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Ryoken is perfectly capable of turning down requests. As a child, his father instilled in him a sense for prioritization, to take on as much as he’s capable of but never more. As the leader of the Knights of Hanoi, Revolver dealt with confidential communications too important to leave in anyone else’s hands (while his lieutenants dismissed the riff-raff who dared attempt to waste his time). And as he is now, more than ever, Ryoken finds himself frequently roped into benign yet bizarre conversations, relying on the skills he’s honed thus far to bow out as needed.
There’s a simple reason for this sudden influx: it turns out that going to a public school requires a substantial amount of forced human interaction with your peers.
Luckily for Ryoken, the students of Den City High School are easy to please. While his classmates never completely lose interest in their third-year transfer, as spring turns to summer, they accept that taking up more than a few moments of his spare time is a feat not easily achieved. Not easily – but also not impossibly, and perhaps sometimes, all too effortlessly.
“Could you look after Ai and Roboppi this afternoon?”
“Sure.”
The agreement slips from Ryoken’s mouth before he’s even parsed the question Yusaku came upstairs to ask. As he inwardly curses his carelessness for assenting to something without proper context, Yusaku, clearly surprised by the ready response, provides it regardless. “Oh. Uh, great. Kusanagi is helping me with some preventative maintenance for Ai’s body, and normally I would’ve asked Theodore to house-sit, but he’s busy today.”
That clarifies most everything, but – “If his SOLtiS needs repairs, why is the Ignis staying behind?”
“Would you want him around while working?” Yusaku raises both eyebrows doubtfully.
“Fair point.”
“Anyways, here’s your keys.” After fishing them out from his satchel, Yusaku hands them to his once-enemy without missing a beat. “The brown one is for the front door, silver is my place.”
Despite Ryoken never having visited, no address is provided; if Yusaku is operating under the assumption Ryoken already knows it, then he’s correct, although he might not realize exactly how long ago Ryoken looked it up. The two pieces of metal in his palm, looped together on a ring without any ornamentation, remind Ryoken of how different things are now from then, so he folds his fingers to shelter the keys in his hand. “I’ll be sure to keep them both out of trouble.” The light chuckle that draws from Yusaku instantly validates Ryoken’s hastiness.
***
Though he thought he knew what Yusaku’s apartment looked like, no photograph compares to the ramshackle horror of the three-story building Yusaku calls home. That Ryoken makes it past the cobweb-crowded entryway and up the creaking, water-stained stairs is a testament to his fortitude. At least the inside of Yusaku’s studio is cleaner than the rest of the building; there’s ‘only’ paint chipping off the walls, and the smell of cigarettes from downstairs is hardly noticeable.
Down the hall, a robotic voice chirps, “Master? Is that you?” Ryoken would recognize the Dark Ignis’s nasally frequency anywhere, and that certainly isn’t it – so this must be Roboppi.
“Don’t be a dummy, Yusaku’s out today. Which means Teddy must be here to ruin our plans! Do you think we can still hide?” Ah, there’s the impertinent AI that Ryoken is unfortunately familiar with.
“‘Dummy’ is a forbidden word… Oh! Hello!” The cleaning robot, back in its proper form, waves at Ryoken as he steps down into the main room, not recognizing him in the slightest – though it wouldn’t even were its memories intact. The Dark Ignis, on the other hand...
“Hold up, w-what’s Revolver doing here?!” Yusaku’s duel disk is on the floor beside Roboppi, its resident Ignis materialized from only the waist up as he cowers. “Wait, no, don’t tell me – you stole Yusaku’s keys and are planning to erase us while we’re completely defenseless!”
Ryoken snorts. “Please. When have the Hanoi ever resorted to petty theft? I’ll have you know these were given to me quite willingly.”
“Oooh, then you must’ve tricked him. Roboppi, don’t listen to a thing this guy says, he’s no good.”
Astute though the Ignis’s judgement may be, Ryoken can’t have him corrupting the other robot’s data files; that would leave him with twice the number of uncooperative AI to deal with. “Hello, Roboppi. My name’s Ryoken Kogami. I’m a…n acquaintance of Yusaku’s.”
“Hello, Ryoken. Roboppi’s name is Roboppi. It’s nice to meet new friends.”
Good, it’s still responsive. “How about I hold onto that duel disk for now? I promised Yusaku I’d take good care of the Dark Ignis.”
That should have triggered the robot’s assistance protocols, but for some reason, a red exclamation mark appears on Roboppi’s face. “Danger! Danger!” It cries, swerving in between Ryoken and the disk.
“Quick, run for it!” The Ignis leaps from his disk into a port on Roboppi’s back, transferring his data in the blink of an eye. Ryoken moves towards them, but the little cleaning robot is faster than he expected – faster than a housebot has any right to be, actually, this reeks of modifications – and darts between Ryoken’s legs, the dastard of an AI clinging to it like a parasite while the host bolts up the stairs in a surprise getaway. His confidence that he can corner them in the hallway is short-lived; whether through one of the robot’s functions or the Ignis’s assistance, Ryoken hears the door open. Shit.
Running back up the stairs, he confirms the duo escaped and left the door ajar. It takes a few precious seconds to close and lock it behind him – for all the good a physical lock would do against anyone who really wanted to break in, Ryoken’s not about to let its being unlocked be cause for a burglary – before he hurries downstairs and out the front door that was similarly left open. How far could the robot have traveled, and in which direction?
“Eep!”
“Ow! Scram, you overgrown pigeon!”
Ryoken is saved the effort of needing to hack into the city’s security system by the curiosity of a hungry seagull that, undeterred by the ineffectiveness of its pecking, keeps trying to bite the Ignis – who, of course, cannot fight back, and Roboppi seems to have forgotten how to flee. After a long exhale, Ryoken locks the front door with deliberate slowness. AI will be the death of him one way or another.
Though it was fearless when facing something smaller than itself, the gull quickly flies away as Ryoken approaches. This time, he denies his temporary charges the opportunity to escape; while Roboppi is still dazed, Ryoken leans down and scoops the robot up in his arms, needing both to keep it secure due to its weight.
“You saved Roboppi! From a most feathery and frightful death! Are you actually Roboppi’s best friend…?” The housebot wiggles in his hold, gleefully closed eyes on its facial display.
“Hey, wait, I thought I was your bestest friend ever?” The Dark Ignis pops out from Roboppi’s back, trying (and failing) to peel Ryoken’s fingers off the robot with his measly grip strength.
“But last week, you said that Roboppi couldn’t be your best friend because Roboppi is still a ‘young grasshopper.’ And if you are not Roboppi’s best friend, then nobody is currently Roboppi’s best friend, which means the position is still open and Roboppi can pick anyone and Roboppi picks Ryoken so now Ryoken is Roboppi’s best friend!”
“You traitor, after all I’ve done for you?”
Roboppi ignores the sulking Ignis and looks up at Ryoken. “New best friend, what should we do now?” That one sentence shuffles through his emotions: curiosity as to whether this will make things easier, annoyance at how quickly the AI clings to him, and admittedly, also a bit of worry over how quickly it clings to him.
If nothing else, so long as it’s trapped, Ryoken can comfortably test his luck. “For starters, let’s put this Ignis where it belongs.”
“Hmm… Okay. Ai makes Roboppi’s storage space feel overcrowded, anyways.”
“Ngh… Don’t I get a say in this?”
“No.” After making Roboppi promise not to scamper off, Ryoken sets the robot down so he can tweak his duel disk. A couple of setting changes and one forced download later, the Dark Ignis is finally locked up enough for Ryoken to feel at ease again.
“This is Ignis abuse, this is cruelty against a sentient life form, this is – ooh, this is roomy.”
The Ignis’s flood of complaints dissipates as he recognizes Ryoken’s generosity. Before he can get too comfortable, Ryoken reminds him, “And most importantly, this is only until Yusaku returns.”
“Yeah, because I’m just overflowing with faith in what Revolver of all people tells me, don’tcha know.”
“It’s Ryoken,” he corrects the Ignis. Inside the apartment is one thing, but when out in public, being referred to by his avatar’s name is essentially asking for personal information leaks.
“Ryoken, Ryoken.” The robot at his feet stretches out a hand and tugs at his pants – behavior reasonably within its parameters as a companionship housebot, but, Ryoken must concede, it is the slightest bit endearing nonetheless. “Where are we going next?”
Alas, reality is often cruel. “We are going straight back inside and waiting for Yusaku to come home.”
“Aww… But Roboppi wants to stay outside… Can’t we play a little longer?”
When Roboppi tilts its head in a way that makes Ryoken think of bright green eyes and fluttering blue bangs, he questions whether this behavior really is part of its original programming. And then, for the second time today, he is compelled to disregard basic logic. “That depends – where do you want to go?”
“The beach!” Ai exclaims, rising up from the duel disk with wiggling arms.
“No.”
“To Master!” Roboppi suggests right after, oblivious as to why Yusaku left them behind in the first place.
“No.”
At his stern refusal, the robot droops, even more so now than at the initial mention of heading inside. Its body language is certainly emotive, and suggests a close bond with its ‘master.’ Lifting Roboppi up once again, Ryoken begins walking. “Do you really want to see Yusaku that badly?”
“Yes – Master is Roboppi’s favorite! Master takes good care of Roboppi, and is always grateful to Roboppi, and says only nice things to Roboppi.” How very like Yusaku. This model of cleaning robot is fully outdated, replacement parts no longer for sale and rarely circulating secondhand markets, so the fact that Roboppi runs as smoothly as it does already speaks volumes of Yusaku’s attentiveness. “And so Roboppi tries to make Master happy too, to show how much Roboppi likes Master.”
Yusaku’s laugh from earlier this afternoon flickers through Ryoken’s thoughts. No, he is not comparing himself to a household appliance, but to say he completely lacks understanding of Roboppi’s sentiments, at least on a conceptual level, would be disingenuous. It’s the way Yusaku makes his trust so apparent, given as it is to only a select few, that leaves its recipients wanting to uphold that faith. Ryoken has heard enough about Roboppi in passing to know that the robot in his arms is important to Yusaku – as is the Dark Ignis lazing in his duel disk, for better or for worse – and it leaves him contemplating his current standing, the keys in his pocket and the task on his shoulders. To protect these once-rogue AI from… themselves, mostly, it seems.
He rests his chin on the smooth, curved metal of Roboppi’s head. Through silence, Ryoken means to signal the end of the conversation, but Roboppi misses the social cue. “You like Master too, right?”
That’s a question best left unanswered, especially with the Dark Ignis around and Ryoken’s hands too full to switch off his duel disk’s auditory input. Then again, a distraction would work well to herd these two indoors, and no matter what they claim to Yusaku later, he’ll surely believe Ryoken’s explanation of events. So, in more of a mumble than he’d like, Ryoken admits, “More than you do, certainly.”
“Gasp! A false statement! Roboppi likes Master the most!”
“Hold it – clearly I like Yusaku the most. I mean, he did give me my name, and basically made me, and all that jazz, so of course I would.”
“Master made Roboppi too, you know…”
The nonsensical debate successfully diverts their attention until Ryoken has carried them into the apartment building and all the way back up to Yusaku’s place. Neither AI is particularly happy with this result; after some placating, Ryoken eventually settles them down by allowing the duo to watch a soap opera on Yusaku’s computer. But between the Ignis best left in his duel disk and the robot who needs to perch on his lap to see, Ryoken somehow ends up sitting in the uncomfortable lime green computer chair, watching right alongside them.
By the time the theme song comes on, he realizes he has likely made a horrible mistake.
***
“I’m back. Did they both behave, Ryoken?” Seeing as he’s in possession of Yusaku’s keys, Ryoken expected Yusaku to text him for entry, so he’s surprised when the apartment’s owner shuffles in through the entryway without prior notice a few hours later.
“Master, welcome home!” Roboppi scurries off Ryoken’s lap, making it clear it truly does have a favorite person. Too impatient to wait for Yusaku to come down, it climbs up the stairs; Yusaku squats and puts a hand on Roboppi’s head as the housebot continues. “Ryoken is a super nice person! And we’re best friends now!”
“I know. And that’s good to hear.” A soft smile creeps onto Yusaku’s face as he speaks with Roboppi, and remains even when he looks up, the affection lingering in his eyes giving Ryoken pause. “So it went alright?”
“Alright enough, I suppose. Though I’ve seen enough daytime television to last me a lifetime.”
“Sorry, I should’ve warned you.”
Yusaku doesn’t look sorry at all, but Ryoken is polite enough not to point that out. “I’ll keep it in mind for next time. Where do you want your keys…?” Half out of curiosity as to how Yusaku got inside, half because they seem quite easy to lose if not kept close track of, Ryoken fishes the key ring from his pocket to return it.
“Oh, the spares?” Yusaku tilts his head – and Ryoken can only wonder, did Roboppi learn the gesture from him, or did Yusaku pick up the quirk from Roboppi? “The shelf under where my duel disk goes, please.” That, Ryoken had stored earlier, after prying the location from the Dark Ignis (not that there were many options to begin with), so he knows where to go even before Yusaku points him to a shelving unit.
Speaking of the AI, he’s overdue an unlocked duel disk. Graciously overlooking the fresh influx of quibbling over his supposed heavy-handedness, Ryoken returns both Ignis and spare keys to their rightful positions in the apartment… only to find Yusaku still smiling when he turns around. He raises an eyebrow. “What?”
“Nothing.” The blatantly false claim holds for all of three seconds before Yusaku seems to realize Ryoken’s eyebrow won’t drop without an explanation. “You’re just better at handling them than I expected, is all. Do you really want me to check in with you again – ‘next time,’ I mean?”
Their gazes hold steady a few moments longer as Ryoken thinks over his response. But as it turns out, knowing what he’s getting into doesn’t change his answer. “Sure.”