Name: Love Me Tomorrow
Pairing: Satomi Hakase x Chao Lingshen
Genre: Romance
Rating: T
Summary: It hurts the most when everything you want is just out of reach. But as it gets farther and father away; is it ever possible for that dream to come true?
Chapter One
What a Terrible Joke
Chao needed eleven hundred Tanaka robots by tomorrow. She needed seventeen Chachamaru-Alpha Units and a railgun for six of the Beta Units by Thursday, then seven hundred smoke bombs and forty-six magical binding mines by next Tuesday. Next Saturday she would have to install all of these mines all around the city for Chao, and after that, probably run a routine check on the six or seven hundred security cameras she'd managed to install without the Neo Crimson Wing's notice. After that, she'd need to scrape together her notes to figure out how Chao's exoskeletal bodysuit would be compatible with her current resources in order to prepare it for her inevitable battle with Negi-sensei.
"Satomi-chan…please, take a break…"
Satomi shook her head, smiling and wiping the sweat from her brow as she looked up from her workbench and adjusted her glasses. To her side was the worried expression of the head of this operation herself; Chao Lingshen, and Satomi giggled and patted the girl on the shoulder.
"Really, I'm okay. I'll take a break right after this next batch."
Chao opened her mouth to protest, but quickly shut it as Satomi returned to her work; fingers flying over bits of machinery that Chao had damaged when she'd initially come to Mahora. Even if it had been just a few days ago when she'd presented the pieces to the bespectacled girl, Satomi didn't even need to consult her notes anymore, and maneuvered about the sensitive frame with ease.
She'd been at it for hours though, and truthfully, Chao wanted the girl to give it a rest; deadlines were deadlines, but hers wasn't so pressing that she needed to be killing herself over it. After all, bright as Satomi was, she knew her technology better, and could take over while the other girl rested. Satomi Hakase was just that kind of girl though; she'd finish the project in one shot or drive herself crazy halfway though and scrap the entire project. In face, the debacled girl had even built a machine to do the smashing and smelting for her, so she could move onto a new project while the glorified toasted did its work.
Chao always grinned at the thought of what agony Satomi must have gone through when building Chachamaru; the price of "childbirth" for the gynoid; after all, one could argue that in a way, Satomi was Chachamaru's mother. Had Chachamaru always been so monotonous; what did she say after her first activation, Mama?
At that, Chao couldn't hold it in, and let out an audible snort. Satomi rose and turned her head, though her fingers continued to flit undeterred about the wiring of the gauntlet, "Hm?"
Chao shook her head, that snide grin on her face, "Nothing", and leaned back against the wall.
Satomi nodded, not wanting to delve into the matter for it may have distracted her during the most difficult part of the procedure, and returned to her work. She couldn't accept willingly that magic was superior to technology, but for Chao's sake, she'd play by her rules – her absurd rules that let everything in this laboratory function without a power source or muted the explosions from every defective android the pair managed to concoct. She'd even accept that the gauntlet in her hand would let Chao become a powerful enough mage to battle a ten-year-old boy in the skies above Mahora to change the future.
She could accept that. It was just one of those things.
Sparks flew as Satomi let the two circuits join, and amazingly, the metallic wound began to seal, and the armor healed itself. Within seconds, no trace of the gaping hole in the palm of the glove remained, and Satomi turned it over and over in her hand, observing the device. It was beautiful to her; the otherworldly material without callous, neither warm nor cold, seemingly smooth and flat to the most perfect design; it was perfectly made, it was something nobody of this day and age could have made-
It was falling to the workbench with a clatter, and the desk and stack of papers were growing smaller and smaller and Chao dragged her out of the lab.
The Chao Bao Zi restaurant cart had reached fame in Mahora in just two short years, and among all of their club accolades, Satomi and Chao felt a special swell of pride in it. Out of the four of them, Fei and Satsuki being the other two, Satsuki was the only one skilled enough at the start to be anything; cook, waitress, or even cashier. The girl just had a way with people, but Satomi and Chao learned fast, and Fei was more than enthusiastic to learn, and their small cooking club had eventually turned into the lunch cart known for the best meat buns in all of Mahora. Satomi had even needed to install a hostess program in Chachamaru once they needed a second waitress.
"Two years and I'm still no closer to beating Satsuki." Chao said with a smile and a shrug as she set the basket of dumplings between them before sitting down. Since the foundation of the cooking club, Chao had tried and tried to defeat Satsuki's dumpling recipe, and though she had gotten better and better, Satsuki's pork buns stayed just a little more delectable each time, leading Chao to believe that Yotsuba was some sort of witch sent to humble her on her path to greatness.
"Maybe the great Chao Lingshen is second-best at something after all." Satomi said with a grin, earning her a dumpling rather rudely stuffed into her mouth. Chewing and sweating nervously, she consciously avoided the death-glare from across the table; Chao's grin only meaning that she was going to pay for that comment. If the Chinese girl was anything, it was a perfectionist; Chao had managed to work her way to the top; something she proved every time tests rolled around.
Satomi swallowed the dumpling heavily and opened her mouth to speak, only to receive another one crammed right where the first had been. With an indignant pout and a light kick under the table, the pigtailed girl set about chewing the mouthful in as dignified a manner as possible while her friend laughed out loud.
"You look like a chipmunk with your cheeks stuffed like that!"
Satomi's cheeks reddened, and with another heavy swallow, moved forward to swat at Chao's nose; thinking better of it only after dodging a third dumpling.
"Stop Chao-chan! You're going to kill me with those!" Yelped Satomi, waving her hands frantically as her friend gave a predatory grin and jumped across the table. It was late and nobody else was out at the cart but Satsuki, thank goodness; anyone else would have been disturbed as the pigtailed girl ran around the compound in mock fright as Chao proceeded to brandish a dumpling like some lethal weapon. Amid short bursts of laughter Chao would shout out threats or promises of 'lesser punishment' if Satomi stopped running away, and in return had to duck a soda can throw her way.
"I surrender! I surren- Mnf!"
Satomi found her pleas for mercy rejected as Chao, ever the better athlete, managed to trap her in an aisle of tables and jump forward, stuffing the cooked bun into Satomi's mouth. Satomi pouted and chewed on the dumpling while Chao grinned and returned to their table, waving to the seemingly unperturbed Satsuki, who returned the gesture before returning to whatever it was she was cooking.
'I don't mind when Chao-chan picks on me.'
It wasn't as if the other girl bullied her; Chao was just a bit of an enthusiastic competitor. At the very least, Satomi was glad not to be Fei Ku, otherwise Chao would always be chasing after her with nunchaku or a challenge based on one of those obscure obstacle course shows she loved to watch. Chao always teased Satomi the most; with the dumplings or making her go to bed instead of work in the lab or swiping her glasses when she thought Satomi had been staring at a screen for too long and needed to lay down. As silly as it sounded, Chao picked on her out of goodwill…although being forcefed was something Satomi couldn't imagine being good for her in the long run.
"Chao-chan is being mean-spirited today." She said, still faking her pout as she slid back into her seat. Chao was across the table, chewing slowly at a pork bun and observing her latest victim with that confident smirk she had whenever her victory was sealed. She was never like this in school; her devious streak came out after the final bell had rung, and whenever she wasn't making Ku-san the victim of her latest invention, she was
"Hm? Satomi-chan doesn't like it when I feed her?"
Satomi nearly choked on her tea – which she'd finally been able to take a sip of – and wiped at her face, trying to hide her blush as subtlety as possible.
"W-What!? S-Stop teasing me Chao-chan!"
Chao leaned back, content to revel in her victory as shown by her grin and Satomi's distress. Below the grin though, was a heavy sigh of relief; she'd barely managed to save herself there; she never wanted to hear Satomi say that she'd become second best to Chao at robotics; that was Satomi's life, and she didn't want the girl to feel like she'd been beaten at her own game, so to speak. With a final chuckle, she wiped the grin from her face, and leaned back forward.
"Sorry Satomi-chan. I'm just gonna miss teasing you, ne?"
She was surprised at her own words; she was never one to be blunt. She liked to be subtle or to leave people guessing at what she'd meant – she wasn't an up-front person. Truthfully; she'd gotten much more attached to the academy than she'd first intended.
Satomi nodded solemnly, accepting the answer and letting the meal continue on in silence. In just a few minutes, the basket of dumplings was gone, and after waving goodbye to their classmate, they began walking back towards the laboratory until Chao stopped suddenly. Turning to look at Satomi, she looked her up and down, seeming to analyze her like a specimen under a microscope. She did her best to keep from shifting uncomfortably; when Chao's eyes narrowed like that, the girl seemed to become more frightening; a different person entirely.
"Yup, just as I thought."
"Hm?" was all the confused girl could respond.
"You're tired, you're full now, so I'm sure it won't be too hard to fall asleep, and your face is red; I'm not letting you back into the lab until you've slept."
Satomi's voice fled her, and she scuffed and shoe on the ground and nodded; that had been Chao's plan from the start. Chao smiled sympathetically and patted her friend on the shoulder before turning and continuing down the path towards the Robotics Building, leaving Satomi to return to her seldom-used dorm.
'...Baka...'
It had been Chao's plan from the start; Chao always found a way to get what she wanted, and she wanted Satomi to go rest. She was always two steps ahead of anyone else; even her – Chao's so-called equal when it came to all things complicated.
'...Baka...'
Chao always found a way to get what she wanted; it drove Satomi crazy but she just couldn't call the girl selfish; that was very often the opposite of what Chao was. Even so, Satomi wished that Chao wouldn't do that to her at the very least.
'...Baka..!'
…Did Chao really not understand why her face was flushed and her cheeks were red? Was the smartest girl in the entire academy really that dense, or was she just too busy to notice? How could Chao just walk down that path like that without even once realizing what Satomi thought must seem so obvious by now; how could she be such an idiot? Surely some of the others had noticed by now; the way she always was following Chao around like a ribbon after a kite.
The wind picked up, and a low gust ruffled Satomi's skirt – the girl's hand instinctively flying down to protect her modesty – though she remained staring at Chao, who did nothing of the sort; either not caring if anyone saw, or not caring if she saw.
'Stop teasing me, Chao-chan…'
Author's Notes: Alright, before I get bombarded and flamed for this, let me just say that at the ending, it's Satomi feeling like Chao isn't aware of her presence in the romantic sense. I'm absolutely not saying that Satomi wants to have an intimate relationship with Chao. Anyhow, I'd greatly appreciate some reviews, and they'd likely motivate me to make the next chapter a bit sooner. Ja!
