Note: This gets a little dark as it goes along (one character is dying, and another tries to euthanize them against their will).
Won’t Exit the Room
by EstiRose
Gou hadn’t expected to return to Japan so soon. To be honest, Japan had somebody to fight Roidmudes, and America needed him, so he had stayed. Besides, being so far from home hadn’t been so bad; his sister Kiriko’s calls were like clockwork, and there were enough Japanese things around him to make him feel not quite so homesick.
Of course, that was before that quite unexpected call from his sister one evening. “Have you found any ham sandwiches you like?” she’d asked, cluing him in with the code phrase that something was quite wrong - she’d been found by Roidmudes and forced back into a role that both of them had hated.
He’d stuck around long enough for his own mentor to contact someone over there and give him the name of a contact - a man named Tomari Shinnosuke, Kiriko’s partner. He knew about the Roidmudes, and he’d be able to help Gou recover his sister.
Which was why Gou was currently following Tomari down a staircase. He presumed it was to some private place to chat fully. They’d had a small discussion on the way to the police station - or rather, the driving school, for some bizarre reason - and Tomari promised him they’d discuss things further after Gou had some rest.
What Gou hadn’t expected to find was his own sister sitting there waiting for him. She was in civilian clothing, not her uniform, and she rose stiffly from the seat in which she’d been sitting. “Big sis!” Gou called in relief, and she walked over to him. He threw his arms around her - a reaction picked up in the States - and was surprised to see her freeze.
“How’s your back, Kiriko?” Tomari asked.
“Still sore.” She stepped back a little from Gou. “It still hurts from where Medic cut me open.”
Gou promptly started swearing in English. “What the-“
“Some of us understand English very well,” Krim Steinbert, or at least the Belt that he’d become, admonished him.
“Medic installed a Core in me.” Kiriko rubbed her back. “And she doesn’t believe in painkillers, or being gentle.”
“She’s really cut up,” Tomari said, giving Kiriko an apologetic smile. “And… has Rinna found anything to switch everything back?”
Kiriko shook her head. “Most of the functions are still being handled by the Core.”
“So, what happened? Tomari rescued you?” Gou asked. He was kind of disappointed that he’d missed rescuing his older sister, but at least he could go after those who had done this to her.
“Kiriko rescued herself. I just gave her a ride home.” Tomari smiled, and Gou had to wonder if the detective had a little secret crush on his sister. Not that he could complain; the two of them seemed to get along pretty well.
“I walked out the door.” Kiriko shook her head, and Gou had to wonder why she looked so sad there for a moment. “Gou, you have to return to America.”
“Not before beating the hell out of Medic.” She had hurt his sister, and he would make her pay.
“Gou!” She had her serious, annoyed face on. “If she captures you… if Heart or Brain or 001 find out you’re here, the next thing that will happen is that you’ll find yourself strapped to a table with Medic cutting you open.”
“Not gonna happen,” he said with confidence.
One of the things that Gou knew about Roidmude was that one of them would eventually turn up to make trouble. They were also fond of abandoning their hideouts, or at least the boss-level ones were, which was why just going to where his sister had been held would not work. So, he just figured the next time another Roidmude surfaced, he’d just get them to spit out where they’d last been in contact with their bosses. This would eventually lead him to Medic, who certainly deserved what was coming to her.
And since most of Kiriko’s brain functions were currently kind of transferred to a Core, maybe he could get her to fix Kiriko so that Kiriko could return to normal.
His sister had pleaded with him not to confront any Roidmudes, for fear that he would be captured as she had. Well, he was definitely not going to have a Core surgically implanted in him, because he had his Driver and he could defend himself much better now.
There was someone behind him, and he moved out of the way automatically. The guy behind him was an older gentleman with a gentle smile, and he stopped right in front of Gou, as if studying him.
He studied the man right back, realizing with a sudden chill who had been right behind him - following him, if he were listening to Kiriko.
“001,” he said. There was nobody around them, perfect for a battle if needed be.
“AAB,” the man said, not dropping the smile one bit. “It’s been a long time.”
There was a certain part of 001’s smile that immediately irritated Gou, and he knew partly it was because of the way he was being addressed. “I was never AAB.”
001 laughed at that. “You were once, and still are.” He tilted his head a little.
“Like hell!” Gou pulled his driver out. Yeah, 001 was one of the most powerful Roidmude out there, but at the most this would be a draw.
Of course, 001 was confident enough to merely raise a hand instead of dropping his human guise. “And you trusted those who abandoned you because you were not human enough for them?”
There was something in 001’s words that chilled him, and he shivered. 001 was right, he and Kiriko had left without knowing that Heart and the others had only meant well for them, and had at least not treated them as coldly as some people had when they’d found out about Gou and Kiriko’s mechanical parts. But those days were gone now.
No matter what their mistakes were, he knew that they could never go back. Never go home. Even if 001 and the others were trying their best to do what should have been done years ago - in Medic’s case, quite badly - their fate was decided.
“Heart was heartbroken when the two of you disappeared, AAB.” 001 held his hand out. “Let’s go home.”
“Nah,” Gou said, turning around. “Can’t change the past, after all.”
001 laughed behind him.
“Where is AAA?” 001 asked.
“Her name’s Kiriko,” Gou reminded him, not that 001 was likely to listen. Even if the Roidmudes had tried their best to help him and Kiriko, the fact that Gou and Kiriko had names, thanks, seemed to fly straight over their collective android heads.
“Ah, Kiriko. Where is Kiriko?” And Gou had to blink over the fact that 001 was actually using the right name.
“Some friends took her home.” Gou turned around. Kind of home, at least. “They convinced her to stay because she was in pain. Medic botched the procedure.”
Now it was 001’s turn to blink. “I see.” There was a sigh, and then 001 was smiling again. “AAB, tell her it’s time to come to her real home. I’ll make sure that she’s fixed.”
“My name is Gou. I’ll tell her.” Not that she’d ever go. The past was the past, and they had to live on.
“AAB.” The correction was in a grandfatherly tone.
“How come you recognize her name, but not mine?” That should confuse 001 for a bit. He’d pass the message along to Kiriko, but he doubted she’d want to return, given Medic’s incompetence.
“Because Kiriko has a Core, and you don’t.” 001 leaned on his walking stick, and Gou had to wonder if 001 saw them as kids or grandkids of sorts.
Which was why he wanted them to come home. To be what they were meant to be. “Then maybe it’s time.”
“Not quite.” 001 gave a small nod. “I’ll give you a card with a number you can call. Get your sister, call that number. I’ll make sure that both of you are taken to safety, and that Kiriko is fixed.”
“You’ve got a deal.” They smiled at each other, and Gou headed back towards where Kiriko was hiding, intent on convincing his sister it was time to return home.
Gou casually headed back to the building where Kiriko worked and was currently hiding. Sure, ‘casually’ meant taking many side streets and such in order to keep any well-meaning Roidmude followers from finding out where he was going, but it was still at a nice, easy pace. Kiriko had to make up her own mind about going back. If she didn’t, he’d just convince them to take him.
Eventually, he found his way down the stairs to Kiriko’s hiding place. She was the only one there at the moment, much to his relief. She was still stiff, and it pissed him off that Medic had left her in so much pain.
“So, got to tell you what happened,” Gou told her, settling down on a padded bench that looked like it doubled as a bed. And so he did, how he encountered 001, and his promise to get Kiriko fixed up.
By the time he was done, Kiriko was staring at him wide-eyed. “Gou, did you just tell me you made a bargain with 001 to get yourself implanted with a Core?”
“Yeah.” He beamed at her.
“Have you forgotten that Medic forced me to have a Core? That I was lucky to get out of there?” She was holding one of the little cars that were Tomari Shinnosuke’s version of his bikes.
“It was time to grow up.” What was Kiriko’s problem? Her Core made the Roidmudes call her by her name instead of her number. He still wan’t real fond of his, which was why he was volunteering instead of being taken in. “‘Sides, sis, 001’ll make sure that she fixes you the right way this time.”
“I’m not getting near either 001 or Medic. And neither should you. Gou, what’s wrong with you? You hate Roidmudes.”
“I finally realized that even though they did screw things up a lot, they didn’t mean to hurt us as much as they did.” Hadn’t she been the one to argue about how nice Heart was and how much she liked him? And then she’d run away and made him worry about her several times now. “So, what do you say? Shouldn’t we go home together?”
“Gou,” she said softly, and that was the last thing he heard before he was attacked by the Shift Cars that had been keeping watch over her.
Gou woke up to shouting. Joyful, ecstatic shouting, none the less, which had nothing to do with him. He tried to get up, only to find that he’d been tied to the place he’d been resting on.
“This is so wonderful! I found the Kamen Rider’s headquarters, and it’s so cool!” The squeeing was coming from a Bat Roidmude standing in the middle of the room.
He never thought that he’d be so annoyed to be rescued, but it was probably more the way his rescuer was talking than anything else. Could he stop talking and get Gou and Kiriko out of there?
But he seemed content to just babble happily about where he was.
Kiriko walked up quietly to the Roidmude and gave him a nice kick, as if to reboot him, or at least knock him out of his daze.
The Roidmude turned around, and instead of attacking Kiriko back, promptly hugged her. “Isn’t this great, AAA?”
“Eh?” His response had confused Kiriko as much as it confused Gou apparently.
“Or Kiriko now, I guess.” Roidmude faces didn’t show much in the way of expression. “What are you doing down here?”
Kiriko just blinked, rendered speechless by his words.
“I don’t know if you remember me, but I watched over you and AAB when you were kids.”
“Gou,” Kiriko said, finally managing to speak. “His name is Gou.”
“Gou,” the Roidmude agreed. He let Kiriko go. “Where’s Gou?”
“Right here. Could you untie me?” Wait, was the Roidmude calling him by his correct name even if he didn’t have a Core?
Could 001 have been lying, or was this Roidmude just special? Gou squinted at the plate on the Roidmude’s chest. 072. The number was vaguely familiar.
Kiriko was staring at the Roidmude’s chest as well. “Wait a minute. I remember you!”
“I hope so.” There was a definite smile in 072’s voice. “I’m so glad you’re safe, and okay.”
“One of us is not okay here!” Gou struggled a little. “Untie me!”
“Oh, sure,” 072 said. “What are you doing tied up?”
“It’s a long story,” Kiriko said, and Gou was, in some ways, kind of glad that his sister was getting along with at least one Roidmude.
072 knelt down and untied Gou. “There should be tea somewhere nearby, should I look for some?”
“Yes,” Gou told him, knowing that if 072 could get out of there, he could bring help.
“No, thank you.” Kiriko gave 072 a polite smile.
“I’ll look for some,” 072 promised, darting out the nearest door.
Gou could only hope he came back with a little more than something to drink.
Kiriko bolted after the Roidmude that was intent on making tea, and Gou considered what to do next while Krim Steinbert was yelling after Kiriko. Something about her Core and being tracked.
Not that it mattered, because the door slammed behind her. He would have run off himself, but there were now a bunch of tiny cars watching him from their highway perches. He might have to be rescued, after all.
And he didn’t play the dude in distress at all well. Hadn’t when he was eight and been found by the Roidmudes, didn’t do it now.
“So, what were you saying about Kiriko’s Core?” People tended to forget Gou was smart, and he used that to find out about things that he shouldn’t know about.
“It allows her to be tracked. That is why she’s down here.” The platform swiveled to face Gou.
It made sense. Kiriko wouldn’t leave the room because she didn’t want to be found by their adoptive family, for some reason.
“It also will eventually kill her.” The face on the belt had a grave expression.
“What?!?” The word came out in English, but he knew Krim understood. “Cores are deadly?” He wondered if the Roidmudes knew, but he doubted they did.
“They were not meant to be compatible with human biology. It is possible that they could be used temporarily without harm, but not connected as intimately as Kiriko’s is.”
Gou swore. He doubted the Roidmudes knew about the deadly side effect. How could they?
“This is why Kiriko reacted so strongly to your wanting a Core. She doesn’t want to lose you, Gou.”
“Well, I don’t want to lose her, either! Any way we can get it out?” He didn’t want to lose Kiriko, the only family he really had now.
“Whatever Medic did, it is impossible to remove without killing her. It has been so intricately attached to her nervous system that it is a part of her now.”
She was more Roidmude than she had been, and she was going to die of it. Shit.
And then his little Shift Car guards were flying off in a hurry. “What’s going on?”
“Kiriko has been found. Shinnosuke is on his way.”
His sister was in trouble. Now that he was free, he could save her.
He grabbed his belt and headed out the same way Kiriko had.
Gou exited the hallway to hear people screaming. It wasn’t surprising, given that it was kind of in the middle of the day in Japan - he hated to think of how tired he was going to be soon - and there were people that came to this place for various reasons.
Kiriko was shooting at a man in purple from cover. He must have been the Roidmude that Krim Steinbert mentioned, since Gou didn’t think it likely that he was 072. He slammed the belt on and transformed, distracting the Roidmude. He didn’t want to hurt the guy, not really, but Kiriko needed to get out of there. “You should get back to safety!” he called to his sister.
It wasn’t like the Roidmudes were going to force a Core on him at the moment. After all, he’d been willing to take one up until a few minutes ago and none of them knew that he’d changed his mind. Yeah, he’d have to find his own place of safety soon when 001 realized that he wasn’t ever going to get a call, but that was for later.
The man in purple hadn’t been attacking Kiriko, which meant that the Roidmudes wanted them unharmed. Or at least her unharmed. He must have been sent to retrieve Kiriko for some reason. Probably somebody hadn’t gotten the message about Gou bringing her in.
“Look,” Gou hissed, trying not to speak at a level where Kiriko could hear him, “I don’t know if you got the message, but I’m trying to convince her to come in, and I don’t need any help, got it?”
He didn’t want to get killed by his sister, after all, and leave her to die alone.
“You are AAB.” The Roidmude spoke calmly.
“Name’s Gou.” It was worthless, probably, but it would seem odd if he didn’t protest. And, after all, he still wasn’t AAB and never would be. “That’s Kiriko. Leave us alone.”
“My orders are to protect the two of you.” The Roidmude in front of him hadn’t even blinked.
“Eh, I can take care of that. You noticed that Kiriko’s no slouch, either. You can go now.”
“My orders are to protect the two of you until commanded otherwise.” The guy wasn’t budging. Gou hadn’t ever met a Roidmude that had this one’s total lack of emotions. He was more like a robot than a learning android.
“This is a command. Go. Home.” He had a feeling that it was useless. Definitely would have to be hit a few times if he didn’t listen.
“I do not take commands from you.” Was that irritation in that deep voice?
“Too bad.” He pulled out his Zenrin Shooter. Hopefully hitting the Roidmude over the head a few times would work without damaging him too much.
The Roidmude promptly threw him into a wall. Apparently “protect” didn’t mean “don’t hurt”. In fact, Gou was willing to bet that “knock unconscious” was in this guy’s allowed actions.
Well, even if this one meant well, he was going to have to say “no” to the whole protection thing.
Kiriko was by Gou’s side in an instant, getting him to safety - relative safety, at least - under a desk. At least under cover, though it mattered more for her than for him. The guy in purple was watching them, but he wasn’t doing anything hostile. Gou wondered if he could convince whoever gave emotionless guy his orders that he needed to be fixed, not them.
“So, what happened? He start interrogating people about us?” Gou asked. He’d see Kiriko safely out of there, but he needed to know what was going on.
“I don’t know. I was here, and Chase was here, and everybody started panicking.” Kiriko bit her lip.
“Chase. Mr Emotionless Roidmude over there?” He shrugged a shoulder in the man’s direction.
“Yes. He’s the… he calls himself the Grim Reaper, because he takes disobedient Roidmudes and resets them to their Cores.” Her words were hesitant, and Gou didn’t blame her. Technically speaking, she could be counted as a disobedient Roidmude. She had to have been disobeying Heart when she left, after all. “Apparently they resist.”
At least he wasn’t shooting Gou’s big sister, which was a good thing. Maybe Heart thought she needed talking to instead of resetting. Then Gou could convince him that Kiriko would come in, Gou just needed to convince her because she was scared. Of Medic.
He wondered where 072 had gotten off to, but didn’t dare mention the name to Kiriko just in case she got any ideas about chasing the guy down.
And then he felt it - slowdown. He didn’t have to worry about it because of his bikes, and Kiriko didn’t look affected either. It was kind of hysterical, in a way. Everybody present had Roidmude parts, and all of them except Gou had Cores.
He dehenshined, transforming back to good old Gou. Which he still was, no matter what anybody said. Didn’t want to aggravate things, not if he was to convince Chase’s boss that no, Kiriko didn’t need to go with them right now.
From his viewpoint, he could hear but not see very well. But Kiriko could, since she had a better vantage. “Heart,” she said softly. “And Brain.”
“Lemme go and talk,” Gou said. Kiriko would still probably want to kill him after he did his entire spiel on how he’d been tasked by 001 to bring her back in. “You go and grab those ham sandwiches.”
Go run, he wanted to say, but he didn’t trust his luck when it came to the Roidmudes overhearing what they shouldn’t.
Chase turned sharply their way, and Gou knew he had heard, at least. But he didn’t know their code phrase, and he didn’t know what Gou had planned.
“Chase! Where are they?” Heart’s oh-so-cheerful voice made Gou want to walk up to him and apologize right away, but he had to do it carefully and draw the Roidmude away from his sister. From her expression, Kiriko was torn as well - she’d always loved Heart, no matter what.
“Under this desk.” And with that, Chase was right next to where they were hiding. This would be some delicate work on Gou’s end for sure.
And then there were three sets of feet and legs. Heart knelt down and smiled at them. “AAA, AAB. That’s a new hiding place, isn’t it?”
“Adults aren’t too good at Demon Tag,” Kiriko said, recalling their childhood game that had pretty much gotten them out of there. “It’s Kiriko now.”
“Kiriko.” Heart was still smiling. He reached out his arms. “And here’s AAB. Come out, it’s safe now.”
“Gou,” Gou corrected. “She’s in pain, she can’t move right now.” That would be a good cover to draw the others away from Kiriko. He figured she had a reason for running away, and a lot of it had to do with Medic.
Heart’s expression turned quickly to horrified worry, and then Gou found himself being grabbed by Heart and pulled out of their hiding spot. “Chase, hold onto him. He always hides when he’s scared.”
Of all the things that Heart could have remembered, the thing that he did was that Gou tended to hide from their family a lot. It was more than a little embarrassing. Still, Chase took hold of him firmly, making sure he didn’t go anywhere. Gou couldn’t struggle much without blowing his cover - he was supposed to want a Core, after all.
“Here, Kiriko. Lie down, I’ll try to lift you so you don’t hurt.”
“I don’t think that’s possible. I hurt all over,” Kiriko said. Gou recognized what she was doing - trying to delay things so Tomari Shinnosuke could arrive. The thought of being saved was of great relief to Gou, at least for Kiriko’s sake.
Heart didn’t respond for a minute or two, as if he was considering his options. “I’m sorry,” he said, and from what Gou could tell, he genuinely was. He stood up, taking Gou from Chase. “Chase, return her back to Core. Brain, don’t reset her.”
There was grumbling from Brain. Chase nodded, drawing out his gun and kneeling.
Tomari wasn’t going to arrive in time. Gou was going to have to go renegade and save Kiriko.
It certainly was nothing like what he’d planned.
And then Kiriko kicked the gun out of Chase’s hand. Gou couldn’t see much, but he saw the hesitation, the flinch from the pain. Not that it meant anything to the rest of the people - Roidmudes - in the place, but he knew that had to have hurt.
Well, might as well just declare himself renegade as well. He tumbled out of Heart’s grip, and turned to see his opponent’s complete confusion as to why in the hell Gou and Kiriko were suddenly fighting against their own.
It made things so much simpler when 001 and Heart weren’t trying to bring them in.
“You forgot. We grew up as humans.” He had to distract all of them from Kiriko, who was trying to get away. Or maybe somewhere where she could fight back despite the pain. “I’m Gou!” It was certainly more of an act of rebellion than he could have thought of half an hour ago. Or however long it had been since Kiriko’s protective friends had knocked him out.
“Now do you want them reset?” Brain yelled the question from a safe place, halfway up a set of stairs.
Chase, in the meantime, had recovered his gun and was heading towards Kiriko, intent on following his last orders. Gou slammed the bike back into his Driver, shifting into Mach and tackling Chase.
If he could toss Chase’s gun at Kiriko, she’d be safe for the moment. Which he did, wresting it from Chase’s grasp and sliding it towards Kiriko. She could probably fire it, giving her some defense.
And then he himself was tossed into a wall by someone behind him. He tumbled once more, coming up between the Roidmudes and Kiriko. Thankfully, it wasn’t so rough that he lost his transformation; being congratulated on being knocked out of Mach was not something he needed at the moment.
He looked up to see a grim Heart bearing down on him, picking him up easily and pounding him into a wall repeatedly until the Mach Driver finally gave up.
Kiriko shot not precisely at Chase, but off to one side. Maybe she hoped to hit Brain; Gou didn’t know for sure. And then she threw Chase’s gun right at him, hitting him in the face, before making a run for it. Or at least that’s what Gou hoped.
“I told you they need resetting.” Brain reappeared. Gou was struggling in Heart’s grasp, while Chase had taken off after Kiriko.
“I know.” There was a sigh on Heart’s end. “They’re both malfunctioning. The humans corrupted their programming.”
Malfunctioning. Corrupted programming. How so typical of a set of androids to refer to things in mechanical terms.
“They’re doing more than malfunctioning. They’re a threat! I suggest both of them be reset as soon as possible.”
“Chase has his orders.” Why did Heart sound so sad? “In the meantime, we can at least fix him.”
“I don’t need fixing!” Fixing meant a Core and certain death, or conversion into full Roidmude.
“Oh, you need fixing.” Brain came towards him, a wicked smile on his face as he shifted forms. And then he touched Gou, and Gou shrieked in pain.
Brain let go, but Gou didn’t feel like he had the strength to do anything, including stand. “He won’t be going anywhere,” Brain said, sounding far too happy for his own good.
“Good,” Heart looked at him. “We’ll fix the malfunction and he’ll be fine.”
“Of course,” Brain said smoothly.
“And I’m sure Chase will catch up to Kiriko soon.” Heart was smiling. “With her sent back to her Core, we can give her a full Roidmude body and she won’t be in pain anymore.”
He had to do something. Not that he could do much other than hope that Tomari Shinnosuke showed up very, very soon. “Her mind isn’t completely backed up to her Core!” It wasn’t strictly true, but if Heart cared, it might give him pause. “I was trying to bring her in because she had to be fixed.”
Yeah, given he’d just attacked Chase, that might not hold water, but Heart was very forgiving. Gou could escape having a Core installed later.
“Brain?” There was now a panicked tone to Heart’s words.
“It’s possible. Medic has never attempted to do this before.” Brain looked at his tablet.
“I’m going to find Chase. You watch AAB.”
Brain smiled. Heart dropped Gou on the ground, going after Chase and Kiriko. Gou felt as if he’d been dropped off with his least favorite babysitter.
“Heart will realize how dangerous you are soon,” Brain said conversationally.
Gou tried to get up but failed, his body too weak. Brain sat down next to where Gou was struggling and gave him a rough push to the ground. His fingers traced down the back of Gou’s neck and down his spine, and Gou had the sick feeling that Brain was considering where to start cutting Gou open for surgery when they got back to wherever their current headquarters was.
He realized after a moment that there were sounds of combat somewhere nearby. Maybe Kiriko was safe, maybe Tomari had arrived. He hoped so.
Brain’s poison, along with his own jet lag, came crashing down on him and he fell unconscious.
Gou woke up when he was abruptly swung. Coming slowly to consciousness, he realized that he was being held by Heart, who had apparently been taking him away. The reason that Heart had pivoted was because Tomari was there, fighting to protect Gou. Unfortunately for Tomari, there were three Roidmude fighting him. Okay, two, since Heart was reacting more defensively than offensively, keeping Tomari from freeing Gou.
He wondered if Kiriko normally helped Tomari, but she was out of the action now because of the Core. Now he was going to have to help in his weakened condition. Problem was, he realized, that he couldn’t move his right arm - the mechanical one.
Brain had probably deactivated it. It seemed like something he’d do, and something that Gou always feared, that he’d lose use of it. He’d learned to use the arm to his advantage.
Now he was going to use his legs instead of his arms. He was pretty acrobatic, so he should be able to slip out of Heart’s arms if he tried. The Cars - and his own Bikes - were joining the fight, targeting the three Roidmude.
He was finally freed by the valiant efforts of the Shift Cars and his own Bikes, and landed on the ground with a thump. Tomari had shifted to a form, a more whitish one, but he couldn’t quite get to Gou. Which meant that Gou had to drag himself away with his one working arm and hope that nobody stepped on him.
The really annoying thing, he realized, was that Heart was likely to keep going after him and Kiriko as long as the current situation lasted. While diplomacy wasn’t his strong point, fast-talking was, and he was sure that he could bring an end to this.
“Stop! Listen to me.” he yelled, hoping that everybody would listen without him having to bash in any heads. Not that he was capable of it at the moment, but he hoped they’d hear him out anyway.
It at least stopped Heart, who had been bending down to pick him back up.
“Look, Big Sis and I have known for a while we’re not really human.” It was a lie of sorts, but it made Heart smile. “But we’re not really Roidmude either. We’re kind of in between.”
Humans with Roidmude parts, Kiriko more than him.
“You can be more than that.” Heart was squatting down, his arms open as if expecting Gou to crawl into them. Well, as much as Gou wanted to, he knew that he’d have a Core installed in him if he went with Heart. And he didn’t want to die.
“We’ve evolved to where we need to be. We don’t need fixing - we just need to stop fighting what we are.” Accept that they would never be completely whole, thanks to their father, but that they had people on both sides.
Maybe it was a good thing he’d encountered 001 in that park, making him realize certain things. He balanced against a wall and clumsily took off his belt, tossing it away.
“But Gou-“ Tomari started to say.
“We need to stay out of this, Sis and I, period.” He half-smiled. “We’re not gonna have a war fought over us.” Roidmudes and humans could fight. He was going to have to take himself out of it, and save his sister. Kiriko wasn’t going to be too happy being tossed out of the fight, neither was he, but some things had to be done. “It’s bad enough that Kiriko’s gonna die because of her Core!”
Okay, that last bit shouldn’t have come out, but he thought could see Heart wince.
“So, yeah, we’re gonna just wait to see who the victors are.” What was the line from that American movie? That the best way to win a game was not to play? Humans were innovative; given time, they would save Kiriko.
There was a smile gracing Heart’s face. “Then we’ll just have to win. For you and Kiriko.”
Was it a bad thing to hope that Heart and the others lost this war?
“But Heart, you know what-“ Brain was about to say something, and then abruptly shut his mouth.
“He’s right. And we’ll win this because I will not have my people being used and abused by humans.” He shot a look over at the purple-armored Roidmude. “Let’s go, Brain, Chase.”
Brain shot him a look - it was hard to tell, but Gou thought he was getting pretty good at reading Roidmude expressions - but followed his leader as Heart made his way out. Chase, the purple armored one, followed after them.
“Gou,” Krim said quietly after they’d done. “You can’t be serious.”
“Do you really think that Heart will ever give up trying to convert us? I’m sure Sis and I can find a way to help behind the scenes, now that Heart doesn’t think we’re being ‘used’.” He smiled, but he knew it was as weak as he felt. “In the meantime, maybe you can figure out how to get my arm working again, fix Kiriko, and cure whatever Brain gave me.”
He wasn’t completely happy, and he knew that Kiriko would never be, but for the moment, he was free.