Goro Takemura x Reader

Three

The feeling of having no ground under your feet was as liberating as it was frightening. On the one hand, you were in the air, free of everything, limited only by the huge buildings of the city.

On the other hand, no one would be able to save you if this flying vehicle were to be attacked.

Perhaps this was a paranoid thought. But Night City had taught you early on that no one could be trusted. There was no such thing as too safe.

Sometimes you even doubted whether it was wise to let Yorinobu approach you so lightly. But these thoughts usually didn't last long. After all, he was your brother and you held his rough stubbornness as close to your heart as Hanako's gentleness.

And he managed to win your heart over and over again. Of course, he could have forced Smasher on you. You were not well equipped, probably one of the few in this city who had not polluted your body with chrome. A human being such as rarely existed anymore.

But he had given you a choice and respected the decision. You appreciated that about him, even if he not too seldom had his quirks. Especially when it came to your father.

Otōsan, you whispered with a glance out the window.

Outside, a building stretched into the pale blue sky. It was the tallest skyscraper one could find in Night City. So tall that it was known in the streets only as a tower.

The Arasaka Tower.

The logo of a tree in a circle was proudly emblazoned over the name. Arasaka. Not the name you had been born with, but the name you had been offered. It was a deal one could not refuse.

Who would have chosen a simple existence when you could be not just a part, but Arasaka yourself?

Even those who called themselves morally superior would not have been able to refuse.

You were doing well. Not only because Yorinobu and Hanako had taken you in like their own sibling. You felt like part of the family.

All that was required of you was obedience and the will to contribute. A fair trade, you were convinced of that from the beginning.

Only the city was something you dreaded. Your heart still longed for the land of cherry blossoms where you were born and raised.

How many times had you asked your father to take you back?

The answer was always the same. Your task has not yet been fulfilled.

Whenever Saburo Arasaka spoke of business and duty, he was so different from the man you had called Otōsan ever since you could remember.

Father.

Something you had lost and regained with double the love and care. And not once had he denied your longing for a father figure. Not once had Saburo made you feel like you were not one of his children.

A sacrifice for a gain. That's how this world worked. At least, that's how it was in Night City.

Taking a deep breath, you closed your eyes and let your head fall back to listen to the sound of the machines. It was surprisingly quiet, for this was a marvel of engineering, with thousands of parts made of mass and electronics. Too heavy to fly. And yet it was high up, in that cloudless, claustrophobic sky.

Soft music filled your ears, Japanese. There was no excess of luxury. Nothing could be too expensive or too sparkly. Or brutal.

Tired, you grabbed a glass filled with champagne and took a few quick sips until the carbonation tingled your nose.

"Good afternoon.", the voice of the AI greeted the passenger according to protocol. "It is currently a changeable day in Night City, clouds and rainfall are expected. Currently it is sunny, 23 degrees Celsius. The destination will be reached shortly. Have a pleasant flight."

The flying vehicle crossed the border of the outermost district and entered the surrounding belt of Night City. Roads loosened beneath you. The amount of cars thinned out and the sky seemed less crumpled.

Presumably the quality of the air had improved too. Sand and a few sparse plants lined the edge of the roads that led into a highway.

Not a stone's throw away, scattered plots of land rose from the withered ground. The land around the city, no man's land, was not habitable. At least not if one didn't have money to burn.

The only things one could find on the outskirts of Night City were the private properties of people with too much wealth, and a little further beyond the checkpoints, old rest areas that had had to be abandoned due to the worsening climate changes.

Only the truly insane or particularly criminal dared to venture out into the desert there. Or Normads, although you only knew stories about these groups. There seemed to be no official state reports of their existence. Only whispers among the mercenaries and fixers.

Off the highway, down a side road, on the other side of a hill, an area opened up that was so vast that it could have been mistaken as part of no man's land. Only the unnecessarily high fence and the grass that covered the ground betrayed that it was private property.

Guards moved along of the fence. A car stopped in front, they searched it before allowing the driver and occupants to pass. Yorinobu's flying vehicle was let through without argument. Only a Arasaka drone flew up to the window, scanned your face and flew off again as the light changed from orange to blue.

Satisfied, you exhaled and stretched your legs. Whenever you returned from the air to the ground, your limbs became soft and no longer wanted to carry you. Maybe that was a side effect. Or just your brain that didn't want to admit that humans were no longer subject to gravity.

The flying vehicle lowered over a landing pad. Dust swirled up, mixed with sand and loose blades of grass.

"I didn't expect him to let you go.", a female voice greeted you with an audible smile.

It had the same kind of Japanese accent that Yorinobu spoke with.

You smiled softly and bowed to a woman with raven black hair and golden fingers that she kept locked in a graceful way in front of her stomach.

"You don't believe I told him we'd meet, don't you, Neechan?", you asked and kissed Hanako's cheek.