Ai soon found herself waking up upon hearing the noises of her cell phone going off and it was far away from her that she couldn't just slam the snooze button or whatever. So, she ended up groaning in pain, as she slowly lifted herself off the couch that she was sharing with Ruby and soon reached for her phone and answered it. "Hello?" She mumbled sleepily as she pressed it on.
"Ai! Are you okay?" A frantic female voice spoke up that Ai recognized as Nino's voice. "We heard that something happened to you from the president, forcing you to go into hiding for your own safety." She said in worry.
"Ah Nino." Ai said as she adjusted her position to talk better. "You're right about that, I had a bad run in with one of my more…devoted fans and thanks to a friend, I'm alright and now hiding out until the incident dies down." She explained to Nino, who let out a breath of relief. "You were that worried about me?" Ai said in a cheerful tone to help cut down the tension.
"Of course I am!" She snapped at Ai, causing her to pause as her eyes widened. "It's true that I dislike you, especially after you usurped my position as the Center of B-Komachi but…I don't hate you enough to want you dead." She said to Ai as her breath left her throat at that. "As much as I dislike you for being the center of attention…we're still friends to an extent." She said softly.
"…Nino." Ai said as her eyes got a bit watery and she sniffled a bit as she wiped them away. "Thank you so much." She said warmly and genuinely to her. The fact that Nino did yell that she hated her did hurt her…but to know that she still considered her a friend released a certain type of anxiety that she's been carrying on her head. "I think of you as my friend too." She admitted to her.
"Ai." Nino said, touched, before she remembered something. "Wait a moment, you're saying that a friend helped you? But I don't remember hearing about this from Watanabe or Takamine and…oh I get it now~" Nino's voice started confused before it became something became apparent now. And right now…Ai was finding the current tone that Nino had to be a bit scary and nerve-wreaking.
"What do you mean by that?" Ai, though her voice took on a bit of an uncharacteristic nervous tone to them. "It's like I said, Nino, I got helped out by a friend is all." She said as confidentially as she could to Nino, who simply giggled at her words. "I'm being serious!" She said as she pouted a bit at Nino seemingly not believing her.
"Right Ai, right." Nino said with snicker. "And this friend, he wouldn't haven be a relatively tall Western guy you've been hanging out with for quite some time ever since you started stalking him~?" She teased as Ai's face turned red as she choked on her spit. "That's what I thought!" Nino said in triumph, which by that logic means you're at his place." She then pointed out before she let out a mock gasp. "Oh my, imagine the scandal from this Ai~" Nino teased.
"It's nothing at all like that!" Ai said in embarrassment. "Markus was helping me out and because of how things went down, it was deemed safer for me to go with him into his home then go back home alone with potential stalkers." She said quickly as she felt her face go red at the insinuation from what Nino said.
"Oh, is that so?" Nino hummed thoughtfully. "If that's the case, then you don't mind if I try my luck with your friend Markus?" She asked as Ai felt her heart stop for a moment and felt something constraining her throat at that as she choked out an answer as Nino giggled. "He's not a bad choice in a partner, he strikes me as having his head screwed on straight, even if he doesn't like our line of work. And he also strikes me as being very capable in many situations."
"No! You can't!" Ai retorted suddenly and very quickly the moment her voice began to work. "You would ruin your contract as an Idol and the likes. Markus would be dragged into far too much attention and would have his social life ostracized for this!" Ai said quickly, though the idea of Markus being with Nino and not…herself was something that made her heart feel very painful to her.
Nino was silent for a moment and then when she spoke, there was a note of triumph in it. "So, your feelings start to come on out Ai." Nino said with a pleased tone, that confused Ai to no end. "You actually love Markus, don't you?" She said softly to her as Ai once again was left in stunned silence at what Nino said. "Or at the very least you developed feelings for him during the time you spent together." Nino deduced.
"I…I don't know what you mean." Ai said weakly but she hadn't realized until recently but Markus started to mean more to her than she initially expected. At first, he was like an interesting sideshow, but then she became fascinated with his idea of what love means to him and desired that knowledge for herself. And then they started to spend time together and it was safe to say…Markus was truly fun to spend time with. "Markus and I are just friends, Nino."
"Oh, that's nonsense." Nino retorted in an instant with such confidence that she ended up silencing Ai. "If that was the case then you wouldn't have reacted as you did when I suggested that I end up dating Markus, face it Ai, you actually feel something that's obviously about friendship with Markus, and you clearly value that bond you have that you wanted to have him to yourself." Nino pointed out to Ai.
"…Does it really look like that?" Ai asked with a hint of vulnerability that Nino was surprised to hear it considering how far and well she knew Ai. "Are you saying that I am somehow…falling in love with Markus or seemingly in love with him already?" She asked Nino.
"…Ai, how do you feel about the idea if Markus was to find love or be in a committed relationship with someone else?" Nino asked carefully as Ai felt her heart tighten a bit at the thought. "Depending on how you answer my question I might be able to give you an answer to your dilemma." She said carefully.
"I…I feel like my heart is constraining against my chest." Ai started off. "I feel a shortness of breath, and there's this…feeling that I want to just cry at the thought of Markus ending up with someone else." Ai said. "Why am I feeling like this Nino? I never felt anything like this before, so why am I feeling this?" She asked as desperation slowly permeates her voice.
"Ai." Nino spoke up calmly and kindly. "I believe you are in the throes of what they call love." She said as Ai's breath hitched at that. She…didn't know what to think or feel about that, she's been searching for what love really is that now that she apparently reached the end goal of what romantic love is, she didn't know where to go from there. "Is something the matter Ai?" Nino asked her.
"Ah it's nothing wrong Nino." Ai answered quickly, thoroughly thankful that Nino wasn't there to see her in person as she would have seen how utterly uncomfortable Ai would have looked. "Just…surprised that I am apparently falling for Markus, despite not knowing him as well as you, Takamine, and Watanabe all things considered." She said quickly as an answer.
"Well, you know what they say Ai, we don't exactly have a choice on who we fall in love with, it is what our hearts want." Nino said wisely and calmly. "Besides, it's not as if you can pursue him right now either." She pointed out as Ai winced at that. "You're an Idol, which means you're bound by legal obligations and contracts to not have a relationship with anyone, especially since you're the Center of our Idol group." Nino reminded her.
"I know that." Ai said calmly. "I just didn't expect to be find myself falling for him is all." Ai said as she never thought that she was actually going to fall in love with Markus. Markus was originally a means for her to feel loved before she got very curious about what he believes love encompasses in general. And that made him a target of fascination and curiosity for Ai to learn from.
"Well at least you now know you like him, so you can make your plans or moves going forward." Nino pointed out to Ai, who nodded at that. "Speaking of, where's Markus? You're staying at his place, right? So where is he?" Nino asked in curiosity.
"Oh, he somehow ended up saving some students from another academy." Ai started off, eager to get off this topic so she can think about it more privately to herself later. "Then the students wanted to thank him for saving them. But Markus refused to do so as he was acting the Good Samaritan, and then another student came up with their younger sibling and against all odds, The sibling bonded well with Markus that he ended up being her babysitter right about now." Ai explained, as she was honestly kind of surprised by how it all happened to begin with.
"Okay so that's a bit of a surprise I must admit." Nino started off before she gained a teasing tone in her voice. "So, he's good with kids huh~?" I suppose that's good for your potential future relationship if you wanted to get into a serious relationship and have a few darling babies with him, Ai~" Nino said teasingly.
Ai's face turned bright red and she started stammering at that, trying to find a response to that, as well as trying to ignore the extremely vivid and lewd images in her mind of Markus and herself doing…that "Nino!" Ai shrieked as Nino laughed in good nature as she tried to deny her accusations.
"So, Frill" Markus said as he was still at the academy as he somehow ended up being her temporary babysitter, do you want to talk about something, anything, or no?" Markus asked as he was lucky that while some of the students like Kaguya had to go due to other matters like archery club and the likes, she still left Markus and Frill with her maid to help them out. And for the most part they've just been enjoying the silence to themselves as neither were really exactly talkative.
"Depends on what you want to talk about." Frill said casually as she and Markus were drinking some hot chocolate that Ai Hayasaka prepared along with some pastries that she and Markus were currently enjoying right now. "There's plenty of topics that we can talk about, as well as many other interesting subjects to learn about." She said to Markus.
"Well, you certainly know a lot of advanced words for a kind your age, so you're a pretty smart lass." Markus started off with some praise of her intellect, which made Frill shyly look down as she nibbled on her doughnut. "That's not a bad thing you know, being smart and clever means your future looks pretty bright." Markus said earnestly as Frill nodded at that.
On the side Ai looked kind of amused but also fascinated by how well Markus seems to be at getting along with Frill, despite both being complete strangers. They barely knew each other and Frill seems taken with Markus for reasons unknown to her, so it was honestly kind of fascinating watching this interaction between the two.
"Also, you haven't asked your question yet." Frill pointed out to Markus as she sipped on her hot coco, and had a pleased reaction to drinking it.
"You're right about that." Markus nodded. "So, my question is, do you have any dreams or goals you aspire to have?" Markus asked as Frill blinked at that. "Seems cliched, I know, but I figure it wouldn't to ask exactly what is it that you wish to accomplish or do in the future." Markus said eating his cookie.
"I see, well in that case I wish to become an actress." Frill said as Markus raised an eyebrow. "My family works in the entertainment industry and my own sister has become an actress. And I want to become an actress like my sister as well." She said with a smile on her face of the idea of becoming an actress like her sister.
"I see." Markus nodded. "So, forgive me for asking this, but do you want to become an actress because you wanted to be one or is it because your family desires it?" He asked cautiously yet also bluntly. It would not be the first time he heard about some families that try to have their kid of a seemingly set path or what not. Granted the one person he met who had family troubles like was being used by an asshole.
"I assure you, it's completely and utterly my own choice." Frill assured Markus. "If anything, my family would rather not be in the entertainment industry since they know how utterly cutthroat it is and worried it would cause me no end of stress and depression. But I assure you, it's my own choice and I want to become an actress." Frill said as her eyes beamed strongly at that.
Markus hummed at that; he could tell that Frill really did want to become an actress so he had no reason to be that worried about her. "If that is what you want then so be it, but be careful then lass, a job like an actress attracts its usual collection of issues that will have to deal with, even if you retire from acting." Markus pointed out to her.
"And I am fully prepared to do so." Frill said seriously. "I've been wanting to become an actress ever since I saw my sister performed." She said in an enthralled tone to it. "There was something about the way she moved, the emotions she put on her face, the emotions she invoked. All of it was amazing that I want to become an actress." She said to Markus who nodded at what she said to him. "But now that you mentioned it, was there anything that you wanted to become when you were a kid, Markus?" She asked curiously and both Ai and Frill saw an interesting reaction from Markus at those words.
Markus froze at that; his circumstances made it so that he literally lost all of his major memories from when Benny shot him in the head twice before burying him in a shallow grave. It was something he never really want into an in-depth detail investigation to find out due to how impossible it would be to find physical records or anything like that. Not to mention Ulysses gave him the general account of where he's been in his past life leading up to the ambush by Benny and the Great Khans.
Heck, even his current name is not his actual name it was an name that he picked up after he went by the default title of Courier Six due to lacking his memories. Joshua Graham baptized him with his current name actually, he was named Markus after Marcus the Super Mutant that he met in Jacobstown, and he was given the surname of Redgrave due to leaving a lot of enemy corpses red and a need for a grave. So, he was given the full name Markus Redgrave.
But back to Frill's question, Markus answered as best as he could to her without getting into any specifics. "Unfortunately, the circumstances of my own life had made it rather hard for me that I don't actually remember what I wanted to do as a kid." Markus answered Frill as truthfully as he could, but omitting certain parts of his life out that he did not believe appropriate for her to hear.
"I see." Frill nodded at the answer. "Isn't that kind of sad though?" She then asked. "Dreams and Desires are what drives people to do what they wish to accomplish. Even if we can't achieve them, they become the foundation for which our own paths are pushed forward. So, you can call it the foundation of our reason and desire to exist instead of just surviving." She said to Markus, once again taken aback by how philosophical Frill got with him, and Ai seemed surprised by that as well.
"Smart lass you are." Markus praised as Frill seemingly preened at that. "But to answer your question, I do find it kind of sad that I don't remember my childhood quite so well. Sometimes life gets to you and you just to roll with the punches, because life always finds a way to through a spanner in your life." Markus said casually but with a tinge of wisdom. "Besides even if we don't remember our dreams as kids doesn't mean that dreams and desires actually die." He pointed out.
"Then what is it that you dream of Markus?" Frill asked again as Markus blinked at that. "You said that dreams and desire don't die, so what is it that you wish for?" She asked him as Markus grew contemplative at that.
In truth he hadn't had much desire save for survival since he got here. When he was back home, he achieved his desire for the Legion to be pushed out. He was able to see to a true peace between NCR and House and not have to waste any more lives for the sake of agenda for the sake his greatest desire. To rebuild the world from ashes.
Anyways, back to the question that Frill had for him. "Well as surprising or unsurprising as it seems, I actually don't have that big of a dream going on for me right now." Markus said as Frill tilted her head curiously. "I did do plenty of fascinating things, to me at least, before I got here, and I can say that I have done plenty of strange and unusual activities, so nothing too big on me for now." Markus explained further in depth to her.
"I see." Frill nodded. "So, you don't have a big desire right now since you done plenty of them already but is there anything that you want to do in your life at some point?" She asked him.
"Well now that you mention it." Markus started off as he thought about something that he had considered but never really gave any weight to. "I always did want to have my own family." He soon admitted as both Frill and Ai looked interested in that detail. "I've always been in a family of choice, which is composed of my friends and buddies, but never had I ever had an actual wife and kids to go with it." He said to her.
"So that means you're looking for a wife then?" Frill asked curiously and strangely enough in excitement. And stranger to Markus was that Ai also seemed strangely interested in the concept of Markus potentially finding a wife to settle down with. Markus had a feeling that this was something people of this era had far more interest in due to the lack of need for survival and resources to help them survive.
"Yeah, you can say that I am." Markus admitted as Frill and Ai looked excited at the prospects. "Probably won't be trying to find a girl of my own for quite some time though." He said in a casual enough tone that it caught the two girls off guard. And also strangely enough, brought down the mood of excitement that both girls had on themselves. Something that Markus was actually wondering why when he asked. "What's the issue? I said I may be interested but won't be trying to find a girlfriend for some time." He said to them.
"You said you were interested in a family, yet you're not interested in finding a wife at the moment." Frill pouted, actually pouted at his words. "Even though you're clearly a capable person with enough good points that several girls would be interested in you." She said as Markus raised an eyebrow when he heard that, and then he rose the other eyebrow when Ai nodded in agreement with her.
"She is right Markus." Ai said casually and calmly. "You are apparently a working man, who works hard and have a strict sense of conduct and good will. You're even humble to an extent, which combined with your Western looks would at least gain some interest from the opposite gender for potential partners." She explained calmly to him.
Markus chuckled at their thoughts, confusing them. "And that line of thought shows your own relative youth." He said casually as both of them pouted at him cutely. "Oh, don't be offended, I'm considered something of an old timer despite how young I am. But in all regards, there are several circumstances that prevent me from finding people to go out to date to begin with." Markus said as the two girls got curious at that and wondered what reasons did Markus have to not find a date.
"And why is that?" Frill asked. "It has better be some good reasons too, or else." She warned Markus, who looked amused by the warning that Frill gave him. "Answer the question." She demanded of Markus.
"Well for one thing. I am not exactly financially stable for one thing, or at least I am not financially stable enough to be comfortable to find a partner. Especially if I do want a family and this means for me. That I need to save up plenty of money so I won't be suffering that many issues with being able to take care of certain financial needs and the likes." Markus started off as both Frill and Ai nodded at that, as it was actually a good point.
"I see." Frill nodded. "Were there any other points?" She asked curiously as she realized there was actually a lot of factors that go into having a family.
"Well for one thing, I am a bachelor living in a small apartment of sorts, so that doesn't allow for a lot of room for any future kids I might or will have." Markus pointed out. "And trying to get a good home with the room required is not exactly cheap or easy to find, especially if you want your kids to go into a good school district or don't want to worry about a few other issues. But it can be summed up as, needing a good place to have a family." Markus explained to them.
"Okay, I will admit, that is actually a good point to actually consider." Ai admitted as she realized that Markus actually put some serious thoughts of why he is not suited to have a family in his current state so far. "But I imagine there is more reasons to explain why?" She added in as Markus nodded at that.
"Well, another reason for why I am not exactly looking for a partner right now, and this is honestly kind of important. I have several obligations that I need to take care of first. It's the kind of private information that I am not exactly going to open up about. But, needless to say; if I do not take care of these obligations, it would be a constant reminder of what I could or should have done." Markus said as both girls nodded, as they could tell that this was important to him.
"Well, that makes sense I suppose, from a certain point of view." Ai commented as she checked the time and saw that it was actually almost time for Koromo to be done with her showing, or at least be able to look after Frill herself. "If you want, I can watch after Frill for the time being if you have any urgent appointment you need to take care." Ai said to Markus as he checked the time and noted he had to leave soon.
"Aye, you have my thanks, Ai." Markus said as Ai nodded and as Markus got up, he felt someone holding onto him and saw that it was Frill. "Time to let go lass." He said to her, but he internally cringed a bit when he saw her puppy dog eyes. "I have some personal stuff I need to take care of." He reminded her.
"But will I ever see you again?" Frill asked in a bit of a mopey tone.
Markus smiled and patted her head. "Don't worry lass, if fate wills it, then we will meet again, and I have a feeling that fate isn't going to let us forget one another anytime soon." He assured.
"Promise?" She asked.
"Might not make a promise but I will try my hardest." Markus assured as Frill accepted and waved Markus, goodbye as he had to go now and also waved Ai goodbye as well.
"I must say when I was leaving this academy, I did not expect you to want to talk with me for a bit, Chika." Markus said as he was walking with Chika of all people.
"Well, I have to admit, I didn't see myself doing this either, but you're fascinating to me." Chika commented as Markus raised an eyebrow at that. "Also sorry to ask this, but are you familiar with the context of calling someone by their first name here in Japan?" Chika asked curiously.
"Kind of?" Markus said with a shrug. "But not really? Since I had plenty of other things to focus on. Besides, where I live it's not that big of an issue in all honesty." Markus admitted to Chika. "Why? Is there some unspoken rule or some cultural context that I am missing or something like that?" He then asked.
"There is actually." Chika nodded at Markus's question. "Usually in Japan, we say our family name or surname in some case first and then our actual names. Not only is it like that, but we also call people generally by their family names to denote that you're not that close. But calling someone by their actual name means you're close to them." Chika explained as Markus blinked at that.
"Really now?" He questioned and then Chika nodded at that. "Well, the more you learn I suppose." Markus hummed at that, before something else popped into his mind, and he suddenly remembered all the interactions he had with Ai and how that changes the context for how they interacted. "Say for example I call someone by their first name here in Japan, what does that usually imply?" He asked Chika seriously.
Chika blinked at that before she answered truthfully. "Well, it generally means that someone consider you a friend or someone trustworthy to be around in most cases? In some cases, for females, it generally means a level of emotional or mental intimacy on their part, though it can vary?" Chika said as Markus internally winced at that.
He did not need Ai developing any kind of positive romantic feelings for him. He was very much okay with being in the friend zone. Besides it would not be fair to Ai if they started a relationship and he had to keep his past a secret. That wouldn't be fair to her, nor would it be fair to anyone he gets into an actual relationship here. That was his fourth and biggest reason to avoid relationships right now for him.
"You know, despite how calm you are, you looked kind of worried." Chika's voice spoke up as Markus turned to her and she had a sly smile on her face. "Let me guess, you think you accidentally seduced a girl here or something?" She asked with a giggle.
It took all of Markus's willpower to not let out any surprise at that. Also, he took note to be wary of the girl before him since she's far more perceptive than she acts or appears to be. "Maybe." Markus admitted reluctantly as Chika giggled at him. "It's not like I actually want to be in a relationship you know." Markus sighed out. "I'm kind of busy." He said to her.
"Sure, that's your answer for it." Chika smirked as Markus sighed as he walked and Chika followed him for a bit to talk to get to know Markus.
With Markus doing his best to avoid answering the more interesting questions she had.
And as Markus and Chika made another turn, a vehicle was roaring towards them, causing Markus to react as he pulled Chika behind him as a large van screeched to a stop in front of them.
Then it got worse as the side doors opened to reveal armed thugs, and if Markus had took a closer look, would have noticed that they were a bit more uniformed than your average run of the mill thugs. Then the one that looked to be in charge pointed out Chika and yelled. "Get her!" And that caused the thugs to rush in as they rushed towards Chika.
Running on pure adrenaline right now, and not having time to dig into his tool bag, Markus bum rushed the group and got into a charging stance and knocked them down and tangling up the group. Turning to Chika, who was freaking out, he yelled. "Get away!" And that caused Chika to get out of her panic and went the other way as Markus went to hell on the group.
He punched them multiple times as he felt himself being pinned down as felt his knuckles bruising a bit as he felt himself hitting something hard when aiming at their core, but caused them to wince. He also couldn't move as easily due to these people apparently being smart enough to try and aim to restrain him by going for his joints.
Which was smart of them, because if you can apply the right amount of force and control to holding down a joint, then you can restrain someone with ease. Something that Veronica drilled into his mind, because she was a CQC Expert despite her love of punching things to death.
But something like this wasn't going to hold down Markus for long as he grunted and threw the thugs off of him, just in time to see another van pop up in front of Chika and more thugs appeared and grabbed her, as she tried to get away.
Cursing at the sight, Markus rushed in to force them to let go of Chika, only for the group to turn to him and took out Taser Guns? and two of the thugs rushed him and he tried to swing his fists at them. But they were more skilled than expected as they dodged his swings, and and instead aimed for his footing, causing him to trip up and the two to grab his arms.
That's when the Tasers went off and soon started shocking Markus, and contrary to what some people might expect but, Markus avoided getting electrocuted because being in a state of electrocuted was about as bad as being drunk in a fight, since the electricity fucks with your body function. Then the two holding him down pulled out Tasers and started shocking him, and then the thugs from behind him crowded him and started tasering all over his body.
The sheer amount of electricity going through his body was enough for him to lose motor control and slump over as he struggled to remain conscious as the one in charge glared at him and spoke to the others. "We're taking him with us, no witnesses or bodies!" He ordered and they complied, before the one glaring at him raised his leg up and smashed his head in.
The impact was enough to knock him out but before he lost conscious. But all he could think about in that moment was the fact that Ai and her children were still in danger and now Chika and him were in danger.
Author's Notes: Okay so a number of you are arguing that Markus should have put up a better fight, and that tasers shouldn't be enough to incapacitate him. So I rewrote this last scene to better reflect that. Also fun fact, Tasers are actually very dangerous to deal with and depending on model, you can even cause cardiac arrest, internal injuries and death in certain cases, and in the previous scene, Markus got shot with six of them, that's actually lethal, and Markus withstood that. Think about that for a moment, also fun fact Tasers are actually illegal in Japan much like how guns and swords are. So most run of the mill criminals can't get their hands on a taser, sword, or gun.