zawamecity | [open to anyone, specifically seeking Takatora] Brave New City

I'm an intelligent enough man to know I don't deserve to be alive.

I remember dying at the hands of Kumon Kaito. I remember the fall, and in fact, I even remember the impact. And I remember that, for everything and all of it, I deserved it.

There would be a new world, when someone found the Forbidden Fruit that Takatsukasa Mai had escaped with. I wasn't going to be a part of it, or so I thought.

The waking was... slow, and painful, and I deserved every moment of that, as well.

I don't deserve this new world, with it's new god, though I was the only one who knew for sure that this was the inevitable end.

Of course, it would have had to have been Kazuraba Kouta who would share the power of the Fruit with Mai-kun. If the power had been granted to Kumon Kaito, well. I certainly would not be waking up in this new world.

I was given a task, and with it told that it was the best way to atone for my sins- of which there are plenty, particularly when you consider 'sin' at it's most basic definition as the defiance of god's will, and here is a god in front of me who I manipulated and thwarted at many turns.

So, I have returned to my most basic of tasks from before the end and the new beginning- technology development. The Drivers had nearly all been destroyed in the climax of the old world, but Kouta would like them to be created once more.

It is with this done, and a Melon Lockseed in hand, that I venture out of my lab for the first time in... Since waking. Kouta is coming to meet me, or so he has said, to retrieve the Drive for Takatora- who I must admit, I am glad he's alive, despite everything.

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I swallow a few times, and try not to give away too much of what I know, especially when I noticed Takatora's repeated glances at Kouta.

"I have been... Around." I choose not to elaborate too fully. "I have a lab, I am working on some... independent projects."

I do think Kouta should tell him the truth. If anyone deserves to know, I am certain it is Takatora. Especially since returning the Driver to him was Kouta's idea, and now I am being placed on the spot to explain why I would do it on my own.

"Because you need it. Cracks still open occasionally, and if anyone should have the power to defend others, it's you."

Hopefully more admirable independent projects than you previously engaged in I think before mentally scolding myself. There is still bitterness, still the lingering aftershocks of anger, borne from his betrayal and his deceit. I need to - I wish to - trust him as I once did. Perhaps even more, now that we have been through so much, both together and apart.

So I simply give his words a small nod, and a low sound of understanding.

I do not understand why I myself specifically need to be the one to have my driver remade. I was not the most admirable of the Armored Riders. I made mistakes, so many mistakes. There are others, Kazuraba most notably, who would be better suited to have their driver returned to them.

"I'm not certain I'm strong enough for it anymore." I still suffer from headaches, bouts of dizziness, and fatigue from my time in my coma. And there are lingering pains, occasional stiffness in my shoulder, in my back, from my... fall.

Takatora has plenty of reasons to distrust me. I don't blame him at all.

I have to admit, I'm a little frustrated still with Kouta for putting me in this position.

I sigh and shake my head. "I understand, though the, um. Many of the greatest errors with the original Drivers have been corrected and... Well, at the very least, I would like you to have it to defend yourself and Mitsuzane, if necessary."

I hesitate, and elect not to point out that I know his trouble will not last. He will make a full recovery, probably sooner rather than later, and especially in the case of something disastrous.

"I still have mine, too." Kouta chimes in, somewhat awkwardly. "I mean, you won't be alone with that."

I glance at Kazuraba, offering him a small smile and trying to keep my weariness from bleeding into it. Knowing he has his driver is reassuring; there are few I trust as much as I now trust him. Real trust, not the blind trust I once placed in so many people that proved unworthy of it.

I look back to Ryouma, and he really does look like the Ryouma I once considered my dearest friend, my closest companion, and the keeper of my secrets. Minus the glasses, add in some age and weariness, but still so very similar.

I wonder how I appear to him.

"Ryouma," I move to take a step close to him, but stop myself. I'm not sure what I was about to say, what I want to say, or what I need to say.

"It is good to see you again." I settle on that, it's not untrue, and it is the easiest thing for me to get out at the moment, especially with Kazuraba near.

Not that his presence is unwanted, but there is... well he doesn't need to be exposed to all my awkwardness, and all the baggage I am Ryouma carry.

I wonder if Kouta notices how damn weary Takatora is, how much of that weariness he's actually letting color his expression, his actions.

I know Takatora very well, even now, after everything. Maybe even better now, having been so thoroughly wrapped up in my own affairs to have been blind to everything else... And seeing now how much of a disaster that ended up being.

I nod, accepting his words and unsure what to say in return. I don't want to lie to him, and I suppose it is technically good to see him, but I can't say it's something I wanted, or was ready for, and so...

So.

I look to Kouta, who is staring at Takatora sort of wide-eyed, and then looking back towards me with the same expression.

"I should... get back to work." I say, somewhat awkwardly, and I stare hard at Kouta, because I think...

Well, I think Takatora deserves to know the truth, all of it.

And I also don't think Kouta is going to tell him.

I don't miss the way Ryouma is eyeing Kazuraba, but I'm not sure if it is something I should speculate on, or if it is my place to question it. This is not an area where I posses any sort of authority.

"Ryouma," I speak before I can think on it, and then pause for just a moment to consider. I don't want him to leave, not when I've just found him - him - again. "Please wait."

I move back to Kazuraba, taking the case containing my reconstructed driver from him and giving him a respectful bow. "I may have to cut out time together short for now. Shall we meet at our usual time at Drupers tomorrow to discuss the progress of reconstruction project?"

With that settled, I turn back to Ryouma, doing my best to meet his eyes, though I'm not sure I properly succeed.

I gesture with the driver case, my voice quiet. "I wish to have you present the first time I test out this new driver."

I pause with my back turned- I may even be half hoping he'll put a knife in it. I deserve nothing less... But he is merely holding me here, and I can't bring myself to refuse him outright. Not after everything I've put him through- and everything he's been through without me.

He turns to Kouta, and I turn my head to watch them both as Kouta glances at me, then turns back to Takatora with a wide smile and a rapid nod.

"No problem, no problem at all, I have some stuff to do anyway, and I may go see Micchi anyway, if that's okay..?" He's not actually asking Takatora's permission, but he's making it seem as though he is, somehow. As if Takatora, as if anyone could deny him whatever he wants.

Kouta departs with a wave, and a hasty, "I'll see you later, Professor!" aimed at me. I wave him good-bye and turn back to Takatora with a slight measure of hesitance.

"If you don't believe you are ready, physically, I won't... I mean, you shouldn't push yourself beyond your own limits."

I give Kazuraba a small, soft laugh. "That's perfectly alright - and you don't have to ask to visit, you know you're always welcome at our home. Mitsuzane would enjoy seeing you, though please do take care not to catch his cold, and remind him to keep drinking fluids."

I'm fussing, but I have a feeling Kazuraba understands why I feel extra protective and concerned about Mitsuzane recently.

With Kazuraba gone, I turn back to Ryouma.

There is hesitance radiating from him. Good. I much prefer him to be cautious now than blindly confident.

"You said you corrected many of the errors of the original ones," I give him a slightly raised eyebrow, not meant to be judgmental, but meant in the way it used to between us, when we were still friends. When we were more than friends.

I glance down at the case, feeling the shape of the handle heavily against my palm. "It wouldn't feel right activating it for the first time without you there."

"I did." I know he's not judging me (though he should), and he has always trusted my technological abilities above and beyond anyone else's belief in me. With the possible exception, now, of Kouta. Still, I can't blame him for being wary. "Not just the original prototype you first tested, but the later prototypes as well... If I have done my job correctly, this Driver should not cause undue damage to the user's base DNA."

I hesitate after that, unsure suddenly if Takatora ever knew that. That I created Inves myself, by causing the Drivers to have that much influence on their users.

"If that's what you like. Let me know when."

[open to anyone, specifically seeking Takatora] Brave New City

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