The boy told himself he was going to be alright. But that hope soon dashed the moment he landed in a limousine with Tabane and the girl who later introduced herself as 'Orimura Chifuyu'. He knew neither of them so he sat at the corner and zoned out due to habits.

Then came the torture... NOT. It was nothing more than some tests and registrations he totally had no idea. He couldn't even understand most of the big words in the forms and Tabane snatched the papers off his hands, adding things up and handed them to some persons with black suits.

After that, he was dragged off by the rabbit to some military base in a mountain, took a thorough cleaning, ate a share larger than he could ever have from his small savings, and received replacements for clothes.

"Haa..." The boy sighed as he eyed his clothing attire.

It was nothing but a short-sleeved white shirts, baggy denim pants and a black hoodie jacket. He chose the most simplistic clothes and he'd prefer those that could be used for a long time and withstanding terrible punishments.

Being practical had become his forte after all. Still...

"Ro-kuuuunnn!" A certain, almost hysterical but still squealing shout approached from the distance. And it's pretty dang familiar.

"Great. Here we go again..."

The boy rolled his eyes as a certain rabbit dressed in a style reminiscent of a character from Lewiss Carroll's novel pounced on him, hugging him around the waist.

"Ro-kun! Ro-kun Ro-kun Ro-kun! I did it! Mommy finally got the a-okay!" She reported happily as she cuddled her 'son' while twirling on place.

Obviously, she had more strength than the boy had. He was slightly put off by the fact a girl no less older than a second year high schooler spinning him around in the base's hallway like a rag doll.

"Get. Off. Me!" He roared to no avail.

After fifteen hellish minutes, Tabane calmed down. Her mechanical bunny ears did not stop executing it's gimmicks though.

"...Tabane. When was the last time I told you to not jump on someone? There could have been a serious accident." The boy complained. "Also, you're not my parent. Even the family registry says you're my adoptive sister."

With a pout and squinted eyes, the rabbit decidedly ignored his words all at once, then she switched back to her happy mood as fast as lightning. Damn this girl...

"So so! Do you know what this means, Ro-kun?" Tabane asked.

After being fed up and also tired of getting mad every time, the boy exhaled. "You can now develop that something-finite-something?"

He earned two thumbs-up.

"Yep! That spacesuit looks soooooooooooo boring! I don't like it! Isn't it better to reconstruct everything from the scratches?" Tabane asked.

"So hundreds of billions of dollars have been wasted instantly huh."

Joy, he thought flatly. Yet another antic of his foster sister at work. Even though he was more or less used to her shenanigans, he couldn't think of any sane reason to switch an international project for the sake of space exploration with something more elegantly sophisticated, exceedingly versatile, beyond modern, very compact to a T and also far more dangerous than an ICBM that it seemed likely to change the world in seven nights.

...it can't be that he was going to witness a turning point in history, right? That'd be shocking if he were to tell this to his future descendants.

Then again, the boy - Shinkurou Shinonono had always accompanied his adopted sibling's 'baptism with fire' (read: crazy antocs) regardless of them earning him more than scratches... or near-death experiences. After a week, he already felt like he was in hell for a century or so.

"So, Ro-kun! Let's see the new lab together! We've got works to do!" Tabane stated and dragged the poor ex-vagrant away.

"Dammit... Why the hell am I here anyway...?" The unfortunate boy loved by the mad scientist grumbled.


The next thing he saw was cable. Not one but many. Not hundreds but thousands. The numerous cables stretched and spread all-over the ground that he couldn't even see the steel plated flooring. He smelled the scent of oil, burned steel and saw alloys being pounded, reshaped to click together when placed.

Behind a heatproof window, Shinkurou gazed at the project that went sidetracked after her mother went into her usual irritated-chief mode. The laboratory they were in was separated into two parts, with one used for monitoring as well as non-hazardous area while the other next to it was used as a research field that doubled as a hangar to deliver the supply and parts for experimentation.

But to be honest, this is like an airplane hangar or automobile factory.

At the other side, commanding the entire staffs and scientists was the boy's eccentric sister. Normally, she was laid back and... well, Tabane-like, but every now and then, when she put herself into doing what she wanted... she flipped a 180 degree. She worked in silence that she forgot when to eat, harsh to anyone who made mistakes and shouted orders for insane precision as well as split-second swiftness.

The half-serious jokes that any who did second mistake would be send to the grinder never helped either. The entire team literally became headless chickens queuing into the slaughterhouse.

"Oh, if it's not the boy. Is it the usual?" A scientist in lab cloak cocked his head to see him.

"Yeah. Sorry for Tabane's behavior again, Prof." Shinkurou replied without taking his eyes off the observatory room's window.

Hearing the familiar chuckles, Shinkurou recalled who the person was. One of Tabane's co-researcher, a wise old man with similar taste if not the same with Tabane's. However, Shinkurou knew his foster sibling had no interest in him so she always forgot be it his face or his name.

"So..." The professor started. "What do you think, boy? Does this fascinate you?"

Shinkurou hummed. He was not interested in the least bit. In fact, he could say it was a waste of time and money. For him who ran through dirty alleys and lived close to the dark side of humans everyday, he was certain a state-of-art gizmo did nothing but harm.

Also costly. It's a freaking project with money gushed out from a broken faucet.

In fact, he was irritated by how people here wasted astronomical amount of budget when it could be used to live with a wardrobe of clothes in a condo complete with gas, electricity and hot water plus yearly supply of 5-stars cuisines.

Living already costed a damn lot, you rich bastards!

But of course, he wouldn't say that. So the black-haired boy opted for a softer version. "Why make it partially when it's a spacesuit?"

"Hoh Ho! A very insightful question!" Professor laughed then urged Shinkurou to check his holo-window.

Seeing the statistics and graphs that were already not unfamiliar for him, Shinkurou drew a line after dotting the pieces together.

"Absolute Defense system for protection of pilot and replacement of armor... Inertia Canceller to get rid of the flight burden and restrictions. Huh, even anti-gravity mechanism by reversing geomagnetic." Shinkurou noted. "Isn't this more like a suit designed for uses on earth?"

The boy was not an idiot. He had seen and read the files related to the project whether he wanted to or not. Because Tabane would put him on the operation table if he did not do as he was told to, he had no chance to refuse. Wonders worked since he was totally unable to understand anything.

Fortunately, the scientists here seemed to be entertained whenever I asked for something, and this old man explained in an easy way.

And so, while he was still not on par with the genius that holed their selves in a secluded mountain-camouflaged research facility, he could at least decipher the purpose of the project and where it belonged to. He did question why is there a need of making it less suitable and opted for style as well as esthetic but he refrained from asking further when the Professor entered his 'moments' once again.

"Not just a 'suit', child! This is the apex of science! An utterly compact unit to allow humans to soar through the sky without having to narrow their eyes or lessen their senses over the blowing winds...! Added with unimaginable combat strength evolving through autonomous learning... also a non-hazardous core that fuels energy almost endlessly! This is truly a turning point in mankind's history!" Professor explained, his tone already went off the chart with a speed faster than a vulcan gun.

Shinkurou wondered why he was getting so excited even though it was bad for his old heart. But anyway...

"It's designed to have armaments. Isn't it for military use?" The boy pointed out.

Not even a second passed and the air grew cold, tense like a wire ready to snap.

"Yes... yes, my boy! It is such a shame that people cannot see this Advancement as nothing more than a tool for bloodshed! Those fools sitting behind their clean desks have not even the slightest intelligence to share joy and only act for their self-interests...!" The old man in white coat grumbled.

He's still in his machine-gun-speech mode.

...so those assholes from previous generations still had flea-sized brains and morals, Shinkurou nodded without a care. He rarely saw honest people so why did he have to doubt corrupted bags of desires and egos which were politicians? That'd be far too idiotic.

Also, can't even bother to worry for world peace when he had an adult who knew nothing about chores around, right?

"Still, my boy! Worry not for your sister too is against such terrifying idea!" Professor reassured, making a point that was too hard to pass as a joke.

"Tabane did?" Shinkurou asked, his voice sounded dumbfounded rather than amazed.

Has the heaven fell already? is the world going to end by daybreak?

"Indeed," Professor nodded. "All of us in this place do not have the motivation to trifle ourselves with wars. War is pointless. No matter how far bloodshed brings us for a leapt of civilization, it always left permanent scars. Thus we chose to petition for an international policy when we gained leverage in the upcoming presentation."

Huh... is that so? Well, Shinkurou couldn't care less about it all.

He wasn't against violence if it could protect his life. He wasn't against committing crimes if he could live with full stomach even if only for another day.

The boy wasn't a stranger to evil nor was he ignorant of it ever since he lost everything, thus he could employ evil for his own gain. Shinkurou looked toward the window yet again, at the figure of the out-of-place Alice with bunny ears who positioned herself as the central chain of commands.

"So she can tell when to run her mouth off..."

He expected someone like Tabane would have fun watching the world burned to ash rather than protecting it. She lacked common sense and she seemed to not understand the concept of good and evil. No, she must have thought of things depending on whether they would interest her or not.

She was chaos incarnate. A genius who could twist the world if she wanted to with her monstrous intellect. Yet she refused to make her toys for violence...? Why?

"...boy." Professor called out, snapping Shinkurou back to reality.

He felt his big hand on his shoulder. Staring deep into the scientist's old eyes, he noticed a light inside them. That bright light that seemed to tear through lies and deception with ease, crumbling all logic just for one desire.

He didn't like that light.

"You are, although not related by blood, a Shinonono. Make no mistake, however! For you are you... and nobody else can ever replace you!"

Really...? That girl over there isn't one that will keep being entertained by the same doll, you know? Her love of life is that cluttering mass of metal.

"Therefore, boy. Carve your own path and sail through life!" Professor exclaimed as if testing his vocal cord.

"...hm..."

Brushing the man's hand, Shinkurou turned around and walked off without saying words more words. Skillfully hiding his irritation with experience learned by observing liars exchanging lies.

"We'll see then." He said as the automated door opened, letting him exit the room before closing back.

As he trudged through the hallway, he passed by several places such as the mess hall or soldier barracks. Shinkurou rarely went out to talk with people but in Japan, living under the same roof caused the inhabitants to have more sense of obligation for greetings and chatting when encountering someone.

The boy had to deal with smuggled snack by the chief of the mess hall, and he had to entertain a couple of soldiers who always made fun of his name. The latter wasn't so pleasant but he knew when they draw the line.

He always realized the subtlety behind people's reactions so it was easy to tell their reasons. Even nationalist men and women were humans.

"And I too... am a human." Huh, it sounded worse than I thought it would be.

Shinkurou was near his arranged room when he heard the echo of footsteps ahead of him. A person walking towards him... and he knew her.

"...Chifuyu...?" He called out, completely baffled by the presence of a raven-haired beauty known to the Shinononos.

"Hm? Oh, it's you." Orimura Chifuyu said before halting, putting a hand on her waist as she greeted. "You look a little more presentable than before. It seems it didn't take Tabane a while to keep you down."

Shinkurou sighed. "Like hell it wasn't. I'd have been remodeled into some stupid cyborg if I let her do the job."

He remembered how he was strapped to an operation table. That experience where one would be blared by strong lights while hearing dissection saw spinning wasn't something he'd ever undergo for the second time.

He wasn't even sure how he escaped with his limbs intact.

"Hm... so she did the same to you." Chifuyu commented.

"...she did that more than once?" Shinkurou asked in disbelief.

The raven-haired woman shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, that means you're quite high on her list. Her sister too ended up like you but she's quick in countering. Not that she's good in other fields."

...if she had the will to perform human modification on a blood related sibling, what could've stopped Tabane from building a Frankenstein? Shinkurou shuddered for the possibility where the crazy rabbit would dig a grave just to find some crystal skulls.

Reason? Because it's interesting.

"Right. Why are you here, Chifuyu?" Shinkurou finally went to the point, only to be hit with a chop on the head.

"You... can't you learn some humility? I'm older than you, brat."

"So...? Not like your friend has any modesty at all."

Chifuyu wiped down her face with her hand while Shinkurou grunted and rubbed his head. For being a girl, he didn't expect her to hit harder than hard-cover book. Is she even a human...?

"...forget it. Where's Tabane?" The girl asked.

"She's busy with her new toy." Shinkurou answered.

I knew, Chifuyu replied. The boy couldn't help but to cock an eyebrow upon a simple realization.

"You... knew?" He parroted. "How?"

"Tabane always have a way to annoy someone." Chifuyu shortly answered.

Ah, she seemed miffed by it. Shinkurou sympathized with a fellow victim, both exhaling in wonder how or why they got involved in with that twisted genius. But he'd been near her only for half a year so he couldn't see how deep the Mad Scientist could sink her SAN reducing fang in.

...setting that aside...

"Why does she need you?" Shinkurou quizzed.

"Oh? Are you afraid your sister will be taken away?" Chifuyu grinned.

The boy scoffed. "It'd be a whole damn lot easier if she gets off me. I never signed up for this Big Babysitting role."

However, Shinkurou received a knock at the head that tilted him a step back. Half-glaring, he caught the older girl smiling smugly, and it wasn't one that was filled with the usual stiffness or sarcasm.

"That just shows you are loved, idiot." She said in an almost tender tone. Keyword being 'almost'.

The boy chose to grumble silently at the cringing notion. The day he'd be loved by a freak-of-nature like Tabane would only be the day hell freezes over.

"Well, I'm going ahead. Tabane will go ballistic if neither you or me are around so..."

"I'll stay away as long as I can. I don't need 'Remodeling', thank you very much."

The two passed each other without batting any more eye contact. He intended to sleep his day out and he wasn't about to let anything, not even his noisy older sister or even the other sister he had never met could interrupt

In fact, he had enough of it all. It was one thing to live as an eccentric's step-sibling and to spend life within some secret research facility isolated from outside world, but to know there were people who would do anything to change his way of life upset him. Very much so.

He wanted to live as is, yes. He didn't mind falling from grace and had to eat mud to survive. He didn't mind to harm others to get what he wanted, and he couldn't care less if he died since it was due to his own choice.

But...

'Do not worry, boy. Your sister and us will protect you.'

'That means you are loved, idiot.'

'Your name... from now on is Shinkurou! Shortened as Ro-kun!'

Stepping short from opening his room's door, the black-haired boy raised his head, eyes sharpening and scowling.

"What the hell's wrong with these people...?" Shinkurou clawed his head in annoyance and headache. "Whatever. I don't give a damn even if that girl blows up the base out of some system errors."

He grumbled and entered the room. Within the simple, unsophisticated and bland personal space exclusive to him, he took off his jacket and shirts and unfastened his belt.

With a slow but staggering steps, Shinkurou flopped onto the bed, drowsiness soon attacked like a plague.

"...ah... how long am I going to live like this...?" The boy asked nobody in particular. "I wish this is all just a bad dream..."

With that, the boy drifted off to a dreamless slumber. He had no attachment to all so he rarely even used his own imagination. To dream was something he didn't need.

It never helped him. It never brought him up. It never gave food or water to him nor it gave him a roof to hide from rouges. He couldn't live with dreaming alone.

That was why he didn't get it. Why would those people lend a hand when they have their own trouble? Why can't they just stop messing around with other lives?

The boy raised his hand, staring at it. The warmth he felt back there for some reasons... It reminded him. Of the life he once had. Of the home he left behind without a choice. Of the memories he wanted to bury at the core of Earth. Normally, he'd forget anything that could not assist him in pulling through a harsh day but only That Memory was burned into the depth of his mind.

"..." Shinkurou clenched his hand and opened it up, feeling the faint warmth that resembled a phantom pain. A week had gone by yet he was... still feeling it. Even though he dismissed it for times and again, whenever he looked at his own hand, the memories just burst out like a popped bubble.

The accursed past he was no longer related with... As well as the warmth he received in that rainy night... Why are they resurfacing again lately?

"...being kind... won't help me to live through another day."

Unable to understand or link the dots together, Shinkurou told himself once again a mantra that kept him alive so far. It was a sentence that always reminded him people could lie, and henceforth taking advantage of him. He must not let down his guard even if he was given a sanctuary to sleep under. Closing his eyes for half an hour, the boy finally fell into a deep slumber.


-Author's Rambling-

Why thank you for your kind words, sir/ma'am! Whoever you are, it's good to know a response or two! It took me a lot of courage just to write and publish a story in public, so I'm glad there are plus points to be noted for. Moving on to the chapter, there's no action (yet) but the foreshadowing is already increasing in numbers. What will this entail to?