Chapter Text
“Psst, hey Nene.”
Nene Kusanagi at the ripe age of twelve, would not consider herself a heavy sleeper. Even so, when her best friend Rui was no doubt standing above her bed at the ungodly hour of It’s-either-way-too-early-or-way-too-late-for-this o’clock with that Cheshire grin on his face that all but screamed “I am up to something that will most certainly get me burned at the stake one of these days but oh it’s okay Nene I made sure to test all the safety features so you’ll be perfectly fine”, well, she also considers herself a multi-faceted person with many layers to her personality.
“…”
“……”
“ Neneeee ” .
Ugh.
“What do you want, Rui,” though with the muffle of her pillow, it probably sounded more like “wuh yuwah, ui”.
If the purple guy’s little gasp at her response was anything to go by, Nene may or may not be making one of the greatest mistakes of her life. If the little tug at the corner of her mouth meant anything more, maybe she didn’t mind quite as much as she should.
…
They stop at the beach, just like all the other nights where Rui is able to convince his green friend to sneak out of the orphanage with him, which is actually a lot more often than Nene would like to admit. Stupid , she thinks, but at the same time knows she doesn’t mean it. After all, why else would she keep allowing herself to be dragged along like this?
Honestly, she’s kind of grateful that the beach is their chosen location, though if Rui knows, he doesn’t say anything. She for sure isn’t going to tell him. It’s just that there’s something about the salty breeze on her face, the cold splash of the waves against her feet, and the subtle glow of the moon on the dark water that draws her in somehow…
Anyway, looking at the moon, it seems that they have around an hour before sunrise and people start noticing that they’re gone. Rui seems to notice this too, and casually turns toward her, though the gleam in his eyes betrays his act of nonchalance. The urge to roll her eyes is strong, but Nene refrains. She doesn’t want to ruin his moment.
“Tada!”
“Huh, What?!”
“Nene. It’s you.”
“Yes Rui, I can see that.”
The thing that Rui pulls out certainly bears a strong resemblance to her, but somehow not in an uncanny way. It’s actually kind of…dare she say it…cute. Even though it’s made of metal. And life sized. Actually, how did he even hide that thing? Before her concerns about the logistics of the Robo-Nene…Nene Robo? could be vocalized, Rui presses a button on a remote that Nene just now notices. The robot promptly starts shrinking into a small green ball of fluff.
“Nene. It’s a chipmunk.”
“It’s green.”
“Yes.”
The little inventor has the audacity to look proud of himself. He presses another button.
“It’s a fish.”
It is then that Nene decides that if Nene Robo has any logistics at all, which knowing Rui and his genius tendencies, she probably does, they will only ever be known to her inventor and her inventor only. Nene looks away to hide her smile.
Rui frowns.
“Do you not like her?”
Nene jolts out of her thoughts because, how could he think such a thing? Almost as soon as that thought comes she realizes that oh yeah, maybe zoning out for a full minute admiring a gift that no doubt took a lot of thought and effort may be misinterpreted as indifference . Her cheeks heat up in embarrassment. Nevertheless, she turns back around and looks Rui straight in the eyes.
“I will love and cherish her forever. She is everything I’ve ever wanted in a Robo-Nene. I will protect her with my life.”
Nene stares at her friend for a few seconds longer to emphasize her sincerity, just to make sure he gets the message.
…And then promptly twists her head away with a force that probably should have broken her neck. Too much eye contact. Too many feelings. Ew…
But the grin that slowly creeps its way back onto Rui’s face makes it all worth it.
“Hey! What are you kids doing over there!”
Was time up already?! Nene looks up to check the moon’s position. Or well, sun now. Looks like they lost track of time. Laughing like he’s done this many times before, Rui takes off in the direction of the village, throwing the remote to Nene in the process. Not resisting the call of the eye roll this time, Nene pushes a button to get Nene Robo out of fish mode and takes off after the purple inventor, making sure her robot double is right behind her every step of the way.
“Stupid kids! Wait, What is that thing?!”
Nene joins in with Rui’s laughter.
…
The next morning, instead of to the prodding of her favorite maniacal inventor, Nene wakes up to the choking embrace of one of the orphanage’s sisters.
“There there sweetie, you’re okay, he can’t get you anymore I promise.”
“Can’t…breathe…”
Realizing her mistake, the sister loosens her hold but still doesn’t let go. This is the least of Nene’s worries though. Who’s “he”? And where’s Rui? The girl feels a sinking in her stomach, as she realizes that she may know the answer to one of those questions.
“Sweetie you must be so confused,” the sister continues. “But I promise that we’ll never let that goddess forsaken boy trick you ever again. I don’t know what kinds of dark magics he used on you by that cursed beach, but you’re safe now. We’re going to make sure he’ll never hurt you again.”
And if there was any doubt before that Rui was the one the sister was talking about, all of it had been blown up and scattered by the wind, just like the last remnants of hope Nene had that she’s only misinterpreting the situation. Please goddess let him be okay. Her vision grows blurry. Were her cheeks always this wet?
“Don’t cry sweetie, how about we go outside and get some fresh air? How does that sound?”
Nene numbly follows the sister as she grabs her hand in a too-tight grip and drags her through the door. Outside she sees a crowd gathered, though they’re facing away from her. She cranes her neck to see the subject of the people’s attention.
Oh, it’s the man from the beach yesterday.
“…And suddenly there are two of her, except one was misshapen almost beyond recognition! It chased her! The monster chased her! And she screamed. Screamed I tell you! And all the demon boy did was laugh at her plight!”
The crowd did a collective gasp. It would be funny if the situation were different.
Is this really how the village saw things? That Rui is a demon and Nene Robo a monster that attacked her? And screaming? Nene knows that she doesn’t laugh often, but to have her excitement be mistaken for fear of all things? And the crowd was eating it all up. It’s almost as if they want Rui gone. He’s eccentric, sure, but he’s also done nothing wrong! And where is he?!
Nene knows she must say something, clear the misunderstanding, clear Rui’s name, tell them he’s innocent!
“Hey everyone…”
No one hears her. Someone starts sobbing at beach man’s story. Okay, louder then.
“Hey everyone!”
This time they hear her, thankfully. The crowd breaks out into murmurs.
“That’s the girl, isn’t it.”
“That poor thing.”
“Shh, I think she wants to say something.”
Yes. Yes she does want to say something. Nene takes a deep breath and starts.
“Rui…he—”
“He’s bewitched her!” Beach man again.
“N-no, you’ve got it all wrong—” But they don’t let her continue.
“See how she defends him! He thinks he can trick us by using her! I say we take no more of his evil nonsense! I say he burns at sundown!”
And the crowd cheers. Nene tries to get another word in to prove them wrong, prove that no, she’s not bewitched, prove that Rui didn’t do anything, but her voice falls on deaf ears. After all, people won’t listen to the ramblings of a poor girl tricked by evil incarnate.
She feels herself being picked up by the sister, her hold somehow even tighter than the first time. Only now, Nene says nothing as she’s dragged back to an orphanage one person emptier than it should be.
…
Turns out they locked him in the basement of the town hall, though it’s not like Nene could have gotten there anyway, since she wasn’t allowed to leave the orphanage. They also decided to postpone the execution a week. They said it was to gather enough wood to burn, but she knows that all they really wanted was to starve Rui, make him suffer for his crimes. The thought makes her sick. She made sure to let the sister know.
Nevertheless, they let her out on the day of the burning. Maybe they thought that seeing her “tormentor” get what he deserved would make her feel better. Hah. As if. She clutches Nene Robo in her unassuming chipmunk mode as she drags her feet out the door.
…
By the time she reaches town square, the air is filled with smoke and the sometimes angry, sometimes joyous shouts of the people she once considered community. She catches Rui’s gaze once before the crowd obstructs her view, and falls on her knees.
Nene isn’t sure what she expected to see, but it definitely wasn’t the crushed look of apology he gave her. What did he have to be sorry for?! If anything, it was her fault things are like this now! She really never will be able to understand his logic, will she.
She doesn’t know what comes over her at that moment, but she gets up and runs. Away from the yelling crowd. Away from Rui’s screams of pain as the fire chars his flesh beyond recognition. Away from home.
No, not home. Not the village. Never again. Still, a deep part of her knows that the village wasn’t what she meant when she had that thought.
…
Nene doesn’t stop, even when her feet touch the familiar sands of the beach where it all started. Doesn't stop when the salty air blows harsh dust against her skin. Doesn’t stop when the cold nighttime ocean freezes her legs into numbness. Doesn’t stop until she reaches the figure in the distance, the goddess with the long pink hair glowing like water in moonlight who she has never met but knows she can trust.
She lets herself fall into her embrace as the ocean welcomes her back to the place that’s called for her all her life.