Work Text:
Considering the fact that the comments Tsukasa Okino left after the strings tell me to, quote, “grab some coffee while this decompiles”, I may as well go make myself yet another cup.
Renya Gouto added another line to the page corresponding to the date in his yearly notebook.
Tenth cup of coffee during this session. I can still feel the effects, but drinking further is not recommended for both health reasons and hopefully not developing an immunity to caffeine’s effects.
Taking off his glasses for a second and rubbing his eyes with his thumb and index finger, Renya got up from his chair and made his way towards the coffee machine on the other side of the room. An urgent print from Okino the second they got the labs up and running, it had served them well for almost five years, and would hopefully continue to do so.
As he waited for the mug to fill with the blend he found to contain the most caffeine whilst still catering to his personal tastes, Renya absentmindedly looked towards the wall.
Just a bit longer, and it’s done. Must wait for the code to... decompile... and then... send to Okino.
He closed his eyes as his head hung forward, before being rudely awakened by the coffee overflowing from the mug and burning his hand. Remaining almost perfectly silent, Renya hissed while shaking his wounded hand and walked back to his station in silence.
However, whatever small noise he made was still enough to wake up the small and lithe figure sleeping in a mess of blankets in a corner.
The figure stirred awake, and wrestled the sheets away to reveal one Ryoko Shinonome. Dazed, Ryoko stretched her arms and rubbed her eyes, before standing up and walking towards him with a blanket wrapped around her back.
“How long was I out?” Her voice sounded flat, as it always did.
“Two and a half hours. I gather it was not sufficient rest.”
“No, but it works. Thanks for the concern.” Her lips curved up into a slight smile, contrasted by the dark eyebags staining her porcelain face.
“You’re welcome.” Renya’s remained in a flat line, as befitted his preference for deadpan humor.
He enjoyed this rapport they shared. It certainly made lab work a lot less tedious, what with Ryoko’s tendencies towards morbidity and gallows humor contrasting with his more serious approach to things.
It even made it... fun, in a way. Sure, Renya liked seeing results and being productive, but even he found pain in tedium. Having someone along every step of the way helped lighten that burden.
It also made him feel things, but it was nothing meaningful. He knew that much.
Unfortunately, a surge of these... feelings made a small knot in his stomach when he saw Ryoko approach him. He made sure to smother the whispers, as he sometimes did.
“Get some sleep. I’ll watch over.” Ryoko’s eyes were set on his own falling eyelids.
“It’s not necessary. I can still—“
“I don’t want to be mean, but you look horrible. You’ve been at this far longer than me, so it’s only fair I pull my weight.” Her response was dry, cutting and immediate.
“I... suppose so. If I’m not awake in an hour and a half, do not hesitate to wake me up.”
“Keeping that in mind. Also, you need to shave. Too much stubble on your face.”
And there she was again, with her brutal honesty. One of her similarities to her original personality.
As Renya laid down on the thin mattress in the corner of the room, he attempted to empty his mind and lose consciousness as quickly as possible, but much to his dismay, his brain was filled with thoughts about Ryoko, who was spinning in a chair thirty meters away from him.
It wasn’t as if these feelings appeared the moment he saw her for the first time in the flesh. At first, he regarded her no differently than he did anyone else: a fellow comrade, a survivor amidst the chaos that was the rebirth of the human race. When they started working together, he felt a sort of special kinship with her... and all the rest of the lab members. Only when their time together alone became longer and longer (considering Amiguchi had obligations as a father to fulfill and Okino loved doing his own thing) was that he began to see her differently.
A... friend. Possibly the only real, personal friend he had among the compatible. It’s not as if he was hated, but he seemed to be in a whole different plane to the other pilots, who regarded him as the unofficial leader of the colony. Ryoko was the only one along with Sekigahara to acknowledge him as an equal rather than a superior, possibly for having known him since before the Deimos attacked.
Of course, she apparently remembered none of that, so it could’ve also been mere coincidence.
Renya attempted and failed to banish Ryoko from his head, but, for this one occasion, decided to let it dwell at least a bit further, if only because he was sure the attempt to shut his brain up was hindering his efforts to sleep. Amiguchi did say that thinking about Takamiya made him sleep easier at night, so there was no harm in trying.
He recalled the Ryoko from years past, and mentally divided her from the one near him. To say that they were the same person would be to outright lie, considering that they had as many differences as they did similarities.
On the one hand, his brain thought about Shinonome, the stubborn, determined and, as he’d find out later, scarily obssesive girl that had just as suddenly asked him to date as she had told him that they were done. The one that proved to be almost even smarter than him, only to fall to the machinations of a certain glasses-wearing teacher. The one whose voice, always filled with emotion, failed to faze him during the weird period of experimentation their relationship was to him.
On the other, there was Ryoko, his research partner. Someone who, despite outwardly exuding the same determination and confidence she used to, inwardly fretted over her mistakes and worried about the tiniest of things. He recalled the times he woke up with a blanket thrown over him after falling asleep while working, the food she brought for the both of them for those late-night working hours, the conversations about philosophy and life they shared... the way her flat voice was like the most melodious of compositions...
The more he rewound in his brain and thought about Shinonome-san, he detected no particular changes to his body chemistry.
The more he thought about Ryoko, the more his stomach felt strange and the more he felt strangely... good.
His eyes were wide open.
He’d dwelled too far, and was, in fact, even less sleepy than before. His cheap, naive thoughts got to him. Or, hopefully, it was actually the caffeine still running through his system. Throwing the sheets to the side, Renya stood up and walked towards the chair next to Ryoko, who had stopped spinning and was instead staring at the ceiling.
“Can’t sleep?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Shame. At least you can keep me company now.”
“That I can.”
Despite what Ryoko had just said, silence reigned over them for a few minutes, until, finally, she spoke.
“You know, I’ve been wondering...” Her eyes were slightly closed, still looking up while her arms hung at her sides. “How slim were the chances of us pulling it all off?”
“I don’t think there’s an appropriate number. It’s probably closer to zero. My personal calculations stated around 0,007% percent, but it could’ve been more or less.”
“Wooo, go us. We rock.” Ryoko replied with the dryest tone she could manage.
“I don’t think there is a point in mulling it over now. We escaped, and that’s that. It’s why I don’t think much about the simulation.”
And yet he’d spent some time thinking about her personality inside it, but she didn’t have to know that, now had she?
“Speaking of that whole simulation thing, sometimes I get these... vague wisps, of things that happened way before the final battle. It’s strange.”
“How so?”
“I know these are my memories, but I just...” She stopped for a moment and narrowed her eyes, contemplating how to explain her predicament. “They don’t feel like they belong to me.”
Ryoko had, in essence, only come into being a few years ago, when a new personality finally occupied her brain fully after DD-426 had completely erased everything that formed her as the final battle raged on. From an empty husk who knew only how to perform basic tasks and pilot a Sentinel effectively came the person that so captured his mind.
“It’s understandable you would feel that way. Those were, after all, memories of your previous personality.”
“Still, it’s not much. Only something about a Sanae, or maybe back when I called Ei “Ei-kun”.”
“DD-426 decimated your nanomachines’ link with your brain, but even Kurabe had some... remnants of Izumi inside him. I don’t see why it can’t be the same for you.”
“Eh, makes sense. At any rate, it’s nothing particularly important.” And yet, her expression shifted into a more pensive one.
Renya angled his chair towards the terminal that was currently in the process of decompiling one of the last blocks of data that the original Tsukasa Okino had coded. The interface still said it was 70% through, but it was prone to sudden stops and errors, so it needed constant surveillance.
A status update from their Okino appeared on the top left corner.
“Almost done with environmental management. ETA on graphics processing?”
A small window below the pop-up allowed for a quick reply.
“Unknown. 71% done as of now.”
He received no response from Okino. Perhaps he was once again cleaning up his code, as he insisted was the right thing to do, just in case.
Renya spun back towards Ryoko, who was staring intently at him with half-lidded eyes. He could only tilt his head to the side and narrow his eyes, humming, as if to question her on what exactly she was doing.
“You know... sometimes you appear there too. In the memories, I mean.”
“You mean from back when we tried to pry the password to remove DD-426 from you?”
“No. Farther back.”
“Oh.”
He’d never really told her personally about their previous tryst. He said that they knew each other before she lost her memories, and that was it. No need to get into specifics. Their relationship back then was barely even a footnote in the book of their lives, at least to him, and it was extremely different from their relationship now.
Part of him really wanted her to remember now, at least a little.
“It’s still scrambled, but it’s a bit more clear. I remember a rooftop, you and me...” She closed her eyes and pressed her thumb to the bridge of her nose, in an attempt to wrench out a little more context from the memory. “...and me asking you to go out, or something.”
“I... see.” Renya’s perfectly calm demeanor was still unbroken.
“Care to explain?” Ryoko’s expression morphed into a smirk.
Renya blew out a breath, and began explaining.
“One day, you asked me to go out, out of the blue. You said, and I quote, that you had your eye on me for a while. We dated for two months, and then, just as suddenly, you broke up with me.”
“I did that?”
“Well, not you, but... you understand.”
“And why did I date you just to break up with you?” Her face was scrunched up in confusion.
“You wanted your parents to stop bothering you about your friendship with Sekigahara, and so, picked me to get them off your back. For the record, I only accepted out of sheer curiosity and to understand you.” He had no idea why he added that last part.
“It would’ve honestly been a horrible thing if you had actually, you know, loved me, but you not liking me either makes it kind of funny, in a way. Actually, you have to tell me what you replied. I need to know.”
“Why are you so interested?” He couldn’t help but smirk too.
“Just... curious.” The faintest hint of a blush appeared on her cheeks.
“I just said okay, and we held hands until we exited the school and went home. It was as clinical as it sounds.”
Ryoko seemed almost disappointed at that. She remained silent for a few minutes more, and then spoke again.
“Did you at least have fun?” She was looking at the ceiling again.
“What?”
“Fun. Did you at least have fun with me while we were together?”
“We went on one date to a park, and nothing else. We were swamped with exams. We did, at least, exchange lots of text messages, but they were mostly about inane things.”
“Not much different from us now, wouldn’t you say?” The statement made his throat feel weird for a second or two.
“In that we are swamped with work, always busy, and mostly talk about nothing important?”
“Yeah. But that’s because you insist on working so much, you boring stiff. We could... you know, actually do things.”
“Such as? I don’t think a colony such as ours has many options for recreation.” The supreme logician part of Renya’s brain took over, and made him ignore any possible second meaning in that statement.
“Well, we could always watch a movie, play some gam—“
Ryoko’s impromptu list of recreational activities was cut off by the terminal finally chiming, signalling that the code decompiling was complete.
“Finally. Let me send this to Okino and do a quick once-over, and we can finally get some actual rest.” Renya’s expression was delighted, and he hurriedly typed away at the terminal to send the data to its recipient.
On Ryoko’s side, her face shifted into a pout, and she inched closer before resting her chin on his shoulder, talking softly in his ear.
“Just don’t work yourself to death, you hear me? I’m going to fall into a coma for a bit. See you.”
That whole interaction left Renya completely paralyzed the moment Ryoko got up and started walking towards the doorway, and for a moment he swore his stomach and heart had traded places.
He’d have to take quite a long time to think about things when he returned to his room to, supposedly, sleep.
While Ryoko was sleeping peacefully in her room and Okino coded in the quickest yet orderly manner he could, Renya was sitting at his desk furiously writing into his notebook, trying to make sense of both his feelings and her actions.
Comparing my bodily reactions to Morimura, it is safe to say that, somehow, Ryoko affects my brain's electrochemistry more than she ever did. A possible cause for this is me personally having known her for years, rather than my brief but strong, for lack of a better word, crush on Ms. Morimura.
I find myself lost in thought about her sometimes. About her face and voice, mostly. This is concerningly liable to affect my working capabilities in a manner that we (as in, the members of this colony) have agreed could impact our living conditions negatively, reason why romantic couples are not allowed to work together. Distractions are, of course, a disadvantage.
I love her. My opinion on her is one thing, but my brain’s opinion might differ. Which one shall remain is a matter that I’m... unwilling to dwell on, for some reason. Maybe I do love her? Unlikely. I am possibly just confused and enjoy her presence as a friend, as she is probably the first one I’ve had in years. This is the most likely option.
However, her actions are a completely different matter to attend to. She shows a great deal of care for me in a manner I have been unable to reciprocate, for, once again, lack of a better word. However, these actions do not have to be fueled by romantic love. We are, first and foremost, friends research partners. It only makes sense that she wishes for me to be in prime condition to be able to work.
That being said, what explains her sudden wish to engage in non-work related activities with me despite having already built a rapport a long time ago? And her physical contact? While enjoyable I did not mind it, it is quite unlike her. I am willing to humor her requests, though. Maybe it’d do me some good. We are still not at a stage in which I can afford distractions.
Why do I long to see her so much now? To... engage in physical touch with her? To caress her cheek and hear her speak on whatever topic she desires? I can’t have possibly fallen in love. While it was something that drove me when I was a naive teenager, it is frankly unacceptable to act this way now that I am twenty-two years old.
Ryoko is my research partner and, sometimes, a friend, and that finalizes my calculations. The course of action to take is none at all. Things will remain as they are, and work goes on.
As Renya reclined on his chair and closed his notebook, he heard two knocks on the door. Almost on instinct, he turned back and expected to see her.
“Ryoko?”
Instead, all he saw was a tired mess of white hair and a lab coat.
“Sorry to disappoint. It’s me. Coding’s done. Come check on the pods. Shinonome-senpai is already—“ A yawn. “...awake and there. Mind if I steal your bed for a bit? It’s a long way back home.”
“You live right next to the facility.” He couldn’t help but smirk. “Besides, wouldn’t Hijiyama-san be angry that you’re sleeping in another man’s bed?”
“He knows I’d never betray him like that. He’s an oaf, but he’s not that stupid. Anyways, just get going. I’ll be there in thirty minutes. You have some alone time with Shinonome-senpai, I get a bit of sleep. A fair trade, isn’t it?” Okino smirked back.
“Why would I be interested in having some... “alone time” with Ryoko?“ Renya’s smirk dissipated quickly upon hearing Okino’s words, but his demeanor remained calm.
“The entire colony sans Minami, Miura and Sekigahara think you two are dating and hide it because of some “being respectable” thing. Are you?”
Why did the question bother him so?
“No. We are simply research partners and, possibly, friends.”
Why did the answer bother him even more?
“I see. I’d love to pry more, but my head is hurting so much I think it’s about to explode. See you in forty-five minutes.”
“Wasn’t it thirty?”
“I need sleep, Gouto-senpai. Now go.”
“Are you... kicking me out of—“
“Yes. I am. Do this for a comrade, won’t you?”
Renya sighed in exasperation and moved towards the door, not before grabbing his notebook and stuffing it in his pocket. The trek through the facility down to the pod room was just five minutes long, but it still felt unreasonably long.
When he arrived, Ryoko was crouched down in front of the pod labeled with her name, and analyzing it deeply.
His heart momentarily caught in his throat, but he managed to swallow it back down to his chest.
“Oh, Renya. How are you feeling? Got some sleep?” Her face was still marked by her usual eyebags, but not to the point that they’d been recently.
“Very little, in all honesty. Five hours is still enough, though.”
“You should try sleeping for sixteen once. It does wonders to your brain.” Her little smile as she said that made his heart threaten to jump again.
“Maybe so.”
“With Okino’s updates, we should be able to get in and out of this without issue. Should is the keyword.”
“And considering the... family circumstances the rest are in, we can’t really ask any of them to serve as test subjects.” His hand flew up to his now spotless chin, mirroring a usual expression his seventeen year old self made.
“Not without moral compunctions, at least. Would be sad to leave Konatsu without a father, wouldn’t it?” She laughed a little as she said it.
“It certainly would be.” And he couldn’t help but laugh too.
They sat in silence for some minutes, before Renya spoke again.
“Concerning your suggestion from last time...”
“Oh?” She slightly perked up upon hearing that...
“... I cannot really afford distractions right now. Maybe in the near-future.”
“Shame.” ...and visibly deflated.
I also need to get my thoughts in order first, he didn’t add.
Some more minutes were spent discussing the different interpretations of death as it concerned various philosophers, until Okino finally arrived, rubbing his left eye. He carried a portable terminal in his arms, which he swiftly connected to the pod mainframe.
He motioned towards their respective pods, and used the terminal to open them. Cold vapor came out of them, and soon, they were ready for usage.
“Why are you not taking your clothes off?”
Both of them stared at him with wide open eyes.
“Relax, I’m kidding. That was just because we were developing in here. The actual connection to our neural pathways and nanomachines is in our temple.” Okino had one of his usual shit-eating grins on his face.
Both of them tacitly told him to fuck off by narrowing his eyes at him.
“Just get in. Let me handle everything.”
They looked at each other before lying down in their pods, which were side by side. A possible result of being the first and second specimen developed, Renya theorized.
Their eyes closed, and they felt a slight prickling pain in their left temple, before suddenly, reality vanished.
Renya already felt everything differently before opening his eyes. He felt a few inches smaller, maybe slightly more fed, and the rim of his glasses felt much different than the ones he used in reality.
When he opened his eyes, he was met by the sight of Ayame Park, fully restored to its form before the kaiju attack. An orange light illuminated his surroundings, its source being absolute nothingness as the same mesh pattern repeated for infinity throughout the horizon.
Okino must’ve used this place as a testing ground. Makes sense. It’s detailed, but not particularly hard to make as a main street would, and it doesn’t have AIs inhabiting it and asking inconvenient questions.
“I forgot how tight these bandages were. Don’t even know why I had them.”
And when he turned his head—
There she was. Shinonome-san.
Shinonome was currently struggling to unwrap the uncomfortable bandage around her head and let her hair roam free, doing small grunts of effort all throughout.
“It’s... stuck... there we go!” She finally managed to untangle it, and fully unwrapped it before throwing it to the ground.
Renya could only stare, mesmerized. She looked exactly the same as he remembered her. Same expression. Same eyes. Same porcelain face.
And when comparing her to Ryoko, he realized how absolutely stunning she was in comparison to the already hauntingly beautiful Shinonome.
“Well, sight works perfectly to start with. A given, I suppose.” Finally, that broke him out of his reverie, and reminded him why they were back in Ayame Park. It wasn’t a date. They were just beta-testing everything and hopefully not getting stuck again.
Renya wordlessly walked towards the park’s wooden fences and touched them carefully.
“Touch feels exactly as it does in reality.” His voice became slightly more emotional as he continued to speak.
“Check that one off. Works for me too.”
Shinonome closed her eyes, and listened carefully for the two birds nested in one of the park’s trees.
“Never thought I’d be so glad to hear birds chirp.” Her flat voice was finally manifesting some sort of emotion.
“Confirmed. It... truly is beautiful to hear them here, isn’t it?” Damn it, why was his voice cracking?
“Yeah.”
And as for smell, Shinonome got close to him, and apparently started sniffing his hand. Upon seeing his confused expression, she explained.
“You told me you used to rub alcohol on them all the time, once. And it seems like still smells like it.” She was grinning from ear to ear. “Is smell working for you too?”
Why do you remember such a minimal thing like an old habit of mine?
Renya covered his mouth and nose with his hand, and breathed.
The hydrogenated and oxygenated carbon molecules of alcohol entered his nostrils with a pungent smell. Never before had he been so happy to smell something.
“Confirmed.”
Nothing prepared him for Shinonome wrapping her lithe arms around his waist and excitedly speaking, her voice finally losing her dry inflection for once.
“We did it! God damn it, we did it! It’s back, the sim’s back!” She was crying. Of happiness, he assumed. “Everyone can be brought back!”
For once, Shinonome’s voice managed to make him feel something.
Without realizing it, he started crying too. His tears fell on top of Shinonome’s head as he reciprocated her hug. Unconsciously, he placed his chin on that exact same place and closed his eyes.
“It’s our life’s work, finished.”
“Yeah, until we get to rewiring the pods to regenerate humans from AI!”
“Now, aren’t you getting a little too far ahead from yourself?”
“Screw you, you stiff. Let me enjoy the happiest moment in my life yet.”
Shinonome squeezed tighter, then broke their hug off and looked at him.
Looking straight at her glistening eyes and genuine smile, along with the way she looked at him, Renya finally made up his mind.
He was, to certain chagrin and much delight, in love with Ryoko. Maybe she didn’t feel the same, but he wouldn’t care this time around.
This time, he truly did love her.
And maybe she did too, considering how her hand seemed to slowly rise towards his jaw and she tilted her head—
“Ahem.” A very high-pitched voice rang out from somewhere.
The both of them quickly yelped and jumped away from each other, trying to find the source of the voice.
“Down here.”
Nothing prepared Renya for what he saw when he looked down at the ground. A child, no older than four years old, dressed in a kindergarten uniform and carrying a handmade stuffed rabbit.
“Professor Morimura...?”
“You have a lot of things to explain, Renya Gouto. This situation isn’t included.”
She looked expectantly at the pair, before Shinonome— no, Ryoko opened her mouth.
“This is... her? Professor Morimura?” Ryoko’s face was flushed.
“You must be Professor Shinonome’s clone. Yes, I am, in fact, Professor Chihiro Morimura.”
“It is... it is nice to meet you in person, Professor.” Not a bit of Ryoko’s face had simmered down.
“The pleasure is mine.” The Professor’s smile at Ryoko was genuine. “Gouto, enlighten me on the situation.” Clinical, direct and to the point as always.
Renya looked away, and began to speak.
“It’s been five years since I won our bet. Your help was immeasurably valuable.”
“Help? Why would I help myself lose?”
“Oh, right. This is before the attack.” Ryoko interjected, and then returned to her flushed complexion.
“Maximum hypocrisy, or so you stated. This is a test instance Okino made using Ayame Park as a baseline, which is why UC has not rendered the rest of the Sector correctly. Truth be told, explaining any more would be fruitless, considering the actual instance will be back to the moment we arrived. That being said, it is nice to see you.” Renya acted as logically as possible, as if he hadn’t almost let his feelings control him for once.
“Tsukasa, huh...” Chihiro slightly smiled at knowing the son she’d never raised had contributed so much. “Well, I congratulate you. Good luck rebuilding humanity, and may we see each other again.”
“If I may... Professor, there is some... research, we’d like for you to—“ All of Ryoko’s previous emotions had been replaced by sheer nervousness upon meeting her idol, the one that had provided so much of the documentation she analyzed and adored.
“I’m flattered, Shinonome-san. But remember that I’ll forget everything when you exit. Next time, alright?”
“Y-yes.” The smile the child provided flushed Ryoko even more.
“On that note, how do we exit?” A very good question, considering Okino had neglected to tell them.
“Maybe that sign over there can help.” Chihiro pointed towards a sign that should’ve said Ayame Park.
Instead, it read something else in a font Renya personally found horrifying.
In case I forget to tell you, just keep your finger to your temple for around five seconds. A menu should open and should let you open the pod and exit from inside. If I didn’t forget, please ignore this. If you’re stuck here, independent of if I told you or not, I’ll try to get you out as soon as possible. My bad.
Renya’s eye twitched, but he still pressed a finger to his temple as Ryoko did the same.
In front of him, an interface reminiscent of the ones from the UFO appeared. A light-blue block was in front of him, simply reading “Exit instance?”, with two smaller blocks underneath to reply.
“Goodbye, Professor. It was nice meeting you again.”
“Goodbye, and congrats. Oh, and one more thing.”
Both of their fingers hovered over the affirmative option.
“My Natsuno Minami ran a poll on what the unlikeliest couple was before everything went to hell, and you two were the winners.” Chihiro rested her cheek upon her hand, and smiled innocently.
Both of them pressed the affirmative option immediately.
Going back and forth from the simulation and to reality still felt jarring, no matter the sensory information provided to his brain. Renya exited his pod and took a second to stretch his limbs, considering the position he had while being unconscious in it was extremely uncomfortable.
Next to him, Ryoko covered one side of her face with her hand, with a slight wince.
“Everything okay?”
“Just a slight migraine. Guess it’s because my nanomachines aren’t in top shape. It’s nothing serious, though.” For some reason, she couldn’t meet his gaze. “Actually, I think I need some more sleep.”
“I see. I think I’ll go do the same.” The words he really wanted to say were, for now, left unsaid.
“See you whenever I wake up.” And so, Ryoko left the room, yawning. The flatness of her voice had returned.
His chest tightened. Why couldn’t he say it? Why couldn’t he share the revelation he’d gotten while inside the instance?
Renya sighed and also left the room, leaving the snoring Okino lying on the floor.
Truth be told, now that their biggest project yet was practically finished and they still lacked the analysis and tools necessary to begin the next one, Renya was... bored. One could read the works of Soseki Natsume or Conan Doyle plenty of times, as he’d done, but the sheer repetition would surely tire anyone; even himself.
In contrast to how almost all of the other pilots used their comms device as a hi-tech cellphone, complete with shows, books and games from the archives, Renya mostly only used it for communication purposes. Something about the real feeling of paper or the higher quality of the screens in the A/V room attracted him more than the small device on his hands.
But right now, he was struggling to play a simple mobile game that apparently involved matching three of the same icon, after failing to break the lowest high-score in an infinite runner game. Realizing he was just wasting his time and effort, he switched to the actual comms tab to see if anyone had sent him anything important. There was nothing at all, so he left the device on his desk.
Getting shut-eye was out of the question. He’d already slept a good eight hours since returning from the pods, and his sleep schedule was screwed seven ways to the next galaxy. Staying up tonight would help him rewire his brain to its original state.
Maybe staring at the ceiling while lying in bed qualified as a fun activity, or letting his mind wander.
Ryoko is most probably still sleeping. And besides, I did already state that I had no time for distractions, so going back on my word would paint me as hypocritical. If it was anyone else, I would not particularly mind. I am, after all, a hypocrite in some regards. However, Ryoko seeing me as such feels... bad. I also would not want to wake her u—
His comms device pinged, and he went back to his desk to see who was trying to talk to him. It was a message from Ryoko.
Or maybe not.
——
(R_Shinonome): Hey
(R_Shinonome): Okino says we have to peer review his code
(R_Shinonome): Swing by A/V, left his terminal there
(R_Gouto): I see. I will be there shortly.
——
Now, Renya might’ve been slightly obtuse in certain regards, but he wasn’t stupid.
She’s trying to get me to watch something with her. Okino does not like other people touching his code without him present. The peer review is the excuse. And he is definitely not careless enough to leave his terminal unattended, much less in A/V, knowing that anyone could come and screw with his things. If he is somehow involved, then he definitely expects us to not actually modify or check anything.
And so, he decided to add another message to the conversation as the pulse in his throat started beating.
——
(R_Gouto): Taking advantage of your mention of the A/V room, I must say that I’ve changed my mind on your suggestion.
(R_Gouto): The next project is far from beginning. I can take some time off and enjoy some distractions from work with you.
——
Her reply took a little too long to appear.
——
(R_Shinonome): Awesome
(R_Shinonome): Have a few films in mind
——
His lips twitching up into a smile, Renya left his room and headed towards the labs. The setting sun outside cheered him on.
“And that would be pretty much it. No bugs, no engine errors, nothing. We just have to tell him to copy and adapt this for every section of the sim, and it’s all back online.” Ryoko smiled as she finished their “inspection” of Okino’s code.
The inspection was just a haphazard scroll-through of the code, occasionally stopping at something that seemed too inconvenient for processing and marking it with a small comment. Honestly, the order their Okino kept on his code in contrast to the original Tsukasa Okino was a godsend.
“Well, we have done everything we had to. Our part in this project is complete.” The sheer satisfaction Renya felt wasn’t something he was used to.
“Say, considering we’re already here and we clearly deserve some time to kick back and relax... want to “get distracted”, as you’d say?”
“It probably would be convenient and effective for us to enjoy some recreation time before returning to work with renewed energy. So, yes, I want that.”
“Hooooooooo-ray. Let me see if I have any movies saved on my comms device.”
You pre-downloaded them before coming, he barely contained himself from saying while smirking.
“Ah, I got one. Interstellar, 2014, movie about space colonies, got good reviews, made by a famous director from around that time... Too close to home, or are we watching this?”
“Go ahead. I’ll procure some chairs for us.”
As Ryoko silently walked towards the projector to slot her comms device in it and project the film, Renya grabbed two cushioned chairs from the tables nearby and put them side by side in front of the blank screen.
Considering it was no longer working hours, he unbuttoned his lab coat and neatly folded it before leaving it on a table. The turtleneck he wore underneath was warm enough. Ryoko didn’t bother with the folding, simply throwing it somewhere after closing the windows.
The pair took their seats, and the movie started. The lack of snacks was somewhat irritating, but it’d have to do. While at first they still remained at a distance from one another, Renya couldn’t help but notice Ryoko inching slightly to his side every so often, and he did the same in return.
By the halfway point, they were practically touching shoulders, and he could feel that with every yawn her head got closer and closer to lying on his shoulder. When it finally did, he did nothing else but make his position a little less painful for her neck.
“My bad if you are really enjoying the movie...”
“I am, in fact. Masterful direction.” He wasn’t lying. He was honestly engrossed!
“...but we need to talk about... something.”
And suddenly, Renya felt his stomach tie itself up three different times and then attempt to take his heart’s space by pushing it up to his throat. With a shaky hand, he turned his upper body and paused the movie from the projector.
“What is it?”
“How do you view me?” There she went again, with her cutting, brutal honesty.
“View you?”
“You know...” She looked at him for a second, then moved her head a few times to the side and back. “What do you think of me when you see me?” She remained silent for a few moments more, and then spoke again. “What am I to you?”
“Oh.”
He had to carefully calculate his response here, under pressure.
“Research partner” was too little, failing to convey exactly the depths of their relationship and how he felt around her. “Friend” was slightly more, yet not enough. “Best friend” was a little off the mark. “Best and only friend” was almost there, but not quite.
And so, the only phrase that really suited what he saw when he saw Ryoko, was...
Swallowing each and every single one of his fears about the situation and reminding himself that he led twelve teenagers to victory against oblivion, Renya Gouto finally spoke his mind.
“A life partner. Someone I would quite like to spend the rest of my days with. Someone I enjoy spending time with. Someone that, admittedly, has me lose my train of thought sometimes. I can’t really fathom where I would be if it wasn’t for your presence in my life.”
She was silent.
“Yes. It means what you are thinking. If you are not in agreement, everything can remain as it has. Nothing has to change—“
He was not prepared for her throwing her arms around him and whispering in his ear.
“Seriously? We almost kissed inside the simulation if it wasn’t for the Professor, and you think I’d disagree?”
“It pays to be prepared.” He made sure the smirk could be heard in his speech.
“You utter stiff.” The nickname felt even more endearing than usual.
“Shall I flip the question on you? How do you—“
“I like you, in a romantic way. I’m not emotionally constipated. I can say it.”
His smirk was swiftly erased because of that simple statement.
“Really, I’m more surprised you didn’t realize it or make a move earlier.”
“I had to get my own feelings in order, besides the fact that I wouldn’t have done anything in particular.”
“I know, I know...”
Ryoko unclasped herself from him and stretched her arms overhead. What little remained of the logic-based part of Renya’s brain took control for a second.
“How would you define our relationship status now?”
“If you really want us to be dating, you can just say it. I’d define it as such.” Somehow, her smile was the dopiest he’d ever seen from her. “Not like it changes many things. Just, you know, means we finally addressed this.”
“I can’t help but agree. Now, would you like to continue watching the movie? I was fairly interested in seeing their efforts succeed.”
“You know what? I want to try something out.”
She stood up quickly, and practically dragged him up too.
“Just stand there, alright?”
And then, she attempted to kiss him while bracing to his wrist, right where his activation mark used to be. Attempt being the keyword, considering that the increased height difference made it impossible for her lips to reach his, barely grazing his chin. Of course, Ryoko flushed and covered her face in shame.
“Could you... bend your knees or something?”
“I’m sorry to say that they hurt from standing up suddenly after sitting from so long. I can’t.” As much as he would’ve liked to be able to do so, they hurt like hell.
“Damn it.” She frantically looked around the room for a solution, until seeing the table where Renya had left his folded labcoat. “There. Come here.”
Ryoko pulled him over towards the table, before sitting crosslegged in it with her arms to the sides.
“Now... if you’d please?”
“It would certainly be my pleasure.”
He removed his glasses before leaving them next to the labcoat, and closed his eyes.
First, he felt his nose touch hers, and then, his lips parting and being completely enveloped, devoured by Ryoko’s.
The most interesting part of the process for him was how different it felt. While Shinonome had been his first kiss, it had felt cold. Detached. Almost made out of obligation.
This... this was warm. Loving. It made him feel things he had been sure he’d never felt before. Both parts relished the moment inmensely, even if it was cut short by their inexperience leading to breathlessness.
And when he pulled back and looked at her absolutely stunning form again, adorned by the lights of the night sky that shone outside the closed window, he couldn’t help but want another taste, which she was all too happy to provide.
Thus, they enveloped each other repeatedly, eager to bask in this newfound feeling for as long as they could.
Only when both their lungs finally cried out in pain and wheezes did they stop, touching foreheads as his hands enveloped her waist. The both of them were panting, gasping for air.
“You know, knowing that we can now do this almost whenever we want makes me wonder how we’ll get anything done when we get back to work.”
“Keep working hours and... distraction hours separate, I suppose.”
“Guess I can work with that. Anticipation making it more enjoyable, and all.”
“That is a sound reasoning, although I only considered that that would allow us to retain effectiveness while we work.”
“You productivity addict. You’re lucky I love you.”
“Truly. That being said, can we continue watching the film now?“
“Some other night. This was...” A big yawn surfaced from her mouth, almost on command. “...extremely exhausting. I need some shut-eye.” Ryoko dismounted from the table and walked towards the doorway. “You’re not going to walk me there?”
“What?”
“No-one’s awake at this hour. We can walk through the halls and no one’ll see us.”
Somehow, Renya doubted that, but decided to shove that line of thinking down his spinal cord.
So he grabbed her hand, and they both left the room. Ryoko’s hand felt warm and callused, if a bit damp. Whenever she squeezed, he squeezed back in delight. The little smiles she threw at him while they walked made his heart skip beats in manners he didn’t know were even physically possible.
Any matters yet to be considered would have to wait. He wanted to enjoy this moment.
When they arrived at Ryoko’s doorstep, he took a second to kiss the top of her head.
“Sleep tight. Rest well.”
“Not even an I love you?”
“I love you, and I hope your dreams are filled with nothing but happiness. Better?”
“A lot.”
And yet, they lingered on the doorway.
“Aren’t you going in?”
“It’s just... damn it, I don’t want to wait until tomorrow to see you again. You are utterly distracting.”
“Look who’s talking.”
“Shut up. Sleep tight with the knowledge that you’re responsible for around thirty percent of my lack of sleep.” Ryoko’s face was beet red.
“Maybe, someday, I’ll let you read my notebooks and the notes I’ve made on you, in return.”
“And now I won’t be able to sleep thinking of what you wrote. Thank you very much, and be on your way.” She felt bad about kicking him out, but she really needed to sleep.
As Renya walked down the hall to his own room, he heard a distant “I love you!” before Ryoko’s door slammed shut, followed by a high pitched ”My, my, Ryoko-chan!” even further in.
Sometimes he forgot Tamao still lived in the building. Oh well, she was going to be the second or third to find out anyways.
With a small chuckle, he silently replied.
“I love you too, Ryoko Shinonome.”
Renya drifted off to sleep that night anxiously awaiting for tomorrow to come for the first time in a long while.
In his dreams, he saw Shinonome again. She looked at him before smiling and fading into nothingness, perhaps to return and rest in the depths of his brain, or perhaps to signify the catharsis blessed unto him by the situation.
Whatever it was, he was happy to see her too.
When he woke up the next day, he immediately made off for the labs (but not before rushing to the A/V room to fetch the labcoats they’d forgotten), and upon being met by a hug from Ryoko as he arrived and a silent “I missed you”, he wondered once again how they’d get anything done. Even he doubted being able to stick to the rule they set yesterday.
But for once, Renya Gouto didn’t care. He was having a loving moment with his best friend— no, his life partner, he reminded himself, and he could allow himself to indulge as much as he wanted to. He’d earned that much, he supposed.
To the opinion of one Ryoko Shinonome, he’d earned that and a million moments more, to be shared at each other’s side while life went on, as partners, both in research and life.