Goro Takemura x Reader

Thirty-Eight

"Arasaka-sama.", the lady at the desk bowed as she greeted you.

With a lazy gesture you excused yourself and allowed her to stand up straight again.

"I am here to work on Mikoshi.", you said in a matter of fact way and glanced past her to a group of IT-employees. "How is the system?"

She squinted nervously, tried to smile but also needed to find the right words.

"Uh... we had some recent issues.", immediately she bowed again. "I am very sorry, Arasaka-sama! We're working on fixing the issue."

Your eyes flinched for a second. So everything had plaid out just the way you had intended and nobody had noticed the chip missing.

That was good.

It would be best to play along.

Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath and sighed. One of your hands rose to massage your forehead.

"I will have a look at it myself.", you said and walked past the reception. "Please excuse me."

"B-but... Arasaka-sama!", like a headless chicken, the woman rounded the desk to rush to your side. "The system is malfunctioning. The netrunners said it might be dangerous to enter."

"I know what I'm doing.", your eyes jumped over your shoulder to have a brief look at Goro.

He had returned to the man he had been the day the two of your had met. His hands were crossed in front of his stomach, his head lowered in a respectful manner.

He didn't dare meet your eyes. It didn't feel right to him.

Somehow the thought that his gaze would never fall on your the same way again made your heart flinch. A sharp pain chased through your limbs and you pulled a face.

"Goro.", you addressed him directly as you stood in the elevator. "To my side."

Finally he gifted you a quick scan.

"I don't think you will need me, Arasaka-sama.", he bowed to excuse his direct words. "I will wait here and escort you home whenever you feel like it."

Again, he bowed, but it felt so stiff and not at all as elegant as you remembered. Something in him had sifted. Or maybe it was just the way he acted around your father.

Had he been less stiff with you?

To think that you were enough to make him soften at the very first glance was arrogant. But somehow your heart wished for it to be true.

You couldn't argue with him. Not in this moment. So your lips pressed into a thin line, your eyes flustered shut and you nodded in agreement while a long breath escaped your nose.

"I will see you soon.", you didn't know why but you wanted him to know that his time wouldn't be wasted.

You felt like he deserved it.

The doors rolled shut and the floor of metal below your feet started to vibrate slightly. Light flickered and the temperature shifted.

Your thoughts wandered off.

Perhaps Yorinobu had been wrong. After this, it seemed to you that Takemura wasn't all that loyal to Saburo's cause as expected. He probably didn't even know what Mikoshi served for.

And he was unsure in himself. Or rather his purpose.

A tool without a purpose started to rush and eventually it would break. That was what Saburo had told you many times as a child whenever you had asked the maids to play with you instead of fulfilling their actual tasks.

Back then it had made sense. Now it just felt like an excuse to treat people as lesser.

"Takemura...", you whispered into the emptiness of the elevator as your eyes narrowed.

There had to be a way to convince him. Or at least make him shift in your favour. And if not that at least get him to be neutral about your plans.

Your plans.

What were they now?

Originally, you wanted to save an engram of Yorinobu and temporarily store it in the female mercenaries body. V, that was her name.

The memory of her face made your spine cramp.

But now that there was no way finding them you needed another person. Your thought process stumbled. Yorinobu didn't want to. He had no desire to take someone else's flesh as his own.

He was willing to fight his father in his own brain.

Although this seemed like the most noble solution, you couldn't help but fear that he misjudged Saburo's dedication. He wanted this new body. And if he was willing to sacrifice his own son for it he'd fight his psyche too.

"Kuso...", with your teeth clenched you grabbed your head and bend over as a wave of desperation washed over you.

You couldn't let this happen. You couldn't let Yorinobu do what he wanted, it was plain madness.

He was a coward for thinking he could do it. Or not care.

All of a sudden a deep hatred started to foam in the pit of your stomach.

How was Hanako able to agree to all of this?

How could she choose Saburo over her brother?!

Tears or anger blurred your vision. All you wanted was to scream and destroy. If you would have been able to destroy Mikoshi for good you would have done that.

But it would also mean giving up your own life. There was no way you could run from Arasaka. And even once your duty was done you'd still be part of this corporation.

It was like a disease that crept into peoples minds and nestled in their flesh.

No, you needed to find another way. Destruction wouldn't get you nowhere.

But how?

The soft ding of the elevator doors that opened tore you from your thoughts. Startled, your gaze shot up.

A room of black and red appeared.

All of the lights were dimmed. Only a few people still wandered around in an attempt to fix the damage that you had done.

Thankfully, nobody knew that. You would have been fucked.

One of the IT-experts briefly looked up as you passed him to take a seat in your netrunner chair and strapped on the gear.

"Please do not interfere.", you asked of him. "I will see what I can do with Mikoshi."

Swallowing hard, he nodded. It wasn't permitted to talk back to the members of the Arasaka family.