#is if it turns out she's only trying to take Hiden down on Gai's orders

[madara-fate]

I also wasn't insinuating that MinaKushi or DanTsu are the only good examples of good romantic relationships (I don't even care about these pairing for the record, or any other pairing in Naruto). I'm just pointing out that people do not doubt that Minato loves Kushina or that Dan loves Tsunade. If Sasuke genuinely loved Sakura and Kishimoto did a good job at showing it, then there would not be a huge debate on whether he does love her or not, because it would be obvious to pretty much everyone that he does, whether they like the ship or not. The fact that it's not and that so many people still debate on this to this day either shows that Kishimoto did a poor job at showing Sasuke as a loving husband either that Sasuke does not love her, despite that "love is the real deal" line or his reply to Sarada's question. It's show vs tell if you know what I mean. On one hand he tells us that "love is the real deal" but on the other hand he does not really show it all too well, which makes many people think whether he truly meant those words or he was being sarcastic and simply mocked the fans. It's either a case of bad writing either Sasuke simply does not love Sakura. I personally don't know what to think. I tend to lean towards the first option, it may just be bad writing after all. He admitted he's not great at writing romance and to be honest? It shows. It is even implied they haven't kissed in Gaiden by Sakura looking sad when Sarada asked her if they ever kissed. And I know you like to refute that by saying that it's preposterous to think they haven't kissed when they obviously had sex in order to concieve Sarada, but the thing is, it is entirely possible to have sex with someone but not kiss. It really is. When you're having sex but you're not really enjoying it or when you have simply been pressured and pestered into having sex with a person. Sakura Hiden confirmed the fact that Sakura was determined to confess her feelings to Sasuke over and over again until he would've eventually reciprocated. She compared that with punching a villain over and over until they're defeated. Now please tell me, would it be so far fetched to consider that harassment? If someone tells you no once, you have to respect their rejection and stop pursuing them, not take it as a challenge to persist in reaffirming your feelings over and over again until they eventually get tired or take pity in you and accept to give you a chance. And even in Gaiden it was confirmed that Sakura had to chase after Sasuke. It's really easy to see this ship as... problematic, to say the least. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt tho and blame it on bad writing rather than on Kishimoto simply implying SS is not really a loving relationship, but if other people are not convinced or deny that Sasuke loves Sakura, you have to let your bias aside and admit that they have reasons to believe that. The writing makes it really easy to interpret it either way, depending on your preferences.

I already answered a lot of the points you made here in my response to your previous ask, but it's important for people to remember the type of person Sasuke is, and understand that the manner in which he shows affection isn't the same as Dan or Minato. It's a lot more subtle. Are people doubting that Vegeta loves Bulma and Trunks? No, so then people need to ask themselves - in which ways has Vegeta demonstrated that he loves his family in ways that Sasuke hasn't? Both of them aren't outwardly affectionate, both of them aren't romantic, but both of them have undoubtedly demonstrated that they love their family. Yet, only one of them is questioned. It really is just a "damned if you do and damned if you don't" situation. If Sasuke acts all affectionate like Dan and Minato, people will claim that he's OOC (like they did for Sasuke Retsuden), but if he stays reserved and demonstrates affection in his own way, people will just turn a blind eye and say he doesn't care. It really just shows how little they actually know Sasuke's character. To think that Sasuke, who hails from the clan which values love above all else, would marry and start a family with someone he doesn't love.

On one hand he tells us that "love is the real deal" but on the other hand he does not really show it all too well, which makes many people think whether he truly meant those words or he was being sarcastic and simply mocked the fans.

People actually think that Kishi may have been "sarcastic" when he described their love as the real deal. Oh my goodness. Why would Kishi purposely give wrong information to the readers (and never reveal what's actually going on)? Why would he intentionally want the readers to misunderstand his story and characters? Why would he want to portray his 2nd biggest character as someone who would enter a loveless marriage when that literally goes against the ways of his clan and his entire character? Do people not listen to themselves?

It's like how so many people claim that Sasuke saying "because you exist" means that the only reason he and Sakura are still together is because of Sarada, and people really don't realise how stupid that sounds. They don't stop and ask themselves why Sarada would be brought to happy tears, why Chouchou would describe her as lucky, and why Naruto would give her a knowing smile, if Sasuke had really just insinuated that she was the only thing that was keeping her parents together:

They just don't think. They apparently believe that Chouchou was happily thinking to herself "aww, lucky Sarada, you're the only thing keeping your parents together!", and that makes sense to them apparently, Chouchou being so happy for Sarada after hearing such awful news. It's unbelievable.

And I know you like to refute that by saying that it's preposterous to think they haven't kissed when they obviously had sex in order to conceive Sarada, but the thing is, it is entirely possible to have sex with someone but not kiss. It really is. When you're having sex but you're not really enjoying it or when you have simply been pressured and pestered into having sex with a person.

This is just like the people who believe that Sasuke is gay, justifying their ridiculous claims by pointing out how "you can be gay and still marry a woman", and to that I always say - Why would Sasuke do that? Just like to you I'll say - Why would Sasuke do that? To have sex and not kiss? Why would Sasuke of all people be "pressured and pestered" into entering a relationship with someone? He obviously has no problem whatsoever with bluntly turning people down. If he doesn't want to do something, he's not gonna do it. Heck, if you're using Sakura Hiden to try and prove your points then I'll also use a novel to prove this one - The lipstick stain scene during Sasuke Shinden: The Teacher's Star Pupil, explicitly indicates that Sakura and Sasuke had kissed earlier that day. The motorbike scene during Naruto Retsuden has Sakura kiss Sasuke. Sasuke and Sakura having kissed, is not (and has never been) a topic that's open to discussion.

Sakura Hiden confirmed the fact that Sakura was determined to confess her feelings to Sasuke over and over again until he would've eventually reciprocated. She compared that with punching a villain over and over until they're defeated. Now please tell me, would it be so far fetched to consider that harassment? If someone tells you no once, you have to respect their rejection and stop pursuing them, not take it as a challenge to persist in reaffirming your feelings over and over again until they eventually get tired or take pity in you and accept to give you a chance. And even in Gaiden it was confirmed that Sakura had to chase after Sasuke.

I've already talked at length about that scene from Sakura Hiden so I won't do so again here, but I'll link the relevant post where I explained how that scene obviously was not meant to be taken as a negative comment, but people will of course just twist things in order to suit their own anti Sakura/SS agenda.

But if other people are not convinced or deny that Sasuke loves Sakura, you have to let your bias aside and admit that they have reasons to believe that. The writing makes it really easy to interpret it either way, depending on your preferences.

No, here's what people need to understand. If people think that Sasuke's love towards Sakura was not adequately shown, then that's a reason to criticise the writing. It is not however, a reason to deny what is canon. They are stating that Sasuke does not love Sakura, despite the fact that this has explicitly been stated. Sasuke loving Sakura is a canon fact, whether they like it or not. Criticise the execution all you want, I know I have plenty of times, but don't deny the truth. Hell, since you wanted to use the novels...

During Sakura Hiden, Sasuke rushed back for Sakura's sake, despite having ignored the village's prior pleas for help. What does that say about his feelings for her?

During Akatsuki Hiden, Sasuke described Sakura as "The Spring Sunshine" which illuminated his dark life. What does that say about his feelings for her?

What does basically the entirety of Sasuke Retsuden say about his feelings for her?

Many anti SS fans are always so quick to use the novels when it suits them. And then when a novel like Sasuke Retsuden comes along and completely shits over all their theories, they're just as quick to dismiss the novel as an OOC fan fic by a sub par author, figures. As far as I'm concerned, the manga is more than enough to show that Sasuke loves his family (seriously this really isn't up for debate), but I'll also definitely say that anyone who criticises SS and uses the novels as a point of reference, is in way over their heads.

[crimsonblazw]

Zero-one is the perfect start to a new generation

artist credit:https://twitter.com/r5WitWG0y8Poz0K/status/1300385462972866560?s=20

Introduction

Kamen rider Zero-one concluded last week and I believe it to be a very strong first entry into the Reiwa era of Kamen rider. On the surface it's back to basics with a grasshopper themed main character and simple animal motifs for his forms and the other riders while the major motif of the season centers around Artificial intelligence and the concepts of free will,dreams,and empathy.

At first glance you'd have several preconceived notions about the series,but there is FAR more than meets the eye.

Story and themes

Structurally this season of KR is made up of bigger arcs (four in total) which break down into smaller two episode arcs that make up the week to week episodes which allowed the show to maximize the monster of the week formula while the main story progresses at it's own pace (the best way to do KR in my opinion), this pairs well with one of Zero-one's biggest strengths; world building.

Each two episode arc explores the humagears' place in society and they're overall relationship with humans leading to a diverse range of dynamics that get explored over the course of the show with very few stones left unturned.

In general the thesis of the show is built on the beliefs of the humagears' creator Hiden Korenosuke,that humagears will help humanity achieve the their dreams.

At first you can take this literally given humagears can be thought of as "tools" for day to day life when in reality they where meant to grow along with humans (in other words reach singularity) and use their own passions and dreams to elevate those of humans and vice versa,the significance being that humans by nature are empathetic and social beings who have only made it so far as a species due to our ability to care for one another, humagears are meant to help humanity achieve our full potential faster.

The challenges this idea faces is a society that not only wants humagears and humans alike to become nothing more than "beasts of burden" for the upper class but also it's mirror opposite;the potential malice and selfishness that ultimately destroys lives and dreams,all of this being synonymous with the classic fiction trope or A.I. and robots representing the inhumane treatment of the common person.

Characters

While the overall show and it's smaller stories make up the backbone of the show the main characters are the heart, having arcs that represent the exact message the themes of the show are trying to communicate.

Aruto Hiden/Zero-one- Our main character. He has the staple good heart of a main rider with a strong belief in the power of dreams.

His arc is flat in order to inspire the other characters around him and further their own growth while having his own convictions tested the challenges of the show. He's very endearing and seeing how he overcomes every obstacle (even when it's crushing him) is the mark of a good main rider.

Izu-Aruto's humagear partner. It's easy to dismiss Izu's growth but her change is present but subtle. She goes from following Korenosuke's initial directives to making her own decisions,she starts off confused by Aruto's jokes but begins repeating them,and she goes from being Aruto's secretary to being his family. The evolution of her and Aruto's relationship is heartwarming and gives them on the best male/female lead dynamic in the franchise.

Fuwa/Vulcan-He starts as a staunch humagear hating foil to Aruto and a rather typical secondary rider. But after discovering his entire mindset has been "crafted" by those who want to control him his arc blossoms into a great story of a man taking back control of his life and rejecting the false and toxic ideals forced on to him, resulting in arguably the best arc in the show.

Yua/Valkyrie- While her arc can be easy to miss she represents those who unintentionally surrender their personhood to those above them while believing they retain their independence. Despite some lacking screentime she does recognize her worth and atonomy and reclaims her life (not unlike her partner Fuwa) and I hope future female riders follow her example (but with more screentime).

Horobi and Jin- Our two initial villains and the heads of the humagear terrorist cell Metsubojinrai.net.

Horobi begins as a steadfast believer in his "master" the Ark and shares it's beliefs in the extermination of humanity, beliefs he tries to pass to his "son" Jin who has concerns about their violent and forceful methods before becoming indoctrinated.

As the show goes on Jin begins to develop his own beliefs separate from Horobi while Horobi begins to experience a crisis of faith. They're dynamic is unique in KR and their arc is a perfect representation of the kinds of toxic concepts that can be passed down from parent to child but with time can be unlearned.

Gai/Thouser- One of the two major villains in the show. In many ways he's a more serious version of Dan from Ex-aid, his main position in this story being a stand-in for the greedy ruling class who will destroy as many lives as they want so long as they get what they want.

He's genuinely impressive in terms of how well calculated his plan is and absolutely loathsome for the fact he essentially caused everything wrong in the series. His eventual "redemption" is VERY hard to swallow but for food or ill does fit with the shows themes of overcoming our worst aspects and also doesn't bend over backwards to make him sympathetic.

Naki/Raiden-the other two members of Metsubojinrai.net. Wish they had gotten more screentime, especially since Naki seemed like a character that would have been cool to see more of. I do like them still and think it's cool they got their own happy endings.

The final arc

This deserves it's own section. The final arc is one of the most bold and interesting final arcs in the franchise and in my opinion is the best one since Drive.

The asset that really makes this part of the show work is the "final boss" the Ark. Despite seeming like a generic "evil entity" final boss commonly seen in toku the Ark is a methodical and truly evil being.

The Ark represents the darkest parts of human existence, mainly that our compassion/love can be easily turned into malice when the hardships of the world take it's tole on us.

Going deeper the ark's "philosophy" can also be seen as a parallel to those who think humanity is better off destroyed because of humans alleged inherent cruelty,not realizing that not only are humans not inherently cruel but that mindset is at most a trauma based response to the hardships of the world or a hypocritical mindset that give those who think it a free pass to be malicious and hateful while thinking they're "enlightened" for recognizing the alleged folly of man.

The Ark utilizes these concepts in it's final plan when it manipulates Aruto and Horobi take each other to their lowest points by having them kill each other's most treasured person,the duel between the two fueling human/humagear tension to the point of war,and it did this all without being around for most of it.

Aruto is so besides himself with grief that he essentially abandons his dream,I think what stood out to me was Fuwa attempting to stop Aruto and pointing out that Aruto is where he used to be,full of rage and hatred that can only be overcome with someone else showing you genuine empathy, which is what Fuwa is attempting to give to Aruto as a parallel to when Aruto did it for him.

The final battle is not only between Horobi and Aruto but between Malice and empathy. And in the end the two breaking down and recognizing each other's pain with Aruto winning but sparing Horobi is the final "test" of what fully realized empathy is.

Outro

2020 has been rough. I think more than ever we see what's wrong with the world and what we need to do to fix it. Whether it was intentional or not Zero-one was the rider I think we needed right now.

In a society that doesn't value empathy ,unity,or dreams we have to elevate each other and hold on to our passions and dreams for the future.

Thanks for reading ! Please like and share ! And feel free to share your thoughts. Keep your eyes peeled for future posts! Best wishes friend

[firebirdsdaughter]

Random Writing Hmmmm…

… Huh. Now I’m wondering if this needs an epilogue.

But for now, all hail! In order to stave off anxiety, behold the third part of Resolution!

Part 1 Part 2

Please forgive any typos or errors. To quote something a former classmate once said: ‘A writing major and a lit major sit down to write something and neither of them can spell anything.’

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He was waiting for them in the hall, leaning against the wall with his arms folded, staring at the ground.

“Fuwa!” Yua rushed up to him, expression slightly concerned despite herself. “Are you alright? What happened? Where is-”

Isamu didn’t speak, merely jerking his head toward the door beyond him, then straightening up to slip past her, his face dark. She watched him for a moment, frown deepening worriedly, beginning to reach for his back—but then the rest of the agents arrived, and she quickly snapped back to professionalism. Gesturing for the regular agents to watch the hall, she turned and headed for the door Vulcan had indicated.

Isamu was still ignoring the others, scowling at the floor, when Aruto arrived. Seeing Valkyrie disappear through the door, Zero-One moved immediately to go after her—only for Vulcan’s hand to shoot out and grab him by the arm, bringing him up short, when he tried to go by the other Rider. Aruto turned to stare at him, while Isamu’s gaze stayed riveted on the floor. “… Fuwa-san?”

“You don’t want to go in there.” The other Rider muttered gruffly.

“But-”

“You were with a HumaGear during Daybreak, right? When the explosion hit? As a kid?” Hesitating for a moment, Aruto nodded slowly. Finally, Isamu raised his head, meeting Aruto’s eyes—and he looked honestly like he was about to shatter completely if poked with a feather. “Trust me,” He whispered grimly, fingers curling tighter around Aruto’s arm, “You do not want to go in there.”

Aruto stared back at him, watching the mess of emotions swirling in his gaze. Slowly, he raised a hand to cover Isamu’s on his arm, squeezing gently. “Fuwa-san…”

Before he could say anything else, Yua reappeared from the room, her expression just as bleak. She took a moment to take a few deep breaths, then walked briskly back over—pausing at Isamu’s shoulder, she briefly made a face like she wanted to say something… Then didn’t. Turning toward the ZAIA agents that had come with her, her expression froze over once more. “Call the others off and lock down the area.” She announced, voice level, though just barely. Regardless, the agents quickly scurried to do as she said. Valkyrie watched them for a moment, then looked sideways to see Aruto watching her with an anxious expression, Vulcan’s hand still on his arm. “… It’s done.” She told him simply, then hurried off to over see the proceedings.

——————————————————————————————————

Isamu refused to let Aruto anywhere near the door until the room had been cleared out, and both the HumaGear’s bodies were laid out and covered with tarps. By that time, Izu had arrived, and was close behind him when he entered, her head swivelling to take in the scene. The moment he stepped through the door, his stomach churned—blue painted the floor, and one of Jin’s hands was poking out from beneath the cloth, mangled and broken, some of the fingers burned through to the mechanics. Abruptly, he was extremely grateful that Vulcan had held him back, and tried to turn and send an appreciative glance at the other Rider—but Isamu had elected to huddle against the wall by the door, arms folded tightly and eyes pointedly on the floor.

Yua was kneeling beside Horobi’s body, holding the tarp up to examine it, but when Aruto came closer, she lowered it back over the HumaGear’s face quickly with a sigh. Steeling himself, and trying to keep his eyes on Valkyrie rather than Horobi, he stepped up to her as she stood. “So, what’s ZAIA going to do?” She looked sharply at him, but he’d already had too long of a day to care, “I assume you’ve already contacted Amatsu.”

Yua looked away, scowling slightly. “… He’s on his way.” She admittedly softly, then sighed again. “He’s not going to be happy, though. Our hope was to try and figure out the cause of the the issue via Horobi’s memory But…” She moved carefully around the HumaGear’s body to look pointedly at Isamu, “… That’s a little hard to do when someone put a bullet through his central hard drive.” Aruto blinked in surprise, then whirled around to stare at Vulcan.

Isamu glanced briefly up at them, expression still as dour as before. “Don’t start, Yaiba.” The words were a growl.

Yua ignored them, striding over to him, annoyance creeping into her expression. “If he wasn’t a threat, you should have just waited for us. There was no need-”

“I said,” Vulcan snarled, shouldering himself up from the wall to face her, meeting her judgement with a glare of his own, “Don’t. Start.”

Valkyrie, however, did not back down, her voice a furious hiss. “It wasn’t your call to make!”

“You’re right, it wasn’t.” Isamu’s voice just as intense, and uncharacteristically quiet. “And I didn’t make it.”

Yua started, surprised out of her irritation. She stared at him. “You… You mean…”

He heaved a deep sigh, slouching back like he was folding into himself, his own glare breaking into the same stricken look he’d had before. “I just pulled the trigger for him, Yaiba.” He murmured, shaking his head slightly, voice beginning to tremble. “That’s all I did.”

Aruto bit his lip, turning away to look back down at the covered body at his feet. He could just see the fringe of Horobi’s hair poking out from beneath the top edge of the tarp, and blue-stained fingertips were visible under the side—near Jin’s exposed, damaged hand. Izu, finished scanning the room, came over and knelt between the two bodies, tilting her head, earpieces and eyes flashing.

She stared at Horobi for a moment. “… Unit inoperable.” She announced, finally, voice as calm as always. “Severe shock damaged detected on head and abdominal areas. Irreparable damage to main hard drive.” Yua gave Isamu a pointed look, but said nothing. Izu rotated her head to gaze at Jin. “Extreme heat and shock damage detected. Unit is inoperable and beyond repair. He is also missing his core processing unit.”

Yua frowned. “What?” She crossed the floor to stand beside Izu. “The explosion shouldn’t have caused that…” At a small sound, they all looked over at Isamu. He was looking at the floor again, scuffing a foot and scowling even deeper. “… Fuwa?”

Vulcan didn’t look at her. “… I need to make a call.” He grunted, then spun around and disappeared out the door without another word.

Silence filled the room. Izu stayed kneeling between the other two HumaGear, and Aruto crouched down beside her while Yua moved off to talk to one of the techs about how the processor could be missing. After a long stretch of awkward quiet, Aruto took a deep breath, glancing over at his secretary. “Ne, Izu.”

She blinked, looking back at him. “What is it, Aruto-shachou?”

“Is…” He swallowed, “… Is there really nothing we can do about ZAIA?”

The Hiden HumaGear tilted her head to the side in her usual tic. “Amatsu Gai and ZAIA Enterprises hold exclusive legal rights to the unit currently known as Horobi. The only way for another party to attain those rights is for ZAIA to willingly relinquish them.”

Aruto groaned loudly, then punched the ground hard enough to scrape his knuckles. “Damn it!” Scowling deeply, he looked back over the bodies. “… It’s just wrong…”

“That’s not for you to decide, Hiden-shachou.” The condescending tone was immediately identifiable, and it was no surprise when they turned to find Gai, white suit infuriatingly immaculate, standing by the door. He paused briefly in smirking snidely at Aruto to look down at the floor, lifting his feet to check the bottoms of his shoes. “Really wish you’d cleaned up a little, though. This stuff is incredibly difficult to get out of shoe soles…”

Aruto surged to his feet, looking ready to start swinging, but Yua appeared immediately between him and the other President, positioning herself like a wall. She was so perfectly equally between them that it was impossible to tell if she was trying to protect Gai or buffering Aruto’s anger like she so often did Isamu’s. “Amatsu-shachou.” She greeted politely, bowing slightly. “Sorry for the trouble.”

Amatsu smirked over her shoulder at Aruto’s glare, then turned his attention to Valkyrie.  “Not at all, though your message was concerning,” The smirk slowly changed into a frown, something that made Aruto feel particularly smug, though he’d had absolutely nothing to do with it, “You said we can’t access Horobi’s memory?”

Yua shook her head. “His hard drive was damaged in the explosion.” She lied smoothly. “As was the entirety of his equipment. If he was keeping backups, they’re gone now, too.”

Gai’s frown shifted into a proper scowl. Skirting around Yua, he walked over to examine the covered bodies—then he crouched down, careful to keep his white suit pants from touching the blue smeared on the cement floor. Pulling a handkerchief out of his breast pocket, he used it to take hold of the edge of the tarp covering Horobi with the very tips of his fingers, peeling it back. Unlike Yua, he didn’t hold up the cloth to shield the HumaGear’s body from view, merely dropping it as quickly as possible so that it was folded over, revealing Horobi’s face and most of his torso.

Aruto started slightly at the sight, though mostly at the abrupt dismissiveness with which Gai completed the action. Horobi’s wounds were actually quite simple—a crack-like cut on the side of his forehead where his head wrap had usually been had smeared blue down the side of his face, and even the heavier damage on his abdomen wasn’t so bad as long as Aruto didn’t look at it too long. The bullet exit wound in his forehead was a clean one, just below his hairline, and his eyes were closed peacefully. Aruto glanced sideways at the condition Jin’s hand was in, and was silently grateful that Amatsu had elected to pull back the tarp over Horobi and not the other HumaGear.

His thoughts were interrupted by Gai himself. “… That looks like a gunshot.”

“Remarkable coincidence.” Yua replied, without missing a beat.

Gai gave her a look, but didn’t press, instead rising without bothering to recover Horobi’s body, stuffing the handkerchief back in his pocket like it disgusted him. “Well,” He announced with a sigh, “No matter.” Jerking his head towards Jin’s body, his smirk returning. “We have that one, anyway.”

Aruto opened his mouth to speak, but someone else behind him cut him off. “If you’re not interested in Horobi…” Everyone, even Gai, jumped slightly, and turned to look back toward the door. Isamu had come back in without any of them realising. He seemed more collected now, and there was a tablet tucked under his arm as he strode over to join them by the bodies, “… Then would you mind signing his rights over to AIMS?”

Aruto gaped at him. “Fuwa-san-”

But Isamu cut him off again. “It would be easier for everyone,” Vulcan explained, voice carefully level, “He’s a major violation of AI law, so we need to impound him, and if you’re still the legal owner… Well, we’d have to be bothering you for permissions constantly.” Isamu held out the tablet to Gai. “It’s easier for everyone,” He repeated—then, “Trust me.” Though Vulcan’s gaze did not waver from Amatsu, Aruto couldn’t shake the inexplicable feeling that the last two words were meant for him.

Gai considered the device being offered to him, then glanced at Yua. She considered, then nodded. “It would be advisable. That way we can avoid any trouble later.”

With a sigh, Amatsu nodded, then took the tablet from Vulcan. He signed multiple times, then handed it back. Isamu made a few taps and swipes himself, then put the device back under his arm. Gai raised his eyebrows. “All done?” When he got a nod in return, he smirked again and took a step back. “Very well, then.” Turning to look back at the two HumaGear, he gestured with his arm toward the still-covered body, beginning to move away, “Then we’ll take Jin-”

“Just a moment.” Isamu’s voice was still calculatedly steady, but there was also another edge to it that sounded almost… Smug.

Gai turned slowly to face him, an eyebrow raised suspiciously. “What is it now, Fuwa-taichou?”

Isamu’s stony expression flickered, cracking to show a small smirk of his own “You just signed over your legal rights to Horobi to AIMS.”

Gai’s head tilted slightly, and he sidled a step back towards Vulcan, eyes narrowing. “… So?”

Isamu, however, merely stared back at him, apparently unruffled by the position of the person before him, who was radiating brewing annoyance and suspicion. “That includes Horobi himself, and all related assets.”

Amatsu groaned loudly, rolling his eyes before hissing, “Is there a point to this, Fuwa-taichou?”

“Horobi built Jin.” Vulcan said the words in the same even tone as before, as if it were  not unusual in the slightest. As the others, from Yua to Izu, started and spun to stare at him, he ignored them, merely meeting Amatsu’s gaze, stare for stare. “Therefore, in the eyes of the law, he is classified as an asset related to Horobi.” Isamu was speaking slowly, as if he felt he needed to spell out the situation, but his tone was steadily becoming more smug. “And therefore, part of the rights you just signed over to us.” The smirked played across Vulcan’s face once more, and stayed there—he even shifted forward slightly, leaning in a bit like he usually did when he got aggressive. “You’re not taking either of them.” Each word was carefully emphasised.

Amatsu was positively shaking with anger. “Then I-”

“You can’t take it back.” Isamu interrupted, almost cheerfully. “It’s already being processed by our legal department. The deal can’t be rescinded without the permission of both parties—and, as the Captain of AIMS, I refuse your request.”

Eyes blazing with rage, to the degree that it was almost hilarious to see—Vulcan the calm one while Gai surged closer to spit in his face, “Do you have any idea how far back you are setting our research?” The ZAIA President snarled.

Remarkably, however, Isamu remained impassive. “Go take apart a smart fridge.” He replied simply, then paused, frowning in thought for a moment. “Or… Maybe not, because I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned out your could drive a fridge homicidal, too.”

Gai’s hands were fists at his side. “You’ll regret this, Fuwa Isamu.”

“No,” Isamu answered lightly, I don’t think I will.”

Amatsu had had enough. With one last angry hiss, he shoved past Isamu and stormed out the door, slamming it behind him. Silence clung to the room for a long time, Aruto and Izu still staring at Isamu, Yua watching after Gai.

After a while, Valkyrie broke the quiet. “Clever.” She murmured, sounding genuinely impressed. “You took advantage of the fact that he was distracted by the success of the mission to sneak the clause by him.”

Isamu rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously. “If he’d had time to think about it,” He admitted, “He’d’ve realised the loophole. The only chance was to act fast.” Sighing, he looked up at her. “And what about you? You know the laws and contracts even better than I do, and you didn’t warn him. You even pushed him into it.”

Yua was quiet for a moment, heaving a deep sigh of her own, still staring at the door. “…  I was the first one in the room, remember?” She asked quietly, at long last. Then, “… You’re right.” She continued, thoughtfully. “He could drive a fridge homicidal.” Stepping around Isamu, she started toward the exit as well.

“… Yua.” She paused, looking only slightly over her shoulder when Vulcan called after her. Isamu turned to face her, his expression slipping into fondness. “I… I know I’ve never really said it before, and it’s really not my business, but…” He rubbed the back of his neck again, “… Whatever reason you work for that guy… You’re too good for him.” Yua said nothing, merely hesitating for another moment before continuing on her way out—but Aruto would swear he saw her smile.

As the door closed behind Valkyrie, Aruto bit his lip, glancing anxiously sideways at Isamu. “… So…” He began cautiously, “… What are you going to do with the rights?”

Isamu was quiet for a moment, turning slowly around to gaze down at the two HumaGear, specifically Horobi. Finally, he sighed deeply—then held out the tablet in his hand to Aruto. The Hiden President stared at him, then at the device, then back up at the other Rider holding it out. Eventually, Vulcan made an irritated sound and shoved the tablet into his chest, snapping his hand back to force Aruto to catch it so that it didn’t break. “… AIMS will cooperate with Hiden.” Isamu grunted, still watching the HumaGear on the ground rather than the human beside him. “Once we’ve certified that they’re not outfitted with malware or something, we’ll turn them over to you.” Aruto continued staring at him—at last, Vulcan glanced self-consciously sideways at him. “… What?”

“… Nothing… Just…” Aruto hesitated, biting his lip. “I just… Didn’t expect you to stand up for HumaGear like this.”

Isamu scowled, looking back down at Horobi. “… To prove him wrong.” He grunted—then he moved over and crouched down. Taking hold of the tarp, he pulled it carefully back over the HumaGear’s face. Then he rose jerkily, and turned on his heel to trudge toward the door.

“Oi! Wait!” Aruto very nearly stumbled trying to rush after him, and they only just barely reached it at the same time. Aruto suddenly froze with his hand on the knob when he realised Izu wasn’t behind him, and turned back to look for her.

She was still kneeling between the other two HumaGear, head bowed, her body angled in a way that he couldn’t see what she was doing. Beside him, he was aware of Isamu looking back, too. “Hey.” Vulcan didn’t sound angry, at all, just curious. “What are you doing?”

Instead of answering, Izu rose, folding her hands at her waist again and crossing over to them. “I apologise for the delay, Aruto-shachou, Fuwa-taichou.” With a small bow, she deftly slipped past both of them, taking the door from Aruto to open it and step through, then continued to hold it open from the other side, waiting expectantly. Aruto and Isamu exchanged glances, then looked back at the bodies. Tears abruptly stung Aruto’s eyes, and he heard Isamu make a sharp intake of breath.

Izu had pulled Horobi’s hand out from under the tarp and tucked it over Jin’s damaged one, curling his fingers around it.

Both Riders stared at the HumaGear’s newly connected hands for a moment. Finally, Aruto tore his eyes away first, turning and leaving the room, reaching out to hold onto Izu’s arm for comfort as he did so. Isamu hesitated a little longer, still staring, his eyes faraway in a painful memory. At long last, he, too, turned away and stepped through the door, brows furrowing again—but when Aruto handed Izu the tablet and reached over and put his other arm around his shoulders, Vulcan accepted the contact without protest, even leaning slightly into it.

Together, the three of them slowly made their way back towards the stairs.

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Izu is cute, what can I say.

Also I cannot, for the life of me, write for Gai w/out making him an arse. ^^; At least Isamu puts him in his place a bit.

Disclaimer: I know jack about AI laws and legal rights. ^^; Oops.