Chapter 9
Hello! I am so sorry, I haven't been updating often at all! I'll try update more. Thanks if you reviewed, favourited, or are even reading this right now :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Fragile Dreams or it's characters but I do own my OCs.
"Eh? Are you two going to sleep now?" Tomadachi asked as Harumi yawned loudly, rubbing her eyes and Seto stood up. They both nodded lazily.
"Oh. Goodnight. I cleaned your rooms earlier. It appears the guest rooms have finally come in handy." She smiled as she spoke, looking down at the floor. The other two were already making their way towards the door.
"Hey, Seto, what do you think is in that room?" Harumi whispered once the door had closed behind them, leaving them in darkness, the only light a candle in Seto's hand, the flickering light dancing on the walls. He closed his eyes as he shook his head,
"I don't know. It doesn't feel right to think she's a murderer though…I'm sure there is a reason for all this. She's been nice to us."
Harumi frowned before sighing and gesturing to the candle, "Can you please walk me to my room? There's only one candle. It's dark." She asked politely, changing the subject. Seto nodded, obediently following her as she made her way to her room, it was more her taking him there than him taking her there.
"Seto…?" Harumi asked after a minute's silence, the only sound the patter of their footsteps. She stopped walking, listening as Seto did the same, watching her as she looked down, "What…What are we going to do if Tomadachi really is a murderer? Return to the same way as before?" She asked, She's providing food and shelter for us…She is a robot; she knows everything about survival skills…
"I'm going to search for her." Seto replied almost immediately. Harumi didn't need to ask to know who 'her' was. The mysterious silver-haired girl that she had been told so much about.
"I somehow knew you were going to say that." Harumi sighed before glancing at him over her shoulder, her lips twisted into a small smile, "I'll walk on my own now, Seto. Thank you."
Seto nodded as she disappeared into the darkness of the never-lit hall, the sound of her footsteps getting fainter. Only when he heard the distant sound of her bedroom door opening and closing shortly after did he begin to return to his own room, the burning candle still in his hand. They both silently knew that, if they were to follow earlier plans, they would be seeing each other again shortly.
He was fully aware that Tomadachi, as a robot, was unable to sleep, but there had to be some period of time where she rested, they would take the chance then, to try and explore the mysterious room, which may just have a body in there. Another well-known fact was that it was securely locked, although Harumi had assured him that she had that under control.
Now all that was left was to wait, as Seto sat up in bed under the covers, leaning back, his head on the cold wall as he just waited for time to pass. The house was kept considerably clean despite the state the world was in presently, it was impressive how well Tomadachi had done her job. She was one dedicated robot.
Only when he heard the loud sound of footsteps outside did Seto snap out of his thoughts, listening alertly. It was Tomadachi, most likely up to do some late-night cleaning now that everyone was out of the way. More footsteps. A key turning in a lock? Seto widened his eyes when he realised she was entering 'The secret room'. With no time to waste, he quietly removed the covers and stood up, being sure that he made no noise as he opened the door, only to meet Harumi, who appeared to be just about to open it anyway.
"Now's our chance, the door is open! I was gonna pick the lock, but apparently there's no need now. Let's go, Seto!" She hissed and with no further explanation, grabbed his arm, dragging him along and trying to be quiet at the same time, whilst quiet and dragging didn't exactly go hand-in-hand, the managed to reach their destination undiscovered, luckily.
Harumi held her finger up to her lips, signalling silence as they stood outside the partly open door, light from a flickering candle streaming out of the room.
This time, Tomadachi stayed silent, and they were almost sure that she was not in there when they heard nothing for another few minutes. With a gulp, Harumi bravely reached her hand out to push the door fully open, but stopped with a start when they heard breathing from in there. Breathing? She closed her eyes, inhaling deeply before exchanging glances with Seto and mouthing the words "I'm opening it". Seto nodded, and held his breath as with a gentle push, the door swung open, revealing the suspicious room they had waited so long to see.
Two pairs of wide eyes met another pair of wide eyes as they saw Tomadachi, sitting cross-legged on the floor. All three people were frozen with shock before gasping. Harumi's eyes wandered from Tomadachi to what was next to her, causing her hands to abruptly cover her mouth to hold back a scream.
There was a body next to her! Sprawled across the floor beside her, amongst a messy pile of books and other trinkets, was what was clearly a human figure wrapped in rags and bandages like a mummy. Before either of the too startled teenagers could react, Tomadachi stood up,
"I can explain! I am truly sorry for keeping this a secret for so long! I just…I did not want him to be disturbed by strangers…Please forgive me, if you sit down, I shall explain immediately." Tomadachi, lacking the ability to feel emotions, had already regained her composure and calmed down, nervously glancing at the corpse out of the corner of her eye, "Please do not fear me, I have not 'killed' this person, I swear." She said quickly as she noticed the horrified expressions of the two.
"IT'S A BODY!" Harumi suddenly screeched, having snapped out of her trance, "It's a body right there! A corpse! I was right!" She screeched, frantically waving her arm around, clinging to Seto in excitement and horror.
"This person is my master, please be quiet! He doesn't like loud noises and he never did! Tomadachi interrupted desperately, shutting Harumi right up.
"This…This person is your master, Tomadachi?" Seto stuttered finally, his eyes glued to the figure on the floor. The robot nodded in reply. "So…Uh…What happened to him?"
His question was soon answered, but more by the robotic side of Tomadachi than the side that was more human like, the voice that came from her now was emotionless and, well…robotic. "The man I call 'Master' suffered from a heart attack. There was nothing I was able to do, and so he is no longer living." She told them. Sympathy began to stir inside the two as they listened. So that's why she's so sensitive about the room.
"Your master…Is he the one who created you?" Harumi asked, still staring at the deceased master. Her emerald eyes finally broke away from it, moving onto Tomadachi.
"He did. My master was a very lonely person. His relatives all died before him, so he was truly alone. He was an inventor, and he became rich with that, but money wasn't what he wanted. It seems there are things you can't buy. All the people around him saw him as an inventor, not as a person, nobody truly knew him, and so in the end...I was created. I was his only friend, and I was very special to him. I…Stayed with him until the very end, and…I will never leave him."
The passion in her voice was amazing. How could a robot be capable of such strong emotion, if any emotion at all? She clearly adored her creator more than anything else.
"So even robots…Can feel that way." Seto whispered before closing his eyes for a little longer than a blink, "I'm going back to bed. Good night."
And that's it! I have to get ready for school in around 2 and a half hours . Yeah, can't sleep x.x Anyway, hope you enjoyed!
