Exception

By: Aviantei

59. Robot Fight Club Rhapsody

What followed between the Komlins of the third and fourth variety was a beautiful and compelling monologue about philosophy, the meaning of life, and friendship. So compelling it was that Sir Komlin IV, who had been going on a rampage right beforehand, instead placed down Komui and Reever, broke down into the robot equivalent of tears, and apologized before willingly going back to the Lee family car to put himself into sleep mode while reflecting on his actions.

Of course, since Sir Komlin III wasn't equipped with anything like a voice synthesizer, to the non-robots in the vicinity, they just seemed to release a long deluge of beeps and whistles before Sir Komlin IV made his emotional exit, so it didn't quite have the same effect to the onlookers, but the end result was that the incident was over and Robot Fight Club ended with the least amount of property damage that it ever had in recent years, so Reever was inclined to call that a victory as he dragged an emotional Komui ("It's just so beautiful, Reever!" "I don't even want to know what you're on about.") off to start his annual letter of apology for his sins, while Fo retreated with every intention of dragging Bak Chang, lightweight as he was, off to a bar as soon as possible.

And now outside the event hall, Lavi and Tyki had managed to escape from the chaos with minimal bruising from bumping into other audience members. Both were out of breath, though smiles adorned both their faces, and Lavi had taken a much more dramatic stance of supporting himself on his own knees.

"I can't tell," he said between breaths, "if that was the worst date ever or the best."

Tyki hummed in amusement, going to pull out a cigarette now that they were no longer tucked inside a building with obligatory no smoking rules. "Well, most people consider it a good date if they had fun, Red. Did you?"

Lavi grinned in all his unstoppable rabbit glory. "Of course."

"Me, too. So I'm willing to call it a success." Tyki took a long drag from his cigarette, the nicotine hitting him just right. He was at least considerate enough not to blow the smoke right into Lavi's face at least, though that inevitably meant some other poor sucker in the crowd got the brunt of it. Tyki couldn't quite say that he felt sorry about that one. "Though we probably don't wanna hang around here too much longer. I don't necessarily wanna keep you a secret or anything, but it would be a shame to break up the mood with someone else showing up and starting drama, don't you think?"

"Yeah, you've got a fair point." Well, Lenalee already knew what was going on, sure, but who knew what any of Tyki's fellow Noah would end up thinking. Plus, now that Lavi had gotten some time with just him and Tyki in his grasp, he didn't quite feel like letting go just yet. "Call me forward, but I don't think I wanna split off just yet."

Even in his messier getup, Tyki's smile was sexy to the point that Lavi was struck with the urge to avert his eye, though he stayed strong. "You just about read my mind, there. The night is still young, after all."

Lavi gestured to the sky, which was still a shade of bright afternoon blue. "The night hasn't even started, you know."

"Case in point. I'm pretty sure most people would consider unborn to be pretty damn young, eh?" Lavi held up his hands to suggest that he'd seceded the argument. "Hm, you ended up winning our bet, too, so I guess that would be my job to pick out what we're getting up to. Let's see…how are you at playing cards there, Red?"

Lavi considered. "I mean, I know the rules to a ton of games, and I've played most of them." He and Ari had spent an entire summer just looking up new games and trying them out, sometimes playing with multiple different hands a piece whenever the two of them weren't enough. "So pretty decent, but not like a pro or anything."

"Perfect. That's more than enough." Already having smoked his cigarette down to the butt, Tyki stomped it out with his heel and scooped up the trash to toss away upon crossing paths with the nearest wastebin. "If you're still feeling lucky, you could even try to win a few more dates out of me—though I'll warn you that if there's something I want on the line, I'm more than willing to play dirty to get it."

"Oh yeah?" Just like before, Lavi had the distinct impression that he and Tyki wanted just about the same thing. "In that case, don't come complaining to me if you outright lose."

And with Lavi's skill of being able to wink while still wearing an eyepatch, their plans for the remainder of the day were set.

As expected, the cleanup for Robot Fight Club took quite a while. The whole ordeal was supposed to be a joint effort between both schools, but due to Komui's flamboyancy, Black Order High was asked to take on the entire role, to which nobody could protest. Sure, Fo had plenty of grumblings to vent under her breath, but Johnny and the others of the main branch's science club had long accepted they'd be responsible for such a thing, so to work they'd gotten. A few hours later, everything they were capable of taking care of was handled, the rest of the property damage was left to have contractors called in, and Lenalee had been positively beaming that the estimated costs were coverable by the entirety of the fundraising team's efforts, which was the first year such a thing had ever happened since Komui had become BOHS's science teacher. Combine that with the enthusiasm that came from Lo Hwa's victory, the after party—hosted back at Black Order High's gymnasium itself—was a pretty energetic affair.

Only the gods knew when she'd pulled it off, but Ari had organized the party, using the leftover stock of their fundraising team and a bit of their profits to supply the food and drinks. Johnny had also helped, what with having 65 volunteer their speaker system to play the Bookman siblings' shared "Party Vibes" playlist, and the tables had been snuck out of some supply closet that Reever chose to turn a blind eye to so long as everything ended up where it was supposed to be.

"Nothing really beats a long day's good work," Lenalee said, taking a long drink from her canned lemonade and observing everyone else intermingling from her seat midway up the bleachers. Science club members and fundraising team participants were chatting, some talking in depth about what they'd learned when programming their projects; a gaggle had formed around Lo Hwa of people excitedly checking out her still surviving robot; and a handful of people had formed an impromptu dance floor to celebrate to the fullest. "Our school won Robot Fight Club, I'm pretty sure we crushed the Noah's team in terms of fundraising numbers, and nobody suffered any broken bones! I'd call this year a success."

"You said it," Ari said, offering her own can of Sprite in a toast. The two clinked drinks, both looking exceptionally satisfied. "You did a great job at keeping everything together today, Lena. Color me impressed."

Lenalee waved a hand, feeling embarrassed. "No, no, I didn't do too much. I mean, without you running numbers for us, I wouldn't have been able to make the right calls, plus everyone on our team put in the hard work. This was a team effort."

"You don't have to act all modest with me. Good team members can't do shit without a good leader." Lenalee, despite herself, blushed, and it wasn't just for show. Noticing, Ari gave her a good hearted jab in the side with her elbow. "Of course, I did amazing, too, but I was stuck in the back most of the time. Give yourself some credit there, girl. We wouldn't have done this without you."

"Haha, I'll try." Ari raised an eyebrow that said plenty on its own, and Lenalee realized that those couple of little words were more than enough for the super smart redhead to put some pieces together. "I guess…I'm just kind of used to acting like things aren't a big deal? I don't know if that's 'cause Nī-san always blows stuff out of proportion, and I try to play it down, but it's kinda habit by now."

Ari, who also had an older brother who'd once doted on her immensely (he still secretly did, but just in a much more subdued way than Komui, so you know), nodded. Even if she didn't have the exact same experience, she could understand enough based on what Lenalee was saying. "I mean, yeah, I get it. Komui-san is super like that. But even if he's a bit much, it doesn't change the fact that you're a total girlboss, so own it. If you don't, I'll make you own it, and then no one's going to be happy."

A splutter of laughter escaped Lenalee before she could stop it. "What? How do you even make someone do that?"

Completely unperturbed, Ari kept a straight face as she slapped a hand to her chest. "Trust me, Lena-san. I have my ways. But they're also forbidden techniques that the world would be better off not taking the risk of exposure to, but you're my friend, so I'm willing to go that far if need be." Lenalee hid her resulting giggles behind a hand, but Ari still noticed them, which was what she'd been aiming for all along. "Of course, if you figure it out before I have to take desperate measures, it'll be fine. If anyone deserves to be confident, it's you. Right, Allen-san?"

Allen, just arriving with his obligatory massive pile of food and snacks, nodded. "I mean, I missed most of the conversation, but that sounds about right," he said, depositing his food stash on a bleacher sit and then sitting beside it. Within seconds, he'd cracked open a bag of chips and had gotten to munching with enthusiasm. "You're really cool, Lenalee. I don't think there's anything wrong with feeling confident when you did a good job."

Boxed in by compliments, Lenalee's face turned a deeper shade of red, and Ari grinned. "See? Even Allen-san thinks so," she said, knowing exactly what she was doing.

"That's an unfair attack and you know it, Ari!" Lenalee said, playfully flicking at the other girl's forehead. Ari retaliated the best way she knew how: an unrelenting assault of tickles that she'd used to achieve victory over Lavi time and time again. Lenalee was no match, and soon she was nothing more than a puddle of happy laughter. "But, really, thanks, you two. People just assume I have it all together, so they don't say stuff to me like that often. I super appreciate it."

Allen and Ari exchanged another look, the entire trio feeling at perfect peace in that moment. "Anytime, Lenalee."

"Yup! We've got your back, Lena-san. That's what friends do." Lenalee's own smile was gorgeous in response, which should've been mission success. But Ari wasn't the type to leave things at just the bare minimum, and she hopped up from her tickle-attack-turned-hug, clasping Lenalee's hands in her own. "Now, let's celebrate! I've been antsy from sitting in one place all day, so I wanna dance, and it's way more fun with friends, so come with! You wanna join in, Allen-san?" The Brit glanced at the pile of food he'd just secured, which said it all. "No, wait, silly question. You can join us whenever you're done, then!"

Allen's nervous laughter was adorable, so everyone pretty much won in that scenario. "Sorry. I promise I won't take long." His eating speeds were unmatched by the rest of the school after all, and probably even unmatched by the entire city.

"Not a problem! Ooh, ohh, this song is my jam! Let's go, let's go—"

Swept up in the moment, Lenalee laughed but followed along without stumbling once as she was dragged along in Ari's haphazard descent down the bleachers. "I'm coming, I'm coming, don't worry—"

Yup, Allen thought, seeing everyone having fun is what I like about being here the best.

And that, after the long day they'd just had, was more than enough.

Whereas the participants of the Robot Fight Club were done for the day, there was one person whose job was just beginning.

It was safe to say that Sachiko was tired, though that was par for the course by now. It wasn't anything like a long-drawn out exhaustion, but she'd been juggling so many balls for such a long time that it felt like second nature. And her job at Millennial as a waitress for rich customers with way too ridiculous high standards wasn't even the full extent of it. Because even though it had been her day off from that job, she had a whole other job to take care of.

"You're later than I expected," said Cross Marian, looking right at home at the table in the bar he'd chosen to camp out in for the night. Though there was evidence on the table that he'd ordered some food, there as even more evidence that the amount of drink he'd ordered was more than that. And yet his voice spoke with an impressive amount of clarity that Sachiko could never figure out how he pulled off whenever most other people would have been sloshed at a third of what he'd drank, never mind the rest.

Of course, solving that mystery wasn't anywhere near as important as what she was doing now, so Sachiko reorganized her priorities and took a seat.

"I was lucky and the Chairman didn't go home right away after the event, so I was able to keep an eye on him for a while longer," she said, relaxing into the plush booth. Being on vigil for so long was draining, and she was going to pass out so hard whenever she got home. "I mean, he didn't do much but take out one of his Noah kids for tea, but I still managed to pick up a couple more pieces of info, so it wasn't a bust." Hell, managing that much was a rare break; most of the time, Sachiko overheard nothing but petty gossip, so hearing something worthwhile was a nice change of pace.

Cross, while interested, always made a point of not letting a single ounce of his interest show on his face, so he took his time enjoying the sip of his latest glass of wine. "And?"

"The Chairman seems to be planning to invite Allen Walker to Millennium Private soon." It was hard to hear in the din of the bar, but Sachiko was pretty damn sure that Cross had just clicked his tongue. She knew better than to comment on it, though. "He doesn't seem bothered by the fact that a transfer at this time in the year would be awkward, either."

"Of course he doesn't. He's always been like that." Cross let out a sigh. "I should've made the brat stay with me instead of letting him hang around here. Would've been way less of a mess that I'd have to clean up." The remaining half a glass of wine went down in a show of displeasure for the situation, and Cross poured himself another. "Well, we can't stop him from putting in the transfer request, but that doesn't mean we have to let him get away with it."

Some people might have taken that as a sign of concern for Allen's wellbeing. Some people might've even been inclined to think that Cross Marian wasn't anywhere near as much of a bastard as he made himself out to be.

Some people might've also been dumbasses, but that wasn't really any of Sachiko's business, now was it?

"I'll keep an eye out for whatever news I can get," Sachiko said, because that was her job after all. MPHS's Chairman regularly dined at Millennium, after all, so she was able to get a general idea of his projects from there. "Now, are you gonna pay me, or what?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll send it now." Cross dug into his pockets for his phone, taking a little bit to complete the money transfer. Sachiko checked her own phone, confirmed the amounts, and went to stand up. "What? You don't feel like hanging around for a drink?"

"And have to put up with dragging your ass home? You're on your own." Cross shrugged it off, unbothered by the retort. Now that the business portion of his evening was done, there were plenty of drinks and plenty of people to enjoy, all the way down to the last drop. "Try not to go home too wasted? That kid of yours is gonna have to put up with enough these next few months without also having to deal with your drunk ass."

Cross snorted, already halfway through wine glass number who-the-fuck-even-knows. "What I do in my own house is none of your business, Sachi."

If you really thought that, I wouldn't be doing your dirty work, Sachiko thought, but didn't say. Not whenever a date with her own bed was so close at hand.

That being said, a little bit of wine once she got there didn't sound so bad, after all.

[Author's Notes]

Y'all, I dunno how I survived to vacation, but I'm off work now and I feel like I wanna sleep forever.

That said: we've made it through the major beats of Robot Fight Club! This was a silly arc idea I had in back in the early days of this fic (which is...a terrifying number of years ago...), so it was fun to just go wild and write something silly.

Somehow, next week is this fic's anniversary again, which is kind of wild imo. As such, I'll be updating with our next falling action/transition chapter then.

Next Time: "60. Gossip is Good for the Soul." Please look forward to it!

-Avi

[16 December 2023]