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When Taiya was young - so young his emotions came under layers he couldn’t understand and others ignored such a quiet little boy, not friendly, closed off, and even worse since the incident, poor thing…
He had so many dreams. Ideas sketched in crayon that half covered up the math tests he always got 100% on. He had ideas of who he wanted to be - a hero, a fixer, someone so rich and smart and powerful that he could fix the world all on his own.
Cars of all makes and models, cars that could fly. Cameras, knowledge—
It took him a few years to realize he needed a team.
He remembers telling the boss - under the stars. The sky was so blue and bright. The stars - so numerous, outside of the city.
He imagined what kind of people he’d need. A police officer who actually cared. A cool alien, maybe. They’d probably have ideas and ideals he didn’t.
A spy, who could help him find out all the things he didn’t know. The coolest girl in the world.
Chasshiro does know more than he does. Of course he does. He’s an info broker, trained to learn and sell his knowledge for a price. And Taiya pays him well, of course he does. Chasshiro is his, and precious to him. He thinks he doesn’t need to, though. Chasshiro…
“I always told myself I was better than this,” Chasshiro says. Sitting up in bed, still half naked and staring at the ground. Taiya hmms.
“Better than what?” He asks.
“A lot of things,” Chasshiro says. “Better than you. Falling for your boss gets you killed. I see it all the time.”
He’s said he doesn’t like working for one person. Taiya’s never asked him to be exclusive. In work or pleasure, because Taiya is the same. He wants his team, the ones who get him. The ones maybe he can trust with that childish part of him—
No. He outgrew that.
“I won’t,” Taiya says. “I won’t ever leave you alone.”
“…I should leave,” Chasshiro says. “Thank you for tonight.”
“Okay,” Taiya says. He doesn’t push this. He pushes plenty of things, but that’s work. Chasshiro is a skilled and adjustable info broker and delivery employee. He’s also a very delicate and brash man, deep down. Taiya would never hurt him.
The coolest girl in the world, as it turns out, is insane enough to ignore the limits Taiya leaves in place.
Of course she is, that’s why he fell. Steel in her gaze, stubborn tightness, like she was just about ready to scream and steeling herself for something she hated.
She could take it. She could take most things. Maybe that’s why Taiya said you don’t have to.
You’re the type to want to take control of your own wheel.
She uses the Boonboom handle like a bludgeon, hand on the blade. She truly doesn’t think things through but she—
She calls him out. That’s never happened before.
He realizes he isn’t surprised. He thinks he realizes before Chasshiro does, that he’s falling for her, too. Letting her follow him. Slowly failing to deny her teasing. Chasshiro is someone from a world of distrust and Mira comes so close that Chasshiro grows to trust her before he even grows to respect her.
“I can’t believe he didn’t,” Mira says, with a pout. It’s a few days after they got Marine in use.
“You’re an odd one,” Taiya says. “From a different world than him. It’s why I love you.”
“Still!” Mira exclaims. He’s showing her how to work on the Boonboom cars’ maintenance, because she wants to do everything.
She accidentally hits the wrong button and squawks and she fixes it.
“…Okay,” Mira says. “I mean. Gah!”
“Mhm,” Taiya says. “Well, I knew he’d see your worth. You get him to trust in a way I can’t. That matters.”
“I hear that a lot,” Mira says. “I make things fun? Easy?”
“Pretty much,” Taiya says. “You can handle anything. And you can get angry. Chasshiro and Genba can’t.”
They worship him, almost. Taiya wants to be trusted, but it worries him for them.
“…Maybe that’s good, too,” Mira says. “Maybe you like getting spoiled.”
“I like getting what I want,” Taiya says. “And what I want is you.”
He knew from before he met her, and from the moment he saw her face when she asked to join him.
(Maybe it’s a sign he never changed. Maybe it’s ironic that she’s one of the ones who changes him the most.)