Project: Androkind
When Professor Kuroko Tetsuya first announced his own specially-made androkind the Light series, I swore there were some companies who assassinate other recruiters to get him all to themselves. He turned all of them down, though.
-Monthly Androwonders-
Used Terminology:
Teikou - The country where this story takes place. It has six major cities. Teikou Capital, Rakuzan, Touou, Kaijou, Shuutoku,and Yousen.
Androkind - A humanoid robot complete with an artificial epidermis (artif-epi). It is considered the most perfect form of computer. Each one has specific programming like maid androkind and so on. Battler Androkinds are not mass produced and are unique to their creators. They have a self-learning program so as to increase battle experience automatically. Professors had the tick of creating 'personality' for their creation to attract sponsors.
Sponsor - Humans who sponsored an androkind in their battles in aspects such as spare parts, software, maintenance, and repairs. If the androkind won the tournament, the price money goes to their sponsor. Successful companies tend to be sponsors.
Error.
It was error. Again. Another error. He didn't understand why he kept running into errors. He had done everything he could and his experiment was correct in theory. The blueprints he had made was right, then why... why won't it...?
"Tetsu-kun," A worried voice called, earning his attention fully. "Tetsu-kun, you haven't slept in four days. I'm worried. You can continue tomorrow." He shook his head lightly. "Thank you, Momoi-san," he whispered tiredly, his hands still tinkering on the humanoid contraption before him. "But I am still okay. I can go on for a few hours more and I promise I will sleep today. Please don't wor-" He wobbled slightly, the lack of sleep attacking his entire body. He really needed to recharge.
"I'll work on him." The pink-haired girl spoke as she tied her long hair into a high ponytail and took out a pair of red-rimmed glasses from her lab coat. "Tetsu-kun, just rest, okay? I'll do the motherboard and cover him with the artif-epi, okay? Please..."
"I'll test him..." He whispered. "Please, Momoi-san, I want to see him up."
There was a silence. How many years had he said that, he wondered? It must've been more than ten years. Since he started on working to that almost-perfect androkind, since he saw the first blueprint ever published and created his own design, since the days of robotic club in middle school, since the days of robotic clubs in high school, since he dropped out of college to focus all his time on his creation. Chihiro-niisan had told him to give up on his childish dream, but he kept on going.
All so he would wake up one day.
Momoi Satsuki-san, so bright and clever and beautiful and perfect, sighed at him. Of course she would. She had stayed beside him in all those years, after all.
"Okay, Tetsu-kun, just... sit there, okay? Sit there and rest your eyes for a few minutes. I'll work on his cores and programs for a bit. I'm borrowing the Shadow Computer, okay?" The pink-haired professor got up from her seat and went to the huge computer, the one that was connected to the still androkind. The tealheaded professor sighed and touched the still silvery face of the androkind.
"I'm going to go for a bit, okay? I'll see you later." And he kissed the cold metal surface.
Suddenly, gears started to crackle and engines started to whirr. He could hear the clanking noise of limbs being moved and the professor's eyes widened, along with his mouth. Wh-wha...?
"Tetsu-kun! I tried upgrading the core into i920! Did it work?!" Momoi-san's voice was heard from the inner lab, but he ignored her- still in sheer awe as the androkind sat up on the metallic operating table and stared right at him.
Those glass eyes he bought didn't look like glass anymore. And it certainly looked creepy since he wasn't covered with an artif-epi yet. But all the professor felt was confusion and excitement.
"I-Identification...?" He stuttered, sounding unsure even to his own ears. But the androkind gave a barely seen nod and robotically voiced the identification the professor had inputted to his program all those years ago... "Light Series, serial number Zero-One, specification: Speed Learning type."
The teal-haired professor fell to his knees, tears leaking without his consent as he covered his gaping mouth with his hands. "Tetsu-kun, did it- oh my god...!" Momoi-san dropped her clipboard, her eyes silently examining the androkind with a confused yet surprised expression.
"Oh... my... Ku- that's- is that-" She couldn't speak, but seeing him already speechless, she took a deep breath and approached the newly awakened androkind with shaky steps. "D-do you know... what- who we are...?"
His auburn-colored glass eyes glazed, unfocused as more engines whirred. And then he nodded. "Professor Momoi Satsuki, co-creator and laboratory assistant of Professor Kuroko Tetsuya, creator of Serial Number Zero-One." And she too, broke down to tears. The tealheaded professor inched closer to the silent androkind and pulled him into a hug.
"Nice to meet you..." The teal-haired professor whispered shakily. "Nice to meet you, nice to meet you, nice to meet you...!" Momoi-san sobbed happily to her hands. "Oh my god, Shige-chan... oh my god..."
"Nice to meet you, Ogiwara-kun, my name is Kuroko Tetsuya..." he sobbed to the metallic shoulder, his tears trickling down the androkind's surface with ease. "I am your creator." And he tightened the hug, enough to suck air out of normal humans.
The androkind was silent, not understanding anything that occurred to him just after his awakening. At this time, the first androkind of the Light Series knew nothing, not even his own name. But there was one thing his self-learning program caught.
It was warm.
He didn't know, or understand why, but it was warm.
As soon as Akashi Seijuurou entered the coliseum and saw the list of participants, he immediately backed down from entering any of his own androkinds from battle and he was honestly baffled at the stupidity of sponsors who still hoped to win a battle in this coliseum what that name was so proudly displayed as entry number one.
Light Series
Serial Number Zero-One
Creator: Professor Kuroko Tetsuya
Name: Ogiwara Shigehiro
Sponsor: Professor Kuroko Tetsuya
The rest of them didn't interest Akashi, not even one of Momoi Satsuki's newest model; Sakurai Ryou of Crowned Tyrants Series, who was recently contracted by Touou Corproration. Maybe Imayoshi Shouichi was testing the waters with the new androkind, seeing how it measured against the infamous Light Series.
"We should go home already," Mayuzumi said a few seconds after he saw Ogiwara Shigehiro's name and specs being shown on the big screen. "We're not entering, and nothing else seemed to be taking your interest. I don't want to waste time when I could be entering another coliseum and see another battle that actually brings us profit."
Akashi shook his head, slightly unnerved by Mayuzumi's comment of watching this match being useless.
"You seem to lack understanding of my reason for being here, Mayuzumi." He said as he took the front row VIP seat available only to the richest sponsors. "Serial Number Zero-One is not a frequent battler like Number Zero-Two or Zero-Three of Lights. We can do well to observe its capabilities."
To experts of androkind world, it was no secret that the entire competition was thoroughly dominated by Professor Kuroko Tetsuya's three androkinds of Light Series.
Zero-Two Aomine Daiki was practically the King of all Coliseum, with the infamous motto of 'the only one who can beat me is me' practically cheered by everyone who came to watch his matches.
Zero-Three Kagami Taiga was the hottest topic around, he was a fairly new model who was still battling in newer Coliseums with the other inexperienced androkinds, as per the rules Professor Kuroko seemed to laid out to all of his creation after the dismal with Aomine. And of course, he had defeated each and every androkind like his brother had and people had said it was only a matter of time until Kagami battled face to face with Aomine without actually getting his main frame melted off. And that would probably the most expensive matches of all time.
Zero-One Ogiwara Shigehiro was the oddball of the family. The very first androkind of Light Series and seemed to prefer spending his time with his Professor or doing his own researches than going on battles like his brothers. Ogiwara had once registered on the same coliseum with Aomine, which of course, invited a lot of mass and media and the tickets to that coliseum raised dramatically. It ended up with Ogiwara forfeiting the match, though, claiming that he couldn't possibly try to hurt his brother. Aomine had been so upset he practically destroyed the other androkind he fought as a replacement.
"If you want to look for a new Light to sponsor, shouldn't you go to Kagami Taiga? He hadn't cleared the lower coliseums yet so he didn't have any sponsor as of now."
"Fool, I don't wish to sponsor any of the three existent Lights." Akashi said as a maid-type androkind handed him a cup of tea. "I want Professor Kuroko to create a new Light specifically for Akashi Corp. to sponsor."
"And how exactly are you going to do this?"
"By seducing him."
Mayuzumi then stared at him like he had just grown a second head before bursting into a quiet, yet horridly amused, chuckle. It took him a couple of minutes to actually calm down before he had his gaze on the match, which was quickly escalating into Ogiwara's third consecutive victory without scratching a part. "Kuroko Tetsuya doesn't love anyone." Mayuzumi said as he pulled out his kindle, no doubt off to read some light novels of his.
"He doesn't even love Momoi-san, who took care of his daily human needs every month of his life. Kuroko Tetsuya loves nobody but his sons, who all fiercely loved him back."
"Who all happened to be inorganic beings incapable of feeling anything outside of their program. He's never exposed to human touches before and I am absolutely sure that he will fall for me if I play my cards right."
"Aomine will kill you on the spot."
"Eikichi will defend me. I am his master, you created him for me."
The two highest ranking men of Akashi corp. stared at each other with unsaid intensity. But eventually, Mayuzumi sighed, deciding that quarrelling with Akashi really didn't worth his time. His gray eyes returned to his kindle, briefly staring at the bodacious bodied girl in shrine maiden outfit. "Do as you like, Akashi. Let me warn you though, he never opened up to anyone and I don't think he ever will. I've tried a thousand time to reach out, so I won't upset our mother. But Tetsuya is…" He shook his head.
"He is the happiest when he is with his machines, and I honestly don't want to upset the balance he finally had."
Ah, how sweet. Mayuzumi was always somewhat attached to his estranged brother. He even changed his last name to let Kuroko Tetsuya be the sole bearer of said name. Strange siblings…
"How nice of you, Mayuzumi." Shame that I don't care about what you want, shame that I care about my company first. Akashi stood up as he watched Ogiwara winning his battle and made his way down to the waiting room of the coliseum.
"Ogiwara Shigehiro, yes? I have been meaning to speak with you for quite a long time." The orange-haired androkind didn't seem to acknowledge the fact that he was already in the room. He sat on the corner of the room, ignoring the other finalists as he stared at the ceiling. Akashi was standing in front of him, but the Light series hadn't responded with anything whatsoever.
Akashi cleared his throat, and the androkind blinked a couple of times, as if waking up from a daydream. "Oh, sorry, sir. I just got a call from my father." Ogiwara formed a grin easily on his lips as he stood up and dusted himself.
"Your father is Kuroko Tetsuya, yes?" He asked, wasting no time to beat around the bush. "Yep, Professor Kuroko Tetsuya! If you wanna sponsor, I can assure you that I really have no intention to be sponsored at all. If you want, you should ask Zero-Three, I-I mean Kagami. He didn't have any sponsor yet."
"Oh no, I did not wish to sponsor you at all." Akashi replied smoothly as he handed Ogiwara his business card, the androkind glanced at it ones and recorded it in his memory. "Akashi corp., eh? Their andros are amazing! I particularly like the one from the Crownless Generals series, Null-Four Hayama Kotarou, wasn't it?" He chuckled good naturedly.
"I wish to meet your… father to discuss some future arrangements." He said simply. Ogiwara seemed to contemplate his choices for a second before he asked Akashi to bring out any of his gadgets. "I think he really needs to have some human contact aside from Momoi-chan. And the internet says you're a perfect gentleman." He replied distractedly, his eyes started to zoom out of the world and into his built-in internet software. "I'll tell you where to find my dad, but if I receive any kinds of threat from the Shadow Computer, I will transmit everything to my brothers before I kill you myself." He smiled as he projected hologram from his eyes, picked something up from the data and tossed them to Akashi's phone.
"Have fun and good luck, Akashi Seijuurou-san. I hope you'll find my dad as an awesome company!" And then he left him alone, returning to the battlefield with the other finalists.
An email with a map's coordinate arrived in Akashi's cell phone, he saved the sender 'L-S 01 Ogiwara Shigehiro' and smiled as he placed the coordinate on the Google maps.
It pinpointed him into a house located precisely between Touou City and Seirin Town, Akashi smirked.
Time to meet the most elusive professor of the century.
There will be a onesided MomoKuro in this. Momoi is romantically in love with Kuroko though he doesn't reciprocate her feelings. But Kuroko does love Momoi in a familial way.
So, um, review will be extremely nice...?