Notes: Two chapters in a row! Wow, I'm getting done fast… But I have a lot of drive to write KB fics, so that's no surprise (plus the outline helps a lot! ^^;)

Chapter 4: Stranger Than Fiction

Souichi was getting fed up with waiting by the time Tetsuhiro came home. The late afternoon sun was already sinking in the sky, casting long shadows in the apartment and a golden gleam on the furniture – and on Souichi as he sat smoking his fifth cigarette, one knee bouncing in agitation.

"Senpai, are you home?" the door opened, and Tetsuhiro came in. Souichi didn't turn his head to look at him as he took his shoes off. "There you are!" the black-haired man said, walking towards the couch where Souichi sat, "I was wondering where you were… It seems you didn't go to the lab. Are you feeling OK?"

"Morinaga, sit down," Souichi's tone discouraged argument.

Tetsuhiro complied, sitting in the chair opposite the couch. "What's wrong?" he asked, seemingly worried.

"He should be," Souichi thought before saying, "Just where have you been?"

"I told you, I had a doctor appointment," Tetsuhiro smiled reassuringly, "Then I went ahead to the lab, but when I saw you hadn't touched your cultures I decided to take care of them for you. I tried calling, but your phone was off…"

"This doctor appointment…" Souichi blew out a long tendril of smoke, then extinguished the smoldering stub before turning to glare harshly at Tetsuhiro. "Why the hell would you have to go underground for that?"

The younger man froze, his eyes widening. "S- Senpai… You saw that?"

"I followed you and your brother," Souichi said, trying to keep his voice level and low, "Just what the hell was that about? Some secret underground organization?"

Tetsuhiro didn't say anything.

"Answer me, Morinaga."

"I'm… not supposed to say…" Tetsuhiro looked down at his own lap.

"Aha!" Souichi suddenly leapt off the couch, coming to stand directly over Tetsuhiro, "So you are hiding something! What the fuck is it? You'd better spill it!"

"S-S-Senpai, I could get into trouble! YOU could get into trouble!" Tetsuhiro was backing as far away as possible.

"Tell me what's going on! You're a robot, aren't you?"

"N- NO! I'm not a robot! Senpai, please sit down!"

"Tell me!"

"OK, fine!" Tetsuhiro stood up, knocking Souichi back down onto the couch, "But first, understand that I'm only telling you because I love you!"

"Of all the stupid things to say at a time like this!" Souichi stood again, leaning in so that his nose was inches from Tetsuhiro's, "If you love me so much, then why keep a secret like this?"

"Because I didn't want you to hate me!" Tetsuhiro sighed, lowering his gaze again, "Senpai, please promise that you won't leave because of this…"

All was quiet for a moment, and then Souichi scoffed and said, "If I can stand you being a homo, then I can handle anything you have to tell me." Blushing a little, he sat down again and motioned for Tetsuhiro to do the same.

"Remember you said that…" Tetsuhiro sighed, sitting as well. "Just… please don't tell anyone else… I could seriously get in trouble if this were to get out…"

"I won't tell anyone. Now get on with it!"

"Right…" he leaned back in the chair, rubbing his eyes and sighing before beginning. "I'm a… well, you can't exactly call me a robot. I- I'm more like a cyborg…"

"…A cyborg?"

"Yeah… And not just me, but my brother, too. See, our parents were scientists for the government. They were responsible for developing and perfecting various cybernetic implants for injured soldiers, as well as other amputees and the like. It was – is – their passion."

Souichi remained silent, listening tensely.

"When the government outsourced the cybernetics program to another part of the country, my parents opted out of moving. Instead, they took what equipment they could and moved to Fukuoka. It was my mother's hometown, you see, so they already knew people there, and it was a nice country town. This was before I or my brother was born. By the time Nii-san came along, my parents had pretty much stored their notes and equipment away… But…"

"Wait, they turned their own kid into an android?" Souichi asked.

"Ah, well, sort of! A cyborg, actually, remember? But yes, they did. When he was two years old, he was trying to climb a tree during the Hanami festival at the park… He fell into the pond there and drowned. My parents were devastated… I was told that they refused to believe he was dead. So before he could be laid to rest, they arranged to have his body taken to my mother's family cemetery. Obviously, he never reached the place."

Souichi was too stunned to say anything, though he wanted to comment. This was probably the strangest story he had ever heard.

"My parents took his body to their small laboratory, and set up the equipment again. Using their knowledge of cybernetics, they attempted to fashion a cybernetic brain. That had never been done before, but it was the only way to bring Kunihiro back." Tetsuhiro paused for a moment to glance up at Souichi to gauge his reaction. His senpai's face remained blank, so he continued nervously. "They called an old colleague of theirs, Dr. Nishima – he's the one we saw today, actually. We have to go in for yearly adjustments and updates, and usually we go to him for that... But anyway, he came to Fukuoka to help my parents, though he didn't believe that they could accomplish anything. He just felt sorry for their loss, and wanted to go along with their plans until they realized that nothing would come of them… But as you can guess, they did.

They succeeded in making an artificial brain, and Kunihiro sort of came back to life, you could say… Though he was just functioning, and he didn't have any personality to speak of. Still, it was something. So over the next few years, they tweaked him and modified him, finally programming him with a personality…"

"Did you say programming him?" Souichi asked quietly.

"Yes, they programed him. In the end, he was more than just a person kept alive by cybernetic science. His mind was actually upgraded and altered until it was a computer… Senpai, I know this sounds silly, but Nii-san was basically turned into a living computer."

"A living computer…" now the older man was staring at Tetsuhiro as if he had sprouted two heads.

Tetsuhiro looked away from the horrified gaze and continued his story. "While they were doing this, Kunihiro became more than just their child that they were trying to save. He became their experiment… They started to fit him with more and more upgrades. Then I was born… And, well, they did the same to me, too."

For seemingly the millionth time in the past couple of days, silence reigned supreme. Tetsuhiro avoided looking at Souichi while the astonished man stared at him. Finally, Souichi said, "So… you're a computer."

"Yeah…"

"And you're some kind of cybernetic lab rat…"

"Basically…"

"You…" Souichi's fists balled up, and he suddenly slammed them down on the coffee table, "Your parents are sick!"

"What?"

"Why would they do all that to both their kids? I mean, yeah, it's sick enough to try to bring back the dead, but to turn their living kid into a robot?"

"Cyborg, Senpai…"

"Whatever!" Souichi glared at him, "So is that why you left home?"

"N- no, I left because of the whole fiasco with Masaki-san!" Tetsuhiro said, finally looking at Souichi, "That was all true, with Masaki-san and everything. I had to get away from my parents, because they kept trying to reprogram me to be straight…"

"WHAT?"

"Well, Senpai, they thought it was a glitch or something…"

"But you're…" Souichi bit his tongue before he could say it. He had almost uttered the very thing he had argued against for so long: 'You're gay because you were born that way.' Angry with himself, he turned his head away from Tetsuhiro to hide his furious blush.

"I'm what?"

"Nothing. Just… You just… I need some time to absorb all of this…"

"I understand…" Tetsuhiro looked down again, hanging his head in shame. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner… Nii-san would be furious, and…"

"Why the hell are you trying to please him?" Souichi snapped, "He's caused you nothing but trouble, remember?"

"Ah, that may be true, but I was also protecting myself. Senpai, I… I was afraid you'd leave me. I still am afraid you'll leave me…" Tetsuhiro trailed off, waiting for Souichi to say something. He was hoping that he would deny it, but Souichi said nothing. "Senpai… do you want me to go?"

Souichi didn't answer for a while. He leaned back, lit up another cigarette, and took long puffs from it, looking up at the ceiling. Finally, he said, "Why the hell would I want you to go? I already told you, if I can handle you being gay, I can handle you being a robot."

"Senpai…!" Tetsuhiro suddenly jumped up and fell across Souichi, knocking his cigarette out of his hand and hugging him.

"Hey, get off!" Souichi kicked him to the floor, grabbing the burning stick and snuffing it out in the ashtray. "Stop overreacting to things! Sheesh…" he leaned back again as Tetsuhiro sat beside him on the couch, then turned to glare at the other man. "So what can you do? I mean, you said you were a computer of some sort…"

"Yeah, I am," Tetsuhiro said, "I can surf the internet in my head, you know. It's kinda cool, actually. I can also hook up to a monitor or other devices like printers…"

"Whoa, whoa… How do you do that?"

Souichi watched with growing curiosity as Tetsuhiro reached behind his left ear. To his surprise, a triangular panel, covered with hair like part of Tetsuhiro's scalp, popped up with a click. It looked a bit like a perked dog ear, Souichi thought. Tetsuhiro reached into the hidden space beneath it and pulled out a black cord with a USB connection on the end. "See?" he said, letting the cord go and allowing it to snap back into place with a whirl. He then shut the panel on his head, and smiled nervously. "You're not freaked out, are you?"

"Oh, no," Souichi said sarcastically, "I'm not shocked at all! You turn out to be a fucking appliance, and I'm as cool about it as anyone could be!"

"Sorry…"

Their conversation halted again, and then Souichi sighed, "You know, what bothers me about it isn't that you're a freaking toaster oven…"

"T- toaster oven?"

"It's that you never told me. How long were you going to keep that secret, huh?"

"Senpai, it's kind of a big deal… I never planned to tell you, actually."

"Huh. Well, the way I see it, you're now potentially 80% more useful to me than you were before I knew all this…"

"What do you mean?" Tetsuhiro backed away a little; he didn't like the gleam in his senpai's eye.

"Morinaga," Souichi smirked, turning towards him, "I think I've found a replacement for my old laptop…"

TBC

Well, there you have it! The whole truth, though it doesn't end here. We have to see how Souichi will take advantage of poor Angel-kun! Hope you enjoyed it! :D