Woo, my first multi-chapter Joshyme fic! Exciting stuff. Quite obviously, I took inspiration from the wonderful Utada Hikaru song "Simple and Clean". The chapter titles are all lines from the song, kthx.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: *does not own TWEWY or any of its lovely characters*

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Simple and Clean

- Ch. 1 -

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Joshua couldn't help but grin as he watched the Bitou siblings go at it. He had heard about them, but he had never actually seen them in action like this.

"Beat, the term is 'rational'."

"Whatchu--? Then the hell does 'ratial' mean?!"

"'Ratial' isn't a word, Beat. You said 'ratio' before, which is a numerical relation between two similar things."

"Well... then... Wait, 'reation'? A'ight, the hell is that, then?!"

"'Relation'. The way in which two things are related."

"Wha...?! Aww, man, this is makin' my head hurt, yo..."

Rhyme just smiled. "It's okay, Beat. Don't think too hard about it."

At this point, the ashen-haired Composer actually laughed a little. He almost felt bad for Rhyme, having to deal with this on a regular basis...

"So, anyway, Joshua..." The blonde suddenly turned to face him, one of her signature smiles plastered onto her beaming face. "It's nice to finally meet you!"

Joshua answered her smile with one of his signature smirks. "Yes, it's my pleasure; I've been dying to meet you after having heard so much about you from Neku here - no pun intended, by the way."

Rhyme giggled a little despite the morbidity of his wordplay.

"Yeah... I've heard quite a bit about you, myself," she said, then paused a moment after realizing that a good deal of that "quite a bit" had been negative. Not missing a beat, though, Joshua continued.

"Well, I do hope we get to be friends," he smirked again, then, eyeing Beat as he continued, "even if there is some negativity within our little circle."

"Hey, what wazzat look for, Pretty Boy?!" Beat raised his fist and advanced forward a little, obviously itching for a chance to put a mark on Joshua's "pretty" face, but Shiki quickly cut him off before he could string together any more insults or threats.

"Guys, guys! Come on, we're not here to fight! So let's just all get along and go get our lunch already, okay?" She smiled around at the group before turning and defiantly motioning for everyone to follow her. After shooting a final death glare at Joshua, Beat let out a disgruntled if-you-even-think-of-trying-anything-funny-I'm-going-to-punch-your-lights-out "Hmph," and followed after Shiki, Rhyme a few steps behind.

Joshua found himself grinning again. He was glad - genuinely glad - that he had been accepted (for the most part) into their group without anything going wrong. Somehow, when he had envisioned this meeting in his mind earlier, he had seen himself being glared at by three pairs of distrusting eyes as his partner looked on in annoyed but unhelpful silence, maybe throwing in an occasional, "Hey, guys, come on," or a, "Stop glaring at him for a second so I can actually introduce you," but eventually giving up due to lack of motivation and, quite frankly, care.

"So, Joshua..."

He pulled his gaze away from his new "friends'" backs as he realized that he was being spoken to, and also that the former pair of black skull hats in front of him was now only a single.

"Ah, Rhyme. What is it?" He asked, smiling at the Bitou who was now walking beside him. She returned his smile, only ten times brighter and, he had to admit, cuter. She was a cute one.

"I was just wondering... What kind of food do you like? I think they were settled on going to Mexican Dog..."

"Mmm... I'm partial to crepes, myself," Joshua said, fingering his chin thoughtfully. Then, with a slightly more mischievous grin, he inquired, "I don't mean to be rude, but why do you care? I'm kind of a... How did your dear brother put it? A 'no-good prissy bastard?'"

Again, Rhyme giggled despite the nature of the comment. "Well, I'd like to give you a chance. I don't think that you're a bad person, and personally I'd like to get to know you a little better, if that's okay with you."

For a split second, Joshua was a bit taken aback. This girl... she was so optimistic, so trusting. Was she really the sister of the idiotic brute walking a few feet ahead of them who wanted to punch him every time he opened his mouth?

"Well, that's very sweet of you," Joshua replied in a half-mocking tone, now studying the girl more closely. There was this inexplicable sparkle in her bright blue eyes that almost pulled you in if you looked for too long...

Rhyme just kept up her cheerful smile, walking along with the slightest bounce in her step. "So, crepes, huh? That's good... I guess Mexican Dog was a good choice, then!"

"Yo, Rhyme, Prissy Kid! You with us? We're almost there!"

"We're right behind you, Beat," Rhyme chirped back. Her brother looked over his shoulder and shot Joshua a threatening glance before turning to face completely forward again.

Rhyme sighed a little and turned back to Joshua. "I'd better go catch up with him. You know, assure him that I'm alright and that you're not back here trying to... well, kill me or anything."

She smiled as Joshua smirked and nodded. As she trotted off, Joshua almost had to laugh out loud at her childish innocence.

'Cute girl,' he mused.

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Who wrote a winter fic at the beginning of August? That would be me. Now, if you would direct your attention to the lovely green button here...