It's been days since I've even heard a word from my sister. I wonder why she resents me now? Things haven't been the same been the same since the day she went out with them. Whenever I see her now she throws me this cold glare, her gaze blank and empty, before she flees to her own solitude.

But honestly it kills me.

I miss telling her stories, and I miss having her next to me at my side when it's dark, and the monsters come out to play. She was the only thing I had to look for in this void.

But it doesn't matter, if she so desperately wants to be alone I'll let her. I only want her to be happy, maybe then she'll accept me again.

I dread the days father is home. He's been out a lot more lately, 'official business' mother had said to us. I can tell it has something to do with us. Father had recently been mentioning a school, I think it was Hope's Peak Academy, or something of the sort. We probably won't be here much longer if dad's planning on shipping us off. Anyplace is better than this hell hole.

Now that i'm alone in the house with sis I feel a bit irked, since Junko was the only one I ever really could speak with like a normal person. Now I feel like I have nothing. I feel empty, like a black hole swallowed up my emotions. Perhaps I can find something to distract me on the television.

I go over and plop myself down in front of the box before pressing it on. The channel comes on and I wrinkle my nose a bit seeing two blurred faces eating each other's lips off. Television was so terrible nowadays. I flip it to a new channel and sigh as commercials pop up in their usual loud, obnoxious voices. My head starts to throb already at the noise and i'm about to change it again when the commercials vanish and leave me staring at a wide selection of tools and metal parts. A construction of what looks to be a small person slides onto screen. I listen as the voices shaping it drone-

"So this robot, you think it'll be enough to win the fight?"

"Definitely. I've been preparing it for years now, it's got its own AI, a sensory-"

"AI?"

"You know, Artifical Intelligence? The stuff the government uses sometimes in the army with their machines?"

"What does it do?"

"Well it does a ton of things. It's like a regular intelligence only a little different. You can shape it so it adapts to it's environment, it can experience emotion, plus it'll process almost anything a regular human brain does, maybe more. Hell you could sit down and have a conversation with the robot if you wanted to."

"So yours does this?"

"No mine is just built for adjusting in battle, I don't need-"

I clicked the TV off and stared a moment at its black screen. AI huh? Could I do that? I was pretty skilled at fighting, why not try my hands at making something as well? I've been so alone lately, maybe having my own friend would be a nice change. The problem though was a chunk of talking metal doesn't sound very flattering. She needed it to be realistic, something she could actually form a connection with. I jumped a bit as I heard a crash outside and peeked out the window to see a cat squirming into our trash bin. Then it clicked. A cat. It was small and quiet, and father would never know it was there. All I needed to do was lay out some blueprints…

It's been days since mother and father have been home. Not that I mind. I've been holed up in my room since last week, I had stolen parts and tools from father's garage and was now shaping the skeleton of my creation out on my desk. Father will probably kill me for going through his stuff but it's not like I care, he's done much worse. Gingerly I lifted up it's metal leg and began to outline its lower skin layer before melding it onto the structure. The whole skeleton was probably about half half the size of my torso, maybe the same height as a lion club, and still had to be given it's top armor plates and muscle sacs. Even without all the extra muscle and skin it was still recognizable as a cat. Soon I would be able to test it's mobilization functions and continue on from there. I glanced down at the AI card I had taken so long to develop, it was a small microchip I would slip into her main stomach core where all her other functions worked. She should be able to function like any normal cat with a few exceptions. Of course she would be able to talk (most importantly), her memory storing every bit of information she came across using it to her advantage when needed, and a good defense system to make her practically indestructible. Another good asset she would have is being able to feel emotions, hopefully making her less cold and machine like. And last but not least she would be built with a large range of sensory receptors. Anything she could scent, hormone wise or not, would be detected miles away. Something that would come in handy with my father. I plugged her into my laptop, being sure to sort out any information that wouldn't be wise for her to get her hands on (because the internet was full of useful and useless information) before letting it download into her chip. I hummed to myself and watched the bar slowly fill, 12%, 25%, 45%, 67%, 80%, until it finally reached it's end. Now it was time to pick a voice for her. But what kind should I give her? Maybe not so much childish, she didn't want to feel like she was talking to a child, Junko was already childish enough for her. Maybe something light toned, mature yet still young. After a moment, I typed in the information and clicked the download button before sitting back. After I heard the ding she unplugged her from her computer and began to cover her with the bright red fur I had taken from mother's closet, she wouldn't be missing it anyways. After a while of careful stitching and glueing I opened her stomach plate and took a breath. This was it. I picked up the main power cord and slipped it into it's socket, jumping a bit as the cat gave a violent twitch in return. For a moment it didn't move. Perhaps I had somehow shorted her wires out? I leaned closer to look over her wires when her tail came up and slapped my cheek roughly from the side. Shocked I pushed myself up from the desk and stumbled back. Slowly her redhead rose from the desk and peered over at me, I shuddered realizing she still needed eyes where her empty eye sockets were. Time to test her out I suppose.

I cleared my throat and watched as she stood slowly and turned her body to me, her tail waving carelessly behind her.

"M-My name is Mukuro." I said slowly and clearly.

"Mukuro…" she repeated even slower not taking her gaze from me. Moving closer, she pressed a paw to my shoulder. It was cold. "Who am I?" Crap, I hadn't thought of that. I searched my head for an answer as I looked over her reddish fur.

"Your name will be Cherry. You're my friend now." Cherry watched me curiously before tilting her head and kneading my chest.

"Friend? But you created me, doesn't that make you my mother?"

Blushing a bit I flipped her gently onto her back and cradled her against my stomach.

"I suppose I can be both." I smiled and rubbed her belly. Purring loudly in delight she nuzzled into my shirt and I felt a bit happier than I had in a long while. I stood and carried her to my bed before sitting her down. "Now Cherry, I built you with some basic knowledge and functions, but later i'll hook you up to my laptop so I can add more. Is that alright?" She nodded and paced in circles on my bed, her paws sinking into the soft mattress underneath as she stepped.

"This surface is very soft. Do you rest here?"

I chuckled and laid down beside her.

"Yes Cherry, this is my bed."

She purred scrambling up onto my belly and nuzzled her way into my shirt, causing me to squeak from her cold paws.

"I apologize mother, it seems you didn't build me with a heating system of some kind." she poked her head out the top at me.
I smiled and stroked her ears

"It's fine Cherry. Silly of me not to think to give you one. I'll add that in later."

For a while we laid there in complete silence.

'Mukuuuu!"

I was beginning to doze off when her small girlish voice stirred me again.

"Mukuuuuu! Mukuu look what I diddddd!"

I stirred myself from my haze of sleep and looked across my bed. Blonde pigtails bobbed excitedly as I met two baby blue eyes to my gaze. Junko.

"Hmm Junko..? What did you-" I yawned and stretched out sitting up to face my baby twin sister. "What did you do?" I rubbed my eyes sleepily and felt the bed shake as she pulled herself up beside me, barreling over my legs in the process of her excitement. "J-Jeez Junko careful, you're gonna hurt yourself or me." She giggled stupidly before holding up a piece of paper that had been in her hands. Looking closer, I saw two poorly drawn stick figures that seemed to be throwing a ball to one another. One of them, was a slightly taller one with dark blue hair and grey blue eyes, I presumed was meant to be myself. The other, shorter, with pigtails, was probably my sister.

"Do you like ittttt?!" She grinned widely waving it in front of me. I smiled and took it.

"Of course Junko, it's very beautiful."

"Look! Look right here!" She jabbed a finger on the picture but I kept my eyes glued to her precious smiling face. "This one is youuu, and that one is meeee!" She giggled looking up at me. I smiled and carried the picture to my desk where I set it down in one of my drawers with many other drawings she had given me over time. "Ohhh yeah! I almost forgot Muku, I made breakfast for us!" She bounced off the bed and at the same moment I begun to smell something burning coming from the kitchen.

"Breakfast?" I sniffed.

"Yeah! I put some waffles in the microwave for us!"

Already feeling panic welling up in my chest I rushed from my bedroom and started down the stairs for the kitchen.

"How long did you put it on for?"

"I don't know, I thought 60 minutes seemed pretty reasonable."

"60 minutes!?" I rushed for the microwave.

"What is that bad?"

Peering into the smoke-filled glass I saw two blackened waffles, each beginning to blaze up in it's own ball of flames. Shit.

"Junko where's the fire extinguisher!?"

"What's that?" She moved beside me and peeked into the glass. "Did I cook it too long?"

"Junko!"

"Whaaaaaaaaaat?"

We both stopped and glanced back into the microwave as it gave a small spark of light and it's rhythmic whirring turned to a disturbing crackle.

"I think I cooked it too long, maybe 40 minutes would've been fine."

Grabbing Junko's arm, I dove for the table and pushed it over shielding us as the microwave gave a final spark before exploding. Shards of hot metal pelted against the table and across the room. After a minute of clutching onto Junko, I peeked up and peered across the disaster of a scene that had happened. The area around where the microwave used to be was black and it seemed some of the shards had managed to wedge themselves into the walls around them, and the table. Junko poked her head up beside mine and I watched as her eyes widened.

"...Can we do that again?" She whispered.

"...No."

"Mother wake up!"
I jerked as I felt a pair of cold metal paws shake me.

"Hnnnn, Cherry quit it, I was actually sleeping for once."

"Hissss, precisely why I needed to wake you, there's a strange blonde female roaming outside your room."

I jolted up in my bed, knocking Cherry aside..

"Junko?" I called out moving to my door. Cherry bounced beside me, scrambling to regain her composure as she let out a huff.

"Who is Junko? You know this female?"

I ignored her questions and threw my door open looking around the hall. I spotted the bathroom light reflecting off the hall and moved toward it slowly. "Earth to Mukuro! Who is Junko?!"

"She's my sister.." I mumbled peering into the bathroom. Sure enough, Junko was leaning into the mirror, examining her reflection. "Sis?"

She stopped her meticulous examination and glanced at me, her mouth creasing into a thin line.

"Hey."

We stood looking at each other a moment before she turned her back to me and flipped the bath on, pouring some soap in for bubbles. She always liked putting bubbles in her bath, even when she was little.

"Listen, Junko, I-I wanted to ask you-"

"Wanna take a bubble bath with me?" She stopped me.

"I-... What?"

"Do. You. Wanna take a bath with me?"

I blinked at her, we hadn't bathed together in a while.

"Um… s-sure Junko?"

She rolled her eyes before sitting down to pull her pants off. I watched a moment, still unsure if this was a peace offering or not, before starting to strip my own clothes off. When I looked up again I saw Junko slipping into the bath, cringing a bit at the several fading bruises she had on her body. Cautious not to bump any of them, I slid in beside her and settled into the warm water. We sat quietly a few minutes, Junko splashing some of the soapy water with her hand. Finally she looked up at me.

"Listen Mukuro, I'm sorry about… the space. I just- I'm just thinking about a lot of things. I know you're probably mad at me but I-"

I cut her off taking her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, which she flinched at.

"I could never, ever be angry with you Junko, I love you." I kissed it gently looking down at her. Slowly she sat back and looked at me, her thin frown disappearing into a soft smile.

"So tonight. I have a feeling mom and dad won't be back anytime soon. Wanna make dinner and maybe have a slumber party?" We hadn't slept together for about three months now, father deemed it was 'time' for us to have our own space. And they had hated it. It was just another excuse for his torture, more so to myself than Junko.

"Yeah, that sounds nice." I smiled, "Only i'll do the cooking. The last thing we need is you exploding another microwave."

"Haha what can I say, I wouldn't be a very good chef." She giggled splashing me.

"Oh don't be so modest, I'm sure you could make school cafeteria food." I giggled splashing back.

"What the heck is 'school'?"

Realizing that Junko wasn't as well served with the information I had been, considering, she was the only one in the house with a laptop, she went to explain when a blur of red sliced through her line of vision and crashed into the water between them. Both of us jumped back, and I gripped the bar of soap defensively (as if that would help two naked eleven year olds in the bath) preparing to bring it down on whatever had intruded, when I saw Cherry glaring up at us.

"If you are done acting foolish would someone please explain to me the current situation. Who is this female and where are your parents and why does this room smell like flowers?"

I looked at Junko who was staring at Cherry in awe.

"What's that?!" She asked poking her nose and I chuckled as Cherry flicked her ears back.

"She's a robot, I built her a while ago." I smiled.

"That's so cooooooool!"

"Ahem" Cherry cleared her throat.

"Oh sorry Cherry. This is my twin sister, Junko. Our parents… aren't home. Haven't been for a while. And it smells like flowers because it's a bathroom."

"Why have they not been home? Are they not supposed to be caring for you?"

I awkwardly avoided the question and unplugged the bath before standing up. Junko picked up Cherry and cuddled her to her chest as I reached out and grabbed some towels for us. After handing Junko hers, I stepped from the tub and pat myself dry before heading back out to my room for clothes.

"Hey Cherry, do you know what the order of the planets are?"

"Planets?"
"Yeah the order do you know it?"
I smiled listening to the conversation. I had taught Junko that a while ago, I was surprised she still remembered.

"I'm afraid I don't even know what a-"
"My Very Educated Mukuro Just Served Us Nine Pizzas." She giggled.

"Why is mother serving you that many pizzas? Can you fit that much?"

"No silly, it's a saying to remember the planets. Mars, Venus, Earth, Mercury, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto."

"What is a planet?"

Still smiling, I pulled my shorts and tank on before returning to them.

"I'll explain later Cherry. What do you want for dinner sis?" I looked at her seeing she was still undressed. "And for goodness sake get some clothes on before you catch a cold."

"Can we have pizzaaaa?" She laughed and sat Cherry down before putting her own clothes on. "And can we watch a movie too?"

"Anything for you sis. I'll start it now before it gets any later." I said glancing out at the already darkened sky. With a grin she scooped Cherry back up again, who snorted in irritation, and headed downstairs for the living room.

"I'll pick out the movie!" She called back to me.

I stood a moment and glanced at our family picture that hung on the wall. Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad now. If they could only be alone like this all the time…