Disclaimer: I don't own Macross frontier. If I did I would make Burera Suton fall in love with a banana.
Meh. More on character development, pairing development, and introduction to the other characters. Hope you all review again as you did for the last 2 chapters, I've been getting on average of 10 reviews a chapter…wow. Might not seem a lot, but for an under rated and unknown series like Macross frontier -fan fiction especially, with only a few fics- I'm flattered.
The more reviews the quicker I update 3 I've already written upto chapter 5, when i add them depends on you.
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ただ機械
.:Just a machine:.
C H A P T E R 3: .:Acceleration:.
Damn it all…to hell.
He closed his amber eyes, but it couldn't get him away from the moist, warm breath fanning over the bridge of his nose. His body was pressed up against the comfortingly cool chest, though no heartbeat made it's way through. The odd sensation welled up in his stomach again, especially now that Brera wasn't doing anything: Positive or negative…he was just eerily passive.
He didn't like the thoughts being so close to him evoked. At the end of the day -Alto anyway- was just a human. Nothing more or less than a human teenager. Working for SMS didn't mean very much relationships or human closeness (no matter how much Ranka and Sheryl tried), so the way they were intimately pressed together made his breathing hitch, and the intelligent cyborg teen in front of him probably knew damn well.
God damn it!
He wanted to kiss him.
He wanted to, just to lean forward and brush their lips together they way they accidentally did a few seconds ago- and perhaps he had, even since the violent meeting in his living room when he first moved in. He wanted to know what the semi-machine tasted like, the way Sheryl had done to him on the film set.
The realisation in itself disgusted him -He's a guy! No wait..- and at the same time made him crave for more. He opened his eyes, sure the blush was still tingeing his cheeks, only to see a pair of red eyes watching with mild curiosity.
"This is what Ranka wishes for so much." It sounded like a thought out loud, but Alto knew he was speaking to him directly and shivered.
"What-"
"She wants to know how it feels," He cut him off again, leaving the blunette speechless. "If that's Ranka's wish…should I let her know?"
That…Bastard- toying with me like this--
Brera was good at getting under people's skin. Alto knew that even before now, but somewhere in the back of his mind, he liked to think that Brera was curious about human intimacy as well, that it wasn't all a joke.
The thought itself was a slap of cold water. He wasn't gay, he was straight. But he couldn't deny Brera was a pretty boy, much like himself albeit in a different way. Teenage hormones, but what about Brera? Did he have any?
"Yes. Because we all know how much you want me." He said, light sarcasm lacing his tone. He saw Brera give a ghost of a smirk, and the embarrassment soon turned into a game, some might even call it flirting had they not known better.
Brera leaned forward a little, their lips so close Alto was surprised they weren't touching. It was almost getting scary, and he tried to press back, but his back pressed into the cold moon rock preventing his escape.
But he knew- if Brera wanted something, he easily took it. If he wanted to kiss Alto, if only for his own curiosity, he would do it. Otherwise he would never get this close.
He could test the waters, and risk humiliation. But Brera wasn't the person to go around telling.
He was fighting a hard battle in his mind, because Brera's subtle smirk was growing darker. "Perhaps."
Alto relaxed against the slab of rock, and their lips lightly brushed. It wasn't even a kiss, but was enough to stir a reaction in both teens. Alto wasn't wanting to risk the first move-
He didn't have to.
Brera tilted his head, their lips pressing together curiously, and Alto was too surprised to respond immediately. There was a soft and very real tongue prodding his bottom lip, and he timidly opened his mouth and willed himself to relax.
He's not going to bite my tongue off, he's not-
He felt the cyborg's cool hands hold his shoulder blades, and although it was clumsy and inexperienced, there was something in there, something curious and even Brera couldn't deny it now.
He let himself melt into it, and just…enjoy it. His arms were uncomfortably pinned at his sides, and he stretched them to loosely wrap around the blonde's shoulders, soft hair tickling his fingers.
How akward…will this be when we stop?
When they need for air became apparent, he distracted himself by kissing under the blonde's chin, closing his eyes and darting his tongue out to taste him, which was again so surprisingly human it made his throat dry. He didn't know if Brera had nerve endings in his skin to feel his kisses, but it did matter. The blonde seemed pretty neutral about it, his back lain flat against the cave wall as Alto wasted time on meaningless things.
He ended up resting his head on Brera's shoulder, starting at the dust floor.
What…just happened?
He resisted the urge to touch his lips, already feeling the embarrassing and akward after effect grab hold of him. So when he felt Brera gently bite the junction between his neck and shoulder, he was surprised. He bit his lip, closing his eyes once more.
"Brera-"
His red hair tassel came free, and he felt his long hair fan down over his back, and the android like teen's hands threaded through it. For such a cold moon, it was getting increasingly hot, they were doing something stupid, too caught up in the moment for either of them to really notice what the hell they were doing.
He let himself let go again, it was certainly better than the offence he said last night. His tongue was hot, just as the rest of his mouth and Alto's shaky hands settled on his nape, tilting his head for a better angle.
He tasted like vanilla. It was an addictive taste, even thought he knew he should not want such a thing. And he was embarrassingly pleased when Brera made a small noise at the back of his throat.
The cyborg was enjoying it just as much was.
And then he was pulling back, lips parted as a small string of saliva connected their lips. Their warm breathing created a small mist between the small gap, and Alto watched him, worried of the outcome of what they'd just done.
"I still don't like you." Brera broke the silence, and his voice was just as calm as it always was.
Alto felt his brow twitch, and the moment of awkwardness was gone. After all that, he's still a prick.
He looked to the left, taking Brera's hint and getting off the topic they didn't want to speak about. "When…is the radiation boom going to be over?"
"Approximately 4 minutes." Brera's voice was a little quieter than usual, but Alto figured his previous behaviour was something he couldn't justify. It could have been worse, 4 minutes seemed nothing now.
After time, he felt Brera move against him to move out, and he felt his breath hitch at the friction of Brera's torso brushing up against his to exit the fissure. If Brera felt anything from it he didn't show it, and turned to face Alto with his usual demeanour as he followed after him.
"Where did the burst come from?" He rubbed his shoulder, sore from the tight squeeze. A Vajra maybe? No, they were ALL wiped out. They'd made sure of that right?
"Not the Vajra." It seemed his only answer, probably meaning he wasn't sure himself. "It's interfering with my tracking system; we'll head back to the Valkyrie to scan the area from there."
"Is it prone to radiation?" He snorted, kicking a small amount of moon rock on the dusty earth.
"Yes." Brera wasn't looking him in the eye as he spoke, the only thing showing he was still affected by their little 'game' earlier. "We need to get back to my VF-27 as soon as possible. Another burst might occur."
"Okay." The craft was probably close by: the moon was pretty small and they hadn't travelled very far. The anxious feeling from the blast made them run, the wine red Valkyrie in sight in the distance. For a moon, it was surprisingly flat, with a lack of craters seen on the other moons they'd visited.
Although Alto was thankful for it, the time went by faster with no craters to concur and it was only 10 minutes before they were back, the larger ship casting long shadows over their lithe figures.
The machine came to life with Brera's passing, the low humming of engines warming up as Alto settled himself in the back, and once again the ultra violet lights made his vision go blurry. It wasn't as bad as the last time however, and he soon felt as normal as one could sitting behind a cybernetic who'd tried to kill him earlier.
His head snapped up at the sound of beeping, red warning signs lighting up the inside of the ship. He saw said cybernetic frown, looking up from the main settings. "There's a large volcano near by. That's where the radiation is coming from: it's going to erupt."
"Radiation doesn't come from volcanoes." Alto snorted, the Valkyrie lifting off to 40 meters.
"It does on Vajra home world moons apparently." The blonde provided. "We'll have to leave until the eruption happens anyway. We'll report to S.M.S until then."
Alto opened his mouth to protest, but he knew Brera was right. Such a dose of radiation could be deadly to them both, they couldn't search if the radiation was going to keep spiking.
The blue haired teen's mouth closed, deciding to keep himself to himself for the journey home.
With only a quick acceleration, the ship took to the sky and headed south, passing quickly out of sight through the purple light.
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When he was close enough that they could make out the orange light runway, Alto sighed wearily and reluctantly looked to Brera. But to his surprise, Brera had already turned and slowed down to the runway, back relaxed, posture content and slightly bored.
With nothing to say, Alto went to stand up as the mecha landed, and the lights were off before the cockpit opened giving them space to move. He stretched his legs before stepping out of the VF-27 and dropping the few meters to the solid ground of S.M.S headquarters.
Ozma was already there, a dark eyebrow raised no doubt at their early arrival.
"Taichou…" Alto began, drawing his gaze, "There seem to be no Vajra, but we had to make an early departure because of a mass radiation blast caused from a Vajra volcano."
Ozma looked to Brera, who calmly just stood there neither disagreeing or agreeing. He gave them both a mildly pointed frown, but didn't press the matter. "I see."
He couldn't or didn't care to mask the relief in his tone. Alto knew what he meant, that that meant there would be none of the alien bugs to make a comeback. They had no mission anymore, and could go back to Alto's apartment.
But just the thought made the fine hairs on Alto's neck stand up, and realised from the look Ozma was giving him his hair was still lose from when Brera took out his hair tassel.
'Damn it.' He'd have to ask Ozma for a mission later. Alone.
"You're dismissed," The skull leader excused them with a wave of his hand, turning and heading off in the opposite direction. Brera moved and Alto followed, heading for the main exit and letting themselves out of the complex.
The walk back home was comfortable, until Brera moved off course and Alto stopped in turn. "Where are you going?"
"To see Ranka." Came the simple reply, and he continued walking away from the blunette. They had been spending more and more time together, it was truly sad none of them knew they were related.
"Okay," He didn't say anything else, and continued on his way home.
After all, what Brera did was his own business.
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Brera was only 2 blocks away, when he heard the familiar breathing and footsteps running towards him- and a pair of thin arms wrapping around his middle. "Brera-san!"
"Ranka," He blinked, turning in the tight circle of her arms to see the green haired girl fully. Upon seeing his mildly surprised expression, she immediately let go and grinned apologetically, cheeks flushed. "Ah- I'm sorry, Brera-san-"
"It's okay." He said quietly, letting the girl lead him on down the street. She seemed more bubbly and excited than usual, and more happy to see him. Her hand was familiar and warm in his own, her step slightly giddy.
"-I…I can't wait to tell you about it! I'm so happy, I hope you are too. Since my dreams are bringing back my forgotten memories-"
She was speaking fast, obviously happy and excited. If he was anything short of 91 percent cyborg, he would have asked her to take a breath and slow down.
But he let her go on- to smile and babble on about meaningless things. She was so familiar with him, treating him so normally she'd forget he was near android. Like the time she tried to buy him ice cream forgetting he couldn't eat, or…
She took a deep breath, turning round and Brera stopped in turn. Her eyes were odd to him, and she gave him a fierce hug.
It wasn't a bad feeling, but rather unusual for her to touch him so much. He gently lay a cybernetic hand on her head, frowing slightly. "What's wrong?"
"I remember now." She voiced, muffled into his chest.
He frowned, clearly not understanding. "I don't understand."
"My past." She pulled back. "Brera-san…You're…you're my brother!"
It takes 5 seconds for the human brain to take in words and sounds. It can take 30 seconds for the brain to fully comprehend or understand these sounds. So it was only natural someone like Brera would take it in instantly.
It took him over a minute.
His scanning eyes searched her face, his own frozen in an unreadable expression. He felt Ranka squeal something about being so happy how things turned out, and he surprised himself with a hug back, movements slower than usual from shock.
"What…"
"I remember," She breathed, small hands gripping his sides. "You used to play your harmonica for me and mother when we sang- and then something landed and caused an explosion. Then…I never saw you after that…"
"But I'm so happy it's like this." She sighed, breathing irregular from the amount of talking they were doing. "See Brera-san? You're not just a machine or a cyborg- you're my brother! You said you couldn't live on before, but now we're a family- it's completely different!"
It was still all fuzzy and new to him, and he felt a warm feeling gripping his stomach.
What is…this feeling…
He awarded her with one of his rare smiles, resting his chin atop her green head. "It is."
"We have so much to do-" She was pulling him again, and he let her drag him, feeling the extreme emotion take him as well; albeit he couldn't show it the same way she could, it was most definitely there.
Blood siblings: the thought itself was so…human he couldn't help but feel contended. Instead of everything painfully reminding him he was just a machine, today…the hormonal encounter with Alto and the revelation that Ranka was his sister was just so human he actually felt normal.
"Nii-san…." She squeezed his hand, swinging their interlocked fingers as she sounded his title, and he loved the way it rolled off her tongue. It sounded so natural, so perfect to him.
Today was as close to perfect as he could remember. Although he didn't show it as much as Ranka was- instead opting for more subtle appreciations- it's was perfect.
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A/N: I was planning to keep the Brera/ Ranka sibling revelation until much later - but seeing as it was released last week I thought I'd go throw it in anyway. I believe mini plots held within the main plot makes a better story. I'll be sure to add more of them, but it's still mainly Brera Alto.
Also, I cut the chapter off there because if I made it too much longer, I'd feel I'd have to make all the others just as long, and probably go into a writers block with the next chapters.
Until next deculture? REVIEW you sub-human pesantz.
