"Hideki," said Chii, shaking her owner. "Hideki, the phone is ringing." Hideki rolled over and
grunted, realizing that Chii was right, his phone was indeed ringing. He forced himself out of bed
and lifted the receiver. "Motosuwa residence," he mumbled.
"Motosuwa-san. It's Kokubunji." Hideki instantly snapped awake, but before he could speak,
Minoru went on. "I've found something extraordinary," he continued. "Come over as soon as
possible, and bring Chii with you." Click. The line went dead, leaving Hideki gaping at the phone.
Chii was eyeing him curiously. "Hideki, who was on the phone?" He took a minute to answer, as he
was scrambling around to get dressed. "Minoru-kun," he said finally. "He wants us to go over to his
house as soon as we can. You ready?" Chii nodded with an exuberant "Chii!"
Fifteen minutes later, Hideki and Chii were sitting in Minoru's living room, sipping tea. They were
making small talk, but Hideki was getting impatient, and Minoru could tell. He abruptly set down
his cup and left the room, returning a minute later with Chu by his side. "This...is what I wanted to
show you, Motosuwa-san. I found her last night, behind the old building a few blocks over.
Someone had apparently just dumped her. I heard screams, and so I went to investigate, and I found
Chu." The persocon tilted her head, looking at Chii, and murmured "Chu?" Chii looked confused,
and Hideki couldn't blame her. Chu looked almost like she could be Chii's twin, but her hair was
black and her eyes a deep green. She was wearing an outfit like Yuzuki's...apparently an extra. It
was a bit too big for her, but at least it covered everything that needed to be covered. Hideki was
reminded of when he had first gotten Chii, and how he had been forced to lend her his clothes, which
were loads too big. Minoru was apparently remembering this too, and smiled. "It's handy, having
other female persocons in the household," he remarked. Hideki blushed. "So. What do you think of
Chu?" the boy persisted "She's remarkably like Chii, isn't she?" Hideki had to agree. "You said
you found her? I wonder why she was dumped. Probably for the same reason that Chii was."
Minoru took a sip of his tea, and nodded in agreement. They were silent for a minute, until Chu
broke the silence. "Chu?" she said, still looking at Chii. Chii was looking right back at her with a
puzzled expression on her face. Hideki put a hand on Chii's shoulder. "Why don't you introduce
yourself to...Chu?" he said. Chii got to her feet and walked over to stand in front of Chu. Even
Hideki could see the striking resemblance now, with the two persocons together like that. Minoru's
eyes narrowed as he watched them. Chii executed a perfect curtsy, and Chu tried to copy her
movements, clumsily. "Hello," said Chii. "My name is Chii." Chu tilted her head again, lights
flickering across her eyes as she processed the information. Finally, she spoke. "Chii?" she said,
haltingly. Chii nodded. "That's right. I am Chii." The other persocon tilted her head the other way, a
couple strands of her black hair falling into her eyes. "Chii...?" she murmured, and pointed at Chii,
who nodded again. Chu pointed at herself with a questioning look. "Chu is your name," Chii was
quick to say, understanding her semi-twin's motions more easily than either of the humans could.
The black-haired persocon blinked. "Name...Chu...?" she faltered, pointing at herself. Chii beamed
and nodded. Chu broke into a smile. "Chu!" she cried, and glomped Chii, who glomped right back.
Minoru sucked in a sharp breath at the sight of them hugging. It reminded him of a picture he had
seen when he had looked up information on "Chobits". Two persocons, one like Chii...one like
Chu...could it possibly be?
Hideki and Minoru were seated in front of the large monitor in the next room about ten minutes
later, while Chii was teaching Chu some new words in the living room. Minoru quickly found and
brought up the picture. "Look at this, Motosuwa-san," he said. Hideki looked, and was shocked.
"That...it looks like..." he stammered, and Minoru inclined his head in agreement, finishing the
sentence for Hideki. "Chii...and Chu." Seeming to forget that Hideki was in the room, Minoru
reached out and traced his finger along the "01" on the Chii-like persocon's arm, then the "02" on
the Chu-like persocon's arm. Along the sides of their legs was inscribed a word, one that he also
traced his fingertip over. The word...
Chobit.