Chapter Text
Five days.
Five days until rent was due, six days until Branch Five lackeys would make their rounds to check if the reason he hadn’t paid was because he’d unexpectedly died in his sleep.
I’m sure they’d like that, Reigen thought, successfully lighting a cigarette after three attempts to produce a flame. At least the apartment would be freed up if I just kicked it.
He took a long drag and spared another glance at the letter in his hand. “Dear Mr. Reigen,” it said on perfectly crisp paper. “We write to inform you of your pending rental bill, as well as several additional charges, all of which are listed below. Should you fail to provide payment, an eviction notice will be sent to you by EM as well as in person by your landlord, Kondo Sanae.”
Reigen rolled his eyes as he skipped the bulk of the letter, reaching the last line.
“We at Branch Two value your cooperation and hope for your continued support.
Sincerely, the Branch Two staff”
“Bullshit.” He itched to crumple the letter up and toss it from the balcony but instead blew smoke out into the fresh morning air with a tired sigh. He needed it after all, and anyway, littering would probably call for another fine given the luck he was having.
Below, the city was already awake, smooth sounds of cars zipping by, mingled with whatever Branch Four announcement the public speakers ran this time. Probably irrelevant.
He’d gotten up early enough not to rush, mainly by virtue of not having been able to fall back asleep after pointlessly waking up at five. Three mugs of coffee at once was pushing it though, so a quiet smoke seemed like a good alternative. If he left at eight, it would still give him more than enough time to reach the office in time. It wasn’t like he expected too many clients.
The balcony door two apartments down closed from its tilted state and slid open with a decisive thud. A tall man stepped outside, unkempt hair flying with momentum as he turned and raised a hand to point at Reigen. “You.”
So much for a quiet morning. Reigen waved back with a tired smile and took another drag. “Good morning to you, too!”
The man ignored him. “I’ve told you a thousand times, stop smoking when my balcony is open in the morning. I didn’t think it would be this hard to stick to a simple rule; you even agreed!”
Right, that.
Reigen sighed and put the cigarette out against the railing. “Sorry, sorry, I forgot you can smell over long distances, ‘s really a talent.” He stuffed the stub into the letter’s envelope. “I’ll try to remember next time, Ritsu!” He made sure to add another smile.
“Gah, and stop that too! I’m already late, I don’t need your stupid insisten- what’s that?” Ritsu cut himself off to squint at the letter in Reigen’s hand. His glasses were nowhere to be found, so Reigen wasn’t really sure what he expected to see over the distance.
He waved it again. “It’s called paper! Maybe try it out sometime.”
No reaction. Someone’s in a good mood.
“Bill,” he shrugged. “Mrs. Kondo’ll have my ass if I don’t hurry and pay already.”
Ritsu snorted. “It’s not like she doesn’t already hound you enough without that.” He shifted his weight to lean on the bannister. “You know, I think she might just not like you very much.” His voice was laced with sarcasm and Reigen found himself facing one of Ritsu’s rare smug smiles. Rare as in usually the smile part was missing.
“We can’t all be her Golden Boy, kid.”
That got the desired response. “That’s- I’m not- !“ Ritsu sputtered for a second, then righted himself. He took a deep breath and let it out with a little more fervour than was probably necessary. “I’ll see you later,” he said and turned to go inside. “Unfortunately.” He added before disappearing from Reigen’s view, closing the door as he went.
Five minutes later, he was out the front door, and Reigen watched him run across the street, still wrestling with a jacket. His Branch Four bracer flashed green every time a car came close, each one flashing in kind and slowing down the hover motor to let him pass. Reigen checked his watch. If Ritsu hurried he would catch the 7:15 train and make it to university on time.
Eh, it wasn’t like that was Reigen’s problem.
He half-heartedly tossed the letter into his apartment, keeping its envelope in lieu of an ashtray. One more and he would start getting ready too.
-
By the time Reigen managed to reach his car it was 8:07, and he finally left home at 8:14, having forgotten his own Branch Four bracer on the kitchen table. Annoying things, if they weren’t so useful.
He’d decided to load his car lock’s code onto the bracer as well after a lot of deliberation, which gave him exactly one less item to worry about in the morning. The innovation of science truly was astounding.
He powered up the car. “To work.” As soon as the words left his mouth, the car’s interface flashed with two buttons, and Reigen pressed automatic without a second thought. Another green flash told him his commands had been confirmed and the car set into motion without delay.
If everything went well he should reach the office in about twenty minutes, provided there weren’t too many pedestrians around Basil Square today. He wouldn’t count on it.
Either way, Reigen decided while adjusting his seat to a more horizontal position, this is a great time to cram in another nap before work. The car would do all the work anyway.
Even if it was Branch Four tech.
As if on cue, the car lurched to a halt, shutting down at the mouth of the open garage.
What?
Reigen sat back up with a frown, and squinted at the nonresponsive interface. A shimmering caught his eyes, and he glanced upwards to where the air seemed… unstable, for lack of a better word, right in front of the hood of the car. Before he could investigate further, the board computer booted back up, lights flickering on and motor pushing the car along as if nothing happened. When he looked up again, the shimmering was gone.
Why was he surprised? Of course, now he had yet another thing to pay for! A broken car? No problem! Reigen was swimming in money, why didn’t he just buy a new one instead?
The radio disturbed the car’s soft hum, turning itself on without warning. Reigen was torn from his thoughts as a familiar female voice rang through. “Good morning Seasoning City! We at Branch One have exciting news!”
Oh, you cannot be serious.
Reigen groaned and pointlessly tried to turn the volume setting down. Of course, nothing happened. Announcements were not to be ignored.
The woman’s voice continued to chime. “After months of careful testing, the long-awaited limited MOB-XXX security androids are up for sale! Be careful though, we’re only releasing fifty for now, so make sure you get yours today for a special offer of two hundred thousand credits! What a steal!
“And remember, we’ve got a lucky draw where YOU can become the proud owner of MOB-077, one of Branch One’s very own, and the only one in the series that will cost you a measly ticket in the draw! For more information and a behind the scenes on the newest addition to the Branch One family, tune in to an exclusive interview with Branch One to Seven’s Head, the esteemed Professor Suzuki, right now on B1 FM.
“Until next time, J wishes you a wonderful day!”
With that, the radio turned itself off again, leaving the car’s hover engine as the only source of sound. Reigen clicked his tongue and twisted the volume dial down, despite it already being on its lowest setting. It’s the thought that counts. “Useless,” he muttered and pulled his suit jacket into order. “As if anyone could afford that. Lottery’s rigged as well, I bet.”
The engine’s hum became lower as the car slowed down to let an old woman pass. She was holding onto an ASSIST’s arm. Her bracer, the android’s chest and the car’s hood flashed green, sensors detecting the obstruction, until she was out of the way and the engine booted up again, resuming to smoothly glide along. Reigen watched her and the android walk into a store before the car turned a corner.
He checked the time on the dashboard. Ten minutes to destination.
So much for that nap.
-
The overhead clock rang the hour exactly one second after Ritsu slammed his student ID against the screen next to the door, marking him as present just in time. He dipped his head in a small nod to his teacher as he jogged across the room and definitely didn’t collapse in his seat. Trying not to heave, he quickly grabbed his e-pen and logged into his account on the table’s surface screen. Thankfully he’d saved all his work at home, and a few clicks later the files opened, just as he’d left them.
At the front of the room the professor was just starting to go through the attendance list, so Ritsu took this chance to regain his composure.
Someone tapped on his shoulder from behind. “Hey.”
He closed his eyes.
“Kageyama.” The someone drawled and dragged his name out.
He should ignore her. He really should.
“You look like shit today.”
Okay, maybe not.
“What do you want, Kurata?” Ritsu kept his eyes fixed on the professor and imagined his classmate’s face to match her quiet laugh.
“Nothing. It’s nice to know even straight As mess up sometimes.”
Ritsu frowned. “What are you talking it about? I made it on time.”
“Oh sure, sure, Mr. Toothpaste-On-His-Ear, I got it.” She snickered while Ritsu furiously went to wipe away the offending residue from his hurried brushing earlier today. “Really though, that’s weird. You’re never late.”
Finally, he did turn his head slightly and glared at the girl sitting behind him. “I wasn’t late. I arrived on time, and I don’t appreciate your yakking while I’m trying to pay attention.”
Kurata, instead of looking affronted, just rolled her eyes, and started fiddling with her own e-pen. “God, you’re so boring.”
Better boring than annoying. Ritsu thought and turned his attention back to the front of the class, where their teacher had finally finished going through his list, and was ready to start the lesson.
For the next hour and a half, Ritsu completely immersed himself with the history of human rights and morals, taking notes while recording the lecture into his personal folders. Redistributing was a punishable offense, so most lecturers didn’t even allow for recording in the first place, lowering the risk of unorderly behaviour, while at the same time making studying a lot more of a bother. Their Ethics teacher, Mr. Hazuki, had thankfully given in and agreed after only a little begging from the class.
If only Ritsu’s other teachers were as easy to convince, you know, the ones that taught subjects that actually mattered. It wasn’t as if Ethics wasn’t interesting; far from it. The fact that it was a mandatory elective for Robotics students did put a hamper on it, though. An old rule, and now that negotiations with the government’s education departments were complete, it would probably be removed with the new Branch Eight that was to be established in a few years.
Ritsu wasn’t sure how he should feel about the growing privatization of the state, especially in the recent years, but there hadn’t been many changes so far. In fact, Branch Six’s new healthcare plan had dropped mortality rates by ten percent since its execution, which they were quick to preen themselves with.
He just hoped the student fees wouldn’t be affected by the new Branch Eight system, Ritsu doubted many of his classmates could afford to stay if they were raised. The actual results of the negotiations were supposed to be announced next week, but naturally, there had been rumours. Some even said Branch Eight would remove fees entirely.
Very unlikely. Not with the Branch Seven fiasco a few years back.
“I will upload your homework when I get home, so it should be available at around six tonight, all right?” Mr. Hazuki finished and took a sip from his bottle. An unofficial sign that class was dismissed.
Ritsu took his time saving his files and logged out while the usual students crowded in front of Mr. Hazuki’s desk to ask further questions. Mostly main track Ethics students, Kurata among them. Ritsu paid them no mind and left the room with his bag slung across his shoulder.
-
“Hey, did you hear B1 today?”
“Yeah! MOB’s finally out; took them long enough.”
“I know right, but did you also listen to the interview? Seriously, that’s gotta be the coolest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Agh no, my sister took the radio. The news ran something about the B7 thing, further investigations. What did Suzuki say?”
“Oh, shame you missed it. I think you can get a rerun from somewhere. But anyway, you know those new PSY cores they’ve been working with? He said they siphon potential energy from their surroundings and store it. Or transform it into kinetic energy and turning it outward as defence mechanisms. I saw a promotional video, it’s this big sort of shield? Oh yeah! I mean, ‘course, it’s a security bot so that was obvious, but MOB also has offense elements.”
“What? I thought it’s security only, not military.”
“Yeah! He said they fiddled with the cybersouls, trying to integrate it into the android’s shell more so than with the TANKs, or really any other series before this one. Can’t wait for the activists to throw another fit about that.”
“Huh, if this works out, they can implement that change for every model, even the ASSISTs. Those really need an upgrade.”
“Exactly, that’s what Suzuki said too. Oh, by the way, did you finish the book I gave you?”
Ritsu tuned the other students out, focusing back on the choices the university café had to offer. He wasn’t really hungry but he had an hour to kill before his last class, and anyway, the last time he ate had been breakfast the day before. Maybe a sandwich was in order, only so he wouldn’t collapse on the side of the road later.
Food in hand, Ritsu found a quiet bench to sit, half hidden by the hanging branches of a willow tree near the campus’ west entrance. Not a lot of students passed through here, it was an ideal spot to go over notes in peace. On any other day at least.
“Hey!”
The sudden sound nearly made him choke on his drink. How does she keep finding me?
Ritsu looked around frantically, trying to locate the source of the call. About twenty meters to his left, Kurata was leisurely strolling down the gravel path, headphones slung around her neck. After another second of panic, Ritsu realized she wasn’t looking at him.
Thankful for the willow obscuring him from view, he followed her line of sight and was met with a man around their age, standing just outside the campus perimeters. He must not have been a student, then. The man gave a short wave back and waited for Kurata to catch up. He said something – too quiet for Ritsu to hear – earning him an elbow to the side and a laugh.
Ritsu watched them go, side by side. Her boyfriend? Didn’t look like a family member. Maybe just a friend, he wondered. Wait, why do I care?
He shook his head and focused back on the handheld tablet open in his lap. There was a new notification in his messages, lit up orange in the bottom right corner.
Just Shou:
hey hey hey u free today
Me:
I don’t know, depends on what you have in mind? I told you, I’m not committing “a little bit of arson” with you. Again.
Just Shou:
aw man there go my plans ://////
i didnt see yo u complain btw
also are y planning on using the same dumb intro reply every time i text u ?? cause that is LAME
Me:
I’m fucking with you dude, it was kind of awesome. My landlady threatening to call B5 was less awesome. I had to have tea with her twice to get her to forgive me, you know?
We’re lucky she didn’t see you.
Just Shou:
hahahahhahaah sucker
uGH no but i just thought like
viddy gamz
Me:
Call them that again.
Just Shou:
viddy gamz
Me:
Yeah, sure I’m free. 4pm?
Just Shou:
nice
Ritsu watched the conversation history delete itself as Shou went offline, and closed the messenger window with an eye roll. His friend had presumably gone through his devices and changed the settings again. He didn’t mind per se but asking beforehand couldn’t be too complicated, Ritsu was pretty sure.
He’d long since gotten used to Shou’s antics, even if they were sometimes… dubious, at best. Whose first idea is it to set fire to unwanted trash in the courtyard behind the house? But no, Ritsu couldn’t complain, it had been hilarious, somehow ridiculous enough to drag him out of the then latest slump of Ritsu burying himself under work.
(He was still half-convinced the garbage dumping was somehow Reigen’s fault. A lot of things tended to somehow let themselves be traced back to him.)
Either way, it looked like he had something to look forward to that afternoon. Not that hour-long study sessions didn’t sound like fun. His eyes landed on the documents he’d opened on the screen.
Professor Azuma’s Advanced Robotics class was said to be tough but in all honesty, Ritsu could see where she was coming from. She valued hard work and effort, and given both, there was no reason anyone shouldn’t pass with average grades at least. If he played his cards right, Ritsu could probably manage to intern under her next year, it wasn’t like she didn’t throw around hints whenever he would come up to speak with her after class.
He knew he’d have to be the one to take the first step, though.
…Maybe next week.
As he scrolled through last lesson’s transcripts – handwritten, audio records were prohibited here –Ritsu’s mind took him back to the conversation he’d overheard at the café. The announcement that morning played just as he jumped from train to train, too preoccupied to even consider listening what J had to say this time. The B1 Audio AI’s last message had run about a month earlier, so no wonder everyone seemed to be in such a hurry to discuss it.
Generally speaking, B1 announcements were always interesting to look forward to. Of course, the tabloids would tear themselves apart over the latest interview they could get their hands on, and robotics magazines couldn’t analyse the new developments fast enough – better download one of those when he got home – while opponents were probably already camped out in front of the B1 headquarters, giving B5 some more cleaning up to do. How convenient.
Now that he thought about it, he should probably do something about that.
Me:
Btw, don’t you dare get arrested today. Schedule that for some other time if you can.
Just Shou:
;)
-
Several hours and an awkward dance around his potential internship later, Ritsu was finally ready to head home. The sky had already darkened slightly, grey clouds hanging overhead. Thankfully, there was no breeze. In his hurry, he’d grabbed his thinnest jacket that morning, and the weather hadn’t been particularly forgiving lately.
About three corners away from home, just as he was passing under a shadow beneath a bridge, Shou fell in step with Ritsu, seamless and casual, as if he’d been walking with him from the beginning. His hands were in his pockets and there was an easy smile playing on his lips. They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the quiet, before Ritsu let out a bemused breath.
“Hello.”
Shou’s eyes widened in overplayed shock. “Ritsu! You can’t just sneak up on a guy like that, could’ve given me a heart attack!”
“Uh huh, what a tragedy that would’ve been,” Ritsu said, looking down on his friend with a raised eyebrow. In reply, Shou gave him a middle finger. The eyebrow went up further. “Back at you. Stop going through my stuff. Don’t think I didn’t notice you messing with my apps.”
“Aw, but where’s the fun in that?”
A car flashed green when they crossed the street. Ritsu looked at his own lit up wrist on instinct and noted that Shou’s bracer was absent. He motioned toward his hand. “You can remember to keep changing my settings, but road safety is less important?”
They reached the house and Ritsu paused to hold his wrist against the scanner by the entrance. Shou shrugged. “I’ve got my priorities,” he said, matter of fact, and squeezed through the door before Ritsu had a chance to enter, making him take a step back to avoid losing balance.
“Ass!”
Shou, already leaning on the staircase railing, tsk’ed loudly. “Can’t believe you’d stoop to swearing. I thought you were better than this, who’re you hanging around with these days?”
“No idea,” Ritsu shoved his friend’s face with one hand in passing. “Some idiot who won’t leave me alone. He keeps following me and insists we’re friends. It’s ridiculous, I’ve tried everything.”
“Wow, that sounds like a bother, want me to rough him up a little?” Shou asked earnestly, coming up close next to him and tapping his chin in thought. The spark of mirth in his eyes made Ritsu bite his tongue to avoid laughing.
“I don’t know if that would help, he seems a little slow on the uptake sometimes, you know?”
He held his bracer against his door one last time and let out an inaudible breath on entering his apartment. Shou was close behind and quick to throw his jacket across the back of a kitchen chair. The door fell shut behind him, drowning out the sound of his neighbours arguing across the hall. That was someone else’s problem now.
By the time Ritsu had put away his bag, Shou was already sprawled out on the couch, flicking through his box of video games. He didn’t look up. “Hey why do you have hard copies? What are you, a caveman?”
“You can bring your own games for a change if it bothers you so much.” Ritsu headed towards the small kitchen. “Ice cream?”
“Hell yes!” Of course, that got him to perk up. Shou shuffled off the couch and followed, games forgotten. His shirt had bunched up a little, revealing an elegant belt. An unnecessary detail to notice, if Ritsu didn’t know better.
Come on, this shouldn’t be this hard. It’s Shou, he won’t mind.
“Hey, so,” he started, and Shou hummed to signal his attention. “Do you think you’re ever going to let me take a look at that belt?” He paused to gauge a reaction. Shou had halted for a second, then resumed to raid Ritsu’s freezer, humming louder this time, slightly contemplative.
“I just mean a quick glance, I won’t write anything down or whatever.” Another pause. “I’m just interested is all.” He added with a murmur.
The floor sure was interesting.
Shou’s humming reached a peak and he finished digging around, slamming the freezer door closed with a spin of his heel. He held up two tubs of ice cream, as well as Ritsu’s frozen chocolate cakes, smiling gleefully.
“Sure, Ritsu! Why not?” He pushed the cake box into Ritsu’s arms with a nod towards the microwave. “I know you’re interested in boring stuff like that.”
Ritsu blinked and took a short glance at the freezing packet. He looked back up at Shou, who was picking spoons from a drawer. He smiled. “Nice, thanks.”
“No problem, I guess.” His friend sighed. “Technical shit later, though. I haven’t done anything today and I’m dying.”
-
I’m dying. No, I’m already dead and this is my hell.
Rush hour was, without a doubt, the worst part of Reigen’s day. Countless cars, all stuck behind one another in a labyrinthine maze, each snaking itself in and around their identical companions in the slowest race to get their passengers home before the rest of the city.
The drive wasn’t even the problem – it wasn’t as if Reigen was driving; the car was set to automatic once again. He should probably stop and relearn to drive already, but if all he ever did was drive to and from work, plus the occasional grocery shopping, there wasn’t really a point, the way he saw it.
On top of that, all of Branch Four’s technology worked best when left to their own devices. After all, a human driver was a liability a computer could only marginally account for. Maybe I should enter the stupid B1 lottery after all, get me a driver. He almost laughed at the thought.
Which brought him to the true terror of rush hour.
He sank further into his seat as J continued to cheerily repeat her latest advertisement for the third time this hour.
“ – stop by your nearest retailer today and get the first month for free!”
As if anyone cared!
This was so obviously an attempt to lure people in to buy their overpriced products, Reigen would’ve rolled his eyes in derision, if he hadn’t already become desensitized to it thirty minutes ago. If only the other radio channels would work again.
After the Branch Seven incident two years ago, the company had only recently managed to get the nationwide communication and broadcasting rights back from the state – an arduous task, given the damage. It must’ve been a tough nut to crack, Reigen thought with a hint of smug glee. Of course, that meant that for now, radio and other entertainment channels were at the back of B7’s mind, rather their focus first went to restoring telecommunications and the like, lest their precious customers lose their money’s value –
“And now! We’ll be right back to our scheduled music program, but first a few words from our sponsors!”
– which meant that rush hours were absolutely packed with advertisements, Branch Seven’s desperate attempts to reclaim the billions of credits lost during the attack, and a sure-fire way to ruin Reigen’s afternoons.
He supposed that was karma for you.
In front of him, a very old model BIV5 car was signalling a right turn, despite the fact that the nearest exit was at least three kilometres away. The yellow light blinked sporadically, old circuits causing it to flicker randomly and without any sort of rhythm.
Yup, definitely karma.
-
The garage door closed with a drawn-out, horrifying shriek of rusty metal hinges grinding against one another, and finally fell shut, plunging him into darkness. Reigen let his shoulders drop, breath still trapped in his lungs. He wasn’t ready to let go of that one just yet, it had to wait until he could actually relax, on a couch, food in hand, watching mindless television while scrolling through online shops without buying anything at all. The perfect evening.
When he got out of the car, he remembered the incident from that morning and with a weary sigh, Reigen walked around to its front. Before he could open the car’s hood though, something else stuck out to him. Or rather, its absence.
Who steals a headlight??
He was so tired.
Shoving his exasperation away for the moment (not now, not now, not now) he instead climbed the steps to his apartment. As he did, Reigen caught a glimpse of the sky though one of the windows in the stairway, considerably darker than when he locked up the office for the day. The sun had already set behind the overhanging clouds and taken most of the light with it, but few streaks of blue remained, painting everything in odd shades of grey. All around, street lights were starting to flicker on, illuminating the empty streets of his dingy neighbourhood. No one ever came around here at this time of day.
Reigen refused to let his feet drag when he came up to his floor, and pulled himself together for a last walk down the hallway. The couple from floor two was arguing again but that wasn’t anything new, not really. Absentmindedly, he wondered why they even lived together still, if all they did was bother the rest of the house. How inconsiderate.
Passing the Kageyama kid’s door, however, met Reigen with a surprise. From behind the simple metal door he could hear voices yelling, intermixed with the tell-tale music of some vintage video game. Craning his ears to hear more, he could swear he even caught people laughing.
Now, Reigen didn’t consider himself a very nosy person (a lie), or even particularly interested in other people’s lives beyond pleasantries (absolutely a lie), nor did he condone spying on anyone under any circumstances (really, that depended on the situation), but he couldn’t help pausing for a few moments in front of his neighbour’s door, and he felt the corner of his mouth quirk up.
Good on you, kid, he thought, and took the last few steps to reach his own apartment two doors down, I’m glad.
This sort of thing had become more frequent in the last few months, voices drifting through Reigen’s window at any possible hour during the day, where there had been only silence before. Only one other besides Ritsu it sounded like, and often for many hours. Good, if you were to ask Reigen, finally discarding his suit for more comfortable sweats and an old t-shirt, his neighbour seemed a little too lonely for his age, and Reigen knew his parents lived out of town.
He supposed that was none of his business, though, and it certainly wasn’t his place to say or do anything about it. With a snort, he fiddled with an old record player, putting on a classic track fit for a quiet night, and he stepped out onto the balcony, cigarettes in hand. It wasn’t like his own record of guests was something to brag with. He should call his mother, one of these days. Tomorrow.
Work at the office had been slow today, even more so than usual. He’s pretty sure that’s Branch One’s fault, it usually was. Of course, no one would come to an off-brand tech repair shop, when there had been an announcement that morning, reminding everyone about how great and sophisticated their licensed and official merchandise and services were.
So, instead of fixing someone’s bracer, or replacing the nanochips in a pair of glasses, Reigen had spent half the day online, searching for ways he could make money to avoid eviction. The few that paid the sum he needed all required some form of experience in the field, and while Reigen could probably pass himself off as a seasoned hardware engineer, he was missing the skill part of that equation.
The other half he’d spent looking for new apartments, cheaper and if possible, closer to work. That was an even less successful endeavour, and looking had quickly turned into squinting, which turned into defeated groans whenever he scrolled to the next offer.
…
If need be, Reigen knew how to make money quickly but – no. He sat down on a rickety plastic chair in the corner and leaned back against it with a sigh. The evening air was chilly, though luckily the wind had eased up for now. Reigen was acutely aware of his bare feet on the balcony tiles, slowly becoming numb from the cold, but he didn’t move.
Ah, well, he would have to think of something proper for a change, then. Hopefully, he could manage by next week.
He sat in silence for a while, tapping his lighter against the chair’s armrest in tune to the music. The longer he sat, the further he watched the clouds drift lazily, slowly making way for the clear sky, moon already peeking over the houses. Reigen followed its ascent. He couldn’t feel his feet.
If he had to name one thing the company was good for, it would have to be this. Ever since Branch Two to Four had come together as they did, air pollution and smog had been nearly eradicated, thanks to their apparently flawless power generator. It really had to have been one of their most praised accomplishments, and he found himself agreeing, if very begrudgingly.
Reigen supposed that him smoking outdoors counted as some form of rebellion, then. It’s the little things.
As the music continued to drift outside, gentle tones plinking in harmony with a tree rustling on the streets somewhere, caught by a slight breeze, Reigen felt his eyelids grow heavy, the day’s inactivity getting to him as much as exhaustion from hours of work would. The still rational part of his mind reminded him to put out his cigarette against the armrest before he nodded off, and the lighter fell from his hand with a quiet clank.
-
“You said I’d get to take a look.”
“Ugh yeah, but not right after you beat me five times in a row! You just don’t want me to catch up!”
Ritsu only shrugged in reply, sending Shou into another bout of whining. As fun as an afternoon of games with Shou was, after playing non-stop for nearly five hours, Ritsu was itching for something a little more engaging. Especially after already getting permission.
“Maybe you’re just bad at playing,” he mused while picking at a long-forgotten bowl of ice cream, now a molten sludge. “Or losing.”
“Bullshit.” Shou paused in his complaints to inspect his fingernails, still lounging on the couch as if moving were the last thing he’d ever think of. “You’re the one who wants to go all geek on me.”
Ritsu raised an eyebrow. “I’m not commenting on that.”
It was Shou’s turn to shrug, and Ritsu did his best to avoid pulling a face when he absentmindedly stuck a spoonful of ice cream soup in his mouth. Why did I do that.
He must’ve not done a very good job of it because Shou barked out a laugh. With a sigh, he pushed himself off the couch and started pulling the belt from his jeans. “Where do I put this?”
Ritsu frowned for a moment before shaking his head. “On the desk for now, we have to clean up first. I doubt you’re a fan of ice cream stains.”
Tidying the kitchen was a quick task, even if he didn’t have a dishwasher. He didn’t mind cleaning if he was honest, sometimes it was just something to do instead of lying around. Perceived productivity worked wonders on slow days.
And anyway, it gave them both a chance to sober a little after Shou had nearly shouted himself hoarse earlier, while Ritsu had struggled not to bite his cheek from laughter when the latest match’s rerun played on screen. Not that it was any surprise, with how his friend butchered perfectly fine fight mechanics. It was late now, too late to be loud anyway.
Shou was already waiting by the time Ritsu dried his hands on a towel, slouching on his desk and scratching at the scars around his eye while staring into empty space.
“No need to look so enthusiastic,” Ritsu teased and sat down in his chair. His glasses were dirty…he should probably clean those before inspecting something so small. Shou handed the belt over with another big sigh.
“Why did I pick a best friend who’s such a nerd?” He reached behind his back when Ritsu waved, and retrieved a toolbox.
Rifling through the compartments and finally grabbing a small screwdriver, Ritsu snorted. “Oh, so I was chosen? What, did you have a list of candidates?”
“Something like that.” And there was that cocky grin again, the one that he could never decide if it meant he was serious or not.
Not now.
As interesting as this was, what was sitting in front of Ritsu was much more so. The belt, black and sleek and studded with tiny metal details, held a lot more mystery than it really had any right to. The buckle was probably a good place to start. Screwdriver in hand, he began to undo the fastens in each corner.
“Remember Ritsu, no notes.” Shou’s voice cut through any ideas he might’ve had.
The first screw came loose, and he started on the next. “Yeah about that, where did you even get this from?” Carefully, he placed the second screw by the other. “Because no offense but if it is what I think it is, that’s really advanced technology.”
His friend chuckled and picked up a pen from the toolbox. “Oh, you know, I have connections. Not like that, stop giving me that look.” He hesitated. He sounded a lot more subdued, now, and it gave Ritsu pause. “I made it. Well, designed it. Had it made.”
Ritsu stopped after removing the last screw and stared at Shou. For a moment, the belt was forgotten. “Hold on—you? You made this?”
Under his gaze, Shou looked away uncomfortably. “I had the idea, anyway. It’s my only prototype so far, kinda lost the blueprints, though.” He held the pen tightly. “I’ll probably recreate them or something, so it’s fine, I know you’re thinking it.”
Ritsu blinked and glanced back down at the belt sitting in front of him. He guessed right, if Shou didn’t have the original notes anymore, why wouldn’t he want his help at getting them back? If he would just remove the top plating right now, that would already be enough to give them a good start.
“No, I get it,” Shou turned to look at him again. “It’s your project, I don’t want to mess with it if you don’t want me to.” He picked the last screw back up. “You can show me some other time, if you like.”
For a moment, there came no reaction. Then, he grinned, and Ritsu decided that was definitely worth not catching a glimpse of whatever secrets the belt held. “Aw Ritsu, I knew I chose well. Look at you, getting all sappy.” Shou dropped the pen back into the box and jumped off the table.
Rolling his eyes, Ritsu worked quickly to replace the screws while Shou started raiding his fridge again, chatting loudly over the once again comfortable atmosphere. When his back was turned, Ritsu allowed himself a smile of his own.
“—see but now you’re gonna have to let me do something nice for you, too! Not that it isn’t basically my default anyway.”
“Wait, what?”
Shou stopped fiddling with the microwave to give him another grin. “Yeah! Come on, I know you’re a complete mess without me, what’d you need?”
“Okay, ignoring whatever it is you just said,” Ritsu closed his eyes and shook his head. “What would I even need?”
The microwave started humming quietly. What was he even heating up, Ritsu was pretty sure he didn’t have anything ready to eat left in his fridge. Shou seemed to think otherwise, with the glances he cast at the spinning bowl. Whatever was in there, was apparently a lot more interesting than bothering to elaborate.
The silent treatment, then.
… What did he want? What kind of question was that?
Maybe he should let Shou invite him for lunch sometime? No, that’d be too difficult with his schedule. The only day that would really work was, well, today, right before—
“Hey Shou,” his friend immediately hummed a question, as if he’d been waiting for him to make up his mind. Ass. “This might sound ridiculous but-“ The microwave started beeping. “Could you help me write an email to my teacher?”
-
He woke up slowly, noise drifting into his ears before his mind could properly process what he was hearing. The music had stopped, though how long it had been, he couldn’t tell. It was cold.
There was a flicker of light from beyond his eyelids, gone as quickly as it came, and Reigen forced himself to crack them open. Hushed voices, a quiet hiss of “stop that.” from somewhere to the left. With bleary eyes, he glanced at his watch. 1am. Fantastic.
He blinked a few times and tried to move his feet, but only managed to slightly twitch his toes. The hands weren’t much better, and when he tried to turn his head, Reigen noticed how stiff it had become, though he didn’t know whether that was because of the cold or his awkward sleeping position. And still, the whispering wouldn’t stop, almost sounding harsh and painful over the white noise of the trees and occasional car below.
Swallowing heavily over his dry mouth, Reigen tilted his head to the side, expecting two people to match the number of voices and— huh.
He was more awake now, slightly squinting into the darkness. There was Ritsu, standing on the balcony with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders like a cape, looking for all the world as if he wasn’t talking to himself in the middle of the night. He seemed to be looking at something in front of him, or at least Reigen thought so. No, it was almost as if he was looking for something instead, if the slight glances up and to the sides were any indication. His neighbour stood there for a few seconds longer before he turned around again, and disappeared back into his apartment, leaving Reigen as the only one still left outside. Probably.
More time passed, in which he didn’t quite know what to do. That was… odd, to say the least. Before he could spend too long speculating the implications of Ritsu’s weird habits, he was interrupted by his stomach’s loud protests at having skipped dinner. Right, he should take care of that first.
With effort, Reigen managed to pry himself off the chair and somehow remained upright on his unfeeling legs, each movement clumsy and uncoordinated. He had to hurry; he knew he was in for the worst case of pins and needles imaginable, and preferably wanted to be in a hot shower when that happened. Luckily, he’d had a mind to close his balcony door before sitting down earlier, and so the heater hadn’t been on in vain after all. He turned it up even further. If he was going to get evicted either way, he might as well use the apartments appliances as much as possible.
It was two by the time he emerged from the shower, feeling a lot more refreshed and awake, and with his entire nervous system intact.
Bite me, hypothermia.
Now, what was he supposed to do again? Right, dinner. A quick look through his fridge and cabinets reminded him that no, he didn’t, in fact, have anything edible that wasn’t spoilt, dry yeast, or a bag of raisins, and yes, he had planned to order takeout from someplace cheap.
He took another glance at the time and clicked his tongue. “There goes that idea.”
Around now, only 24-hour convenience stores would be open, manned by crappy AUTO androids to replace human labour. He really shouldn’t encourage this, it wasn’t like this was the first time he hadn’t had dinner. He could just get breakfast tomorrow morning before work, that was easy enough.
On the other hand, it meant that Reigen would have to get up even earlier than usual, and paired with the fact that he would most certainly get no more sleep tonight, that was just a disaster waiting to happen.
A moment passed.
And another.
With a loud, long-suffering groan, Reigen dragged himself to the door. He remembered to grab his keys this time, as well as a long coat, if he was going out into the stupid cold again. After a second of hesitation, he decided to take a shopping bag too; he might as well buy everything he needed now, instead of having to go out again tomorrow. With his recent luck, the shops would be crammed and full of irritating customers anyway.
The car was waiting for him where he left it, missing headlight mocking him with the hole it left behind, and Reigen threw himself into the driver’s seat with a lot more huff than necessary. It was late, no one would care if his light was faulty, the bracer tech would make the streets safe despite that. He entered the commands, quick and snippy, and once again, the car started to move noiselessly, after he confirmed that he would most certainly not be driving.
(When the car pulled out of the garage, he couldn’t help but peek around the streets in front of the house, looking for Ritsu’s ghost. He immediately felt very silly for it.)
It was dark out, despite the street lights clearly illuminating the way, the kind of darkness you only find during the late hours of night, an odd quiet that settles over the city during weekday nights. A liminal space meant solely for the eyes of fluorescent lamps and stray animals. Having nowhere to look but outside, Reigen felt that quiet seep into him, calming his thoughts. He leaned his head against the window – stretching around the car in a near perfect, undisturbed band – and let out a sigh, a long and tired breath that held within it every frustration of that day.
Maybe he would drive past a drug store on the way home for some sleeping pills, he was pretty sure anything he might’ve had at home was either expired or spilled in the bathroom cabinet. That wouldn’t do.
I might as well get a few bags of freezer food, at least that won’t go bad quickly. Wait, what am I saying, a convenience store won’t have that. Bread, maybe.
He continued to mentally work out a shopping list, arguing with himself as he went. The car turned a corner, and headed down an alley. Immediately, the bright highway lights were cut off, and he was left with his car’s only headlight, as well as a singular street lamp a good fifty meters away.
Not the route Reigen would’ve taken, but he supposed he still had the navigation system set to faster routes, rather than more direct ones. It did wonders for being out during the day because it meant he usually avoided big streets that were bound to have more traffic – not that it did him any good in the afternoons.
They have caramels, don’t they?
As that thought struck him, a figure appeared in the lamp’s cone of light from a parallel alley. Reigen would’ve mistaken them for someone on a late-night snack run like himself, if it weren’t for the awkwardly heavy gait, strangely stiff and inflexible. An android, then. Probably out on an errand for someone too lazy to get up at this time of day. Reigen couldn’t bring himself to fault them.
The android started to make its way across the street and Reigen suppressed a groan. When it turned its head to look at the approaching vehicle, he didn’t recognize any of its features. What model was that even supposed to be?
Reigen frowned as he tried to make out more details. There were still a few meters to go before the sensors would pick up on the obstruction, and he sat up straighter while he waited for the car to eventually stop when the android’s chest would flash green.
And he waited.
In the next one and a half seconds, a few things became abundantly clear to Reigen, and looking back on them, there was a definite order in which they came to him.
First, he realized with a start, that there would be no green light, and for all intents and purposes, there might never have been a green light to begin with. That one was quite simple, and it helped him puzzle out the next few things with relative ease. Next came the shock, shock at the fact that the first news had come to him without eliciting some sort of fear, immediately followed by a scoffing voice, asking why that came as such a surprise to him.
Most importantly of all though, Reigen realized that he’d left his wallet at home, and that this entire outing had already been doomed from the start.
His eyes focused on the android’s upper arm, black letters spelling MOB.
“Ah!” He said pleasantly –
and then the car crashed.