Ashes

Sekigahara, Japan. A mountainous town that cherished the history of the old century where dominating battles were fought on its territory. The Gifu Prefecture was home to the largest majority of civilians in Sekigahara even in the year 3024, but several life changes were made to the surrounding areas. Sekigahara was the most notable landmark to house the Alteration and Intelligent Life headquarters, a company that focused on producing artificial intelligence in the form of life-like human robots, androids, and drones to help support everyday life. A majority of the company's funds, which surfaced as over fifty billion yen, were used to help manufacture the AIL companions for family life in the Southern part of Japan.

Because Asahikawa was on the opposite side of the country, Ryo had never been introduced to any part of AIL's qualities and influence before until now. After they had departed on their journey to return to Japan, the Ryo and Naoto traveled to a bullet train to Sekigahara. A full hour passed as Ryo laid dormant on the turquoise cushioned seats, researching about AIL's influence on the people. From many recent articles that he read on the internet, AIL was a prominent way of life that supported the elderly and the homeless in the form of servantry and hospitality.

Ryo read many articles that involved the AIL replication of the deceased. When someone would perish from natural causes or murder, AIL would bring their corpses, copy the appearance of their bodies, and place them into a robot replica. This replica would appear like an exact clone of the deceased individual. Some upgrades to the machine would cost extra money, which included replication of their memories so that their dialogue patterns would include certain features personal to the purchaser.

If a man replicated their deceased wife with this upgrade, they might call their man a sweet bean. AIL's artificial intelligence technology taps into the deceased individual's brain and retrieves slivers of memories still intact. However, after a total of seventy-two hours, the deceased individual's brain and memories will be completely lost and irrecoverable.

Some of these programmed servants had controversies surrounding them. Families were to forever live without the loss of their loved one's memories, and instead, it would be replaced by a lifeless and emotionless robot. It was hardly the way to honor the death of an individual, for it defiled their significance to the world, including their spirit and reputation. This was severely admonished and disregarded, but many individuals were extremely sentimental and chose to enjoy the benefits of AIL replication.

Such information shocked Ryo. If Sumire had truly perished, then Ryo would never want to replace her with an AIL replication. It was dishonorable and a horrid idea that disrespected all that she stood for; a role model, a motivator, and a loving sister.

"You nervous?" Naoto asked Ryo as he straightened his tie in the bullet train.

Ryo broke free from his trance of reading articles about AIL. "Uh, a little bit." He said.

Naoto sighed and looked out the window to see the cloudy and gloomy weather circulating Sekigahara's outskirts. "Yeah. Me too." He bluntly said.

"What made you change your mind about seeing Sophie?" Ryo asked. "Especially with me?"

Naoto took a second to think. "Sooner or later I'll have to face her. She's my sister after all," He explained. "And… I know how much she means to you even though I don't know exactly what you did to her. And after you, and Jinni, and Sumire all talked to me about it… I finally understood what I needed to do. I needed to step up. I need to take control of the situation. Sumire would have wanted me to do that, to be strong."

"I'm glad." Ryo complimented, still thinking of Sumire.

"And to be honest… I've been kind of holding in something about Sophie and me that I haven't told you. And considering how much she means to you, am I safe to assume that you had something to do with her leaving Sekigahara to find her friend? What was her name again?" Naoto asked.

"Ash," Ryo said, holding in the thought.

"Right. The truth is, Sophie and I had a great relationship when we were kids. But something happened to her in elementary school that changed her views on the world. She hated people… for no reason. She judged people for no reason, and I'll bet she judged me too. Whenever I would approach her… she would scream at me and the rest of our family. She lived a very sedentary life ever since that happened, and I always blamed myself for it," Naoto looked out the window again.

"I thought to myself, maybe if I was a better brother then she wouldn't be feeling this way. Because she searched for Ash for months, and maybe even a few years when we were adults."

Ryo couldn't help but blame himself as well. He was the main reason for Sophie's drastic change of heart, which ruined Naoto's relationship with her. His actions caused a chain reaction of hatred and loss of self-esteem. "It's my fault," Ryo confessed without holding anything back.

"Why?" Naoto asked.

"Because… I ruined her life," Ryo continued. "I was the one that hurt Ash. Sophie was there when it happened. I lost control, and I tried to strangle Ash. From that day on, I was haunted by your sister's voice. She would always criticize me even when I knew what I did was wrong. I couldn't blame anyone but myself."

"Not even Sezan Fuma? The one you talked about at your first meeting?" Naoto asked.

The cries and requests of Sez's voice began filling Ryo's ears with nothing but displeasure. "He was the one who forced me to do it, but I had a choice. He wanted me to kill her. I knew it was wrong, but I listened."

"I see…" Naoto said, glancing down at his lap.

"Do you hate me?" Ryo asked.

Naoto chuckled and shook his head after looking directly at Ryo for a split second. "No, I don't," He confessed. "Because you're my friend. And we were both kids, after all."

"But I'm the one to blame," Ryo said.

"Well, even if I did blame you… what would I accomplish? What would I gain from holding a grudge against you? I rarely harbor any ill will towards anyone because I know that hatred will eat me alive. I don't want to become what Sophie was or is still. I'm not mad, because I believe that things happen for a reason and sometimes it is our destiny to make things right," Naoto looked into Ryo's eyes with a bright smile. "And for obvious reasons, you saved my life. I couldn't hate someone who risked their life and limb for me."

"Wow…" Ryo whispered. All of his words clung to the bottom of his heart as pure and genuine emotions that he never imagined he would be hearing. The damage that he had done to Sophie was purely catastrophic. It was a life-damaging and changing experience that had the potential to be irreversible. Yet Naoto brushing it aside and accepting Ryo's actions was something that gave him the faith to hope, much like this father instructed him. Naoto was a true friend that believed corrupted people, like Ryo, could change. It was heartwarming and gave him the faith to move on from his past. "I… I don't know what to say. Thank you, Naoto." He spoke from his inner thoughts and feelings.

"You can thank me later after we see Sophie and figure out this damn problem," Naoto said, standing up from his seat. "Sekigahara stops in about a mile. With her help, we'll be able to find out whether or not the Yakuza was involved."

"How would she know?" Ryo asked.

"Because she's an AIL worker," Naoto revealed. "She's responsible for scanning thousands and thousands of deceased bodies day and night. Because Sumire went offline after Lucia's damn dragon stole our nanosuits, we have no way of tracking her. But we can confirm whether or not she's alive using their AIL database. It's a system that runs across all of Aries that tracks down a person's location via satellite uplink. Our tech at Sunlight HQ doesn't have that power yet."

"So we use the satellite uplink to access the files the night she was shot?" Ryo wanted clarification.

"Yeah," Naoto said. "Only, I don't know anyone that works for satellite stuff other than my sister. So… I hope we can convince her. I haven't seen her in five years."

Ryo prayed in his mind that he would be able to apologize to Sophie for the damage he had done to her life. Even though it was unforgivable and irrevocable, he still wanted to try. After nine years, he was ready for his first move to clear up his past trauma. Only, he wished that Sumire was there to witness it all; he wanted to make her proud.

"Sekigahara Station. This is Sekigahara Station," The bullet train's announcer called through the intercom. "Train doors will close in thirty seconds. Have a great rest of your day!"

"Here's our stop," Naoto said after wearing a medical mask to cover his nose and mouth. With his blue latex gloves, Naoto grabbed a small briefcase containing the evidence of yesterday's incident and straightened his tie once more. He glanced over to Ryo and noticed he had equipped the V2 nanosuit for emergency purposes after looking at Ryo preparing his equipment. "Come on. Let's go."

Ryo nodded. "I'm with you." He said.

The duo landed on the east side of Sekigahara Station, where the bustling and crowded area became apparent as soon as Ryo and Naoto bumped elbows with strangers. Naoto tried his best not to touch others, as his fear for germs was still present with his gloves and a medicinal mask covering. The two reunited with each other on the way out and made way for the exit to the station.

Station supervisors and hired attendants decked the outskirts of the station intending to assist the elderly and disabled. Ryo and Naoto passed through many of them on the way out as they located the nearest taxi. Sekigahara was rarely cold, but today was a rare occurrence. The mountainous outskirts were foggy and hardly able to be seen with ease.

"Hey, Ryo," Naoto called as a nearby taxi driver dropped off a passenger and made enough room for them. "Quick question that probably has nothing to do with any of this business, but… I feel like you missed something last night."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" Ryo asked.

Naoto rolled his shoulders back and waved his head from left to right to hint at his sense of humor taking over the nervousness of his statement. "Well, there was a certain someone… who said a certain something to you that made me think twice? I don't know. You probably didn't hear it because you went out of control."

"Who said what?" Ryo impatiently asked as Naoto made it clear that he was not going to reveal any further information.

"You know… Natia," Naoto revealed. "She said something to you last night. You know. Wink, wink."

"What?" Ryo was startled by what Naoto was implying. "I don't recall her saying anything that hinted at that kind of thought. We fought last night and all I remember was her telling me that she couldn't trust me anymore. She was the opposite of… whatever you're implying."

Naoto chuckled. "Oh, Ryo… even at our age, you're still innocent," He wittingly said. "She wasn't talking about last night. She was talking about you before it all happened."

"N-no," Ryo rejected. "There's no way. She hates Sumire and me, and she's already made it clear that she doesn't want anything to do with me until I prove myself to her. Someone like her would never."

"I don't know, Ryo," Naoto teased as the taxi driver reversed to their position. He opened the door and placed his briefcase inside before putting one leg in while pausing to look at Ryo. "I've known Natia for almost five years, and I'm sure that this is the first time she's ever cried for someone. And you'd better remember what she said to you because if you didn't, I feel that would be pretty mean of you."

Ryo stood still and silent for several seconds while attempting to understand. However, he couldn't recall Natia stating anything that illicit a romantic feeling. But that day, at the Hullbreaker Tunnels, Ryo believed that she was adorable at the time because of her awkward and irregular behavior as someone who wished to have no relationship or connection with any Nakai. Her unusual behavior at the tunnels made Ryo see her as someone cutesy and sweet spotted.

But even if this was the case, Ryo couldn't. His anger had controlled him during last night's tirade and he didn't believe someone like him should stick to anyone. Now that he had broken Natia's trust, the possibility was zero to none.

"You gonna get in, or are you going to stand there?" Naoto asked. "My sister's waiting for us."

"Right," Ryo realized he had stood idly for too long thinking about Natia. "Sorry about that."

On the road to Naoto's old household at Sekigahara, Ryo couldn't help but erupt in pure nervousness at the mere thought of seeing Sophie. Multiple what-if statements began arising in his head to add to his inner pressure. What if she rejected Ryo and never wanted to accept his apology? What if she went insane at the mere sight of his guilty face? Or worst of all, what if she had run away from home, much like Ryo did as a cowardly child?

There was no chance that Ryo could redeem himself if Sophie was not present. Despite this, and after hearing Naoto's encouraging words on the bullet train, Ryo wanted to push his regrets and doubts away. He looked out the taxi's window and admired the modern scenery of Japan after being accustomed to Aries's vibrant and vivid environment.

There was something about being in his country of birth that reminded him of his childhood and family before his situation turned dark. The days when he understood and accepted the life advice of his mother and father were the days he was loved and included amongst his affectionate ones. He wished he could have been as hopeful as his aunt so that he wouldn't have run away.

"So… what was my sister like back in middle school after the whole incident with you and her?" Naoto asked. "Sorry for asking. I'm not one to peek my head into curious thoughts, but I never really knew what kind of person she was after locking herself up in her room for so long."

Ryo couldn't tell, for she always ignored him after the incident with Ash. He would see her sometimes spending time with Ash and other students from different clubs in the elementary school, but whenever they would lock eyes with each other, she would ignore him.

"I wouldn't know," Ryo said. "I've never talked to her after that incident."

"Oh, I see…" Naoto said and pondered about his sister as he rested his head against the taxi's window. "Well, I think this is the perfect time to see her. We both have problems that involve her. If we can convince her to join us in finding out the truth about what happened to Sumire, we'll be able to solve our problems too."

"Yeah. I hope so," Ryo said. "I'm just…"

"Afraid?" Naoto completed his sentence. "Yeah. Me too. But like I said, we have no other option right now. We can't afford to let the others in on this business. Because between you and me, using AIL's satellite tech is kind of… against Sunlight regulations. We're not allowed to use tech that's outside of our regulations, and Rose Accel made it clear that AIL is out of the picture. But… she doesn't know."

"Rose Accel…" Ryo coldly stated her name, remembering the first time he met her. She was menacing, Akai was a useless bystander, and Jinni was left defenseless. He had also been tossed around by her spiritual thrall, which was completely abnormal and ethereal to have even existed in the first place. "What exactly did she do to Jinni? And why is she so scared of her?"

"Jinni… well…" Naoto's voice cut off abruptly as he thought about her past. "She said this before, but back in the day, she was just a retail worker at a clothing store. But she had a brother that was always getting into a lot of trouble with… well, I should probably tell you later," He said, looking at the taxi driver. "Thanks for driving us by the way."

"You are welcome." The taxi driver was an AIL replication android that followed the standards of what they were programmed to do. "Would you like me to drop you off near the closest town?"

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks." Naoto said.

A chilling breeze ran through Ryo and Naoto's hair strands as they exited the taxi after paying the fare. That, and an inevitable chill down Ryo's spine tingled his senses to the maximum after realizing it was almost time to face one of his greatest fears. The sun began opening up as soon as Naoto ascended a small flight of stairs into his old neighborhood. It was a single block filled with hundreds of small houses that appeared no different from one another. It began afflicting Ryo's mind with the memories of Japan and his time there as a Yakuza member.

But no more, he thought. He was a different person. Or at least, he was about to be.

Naoto inhaled a breath of fresh air to soak in his home through his nostrils. Everything for Naoto was pure bliss, but their end goal was not. It was too soon to tell. Nevertheless, the traditional bitterness of the afternoon atmosphere of Naoto's home was bliss to him. For Ryo, not so much.

"Weird. I suddenly feel an urge to stay here now," Naoto noted, crossing his arms together as he stopped in the middle of the road. "Maybe it's all in my head, this goal of ours. Maybe I just really wanted to see Sophie, and I couldn't wait any longer. I just… I just want to be a good brother to her while I still have the chance. While I'm still alive."

Ryo wished he could have said the same for Sumire. Although they were not blood-related, none of it mattered to him after the conditions that they met together with. Somehow, just somehow, Ryo wanted to make this the best opportunity for Naoto. For Ryo to bring peace to Naoto with his mistake would have been the icing on the cake.

"Here it is," Naoto mentioned, stopping in front of one of the ordinary houses on the block. Despite it being ordinary, the person within changed Ryo's life forever with an unforgettable and unforgivable memory. The house was no longer ordinary, and the person within needed to be revived. "Proud of you, man. You made it this far. I was afraid you were going to chicken out."

Ryo examined the door. "She's in there, right?" He asked.

"She is. Once I knock on this door… there's no going back," He said. "You ready?"

The innocent red pig-tailed child that Ryo knew had transformed for years. He knew she didn't look or act the same way after all that he had done. He had hoped that nothing else had happened in those nine years to someone as iron-willed and brave as her. It was a hope. Only a hope. Nothing was clear-cut.

"I'm ready." Ryo's voice didn't quiver.

Naoto knocked on the sliding door in a melody that indicated someone from the household arriving home. The melody played and entered Ryo's ears like the devil played the most horrendous melody in hell. Ryo looked down towards his feet and noticed a small shadow silhouette in front of the door that prepared to slide the door open. Ryo blinked once. The sliding door opened and Naoto took a single step forward before he stopped midway at the sight of someone who didn't belong.

"Oh," Naoto muttered. "I think we have the wrong house. Weird. Did she move out?"

"Who are you looking for?" The white-haired petite female asked Naoto with her hands gently placed on her lap.

That voice…

"Oh, I'm looking for Sophie Hiragi," Naoto continued. "I thought she'd be here, but I guess she moved? Should have seen it coming after all…"

I recognize that voice anywhere…

"Sophie Hiragi? She is here," The familiar voice continued. "She won't be back for another half hour or so."

Ryo lifted his head to face the unknown female. This entire time, his head had been bowed down towards the front door as a symbol of respect. But as soon as he had heard her voice, he could not resist the urge. His ears were ringing from the mere resonating tone and familiarity of her voice, and he was beginning to grown light-headed by the second. His pupils shrunk, and he imagined his eyeballs sinking back into his skull like a slug.

"Oh, is there something wrong with your guest?" The female asked, bending down to look into

Ryo's eyes. "Excuse me? Are you okay?"

It is…

San, san, san! Stop calling her Meguro-san!

Say you're sorry to Sophie. You have to sound like you fucking mean it.

We are just kids!

"Ryo?" Naoto's voice cracked Ryo's loss of hearing away. His face was expressionless as he peered into the white-haired female bending down to examine his eyes. She had a slight grin on her face as if she had been experiencing life in the best ways possible. Her perfume, her light purple top and white wealthy pants, and her flawless pale-skinned face were the same as he remembered it.

"It's you." Ryo's lips barely moved as he spoke.

And your face is void from my grasp. From his. Ash.