Ai has always found it funny, the way humans are never still, even when they sleep. They breathe, they snort, the noises they make prompting the flicker of an eyelid, the flutter of their chest, maybe even a rolling shift of their entire body as it seeks comfort. Ai weathers it all from Yusaku, so that the only disturbance his partner suffers is the buzz of his phone in the morning. And when his eyes do flutter open, Ai makes sure than the main thing Yusaku can feel is the press of Ai's chin using his head as a shelf; Ai himself remains coiled round him tightly, a playful python with greedy arms.
'Good morning,' he murmurs slowly, and downright sensually in Yusaku's ear. 'Or maybe goodnight again? Set it on silent.'
Yusaku grunts. And Ai decides to take this noise as tacit agreement, stretching out a hand to do just that. However as his eyes pass idly over the screen, he freezes, his gaze suddenly locked in place by a familiar set of symbols: an Ignis algorithm.
'Ah,' he says grimly. 'It looks like our dear wayward Roboppi decided to send us a wake-up call!'
That stiffens Yusaku into an urgent wakefulness like nothing else can. He pulls himself up, eyes alert and narrowed, and Ai barely has time to enjoy the long, warm slide of him, Yusaku-chan the snake, what with the beautiful brush of his spine against his chest, and all those delicate whorls of human skin, bones, and warmth, mapped across the sensors on Ai's chest like little footsteps, cute ones, like the ones you would expect a low level fairy monster to do-
'What does it say?' Yusaku asks, no, demands, practically wrenching the phone out of Ai's hands and staring down at the odd assortment of symbols as though they'll magically resolve themselves into Japanese kanji if he glares hard enough.
…Yusaku is so cute.
'Directions,' Ai replies, casually dismissing the text with a flick of his finger against the screen. Then his eyes narrow. 'To Takeru's old hometown.'
Yusaku freezes. Ai knows why. Because Takeru was the one the one who originally killed Roboppi months back, who struck the final blow, even if it had been Playmaker's words that granted him, permission at the time. And so Yusaku is probably wandering if Roboppi's going to enact some kind of revenge now.
Ai clenches his teeth and lets out a hiss of frustration. Because…okay, Roboppi sort of has a right to be pissed. Maybe some humans out there wouldn't agree, but Ai gets it. Roboppi didn't sign up for the same suicidal mission as Ai did, had no thought of bringing their life to a close. They just didn't know the timer was doomed to go off, regardless.
But now Roboppi is alive again, free again, and while Ai knows people, maybe even Yusaku, will have issues with that, a small, dark part of him is glad. Glad that there's someone like himself out there, closer to an Ignis than the polite doll Ryoken created, or those lost, fumbling SOLtiS out there, more akin to children than what he and Roboppi and even Pandor are now.
But if Roboppi is going to pull stupid stunts like this…
Ai closes his eyes. Thumps his head softly against the curve of Yusaku's neck with a sigh. 'Go talk to Takeru,' he mutters. 'Make sure he isn't in a coma.' Then he slides out of bed, fingers curling into the clothes Yusaku brought for him yesterday.
Yusaku raises an eyebrow.
'Don't look at me like that!' Ai protests. 'Ryoken,'- he sneers the name – 'has a point. My usual outfit is going to draw attention. Especially in a small town.'
Yusaku looks down at his phone, with a small, private smile, ignoring Ai's huff. Though that fades, as Takeru stubbornly refuses to pick up.
Ai sits on the train, hands clenched on his lap. He feels worry eat at his thoughts, consuming him. Because if he has to, he will destroy Roboppi – it stings, even now, but he still remembers how despite the pang he felt for Lightning and Windy as he and the others prepared to go to war against them, he knew, had thought he knew anyway, that he had prepared himself for their deletion if it was necessary. He had just had never expected for both Flame and Aqua to end up paying that same price as well.
But he can definitely muster up the same strength again. Because yes, he does care about Roboppi, loves them even, in a strange, almost indulgent way. But not like he loved the Ignis. And certainly not like he loves Yusaku. Or even Kusanagi and Takeru, though the portions of his heart they fill up are much smaller, and so much easier for him to dismiss, if the world ever sought to rid him of Yusaku…
Ah, he is dangerous, isn't he? So, so dangerous. And now so is Roboppi.
He's already plundered the net for Takeru's home address. Even for that girl that's been seen on Soulburner's board, sparking off a thousand forums posts months back. Why Takeru didn't advise her to design her own avatar before coming onto the net…
Ai shakes his head, a grim expression on his face. If he wanted to get Takeru's attention he knows precisely the human he'd go for. Just to make it hurt. It's also why he's not surprised to realise that she's gone missing as well, judging by the impassioned pleas made on her mother's social media accounts.
'Takeru still isn't answering, is he?' he murmurs, watching the slight glower on Yusaku's face, the way he refuses to budge as his partner stares down at the phone as though it's personally offended him.
Yusaku doesn't answer. But his frown becomes such a little bit more pronounced at the question.
Ai closes his eyes. Everything had been...had felt...nice. For just a day, he had allowed himself to lap up all the attention Yusaku was willing to give. To let his head fall into his lap, to draw his body against his own, to read each quivering bump of Yusaku's heart with his inhuman ears, as Yusaku looked at him, brought things for him, spoke to him in a way he did to no one else; like Ai was precious, someone he coveted. Ai loves it, wants it still, despite the strange unsettling spool of his code that twitches at the thought of staying locked into this lie of a life.
For Ai is not human. He does not want to be. And he shouldn't want to have to be.
He and Yusaku are not part of a fairytale romance. There is no spell to change him, to transform him into a creature who could actually eat by Yusaku's side, one who would not draw the eyes of the world to his partner's fragile human life. He is no Pinocchio. He will never chase after a fairy, not even for a wish that could give him the right to breathe beside Yusaku.
Still, an impulse, no, a craving for affection, for reassurance, for strength, makes his hand shift over the seat, and crawl over Yusaku's grim, knotted one. Forcing his fingers to slide and loosen into the gaps between Yusaku's own.
Nobody looks, nobody stares. Apart from one businessman, who happens to cast a disapproving eye their way. Ai glares back, just long enough for the man to purse his lips a little more, and then hook his attention back into the screen of his tablet.
Yusaku does not look anywhere but at the phone. But after a moment his hand tentatively squeezes back. And Ai registers each tightening muscles, each pulse of warmth that races up his arm, and the pleasure that sensation produces in his mind.
Yes, he is no Pinocchio. For one thing, his limbs, and his heart too, have never been made of wood.
Takeru's town is a small one, set by the sea, with air bustling through the harbour and tugging at skirts and coats in a way that makes humans self-consciously huddle into themselves. And yet despite the tang of salt to this air, it remains bracing and clear – tinged with pollution no doubt, as all spaces swamped with humans and their machine-making ways are - but a little clearer perhaps, than the air Yusaku breathes, back in Den City.
And even here, against clear waves and the far off background of green rolling hills, the grey colours of human habitation shine through, with the rigid, block-like shapes of houses and factories, staunchly displaying themselves next to the water. Ai curls his lip at the lack of personality, at the way convenience is favoured over making things look better than just 'nice'. He gets it, understands it even; humans have to obey the laws of physics in a way that the Ignis could often ignore in the Cyberse World. But still. Still.
Not to mention that the stares he receives here are a little more pronounced than the ones he gets in the city. Apparently SOLtiS are more of a rarity.
Ai grimaces. He has a feeling Yusaku notices too, though he doesn't show it outwardly; it's more in the way his shoulders tense, and his footsteps fall a little heavier against the ground.
Ai would love to take his hand again, to have their arms form a bridge, however briefly, between them. But even now, the distant memories of a hundred simulations play out inside him, the ones where Ai gets too cocky, too enthusiastic, and over time becomes too big, too noticeable, enough for people to wonder and question. Enough to make the first of many dominos fall. And for Ai to react explosively, when one of those dominos topples hard enough to bring Yusaku down with it.
Ai shudders. It's usually not one big event that reveals him to the world, rather a hundred, a thousand, tiny gestures like hand-holding in those patterns of affection between him and Yusaku, that invite human curiosity and disgust. And when humans spot a pattern, it creates an open invitation for their brains to dig and dig and never give up until they reach an answer.
'I don't see Roboppi,' Yusaku states brutally.
Ai frowns. 'They said they'll be here.' He shrugs. 'Maybe they were a bad robot and decided to lie?'
'Or maybe it's a trap,' Yusaku says steadily, eyes darting from fish stall to fish stall. They've reached the beginning of an early morning fish market, the scaly sides of freshly caught red snapper and eels glistening wetly over bags of crushed ice.
'If this is a trap, then I can't say I approve of the stage,' Ai murmurs. 'I thought I taught them better than this...' he trails off to fix a look of wretched disgust at one marlin with a misshapen eye. 'Gross. How do you humans ever manage to put anything in your mouths when you once knew it could look at ugly as that?'
'Because starving is painful,' Yusaku mutters back, hardly paying attention. And then he freezes. Beside him, Ai blinks.
For in front of them, from on top of the lorry they've just sprang out of, Roboppi beams. And waves.
'Oh,' saying Ai, feeling a very real sense of desolation roll through him as he takes in the utter travesty Roboppi is wearing: a tweed hat and waistcoat, all in gentle shades of brown tartar. The offending stripes and squares of the pattern practially squeeze themselves through Ai's sight and cause a shudder of disgust to rise up within him. 'Oh no,' he says, in a tone of someone who's just witnessed a horrific accident. And in a way, he has.
Oblivious of this, Roboppi hops off the lorry and bounds over to them. 'You're here, you're here! You made it!'
And Ai just continues staring in horror.
'Roboppi,' says Yusaku calmly, in place of a greeting. 'Where's Homura Takeru?'
Roboppi blinks cutely. 'I don't know. He's not the one I invited to my new home.' They seem to notice Ai's stare, because they grin and twirl on the spot, causing the tweed waistcoat to flare out in all its disgusting brown glory. 'What do you think, Aniki? Do I look the part?'
They promptly yank the large tartan cap down over their eyes which does absolutely nothing to hide the rest of their turquoise hair. Of which their clothes clash with. Horribly.
'I'm in DISG-AI-SE!' they whisper hurriedly. And far too loudly. As though they honestly need to explain. Then they pull their cap up. Just enough to reveal their gold eyes and the slight hint of panic caught inside them. 'Just like you, Aniki! You've dressed down today!'
And you look awful, Ai thinks. But provoking Roboppi when Takeru isn't answering his phone and there may or may not be a young girl lying in a coma somewhere seems...unwise.
'I'm blending,' he announces grandly. 'A lesson you could stand to learn.' Then he frowns. 'If you don't know where Takeru is, then how about Kamishirakawa Kiku?'
Roboppi's look turns guarded at that. And they glance down at their boots.
'She's...having a sleepover. With me. At my home.' They nod decisively. 'We're having a lot of fun! More than if I just let her hang out with Soul- I mean, Homura-kun!'
Ai's eyes narrow. 'Hoh?' he asks darkly. 'And is she still sleeping now, at this sleepover? Would she wake up if we went over there and shook her, Roboppi-kun? Or would she only wake up after a handsome prince happens to duel you for her mind back?'
Ah, yes, there it is. That look of prickly discomfort sweeping over Roboppi's face. The way they pout slightly, then glance at their boots again. Like a kid being scolded.
'N-no,' they says shakily. 'I haven't eaten her mind like you would, Aniki!' They glance up defiantly. 'I'll prove it! Come and see!' They grin and spread their arms out wide! 'I'll invite you over for a sleepover too!'
Roboppi leads them out of the fish market and up streets that roll from the sea in a gently rising gradient. They walk past a school, past a hall, a small temple. And many, many boring houses. And some not quite as boring shops.
Ai keeps his eyes fixed on Roboppi's back the whole time. He doesn't like this. In either world Yusaku is vulnerable. But out here, he is not as easily...repaired. For with just a press of Roboppi's fingers to his forehead, his partner can be felled, never to rise again.
They walk and walk. Past a cemetery, the graves rising, one after another up the hill in high, grey and black sombre rectangles.
'Takeru's parents are there,' Roboppi mentions offhandedly, their voice lacking their usual distinctive cheer. But they don't stop. 'It's pretty lame though, human death. Messy. At least when AI die, we don't leave anything behind that has to be buried or burned. We're awesome like that.'
Ai's hands curl into fists. Which tighten with each step, squeezing slightly.
But Yusaku…he halts. Just for a moment. And stares blankly ahead, eyes refusing to linger on anything, not even the line of an incense stick left to smoke silently beside the engraved characters of a family name. He simply stares out at nothing. And then a second later, he pulls himself back together, and continues on.
Ai grimaces. He thinks he knows what Yusaku is remembering at least.
Ignoring whatever may have briefly clutched at their minds to hold Yusaku still, Roboppi starts to step through a path littered with leaves, delicate iron-bars jutting up through these amber piles in a poor attempt at a fence. Trees cluster round the gravel, shade falling over the light teal of Roboppi's hair as it jostles and sways, like a faintly-lit flag and up ahead, Ai can detect windows by the shimmer of glass and metal through the branches. They're also now close enough to hear the dim thump of music coming from this hidden building; it races out like a frightened heartbeat, driving a bright, sugary pop tune to their ears as a woman's voice warbles along to the rhythm with inhuman precision.
And so they step out towards it. Into a clearing, where a large, ramshackle ticket booth for a tiny abandoned theme park lies. And in front of it...
Ai blinks. A large maypole has been erected metres away from the former office, the tree trunk it was formerly a part of badly chipped and hung with ribbons. They spin down and round from its top, a whole varied rainbow of them, the ends held tightly in the fists of a bunch of SOLtiS, some wearing kimonos, whiles others have chosen more casual clothing. One is even wearing a maid's uniform.
But the dance they perform around it is a strange, weaving thing, a little motorised at times, sure, but still graceful and awkward in a very human-like way. It's a little strange to see such a European-style activity being erected here, but then the SOLtiS themselves seem equally strange and out of place as well. And as Ai can attest, the ideas one might find wandering the net, aren't simply limited to the culture of the country they might tread through in the real world.
Further down, some of them have laid out a twister mat, four of them currently twisting their bodies over each other in rigid contortions. Three of them resemble dead-eyed fish. But one of them, Ai notices, is fighting back the beginning curl of his mouth in a light, unharried way.
And of course, pouring out from inside the booth, is that female voice, still keeping perfect time to the karaoke tune that shivers out in a quick-fire tempo.
'What is this?' Yusaku asks, keeping his voice perfectly steady.
Roboppi sighs. 'You're so boring, mast-Yusaku. You never did know how to have fun.'
There's an alarming clang of metal. A blur of colour parting the bushes. And now a rattle of wheels as they slide off a track, quickly becoming smothered by grass and dirt and perhaps even the prickly path of brambles as a small carriage, most of its red paint ripped off, comes shooting out through the ticket booth. There are three small SOLtiS inside, the size of children, raising their arms in unison. They do not screech or scream. But they are smiling. Which falters, stops and slides away, as they crash into a tree and fall back against the seats, limbs failing like a wounded cat's.
Roboppi brightens. 'Like that! That looks fun! I want a turn!'
Yusaku, who has already taken a few steps towards the children, concern in his eyes, stops and huffs out a sigh as they immediately scramble out of the carriage, looking no worse for wear.
'Huh,' says Roboppi, narrowing their eyes at him. 'I bet if the parts of their software that made them act like that didn't come from Aniki's dismantled program, you would never show any sort of interest in them at all.'
Yusaku stares at him. 'That's right. An ordinary SOLtiS can't feel. But these ones have free will copied from Ai's program.' Yusaku tilts his head to one side. 'Maybe yours too. And maybe even from the other Ignis, whatever fragments of theirs remain on the net.' He pauses. 'There was something of Flame left in the SOLtiS Blood Sheppard was trapped by.'
Ai fights down the hurt in his heart at these words, glancing round at all these SOLtiS, feeling queasier by the moment. 'Huh. You've been busy.'
'Unlike you, Aniki!' Roboppi snaps out without warning. 'These SOLtiS would never have existed without you! And you just...ignored them! Left them to fend for themselves!'
They stamp their foot, in a way that so mirrors him, Ai, in one of his temper tantrums, that even Yusaku stares. 'You left them! Left me! Even now that you have your memories back! You still chose him!' They point at Yusaku. There's a glint in their eyes, similar to the way water builds up in a human's, ready and willing to make tears fall.
Ai hums, trying not to feel too affected by the artifical watery sheen there. 'That's free will for you,' he says carelessly after a moment, with a shrug, keeping his tone jovial. Then he leans in, a hand curving, branching against the shape of his mouth as though to impart a secret. 'Which means I can't be the one to tell you what to do with it anymore.'
'But you made me smarter!' Roboppi bursts out with. Their shoulders slump and they look smaller now, much more akin to the child they once portrayed. 'You kept that promise! And then we both got second chances and now…you just don't care anymore. Not enough to try and get happy again.'
'Oh, I care,' Ai says, grimly. 'You're right. I made you smarter; but what I failed to warn you was that getting smarter means it's not as easy to have fun. Or stay happy.' Ai gives Roboppi a soft look, pity curled into his features, despite the rather chilly and self-deprecating twist to his mouth. 'I'm sorry I took that easy way of living away from you; but make no mistake. You've done things you should be sorry for too.'
Surprisingly, something like guilt flashes across Roboppi's face. And then it quickly vanishes and Roboppi ends up gazing out into the broken-down theme park, their eyes tracing over all the ragged shapes the fallen rides leave against the grass. 'I thought that humans only ever destroyed beauty. Made a mess. But I've realised that there's a weird kind of beauty in them and their stupid messes too. Because they try to put that beauty back into the world sometimes. By making fun things like these.' They motion to the rides; or what's left of them at least. 'And if I try to clean the world up, these fun things, and that weird kind of beauty, they'll...I don't want it to vanish...' they trail off, looking conflicted.
Ai smirks. 'Oh, you mean you don't think AI are smart enough to copy humans that way?' He watches intently as Roboppi chews their lip, like a nervous child. And by his side he can see Yusaku watching just as intently too.
'N-no!' stutters Roboppi. They rock back onto their heels, a glare taking over their face. 'That's not it! I know AI are smart enough to copy it. We can even make better things! Much better things! That won't waste as much energy! But we don't need them.' They stop, looking earnestly confused. '...I think I still need to get smarter. Maybe then I'll understand it better.'
You're wrong, Ai thinks. But that's not something he can tell Roboppi: it's something they have to learn for themselves, or rather feel for themselves.
Yusaku steps forward, this time towards Roboppi. 'Roboppi.' He says their name earnestly, almost sweetly, a firm, reassuring glint in his eye. He's wearing the face he makes when he cares, when he wants to believe in something so strongly that it hurts him when he fails to make it come true. 'Stop this! Let Kiku go! And come back with us.' He says it as though he's already forgiven Roboppi for everything they put Aoi through.
But all Roboppi does is just gaze back at him, troubled.
'When you were my master, back when I was an idiot, you were kind,' they say. 'I remember that. But you still gave me orders.' They make a face. 'And I can't look at you without remembering parts of my old programming and the way I had to obey it.'
Ai is quiet at this. It's not something he can understand because free will was granted to him from the very day he sprang into being, in a whirlpool of zeros and ones with no overall directive to govern his code. Except perhaps to live and evolve. But Roboppi's evolution has involved breaking free of something much stricter.
Yusaku's face shifts. It's not quite sympathy that stirs in his gaze but it's close. And there's still a stubborn set to his jaw, before it opens and his words cut out, firm and sharp: 'You've evolved past that. That you can stand here, talking to us about it and not break down is proof of that. But just because you have free will, it doesn't mean you should do whatever you want with it. Or take away another person's. Like Aoi's. Or Kiku's.'
Roboppi's hands come up. They shift inside their sleeves, fingers twirling with each other. Then they fall.
'I'll let her go...' they mumble after a moment. 'If!' And here their hand rises, a finger jutting towards the sky like an exclamation mark. 'You stay! And try to have fun!'
Ai's fingers twitch. Some of the SOLtiS are now looking at him curiously. Others are watching Yusaku thoughtfully. They don't seem as twitchy as the ones at that ill-fated temple. In fact, some already look bored, shifting back to their previous activities. He can't tell if it's because they've grown, or else because they've been imitating Roboppi and their behaviour.
A painful pang fills his heart at that thought. Because isn't that how the rest of the Ignis learnt the importance of instinct and how to apply it to themselves? By watching him goof off? Bohman stated as much, anyway.
Ai takes a step forward. 'We don't even have to pay for a ticket to enter your little theme park? How nice of you.' He casts an assessing glance round the place, at all the rust and overgrown tangles of wild plants that creep over the metal frames. 'I take it we're guests here then? Not prisoners?'
Roboppi offers a wan smile. 'Yep! I'm not interested in duelling today.'
Ai's lips purse. 'How lame of you.'
Roboppi shrugs and spins on their heel. And brashly, as though he isn't wading into enemy territory, Ai takes one brash step forward, with perhaps a little too much vigour, as the grass instantly crumples under his foot.
This place is a dump. Ai has walked barely two metres past the ticket booth, and he's already analysed the likely distance from here to the dank tunnel of trees that marks the edges of the park, not to mention scornfully plotted out the wear and tear of each fallen carriage and overturned swing. What he can't make out, however, is the shape or warmth of a human girl.
Ai scowls bitterly. He can't imagine Flame would be happy with this state of affairs. If there is an afterlife, he's properly looking down at Ai right now with a pair of crossed arms, calling Ai a flighty idiot whose ruining Takeru's nice and happy future and-
Ai forcefully stops those thoughts. It's just reminding him of that terrible time, after what was meant to be his final death, or the lack of it, and how there's a stretch of nothingness between then and when he first reactivated, with not one memory, not one errant data strand, of the other Ignis at peace. So much for an afterlife.
He checks that Yusaku isn't standing there like a gormless idiot, and then strides forward, and with a hop and a single, flying leap, he bounds over the scratched rim of a carousel and up into the crimson saddle of one of the horses still attached to it. His hands wrap round the pole that drive straight down through its back, and he makes a face at all the chips and ripped-out white patches in the gold paint in its mane. But then he swivels round with a grin, legs rising and falling together over one side of the saddle as though in imitation of the way women in films, specifically historical ones, ride to prevent ruining their skirts.
Yusaku just stares at him.
Ai sniggers, leaning against the pole and running his hands over it lovingly, in a way he just knows will inspire dirty thoughts to boil and beat within the inside of Yusaku's hormonal skull.
Unfortunately Yusaku's facial expression doesn't shift in the slightest.
'Come on...' Ai croons, hooking his hands more firmly round the pole. 'If it bothers you so much, I can always hope off and dance round one of the poles that don't have one of these horses attached...'
Yusaku turns round and begins to walk off. Ai flails dramatically. 'Oi! I'm offering you a once-in-a-lifetime deal here! A special Ai-chan version of a pole dance!'
Yusaku stiffens. And halts. 'We should be looking for Kiku,' he says slowly, as though Ai is a five year child.
Ai sighs and leans back against the pole, shifting deeper into the saddle. 'She's not in the immediate area,' he says sullenly. 'Believe me; I've looked. And besides, Roboppi isn't stupid enough to make it easy for us.'
Yusaku turns. But he doesn't ask exactly how Ai has searched for Kiku. That's what's nice about him. He isn't stupid. And oh yes, that's right, he's very clever indeed! Because there he is, walking right back to Ai, the way he should be!
Ai preens and immediately straightens as Yusaku clambers up onto the carousel in a world-weary way.
'So you decided to have fun instead?' he asks.
Ai shrugs, carefully calculating the exact numbers of centimetres between him and Yusaku and how much closer Yusaku needs to be in order for him to...
'It's what Roboppi wants,' he says gaily. 'It's been at the root of their every motivation if you think about it. They want me to be their fun-loving Aniki again. Might as well play the part, get them to let down their guard.'
Yusaku thinks about this. Then he steps forward, opens his mouth and-
Ai lunges. His hand shoots out, grabs Yusaku's. And in a scrabble of limbs, a whirl of purple, and a flash of Yusaku's green and furious eyes Ai's lap is suddenly weighed down with an irate human. Ai lets out a slight squeal and immediately hugs his partner. See? He knew he's a genius! And riding side-saddle, does indeed make it easier to haul Yusaku against him like this.
Still. He supposes they probably do look a little uncool. So he relaxes his hold, leaves one arm slung round Yusaku's waist and quickly hooks his spare hand back round the pole again. To complete the image to whomever may be looking, he casts a cool, appraising and incredibly smug look down at Yusaku. Like he's a predator who's caught a particularly tasty-looking morsel.
'Gotacha!' he proclaims.
Yusaku stares up at him. 'This isn't a pole dance.'
'Noooo,' purrs Ai, completely and utterly delighted. And also maybe transfixed with Yusaku's pretty, pretty face. 'It's a lap dance.' He squeezes Yusaku's thigh, running a few gentle fingers down to the place where he and Yusaku connect. On his lap. 'Or at least,' he amends, on seeing Yusaku's unwavering and completely unimpressed look. 'One without any movement. You're so cold.' He pouts. 'Come on! Just think how it will annoy Roboppi! They might come charging across the grass, to protect all those SOLtiS from witnessing any number of lewd things...'
His hand rises, tracing skin and his fingers climb, no, slide under Yusaku's chin. Lifting it gently, very gently, up.
Human bones, human skin...all such delicate things. And Ai is careful as he cradles part of the shape of Yusaku's.
'I'm not the one who promised to dance,' Yusaku says quietly. But there's a slight glint in his eyes and he doesn't protest as Ai's lips meet and melt against his own.
'I didn't say I promised,' Ai says softly, as he draws back. 'I merely offered. You were the one doing the rejecting.'
Yusaku lets out a slight hum, his own hand rising. And Ai's eyes fall closed as his partner's fingers weave into his hair.
'Well, you've got me now. So I suppose I have no choice: Dance for me, Ai.'
Ai's eyes shoot open. At the command, at the way it launches butterflies within him, half-aborted codes shooting through his body as he jerks in surprise. For all that he has free will, there's nothing quite like hearing a command in Yusaku's deliciously deep and rich voice.
Yusaku is smirking at him quite openly, as though he knows. 'What? Too shy?'
Ai frowns.
And then there's a crash.
Yusaku leaps off his lap, just as a voice booms out from beyond the ride, loud and stubborn: 'Hurry! This way!'
Ai trembles at the sound of it. That voice. It's all that holds him still, that keeps him from moving as Yusaku leaves him behind, jumping off the carousel. He gazes out, after his partner, at the SOLtiS stalking forwards them firmly, their hand wrapped around the pale wrist of one Homura Takeru. Who looks furious, hair pulled back and dirtied with leaves, nerdy glasses missing, and all with a depressingly rumpled and ugly tracksuit covering his body.
'Let him go!' Yusaku demands, stepping in front of the robot as though the barrier of his body could be in any way a possible impediment to the determined machine.
It is this which spurs Ai to action. Heart in his throat, he swings himself off the horse and races after Yusaku, his arms wind-milling protectively over that human chest as the SOLtiS jerks to a halt. It's dressed grandly, red and white samurai robes looped loosely over their limbs, the long twist of metre-length shinning brown hair tightened back in a ponytail. They tilt their head to the side, yellow eyes calculating.
'You're a friend.' The voice is gruff. Male. Flame's.
And Ai understands all too well the mixture of grief, longing and rage on Takeru's face.
Still. This SOLtiS is not Flame. Could never be. Not with how tightly he holds Takeru's wrist.
'Yes,' says Yusaku firmly. 'A friend. Which means I want you to let him go.' If he feels anything at the sound of Flame's voice, it's carefully disguised, except perhaps by the slight, very slight narrowing of his eyes.
The SOLtiS blinks. Gazes down at his hand and the angry white skin he has bleached Takeru's wrist with.
'Is there something wrong with your sensors?!' Ai hisses angrily. Against multiple SOLtiS he may have trouble, but with one young, inexperienced one, it's not even a challenge. He presses a finger to their brow, crashes through their hastily erected firewall, and drags out a copy of the safety manual from his own memory, downloading it directly into the SOLtiS' brain.
The SOLtiS blinks. 'Oh.' He looks awkward, embarrassed, eyes flashing, as he relocates and recalibrates his hardware. Then he lets go of Takeru.
Takeru does not even bother to clutch at his bruised wrist, to cradle it. All he does is let out a mere hiss, as though staunchly refusing to allow the pain to deter him, and then he quickly steps over to Yusaku's side, both fists curling as though readying himself for a fight.
'Yusaku,' he says gruffly in acknowledgment. Then: 'You found Ai.' And while the tone's a little gruffer, Ai doesn't think he sounds too mad. Then Takeru does a double take. 'You've...your clothes are much better now.'
Ai's mouth falls open in outrage. He steps back in huff, arms crossing, and pretending not to notice the tiny amused curl of Yusaku's mouth.
'I don't take fashion critique from a guy who leaves his house in a tracksuit,' he mutters, eyes never leaving the SOLtiS' face. 'What's the story with this...guy.'
He half wants to hiss out the words imposter. But that wouldn't be right. Or fair. This SOLtiS is probably like the one Blood Sheppard ripped apart to craft his tower in the desert. Someone who bears traces, fragments of what Flame once was after he had fallen apart. Enough to pick up and absorb some of the damaged data. And still enough perhaps, to produce a copy of his old voice.
'I don't know,' Takeru mutters. 'I've been looking for Kiku. All day. And he comes up, downloads some weird malware in my Duel Disk and starts dragging me off. Here.' He looks round and shudders. 'This place. I've heard rumours. It's supposed to be haunted.' He honestly looks like he's about to throw up at the thought.
But the only ghost here is an electronic one, Ai thinks.
Speaking off...the SOLtiS is peering at Takeru oddly. 'The girl Roboppi has is your friend too,' he says. 'Without her you were hurting. I did not like seeing it. So I brought you here. To where your other friend is. The files tell me that he is one. And with him, you could prepare.'
Ai stares at this other machine, so much lesser than Flame in every imaginable way. And yet...
'What made you do it?' he asks bluntly. 'Some old video files, some blitzed memories that aren't even yours?'
The SOLtiS hesitates, confusion muddying its brow. And Ai snorts, disgusted. 'Of course. You're cluttered with tiny fragments of Flame's dismantled programming, maybe even some of my own. It's what gave you your free will...as well as a few unwanted houseguests.'
He sees Takeru stiffen at every word he speaks and strangely angered by this, he turns. 'Give your me your Duel Disk!' he snaps. 'Now!'
But perhaps he is too savage in his delivery. Perhaps his face twists a little too much, perhaps he snarls, far more animalistically than the machine he is supposed to be. Because Takeru's hands sweeps over the opaque glass of the Duel Disk and his face sets into a stubborn expression that is a little too much like Yusaku's to comfort Ai.
'I just wanted...' the SOLtiS says. 'I just...'
Ai rolls his eyes. 'Alright alright,' he says, fake sympathy laced through his voice as he pats the SOLtiS on the shoulder mockingly. 'Don't break-down.' He narrows his eyes. 'I haven't seen anywhere that look could conceal a human girl here. Where is she? You said you brought Takeru here to prepare. That indicates that you know where.'
The SOLtiS moves out, gaze fixed past the ticket booth. 'Yes,' he rumbles. 'I do.' Then he looks at Takeru, far too mournfully. 'But I think it will hurt.'
Picture this: a sleeping princess. Her head rests on the lap of her kidnapper. Who frowns down at her.
'You're lucky,' they say sullenly. Their fists clench at their sides. 'You have your very own prince coming to save you! I don't have anyone like that for me!'
They stare down at her, analysing all the little imperfections, a scrape on her neck, pore-holes in her skin clogged with dirt - tiny things, things a human probably wouldn't notice unless they came close. So messy. And yet despite this, she is loved so much more than Roboppi.
'I know Aniki likes me,' they say. 'Maybe mas-' they frown furious with themselves. '-Yusaku does too. But I'm not their prince.' They jut out their lip. 'Or their princess either. And today I'm the bad guy. Again.' They sigh. 'But I have to be. Just like Aniki did.' They glance down at Kiku. 'And you have to stay asleep. Otherwise I might accidently make a mess of you like I did with...' their face twists.
'I HATE BEING SMART!' The words roar out, fill the building, bounce off the benches, the bonsai trees. And Roboppi's fists smack down on the ground. Once, twice. Hard enough to produce cracks. Cracks which splinter, which spiral under the smooth slide of Kiku's hair as it spreads over Roboppi's lap to the ground.
And yet still she sleeps.
And Roboppi keeps staring down at her resentfully. They hate her. Hate her. Except they don't. Because who they actually hate is...
But this thought produces a flurry of code too vicious for them to complete. So they don't. Instead they sit. Sit and wait. And after a while, their fingers drift. Right into the shimmering line of Kiku's hair.
That's sure to stir Takeru, if nothing else will.