Riki

**This article is a work in progress.**

The main character of Ai no Kusabi, the story told from his perspective for the most part. A mongrel from Ceres, with distinctly rare black hair and eyes. Leader of the infamous gang Bison. Pet and lover of top Tanagura Blondie, Iason Mink.

Riki came from the savage world of the slums, warped and distorted by the near-extinction of the females. He grew up clawing at an itch he could not see, powerless to keep at bay a suffocating sense of stagnation that scalded his soul. The weight of that stark rality coiled about his very being, leaving him night-blind and punch-drunk, incapable of unlocking the door to the truth. (V2 p14)

*"A slum mongrel has nothing left to lose,"* he'd come to boast. And that was when it happened. Riki met Iason. (V2 p14)

## **Descriptions**

*"Not to compare us to those Academy-manufactured pets or nothing, but given the time and money, plus a little spit and polish, and we wouldn't turn out half bad either. Aside from a bit of an attitude problem. Eh, Riki?"* (V1 p44)

There before [Kirie's] eyes were the black hair and eyes that suggested Academy-manufactured quality. This was the man who'd once been called the 'Charisma' of the slums. (V1 p44)

## **Influence and Relationships**

### **Relationship with Guy**

*"I'm here by your side where I belong, so everything will be alright. Come over and rest in your favorite spot. Remember, I'm your pairing partner, Riki. I'll spoil you rotten like always, huh?"* (Kizu, p6)

When Riki settled down and snuggled next to [Guy], it felt as if nothing had changed from their time together in Guardian.... Safe in the knowledge he was the only one who could get away with it, Guy dropped a kiss on Riki's forehead. (Kizu, p6)

### **Relationship with Iason Mink**

Iason was his master / lover, because of this Riki had a passionate relationship with him. As time went by he developed feelings of love for the Blondie.

### **Relación con Kirie**

*"That's who Kirie reminds me of! The two of you are peas in a pod."*

*"Don't put me in the same category as that little twerp."*

*"Ah, I see. You're so much more grown up...."* (V1 p76)

What Riki couldn't stand about him was not the way Kirie fixed him with those oddly mismatched eyes of his, but rather that behind those eyes lingered a carbon copy of himself from three years ago. Kirie didn't know that he was a frog stuck at the bottom of a well. He didn't even comprehend the nature of this dumping ground in which he vented his excessive passions. ...At first none of this had occurred to Riki, who took little note of Kirie...but at some point he started seeing a shadow of his own immature self back when he was a kid. When he was Kirie's age he'd surely flaunted the same kind of attitude. Take himself back five years and there'd be no denying it. (V1 p73)

### **Relationship with Others**

*"Maybe what I'm saying is that you never figured out for yourself what makes you so damned scary. And that's why you sucked the life out of everybody."* (V1 p105)

see**Guardian Blockmates** for more

#### **Bison**

All it took was for the gang's leader to throw in the towel and the rest of them opted for early retirement. Or rather it could be said that, to the extent that they showed no regrets, they had completely burned themselves out. (V1 p81)

#### **Daryl**

*"**Master** Riki."* The way Daryl addressed him grated at his pride. He felt that the honorific slandered his mongrel roots. (V3 p121)

Though a pet and  piece of furniture might be kept in the same room, their values were completely different. Riki had considered them two separate species. (V3 p121)

Riki had incorrectly assumed the furniture was bred and trained in special facilities as the pets were. (V3 p121-2)

## **Pit Bull of Hot Crack**

The pit bull of Hot Crack, the red zone teeming with the exuberant passions of youth. He was the teenager who held the reins of Bison, known to one and all in the slums. (V2 p16)

### **Reputation in Ceres**

That Riki was no fallen idol only made things worse. Bowing out on an unbroken winning streak made him a ghost with references and a resume. (V1 p39)

## **Vajra of the Slums**

**Varja** or **Vajra**: a beast of prey that could crush a limb to the bone with a single chomp of its steel jaw or razor-sharp fangs. A disdainful chimera taking to the air with four wings on its back, its coat glowing a bewitching black luster. (V1, P32)

Also known as Ragon, god of the Underworld, and Grendel, the Soul Destroyer. (V1 p32)

### **Traits**

*"A slumdog once again defying expectations."* Maybe it was to be expected -- or only for Riki and his crew from Bison. Raoul called it *"the beast gene"* -- Aisha termed it a virus. (V7 p102)

*"We'll see about that pride of yours," Iason would whisper mockingly in his ear. "It's going in the trash, where it belongs."* (V3 p120)
It was no exaggeration to say that Riki's identity as a slum mongrel was integral to the defense of his sense of self. (V3 p130)

## **Riki the Dark, Black Market**

Riki the Black. The destroying angel -- how true the moniker was. That was the easiest thing to understand about Riki. For good or evil, there was something inside Riki that excited other men. He was a mysterious beast and they couldn't resist reaching out to stroke his mane. (V6 p23)

## **Pet Status**

### **Z-107M**

*"The actual owner's name is masked, but this S-class code is unmistakably that of a Tanagura Blondie."* (V5 p73)

Riki's Pet ID, checked against his retinal scans at the Midas Police Center. (V5 p72)

*"Access is restricted by a [classified] level three security encryption code."* (V5 p72)

### **Treatment in Tanagura**

Riki's many conflicts with various Pets, Furniture, and Elite.

A Blondie from the very top of the power structure and a despicable slum mongrel from the very bottom. The combination was almost impossible to contemplate. The impossibility -- a pairing that by its very nature was taboo -- came directly into their fields of vision. It was a combination of black and gold that sent their emotions into overdrive. (V6 p100-1)

####

#### **Miguel and the Simon Incident**

Upon Riki's return to Eos, following his Year of Freedom, the pet Miguel tried to curry favor with the mongrel. Miguel took to stalking Riki when Riki refused his company, and ultimately plotted for his furniture Simon to kill Riki as payback for Riki's scathing public rejection of him. The scandal led to Riki's final removal from Eos, into Apatia.

see Simon Incident for more

## **Year of Freedom**

*"When all is said and done, it doesn't matter if you can't accept the distance between yourself and the privileged classes. You're forced to deal with it and that's what sticks in your craw."* (V1 p78)

The eighteen months Riki was allowed to roam free in Ceres, following his disposal of after the Daryl Incident.

Iason came to Riki personally in Ceres to demand Riki exchange his freedom for Guy, after Kirie sold Riki's ex-pairing partner to the Blondie for the enormous sum of ten thousand credits.

### **Fall from Grace**

*"Huh. Give you three years and you're supposed to be some highfalutin man among men? When you've gone from the undisputed head of Bison to some piss-normal ordinary bloke? It's a real letdown, I'm telling you. Somebody must have got the jump on you. At least that's what it looks like to me...."* (V1 p79)

*"It's too bad you and your charisma haven't got the balls for the fight anymore. Your era is over."* (V1 p96)

Riki had returned to the slums knowing he'd be ridiculed. But contrary to expectations, the sudden upheavals in his environment did not grant him the quiet ignominy of a beaten dog, especially in the wake of the business with Jeeks. (V3 p80)

Had he dared to assume the pose of a beaten dog in order to maintain his freedom? No, that was not the case. (V1 p119)

He would be a slave to no one. No shackles would bind his hands and feet. He would be free, and yet the fetters of the past that he wished to cast aside instead held him fast, an invisible weight burdening his every step. (V1 p120)

see Mongrels: Ridicule, Cocker