Chapter II: I didn't ask for a bike upgrade

Issei was taking a little while to get home.

It was starting to worry her just a bit, arms folded as she stared out the window towards the rain, she let her shoulders drop just a little.

"Still raining?" Her husband asked from somewhere in the house.

Miki Hyoudou nodded her head up and down and hummed in affirmation.

"Goodness." Gorou let out a sigh, his steps growing closer before ending as he joined her beside the front window, the two of them staring out and into the street in the rain. It was not the fact it was raining that bad that worried her - because it wasn't raining all that terribly - it was just because this was one of the few times her son had gone and done something proactive before.

He'd never much used the bike when they first bought it for him and to be frank, she had actually started to forget they even had it in the first place before the an old and dusty frame was wheeled past her eyes with her son looking back at them and waving as he declared his intention to go riding.

She just hoped that when Issei did get back, he wasn't too put off about the rain to go out and try again when it was sunnier.

At least it would get him out of the house every once in a while.

But she wouldn't exactly blame him for not feeling up to it for a while.

Gorou let out another sigh and shook his head, turning away from the window and pacing back into the house.

"Issei probably got some shelter as the rain kicked off." He said. "Soon as it stops, he'll probably be riding all the way back here and rushing up to his room again to let off some frustration."

Miki made a small noise of acknowledgement at that. "Probably…"

Even still, she was a bit worried he could end up catching a cold, being out in the rain.

Hardly as though he had brought a coat with him.

Just a shirt and trousers before he went out cycling, she grimaced ever so slightly at the thought before moving her hand just above her heart and tapping away a couple of times to calm herself down. She was probably fretting over nothing at all.

Issei was a very tough boy.

Maybe they could go halfway and get an exercise bike to use?

If Issei wanted to exercise and avoid being caught out in this, then he probably wouldn't object to it.

Well, all of that for was when he got back.

If he got back and didn't want to keep on riding the bike.

Shaking her head, she turned from the window and walked back into the house, moving past her husband as she did so and further into the kitchen. There was still a bit of washing up to do and Issei hadn't been gone so long that she was going to get worried just yet, but perhaps she'd call in five minutes if he hadn't gotten back.

Just to see if he had found some shelter-

The echo of the door spilling open broke her thoughts apart, she quickly turned around and hurried back the way she had come, rounding the corner and stepping into view of the front door.

Her welcoming smile slipped off her face and she recoiled backwards.

"What on earth-?" A gasp slipped from her as she stared at Issei.

He was soaked from head to toe, patches of mud in his hair and covering his face, not to mention that his clothes had practically been dyed brown because of all of it. The myriad of questions that sprang to the forefront of her mind were soon followed by her eyes dropping to the sopping wet puddle now building up on the floor by his feet.

Issei looked back at her very quietly, then turned his eyes down to the floor before back up to her.

"I'll…g-get a shower…" He said rather slowly, hands reaching out and taking hold of the bike - which somehow looked as clean as a whistle - and set it beside the wall and took a very large step away from it. His eyes lingered on it for several long moments before her turned and practically flew up the stairs.

Not that she could blame him.

He probably wasn't going to touch that thing ever again.

Miki rolled her lips inwards and shook her head from side to side.

"Was that Issei just now?"

Her husband asked.

"So he managed to get back a-" His voice trailed off, likely spotting the puddle. "...Ah."

Miki turned and offered a strained smile. "He's gone for a shower."

Gorou gave a slow nod of the head. "Right…"

Then he frowned ever so slightly and tilted his head. "...Does that bike look bulkier to you?"

What?

She turned around and squinted at it for a couple seconds, then shrugged her shoulders just a bit.

"I can't really remember. It was covered in a lot of dust…the rain must have cleaned most of it off."

"Ah, that's probably it." Gorou mused, then she could hear the shake of his head in his words. "Shame it's probably going to get all dusty again, isn't it?"

Miki didn't really want to write off her son and his venture into exercise just yet…

…But the chances were pretty high.

Issei spent the entire shower staring at the wall.

Then pinched himself.

And pinched himself again.

"Ouch!"

Hissing, he rubbed the arm he had just pinched really hard and confirmed that this was somehow not a dream. Which was absolutely terrible and he was really close to just panicking there and then.

The bike…

He'd brought the bike into the house.

He had walked the bike home with him.

Issei felt like pinching himself again for entirely different reasons than before, but he couldn't start doing something like that.

He needed a clear head.

Really clear.

The clearest it had ever been, actually.

With a deep breath, he resumed scrubbing the last of the dirt from out of his hair and off his body, all the while thinking about whether he would walk outside and find out that the bike had vanished, which would be a bit weird to explain to his parents but he could manage it. Saying that he put it and then it got lost after that would be a lot easier to explain than…

…Then the alternative.

Issei pulled another flake of dirt from off himself.

At least he was no longer filthy.

"Go out exercising." He grumbled. "It will definitely work."

Yeah, like hell he was ever doing that again.

If his old bike hadn't been totalled beyond repair - and basically swapped out - he would have tossed the thing in the bin.

But none of this really detracted from what the real problem at the moment for him was.

The bike he had brought home.

He…he needed to do something about that.

Issei waited until it was dark, fast approaching midnight.

Then he crept out of his room and down the stairs towards the front door.

His parents had moved the bike away from it and his heart had stopped when they told him that they had moved it, but seeing as how neither of them looked any different from usual, he was a touch relieved by that, but it was relief that was quickly buried under a newfound hill of stress.

Because he had to wheel the bike somewhere…

His room?

No.

…Better to continue this conversation in the shed where the bike had lived in the first place before it got wheeled out and then destroyed. So with that in mind - dressed in his pajamas - he crept out of the back door as quietly as he possibly could and then immediately cursed himself under his breath for not bringing a coat.

Damn, it was cold out here.

Shivering, he tiptoed his way across the back garden and right towards the shed, slipping his hand around the latch and shuddering it across, he cringed at the noise and turned his head about to squint at the bedroom window of his parents. The light was thankfully still off.

Turning back around, he pulled the door open and peered through the gap inside, there wasn't a lot of light but even with all that, he could see the general outline of the bike as clear as if it had been the day. He stared at it for a long time, it was only the biting chill of the wind which practically shoved him inside.

Not that the shed was any warmer, but it was at least protected from the breeze.

Issei folded his arms, ducking his hands into his armpits, and then stared down at the bike once more.

It wasn't moving at all.

In fact, aside from looking a little bulky around the body and the handlebars, he wouldn't have thought it was anything more than an ordinary bike.

…Except he had seen what else it was.

"...Uuuuh…"

Right.

Now what?

Issei's mind stalled as he realised he had come here in the dead of night without actually any idea what he was supposed to do now.

He really-

The bike made a whirling noise, it lasted only a fraction of a second but it was enough for him to almost leap out of his skin.

Soon followed by a rapid clicking and grinding, the bike started to burst open and twist. Metal bent out of shake and the wheels slid right to the back, the main torso suddenly up at a ninety degree angle and opened up, a flat block with a faintly orange strip of paint running across like some sort of mask, snapped up.

A pair of white circles printed over a black electronic screen stared back at him.

Issei felt whatever confidence he had plunge out of him.

The bike? Robot?

Whatever it was stood about the same height as him.

Issei looked into the bright circular eyes, and they looked right back at him.

Then the robot bike tilted its head ever so slightly to one side, an electronic beeping soon followed which…sounded vaguely inquisitive?

Wait…

He furrowed his brows ever so slightly.

Was…was it giving him a confused greeting?

"...Hey." He awkwardly raised his hand out from under his pit in a short wave.

White eyes snapped onto the hand for a moment, then back at him.

Raising its left arm - it didn't so much bend as much as it curved upwards on account of the vaguely springy appendage serving as the elbow - the one which had the front wheel mounted to it like some sort of shield, it showed off a fingerless mitten-like hand. Holding it up and flat towards him.

Then it made a short and more confident beep.

Issei caught on pretty quickly.

They were saying hello to him as well.

"A-alright, cool, cool." A breath let itself loose, some of the tension in his shoulders slipped away.

Friendly so far.

That was cool.

"...So." Coughing, he pointed to himself. "Hyoudou Issei."

Then he moved the hand to point to them.

The robot stared at him rather blankly for a couple seconds, then made another series of beeping sounds.

Issei furrowed his brows once again at the vague noises, some of them being…a bit strange and hard to grasp. It wasn't like they were speaking words so much, but it was more as though he could get the intentions that were being said to him? No, that didn't sound all that right.

They were definitely telling him their name.

The beeping followed again, then they pressed a flat hand over their chest.

More beeps.

"...High…wire?"

A more affirmative beep and a nod of the head.

"Highwire." It was a really robotic name, Issei felt his lips pull upwards as he nodded along. "Nice name. Suits you."

Beeping and nodding back to him, Issei felt as though they were reciprocating the comment and saying his name suited him too.

Okay.

So the robot was friendly.

"...So…I'm human." He started again. "And you are…?"

This time the robot was quiet for a moment, then looked past him and started to walk forwards. Issei blinked and scrambled out of the way as it pulled the door open very gently and stepped outside. He hurried followed them out, though hardly needed to go all that far as they stopped only just outside of the shed.

Highwire raised an arm and pointed right up.

Issei followed their gaze to the stars overhead.

Brows furrowed, he looked to-and-fro.

"...Huh?"

Wait.

What?

No.

Really?

Couldn't be.

But…

"...You're-?!" He raised his voice, then slammed a hand over his mouth and silenced himself from completing the exclamation. He looked around rapidly and towards the house more questioningly, then back to the robot and continued in a hissed whisper. "You're an alien!?"

Highwire turned very slowly and nodded their head, another affirmative series of beeps followed.

An alien.

An alien robot.

An alien robot that turned into a bike.

And was living in his shed.

"Right. Alien."

Issei dazedly repeated to himself as he turned away very slowly, uncaring for the wind at the moment even as it picked up a little.

There was an honest-to-god alien standing in front of him.

He had so many questions.

"You were in a hole in the ground."

He blurted out the first thing that came to mind, then winced at how blunt it might have sounded.

Highwire just looked at him, then nodded once again and showed a complete lack of care for the comment. Instead they just beeped a few more times and then dropped their shoulders, the eyes flattened a little as though invisible brows had come from the top, turning them into slight half circles.

Oh, right.

"You crashed?"

A sad but acknowledging beep.

Issei grimaced. "Damn…sorry."

"Were there…more of you?"

Further beeps.

"Hundreds?"

More beeps.

"Thousands?"

Issei felt his eyes bulge as the beeps continued.

"More than thousands?"

Then a single confirming beep.

There were thousands of these guys?

"On earth?" Issei pointed down, then caught himself and snapped his fingers as he glanced away and towards the vague direction he had cycled to and back from. Eyes squinting, then realising he couldn't see it from here as he looked back. "On that hill?"

Beeping rather quickly, Highwire gave a gesture that was somewhere between a nod and a shake of the head.

"Under the hill?" Issei ventured.

Another nod.

Under the hill?

"...How long ago?"

Confused and somewhat hesitant beeps.

"You don't know?"

A silent nod of the head.

That really did suck.

Now Issei felt a bit guilty about being so terrified of the guy who was now clearly lost and alone.

He grimaced just a little and turned his head to stare at the shed for a couple of moments, then back to Highwire, then back to the shed. With a sigh, he reached up and scratched the back of his head for a couple of moments. Already thinking of what he could really do in this situation.

Was he really going to help a bunch of alien robots stranded from home?

…Yeah, he really was.

It felt like the right thing to do at least.

"You can stay here if you're looking for somewhere for the moment…"

Highwire looked at him, eyes sparkling brightly and letting out some excited beeping noises.

"Whoa, alright, alright!" Issei waved his hands down, bringing a finger to his lips and shushing. "You can't be so loud. My parents definitely can't learn about me keeping an alien in the shed, they'd definitely freak out about that a lot!"

Also he'd seen plenty of anime with secret government organisations and stuff that track down guys like this.

They might not have the guy's best intentions at heart.

Highwire's beepings grew quieter before they stopped. Turning their head and looking to the house, then back to him and staring. Their head tilted once more and the confused beepings resumed.

Issei blinked. "Parents?"

Nodding, Highwire went on with the beeps and gestured to the house.

"Parents are…parents." Issei said very slowly, then blinked. "Do you not have-"

He stopped and cut himself short.

Ah.

Robot.

"Uhm…the person who made you is your parent, I guess?" He trailed off, sounding rather strained. He didn't want to slump on an emotional landmine or something like that, but he needed to explain to them what he was talking about. "Your creator."

Highwire beeped once more and tilted their head.

Issei felt his shoulders slump, confusion swept through him.

"...Do you…not know where you came from?"

Highwire met the question with a long and heavy silence.

Issei decided that it probably meant that it was better not to go down that line of discussion further, at least not for a first conversation with them.

With a slow nod of the heavy, he turned away.

"Well, you can live in the shed." Issei repeated once again, mostly to turn them away from the old topic. "And…well…"

Looking them up and down, he eyed the parts that were more like a bike than a robot.

It was actually pretty cool the longer he looked at them, but that was neither here nor there for the time being.

"It would probably be for the best if you turned into a bike when you went somewhere?"

Issei ventured a little, Highwire inclined their head in a small nod but seemed more than a little confused.

"Uhh…people." Issei continued on. "They might get a little scared of you. Being an alien and all."

Highwire leaned back and then stared at him, there was something apprehensive and worried in that gaze now.

Nervous beeping followed.

Issei widened his eyes and held up his hands. "Ah, no! Well…I mean, at first? A little?"

Admitting that made Highwire's shoulder slump rather dramatically, their eyes turned downcast.

"But you're cool now!" Hurriedly adding on, it perked up the robot a little. "I mean, I realise you're a decent guy and that's fine. We've talked now so it's all good. I'm not scared of you anymore so…yeah. Don't worry about it! It's fine!"

Highwire made an excited beeping noise, then their head started to rotate.

Watching as a head completed a three hundred and sixty degrees spin all while making excited electronic noises was a little weird, but not in a bad way. It seemed rather endearing with how cheerful they were.

"Yeah. You're cool."

Issei raised his fist towards them and held it out.

Highwire stopped spinning and looked down at the fist, then back to him.

Oh.

Right.

Alien.

"Uhm…it's a fist bump." Issei explained, bringing up his right hand and bashing the two of his hands together rather lightly. "It's a friendship thing."

Reaching out very slowly, he took one of the mitten hands - wow, they were much warmer than he thought they would be - and gingerly took it up and curled the hand into a small fist and held it up.

Issei gently bounced his knuckles off and pulled his hand back, smiling.

"See? Fist bump."

Highwire looked down at the first for a moment, then back to him.

Another pleased beeping came as they once again tapped their fist against his.

"Friends." Issei nodded.

A word that Highwire said in his own language with a series of beeps.

Yeah.

He was friends with an alien robot.

…Maybe it wasn't the worst bike ride in the world.