Hey guys! I'm back with another chapter that I hope you all enjoy. I've worked fairly hard at it, with many thorough revisions and editing with my dear friend and beta-reader coolgamer so thank you so much for all the help and support you've provided me and I hope everyone enjoys this story as much as I enjoy writing it. I've worked hard on this after all.
Chapter 02: I'll Do My Best
Rei's place was a bit of a mess but Haru didn't mind. With everything they had been doing lately, it wasn't a surprise that Rei didn't have the time to clean up. He had been a little surprised at Rei's insistence to help but he should have seen it coming. Rei was one of the smartest people he had ever met and even though it was a side he rarely showed; he did care. Hajime yawned when they got home, clearly being tired from everything they had been through.
"Oniichan, is it ok if I help you guys more tomorrow?" Hajime asked, blinking at his brother. "I can barely keep my eyes…" He was cut off by another yawn before he could even finish the sentence and Rei chuckled, tousling Hajime's hair.
"Yeah sure," Rei said, a softness in his expression that he showed only around Hajime. "I'll be right back, Haru."
Haru nodded but Hajime pouted.
"Oniichan, I'm 8 years old," Hajime said in protest. "You don't need to tuck me into bed anymore."
Haru couldn't help it as a slight giggle escaped his lips, knowing it could be annoying to be treated like you were fragile. It also made his heart waver a little, remembering Yuujin used to treat him the same way. Pushing those thoughts down, he watched Rei take Hajime to his room, making sure he was tucked in tight before returning back to where he was. He watched the other clean up and moved to help him make some room beside the computer, cleaning up things as best as he could.
"Sorry," Rei said sounding a little awkward. "Since we've all been cooped up in Ai's bookshop, I didn't get to clean up here."
Haru gave him a small smile. "Don't worry about it, Rei-kun." He stepped back once they had finished cleaning, allowing Rei to set up the computer. Not knowing much about these things, he watched the other begin to type in codes and he found his own thoughts drifting to Yuujin. When he had made the decision to take his friend back from Leviathan, there was no surety in Haru's mind that this was the same person he had grown up and his special friend who he had shared so many memories with. But at the same time, he still loved his friend with all his heart. To him, those memories were still precious and Yuujin was still someone worth saving. When his friend had broken through at the last minute before he could make that decision, that was when he realized that his friend had always been there. Yuujin was the one who wanted to save him from making that horrible decision, not YJ-14. YJ-14 was made by Leviathan but Yuujin was his friend.
"Haru," Rei's voice brought him out of his thoughts and Haru blinked.
"Yeah?" Haru said, shifting in a little closer to his friend. "What is it Rei-kun?"
"I'm going to try and hack into the AR Field where Yuujin's data was last in," Rei explained, looking at Haru seriously. "And try to get a hold of his Applidrive and the data in Yuujin's body. It won't be easy though because the data disappeared but I'm going to try at least. I might need your Applidrive too."
Haru nodded, giving Rei his own Applidrive as the other continued to work. The tightness in his chest eased a little bit. The feeling that he wasn't alone, that maybe he could see Yuujin again. He pulled up a chair, sitting down to watch Rei work so everything was in his line of sight, expression focused yet at the same time distant. A lot of thoughts were whirling in his mind.
"Rei-kun," Haru began quietly. "Why did you choose to help me after the things Yuujin did? You knew something wasn't right about Yuujin back then, but I didn't listen to you even when you tried to warn me. Yuujin may be my precious friend, and I still care about him, but he helped Leviathan do horrible things or a part of him did. He could have been the reason that you would never see Hajime-kun again because he'd be an App. He could have been the reason that Astra-kun and Eri-san's parents disappeared and became Apps if I had made the opposite decision? They were upset at that time about even that thought but you never said anything even though you knew the consequences of what would happen if I chose to save Yuujin's life. I wanted to, a part of me did but I couldn't. It wasn't what the real Yuujin would have wanted."
Rei didn't look at him directly or answer him right away until he inserted some sort of device into the computer and let it begin to download a specific file. Once he was done though, he came and sat beside Haru, reaching out to take his wrist, eyes locking seriously with his.
"Do you remember what you said to me when I warned you about Yuujin the second time?" Rei asked, voice quiet but focused.
Haru blinked, eyes focusing on the deep red of Rei's as he thought back to the time, the memory suddenly dawning on him.
"Don't worry Rei-kun. Yuujin and I trust each other, just like you and Hajime-kun."
"What does that have to do with…" Haru trailed off, watching the other boy curiously, wondering what could be going through Rei's head right now.
"If I had to choose between saving Hajime and saving the world," Rei began quietly. "I would have chosen Hajime every single time. He's precious to me and even though I would know that if I saved Hajime, the world might end, I wouldn't be able to change that decision even now. The reason I was quiet back then is forcing you to make a choice between someone who's like family to you and the whole world wasn't fair. It didn't matter at that moment that I could lose Hajime. That he would become an App and I would never see him again didn't matter at the time. I could see it in your eyes that no matter how hard it was for you; you'd sacrifice your own wishes for not only us but the whole world." He averted his gaze. "I wanted to kill Leviathan for putting that on you, but I couldn't. I wasn't strong enough. But when Yuujin broke free and made the choice for you, I knew you weren't okay, Haru. I could tell you weren't. It was obvious. You didn't make the choice in the end, but your choice would have been the choice Yuujin made. Since you two chose to save the world by sacrificing your own happiness, I want to help bring that happiness back. Haru," He squeezed his friend's wrist. "I wouldn't be here today if you hadn't saved me from Sakushimon. There are a lot of people in this world who deserve sadness but you're not one of them."
Haru's eyes softened and his cheeks flushed pink a little. Rei didn't speak a lot, always claiming that words were hard, but he could feel the honesty in the other boy's words. When he had chosen to save Rei back then, it was the first decision he had made as a protagonist to save Rei not only from Sakushimon but the darkness he had felt the boy was hiding in his heart. He pulled his wrist out of Rei's hand, quickly reaching to grab his hand instead.
"Thank you Rei-kun," Haru said quietly. "I've been reading some stuff about Artificial Intelligence in books and stuff, but I had no idea where to even start. I mean, I want Yuujin back, but things are a lot more complicated than that."
Rei nodded. "It's not going to be easy bringing Yuujin back, that's for sure. But saving Hajime wasn't easy either Haru." The file had finally finished downloading and he brought his chair closer to focus on the computer again, beginning to type furiously, concentrating hard.
Haru focused his own attention on the screen, seeing that Rei was trying to retrieve something but there were so many codes that he could not even begin to decipher some of them let alone all of them. But he did manage to catch a glimpse of the file name which was titled 'Data retrieval' and he guessed Rei was trying to revive Yuujin's data from the AR Field he was last in but somehow, he wasn't sure it was going to be that simple. Yuujin had…died in his arms, after all, his data disappearing and scattering into the AR Field. But there had to be some way to retrieve the data, right? Clearly not as the computer suddenly flashed a red sign at the two of them. It was written in big, block letters 'DATA RETRIEVAL FAILED' and the program completely shut down.
"It didn't work did it?" Haru said frowning.
Rei shook his head. "No, it didn't. I'm going to try to retrieve his Applidrive first at the very least because retrieving his data is failing and I've tried two different programs. Haru, I'll find a way I promise." He looked at him seriously. "Even if it takes high-level hacking, I'll do it."
Haru managed a weak smile. "We'll do it together. It's late here but I'll find more books about Artificial Intelligence tomorrow. There must be something about retrieving data in that, maybe I'll look for more technical ones. Gatchmon, you can search too right? Anything you can find will be useful."
Gatchmon nodded in agreement. "Course! We're gonna get Yuujin back no matter what happens. If we work together, it should be fine."
Rei nodded at them both. "When I need to do high-level hacking, Hackmon can help me since it's a lot faster but those books will probably help. The more we know about Artificial Intelligence, the easier it will be to bring Yuujin back. I mean, we need to make sure he has his memories and even if he's not the same person as he was, he's strong enough that you can help him become his own person."
Haru nodded firmly. "I understand. Grandpa Denemon said that if we brought Yuujin back, he may not be the same person I grew up knowing. He'll have a lot of identity loss and probably self-esteem issues because of his memories but I can work with that. If I have Yuujin, I can work with everything else." Being an avid reader, he had bought a lot of books on Psychology and how to deal with things such as a loss of identity and how to help boost the self-esteem in cases such as that.
Rei nodded at Haru. "Good. If you're prepared for those things, it won't come as a shock to you when he does return." He switched off the computer and stood up. "For now, it's past midnight so we should eat something and then sleep. Tomorrow, you should get those books and maybe write down the information you feel we can use to help us gather Yuujin's data from the AR Field."
Haru blinked as Rei turned the computer off, staring at the blank screen for a few moments. A part of him didn't want to sleep wanting to work on getting Yuujin back day and night. He wanted his best friend back, he wanted them to be together again after fate had separated them like that.
"I understand," Rei's voice cut in, surprisingly soft and Haru jumped.
"What?" Haru said, sounding a little bewildered.
"I know you want to spend every minute, every second trying to bring Yuujin back to you," Rei said to Haru. "I've felt like that before but you're not alone in this Haru. Losing sleep and not eating won't help bring him back any faster. It'll just make you collapse than we won't be able to work on bringing him at all because you'll be of no help to anyone."
Haru sighed a little, realizing he was still holding onto Rei's hand and the other hadn't pulled away from him. He had to wonder if this was how Rei-kun had felt when Hajime was taken away from him so suddenly. If he had spent day and night without food or sleep searching for his little brother. And no one had been there to help him then. He had spent days and nights like this, searching for Hajime all on his own. No one would have helped him either because he had presented himself as their enemy. His heart clenched at the thought, squeezing Rei's hand tighter in his own. He doesn't want me to feel alone in this hard time because he knows what that feels like. I won't let his kindness go to waste. I won't.
"Okay, let's go," Haru said, giving his friend a genuine smile. "I don't really know how to cook all that well, but I can keep you company."
"I wouldn't want you messing up my kitchen anyway," Rei said, a slight smirk appearing on his features and despite the situation, Haru pouted.
"I resent that, Rei-kun!" Haru huffed, not really offended because he had learned that Rei was very possessive about his kitchen and not to take it personally. He wouldn't even let Hajime in the kitchen and that was his little brother!
Rei raised an eyebrow. "I see how you are in Ai's kitchen, so I have a reason to be worried."
"Yuujin's so much worse, he nearly set our kitchen on fire once!" Haru protested before his face fell as he thought about Yuujin, heart sinking again. He shouldn't do that, Yuujin would want to be remembered with a smile – at least the Yuujin he had known would want that.
"Remember me for something cool if I ever die ok?" Yeah, that was exactly something his best friend would say. He had died saving the whole world but…
"I wouldn't be opposed to having some company though," Rei's voice cut in, slightly sharp and Haru realized Rei had been watching him for the past few seconds and it took another few seconds for the green-haired boy to figure out why. Silent tears had started to fall down his cheeks again and he quickly wiped them away, having not even felt the wetness upon his cheeks.
"G-great," Haru said trying to smile again.
"Haru," Rei said quietly, not looking at him as they walked to the kitchen. "Hackmon told me it's okay to cry when we were going into the final battle. Because we didn't know how things would turn out. If we'd all see each other again if we'd all be able to be here. I know you don't want to worry Astra, Ai, and Eri by crying in front of them but I won't tell anyone. Hajime won't either if I tell him not to. It's okay to miss him."
Haru felt more tears roll down his cheeks at them, burying his face in his hands. "Rei-kun, it's so hard being without Yuujin," he admitted. "But it's even harder thinking about my memories with him. They were real for me, but the Yuujin I grew up with, the one I laughed with…it's too hard for me to believe that he was just made to hurt me. His love for me, his care…his want to protect me, it felt real. I know…it was supposed to feel real, that was the way Leviathan wanted it after all, but I don't know, I sound kind of incomprehensible sorry."
"I feel he cared about you too," Rei said simply causing Haru to stop crying for a moment and pull his hands away from his face.
"Y-you do?" Haru said, eyes widening a little and Rei nodded.
"I think that was the flaw in Leviathan's plan," Rei told him. "He underestimated kindness and empathy in humans. He saw the dark side of humans. He never thought a human could show such kindness. You showed Yuujin enough kindness that he evolved past his initial purpose. Leviathan created him for evil purposes. You were Denemon's grandson and you needed to be eliminated and he tried to use your heart to do that. But in the end, it was your heart, the kindness in it that changed Yuujin. Yuujin grew to have a heart by interacting with you, Haru. You becoming his friend was what changed him from being a robot to having a heart. Yuujin did care about you, Haru."
Haru was silent throughout Rei's analysis but if he was honest, the pure logic of all that was comforting. Rei wasn't one to give false hope especially in the form of fake logic so if he said Yuujin had cared, it was much easier to believe that if it had been one of the others saying it and that included Gatchmon.
"Maybe you're right," Haru finally spoke. "I mean Leviathan never expected for Yuujin to make the choice for me, especially at the cost of his own life. He broke through at the last minute so I wouldn't have to choose to sacrifice him." It was odd to think that he had somehow ended up being the major flaw in Leviathan's plan in the end. He had never thought of it like that, but it did make sense. He was the first person to form such a close bond with Artificial Intelligence after all. His thoughts were distracted by Rei shuffling around and beginning to cook and he forced himself out of his thoughts, head hurting probably partially because it was past midnight and they had stayed up much too late already.
"What are you making, Rei-kun?" Haru asked, trying to change the subject.
"Oh, just some ramen, it's not light enough to keep us hungry but not heavy enough to leave our stomachs too full that we can't sleep," Rei explained as he broke the ramen, putting it into the now boiling water. "Since you like spicy stuff, I'll make a side salsa for you as well so you can put a little bit on the side. It leaves a good option since some people like mild foods while others prefer something on the spicier side of things. The salsa also has a slightly tangy taste because it leaves a good balance with the spice."
Haru couldn't help but notice how different Rei was when he was around food. He became a lot more relaxed, talking about what he was cooking and explaining why certain things would be better than others. "I'm sure I'll like it since your Crème Brûlée was really nice. Then again, I have a bit of a sweet tooth. Ai-chan and I used to sneak cookies from the kitchen after her Dad would fall asleep." He chuckled. "It was really fun because it was like we didn't have any fears at the time. We didn't know Yuujin at the time though."
Rei nodded as he continued to work but his eyes were alert and as if he were taking in every word Haru was saying. "I enjoy cooking. I didn't before but when I learned how to cook properly and I saw how much Hajime loved it, it made me want to try more recipes." He stirred in some cream in the salsa along with breaking some butter and pouring it in. "Do you have any favourite foods?"
Haru thought about it and then said jokingly "Well, I tend to like junk food a lot. It's always a lot tastier than eating vegetables or something you know."
"Vegetables are necessary though, you need to have everything in your diet a little bit," Rei said seriously and Haru chuckled a little, pretending to pout. His heart had lightened considerably talking to his friend about food mostly because the other was so passionate about it. Besides, it was nice to know he could share his pain with someone. If anyone understood the pain of losing someone precious, it was Rei-kun. His heart clenched once more as he thought of the darkness, the sadness he had seen in Rei's eyes back then.
"Well, the salsa is done," His friend's voice pulled Haru out of his thoughts and he blinked for a moment, his nose catching the strong smell and his eyes lit up.
"The salsa smells really delicious, Rei-kun!" Haru said, peering at it. "Is the ramen nearly ready?"
Rei chuckled a bit. "Almost, the noodles have to be thick and chewy in just the right amounts because otherwise, you won't really enjoy it."
Haru's thoughts drifted to the ramen he had at restaurants and had to admit that was true. While he wasn't awfully picky about how chewy or thick the noodles were, he had to admit some of the best ones he had tried did have amazingly chewy, thick noodles where he could taste both the flavor of the ramen and the thickness of the noodles which made it an amazing meal altogether.
"I know what you mean," Haru mused thoughtfully. "I mean, I don't know much about cooking, but I go to restaurants a fair bit, sometimes with Gatchmon and even on my own with Ai-chan and Watson-kun and I can kind of feel the difference between the ramen. I've never realized why before though."
"Mm," Rei acknowledged almost absently as he tipped the noodles into a strainer, to drain out the water, shaking it and holding it for a few seconds before mixing everything together. "Well, dinner is ready."