[ After some mistletoe-induced spilling of truths he'd rather have kept to himself, Joshua has paused his mischief making to ask his traditional new years slash birthday question to the village. ]

Do you think you look for different qualities in the friends you have here as compared to the friends you have back in your own world?

[ Another year has passed. Funny enough, doing requests for the elf kick-started Oosouji for Joshua, so for once he had it done on time. It's another empty new year in the house he once shared with the man he'd been closer to than anyone else. Another convenient excuse for a birthday. Nothing more.

He's almost convinced himself it doesn't hurt. ]

How has your time here changed you?

[ It's windy, and it's cold, but Joshua has an anniversary to celebrate in his own quiet way and he's not going to let the weather stop him. His first stop is to swing by his old room, room 7 at Community Housing 5. It's still empty, but he's not surprised to find that both Hanekoma's graffiti and his own long-disabled traps have disappeared from the walls.

After that, he'll spend some time trying to spray paint one of the not-yet-painted walls of House 38. Of course, given that spray paint doesn't like cold temperatures and really doesn't like wind, that's going to produce a result that's about as neat and tidy as you'd expect. So after a little while wrestling with that, he'll head inside to make himself a cup of nostalgia coffee (not as good as Hanekoma's...) and sit down with his journal to warm up. ]

What was your first experiment here, and what did you think about it? [ He giggles. ] For me, I suppose an amusement park made for a rather gentle introduction. Does anyone else remember the Great Mysterio?

[ 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.

[ Day 6 ]

[ Early morning (locked to Tsuzuki) ]

[ The best part of waking up in a body that isn't yours is finding out the company said body keeps when it sleeps. Which is why the first thing that Joshua notices, upon waking up in a place which is distinctly not House 38, is the other person in bed with him. ]

... I think I missed something.


[ And after that fun little interaction resolves itself, Joshua picks up the journal and reaches out to the person it might be a bit important to contact about this. ]

[ 100% filtered to Joshua and Hisoka because he isn't quite sure which is the necessary one in this sort of situation ]

I do hope that my body is over there with you.


[ Morning onwards, open ]

[ Joshua and Hisoka are wandering around town together. But to anyone who knows them, something seems odd... ]


It's rather hard to believe that you wouldn't have any way to make mental defenses.


If you want to figure it out while you're in there, be my guest.

[ Feel free to run into the two of them. Clearly they want to be bothered. At least I'm sure Hisoka does, since he isn't the one with the headache for once. ]

[ 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? ]

[ The journal feed opens to the sound of dull tapping in the background. Then it pauses, and Joshua speaks. ]

What do you suppose is their criteria for drafting individuals to fight?

Or if you don't care for musing, what do you do when so many people are away?

[ 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 is done holing himself up after the embarrassment that was himself as a Reaper. Besides, with so many people about, why would he bother staying indoors? ]

So many people and so many new faces. It's rather nostalgic.

[ 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. ]

With so many people suddenly dying, I was wondering: what's it like to die here, where death isn't permanent? If you've died back in your home world, what's the afterlife like where you're from?

And even if you haven't, does death seem less important, does it carry less weight here than it did back home?