Syo's eyes opened, resting on the ceiling. He sat up, blinking a few times to clear his fuzzy vision. Sun rays peeked through the windows of his and Natsuki's dorm room.
As much as he loved weekends, it saddened him that these two days were the days he didn't get to see Ai.
Syo blushed.
It was early in the morning and he was already thinking about him.
He stretched, yawning, and glanced over. Natsuki still appeared asleep, and luckily for Syo, he slept with his glasses on last night, so Syo didn't have to go through the procedure of waiting for him to wake up and putting his glasses on.
Besides, there was no reason to wake him up today.
It was 11am, so Syo rolled out of bed and wandered into the bathroom. He wasn't sure what to do today. He didn't really have any plans.
As he brushed his teeth, he mused over work again.
"All I've done is talk with Ai at work." He thought, pausing. His face flushed again. "I-I wonder if he'd agree to go somewhere with me."
Syo stopped, and he started coughing when he realized what he was saying. "No- wait! That's not what I meant- oh god. It's too early to ask Ai on a.. date.."
Syo stared at himself in the mirror, flustered.
He was so head over heels for this boy.
Ai tugged the headphones off his head and stepped away from the microphone. "Thank you, Mikaze-san! That should be a wrap for today." A staff member called to him. He nodded and exited the recording studio.
The professor was waiting for him outside, reading. He looked up and smiled brightly.
"Ah, Ai! All finished?"
"Yes."
"That's wonderful!"
Ai followed the professor through the halls.
"Master."
"Hmm?"
"Is it alright if I head out today as well?"
The professor thought for a moment. "Of course, I definitely don't mind." He scratched his chin. "But I will be stopping by the hospital room later today, if you'd like to tag along for that."
The hospital room the professor spoke of was actually Aine's location for the past few years. Ai wasn't sure why he didn't just refer to it as Aine's room, but the professor's mood grew grim every time they spoke of it, so he decided against asking at any point.
The room was on the seventh floor of the hospital, and was practically empty of patients except Aine. With special connections, the professor reserved that floor for his special studies and the hospital's research on Aine's condition. The professor's separate lab was located there; it was the location where Ai was built.
Despite being on the same floor many times, Ai's only seen Aine twice or so.
The room was pure silence except for the whirring of machines and oxygen tanks. Ai found it difficult to speak in that room, as did the professor, so the gloominess of the room only intensified. It had nothing to do with the air or Ai himself; he recognized it as the atmosphere, which was constantly heavy.
Aine lay on a soft cot, enclosed in a case. He was hooked up to an oxygen mask and multiple cords, which connected his arms, neck, and legs to the machine. Peering through the glass, Ai could easily see his features.
He always looked peaceful.
From the last time Ai saw him, Aine was pale and slender. His hair was relatively longer than Ai's. He looked delicate- fragile, even, like a feather. But still, in the state that he was, he was identical to Ai, no doubt it. If Aine ever woke up, they would still be carbon copies of each other, even with Aine being older.
The professor would scold Ai if he ever said, "If Aine wakes up." The professor truly believed that he would, so it would be a, "when." Soon, he proclaimed.
The professor was brilliant, which made Ai doubt himself and his data. But if his calculations were correct, the percentage of the possibility of Aine awakening was lower than 46%. He knew the professor was aware of this number some way or another.
But the last time Ai saw Aine was over two months ago, even though the professor checked up on Aine every day. If Ai tagged along, he was instructed to just wait outside the door. He had no need to see Aine all the time, so he didn't mind, but he wondered every so often why the eccentric and outgoing professor would imply being against letting him see Aine sometimes.
"I don't think I will come with you today." Ai says.
The professor smiles. "That's totally fine! Go ahead and have fun," He ruffled Ai's hair. "Do you want to be picked up or dropped off somewhere?"
Ai didn't know what fun meant, so he made a note to research it later. He patted his hair back into place. "No, I should know my way after exiting the building."
The professor departed with a wave as he drove off, leaving Ai standing there. He returned the wave, notably awkwardly. He understood that it was a human greeting or a way to signify departure, so he should get it into his system to do it naturally.
Since it was a weekend, Syo would not be at the cafe.
Ai could still go; he didn't see why Syo's presence would affect him going. But still, the idea of being there without Syo there seemed.. unappealing for some reason.
Ai decided to explore more of the city today, as he realizes he's been preoccupied at the cafe for quite some time.
He was mostly interested in checking out Saotome Academy.
The professor spoke a few times about Aine attending there, which surprised Ai, as he learned that Syo also resided at that school. It was interesting how there was a connection, but it was nothing more than a mere coincidence.
The school was private, so Ai definitely could not actually go on school grounds, but he wouldn't mind strolling around the school just to see it's features.
It was his duty to understand Aine and help him wake up, so perhaps going to the school would be helpful.
The academy was extremely large, with huge, multiple connected buildings, but most of the academy also consisted of nature scenery. He could make out a veranda in the distance.
The academy could be classified as a small town, considering how large it was, the population of students, and according to Ai's research, has stores.
He assumed he was far east of the entrance, from the architecture he could make out.
The area outside the school, where Ai stood to observe, was populated by other people too, so it appeared to be fine to speculate the school outside of the residency.
Ai thought for a moment.
From here, the cafe that Syo worked at took at least fifteen minutes to get to via car. Syo has never mentioned owning a car. It was certainly a long distance to travel from the school to his job. Ai wasn't even sure if the job was necessary for Syo, but perhaps he'd bring this up another day when they met again.
Ai blinked.
Perhaps he was using Syo as a measurement. That may be why he comes to mind. After all, calculating a student's activities throughout the school with extremely large area was certainly interesting, especially if they go off campus frequently. Other than that, he should have no reason to think about Syo at the moment. But he still did.
"When we meet again."
A gust of wind flew by, softly blowing his hair to his right.
He wanted to see Syo soon.
"Hey, won't you eventually get tired of ordering the same thing everyday?" Syo asked in a teasing manner.
Ai stared at him, and blinked. "I don't believe so. It's preference, is it not?" He replies.
Syo giggles. "I guess you're right. That latte isn't the sweetest thing in the world so it must be harder to grow sick of it."
"Is that so..?" Ai mused, staring at the light brown liquid in the coffee cup.
He was oblivious to Syo, who watched him in amusement
"He's so cute.."
"Oh shit, I'm being weird again. Gaah, stop it!"
Monday had come unexpectedly fast. Over the weekend, the only thing Syo really did was lay around and play video games. He honestly wanted to go out, but couldn't bring himself to.
Most of the weekend, he embarrassingly thought about what he could do to convince Ai to go somewhere with him, but not imply it being like a date.
It wasn't as if he wanted to date Ai, Syo had thought in a flurry of panic to himself. He just wanted to.. go somewhere with his friend.
"Would you recommend anything else?"
Syo snapped back into reality. "Huh?"
"You brought up the conversation about this. I assume you have recommendations." Ai explains.
"O-Oh, right! Um," Syo looked away, for some reason flustered. "I don't know. You seem like a guy who has really specific taste, so.. I wouldn't want to.."
Ai tilts his head. "Wouldn't want to what?"
"I-I wouldn't want to recommend something to you that you wouldn't like, which is stupid, but.. that's how I feel."
Ai's expression didn't change.
Syo was definitely wrong about things Ai didn't like. In fact, Ai truthfully didn't have preference in food or any idea about what tasted 'good,' as long as it was edible. It would take awhile for him to even develop something specific to him like that.
But Ai found it interesting.
"So that's how it works.." Ai murmured.
Syo attempted to stifle a laugh. "You're so weird."
"Ah- I'm not."
The cafe quieted.
"Syo."
"Yeah?"
"Would it hurt someone if another who was close to them had to leave?"
Ai asked these weird, out of context questions to Syo all the time. The blonde had grown used to him; happily complying to answering Ai's questions about the world.
"Somebody close to them? Like what?"
Ai hesitated, which was odd to Syo. "I get that people form bonds by spending time with each other or learning about each other. If you were to not speak with someone like that anymore, would you be hurt?"
Syo looked at him. "Yeah, of course." He paused, staring ahead. "That's like losing a friend, basically. That would hurt anyone."
Ai didn't say anything.
Syo noticed the distinctly different aura warding off the cyanette. "A-Aha, it's okay! It's nothing as serious as it seems to be." He smiles at Ai, trying to lighten to the mood.
Should he change the subject, he wondered?
"So, how's your idol career coming along?"
Ai stopped. "Oh, normal, I suppose. Certain things will change when I debut a second time."
"A second time? Whoa, why do you need to do that?" Syo asks, puzzled.
Ai sighed, "Idols need to debut again when establishing a different part of their career. For instance, if you had a different persona and want a new one."
Syo was surprised. Well, he learned something new today. Why didn't anyone tell him that at school?
"But that's great, right? You'll gain more popularity that way! That's great, Ai!" Syo exclaimed.
"I have to focus more on my career. There are new.. assignments I have."
"Ah, is that so? That's-"
Ai looks at him. "Syo."
Syo stops talking, startled.
"That means I cannot come here to see you anymore."
...
Silence.
...
The two just stared at each other.
Finally, Syo broke the gaze, looking away.
"O-Oh."
"That's why he asked that question."
"But.."
"Y-You really can't come here anymore?"
Ai shook his head. "I'll be busy. According to my company, I'll be reassigned into a band, and a major assignment will follow after that."
Syo felt as though he wasn't processing it.
He was just getting to know Ai.
"I get it. You have to do it, so.. for your career.." Syo mumbled.
"I'm glad you understand."
Syo wished so much he knew today was the last day he'd be seeing Ai.
He would've made it more special.
But now he's just here, baffled like an idiot.
And soon this boy sitting in front of him would disappear from his life forever.
Syo looked up to see Ai staring at him, his mouth parted slightly and his eyes wide.
"Syo, you're.."
Syo knew it, too. He felt the warm tears running down his face.
"A-Aaaah, it's nothing! It's nothing." He scrubbed his face quickly, keeping his eyes open as big as possible. He smiled to the best of his ability. "I'm happy for you! Really, I am. Don't worry about me."
Ai sat there idly.
".. I see."
Ai stood up, brushing his clothes slightly.
"I'll be going."
"R-Right."
Ai walked to the door, and Syo felt himself panic.
"W-Wait!" He stumbled out of his chair.
Ai turned around, and to Syo's disappointment, he looked indifferent.
"What?" Ai asked blankly.
Syo stared at him, his threat suddenly cakey and painful. His gaze fell to the floor.
"Goodbye." Syo murmured.
Ai nodded.
"Goodbye."
And Ai left.
It began to pour.
Ai walked down the sidewalks. He was heading home.
"Home, hmm?"
The droplets splashed on his head, and he closed his eyes as he continued.
"I feel heavy."
"Could it be the rain?"
Ai eventually arrived back at the professor's office. He stepped in. It appeared the professor wasn't home.
He squinted at the couch as he tugged off his shoes.
His head was spinning a bit.
"I shouldn't have walked in the rain."
Ai set down his bag.
The professor wouldn't be home for another hour.
Ai sat down in the couch, and soon after, switched to laying down on it. The tips of his soaked hair fell ever so slightly over the edge. To anyone else, he would've just looked like tired, sweet, teenage boy.
But he wasn't any of those things.
…
Well, he does identify as a male, but he's an android. Not a human boy, is what he meant.
Ai turned to stare at the ceiling.
His system was obviously experiencing errors, as every so often his vision would go static or the data wouldn't process easily. It was unfortunate that he would have to deal with this until the professor returned to fix it, but it didn't matter too much to him.
What mattered to him right now?
His head felt heavy enough to make him feel uneasy.
Ai felt himself recall the events that happened earlier today.
He remembered standing near the door of the cafe.
He remembered the expression Syo made as he left.
Out of all the recorded expressions Ai made of Syo, he had never seen Syo.. upset before.
"Does that data even matter?"
Ai slowly closed his eyes.
"It shouldn't. But it does."
A bit over an hour later, the professor came home.
"Ai?" He called out.
The professor jumped a little to find Ai on the couch, asleep.
"Tired..?" He whispered, smiling.
He walked over, and rebooted Ai up.
"I'm sorry to wake you," the professor says as Ai sits upright, "but I have to scan you before you sleep."
"Oh, right. I need a scan anyways, Master." Ai says. "My circuits are struggling to work."
The professor nods. "Not a problem."
And so, Ai sat down on the table and shut down again.
The professor pulled up a chair and sat in front of the computer.
"Strange." He thought. "There is an irregulation here in his memory patterns and heart rate. I'll have to remove those patterns temporarily."
Unlike humans, who have no possibility of regaining memories after certain injuries due to memories being signals rather than physical nerves, Ai's patterns could be recorded and imitated to his convenience. It explains why the professor managed to program him to have eidetic memory, and when the memories caused problems, he could fix them.
The professor didn't think much of it. He removed the few memories he knew didn't affect Ai's skills and knowledge. They were relatively recent and must've been bombarded with emotions, which resulted in Ai 'crashing'. Soon, once Ai's system develops, he can implement them back.
The professor cheerfully rebooted Ai up. Ai blinked slowly, checking his programs quickly to find no errors.
"All good?" The professor asks.
Ai nods.
"Great! Alrighty, you can go back to sleep now."
The professor wanders off, probably to tinker around somewhere else in his office to not disturb Ai.
Ai simply shrugged, and went back to laying down.
"Ah.. I should sleep. I'm relatively tired."
Ai pulls the blanket the professor left for him up to his chin.
"But why am I tired? I didn't leave the office today."