Chii awoke first, as usual, and stepped outside the door to get their clothes. Yuzuki had told her to leave the clothes on the chair in the hall, and the maids would clean them for the next morning. She picked up the neatly folded bundle and returned to the room. She and Hideki got dressed, and found their way to the dining room. Yuzuki was there to greet them. "Good morning. I hope you had a good sleep." she said. "Yes, we did" Chii said. "Is Minoru up yet?" "Oh, yes, he rises quite early. He will be down shortly. Please have a seat while you wait."
"I wonder if your mother is worried about us" Hideki said. "She knows we were coming here, but not that we were going to stay overnight" "I asked Yuzuki to call last night, while we were connected." Chii said "she said that was fine." "Chii, can't you do that, too?" "What, make phone calls? Yes, I suppose so" Chii laughed "You know, I never really thought of that. You never tried to use me for phone calls, or e-mail, or anything that a persocom can do" "I never thought to ask" said Hideki. "Let me try something." A moment later, the phone rang. "May I talk to Minoru, please?" Hideki could hear the conversation through the house PA system. "Yes?" "Good morning, Minoru, it's Chii" A pause, then "Ahh, that's it. Chii, you're calling direct, aren't you?" "Yes, I am. I've never tried it before. Anyway, we're in the dining room." "I'll be right down", said Minoru, and the connection closed. "Well, that's good to know" Chii said.
Minoru came into the room a few minutes later. "I didn't know you knew my phone number, Chii" he said. I'm not sure how I knew. I just tried to call, and it went through." "Just like when you found out where Yumi was by accessing her PDA." "You might ask your mother about that. Apparently you can access computer systems without an account", Minoru explained. "You will want to be careful about that. It might attract attention." "That's true. That's what I wanted to talk about. I would like your permission to be able to connect with Yuzuki, if it's OK with her. Then we can talk anytime." She turned towards Yuzuki, who said "I would like that, too." Minoru said "I'll take care of that after breakfast. Let's eat."
Later, in the study, they talked for a while about Chii's breakthrough, as they called it, and what it would mean for she and Hideki's life. As Minoru was working at his terminal, he asked "Chii, why did you say that Yuzuki was lucky?" "Because you made her." Chii answered. "I told her that we have a lot in common. That we both were custom built, by people who care about us, and that the people we are with care about us." "I had to look to find that person, but she's been with that someone all along."
Minoru blushed a bit. Chii couldn't know how he felt towards Yuzuki, could she? She was right, though, he did care about her, and not as his sister anymore. After Yuzuki had tried accessing the National Database, and had lost all of his sister's programming, he had let her develop on her own. He replied "Well, I suppose that's true." "The account is all set up. You will be able to talk to Yuzuki whenever you want." Chii realized that Minoru was a bit hesitant to talk about his feelings for Yuzuki. "Thank you" She said, then leaned closer "I didn't mean to embarrass you." "Perhaps we can talk some other time" Minoru responded. He thought about her offer. In a way, he admired Hideki for being so open about his feelings for Chii, but then he was among friends. Could he ever be that open about his feelings for Yuzuki? Perhaps he would talk to Chii about that someday.
By that time it was almost noon. Yuzuki was about to invite them to lunch, but Chii had other ideas. "Well, Hideki, we have things to do. We should be going" Chii announced. "Minoru, Yuzuki, thank you for you hospitality." "You're very welcome, please come again", Minoru said. "Please, call anytime" Yuzuki said to Chii. "I will" Chii promised.
As they walked towards the front gate, Hideki asked "What do we have to do today?" "Nothing" Chii responded, "But I think I embarrassed Minoru, and I didn't want to make it worse." "Huh?" Hideki hadn't seen it. "Minoru's in the same situation as you were once." she said. "You mean with Yuzuki?" He wasn't totally clueless. "Yes. Now that she's no longer his sister's image, he's going through the same confusion of feelings you told me you once had about me. I know Yuzuki is aware of it. That's why I wanted to be able to talk to her." "You mean he might be falling in love with her?" Hideki asked. He hadn't told her about his conversation with Minoru. Had Yuzuki and Chii talked about it? "He's the one who told me I shouldn't fall in love with my persocom." "I guess I'm lucky you never followed that advice." "But I did." Hideki said "I didn't fall in love with a persocom. I began caring about a person named Chii. She just happened to be in a persocom's body."
Chii thought about that for a while. Hideki could be very wise at times, like when he helped Yumi and Manager Ueda. He may not know much about technology, she thought, but he's really good with relationships. "That's a pretty deep thought" Chii remarked. Hideki blushed. "That's just the way I saw it."
"I meant it as a compliment, dear" Chii said. Hideki smiled. She was trying out new words, new terms. She was going to be hard to keep up with. Perhaps she would be studying his textbooks soon. "I know, it's just hearing you say it. You really are learning a lot now." "Anyway, what are we going to do to help Minoru and Yuzuki?" "Nothing right now", Chii said. "He'll call when he's ready to discuss it, and I can talk to Yuzuki." Let's enjoy the rest of the day. I've got to go back to work tomorrow."
They spent the afternoon together doing things that any couple would do: shopping, walking in the park. They had each noticed that a few other human-persocom couples were holding hands, and soon, they were too. They went to the bookstore, where Chii asked when the next volume of her favorite series would be out. The manager said there had been a delay, but it would be out soon. Hideki smiled to himself. Chii still didn't know that her mother was the author of that series, but might figure it out soon. She jokingly asked him if he wanted to buy any magazines, but he looked her in the eyes, and said "I don't need them anymore" She understood, and almost kissed him, but remembered what her mother had said.
After supper, they lay on the futon for a while, and talked about that weekend. Chii rolled against him, and he noticed how warm she was. He turned to face her, and his hand brushed against her breast. He noticed how real it seemed, and told Chii that, then quickly blushed as he realized what he had said. "Don't worry" she replied "I'm not offended. I know what I am, and I'm glad mother and father put so much care into my design." "So am I" Hideki said, touching her again. She smiled, and put her arm around him, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.
"I wonder if your mother is worried about us" Hideki said. "She knows we were coming here, but not that we were going to stay overnight" "I asked Yuzuki to call last night, while we were connected." Chii said "she said that was fine." "Chii, can't you do that, too?" "What, make phone calls? Yes, I suppose so" Chii laughed "You know, I never really thought of that. You never tried to use me for phone calls, or e-mail, or anything that a persocom can do" "I never thought to ask" said Hideki. "Let me try something." A moment later, the phone rang. "May I talk to Minoru, please?" Hideki could hear the conversation through the house PA system. "Yes?" "Good morning, Minoru, it's Chii" A pause, then "Ahh, that's it. Chii, you're calling direct, aren't you?" "Yes, I am. I've never tried it before. Anyway, we're in the dining room." "I'll be right down", said Minoru, and the connection closed. "Well, that's good to know" Chii said.
Minoru came into the room a few minutes later. "I didn't know you knew my phone number, Chii" he said. I'm not sure how I knew. I just tried to call, and it went through." "Just like when you found out where Yumi was by accessing her PDA." "You might ask your mother about that. Apparently you can access computer systems without an account", Minoru explained. "You will want to be careful about that. It might attract attention." "That's true. That's what I wanted to talk about. I would like your permission to be able to connect with Yuzuki, if it's OK with her. Then we can talk anytime." She turned towards Yuzuki, who said "I would like that, too." Minoru said "I'll take care of that after breakfast. Let's eat."
Later, in the study, they talked for a while about Chii's breakthrough, as they called it, and what it would mean for she and Hideki's life. As Minoru was working at his terminal, he asked "Chii, why did you say that Yuzuki was lucky?" "Because you made her." Chii answered. "I told her that we have a lot in common. That we both were custom built, by people who care about us, and that the people we are with care about us." "I had to look to find that person, but she's been with that someone all along."
Minoru blushed a bit. Chii couldn't know how he felt towards Yuzuki, could she? She was right, though, he did care about her, and not as his sister anymore. After Yuzuki had tried accessing the National Database, and had lost all of his sister's programming, he had let her develop on her own. He replied "Well, I suppose that's true." "The account is all set up. You will be able to talk to Yuzuki whenever you want." Chii realized that Minoru was a bit hesitant to talk about his feelings for Yuzuki. "Thank you" She said, then leaned closer "I didn't mean to embarrass you." "Perhaps we can talk some other time" Minoru responded. He thought about her offer. In a way, he admired Hideki for being so open about his feelings for Chii, but then he was among friends. Could he ever be that open about his feelings for Yuzuki? Perhaps he would talk to Chii about that someday.
By that time it was almost noon. Yuzuki was about to invite them to lunch, but Chii had other ideas. "Well, Hideki, we have things to do. We should be going" Chii announced. "Minoru, Yuzuki, thank you for you hospitality." "You're very welcome, please come again", Minoru said. "Please, call anytime" Yuzuki said to Chii. "I will" Chii promised.
As they walked towards the front gate, Hideki asked "What do we have to do today?" "Nothing" Chii responded, "But I think I embarrassed Minoru, and I didn't want to make it worse." "Huh?" Hideki hadn't seen it. "Minoru's in the same situation as you were once." she said. "You mean with Yuzuki?" He wasn't totally clueless. "Yes. Now that she's no longer his sister's image, he's going through the same confusion of feelings you told me you once had about me. I know Yuzuki is aware of it. That's why I wanted to be able to talk to her." "You mean he might be falling in love with her?" Hideki asked. He hadn't told her about his conversation with Minoru. Had Yuzuki and Chii talked about it? "He's the one who told me I shouldn't fall in love with my persocom." "I guess I'm lucky you never followed that advice." "But I did." Hideki said "I didn't fall in love with a persocom. I began caring about a person named Chii. She just happened to be in a persocom's body."
Chii thought about that for a while. Hideki could be very wise at times, like when he helped Yumi and Manager Ueda. He may not know much about technology, she thought, but he's really good with relationships. "That's a pretty deep thought" Chii remarked. Hideki blushed. "That's just the way I saw it."
"I meant it as a compliment, dear" Chii said. Hideki smiled. She was trying out new words, new terms. She was going to be hard to keep up with. Perhaps she would be studying his textbooks soon. "I know, it's just hearing you say it. You really are learning a lot now." "Anyway, what are we going to do to help Minoru and Yuzuki?" "Nothing right now", Chii said. "He'll call when he's ready to discuss it, and I can talk to Yuzuki." Let's enjoy the rest of the day. I've got to go back to work tomorrow."
They spent the afternoon together doing things that any couple would do: shopping, walking in the park. They had each noticed that a few other human-persocom couples were holding hands, and soon, they were too. They went to the bookstore, where Chii asked when the next volume of her favorite series would be out. The manager said there had been a delay, but it would be out soon. Hideki smiled to himself. Chii still didn't know that her mother was the author of that series, but might figure it out soon. She jokingly asked him if he wanted to buy any magazines, but he looked her in the eyes, and said "I don't need them anymore" She understood, and almost kissed him, but remembered what her mother had said.
After supper, they lay on the futon for a while, and talked about that weekend. Chii rolled against him, and he noticed how warm she was. He turned to face her, and his hand brushed against her breast. He noticed how real it seemed, and told Chii that, then quickly blushed as he realized what he had said. "Don't worry" she replied "I'm not offended. I know what I am, and I'm glad mother and father put so much care into my design." "So am I" Hideki said, touching her again. She smiled, and put her arm around him, and they fell asleep in each other's arms.