Work Text:
It’s normal.
It’s normal , is what Takeru tells himself. It’s normal, he thinks, because for most of his life he’s never had crushes nor first loves, and the closest thing he’s ever gotten had been Kiku, someone he had wished he could’ve reciprocated to. If it had been Kiku, he was sure that he could’ve fallen in love, but still, the universe continued to spite him, as it had from birth to present day.
It’s normal, he believes, because who else but hormonal teenagers fall in love anyway? Takeru is 100% sure his fellow peers are in the same predicament with others, because who wasn’t at this age? Though it felt like a punch in the gut, he knows Yusaku looks at Revolver with a fondness in his eyes bordering not-enemies, and he knows Aoi looks at Yusaku with that same gaze in class, or when they all find themselves on the rooftop for lunch. Hell, Takeru’s sure that even Naoki of all people has someone he looks at in that particular way.
Which is why he tells himself it’s normal. What’s normal is having crushes or falling for other humans, other boys and girls, Takeru doesn’t care. What’s not normal?
Crushing on the superintelligent AI created from your childhood trauma might be a start.
So, instead of confronting the problem that likely lies within his own psyche to begin with, he corners Yusaku outside Cafe Nagi when Kusanagi gives them a break from frying up hot dogs. He doesn’t really know what he’s hoping to achieve, dragging the other out to the overlook by the ocean in the city square like this, but hey, it’s the best idea he can think of. He can’t be expected to deal with everything like Yusaku, the skilled hacker with a poker-face and virtually no embarrassment in his body, if he was even capable of such to begin with.
“So, Yusaku!” He says, clapping his hands together to shake off the remainder of his anxieties, which are still very present afterwards. “Got any plans for Valentine’s Day?” Subtle, Takeru.
If Ai were here he’d accuse Takeru of asking Yusaku on a date, but thankfully they’d left their duel disks in the truck. Yusaku’s expression doesn’t budge, though, only cocking his head to the side slightly and raising an eyebrow. “A friend invited me out for dinner.” He answers, and though his tone doesn’t sound guarded to the point that he’s hiding something, Takeru can tell that he purposely left out said friend’s name, so he doesn’t bother prodding. “You already got a date?!” He gasps, making a distressed noise. “How will we relate to each other’s single-ness now!”
Yusaku cracks a tiny grin at that, but it disappears as quickly as it appeared. “Do you have any plans, Takeru?” He asks politely in turn, and Takeru rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. “Not yet, haha…” He feels his face burning, and he just knows that if he mentions the Flame situation Yusaku won’t take him seriously. That would be the worst. “How about Ai?” He switches the subject quickly, grinning so that the other can tell he’s half joking. Funnily enough, at that Yusaku’s expression sours slightly, looking more vaguely miffed than irritated, though. “He’s already got Roboppy at his beck and call.” He mutters, and Takeru has to restrain himself from giggling at the fact that he’s so bothered that his little cleaning robot has been taken by, essentially, an offset version of himself, no matter how different their personalities were. “What about Flame?”
Takeru tugs at his collar, feeling himself begin to sweat. “I don’t really know if he has any plans, to be honest! He’s been pretty into RPGs lately, though…” How that relates to Valentine’s Day Takeru has no idea, but it’s better than nothing. “Hey, Yusaku, can I ask you something?”
Yusaku looks a little confused at why he has to ask that to begin with, but nods anyway. “Do you have a crush?” Takeru stage-whispers, barely quieter than his normal voice. Yusaku doesn’t reply immediately, just shrugging. “I guess.” He says, not flustered in the least admitting it. “Do you?”
Takeru’s blood pressure jumps at the innocent question, and he feels his face begin to burn. “Ah, I mean, kind of-- no, wait, I don’t think so-- well it’s like, yes? A little bit?” He stammers out, hoping to anything holy that Yusaku doesn’t get the wrong idea. Thankfully, the other boy just looks at him with an amused expression, and asks, “Can I ask who?”
There’s no way around it now. Takeru’s head droops between his shoulders, looking as if it’s deflated. “It’s Flame.” He mumbles. “I like Flame.”
When he spares a glance up at Yusaku, surprisingly, the other isn’t looking at him weird, nor on the verge of laughing. Instead, he’s just watching Takeru with an unsure expression, as if he doesn’t know what to do in this situation. Takeru rubs a hand across his face in frustration at himself for making things awkward before raising his head. “I take it you don’t have much advice?” He asks weakly.
Yusaku shrugs again, then looks out at the sea. “Ai and Roboppy,” he starts, clearly unsure of his words, “they like to talk a lot.” The other opens his mouth to speak, but Yusaku keeps going. “They go on ‘dates’ online, and they play games together. I think Ai is teaching her to duel.”
Before Takeru can ask what Ai and Roboppy have to do with anything, Yusaku turns his gaze back to him. “The person I like,” he says, “likes to hold hands.”
It’s as if a lightbulb flicks on above Takeru’s head. He’s giving me advice. The other bows deeply, no doubt making Yusaku feel even more awkward, and then shouts, “Thank you, Yusaku-sama!”
Later, when Takeru’s duel disk is perched on the desk in by his bed and Takeru is seated on the edge of said bed, scribbling something on his school tablet, Flame emerges from the disk. “What are you writing?” He asks, attempting to peer over as far as he can. Takeru yelps and holds his work close to his chest, hiding whatever’s on it from view. “Nothing!” He says hurriedly, looking anywhere but at Flame. The Ignis looks a little confused at why he’s hiding it, but he drops it relatively quickly. “By the way, did you want to try out this RPG I found? It’s rather old, but it’s tried and true, and you need two players to fight the bosses.” Flame asks, broadcasting a gameplay screen to Takeru’s tablet, causing him to yelp again and nearly tumble off the bed.
They play games together .
Yusaku’s advice echoes through his head, and Takeru nods vigorously, saying, “I bet I can beat a boss without your help!” Nice one.
Flame, however, takes the half insult in stride. “We’ll see!” He exclaims, and claps his hands together, retreating into the duel disk to retrieve a digital controller of his own.
They manage to make it through the first six bosses before Takeru gets tired. “Flaaame.” He whines. “We can finish it tomorrowww…”
The Ignis looks at him with a disappointed expression for a moment, and for a second Takeru could swear he’s pouting. However, that face is gone in a split second. “You do have school tomorrow, so I will let you sleep.” He explains as if Takeru doesn’t know his own schedule. “Mm.” He agrees, falling back on the bed and almost immediately giving way to slumber. “G’night.” He mumbles before passing out.
Flame’s expression turns to that of quiet joy. “Good night, Takeru.” He says, nearly inaudible.
The next morning on the way to school, Flame seems chattier than usual. “And then when you get to the game over screen, your personalized character is there! They really made a very interesting game. It’s all about pacifism, and how a lack of it can destroy everything.” He says, continuing whether Takeru answers or not (after all, they are in public).
They like to talk a lot.
There must be some sort of recording device stuck in Takeru’s head that keeps replaying Yusaku’s voice. Still, it’s not a bad idea-- it’s not as if he can talk out loud, so he sticks to murmurs of “oh?” and “yeah” and “wow”. Takeru feels as if Flame becomes more and more animated the longer his responses are. He knows Ignises don’t have mouths, but he can still hear a smile in Flame’s voice from his backpack.
Only when they reach the building does Flame silence himself so as not to draw unnecessary attention, but not before Takeru whispers to him that he wants to hear more about this game he’s so passionate about later. He can practically hear the twinkle in Flame’s eyes as he walks inside, steps feeling lighter than they have in a while.
After the boring ordeal that is school and dealing with his equally boring classmates (he’d never tell them they were, although it was quite obvious), Takeru feels drained. Flame pokes his head out of his bag then, and suggests, “Want to get something to eat? You look tired.”
Takeru nods feebly, and yawns into his hand. “Where should we go?” He wonders aloud. Flame perks up when he says this-- “There’s a Korean restaurant down the street from your apartment that I think you’d like.” The lilt of his voice makes it sound like he was holding onto that idea all day.
“Sounds good.” Takeru answers, walking with not quite a skip, but rather a weightlessness to his step, different from a moment ago. They talk idly about Flame’s newest RPGs while Takeru walks, and by the time they get there Takeru feels as if the dreariness that school places on his shoulders has all but faded. Funny how a crush can do that.
They go on dates.
Obviously Flame can’t eat nor offer to split the bill, but he is an Ignis, after all. Once Takeru is done gorging himself Flame slips back inside his duel disk and into the restaurant’s system, changing his bill from over 4000 yen to a mere 1350. The server doesn’t seem to notice the strangely tiny bill, and Takeru sighs in relief when he’s done paying and leaves. “You’re lucky they didn’t catch you.” He jokes when they’re safely out on the street walking home. Flame snorts at the thought. “What would they do?” He asks with humor. “Lock me in their register?”
Takeru giggles at that, trying hard to keep himself from looking like a weirdo in public. “Guess I’d have to recruit Yusaku and Ai to rescue you!” He laughs. Flame’s tiny form seems to shake with amusement as well. “You wouldn’t try and be my shining knight on your own? You’re lame, Takeru.”
Said male’s face practically bursts into flame itself at that, but he chokes out another mirthful sound. “Yeah, yeah.” He tries very hard to say nonchalantly, and if Flame notices his change in demeanor, he doesn’t comment on it.
That night he dreams a strange dream. Flame is there, in his duel disk attached to his wrist. When he looks at his hands he realizes he’s in Link Vrains, as his Soulburner avatar is employed. He looks up to meet the gaze of Revolver himself.
“The Fire Ignis.” He holds his hand out, as if asking for Flame to be placed right in his palm. Takeru’s expression turns from confused to furious, and snarls, “What makes you think I’ll ever hand him over?”
Revolver retracts his hand, putting it on his hip. “Soulburner-- no, Homura Takeru.” He says, voice still stony even while giving away Takeru’s identity just like that. “The Ignis is dangerous. It’s becoming more and more like a human in terms of nature by being your partner, and in doing so it has a higher risk of betraying you, due to its ‘free will’.”
Takeru all but spits in Revolver’s direction. “You could never understand the bond between Flame and I. If he betrays me, sure, I’ll hate it, but it’s his choice. The Flame I know would never.”
Flame is looking at him with wide eyes. “Soulburner…”
Revolver makes a “hmph” sound, then pulls a cube of data out of thin air. “If you refuse to acknowledge the risks,” he begins, looking at Takeru with guarded eyes, “then you may disappear.”
The world goes black around him, and suddenly the ground below him gives out and he’s falling, falling, falling, falling, error, falling, error, error, falling--
Hey Flame?
Yes, Takeru?
I think I love you.
…
Flame?
I’m happy, Takeru.
But I am only an AI.
He wakes with a start. Cold sweat snakes down his forehead, and he clutches at his chest in an attempt to slow his erratic breathing. “Takeru?” A familiar voice sounds quietly.
He turns to the voice to see Flame sticking out of the duel disk, a worried expression on his face. “Are you alright?”
I am only an AI.
“I’m okay.” Takeru breathes, more to himself than to Flame. “I’m fine.”
Flame does something a bit strange then. He extends out of the duel disk, and holds his tiny hand out to his origin. “Your hand.” He supplies helpfully when Takeru looks at him quizzically. The other holds his hand out, and Flame grabs his pointer finger. “I am your Ignis, Takeru.” He starts, voice sounding uncharacteristically unsure. “Our fates are heavily intertwined.”
Takeru opens his mouth to say something, but Flame continues. “And that is why,” he says, yellow eyes glowing in the dark room like fireflies, “I’m not going anywhere.”
Only an AI--
Takeru inhales. Exhales, slowly.
“Thank you, Flame.” He whispers into his knees, brought up to his chest.
Flame doesn’t answer, but Takeru feels static on his fingertip for a moment before it disappears. He isn’t able to see what caused it with his head on his knees, but from Flame’s serene expression and the red lines on his body glowing, Takeru has a pretty good guess.