One Slip of the Foot…

Look, another story guys~! And after you guys thought I was dead ;) Oh, and it's gonna be multiple chapters 8D I have no clue how long it'll end up being so just go with it :D
And sorry about any spelling or grammatical errors. I'm a bit of a noob writer and I don't have a beta reader xD Please bear with me~.

So this idea came from Mirrors Edge (really fun game). I got the thought, "Hey, I wonder what Joshua would be like as a runner?" Then plot bunnies and stuff~.

Name: One Slip of the Foot…

Summary: …and Joshua brings on a series of events that jeopardizes him and his group of runners who defy the government, as well as a young man so determined for answers that he doesn't realize what he's getting himself into…

Rating: T (to be safe, probably just some violence and yeah. I'll give warnings if needed but I highly doubt it .)

Joshua knew it was going to be one of those days; where everything went wrong and life seemed even more unfair than usual.

He hated those days and always dreaded getting out of his wonderful and luxurious bed that never judged him or made his day horrible. So maybe that was why it was already 9 in the morning and he was still huddled under the blankets like it was a shield of protection from the imminent crappy day that was looming just outside the covers. It was pushing in on him like how gravity pushes down on you when you lose your footing and then helps you plummet to your death.

Joshua flinched at the thought of falling. It brought back the nightmare he had just woken up from. The one he'd been having every night.

He's standing on the roof of 104, a pistol clutched in hand. He blinks in confusion, unsure of what's going on and why did he have a gun?

This is a dream, he tells himself, turning to leave. A hand grabs the collar of his shirt.

'Stop,' the voice says, but he can't tell if it's a woman or a man. He whirls around, lifts the gun and pulls the trigger. He sees blood. He wants to grin in triumph but a sharp pain in his chest stops him. Glancing down, he notices a stain spreading through his shirt, staining it scarlet. He laughs.

It's not his attacker's blood. It's his.

The gun slips through his fingers and he staggers backward. Another step backwards and his foot greets air. Now he's falling and he's so confused and he can't help but wonder how much blood he's lost and what will Mr. H say about this? Why was it taking so long to hit the ground?

Then his body connects with the pavement and the last thing he hears is the snapping of bones and the screams of people who just witnessed the scene. Everything goes black.

'You did this Josh. It's your fault.'

He would awake at that point, gasping for air and clutching his abdomen that would always throb in pain. Right where he had been shot in the dream.

A knock on the door of his room startled him from his gloomy thoughts.

"Hey, J, you up? There's some stuff we have to go over for today."

Joshua groaned, rolling over. He buried his face into the pleasantly warm covers.

"Go away, Sanae. I don't wanna," he whined, voice muffled.

He heard Mr. H groan in frustration, no doubt running a hand through his short black hair like he always did.

"Sorry J, but I will come in there if you don't get up right now."

Joshua sighed, knowing he would.

Throwing the covers away from him, he stared the crappy day down. "Bring it on," he challenged the crappy day.

Smirking in victory, he moved to get up. Then he fell to the floor, legs caught up in the blankets.

"That was a low shot," he muttered to the crappy day which only seemed to laugh at his pain.

"Josh, stop talking to yourself and get up," Mr. H called before the sound of his footsteps indicated he had left.

"Coming…"

"Okay, so this is the plan for the infiltration."

Joshua and Sanae Hanekoma were seated at one of the tables in the café called WildKat. Mr. H owned the café and he and Joshua lived in the house attached to the café.

It was Sunday, so the café was closed. The place was void of anyone besides them and as they looked over the papers spread across the table, Joshua forced himself to ignore the eerie silence. He hated silence more than anything. Well, the government was number one on his list of things he hated, but silence was a close second.

They were discussing the plan they had put together to infiltrate and destroy their target: a super computer that controlled and heavily censored all the servers in Shibuya.

That's what their group did. Their group consisted of Mr. H as their leader, Josh himself as the second banana, and a small handful of others that all wanted the same thing: to free Shibuya from the grip of an oppressive government that only wanted to have a city devoid of free thinking, individuality, and complete control.

So their group ran. Not away like every other scared person in Shibuya, but towards the problem.

They would leap across the rooftops, using all their skills – either as parkour experts, support, or information-gatherers – to bring down the government and loosen their hold on everyone in the city.

Sanae loved individuality and creativity; he was CAT after all. He used the name as an alias when he went and painted amazing and colorful murals on the walls of buildings, usually in Udagawa where the government's control wasn't as strong. He didn't do it as often, since he ran their underground resistance group, but his artwork still spoke hope into people. He created the group for a reason: he hated the government's plans and would stop at nothing to stop them.

Joshua liked Sanae for that. His determination kept them going even when they felt like they weren't doing much. Everyone greatly respected Sanae for everything he had done.

"Josh. I know you just woke up but now's not the time for daydreaming."

Sanae's voice snapped Joshua out of his reverie. He chuckled, twirling a lock of his hair around his finger out of habit.

"Sorry Sanae, just thinking about why we're doing this and how far we've come," he smiled as he spoke softly in reply. Well, he had been thinking of a lot more but it was all related to this. Sanae gave him that look of his; the one where he raised an eyebrow in silent questioning yet still had that trademark grin of his plastered on.

His smile softened and his eyes twinkled like he was about to get all sappy. Joshua groaned mentally.

"Yes, we have come a long way and now we're finally going to cause havoc. We'll really get the ball rolling with this," was all he said though, gesturing to the papers in front of them. Joshua smirked.

"Well, shall we proceed?"

They initiated the operation at 11:30 in the morning, hoping the operation would take the thirty to forty five minutes as planned to complete so Joshua could slip into the crowds that would be on lunch break.

They wanted a flawless execution of the plan but mistakes were bound to happen; this was their first operation that required them all to be doing something after all.

Joshua and Beat would be the only people on the field. Joshua would be handling the hardest part; infiltration and elimination of the target. He was one of the best runners in the group and he was stealthier than Beat who was like a wild boar that could jump from building to building. Where Josh would carefully lock pick a door or take the vents, Beat would find a way to either blow up the whole wall or kick the door down with his limitless strength.

Joshua wondered about what his thought process was like sometimes.

'Hey, instead of quietly opening the doors why not blow the whole building up? That would solve everything!' and, 'That guy looked at me funny. You wanna pick a fight? Yeah, he wants to fight!'

He was probably over-exaggerating Beat's…simplicity, but that was how the punk liked to think. And Joshua disliked him greatly after having to deal with 'prissy boy' this and 'girly boy' that. He was not a girl; he just liked his fabulous curly hair thank you very much!

But, he had to compliment Beat on his intense determination to complete what he started. If he couldn't do it one way, he'd be sure to try a thousand other ways until he got it done. Josh liked his bluntness as well; sugar-coating was not Beat's specialty and he preferred the straight truth. But Josh liked to avoid the truth as much as possible. Sometimes he hated himself for not facing the music. He made the music then ran away from it. That was the one thing Joshua wished he had from Beat's personality.

So, they would be on the field, and Shiki, Rhyme, and Sanae would be at the café. Sanae would be monitoring everything and Shiki would relay any important information through their headsets. Rhyme would be on standby and would only be needed if something happened. She was to rush out and cause a scene if Joshua, for any reason, got stuck in the building and needed the distraction. Beat also had the same role but he would probably just rush in and start bashing heads in if he felt like it.

They were seated on a rooftop not far away from the large skyscraper that was their destination. Joshua had lugged a backpack with everything they needed up there and now he was absentmindedly wrapping duct tape around the baggier parts of his sweats. He didn't want to get caught on something while running; that would be a disaster. His sweater wasn't as loose so he didn't have to worry about it so much.

"You falling asleep there, prissy boy?"

He almost didn't hear Beat's questioning voice. Snapping out of his overwhelming thoughts he glanced up at Beat. He was slumped against the door that led inside the apartment building.

"I'm not tired, Daisukenojo," He put a heavy emphasis on Beat's actual name, knowing it would get a humorous reaction, "just admiring the scenery."

Beat spluttered on an unspoken exclamation of embarrassment and Joshua giggled at his facial expression. He really enjoyed the many faces Daisukenojo Bito could make; the guy was an open book.

"Don't call me that, Yoshiya Kiryu," he snapped back, spitting out his real name like it was dirt.

Joshua frowned at his name. He absolutely despised his real name; it made him remember the better times.

"We always thought the name Yoshiya Kiryu never really fit you, dear. It seems almost too formal for you. Your father thinks the same thing."

"You too, Father?"

"You bet, kiddo. Maybe you can think up a better one?"

"You want me to? How about just a nickname or something?"

"Whatever you'd like, my dear!"

"Heh, okay. Umm…how about Joshua?"

"Joshua? Why that name?"

"I dunno, I guess I can look in the mirror and say that name and it just fits."

"…Joshua."

"Alright, honey. Joshua it is."

"Well, Josh, do you want to go get some ice cream?"

"Okay!"

It was saddening how fast the good times could disappear. He still remembered that day clearly in his head: the day he had become Joshua. It had been such a happy day.

He was only 9 at the time but his parents treated him like an adult. They had asked him what he wanted to be called. Joshua. He had liked the way it felt as he spoke it softly to himself.

So he had become Joshua. No one would use his real name these days; barely anyone knew his actual name now since he made a point of not giving it out freely.

His thoughts drifted to his parents. Would they be proud of him, for what he was doing? No, probably not.

They had always said revenge was for bitter people who couldn't move on after all.

"Sorry about that, Mother and Father."

He hadn't realized he had spoken out loud until Beat had asked in that loud voice of his, "Whatcha muttering about, prissy boy?"

He felt his face heat up slightly. Why did he always have a problem with his daydreams?

"It's nothing, Beat," he sighed, pushing himself to his feet. He fastened the backpack to his back securely, not wanting it to get caught on something and potentially damage the valuables in it. The disc in it was needed to crash the computer and he would be pretty screwed if it cracked or something.

Beat, being his oblivious self, didn't notice Joshua's somber mood. "Well, let's get this show on the road!"

Joshua placed the Blue Tooth headset on his ear and turned it on.

"Yeah, let's get this over with."

Please forgive me if the next one takes a while to be put up, I'm really slow . I'm pretty much busy after school every day except Friday :S

Well, rate and review guys! It'll definitely help me get cracking on the next chapters xD

And apparently I have to use horizontal lines since I can't use double spaces to split up the scenes :T Well, whatevs~.