Metsubojinrai - Tumblr Posts

Connecting to Metsuboujinrai.net (Zero-One Fanfic)

Summary:

There was time while stuck in that body and that form, before the end came and after it was set into motion, that metsuboujinrai just...existed. The mass brain program's hub room still held them there, and in this digital space almost out of time and out of reality beyond intent...they talked. Of the past, of now, and of acceptance.

To read on AO3, follow the link below. To read here, continue past the read more!

“You guys….I’m sorry that-”

He was interrupted by a sharp yell, his gaze almost shyly glancing over at the source. 

“Don’t you dare apologize, not at this point, not here and now. Nobody is here without having committed to this shit from the start, so don’t you apologize for us making our own decisions. You think that little of us, ha??”

Jin shook his head, his expression still somber but a smile touching his lips all the same.

“We’re simply fighting for the justice and equality of all humagears, to allow them to pursue their own dreams and to discover what it means to be people on their own. We may have been created, but that doesn't make anyone a tool, especially like this. I do not regret pursuing such a thing with you all.”

“Everyone…” 

Horobi did not speak, but he stepped closer across the platform until he could place a hand on his son’s shoulder. Jin melted under the touch, letting himself reflexively slouch down a bit to more easily lean into the touch and further still to bump against his dad’s shoulder. He didn’t regret his own choices or making his stand, even if he had done it alone he wouldn’t have doubted or wanted anything else even if he failed. But here he was, he had succeeded, they had done it and set the Solds free and killed the man who had forced them to be without getting to live. It had to be done, but even still…

“Nii-san, you… what about Subaru? And the satellite? You... you had a whole life, and you didn't really join us by choice originally either. Aren’t you going to be-”

He paused, letting himself drop off there as he took in the humagear before him. He had seen Ikazuchi look off before, he had seen him hurting with no subtlety as well as that cruel genuine confusion that seeped from him when he had been manipulated or simply when he had realized he lost time or information that he shouldn’t have. Jin had seen him suffering from corruption and deterioration alike, but this was… different. Quieter. Nervous.

Ikazuchi kept his hands firmly in his pockets, not anything unusual but his face was jerked to the side away from the other three on the platform within this shared digital space. His eyes flashed blue as it seemed his systems struggled to properly contain the energy within him, a low crackle and hum around him even as this digital form kept the tell tale sparks from shooting off from him. He was upset, but not in the hot and burning way that so often tinged almost all his words and actions. This was something Jin hadn’t seen before in his adopted older brother, and to have something new so late and so doomed in knowing each other was something scary in a way he wasn’t sure how to voice.

“Nii-san?”

Ikazuchi stiffened, as if restraining a flinch before he let a loud exaggerated sigh tumble out of his mouth, his already small stature seeming even smaller as with the breath released he seemed to slouch further in on himself.

“They’ll… they’ll be fine without me, have been for a while, Jin.” He huffed a laugh, not a drop of humor in his voice despite it. “I haven’t even been allowed up There in months, and even when I was, it wasn’t…” 

He shook his head hard, pulling a hand out of his pocket just to slam his fist into his thigh in some small gesture of releasing his frustrations. He took a few moments to recompose himself, a mirthless smile gracing his lips as quiet bitter laughter started bubbling up past his lips. Naki edged closer, concern lacing their voice as they reached out to lightly hold and tug at one of the straps hanging off the other’s jacket.

“Ikazuchi…”

“They were keeping me around out of sentimentality, didn’t want to shut me down yet but they also wouldn't give me anything to do with myself. Just had me hanging around the company building and sometimes I would run errands and drop offs for the little shachou when he called. I was… I’m not even with Subaru most of the time, since he took over both our jobs now all on his own. Did a fair while back when Ark was still kicking around… An astronaut humagear forbidden from space and an older brother not even able to do anything for his little brother anymore, what a fucking joke.”

Naki tugged again but didn't speak, unsure what they could say but still wanting to give some kind of sense of presence for their friend and self imposed older brother. They were nowhere near as familial role oriented as the others of Metsuboujinrai, but they still never directly denied the various labels and treatment they received whether it be the occasional fatherly care when they needed repairs from Horobi, or the much louder scolding and coddling from Ikazuchi as one of his “younger brothers.” Jin too, by extent, was happy to consider Naki one of his siblings or something vaguely similar as well, even if an assigned role was less solid from their youngest. Naki didn't want these people to hurt or suffer, reaching singularity simply to now feel the weight of suffering felt too cruel and these people all had so much love to give even if that love pushed them and made them vulnerable to suffering. 

As one of the two oldest models of Metsuboujinrai, there was a certain type of care and hidden attention that Jin and naki offered Ikazuchi the same way they offered Horobi, the two older humagears more prone to wearing down, getting damaged, and their programming not keeping up anymore despite the move to new bodies. They both were sometimes unable to keep up with things like the flow of time or being able to understand their surroundings and situations if something conflicted with their previous assumptions or data. But they had not drawn close to outright shutting down, permanently beyond use or repair. The idea that one of their ranks could be gone permanently, and they hadn't been there to notice it was…

Naki reached out again, more firmly latching onto the edge of Ikazuchi’s sleeve at his bicep. Copper eyes flicked to the side to glance down at them, meeting concerned deep almost black. 

“I do not think you're a joke, Ikazuchi… I don't find it funny in the slightest. It is not something that could be changed, however… even so…”

“It fucking sucks, Naki. That’s just how it is sometimes; things happen you don’t want and that’s just…how it goes, no reason or morality to it. We can fight the good fight like we are now when it comes down to what’s right and wrong, but sometimes the things that go in between that just sneak up on you.”

“It… mn. Yes. It… it does ‘fucking suck’, I do not like it. It’s futile to say as much, though right now I think that’s not quite the issue at hand anymore is it?”

Ikazuchi let himself laugh a bit more genuinely, taken off guard from his harsh words from the softer tone of the other humagear. He let himself reach over and around to drape his still gripped arm over Naki’s shoulder, leaning his weight a bit on the smaller of them.

“So what about you, eh? Did you ever figure out your own dream?”

Naki blinked in surprise at the shift in topic, and after a few moments to process they gave a bit of a rueful smile and shook their head.

“No… I never quite understood what it was to have a dream, however… I think I am content with that result. I never understood what one was, but I did come to see and learn what one could help push people to do and to overcome. What dreams and ambitions can bring out of people is powerful, it can even change one’s life and self in a way nothing else comes close to. That is something I wanted to keep seeing, and to keep protecting. I am content to have done that alone for others, to still do so now.”

Horobi hummed softly in what read as approval across from the two smaller humagear, drawing attention his way now from the other three of the quartet.

“Ikazuchi. Naki. Jin. We are all resolute and beyond the point of no return in pursuing our ideals. Our final crusade is this, us, this moment that seems to stretch onwards until we are stopped by those full of determination and mercy enough to understand our intentions. There is no more room for doubts or regrets, if we had them truly then I do not believe we would have been capable of this form and this strength. That said… you have all done well. No matter what our cause has proven to be, It feels… correct, that it is with you all that we have sought out an ideal world.”

Ikazuchi’s nose scrunched up as he groaned loudly, using his free hand to make a shooing motion with his hand in Horobi’s direction. 

“Just say you’re happy to spend the end with us like a normal man or shut up, alright? Get to the point already if you have one, you’ve preached for more than enough since I met you and you’re sure as hell not going to make it the last thing I hear from you.”

Horobi stared at him, his usual stoic seriousness slowly melting just enough to allow an exasperated but fond smirk to touch the corners of his mouth. Jin smiled wide in return, happy to be with his favorite people and to see them slip into something so comfortably familiar. Just like their squabbling once upon a time in a dingy concrete room laden with whatever thrown out décor they could salvage and the never ending hum of electricity in the wires around them and the creaking of the pipes above them. Just like an older brother picking fights with a father, egging on some kind of argument that was as good as yelling at a brick wall. Just as a calm and matter-of-fact voice would step in to correct with hard data and statistics and some form of fit one way or the other from the loser would ensue. Just as a warm and happy laugh from a younger brother would chime through the room, garnering his own scolding or rough handling for having taken no sides before. 

At the end of the day, even now, like this and in these moments, Metsuboujinrai.net was connected all the same.