Work Text:
Thank you, my goggles. Gunmax mentally mimed a prayer gesture. He was sitting several dozen meters away from Deckerd, body turned sideways, one leg crossed over the other, arms folded, as if deep in thought. In reality, he was secretly shifting his optical lens’s focus toward Deckerd, his sunglasses hiding his intentions perfectly — this had been going on for quite some time.
Gunmax didn’t want to admit it, but he had already fallen hopelessly into the vortex of love. Ever since the night Deckerd had risked everything to pull him out of the underwater explosion, everything Deckerd did — his gentle words — had left an indelible mark on Gunmax’s super-AI. Gunmax even believed that no matter how many times some heinous criminal stole his super-AI and wiped its data clean, he would never forget the night he was deceived by Kirisaki again. Back then, Gunmax had nearly wished for death, but Deckerd hadn’t hesitated for a moment — he had plunged into the water and lifted Gunmax out of the vortex left by his former partner. Lucky for Gunmax, he had already run out of artificial tears in the ocean; otherwise, he would have lost all his tough-guy dignity while following Deckerd back to shore.
Deckerd was talking. Probably about work. He was obviously a little excited today, like a rookie on his first day of work, glancing around as he spoke. Gunmax watched his lips and imagined whether someone like him would say some heart-racing “tough words” while doing something. Unfortunately, once that image started, it galloped off like an untamed horse across the plains of fantasy. In his imagination, Deckerd stood up from his original spot, approached Gunmax, and — like something out of a TV show Power Joh watched — used two fingers to lift Gunmax’s chin and gave him a deep kiss. Then they held each other and fell to the ground, surrounded by the shrieks of several colleagues.
Gunmax’s gaze gradually expanded to other parts of Deckerd’s body. As Deckerd closed his book, the alternate-world Deckerd pushed Gunmax against a wall, caged him in with his arms, and flashed a smile that the real Deckerd would never make. Then they did some pleasant things. In Gunmax’s imagination, his perspective bobbed up and down, his bearings making joyful sounds. Gunmax was completely unaware that he had fantasized himself into a trance. His mechanical fingers tapped the table faster and faster — until a sudden voice yanked him out of his sweet dream and dumped a bucket of cold water on him.
“Thinking about Deckerd?”
“Yeah…” The answer that slipped out of Gunmax’s mouth startled him. In fact, he actually jumped in his chair. Overwhelming embarrassment left him speechless for a moment, followed by anger. “You ninja bastard… Are you trying to trick me?”
Shadow Maru stepped back, looking harmless and innocent. “Don’t be so sensitive, dan-na. Besides, I barely said anything… I just heard you tapping the table and thought you were trying to send a message in Morse code. Then you just started tapping faster and faster.”
Gunmax freaked out for a moment. “I want to know how — why did you know it was Deckerd?”
“Oh, how should I put it… From an outsider’s perspective, the whole thing where Deckerd ran all over town trying to find you and have a heart-to-heart was pretty romantic,” Shadow Maru said, trying to hide his amusement. “Falling for Deckerd seems kind of inevitable, huh? So romantic.”
Gunmax was silent for a moment, then let out an amused laugh, as if he had just let something go. He looked like he had been driven crazy by Shadow Maru’s last English phrase. “We’re friends, right, Shadow Maru?”
“…Of course? I won’t say anything without your permission —”
Shadow Maru swallowed the rest of his sentence because Gunmax had pulled out an unexpected photo. In it lay a dark purple mechanical dog on its back — one Shadow Maru didn’t want to admit he recognized. Two familiar middle school girls leaned against him, rubbing his belly. Everyone looked happy — except for Shadow Maru in the present.
“Who would’ve thought that in this age of advanced Photoshop, I could still capture an original image?”
“…”
“Big shock, ha?” Gunmax waved the photo triumphantly. “By the way, don’t even think about stealing this photo to destroy the evidence. I have backups.”
Shadow Maru pulled his outstretched hand back. “Ahem…! But this isn’t the same kind of secret at all! Gunmax, you’re going to have to tell him eventually. How will he know if you don’t say it?”
“I won’t say it,” Gunmax gritted out. “I don’t want to break what we have. Besides, a change like that in our relationship would probably confuse the kid.”
“The boss wouldn’t judge you for something like that,” Shadow Maru said quickly, then added, “He’s a good guy. You don’t know — when he heard about you from Deckerd, he cried for a long time because he felt so bad for you. He even wanted Deckerd to spend more time with you.”
Gunmax briefly recalled how Deckerd had lately been approaching him with silly excuses, invading all his personal space, and how their boss Yuuta would stand with his hands on his hips, chattering orders at Deckerd, while Deckerd just nodded and bowed.
“Speaking of which, I am curious,” Gunmax said, smiling at the image conjured by his vivid imagination. “I’d like to know how things look from his side.”
——
“McCrane,” Deckerd said excitedly, glancing around. He was eager to share his recent social achievement with his colleague. Not long ago, the patrol car had finally won over a tough nut — he had successfully become friends with Gunmax! Deckerd thought this was cause for celebration. “Gunmax is so much nicer to me now. He tells me everything. Don’t you think he seems gentler than before?”
“I knew he was a good guy from the very start,” McCrane said flatly. He had been cleaning his gun and happened to glance at Deckerd’s desk, where a metal flask now sat, wrapped in red ribbons with a loosely tied bow at the spout. “What’s this…?”
“It’s gasoline that Gunmax brought me. He said it’s really, really good stuff — burns more efficiently, works better. When I asked where he got it, he wouldn’t say. But I’m happy. Gunmax isn’t as annoying as he used to be. He listens to me now. He’s still a little grumpy, but when you think about how he used to be, this big of a change is actually pretty cute.”
McCrane stared thoughtfully at the flask and at Deckerd for a moment, then his expression brightened with understanding. “None of us got that. It’s a special honor, just for you.”
Deckerd answered honestly. “I’ll talk to him about that! Maybe he wants to thank me extra.”
“No, no, don’t say that,” McCrane said, sweating. “I have a feeling that if you actually said that to him, your relationship would go right back to how it was before.”
Deckerd shrank his hand back and closed his open book. “That serious?”
“Seia told me that if a girl gives you a gift and you immediately pass it off to someone else, they’d be furious.”
“But Gunmax isn’t a girl.”
They stared at each other with wide eyes for a moment. Deckerd never caught the subtext in McCrane’s words, so they dropped the topic and went back to their own work.
Not long after, Deckerd’s terminal rang. It was Yuuta. “Hello? Deckerd — can you come pick me up from school a little later? Emiri gave me a ton of friendship chocolates today, and I want to eat some at school before coming home.”
Deckerd was puzzled. “Chocolate? Why did Aihara give you chocolate? Is today some kind of special day?”
“It’s Valentine’s Day!” Yuuta said. “But my sister won’t let me eat too many chocolates, so I’ll eat some here and bring the rest home for them.”
“I see. I didn’t realize what day it was. Speaking of which, Gunmax gave me a gift today.”
“Gunmax gave you a gift…” Yuuta repeated Deckerd’s words. He hesitated for a moment, then suddenly yelled, “Ah! I just thought of something — I have to go — I’ll ask Drill Boy to take me home later!”
Deckerd hung up, confused by Yuuta’s sudden change in attitude. Just then, Power Joh swaggered into the office. He had received Emiri’s honmei chocolate — the genuine article. He had hung around the repair bay for a while, repeatedly pestering Toudou about whether robots could eat chocolate, got nowhere, and came back to place the chocolate on top of a folder like an ornament, resting his chin in his hands as he admired it.
A little later, Seia and Ayako arrived together at police headquarters. McCrane and Dumpson first received a notice from the chief, ordering them to get themselves together and assemble downstairs within one minute, no matter what. They hurried down. The moment they locked eyes with the two women, they became flustered instead. Dumpson transformed into a car as soon as he got downstairs to save time, then sped off the instant he saw Ayako, nearly losing his true love in his attempt to hide his embarrassment.
Seia watched the reckless couple for a moment, then turned to McCrane, who was still standing there dumbfounded. He immediately dropped to one knee and extended a hand to her.
Seia asked knowingly, “McCrane, do you know what day it is today?”
McCrane answered nervously, “Today… today is an ordinary day.”
“Yeah, very ordinary,” Seia said. “So why don’t we go for an ordinary walk?”
——
What a wonderful day! Deckerd looked up some information about Valentine’s Day, then stood by the window watching people freely exchange greetings and well-wishes. Behind him, Drill Boy had hidden Power Joh’s chocolate, sparking a small argument. Shadow Maru seemed to have something to say to Gunmax. They were at each other’s throats like dogs and cats, and Gunmax appeared to have already won a round, because Deckerd noticed he suddenly looked confident and proud, while Shadow Maru slumped over the table. They exchanged a few more words, then both turned to look at Deckerd. How coincidental — Deckerd was looking at them at that very moment.
What was that saying again? Deckerd walked over to where Gunmax was sitting and patted him on the shoulder.
“Happy Valentine’s Day, Gunmax.”
As if those words had given him boundless energy, Deckerd walked out of the office with great pride. Little did he know that the moment the automatic door closed, Gunmax fell straight out of his chair, covered his face, and made sounds reminiscent of the First Industrial Revolution. Shadow Maru racked his brain but couldn’t figure out how Deckerd had come up with such a random line out of nowhere — What had Deckerd understood? Deckerd clearly hadn’t realized anything at all. But from the perspective of someone who had been through it, Deckerd would eventually realize that he should not have said such an easily misunderstood thing on Valentine’s Day. And on the day he finally confessed his feelings to Gunmax in the future, that memory would come rushing back like a nightmare, leaving him mortified beyond belief.