Author's notes: Yay. Another chapter. Decided to include a disclaimer in this one, so here goes: I do not own Chobits. I do, however, own any characters in this story that where not created in Chobits by its authors, CLAMP. Anyone who uses my characters will, in fact, die
Priceless Heart-chapter 6
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Teku sat in his room, staring at the corner where two of the flat white walls were perpendicular to each other, forming a shadowed right angle. If he stared at it long enough, he could see both the complacent purity of its white color as is spread away from this point, and the shadows in the corner, the darkened depths of these spreading planes. There were, of course, more places in the room where furniture cast varying shades of shadow across the white paint, but the wall always seemed to skirt around these imperfections, traveling on serenely, somewhere, completely one pure color. Though his subconscious picked out these insignificant details, his mind was on other things.
"What was that?" he thought "I thought I was over this stupid crap. Dammit, you're not in high school anymore!" he berated himself. Rising from the floor, he paced back and forth on the rug without even realizing he had moved. That girl…..she has made him react in a way that he hadn't in a long time. Sure, he was young, and he noticed the opposite sex, but he didn't make a habit out of chasing after any of the women who interested him. He hated any sign of weakness, and sign that he wasn't the one who presided over his actions. He had, over the years, built a steely self control that based itself on resisting any kind of emotion that made him react without thinking. Anger, doubt, lust. He hated not being in control.
"I can't…… allow myself to be distracted. Hotaru needs me. She tries to hide it, but she's still so fragile. And why shouldn't she be……" Teku shook with suppressed rage at the thought of it, and then quickly took a deep breath, banishing the almost foreign emotion from his mind. He knew he had a temper, in the past, it may have even gotten the better of him, but he couldn't be like that now. He didn't want to be like that. Such a thing was vile.
I thought I was over this………this weakness.
But he couldn't help himself from remembering whispers in twin mirrors of liquid amber, seeing a reflection of smoldering gazes, speaking volumes in a different language. He could remember a pattern of black and white, a silken frame to the most radiant face he had ever glimpsed.
What is this paradox?
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Darla heaved a contented sigh. She sat in a large pool of hot water, a fountain of steaming liquid pouring mercilessly on her back. The houses baths where heavenly. Large, fountain-like pools, deep enough to lie covered in. Iridescent soap bubbles floated by, leaving her in a somewhat dreamy state. She was still a bit shaken up from her seeming malfunction earlier this afternoon, but this was just what she needed. A mirror in the other side of the room displayed an eerily comical picture of a woman's decapitated head floating smilingly on top of a bubble bath, but the image soon disappeared as the mirror fogged, the room's heat approaching that of a sauna. Darla's eyes hooded, leaving her looking slightly drunk and out of it, but her mind was alert as ever.
She lifted a foot out of the water, watching as water droplets trailed through soap that clung doggedly to her skin. Her father had made her that an opaque layer of skin underneath her normal skin, which was virtually indestructible, allowed her to come in contact with water and not be harmed. Why is there so much hate in this world for my kind? She wondered. I am no so different from these humans. I can walk, without pretending, and fool them well enough. Is it so great a crime to have a body of wires and circuits, which works no differently from a machine of flesh and bones? Her brow furrowed as she pondered this, an unaccustomed sadness permeating her demeanor. She ran her fingers lightly down her right arm, feeling gooseflesh rise. Shuddering for a moment, he stepped out of the pool, taking one of the fluffy white towels that hung from a nearby silver towel rack.
She wrapped it around herself, pausing to admire the stark whiteness of the bathroom she inhabited. Three pure white sinks with crystalline faucets were opposite the door. The fountain-bath, circular in shape, was the room's centerpiece. The room itself was big enough to have been a small ballroom. Thinking on the data provided by her father, she knew that this kind of wealth was not common. A click of the door opening behind her made her spin, broken out of her reverie. In her hurry to escape the less than comfortable tea party with Teku and Hotaru, she had forgotten to lock the door when she had rushed into the room! She almost smacked herself when she saw who was standing in the doorway, a light flush spreading across his face.
At least he didn't walk in before I put a towel on…
She grimaced, her face reddening by the second. Her skin almost felt numb, but she forced herself to look at him.
"Er…..hi there Teku….." She pressed two fingers against her temple, willing her face not to get any redder. Teku stood, a change of clothes draped nonchalantly over his shoulder. He spun quickly mumbling something about the bathroom already being taken, hurriedly closing the door behind him as he raced out. After counting to ten to make sure that he was gone, she ran up to the door, fumbling with the latch that locked it. She collapsed on the cold marble floor in front of it, heaving an exasperated sigh. She finally rose, going to the long cabinet on the left wall to retrieve a blow dryer. I wonder what's wrong with me….she sighed, switching the dryer to the other side of her head. She was still heady and tingly from seeing Teku. I seem to be working fine, but when I'm around that man…..I malfunction? I should speak to papa about this, she decided. He designed me. He'll know what to do.
Finishing with her hair, she pulled it into a small bun. It barely was long enough, but even though her hair looked better down, she liked it better up. Retrieving her change of clothes, she sighed for what seemed to be the millionth time that day. Life is stressful, even for a computer, she decided, an aggravated expression on her face. Maybe more so for one.
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Minoru sat, as usual, at his computer, searching illegal databases. His glasses flashed as windows closed as fast as he opened them, looking for the information he desired. His face a puzzled frown, he finally sat back. He had been searching for hours online, looking for a birth certificate, a picture, anything that would give him an idea as to the origins of Hideki's mysterious "daughter", but so far, his in-depth searches had turned up nothing. There was no record of any such child as Darla being born anywhere near the dates Hideki had given him. He had checked orphanages around the globe, searching pictures, but nothing even remotely looking like a clue came up. He had even hacked into the database for the witness protection program to see if there was anyone her age, looking like her there.
Minoru was not used to looking for information, and not being able to get it. Over the years, he had been accustomed to being able to get his hands on any fact, any secret that he wanted. His ability to manipulate a computer to do his will far surpassed that of most professional programmers. The simplest thing, he thought, would just be to confront Hideki on the matter, but no, that wasn't any fun….If there was anything Minoru liked, it was a mystery that wasn't easy to solve, and Darla's was his most befuddling yet.
Closing his eyes for a moment and massaging his temples to relieve tension from sitting in front of the screen for so long, he leaned back in his chair, readying himself to find another angle to look at his mystery from.
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Teku stalked down the hallway on the third floor, not in the best of moods. No matter how hard he tried to think of something else, his mind just kept replaying an all-too-vivid image of Darla, standing in the marble bathroom, face flushed, wrapped in only a small white towel that barely had come halfway down her thighs. All thoughts of taking a bath of his won gone from his mind, he tried to think of something, anything that might take his mind off of her. Stopping the turmoil of his thoughts for a moment, he heard a faint humming sound coming from the door to his left. The door was ajar, so he let himself in, to find that…..that thing sewing a dark blue kimono. At the creak of the door opening, she turned and smiled.
"Teku, what a pleasant sur-."
"You stay away from her, do you hear me?!" He yelled. Chii looked confused for a moment.
"Who, Teku?" Her voice was tinged with hurt, hesitation in the wake of his angry response to her greeting.
"My sister, that's who! She doesn't need you…you filthy things in her life anymore. Just….stay away from my Family!" He exploded, ignoring the part of his mind screaming at him not to lose his temper over something as worthless as a hunk of metal. He suddenly felt someone whap him in the head from behind.
"How many people are you going to walk in on and be rude to today?" Darla asked him, her quiet voice calculated and venomous, belying anger she didn't show. Her anger far surpassed the tingly, tipsy feeling Teku's nearness usually brought. He blushed slightly.
"I was-."
"If you don't mind, that's my mother you're talking to, and you'll treat her with respect." She wasn't sure were her spiteful words came from, but they sounded right, and she felt justified saying them. Without knowing it, Teku's comment on persecoms being nothing but things had insulted her as well. She had seen him come into this room, and followed, hoping to talk to him, and found him yelling at Chii. Before she knew it, she had felt a sickeningly powerful feeling. Teku sneered at her. Leaning close to her ear he whispered.
"Lock the door next time…" He walked out without a backward glance. Darla clenched and unclenched her fingers, trying to assuage the tension building in the pit of her stomach. Is this anger? She wondered. I think I kind of enjoy it. Her face contorted into a vengeful smile.
"Don't cross me if you know what's good for you, Teku Kokubunji………"
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AN: Tried to make this chapter a little bit longer, but since I did it all in one sitting, it's probably actually shorter than intended. Anyway, please review J