2023-01-28: The Junk Collection Grows

• Cast: Yuta Hibiki, Shozo
• Where: Tsutsujidai: Junk Shop Aya
• Date: U.C. 0097 01 28
• Summary: Kaworu sends a strange child to the Junk Shop. The resident strange adults (and one teenager) are there to meet him.

---

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Fresh off the phone with Kaworu, Gridman stands inside Junk Shop Aya. Nervousness hangs in the air. Three of his four comrades have joined him -- no matter how much Gridman rang Vit's doorbell, the Hyper Agent didn't appear.

"A newborn child, whose first meeting was with Alexis Kerib." Max rumbles, as he puts together a small plate of food. Scrambled eggs, toast, orange juice. Normal, healthy food. Suitable for a first meal.

"Can't throw a rock without hitting a fucked-up kid out here." Borr mutters.

Calibur grunts, keeping his own counsel.

"Whatever the case, we'll do what we can for him. Just like the people here did for us." Gridman says, finality in his voice. This topic is not up for discussion. "If Kaworu trusts this child enough to send him to Aya, there's more to him than we'll be able to see at first glance."

Junk Shop Aya, as ever, is bright and homey, if somewhat drowning in, well, junk. Max works behind the counter, while Borr and Calibur take seats at the bar. Gridman waits just inside the door, under the watchful eyes of his comrades.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

The group can see the boy approaching, waving goodbye to someone a ways away -- Presumably Kaworu? -- and walking into the-

/WHAM./

...Walking into the door. He bounces off it and stares for entirely too long, fumbling at the glass and looking through at Gridman and the others. It takes him another moment to figure out the doorknob, pushing the door open and walking inside. For his part, he doesn't exactly seem /ashamed/ of his very silly error -- he's far more interested in the 4 assembled hyper agents. His alien pupils dilate slightly, the crosses growing wider in his eyes.

"There's one of you missing..." he muses quietly, "But Kaworu said there were five of you... But there are five /here/... Mmmm..."

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Calibur's lips tilt up, watching Shozo crash into the door. "B--been there."

"You idiot, it was your swords that stopped you." Borr chides, as Shozo figures out such things as 'glass' and 'doorknobs'. "Doesn't look like a bad kid. On first glance."

Gridman smiles as Shozo enters. "Hello, I'm-- huh?"

In harmony, all Hyper Agents blink in surprise. Once, then twice.

"Hmm." Max responds, rounding the counter with a tray of food. "Young man, would you like to eat? Please, come and sit down."

The couch is gestured to. As if to demonstrate, Gridman walks over to it and sits. "You said five of us. My comrade, Vit, is--" He pauses, looking away. "Spending some time on his own right now. So it's just us four, this time. My name is Gridman. This is Max," He gestures to the large man with the food tray. "Calibur," A nod to the slouching samurai at the bar, three swords hanging from his back. "And Borr." Borr offers Shozo a thumbs-up.

"And you're Shozo, right? Kaworu told me a little about you. We're all excited to meet you." Gridman smiles, again, though there's wariness in his expression. "Can I ask what you mean about five of us?"

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo quietly nods to all of them, aping the manners he'd learned from his meetings with Kaworu... and Alexis. As Max brings the tray of food, Shozo stares at it for a moment, then slowly nods. He doesn't necessarily /recognize/ this, but Max is acting like Kaworu was, and that's the /right/ way to act, so he should act /right/ back... right?

He follows Gridman to the couch and sits down next to him. He starts pointing at the agents, one at a time.

"One," he said, pointing at Max.

"Two." Next, to Calibur.

"Three." Then Borr. He then points at Gridman.

"Four... And five." His finger drifts down, from Gridman's face, to his chest.

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

As Shozo accepts the tray, but doesn't start eating, Gridman has a realization. "Oh, sorry. Like this." Picking up Shozo's fork, the Hyper Agent spears a small amount of scrambled eggs, placing them in his mouth. Chewing with exaggerated motions, then swallowing, Gridman places the fork down.

"This is called 'eating'." He explains, gently.

Borr laughs. "Eating's great! You're going to love it, kid."

Max takes a seat next to Calibur, the two men watching Shozo carefully. Gridman considers Shozo's words, watching the child point to each of his comrades, then twice at himself.

"I... see." Gridman's yellow eyes close for a long moment, and he sighs. "You can see that I've been shattered. Kaworu did say you were talented. Does the way I exist now bother you, Shozo?"

Gridman takes a moment, bolstering himself. "How about this? We can play a little game. I'll ask you a question, and you answer. Then you can ask me, or my comrades, one, and we'll answer."

As games go, it's pretty lame. But maybe it's something.

"So, how about... How much can you remember, Shozo?"

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo watches Gridman "eat," and nods with recognition. He carefully picks up the fork with a bit of egg on it, lifts it up to his mouth carefully as to not drop the food, and... promptly bites the fork in two, chewing the metal quietly and thoughtfully before swallowing and putting the remains of the utensil down.

"Mmm," he says quietly, rubbing his belly, before looking back up at Gridman.

"Why would the way you exist bother me?" he asks, curious. "It's just the way you are." He tilts his head slightly. At the suggestion of a game, he nods, a small smile on his face.

"OK." At the question of what he remembers, his eyes unfocus a bit. "Um... Well, I met Alexis... And he said some stuff and ran away... And then I met Kaworu, and then I came here."

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"Er--!" Gridman manages, his eyes wide at that /crunch/ of metal.

Max, despite the mask covering much of his face, looks horrified. Snatching the remains of the fork, he pulls it from Shozo's reach, as if worried the young man would eat the rest.

"Damn, kid!" Borr laughs. "Nice one!"

"S--start with toast." Calibur offers.

"Right." Gridman picks up a piece of toast and takes a tiny bite from one corner, then offers it to Shozo. "How about that?"

Shozo's easy acceptance gets a smile from Gridman, those yellow eyes softening. "Thank you. It's very kind of you to feel that way. That's not very much of a memory, but there's nothing wrong with that. My memory isn't very long, either."

"Yep. We all woke up here, just about a year ago." Borr leans back on the stool. "But what a year it's been. Feels like a lifetime."

"Do you have a question you'd like to ask us, Shozo?" Gridman makes a note of Shozo's odd eyes going unfocused. It seems like asking about his past is a bad idea, for the child's well-being.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo opens his mouth to gently bite the toast, and Gridman can see a great blackness behind his teeth, an open void, before he bites down on the corner.

"Mmm," he says, a similar response to the fork, before tilting his head at the Hyper Agent's statement.

"You have lots of memories," he says, putting his fingertips together as he leans in a bit. "They're just... disconnected." He then begins tracing invisible lines from Gridman to the other Hyper Agents. "The rest of you... like cuttings from a tree... All fully bloomed and growing on your own..." There is something almost mystified in his tone as he says it. He follows one last thread to look out the door.

"Mmm... Vit is sad. What happened?"

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Well, void or not, at least he isn't eating a fork this time. Gridman nods in approval, and Max sighs in relief. "Well done, young man. Do you enjoy the sensation of eating?"

"It's okay if you don't like it." Gridman reassures Shozo. "You don't have to do things you don't like. Well, most of the time."

Disconnected memories... "Yeah, I think you're right. I want to believe all my memories are still there, somehow. I just need to find the right key." Gridman looks wistful.

Borr seems to particularly appreciate Shozo's plant-based metaphor. "Yeah, that's us! We used to exist just for the mission, to support this guy." A gesture toward Gridman. "But tuns out, being alive is pretty great. I hope it'll be the same for you."

Why is Vit sad? Everyone in the room seems to droop, a little, at the question.

"You see..." Gridman begins, bringing his hands together in his lap. "Vit loves someone, very much. We all loved her, but Vit most of all. She was... sick. Sick in a way that made her do bad things."

Borr swivels on their stool, turning their back on the conversation.

"We all believed our love would be enough, but that's not how being sick works. She did something bad, and then ran away. We don't know where she is now, or how to help her. For Vit... He feels like he failed someone who was depending on him. Someone who he loved the very most."

"H--her name is Ennil." Calibur speaks up, in his quiet voice. "We'll bring her home. S--someday."

"O--okay! My turn!" Gridman says, with faux-brightness. "Do you have somewhere safe to stay, Shozo?"

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo wipes his mouth and nods. "It's, um... it's fun?" He doesn't really... get it yet, but he's fine indulging the Hyper Agents.

He tilts his head at the major change in the demeanor of the four. "Hoooh... That's what that is..." he mutters, looking deeper at Gridman. "Mmm... If she's /infected/, that needs to be /cured/, right...? What do you think, mister?" He pulls the strange device out of his pocket and looks at it, saying nothing for a moment. "Mmm... I don't really get it, but OK..." He stows the item and looks back up. "I hope you can cure her soon!"

He smiles a little when Gridman asks his next question, but the smile doesn't reach his eyes- almost like it doesn't know how to.

"Um, Kaworu said that I could rest here, but I don't know that he asked you. Is that OK?"

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

Max nods. Acceptance. "Very well. We shall try different flavors, to see what it is you enjoy most. It is good to air on the side of caution. Though you are from another world, you may very well need to eat to be able to function normally."

Shozo pulls a box from his pocket. All four Hyper Agents exchange a look. "Shozo, do you know... Who is in there? Do they /want/ to be in there?" Gridman asks, wariness in his voice. A box that can contain a being of Light... No matter what, it can't be a good thing.

Calibur shifts slightly in his seat. It might look like he's adjusting to be more comfortable, but it puts his swords more easily within reach. Just in case.

"Yes. She's been infected, and she needs to be purified." Gridman says, softly. "We'll do our best, Shozo. Thank you."

Borr swivels back around. "You see, kid. This place is owned by some really nice people, but they've been through a lot lately. We were thinking you could stay with one of us." A pause. "If you want to, and you're okay with that."

"Each of my comrades has their own home with room for a guest. I'm staying with Max, and Vit is... a little too sad." Gridman explains, before--

"Basically." Borr cuts in. "You would be staying with me. If you want to. If not, we'll ask mama if you can crash on the couch. Wouldn't be the first time."

Shozo, as Kaworu said, doesn't seem like a bad kid. But he's certainly /unusual/. Tsutsujidai can't bear any more heartache. Keeping a close eye on the boy is the best idea for everyone.

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo blinks curiously as the Hyper Agents make the same look of concern that everyone /else/ seems to make when they see his Battlenizer. He pulls the device out again and shows it to the others.

"Oh, Mister's been in here as long as I can remember! This is where he lives. Isn't that right, Mister?" Mystery after mystery...

He turns to look at Borr as he makes his offer, and nods. "Oh, ok! That sounds fine!" He gives Borr... Well, it's probably supposed to be a thumbs up. But instead, he has his pinky out, like he's drinking tea.

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"May I examine that, young man?" Max asks, his arms folded before his chest. "If I can touch it without it harming me, or my comrades."

Calibur glances at Max, but says nothing.

"Hell yeah." Borr laughs at the pinkie-out gesture, though they're keeping an eye on the Battlenizer too. "Do you need or want anything before we head over? Food, clothes, toys? What do kids like?"

<Pose Tracker> Shozo has posed.

Shozo reaches out to hand the device to Max, but hesitates.

"Um... Please be careful," he says. "Mister says that, um, if it breaks, it would be bad for me." The moment Max touches it, he can hear it -- the seductive whisper of /power/, of /conquest/ -- as well as the Light inside, bound but also protected by the monstrous device. What /was/ this thing? Why did Shozo seem to be unaffected?

He looks back at Borr, though his eyes occasionally dart back to his tool.

"Um... I think I can just change how I look, so... Um, I don't really /know/ what kids like."

<Pose Tracker> Gridman has posed.

"Thank you. I will treat it with the utmost care." Max promises, taking the device into his hands.

Blue eyes widen as the whispers touch Max's heart. He brings it close to his face, examining every inch. He's got to work fast, before the whispers overwhelm him.

This thing is... Max glances up to Shozo, furrowing his brow. This thing is /ancient/. Some part of the box -- or perhaps whatever is contained within -- reaches out to Max. If he just has a little more time--

"Max." Calibur says.

Snapping back to reality, Max places the cube back in Shozo's hand. Gently, but firmly. "Hmm. Thank you, Shozo."

With a glance to Calibur, both men step out of the room, talking quietly in the hallway leading to the Takarada's residence.

"Well." Gridman attempts to draw Shozo's attention back his way, giving Calibur and Max space to talk. "Let's be sure to take good care of it, then. It'll be nice and safe in Borr's house. Nobody can even find their place without being invited."

Borr gives Shozo a lazy grin, nodding. "That's right. And it's okay if you don't know what you like yet. We'll figure it out, yeah? That's half the fun. If you're gonna crash at my place though, there's one rule."

"Don't fuck up the plants." Borr says, seriously. "They're important to me. Looking is okay. Touching is okay. Picking or destroying, no. If I learn I can trust you, I'll let you help out."

Gridman smiles. "We'll take care of you, Shozo. As long as we're all kind to each other, it'll be just fine. Let's go get you settled in!"