Disclaimer: I don't own Cyborg Soldier 009. It is owned by Shotaro Ishinomori (or whatever his real name is), TV Tokyo, and some very rich people.
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RISING SUN: Chapter II
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GB opened his mouth, but with a deadly glare from Joe, he immediately shut it again. The four cyborgs walked in silence to the restaurant, with an occasional nervous glance that Chang threw from GB to Joe, afraid that the mischievous cyborg would say something to anger the more powerful man. Françoise, however, was oblivious to the amounting tension between the three men, but she blushed at the looks she received from some of the men, who were eyeing her and her dress in appreciation.
Just as GB opened his mouth to actually say something, Chang interrupted with a joyous, "Yay! We're here!" Everyone looked up as they stood in front of the entrance to the restaurant. "Oh!" the short man cooed as he hugged the door. "It's still the same as when I left it!"
"Right, but can we go in now?" Françoise asked, rubbing her arms. "It's a bit cool out here."
Chang nodded and unlocked the door, opening it to allow the others to enter. And so for the rest of the morning, they bustled about to ready the restaurant for customers.
~
"A-again?!" Joe cried, looking down at the shorter man, who was kneeling in front of the crate, picking things out and throwing them aside.
"Yes again," Chang ordered. "How do you expect me to cook when you bring spoiled food?"
Joe sighed, shoulders slumping forward. "How come this all sounds familiar?" he muttered to himself.
"That's because he said the exact same thing last time," Françoise whispered as she came up beside him.
Joe gave her a wary glance. "And I thought you said he wouldn't be as picky this time."
"009! What are you standing around for? Didn't I tell you to go get more materials?!"
Joe sighed again and gave Françoise an exasperated look before clicking his teeth and disappearing.
~
"Please come again!" Françoise said as she bowed and opened the doors. As the last of the customers left, she sighed and closed the door, leaning her back on it.
"Well, that's the last of them," Joe said as he walked up to her.
She nodded. "Yes, but now we have to close up."
"No," Chang interrupted, coming out of the kitchen. "You two go ahead. 007 and I will close up."
"Hey!" GB shouted. "That's not fair!"
"It's okay," Joe said. "We can stay and help."
Chang shook his head and poked the Japanese's chest with one finger. "I don't think so. Both you and 003 worked so hard today, I think you deserve a break."
"But—"
"No buts!" Chang shook his head and crossed his arms. "If you don't leave this restaurant this second, I will never cook for you again."
Joe and Françoise sweatdropped. "Uh…if you say so, 006."
"Arigatou, 006," Françoise thanked the cook. "Don't stay here too long! We'll see you back home!" She waved to them as Joe opened the door for them.
"Why do they get to leave?" GB whined as Joe and Françoise left.
"Because they were actually working and helping out today," Chang reprimanded, frowning at the taller man. "Unlike you, who was just flirting with the ladies and eating all the food!"
GB embarrassingly scratched the back of his head. "I was only helping you keep all the pretty ladies entertained while they were waiting for the food."
"No more excuses! Now go wash the dishes!"
GB dropped his head and frowned at Chang's back. "Bossy boss."
~
Joe walked with his hands in his jean pockets, Françoise next to him with her arms wrapped around herself. Noticing her slight shiver, Joe shrugged out of his beige jacket and draped it around her shoulders. Françoise looked up at him in surprise.
"You looked cold," Joe commented, smiling down at her.
Blushing lightly, she looked back down and smiled. "Thank you." Shyly, she reached out with her right hand and clasped it with his, her left hand coming to rest on his chest and she moved closer to him.
Looking down at their hands, Joe tightened his own hand around hers. "This seems a bit familiar," he commented, grinning at her. It seemed the day was just full things that brought back old memories. His answer was a smile and a head on his shoulder.
When they finally reached the clearing of the forest, they stopped walking and just watched the sea and night sky. "It's so nice to be able to just enjoy the scenery," Françoise commented, breaking their quiet reverie.
"Ah," Joe agreed. Turning his head slightly, he studied her content face, her eyes shining and her skin glowing under the moonlight. "Françoise…"
Françoise turned and looked up as she heard her name. "Hm?"
Instead of a verbal answer, she felt soft lips on her own. At first, she didn't respond because she was still too shocked to do anything, but as he started to pull away, she pushed herself up so that he didn't break away and slowly closed her eyes. Joe removed his hand from hers and placed it on her hip, the other hand moving to the back of her neck to press her closer. Françoise took her now loose hand to join the other hand still resting snuggly between them on his chest. Their lips moved against one another's, feeling and tasting softly and sweetly. After awhile, the two broke apart, but foreheads pressed together, their shallow breaths the only sound coming from the couple.
"I think we should go inside now," Joe was the first to break the comfortable silence, opening his eyes and smiling down at her while gently massaging her neck.
"Mmm," Françoise murmured, eyes still closed, enjoying his soft massaging. Joe chuckled, but removed his hands to her shoulder so that his arms were wrapped around her. She pouted slightly, but he just grinned and pulled her closer.
"Come on," he urged her. "I don't want you to catch a cold."
Smiling at his concern, she finally nodded before placing her head on his chest. The two of them walked back to the house, content to be in each other's arms.
~
"Well, that was quite a display you two showed out there." The new couple looked up in surprise at the unexpected voice.
"002!" Joe exclaimed. "What are you still doing here?
"What? Am I not welcome anymore?" Jet asked.
"Not when you're spying on other people!" Françoise admonished.
"I guess the two lovebirds want some alone time now," a new voice added. The blushing duo turned towards the newcomer.
"004?! You're here too?!" Joe looked at the two unexpected cyborgs in surprise and embarrassment.
"Aren't you two supposed to be in America and Germany?" Françoise questioned.
"002 here wanted to go shopping, of all things, before he left," Albert informed the other two. "And he decided to drag me along with him. Which caused the both of us to miss our planes."
"If you had just agreed to come with me instead of taking an hour to finally let me drag you out, then we wouldn't have missed our planes," Jet sneered.
"You could have just gone by yourself!" Albert hissed back.
"You should be honored I actually chose you to help me," Jet retorted.
"Eh…what were you shopping for?" Joe interrupted, wanting to stop an argument between the two.
"Nothing," Jet replied quickly, his cheeks slightly tinted red.
Albert smirked. "Right. We just walked around the shops for two hours looking for the 'perfect gift.' And I thought girls were picky."
"I was not picky."
"We went to 20 different stores."
"The first 19 had crappy stuff!"
"Watch your language," Françoise reprimanded.
"Well, they did," Jet whined.
"And I always thought you were just a 'whatever' person, 002," Joe teased.
"Not when it comes to love," Albert said in a sing-song voice.
"Eh?!" Joe and Françoise looked at the American cyborg with wide eyes.
"004!" Jet tackled Albert, who was laughing too hard to defend himself.
"Ah, 002 has a girlfriend?" Françoise teased, trying to keep in her laughter. "I really thought you didn't care for such, and I quote, 'trivial things.'"
"I do not have a girlfriend!" Jet shouted, letting go of a gasping Albert.
"Just a secret crush!"
"004! I'm going to kill you!"
"So childish," Françoise remarked, but then turned to Joe. "But that's so cute! 002 likes someone!"
Joe laughed and decided to pay Jet back for his teasing this morning. "I wonder who could turn the patronizing Jet into a boy begging for approval."
The aforementioned cyborg stopped trying to strangle the German and turned to their leader. "Why you little punk!" As he charged towards Joe and Françoise, Joe simply laughed and grabbed the girl next to him, disappearing, only to reappear next to a still laughing Albert.
"Aw, come on you guys," Françoise scolded, but giggling a little herself. "Stop making fun of 002. I think it's nice that he has someone to care for."
Jet growled at the other two laughing men. "Baka."
"What is going on in here?" a sleepy voice asked. The four turned to see a sleepy Dr. Gilmore rubbing his drooping eyes.
"Nothing," Jet grumbled.
Dr. Gilmore looked around suspiciously, but then yawned. "If you say so. But please try to keep it down. An old man needs his rest." With that, he walked back in the direction he came from. Albert snickered quietly, but shut up as Françoise sent him a disapproving look.
A few minutes later, the four were gathered in the living room, Françoise pouring coffee for everyone. As she sat down next to Joe, she looked at the irritated, spiky-haired cyborg.
"So," she began, taking a small sip of her drink, "what did you get for your girlfriend?"
"She's not my girlfriend," Jet mumbled.
"Yet."
Jet glared at Albert. "Oh shut up."
"002," Françoise said in a warning tone. When Jet looked at her, she shook her head.
Sighing, Jet mumbled quietly.
"Nani? I couldn't hear you." Françoise leaned towards him.
Jet mumbled incoherently again.
"You'll have to talk louder, 002."
"I said…I got her some stuff from Victoria's Secrets! Happy?" he shouted, red in the face.
Françoise blushed. "Oh…I see…"
Joe looked at them in confusion. "Victoria's Secrets? What's that?"
The other three turned to look at the confused cyborg in shock. "You mean…you don't…" Albert trailed off as he frowned in confusion.
"No…what is it?"
"Joe…" Françoise blushed even more.
"It's…something that your girlfriend here would like," Jet answered, smirking.
"002!"
"Huh?"
"You poor boy," Albert said, throwing an arm around the confused cyborg. "Then what were you thinking of getting our lovely lady here for Christmas?"
"Christmas?"
"Well yes, it is December."
"Uh…"
"That's what Victoria's Secrets is," Albert said. "The perfect place to buy your girlfriend the perfect present."
"004!" Françoise glared at him, still red-faced. "Stop it!"
"It's just the truth," Albert defended, shrugging.
"It looks like we'll be here for a few more days," Jet added, leaning back into his chair.
"Why?" Françoise asked suspiciously, not trusting the two older cyborgs anymore.
"It seems our poor boy here needs a little help," Albert answered, slapping Joe on the back.
"It's time to show you how to please women!" Jet announced.
Françoise groaned, hiding her face in her arms. "Why me?"
~
"There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness." –Friedrich Nietzsche.
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Poor, poor Françoise. Her new boyfriend is going to be dragged around by 002 and 004. Well, 004 is okay because he actually had a wife before. But 002…I can't imagine him giving advice about love. ^^ And I have no idea what part of the year the anime ended, so I'm going to pretend it was near winter. Hehe. Okay, now that I got 009 and 003 together, I can get on with the plot of the story. So far I only have an idea of the actual plot, not much details, so the next chapter will be a while longer. BTW, I forgot the restaurant's name and am too lazy to go look it up again…anyone know it? Oh and I love it when fellow authors review my story. Of course, their fics are so much better and is also where I get inspiration, but they're all so nice! Oh, but I love you readers too!
Queen of Duels: I read your 004/003 fic too. It was so cute! Except it ruined my 009/003 image…but it was worth it. And I await your update of Prank Wars. ^^
DanL89: I agree—not enough 009/003. And unfortunately, Toonami is retarded. We Americans (okay, so I'm Asian-American, big difference) are censored from everything. Honestly. I think the reason they don't show all the episodes is because they don't like some of the things from the later episodes. I personally think the entire series is appropriate, but obviously, Toonami and whoever dubbed Cyborg 009 doesn't think the rest of the anime is G-rated. Grrr…stupid people.
00is_a_hotie: I like your name. Add a 9 somewhere in there, and I will completely agree with you. ^.-
GoldAngel2: I love you! I love your story! I can't believe you reviewed! You had better update your story soon!! And yes…stupid Cartoon Network. I won't rant again because I already did that. Haha. Anyways, maybe you can help me understand the entire series better after you've watched 27-51. The DVD's I have don't have episode 51 for some odd reason. So I'm left hanging. The actual anime ends at 49, so the last two are…weird. Don't really understand it. Hm…good 009/003 stuff in episodes 30, a little in 33, 003's pretty cool in 34, I was about to cry in anger in 35, a bit of cuteness in 43 although the rest of it was really sad, and definitely good stuff in 49…until the very end that is. Er, I'll shut up now. ^^'