Goro Takemura x Reader

Twenty

A smile was on his lips.

You barely managed to see it in the dark, but a soft beam of light made it visible whenever he tilted his head to the side, towards the window.

With your eyes only halfway open, you returned the smile and couldn't help but take such a deep breath that it made him look at you.

The raised corners of his mouth did not fall. Instead, he remained relaxed and comfortable.

"What is it that you are smiling about, Takemura?", you asked into the silence.

His eyes fell shut and he hummed.

"May I speak freely?", he asked.

You did a gesture.

"Feel free to drop the formalities with me. I do not care about policies and guidelines. It's just us here. Relax."

With his lids lowered he glanced at you from the corner of his eyes. The smile had faded and instead he seemed to be lost in thoughts.

"Does that imply me addressing you as Arasaka-sama as well?", he was hesitant to ask, audibly on edge yet unable to resist the sweet temptation.

The question made you chuckle. Tired, you exhaled and turned your head to look up at the ceiling.

"My name is (Y/N).", you huffed. "I am pleased to meet you."

"I know.", he suddenly said and leaned back in the chair, his legs spread and shoulders slumped. "We've met before. When you were a child."

Surprised, you glanced at him.

His face did not seem familiar to you, nor did the touch of his eyes. Just the way his chin moved when he thought about something seemed like a trait of his.

A man with long black hair and a beard. Although, if he recalled meeting you as a child it was possible that his hair had been short back then and his face shaved clean.

Maybe it had been before he had gotten his cyberware.

The cyberware...

Your gaze fell onto his neck once more. Black and red metal with silver screws, decorated by the red tree of Arasaka.

It was unmistakably unique. You would have remembered it.

Or him.

"You don't remember.", Takemura let his fingers run along his jawline, down to where his adam's apple would have been if it weren't covered by modifications. "Of course not. You were just a child."

"Was it before..?"

"No. I already had this.", he tapped his neck with two fingers and a smirk. "It was a gift. From Arasaka-sama."

You swallowed hard. For a brief moment you debated whether or not you should ask what was on your mind. The two of you weren't close and you didn't want to pressure him into telling you because you were the child of his boss.

But you couldn't help being curious.

"What was it a gift for?", you asked.

His eyes shimmered in the dark.

How relaxed he suddenly looked like, slumped in his seat, legs spread and his dressing shirt loose enough to allow you a peak at his chest.

He seemed fit underneath the black fabric. But it also proved your suspicion. The metal of his neck piece reached all the way down to his chest, just about where his lungs started.

You wondered how his back looked like.

And once again he noticed your gaze on him. It only withdrew a huff from him.

"I serve Arasaka-sama all my life now. I've never known anyone but him.", Takemura let his head fall back and took in a deep breath. "And for him, I made great sacrifices."

"Sacrifices?", you pushed the question since he allow it.

"My neck.", his fingers roamed the metal once more as if, after all these years, he still wasn't used to it. "Someone attacked. I had to act quick. And I paid the price for my foolishness. Arasaka-sama rewarded it."

"With chrome and his title on your body.", you smiled so that his ego wouldn't be bruised. "Wakarimashita. Still, Takemura..."

"Please feel free to call me Goro.", he leaned forward to support his elbows on his knees and bowed his head. "If you allow me to call you by your name, please treat me equally."

His voice was so soft as he betrothed you with his first name. It felt like a treasure that he placed into your hands and told you to keep safe.

And you did. Very close to your heart.

"Goro.", his name tasted like cherry blossoms and sake on your tongue.

Just like home.

"(Y/N).", he chuckled, such a sweet, raspy sound, like the music of a wakki. "The last time we met you were this big."

He gestured in the air, about as tall as a seven year old would be.

Your heart skipped a beat.

"After my parents died.", you said, not so soft looking anymore and instead with a face veiled in shadows of the past.

He hummed.

"Yes, I remember. Arasaka-sama took you in."

Lost in thoughts you glanced out the window.

When did you meet him?

He couldn't have been Saburo's bodyguard at that time. You would have seen him often enough to remember his face.

And his voice. It was the most memorable thing about him. Right before those eyes. Not the implants but the way he used them.

His gaze was one of a kind. You would have remembered how it made you feel.

How old must he have been then?

Maybe in his early twenties.

But it was hard to say. People didn't age the way they once did. Especially not when they were equipped with cyberware. Chrome made the cells age more slowly.

Takemura looked like a man in his early fifties, maybe even a little younger. But Yorinobu didn't seem much older than him visually, and he was already in his seventies.

Hanako was also already sixty and some still wondered if she had just turned thirty. You looked almost as old as she did, even though the two of you were far apart.

No, it wouldn't help you to try and remember a younger version of him. You needed to remember something about him that couldn't have changed.

Like his voice. Or something he had said.

"You can cry if you want to.", it suddenly came from him and struck you could. "I know you feel alone. But with Arasaka you'll always be safe."

Your eyes widened. A trembling breath slipped off your lips.

"You were the one who drove me from the crime scene to Saburo's house.", you whispered, breath held back.

"I was the first to hold you after the incident. You didn't let go of me for such a long time, I had to carry you to the car."