Fruits of Labor?

Asher stood outside the doors of Dawn Office, a light smile gracing his lips. He took a peek at his phone. It was a specific but unimportant time in the afternoon.

In other words, it was time to see how his Fixers were doing. Looking at Sophie's phone, there were a few unread messages, mostly concerning his lunch habits (Aiko), informing him of Sayako's competence (Mangchi), and an oddly distressing question about Asher's kimono. That last one was from Pete. God dammit, that fool.

It seemed like they were faring well. Mangchi in particular, told him that Sayako was treating them with surprising care, and that they were training on the rooftop once again.

The mention of Sayako's training intrigued him. What exactly could they be doing right now?

He could finally find out by the time he arrived. Mei's apartment stood in front of him, and thankfully, the sign that he bought from that random shop in the Neon District was still standing.

Asher turned on [Bystander] and scaled the walls.

Reaching the top of the roof, he smiled.

Aiko was practicing footwork, Pete was practicing a combination of slashes, and Mangchi sat next to Sayako, quietly conversing with her about something.

Their training was going well; Sayako really was well qualified for this.

The woman turned her gaze to the empty air, noticing his presence.

"Hello, Sophie. How was your afternoon?"

Asher revealed himself. This time his Fixers glanced at Sayako, admiring how she could detect their invisible Captain.

"Pleasant. Fixers, did Sayako treat you three well?" They looked at each other. Their original aminosity had dissipated; she had explained her past self's actions when they ate lunch together.

They informed Asher of the various small things she did for them, from paying for lunch to bringing water as they tired out. Almost like she was trying to apologize for something she did in the past.

Asher nodded his head, relieved. Sayako had truly changed for the better, which was great.

"How are my Fixers doing, Sayako? Are you about finished here?"

Sayako nodded her head, motioning Pete and Aiko to rest, which they took gladly. She took Asher away to the corner of the roof to speak to him in private.

The two of them overlooked the yellowish pre-dusk sky, mixed with the disharmonious smog of the Backstreets.

"Two of them are starting with the basic techniques. But one of your Fixers is not like the others."

Asher instantly knew who she was talking about.

"Mangchi. What do you mean by that? And how does he have so much experience with matters of the underground?" How did he know Sayako's title as a Dame and as the 'Dark Cloud Blade'?

"Hm... He's a good kid, but he already has a fighting style - no, not with the sickles - ...Just keep an open mind, okay? He'll tell you when he's ready."

Asher couldn't do anything except nod his head. He looked back at Mangchi behind him, but the boy only smiled, correctly guessing what Sayako and his Captain were talking about.

"I'll keep that in mind."

But Asher still had much more to talk about with his Kurokumo acquaintance. He shooed his Fixers back down into the rooms they chose yesterday, leaving him and Sayako as the only people left on the rooftop.

He glanced down at the glove covering her husked hand.

"How is your arm?"

She smiled ruefully, attempting to take the glove off but failing miserably. Her hand was shaking. Asher helped her take it off.

"Doesn't hurt at all, but I can't move it anymore." Her voice didn't contain any sadness, as if she was simply commenting on the weather.

Asher let out a breath as the twisted claw popped out of the glove. A black mist seemed to diffuse from the grainy skin, coarse and despairing. It seemed so fragile. Like if he clenched it in his grip, it would crumble into powder.

He thought of what to do. Tell her that he could fix it?

Hold on, would his ability even be able to fix her arm, a consequence of listening to the Universe's melody?

[No.]

Succinct as always.

Asher felt sad for Sayako, though he didn't quite understand why. It almost seemed as if he ruined her life for his survival.

But then he remembered how she was like before. Sayako might have changed, but before, she truly wanted to kill them.

"You don't have to force yourself to do this. I understand if you want to lea-"

Sayako grinned, her eyes containing a glimmer of gratitude at his consideration.

"No, I should thank you. You reminded me of a certain something - something dear to me that I had nearly forgotten. And a hateful memory that I had repressed. So I think I'll stay."

She had a strange expression on her face, a mix of rue and regret.

Asher was struck with an emotion, a thought. Perhaps everyone had their own stories, stories that shaped them to become who they were.

But that didn't mean all of them could be forgiven. Example: Elena.

However, now was not the time for that. Sayako's smile contained heartfelt emotions.

He shook her outstretched hand. A celebration of a new friend.

...

After saying goodbye to his Fixers, Sayako left; she had other business as the Dark Cloud Blade. Pete and his friends could tell that the friendliness between her and their Captain had increased by the look in their eyes.

Since it was still too early to eat dinner yet, Asher could finally rest for a bit.

He went inside the room his Fixers picked yesterday, Room 325, at the end of the hallway. It was a fairly tidy room, and slightly larger than Mei's. There was a thin machine in the corner, a lingering memory of the previous owner.

"What does that machine do?" Asher pointed to the corner. Mangchi looked at him strangely, but he wasn't too surprised. After all, Pete and Aiko also didn't know what it was when they first saw it.

"It's a personal laptop. It's-" Mangchi swung open the cover, "like a phone, but bigger. And more expensive. I couldn't find the password, so I had to reset it." After he logged in, the screen showed a small amount of apps, including search tools and maps.

Asher nodded his head.

"Have you found any clues about who lived here before?"

Pete gestured to a storage box by the side without glancing away from the computer screen. The inside of the container consisted entirely of toys. A family used to live here.

And now his Fixers were living here instead, after the family died in an instant.

Such was the life of the Backstreets.

Glancing back at the three, Asher noticed that they were more fixated on Mangchi's computer rather than on the box of children's memorabilia in front of them.

Such was the life of the Backstreets.

Asher silently disappeared, leaving Pete and his friends to browse on the computer. He had to clear his head.

Was he getting too sentimental, feeling such heartache for a family of strangers? Sometimes he felt coldhearted and cruel, and other times he felt like... this.

He was a veritable abomination, of both physical and mental form.

What ambitions did he have? That naïve longing he had to get into the Nest disappeared long ago. Not because life in the Backstreets was good, but he never had enough free time to solidify those ambitions before they floated away from him.

Now, the only thing he could think about was to get stronger, and protect those he cared about.

'Gah, why does my mind hurt so much?!' Asher knocked on his skull with a dainty fist. So many things had happened to him that he couldn't even begin to pinpoint where the dull ache in his mind was coming from. Hal? Carnival? Yan? Mei? Sayako? Oveerseer? Elena? ...Himself?

Now was supposed to be a rare moment of peace, so why wasn't he at peace with himself?

"-!" He froze.

Sophie whispered sweet words into his ear, comforting him.

Before he knew it, he found himself in the Nostalgic Room. Though he was not the one that brought himself there.

The crackling fireplace warmed his insides.

Mei sat beside him. She held out her arms for him.

But Asher only scoffed.

"I've used this enough times on other people to know you aren't Mei."

'Mei' giggled, before fading away into a girl dressed with an ashen covered dress. This time, Sophie was the therapist.

Asher smiled despite himself. That's right, there were others that experienced his unnatural life with him. The System, supporting him since day one, and Sophie, who would be fused with his soul for the rest of his life.

'Rest of my life, huh.' And so would all the other Synchronizations he got after this point, whoever or whatever they may be. Suddenly, he didn't feel like such a freak anymore.

Because that's what he was, right? A freak who could die infinitely, revive infinitely, reset infinitely. He had always felt a disconnect from reality and the people he cared about, an alien feeling of loneliness that nobody else could possibly feel.

But maybe it wasn't so bad now. He didn't feel so alone anymore.

"I can rely on you, Sophie."

A mischievous smirk surfaced on her otherwise emotionless face.

"You can rely on me, Asher."

"We're going to grow stronger until we can both live the life we want. I think that's for the best."

Asher and Sophie clasped their hands together. Their faces neared each other until they almost touched.

"Lead the way."

Her forehead touched his as they closed their eyes.

The world shattered into fragments of light, shards of a new hope.

Asher took a deep breath, exhaling with a grin on his face.

However, another System prompt alerted him of another achievement. Didn't he already perfectly Synchronize with Sophie though?

[Hidden Condition met for Scorched Girl.]

['Us, We' (Scorched Girl): Description unavailable. Necessary condition = True. Progress: 1/7.]

[Undergoing System update. Estimated duration: 5 hours.]

"H-Hey, what the hell?? System? System??" Asher called out, but the System didn't respond. He read the prompt again. It looked like something important just happened.

He sank his vision to his fused soul, but Sophie merely smiled at him, staying silent. It didn't really seem like anything had changed, and it didn't seem like Sophie knew what was going on either.

Asher fluttered to the roof, a dreadful premonition surfacing in his mind. A few seconds later, he sighed in relief as his appearance transformed into 'Asher', and a bluish green suit surfaced over his skin. And when the kimono appeared without fail as well, he could finally let out his breath.

'Okay, so nothing much has changed... I'll wait for the System to finish updating.'

Surely it would know its own prompt's meanings.

He was utterly confused. Though, nothing could be done about it for now.

Asher dropped from the roof down to Mei's door, knocking on it lightly.