Everything was ready, the house was impeccable and his favorite food was prepared, it was too early to cook and that would spoil the flavors so she did as much as she could in case he arrived hungry, she also called everyone to let them know Minoru would arrive later this evening so they could drop by tomorrow morning to say hi if they wished, so he had time to rest... and to have her for herself if only a few hours but she of course did not mention this, everyone knew though, it was just that obvious.
It took her forever to find the perfect dress and was afraid to put it on too early because it might wrinkle or stain before he got here, she was alone trying to calm down, gave the maid and gardener a week off just because she wanted to do everything for Minoru, feeling a bit childish and selfish she told herself it was ok, it's been 5 years of distracting herself, of trying to not think of him, of struggeling sad feelings.. yes, she did not admit it to before because she refused to drown in self pity, she knew he would come back and that was more than enough for her and the day had finally arrived. The 2 employees would still around tomorrow doing some final touch ups before they got ready for their trip and helping her in the morning but they would be gone in the day, probably around noon before the last guests left ensuring her alone time once everyone else had dropped by to say hi and talked for a bit.
What our dear Yuzuki did not know was it was even harder for Minoru to wait, he had long realized about his feelings for her and wanted nothing more than to be with her, but she was not ready. Every time he would wave one of his maids goodbye, specially the ones that left because they felt in love and were moving in with their loved one or getting married, he would long for the day Yuzuki returned his feelings, but things were complicated.
He stopped trying to turn her into his sister a long time ago, but he had the feeling that she might still see him as family, he was nothing but a teenager after all and they pretty much grew up together, it was natural she did not think of him as a man, even when he knew she loved him, there are different kinds of love and what he felt for her was not the brotherly kind, the only thing that kept him away from her in those first years when his hormones started going crazy was the fact that she looked so much like his sister, it was confusing.
And that is how he made up his mind, he would leave with the excuse of studying in another country and would ask her to take care of his home, he knew she would do so just because he asked no matter if she in fact wanted to go with him, but that was the problem you see, she now would show more emotions but she had kept their relationship the same, she didn't seem to want to change anything, less sophisticated persocoms would grow new interests, fall in love even, but not her, she seemed perfectly happy as things were, she smiled a bit more but that was not much of a change to him, he knew when she was happy before that.
He knew she was diferent from the other persocoms, maybe because of it she was more complicated, after all only Chi was superior to her but she was designed to live her life and fall in love, she also was free of the burden of a past when she met Hideki while sweet Yuzuki had been built to become a replacement for Kaede, he never gave her a choice and modified her personality until even her mannerisms were like hers, what a fool he had been...
While doing something similar to what Hibiya did would probably solve the problem, no, don't get me wrong I do not mean delete everything and leave her in a dumpster for some fool to find (but getting rid of any traits that might remain from his sister personality), her own personality had already started to develop, based on his sister yes, but turning into something different, something new he had fell in love with and he would not risk to change that, he would have to wait until she matured and turned into the persocom, no, the woman, she wished to become by herself.
As mature as he was, Minoru was still young and unexperienced, the time away from her would allow him to give someone else a chance, after all he could not wait for her his whole life, he made up his mind that if things did not change when he was back he would learn to love her as family, he could not force her into returning his feelings and maybe he would meet someone someday, maybe she would. But before that, deep down he knew he would not be able to completely commit to someone else but he still tried, it would be easier this way if things didn't turn out the way he hoped, not to mention the young man had needs and there were plenty of willing women to help him with that, after all he was young, handsome, smart and rich, unlike Hideki he did not have to limit himself to magazines.
He thought back to the innocent boy that left home and wondered if Yuzuki would still be able to be the same around him, even if her personality had not changed his had, but he knew better, on the yearly check ups he could tell she had changed as well, but when talking on the phone she would still call him Minoru-Sama, he was used to it but was not sure what his feelings were when he heard her say his name like that, uneasy perhaps but he always pushed it to the back of his mind and kept telling himself it might just be an habit, he made a mental note on asking her about this someday.
Minoru's PV
I told Yuzuki I would arrive in the evening but I couldn't wait, I changed my flight and arrived there early that morning, it was good to be back home, as much as I wanted to see her it's been 5 years without visiting my parents grave so I went there to apologize for not being there for so long and just gather my thoughts.
"Mother, Father, wish me luck"
It was still too early and thought of visiting some of my friends but changed my mind before I was done with that thought, I really wanted to see Yuzuki first, unlike with her, I did talk to them regularly by video call, I asked them to keep this a secret from her to not hurt her feelings, it would be too much for me to see her face, also if I kept in touch too often it would be almost like I was still there, but if I stopped talking to her all together I would worry about her and she might get the wrong idea, so I would talk to her less and less often as time passed by, I would always ask my friends how she was doing and if they have seen her though, not to mention I took my sweet time on the yearly check ups, which was really an excuse to hear her voice.
She once suggested to just go to the persocom hospital to have her yearly check but it was nonsense, it was a bad idea for too many reasons and as hard as it was to admit it I didn't like the idea of anyone else touching her, she was too complex, what if they damaged her somehow? Or try to touch her in an improper way while doing her hardware check up? because of her nature I knew she didn't want to be a burden, but she could never be that, she was like a soft breeze in spring gentle and calming, no matter how busy I was, hearing her voice or even thinking about her sometimes would give me enough energy to keep going and try harder to become someone she could look up to.
I checked the time... 9:00am? It's still kind of early, I guess I am just too excited that time seems to pass too slowly, a walk on the park sounds nice, after that I will go home and hopefully get to talk to Yuzuki for a while before everyone starts arriving, knowing her she probably prepared something and invited everyone over to welcome me back, I was not supposed to arrive until 6pm but I don't want to risk someone showing up a bit too early and take a way the chance of some time alone with her.
My favorite park looked exactly the same, it reminded me of all those times that we went for a walk together, I sat on a bench and relaxed clearing my mind for a moment and just take in the beauty of my surroundings, after a little while I catched some movement out of the corner of my eye, it was a girl feeding the ducks, beautiful amethyst hair flowing under the gentle sun, she was standing up with her back to me but her siluette was still quite a view, she was not wearing revealing clothes but her beautiful figure was obvious, she looked relaxed and like him just pretty much enjoying the moment, for a second I was tempted to move to get a look at her face.
Had I been overseas I would have done so and if pleased with what I saw would have talked to her by now, actually I would probably already have asked her out, stopping that train of thought immediately I scowled to himself to even have those kinds of thoughts, sure I dated quite a few women and many more threw themselves at me but I am home now and my only purpose is to sort things out with my angel, because that was what Yuzuki is to me, I've never doubted for a second she would date someone else while I was away and I would almost feel guilty when I would wake up all hot and bothered from some very interesting dreams I had of her... almost.
*sigh* time to go home.
I arrived and the manor looked empty, that was strange Yuzuki told me she hired some help, but then again it was only 2 persocoms and instead of using the intercom I just let himself in and walked towards the front door, maybe she had asked the gardener to help out with preparing things inside... as I opened the door it was just as quiet as outside, confused I headed to the kitchen and saw that there was a lot of things prepared to be cooked, but nothing cooked yet, nobody around though.
I frowned a little on my way to the security room to check what time she had left and to take a look at the missing maid and gardener who I had not met yet. It was 11am and checked at the entrance camera until I saw someone come out, a girl that turned around fast to lock the door behind her, her amethist hair catched my attention, she looked a lot like the girl in the park, I wasn't completely sure because of the angle of the camera but it seemed she was wearing at the very least similar clothes, could she be the maid that was hired? I looked at the time this was recorded and smiled, only to be shocked right after.
The girl in the monitor turned around, a gentle smile on her face and obviously in a cheerful mood, she was beautiful... she was...
"...Yuzuki?..."
At first when checking the time I figured it was just a coincidence that I might have met the maid on her day off, but that face, it had to be Yuzuki, with plastic surgery available to persocoms I could no longer be so sure about Yuzuki's face being unique anymore so just to make sure I checked back until I saw a male persecom "ah, the gardener and handyman" and kept going until I saw another girl, indeed the maid looked nothing like her, she wore a uniform to start with, she had straight brown hair that did not reach her shoulders and a more petite frame a little bit shorter he guessed and certainly less curvy than Yuzuki.
With a smile on my face I went to my room to have a quick shower while muttering:
"My angel grew up more than I thought"
Note.- Ok at first it is narrators PV, I hope it is not confusing. After this chapter there will finally be some dialogue, I am just trying to give an idea of how the last 12 years has been for each of them and the way their mind works, please let me know if they sound too much like crazy people who are talking to themselves all the time ^_^;
Marina C. Luna
Update.- There is a slight problem with the time line now that I re-read the story to try to remember where I was going with it so I needed to modify this chapter ever so slightly, only a few words really but chapter 3 will remain the same while chapter 4 will also have to be slightly modified followed by chapter 5 posted immediatly after I am done tweaking, it is already written, hopefully I will pick up from there very fast and I can wrap up the story :)
