bothered by them in the least.

Get close enough yourself and you might even hear him talking to himself. ]

Hmm, there does seem to be less than before...

[ And for those of you who can't see mushi, feel free to notice Josh looking at nothing and muttering like a crazy person. ]

[ The feed begins with a soft giggling. ]

It's so obviously a trap that you can't help but spring it. So, I'm curious. Where does everyone think this gate really leads? Let's see whose guess is closest.

[ That too, but a certain protective Composer is starting to get paranoid about his city. He is not about to admit this. ]

Hey, Mr. H, I've been wondering. At the ball, why did you get me drunk and grope me?


(( Yes, Joshua expects other people to respond to this, too. He's doing it for the sake of embarrassing Hanekoma, so~
EDIT: Also Hanekoma (and I guess, other people if they want to? XD) has full permission to threadjack here ))