Translator

AN: Tsukomi: the straight man of a comedic duo (the other is the silly fella)

Rebellio C support/Mission Briefing:

- C- support

The sun was shining bright the next day, though it did nothing to warm the air and worst, it was in that one special angle where it directly shined into one's eyes through the window and awoke them.

Was so, if Rebellio wasn't already awake. Prison life had made him an early riser and the force of habit had him stand up as usual, only to feel an immense sting in his torso from moving too quickly. He bit through the pain however, not minding the bandages on him now that bars on the windows weren't the first thing he would see every day. Nor was his room in full exposure of whoever would walk around the corner of a long corridor. Falcon or not, Sumeragi was not one to spoil him.

Then again, he had been quick to betray them, or did he not? He had fought until he physically couldn't anymore so…maybe a bit of both? Still, a traitor's a traitor is what they would say.

Not that he regrets it. A cold autumn wind greets his face as he opens the window and pokes his out to see his surroundings. Abandoned buildings covered partly in plant-life, broken roads in whose shadows the occasional critter can be seen passing through. The slums weren't as messy as he expected, if anything, and especially with the morning, it felt cozier and warmer than the city.

Not that he remembered much of it, only a fleeting memory at the most, still, even at this level, he could see the sky scrapers poking out of the grand wall lying further ahead that separated both sections. Part of him wonders whether even more of it can be seen during the night, the city turning a hue of dominant blue, reminding those outside of it of its presence and elusiveness.

He was being awfully philosophic at the moment, wasn't he?

He was, so Rebellio shook his head, opened the door and moved to where he remembered being the living room of the place. He was rather peckish, still, he'd sit there politely and wait for someone else to awake for to just waltz to the kitchen and chow down on whatever would be impolite.

He didn't have to wait long, or at all, for someone else was already there.

Namely, the Luminouis Avenger iX. Seated on a table, looking no different than yesterday with some white tablet (a red X icon at the back of it) taking all of his attention until he entered.

"Good morning." iX said before turning his gaze back to his device.

"Ohh? And what about this morning is so good?" Rebellio asked back, tone instinctively said in that 'innocent' (who? Me?) that always got on the temper of his keepers. Until he caught himself, "Ah, that is to say...what isn't good about this morning? I've never felt more the joy of being alive."

"Good for you." iX straightly replied, eyes still on his device and that is how the conversation died. Or so it would have been had he not soon after put down the device and looked at Rebellio proper.

"If you're hungry," iX continued, one finger pointed at a door behind him. "Feel free to take whatever hasn't been tagged by a name or is boxed down." then he pointed at the big cup of water beside him alongside the smaller glasses. "Don't forget to drink proper water and once you're done, take a seat next to me. I'm in need of a conversation with you." And oh, if those sentences right after one another didn't out him as someone living with children, Rebellio would have figured it out still because he had met said children the day before. So he just nods back and does as told.

The meal he decided on was a simple peanut butter and jelly on bread kind of combo. The baguette he used was a bit harder than he liked. But the house itself made it plainly clear he should be happy that the roof hasn't collapsed on him and that the fridge is working in the first place. Not that he was complaining, his new abode would have been a coffin or a crematory if it wasn't for iX.

And he was nothing but grateful for that! But, to see Sumeragi's boogeyman live as basically a squatter among a bunch of orphans. That is a strange sight. Humanizing if he wanted to be positive?

He swallowed the last bite from his meal, picked up his plate and properly washed it (he would not be a slobby guest) and finally sat beside iX as instructed. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Is this your family?" iX turned the tablet's screen his way and Rebellio impulsively snatched it to get a closer look at the showcased image because they were! "...I'll take that as a yes."

"How did you get this?" the image was old, so old even he was in it. It was a picture of him, his parents and sibling posing together in front of a park. Some mud's on his pants because his siblings played hard but the smile he showed was painfully real and made his chest feel compressed.

"Just looked up your name," iX said, before instructing him to tap to another tab, which showed a wiki entry about him. "Turns out they make documentaries about the falcons. Mostly false info on your end, but more importantly, read the highlighted part over there…"

It's the family part of his page, as expected, within it lies the full names of them and some details like the name of his mother's store and his father's uneventful career. But more important are the massive letters saying MISSING on them and how they haven't been seen since he got recruited.

"They're not dead." Rebellio instinctively said, before iX can say anything. "They wouldn't be able to be used as hostages for my cooperation then. Clearly, they are being kept somewhere secret."

"I wasn't going to imply anything else." iX agreed and that made some of the instant tension on his shoulders leave. Still, he kept attentive at iX's words. "But we'll have to do some on-site digging."

"Why?"

"Because, that's all the relevant information about them. 'They were a happy family, but the moment their son qualified as a Falcon, they dissapeared overnight. Most likely taken by Sumeragi's enemies.' That's not something that can be worked with. We need a solid trail and so…"

"So?"

If the dramatic pause was on purpose, iX showed no sign of it. "It's time to revisit home."

A wave of something hit over Rebellio, something he'd realize later was amazement, but now he replied with eyes wide. "I'm sorry, but, are you sure that's wise? It's in the middle of the city, a city, which if things haven't changed too much since I last saw it. Is filled to the brim with your enemies. And you want to play detective in my childhood home? Isn't there some better way to do this?"

"There could be, given time." iX replied, face and tone betraying nothing as usual, until he lifted the veil a bit by softening his voice. "While awaiting that moment, I could try to hack your 'contract' further than simply bricking it. Letting you use your Armed Form against Sumeragi. I could even have you help make a more advanced Ex-weapon from your Septima. However…"

"In the meantime, there might always be that anxiety of 'when will my family be rescued' or 'am I just being used again?' and I'd rather not deal with that. Also I don't break the promises I make…"

"So, let's track down and save your family as soon as possible. What do you say, Rebellio?"

"iX…" what else could he say to that? Rebellio's answer was clear. "You're...far more hotheaded than I expected a guy like you to be. You just surprise me at every turn! But my answer's no."

A raised eyebrow. That might be iX's version of a wide eyed 'what' Rebellio learned.

He also continued, because he had to, there's no just turning around and leaving the room like they had talked about the weather. As much as the cynical and wry humorous part of Rebellio would have found that hilarious in it's impropriety. So Rebellio made his point about why 'no'.

"Of course I want to save my family as soon as I can. I'm really happy you kept that point in mind. But I can't have you entering the lion's den on what you hope could be a clue that isn't worth it-"

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," iX interrupted, then again, who else could it have been. "But I'd like to add in, that there are several cameras in the periphery of said home and I hope that by retrieving the footage of the day your family 'vanished', we'll gain far more valuable info than just a clue."

"Well, when you say it like that. You sound like the kind of guy that can't be swayed." Rebellio belatedly noted. "And in that case, I guess I have no choice of tagging along for your safety."

"Should I thank you then? For wanting to tag along to save your own family for my sake?"

"I suppose you could, but I won't force you. After all, you do seem a shy sort of person."

Dead silence. Rebellio's face betrayed nothing. He wouldn't let it, his experience in getting at the nerves of other people made him a master of the couldn't-harm-a-fly poker face. In turn, iX looked at him with the same stoic expression as ever. Rebellio would get more patterns from a coffee grind.

"In that case." iX finally killed the silence. Good riddance, it was a wife beater. "Thank you for helping me save your family."

"iX, you…" Rebellio replied once he suppressed the urge to burst laughing. "Make a fine tsukommi."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." iX lied, or so Rebellio suspected. He could be genuine from the way he's been acting so far. But that only makes the former option even more appealing.

"I think you do, but fine. Let's have our little adventure today. But before that, I think I'd like to do what it is you said about my Armed Form in case things do go wrong. Better safe than sorry."

"...You think that's something I could figure out within a single day?"

"Well, you saved me in a single day so I have the utmost faith in you!"

A slight twitch appeared then. Was that iX's jaw clenching? Rebellio thinks it is. Had he finally hit a nerve or caused a crack in his armor? He was morbidly interested to see what next came out.

"I'll do my best." His voice was still the same, what a shame. "In the meantime you are free to do whatever you want. You won't be bothered until 11 I believe, the kids sleep out on saturdays."

"What about the muse of hope?"

"Didn't I just mention her?"

Did he? Rebellio's pretty sure that he didn't. "If so, I don't recall."

"I just said that you'll be on your own until 11."

Ah, so that's what he had meant.

"You are a tsukkomi, iX." Rebellio calmly declared. Everything pointed towards that now.

"Again, I don't know what that means."

"Whatever you say." Oh, Rebellio was going to have fun cracking past that facade one day.

Copen and Rebellio have reached C-support.

That's it for now, since I'm rather busy during weekdays.

Also just to say it beforehand, I'm just using the support convo thing as a gimmick. So if I want to, it won't just be B and A aka only 3 talks before being best pals. Maybe I should call them C+ and so forth talks then? Who knows. Either way, next time comes the mission and afterward onto the next Falcon. The fact iX doesn't do S supports should be obvious, there's only one clear romantic pair anyway and their names start with an S and a D respectively.