Goro Takemura x Reader

Nine

He noticed that you were awake but didn't pay it a second thought. His eyes returned to the man in front of him instead.

A cloud of cigar smoke caressed his round, dark face that almost melted with the nightly shadows.

You had to narrow your eyes in order to be able to tell that his eyes weren't visible because he wore shades. A strange thing to do in the middle of the night.

"Listen here, mister Bright...", the man had a metal arm that shimmered like gold, his voice thick, with a heavy accent that somewhat made him sound threatening and relaxed at the same time. LI told you this is a big job. Can't take risks now. You get paid once my contacts are here."

The other man, who seemed to be named Saul, frowned.

"I want to be long gone before that.", he bared his teeth, arms crossed in front of his chest. "My money. Now."

The shift in his voice was unmistakable. He grew impatient. That could only mean that there was someone to come who he did not wish to cross paths with.

From what you knew, or rather what Yorinobu had lectured you about, the nomads weren't hostile people. They made deals and connections with anyone they deemed useful.

Anyone but corporations since their morals did not align with the nomad way of life.

However, there was no corporation that would have dared to lay hands on a member of the Arasaka family. None except for a single one.

Your blood froze inside your veins. But you refused to freak out just yet. Maybe your imagination was just running wild.

Again, you had to bite your lips to muffle a sound that could have given away how desperate you felt like in this moment.

Luckily, the men kept on arguing.

More shadows stretched across the dirty floor. Steps mixed with a breeze that chased through the empty, abandoned building.

The golden arm man stopped as he noticed someone approach. His head turned and he took a deep drag from his cigar.

"Shit, V, you said the guy owed you one.", he snarled in a nagging kind of way. "Didn't you tell him not to ask questions?"

A blue haired woman leaned against another pile of boxed ammo, arms crossed. She smirked and nodded.

You recognised her. If you weren't wrong, she was the woman with the unusual name V. Immediately, your eyes searched for the man who had pushed you out of the flying vehicle.

It didn't take long to find him. He leaned against a metal pillar, also his arms crossed, but just far enough away to have a good view of what was happening. His golden cyberware seemed to glow in the dark.

Or maybe it was just the light of the stars that got caught in it.

"I said Saul was an old friend.", V said with her chin raised to greet the nomad.

Saul let out a sound of disapproval.

"Old friend fits it.", there was judgement in his words. "When you called I didn't expect to meet a corpo."

"I'm a mercenary now."

"Any different? Not a nomad no more."

As he said so, the expression on her face changed for a brief moment and it appeared as if she was hurt by his words.

Or was that regret?

"Shit, I didn't know y'all had a thing.", Dex took a deep breath to fill the air with smoke. "Listen, I don't care what y'all got goin' on, but lemme tell you this. There is no payment until this bundle of fucking beauty is off my hands."

He pointed into your direction.

Saul bared his teeth. For a second you could have sworn that he was about to throw hands. Even one of Jackie's hands came to rest on the handle of his golden revolver.

But V held him back.

"I'll pay you.", she said.

Her eyes lit up red in the dark. She did a gesture with two fingers from her temple over to Saul. His head moved and it seemed as if he was confused.

Then the tension in his shoulders settled.

"Appreciate it.", he just said and walked past her with a nod. "And I never want to see you again."

With these words the nomad vanished into the night. After a few moments of silence the engine of a car growled. Tires rolled over a hard surface, mixed with sand. And then he was gone for good.

"You just paid him a whole ass of eddies to fuck off.", Dex said in a sober manner and blew out more smoke.

V was lost in thoughts. She just shrugged.

"I'll keep what you promised him instead. Settles the negative.", she replied and glanced over to you.

You could feel how cold her gaze was. So unwelcoming. She truly only thought of you as goods. Like a thing that could be tossed and shipped around.

Or even less. But you doubted that this was even possible.

"I hope this one is worth as much as you say, ay?", Jackie stepped from the shadows to join his partners side.

It was strange, but somehow his face looked too kind to belong to a second class, low level gangster. Yet, if you were completely honest with yourself, he would have made a good corpo either.

With a gesture of his golden hand, Dex shrugged and dismissed their

"No need for hopin'.", he threw the last bit of his cigar to the ground and stepped on it. "I know my worth. Other peoples even more. And this one? Oh, that fucker is worth so much y'all would kill each other for it."

The way he pointed at you made things even worse. To him, you weren't even a thing but eddies. Plain, good money. A worth that needed to be paid.

In a last desperate attempt you tried to get rid of the ropes that caused your hands to go numb and your finger stiff. But it was impossible to break free.

"Dex.", the voice of another woman came from the shadows.

It was so sudden that it scared the shit out of you.

Dexter threw a glance into the direction.

"What is it, T-Bug?", he asked.

A woman in a tight, black bodysuit emerged form the dark. The uniform of a netrunner. Her eyes flickered red.

"Someone's coming."