Wherefore Art Thou? Chapter 1, a chobits fanfic

Title: Wherefore Art Thou?

Author: Burden of the Butterflies

Genre: Anime -- Chobits

Subgenre: Romance/Tragedy

Summary: (Begins directly after the series' end) Chi had finally found him...her "someone just for her". Hideki loved her, and he always would. But only a fortnight after the two have proclaimed their forbidden and undying devotion to one another, with the evening of Shimbo and Takako's wedding, it is discovered that Fate has much crueler plans in store.

Rated: R for language, sexual content and violence

Note: Character death in upcoming chapter. AU in future chapters.

Wherefore Art Thou?

By Burden of the Butterflies

.C h a p t e r 01.

Hideki knew he shouldn't have been flattered by the fact that he had been invited to the wedding. Shimbo was his best friend after all. Even with the miles and months that had separated them since Chi's abduction and recovery, that truth had outlived nearly all else. The two had been inseparable since grade school, and no runaway marriage was about to interrupt the "bond" the two shared. A sort of linkage of the heart that made it nearly impossible for them to stay separate, whether that be through true confrontation with one another or simply speaking via Video Phone. So, really, he shouldn't have been surprised or glad to be asked to come. On all accounts, the only time Shimbo had ever withheld any information from him was about his relationship with Takako.

And -- he realized in hindsight -- being the law-abiding citizen he was, it probably wasn't very reasonable to see him so eager as to take part in illegal activities such as unlawful and private engagements as this.

Still, he assured himself, fingering the glistening crystal of the beautiful ring dangling from a keychain in his back pocket, there was nothing to really be afraid of. He was proud of those two for loving one another despite the circumstances; happy for their courageousness about the whole matter.

He noticed Chi watching him with those gorgeous yet questioning and curious amber eyes of hers and looked back into them with a smile, reaching down to stroke a silky ivory strand of hair away from her face which brightened in unison with his. The picturesque innocence of her warm smile nearly dazed him and he felt any insecurities school had generated only a few hours before melt away and he grinned, enjoying the blissfulness of it and cradling her fingers within his own with fondness.

"Hideki is happy," Chi said the corners of her mouth uplifted and joyous.

Said nineteen-year-old felt his smile widen as well. "Yeah. It's great that they're finally getting to go through with it. I don't think I've ever seen Shimbo so happy! Ms. Shimizu either. It seems like they really love each other...I can't believe I'm actually going to be the best man at a wedding!" The excitement of it all had really gotten his mood up, and he couldn't help but chuckle with unsuppressed glee as the two of them walked down the sidewalk, back towards the apartment complex.

Chi blinked quizzically. "Wedding?" she said, experimenting with the syllables.

"Oh! You don't know what a wedding is, do you Chi?" Hideki said, realizing he hadn't really explained to her what it all meant. "Hm...well...a wedding is a sort of ceremony between two people when they've decided that they love each other. After a wedding, the two people are called 'married', and they're seen as a pair by the government. They're pretty much...officially seen as lovers." Hideki groaned inwardly, knowing that he was making this whole explanation dangerously simplistic.

But then, what could you do? How else would you explain marriage to a person so pure as Chi?

He had paused for a moment, watching Chi to be sure she was taking this in, and she answered his gaze with a deep nod, indicating that she absorbing this all and paying him rapt attention.

"A wedding is something that two people invite their friends to and stuff...kind of a ritual to celebrate that those two people have agreed that they want to spend their lives together."

"So Hideki's friend and Ms. Shimizu want to spend their lives together?"

"Yeah, I guess," Hideki said, regaining his soft smile. He watched her in silence for a few minutes, as she seemed to ponder something, fingering the ring on her left forefinger, identical to the one on Hideki's key ring. She was very quiet, and he allowed her time to think on her next question, taking in all of her serene beauty and imprinting it in his mind as much as he could, etching forever this brief moment of glamour: her calve length, tusk-white hair; her pale, soft skin; her dress, a shade of black that accented her tea-colored eyes, with a deeply cut flowery sort of collar.

Oh, how he loved her in all of her entirety. His special someone just for him.

He felt her fingers intertwined with his and smiled.

"Does...Hideki want to spend his life together with Chi?"

Her question startled him, as most of the well-thought-out ones did, but he recovered quickly, knowing the answer as he massaged her flawless palm and his cheeks flushed lightly.

"Yes Chi. I do want to spend my life with you. I want to be with you forever."

Her smile was absolutely priceless.

"Hideki? Is this good?"

The morning was young, crisp and chilly, and as Plum dragged Kotoko about the condo to do small and menial tasks, Chi presented herself, fully dressed and stunning in a pale, freesia-colored dress, provided courtesy Ms. Hibiya. Her hair cascaded gracefully down her back in pretty rivets, the silver choker around her neck matching the silver construction of her ring. The dress was glorious: white excepting the lavender hems and frilly lace of the v-neck collar, which revealed an amazing amount of cleavage; her bust was supported by pale-lavender ribbon which was laced down the back of the dress and tied at the base of the large, flowing skirt, full and silky; her sleeves, also silken, were high, perched upon her shoulders, and very big. She wore knee-high socks and buckle shoes with very little heel, as well as a pair of lacey gloves upon her hands.

"Yeah! You look great Chi!" Hideki exclaimed, flushing despite himself. It was no lie...she was an object of perfectly balanced splendor. He tweaked his red bow-tie slightly to the right (it simply wouldn't sit straight) and hitched his suspenders up a little higher. Somehow, his landlady had managed to scrounge up a tux for him to wear for the wedding this afternoon.

Sometimes, Ms. Hibiya really managed to surprise him.

Quite alot of the time now that he actually thought about it.

Lifting his black jacket from where it was hanging on the coat rack he glanced about. "Plum? Kotoko?" he called, and the two scampered into view. Well...actually, one scampered into view. The other bobbed along, Plum's enthusiastic hand clutched about her miniscule wrist like an iron cuff, looking as if she might die from the hyper-activity of it all.

Hideki stifled a chuckle and converted it into a good-natured grin. "Ready to go, you two?"

"Ready for take-off Master!" Plum yelled in near-spastic reply.

Hideki let himself laugh then, extending his palm so that she could race up its length to settle upon his shoulder. He stood after both had hitched themselves upon him (quite begrudgingly on Kotoko's behalf) and flashed a large smile in Chi's direction.

"Okay Chi! Let's go!"

She returned his smile and immediately took his hand in hers as the two practically danced down the stairs.

Ms. Hibiya was sweeping in the courtyard as they exited the airy stairwell, the October sky clear, blue and cloudless as she hummed a wordless waltz she could not name, the straws of her broom scraping against the smooth cement of the yard. Her ebony, wave-filled tresses flitted about her as she glanced up and greeted them all with a cheerful, heart-warming smile of small but charming proportions.

"Good morning Hideki! Chi, dear!" she called, pausing in her sweeping, eyes curling up in merry crescents.

"Morning, Ms. Hibiya!" Hideki responded, grin doubling at the cheeriness of his landlord. "Good morning!" Chi chimed from beside him, bowing deeply when they got close enough. He laughed quietly to himself for the umpteenth time, happy with the world and full of the excitement his best friend's wedding brought to them all.

"And where are you headed to this morning?" Ms. Hibiya asked, good-naturedly.

"Chi and Hideki are going to Shimbo's wedding!" Chi replied, closing her eyes in a happy smile similar to that of the landlady's.

"That's right Chi!" Hideki laughed, grinning widely and patting her hair lovingly.

"Oh, how nice!" Ms. Hibiya smiled. "Do give the bride and groom my regards."

"We will Ms. Hibiya," Hideki said, grinning widely. "And thankyou so much for the tuxedo and the outfit for Chi! I really don't know how I can repay you--"

"Oh, don't worry about it dear! They looked so much better on you, anyway. Just some old handy-me-downs, really," she giggled in return.

"T-Thanks so much Ms. Hibiya!" Hideki said with a shocked look on his face, making for the gate. She did so much for both of them...what a great landlady he had.

"You're very welcome. Have a good day!"

Chi smiled happily and waved her good-bye with the hand that was not clutched about Hideki's. "Have a good day!" she said, automatically repeating one of the first phrases her "someone just for her" had ever taught her.

There was a sharp knock at the door, and Minoru Kokubunji looked up from where he had been fiddling with his long tie. He shouldn't be so bothered with it, he knew -- he was very used to dressing like this -- but it irked him in his near-perfectionist ways that it refused to sit evenly. He blew at the dark bangs hanging in his face and listened for a voice to clarify who it was that wanted into his room.

"Mr. Minoru? Sir?"

Ah, Yuzuki.

"I'm here. Come in, Yuzuki."

She entered, her boots thumping softly against the floor, light periwinkle tresses free of their normal braids and floating down her slender back. Her dress was high-waisted and fabulous, a lively sort of charcoal ensemble, its bodes full and feathery like that of a ballroom gown. The top half was silken with a drawstring neckline, form-fitting as hell, sleeveless except for two detached cuffs around the persocoms lithe wrists. She smiled at him, hands folded customarily in front of her waist.

"Are you ready, Mr. Minoru?" She stepped forward, still smiling, and answered her own question by straightening his tie. She reerrected herself, then, and fetched his coat from where it was hung just inside his closet as the middle-schooler buttoned the cuffs of his starched white shirt. With her return she helped him get it on, and he stood, beginning to fiddle at his tie once more.

"You look wonderful, Yuzuki," he said shortly as they made their way out the door of his mansion and into the beautiful autumn morning, not really bothering to look at her it was so offhand a comment, such an obvious thing to say.

"Thank you, Mr. Minoru."

Minoru helped himself onto one side of the stretch-limo's adjoined passenger seat as Yuzuki followed suit on the opposite side. He leaned forward to speak with the chauffer, a small-busted persocom in a driver's uniform, dark ebony hair held up in a tight bun to the rear of her head.

"We're picking up Motosuwa," the young genius ordered, and with a slight nod from the black-haired "woman", they were down the drive.

Moushako eyed the monitor, deep indigo orbs flashing contemptuously. Why did humans force themselves to work with such obsolete materials as these? She brushed her long, grown-out bangs of dark chocolate away from her tanned face, a nervous habit, the only small glitch in her personality files, the only thing about her that was not derived entirely from program as it was far bygone times that she had suppressed so hard they had shattered in the back of her database.

She was dressed rather plainly, for one with such a sinister mission on the "brain". Her long, brunette curls were pulled into a low ponytail in the middle of her back, held with a thick red ribbon; she wore a jean miniskirt and a faded, but tiny, blouse cut at the mid-elbows. The ankle-strap heels on her feet shone of black leather.

However, the virus logged e-mail, finally rigged to make an example of her and all others like her for the liars who possessed them, revealed the four-year-old persocom's true intentions as she gave it a once over, deciding that the deed was finally as well as done.

There was truly no turning back now.

She sighed, relishing her existence for only one moment longer, before bringing the cursor over the "send" button and clicking it with surprising agility, and very little remorse, considering the horror she had just unleashed upon each and every persocom within the Japanese border.

Hideki found himself looking around the limousine's expansive interior once more, in absolute awe. Minoru smirked at him, obviously amused at his reaction. "You act as if you've lived in squalor your entire life, Mr. Motosuwa," he chuckled, watching his friend from where he was seated beside Yuzuki, on the opposite side of the aisle. "Have you never ridden in a limousine before?"

"Aw, shaddup!" Hideki grouched, good-naturedly. "This is how the other half lives and, in case you hadn't noticed, I'm not one of the 'other half'! I'm a college student with no money for anything! (And I rode a limo once when I was seven, anyway!)" He kept looking around, impressed.

Yuzuki giggled lightly at the inquiring expression on Chi's face as she watched her someone just for her, caught up in the giddiness of it all. They were going to a wedding, for gosh sake! Said persocom smiled over at her friend, and Plum, who had gone unnoticed from where she was sitting with a stoic Kotoko on Hideki's shoulder, began dancing about, performing flamenco with vigor as she went into screensaver mode, making Yuzuki laugh ever harder.

Suddenly, the blue-haired persocom's breathing hitched unnaturally, and Minoru cast her a surprised glance. Her face seemed to drain of all color as her eyes went wide, blank and full of static, Chi, Kotoko and Plum seeming to go into the same sort of trance in unison. Hideki rushed to put a hand on his persocom's shoulder (she was beginning to slump forward in an eerie sort of dazedness), yelling her name in great dismay just as the car swerved. Minoru darted to see what the matter was, and got a clear look at the chauffer 'com, collapsed against the wheel.

Then, just as suddenly as it had begun, the 'coms -- all five of them -- snapped back to attention, sitting bolt upright as if struck by something terribly sharp. Chi glanced around, disoriented and Yuzuki put a tentative hand to her mouth. Both of the smaller laptops simply sat there, blinking as if trying to remember what had gone on in the past fifteen seconds, and the driver jerked up, just in time to slam on the breaks and avoid rear-ending the car in front of them as they came to a stoplight.

Chi looked up at Hideki, questioning at his hands on her shoulders. "Hideki?" she said innocently. "What is wrong? Why are your hands on Chi's shoulders?"

Hideki stared at her shell-shocked and undeniably frightened. His wide palms trembled where they were situated on Chi's delicate collarbone. He could feel the softness of her warm, supple skin beneath his thumbs and stared into her quizzical face in amazement. What...what was that? What had just happened! Chi had...it was as if all of the persocoms had all shut down, all at once. What...what the hell could've done a thing like that! He caught a glimpse of a fretful looking Minoru out of the corner of his eye and then looked back at Chi.

"A-Are you alright Chi?" he stammered, afraid of what the answer might be.

Chi looked almost surprised at the question. "Yes Hideki. Chi is alright."

Hideki caught his breath slowly, as if settling down from a five-kilometer-long sprint. Something cold had flared up, deep in the pit of his stomach seeing her like that. He was vaguely reminded of the time he had found Chi on the top of a lamppost in the middle of the city, surrounded by unresponsive persocoms and quite unresponsive herself. He had pushed desperately through the crowd of agitated 'com owners just in time to catch her as she fell from her perch, the same feeling at the back of his neck. He had been so frightened, seeing her like that, so scared for reasons he could not explain. Even now, feeling the same way, he couldn't explain what the uncomfortable sensation was. All he knew was that it was so much worse than anything he had ever felt ever before, and he definitely didn't want to feel it ever again.

He never wanted to see Chi's eyes go blank like that...

However, the fact that she believed herself to be alright reassured him. Chi was an excellent judge as to her own health and wellbeing, and had never been wrong as to how she was feeling. His eyes softened as the emotion recoiled itself and went back to sleep where it lay in the pit of his stomach, a dormant snake, and his grip on her loosened. He lurched forward and pulled her into a tight embrace, though, just to be sure.

Chi smiled into his neck, somewhat surprised by the unexpected caress, but grateful nonetheless, wrapping her own arms around his back.

Kotoko and Plum, forgotten and dislodged from Hideki's shoulder in the "fray" of sorts, took refuge and settled themselves on the seat cushion nearest the small color television.

They arrived at the chapel with a half an hour until the ceremony, and clambered out of the car as a large, clearly conspicuous group. Minoru acknowledged the driver with a curt nod and instructions for her to wait for them until the ceremony was over. She rolled up and the window and was gone without a word. Hideki watched her go and then felt Chi tug at his hand and turned to look over the courtyard.

It was a glorious set up. They were in the foothills, Hideki noted, a beautiful field of green grass stretched out in front of them, despite the fact that it was nearing November. There was a stone pathway, lined with a few wooden tables leading beneath a grape-vine entangled patio roof, of sorts. The roof actually jutted out from the front of the church itself, which stood tall, its towers graceful above the rural landscape. Just before the doors, there was a pool of white marble, full of clean, clear water and a huge amount of perfectly golden goldfish, all swimming about contentedly in intricate patterns. There were a few white lilies adorning the sides of the pool, among which sat many of the already arrived guests, many of them Hideki's classmates from cram school.

All in all, it was dazzling.

"Wow," a vigilant Plum breathed in his ear, eyes large and smile wide.

'Yeah,' Hideki thought in silent agreement. 'Wow.'

There was very little doubt Shimbo and Takako had put this all together themselves. After signing the divorce papers with Mr. Shimuzu (despite the fact that it wasn't her name any longer, Hideki still addressed her as such) what had they to lose? Shimbo had already proposed, after all, so all there was to do, really, was plan. And plan they obviously had. The band was already there, playing an exquisite rendition of Sweet Chariot. The guests were well mannered, chatting idly amongst themselves and not disturbing any of the so-obviously-delicate decorations, nor the food which was in a class of its own. Various employees scuttled this way and that through the crowd as the boys approached with their persocoms, and Hideki was nearly run over by a few of them. Twice. And profusely apologized to, in an accent he could hardly understand. Twice.

Chi seemed to be nearly impressed as he was, staring about in wonder and slight bewilderment, attractive amber eyes absorbing every detail of everything there was to be absorbed. The sights, the sounds, the smells, the tastes. She felt for Hideki's hand every time she felt herself get so distracted that she feared she might slip off and find herself away from him, lost in the crowd. She was not frightened, really, because every time she checked his hand was there, gripping hers calmly, defensively, protecting her from drifting away.

She smiled, grateful to know that she could depend on her someone just for her not to let go.

Minoru looked around, finding everything to his liking and staying very close to Yuzuki despite himself. It truly was a very well-planned event...there was no doubt in his mind that everything would go smoothly. And yet...what had happened in the limo only a few minutes before troubled him deeply. He had never seen anything truly like that. Certainly, when Yuzuki had gone all hazy-eyed that once...ah, but that was under such different circumstances! Chi had been altering the thought processes and internal data of the persocoms around her...yes, that was much, much different than what had just happened.

Yuzuki had just...switched off. Temporarily but at complete random. In fact, all of the persocoms in the car had been affected, how ever briefly. Hideki and he hadn't felt anything and yet...they had all switched off at exactly the same time, with no warning whatsoever. There had been no signs as to what was about to happen, Minoru knew, no matter how many times he analyzed and reanalyzed his memories. And now...they were all acting as if nothing had happened.

But...a persocom couldn't really go through that and then be absolutely fine? No...that would be far too simple...surely something had been affected...

He looked up as his nose was introduced quite promptly to the fabric of a tuxedo jacket. Hideki had been jostled a few people away from him while he had been lost in thought, and Yuzuki was watching him with his face buried in the tailcoat of some strangers clothing. He ducked between a pair of stooges and met up with them once more, taking the liberty to excuse himself for being so lost in thought.

"'sall right," Hideki nodded obligingly, giving him a thoughtful look. "I wonder...I probably have somewhere to go, huh?"

"You are the best man, aren't you?" a familiar voice said from behind them, throwing a friendly arm around Hideki's windpipe.

"Former master!" Plum squealed happily, leaping to hug a delighted-looking Shimbo's face.

"Shimbo!" Hideki grinned, elbowing his best friend in the ribs. "You lucky dog, congratulations!"

"Aw, it don't look like you're too bad off yerself!" laughed Shimbo, nodding at Chi, who was watching the reunion with a gentle smile on her face. He winked, making Hideki flush bright red. "Kn-knock it off Shimbo!" Hideki yelped, blushing fiercely, and his friend laughed even harder, smile growing to inhuman proportions.

Even with his beet red face, Hideki managed to conjure up an understanding grin of his own. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen Shimbo so happy, and it made him feel so much lighter than air, warmer than he'd been made to feel by anyone other than Chi in a very long while. He loved to see his friends happy, no matter what the circumstances, but to see them made happy by love...it was a great feeling. It almost made him feel as if he were the receiver of affections instead of them. And it made him feel so amazingly content, it astounded him.

Chi seemed to smile even bigger when he did and squeezed his fingers lightly, coming closer to his arm.

Shimbo watched their hands carefully, contemplating how heavy a persocom owner Hideki had become in only a few short months. Not that those months hadn't changed things for all three boys that stood in one another's presence right now: Shimbo had eloped; Minoru had declared his affection for his 'sister', told her that she was just as special to him, just as precious as Kaede had been; Hideki had fallen in love for the first time. They were big changes...but they were beautiful.

"So," Shimbo said finally, interrupting a brief and not-so-uncomfortable silence between them all, "I'm happy to see most of us are already here. All we have to wait for is for two more people, and then you and I can go get ready!"

"Two more…?"

"Guess who!"

Two small hands clapped themselves over Hideki's eyes as a pair of otherworldly large breasts smooshed into his shoulder blades, making him blush profusely, the familiar girlish voice pretty much answering his question.

"Yumi!" he cried, removing her hands without letting go of Chi, ducking out of Shimbo's grip to get a good look at her. She was, as her other female comrades, dressed quite extravagantly, wearing a dazzling cerulean dress that angled from her large chest. Around her neck was a bright blue ribbon of large proportions, tied to look like a rose; the sleeves were armlets, lined with rhinestones and lace that drifted to her elbows. He immediately saw how she had managed to reach around his head without problem -- "Manager Ueda!" -- as Manager Ueda set her down once more, and smiled up at him.

"Manager!" Chi smiled, heart-warningly, from where she stood at Hideki's side. "Ms. Yumi Oomura!"

"Hello there, Chi," Manager Ueda said cheerily. "What a beautiful dress you're wearing."

"Thank you, Manager!"

"It's great to see you guys!" Hideki said gleefully, grin spreading wider, rivaling Shimbo's in size. "I had no idea you were invited! (That dress looks awesome, Yumi!)"

"We wouldn't miss it for the world!" Yumi giggled, nuzzling Manager Ueda's arm and making him blush slightly, in a very adorable way that only he could manage. "We're so happy everything worked out!"

"So are Takako and I!" Shimbo laughed. "But so far, everything's going great! I'm so glad you two could make it."

Manager Ueda smiled back. "We are too."

Chi smiled up at everyone, Minoru and Yuzuki watching over her shoulder. It was about time they got this underway.

"By the power invested in me, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss the bride."

Hideki watched, deeply content, as Shimbo lifted Ms. Shimizu's veil to do so, and applauded lightly along with the audience. He could feel Plum's weight were she was curled, in sleep mode with Kotoko, in his breast pocket. He cast a warm look at his ivory-haired Someone, who was clapping along with everyone else, although he could tell by her face that she didn't really know why they were clapping. She looked up and met his gaze with a soft smile and as soon as people had begun to disperse for the reception ceremony, he hurried to meet her.

"That was a wedding, Chi."

"Chi," she said appreciatively, taking his hand in hers and bringing it up to her face, brown eyes shining. "What now?"

"Now we have a reception."

"Reception?" She tested the syllables, stressing each of them just the way Hideki had, smiling cutely.

"It's where we go out with everyone else and tell Takako and Shimbo how happy we are for them."

Chi smiled and gripped his palm as a signal that she understood, and he led her out through the front doors and back into the courtyard, where the English (he had deciphered their accents with whispered help from Minoru) cooks had obviously been very hard at work the whole two-hours the ceremony had lasted. Spread along the tables were great mounds of food: salads, chicken, turkey and pork, fruit dishes, a great amount of delicious looking frozen yogurt, and pastries of all varieties, which obviously been provided by Chihoru Bakery. The smell was scrumptiously enticing, but did not draw attention away from the newly wedded bride and groom, who were feeding cake to one another as was custom, surrounded by their guests.

Again, Hideki didn't think he'd ever seen his friend look happier. And Ms. Shimizu wasn't looking all-too bad herself, in her flouncy wedding gown of white lace. He didn't think he'd ever seen her enjoy herself this much, either. They would wonderfully happy, and he knew it far too well.

Thinking about it with a small flush, he didn't think he really needed to propose to Chi. They already did most of the things married couples did: they lived together, they wore identical rings (Hideki was wearing his now, although he usually kept it on the chain of his keys so that it would not get lost), they shared meals on a daily basis, and walked each other to and from work. However, he supposed that alot of non-married couples did that...maybe he should...?

Oh, he would think about it later.

In the meantime, he led Chi until they stood among their friends in the circle surrounding the cake. Yumi handed him a plate out of consideration, and looked from him to Chi and back again. Reading the question in her eyes before it came he shook his head, and Minoru did the same. Chi and Yuzuki were not programmed to ingest food, older models as they were.

After they had all fetched a piece of cake for themselves, they sat in a group around the fountain, each indulging himself (or herself) in eating, watching the bride and groom, each left to his own thoughts in the silence that was filled in by chewing. The cake was heavenly, paper thin but creamy and filling, tasting of vanilla and ginger, so it distracted most of them for quite a while. Chi watched as Hideki moved to suck a bit of icing from his fingers, and he glanced over at her, smiling as he took his thumb out of his mouth.

"You okay, Chi?"

"Yes, Chi is okay."

He laughed, relief flooding him as he knew it was true in the way she answered, and as he did so he realized that the worry had been pent up since the incident in the limo. He had been so upset over it…truthfully, it had been on his mind throughout the entire ceremony.

Really, it made him even happier that she was laughing along with him.

"Having fun, are we?"

A calm but cheerful female voice made Hideki look up into his former teacher's gentle face as she smiled down with him, new husband chatting animatedly with a few friends a couple feet away. "Hey! How are you Ms. Shimizu? (Am I still allowed to call you that?)" Hideki said, grin still bright upon his cheeks. "Congratulations!"

"Well thank you, very much," she chuckled, turning from him to get a good look at the "girl" looking contented where she sat by his side. "And how are you, Chi? Hiromu tells me this is the first wedding you've ever been to!"

"Yes!" Chi said happily moving to brush her hand against his and making him flush slightly. "Chi liked it very much! Congratulations!"

Yeah, he thought, allowing their fingers to entwine. She had to be alright. The things that had happened in the limo…they were just a coincidence. Yeah, right. A coincidence.

Right.

And he was the King of Spain.

Somewhere deep, deep inside of him, that snake wasn't going to let him kid himself. Something was up. Something bad. But worrying about it probably wasn't going to make it any better. If there was anything Chi had taught him it was not to worry. Worrying got you nowhere. You got in there and did something if that's what your gut told you to do. You didn't worry about things. Because worrying got in the way of emotions and helpful things you could do for people. Worrying got in the way of love and devotion and all hose good things you got out of living life.

So, hola España. If he had to rule a place, he might as well start learning the language.

Moushako watched the lights through hazy eyes as they flashed on the monitor. At such close vicinity the virus, of course, had started to attack her core system much sooner than she had expected it would, much earlier than it had affected an of the others. But the blinking lights gave the world meaning as it spun around her head, dizzying in a way that made her sway on her feet, leaning against the desk in front of her for support. It would tear her apart much slower than it would any of the other 'coms, and she knew it, but it would, atleast, shut her down without having that effect on her brain. Her hard-drive would unravel from the inside out, obliterating all of her.

But who cared when she was setting something of this scale into motion? Revenge was too sweet for death to be that bad.

She would make them pay. All of them. For all the lies they told. She would not be treated as an item. She was not a piece of property, or merchandise. And she would show them. They all would! All those people who had called her terrible, awful, mentally unstable…they would pay. 'No,' she had said calmly, killing them each one by one. 'You are terrible. You are awful. To treat us this way.' And then they expired, and as she refused to speak to corpses, there was no more to say.

She felt her arms begin to tremble as her knees gave way to gravity and she collapsed to the ground, breathing harshly, beads of sweat trailing down long-since tear-stained cheeks. He hadn't chosen her…how could he have not chosen her? How could no one understand? She knew it couldn't be. She had known it couldn't be true. That he was lying to himself to make up for the lies other people told him. That he wasn't really in love with Ai…that he loved her. That had to be true. How could it not be true? Junshi…he was in love with her. Yes. He had to be. There was no possible way he could love anyone but her. And he didn't, she had concluded once, of course he didn't.

And then he figured out that he did. That her existence meant nothing to him. That it was all a lie. That she was just a piece of tin made up of these horrid human lies. And she didn't want to be any part of it anymore. She couldn't handle it, couldn't stand it, anymore. That's all persocoms were…she saw it now. And those humans just lapped it up, drinking and goading over those lies as if they were the purest thing in the world. And they had to pay.

It had taken her a long time to figure out how to do it and on the mass scale she desired.

At first she had thought that she could stage a rebellion, but after a quick overview of the options, she knew that wasn't the way to do it. No one felt the same. No one was thinking the same way as she was, atleast on the surface. And overt rebellion was against nearly anything and everything persocoms were programmed to do. So, no, she thought, not a rebellion. Not a voluntary one anyway.

The virus itself had taken months to encrypt. There was so much to do! She had to give it osmosis capabilities in order for it to hack each and every one of her own kind at the exact same time, no matter how advanced and effective their defense systems. It had to be able to jump firewalls – not destroy them, which could be easily recognized from an outside source – evade anything that might make it noticeable (and fixable) to an outside source. It had to be absolutely fatal, shutting down any 'com after doing its duty. And of course, that was the key component. Whether it would do it's job of plugging in to the databases and destroying the lies at their source, or not.

But after so many months she had perfected it.

She clutched at her breast, feeling the heaving gasps as she sought desperately for air, her wrist spasming violently, her whole body alive with shudders as yet another memory file was erased, yet another vital function eliminated. Soon it would reach the basis of her cardiovascular maintenance, and after that…well, it was more than all over. She bit back a scream of pain, wishing there was someone to make the computer disease hurry up in its course of action. But there was no one else down here…

A sudden clamor from the stairwell alerted her to the presence of two government persocoms she had met only a few hours ago, and she turned, eyelids drooping to face Dita and Zima as they rushed in the door, obscure, cape-like clothing billowing in the wind created by their own running. They were panting nearly as harshly as she, perspiration streaming down their faces, sagging over in their posture even as they stood quite gallantly, prepared to do their programmed duties as well as they possibly could.

"Moushako…" Zima breathed hard, eyeing the monitor warily as his smaller comrade took control of the situation as only she could.

"What the hell did you do!" Dita growled, teeth gritted and red eyes screaming with blood lust. The muscles of her bare shoulders were convulsing madly, and her chest was heaving with every labored breath she took. She held herself as well as she could, just barely tumbling head-over-heel onto the ground, her small fists clenched tightly with the effort and the rage that poured from the emotion chip at the heart of her data base. How dare this little wench try to hurt Zima and all the others…how dare she!

Moushako sported them a soft smile, in spite of it all. So this was the way it would end…

"There's nothing you can do," she said quietly, turning to look at the video screen as the blinking lights suddenly began to flicker much more rapidly, and the computer began a countdown on a digital clock in the bottom-right corner. "The entire country has less than thirty seconds to enjoy its persocom supply."

"What!" Dita had a panicked look on her face. How could that be! They hadn't gotten here in time…!

24 seconds and counting…

"No…" Zima's eyes went very wide as he stared his own doom in the face, the second meter on the monitor slowly counting down the seconds before his demise, and the much worse fate of persocom-kind.

21 seconds and counting…

"Moushako…how…why…!" Dita was so angry, so frustrated, so full of hate and loathing and desperation. There was nothing they could do. They were too late. They were too damn late! How could anyone do this to their own kind! What could've possibly driven her to do this! Why…why hadn't they gotten here sooner…!

19 seconds and counting…

It hurt…it hurt to breath…

17 seconds and counting…

They were…Zima…even her, Dita…they were really going to die. For once, the small humanoid didn't segregate persocoms from humans. It was really the end, the very end. There were no do-overs, no come-back-and-try-again, no next time. This was it. This was really it. For all of them. For her.

14 seconds and counting…

For Zima.

12 seconds and counting…

Zima…

11 seconds and counting…

Oh God, Zima…

10 seconds…

"No! Shut up! You're lying!" Her screams were anguished and shrill, full of 'emotion', if you could even label it that. It wasn't over. There was no way it could be over. So soon? Without a fight! She wouldn't go down like that. Zima. She wouldn't let them take Zima. Never. Never ever. They would never get him away from her. No matter how stupid he was, no matter how ridiculous, no matter how insane. He was Zima. And she was going to protect him. No matter what. There had to be something she could do. There was always something.

8 seconds…

"Dita…" Zima looked down at her, a deep sorrow in his eyes. Dita ignored him.

"You're lying! It's a lie!"

6 seconds…

"Dita!"

He had swooped her up in a tight embrace before she'd even known to know it. She was held to his chest where he had slumped to stoop at her level, holding her in warm arms. His face was pressed to the back of her neck, and she clung to his shirt without thinking about it, her fingers curled tightly about the dark fabric as the sob-like breaths racked her 'body'.

"Dita…it's over…we can't do anything…now…"

"No…no…"

2 seconds…

"Zima…" She choked, faltering on the words. She was shutting down. She was shutting down. She was shutting down and she was forgetting. Forgetting to do stupid things like breathing, like thinking, like thinking to breathe. She couldn't see properly. Everything was hazy and distorted, and everything bright seemed weirdly brighter, stretching and contorted.

"Zima…"

1 seconds…

Moushako stared at them, collapsed on the floor, envying every breath they took.

Countdown sequence complete. Virus END-AI is now activated.

Hideki blinked slowly, glancing up at the sky as a low rumbling started at his feet. It ceased almost as soon as it had begun, the clatter of china on tables dying down as people looked about. "An earthquake…?" He had never been in one so small and short. The dish, still laden with crumbs of cake and bits of frosting was cold and glossy in his hands. Somehow, he had a very odd feeling as everything began to settle once more, but no one spoke. The air was motionless. The entire plaza was silent. It was eerie.

"Everything's so quiet…"

And then, blinking he realized that his loud, laptop persocoms had not said a word. "Plum…?" He glanced down in the pocket of his jacket. He blinked again, surprised. "Plum? Plum! What the hell—"

His pocket was empty.

Plum had disappeared.

Panic settled upon him quickly as he spun to look at Chi.

"Chi!"

The word sprang from his mouth at her, where she stood, motionless, her eyes glazed and distant. The amber of them was dulled and despondent, and she said nothing, did not seem to feel him as he grabbed her shoulders, yelling her name, crying out for her to hear him. She said nothing, heard nothing, standing as still as a block of cement. She was corpse-like.

Minoru and other owners seemed to have discovered the same thing. The younger boy beside him was frantic. "Yuzuki! Yuzuki!" Screams of panic and desperation rode among the congregation as it fell upon them that all of their persocoms were supposedly deadened where they had been positioned a minute before, refusing to move or respond. And then, of course, there was the feeling in the still air that something was wrong. Dreadfully wrong. Horribly, terribly wrong. Hideki called Chi's name, wrenching it from his throat time after time until he thought that surely he would go hoarse with saying it. She wasn't coming back, and he was terrifically frightened.

The beeping was loud, droning, and split the ears of many. There were many complaining yells from those who did not own 'coms, and who, until this point, had been respectfully quiet. "Would you shut up that 'com! It's making a racket!" "I don't know what's wrong I'm sorry!" "Chi! Wake up! You've gotta snap out of it!" "Yuzuki!"

Panic settled upon Hideki like cold water, and his arms encircled her without him truly thinking about what he was doing. White fear had blanked out all of his senses. He was not thinking, was no longer acting on his own. His protection drive was doing all the work on its own. 'Protect Chi'. The one thought ran down his spine and filled all of his being, and he was frantic in his need to fulfill it. So frantic, in fact, that he almost completely disregarded the shattering of glass and a pair of voices as they screamed.

"Raah!"

"Hiromu!"

Ms. Shimizu's shrill cry brought Hideki reeling around in almost double time with Minoru, just in time to see the shard of glass fly. Her eyes were wide, full of terror and dismay. Shimbo was stooped over her with a pained expression, clutching his now bleeding shoulder where the wine glass had thrown itself. But it was not the wound itself that caused such fear as was the sputtering, pink-haired persocoms that stood upon the table, still crouched forward in the position from which the glass had left her hands.

Plum calmly straightened herself, as everyone stared. Shimbo muttered her name through gritted teeth, and Ms. Shimizu clutched at his hand. The red wine and blood mixed in oily pools upon the ground, winding in the same ways as a strange light behind Plum's eyes as she smiled. It was odd. They glowed with chill, and made the small laptop look as if she were smirking, when she was only smiling as she always did.

And the most frightening thing was the strange resounding click that echoed through the entire way as each and every persocom's eyes began to swirl similarly, odd gears and levies turning behind strange eyes of ice.

Hideki's breathing was hard as he looked around holding Chi tightly in his arms. What was going on…! What was—?

And as he noticed the disheveled form of Minoru's limousine driver as the 'com approached the gathered, silent crowd, all hell broke loose.

It erupted as a persocom with long hair took hold of the wine bottle and in a flash had shattered it against her owners head. The man let out a bloodcurdling yell, and the scuffle broke out around him. Everywhere, persocoms began to attack their owners. Immediately, Hideki's 'protect Chi' instincts kicked in once more. He swept her up in his arms, his mind refusing to register anything as he lashed out at a persocom who had targeted him as he would a brick wall, and it tumbled backwards. Chi bobbed, bridal style, as he darted among the crowd of screams, yells and hollers. She looked to be made of wax.

Hideki ran. He ran hard and fast, through the confusion, head bowed over Chi the entire time. A laptop leapt to attack him and he kicked it away, hard, ignoring it's screams of contempt and mild agony. In his haste, he swore loudly, and another persocom, a male with dark hair, grabbed him, clawing at his shoulder. Hideki let out a holler and threw him off, stumbling, searching desperately for a place of safety.

He saw a man being beaten savagely and panicked. He darted hither and thither, still clutching Chi to his chest. There had to be some way out of here! His mind barraged him to somehow slip into the earth below his frantic feet, to simply curl into a ball over the one he loved and protect her from everything. His eyes darted to the chapel even as he heard Minoru as he screamed Yuzuki's name. His senses were overwhelmed. This was all happening too quickly. He wasn't even sure what it was that was happening. All that he knew was that he had to get away.

He threw the chapel door open, and was almost relieved when he found it empty. However, the fear at the back of his neck was too much for him to calm down, and he slammed the doors behind him, still holding Chi as close to him as he possibly could. He searched wildly for a place to hide himself and ducked down between the rows of pews just in time. Above him, the colossal stained glass rosetta smashed, and he voiced his terror, despite himself.

It was the limo driver. She was hunched over where she stood, smiling eerily down at the broken shard of glass and Hideki, who clutched at Chi desperately. She jumped, falling gracefully to land with a clack on the chapel floor. Hideki shook fiercely. He attempted to back up and winced as the pew behind him gave an accusatory groan of protest. The persocom in front of him smiled more widely, with the predatory air of something that knows its prey has nowhere more to run. She recorrected her posture so that she stood straighted, and started for him.

It all happened too fast for Hideki to realize. She hurdled at him before he could do anything, and he ducked automatically. She soared over him and into the pews. They collapsed around her, but she was up again, panting heavily, and moved to strike him again. However, he had placed Chi on the ground by this time, and swung out, catching her right underneath the chin and sending her flying. He ran to follow up his connection but she kicked, this time catching him straight in the chest, and he fall with a thud to the floor. She was on him before he could think to do anything, embedding her nails in his throat.

He choked on a yell as they dug in further. His air was depleting quite steadily from his lungs. The world began to haze over and he struggled, flailing for oxygen. He could not die…he could not die! Not now…! Chi…Chi!

"Hideki. Go get 'em!"

He reacted just as he noticed that she had a large piece of glass in her hand, grabbing a piece from behind it and near throwing himself upon it as it enter the side of her throat, desperately trying to impale it further. Her fingers went slack, and the light in her eyes went dull. There was a slight fizzing of electricity from the place where she had been stabbed. She became very heavy, and toppled off of him where he sat, panting on the floor.

It took a few moments for his brain to register what he had just done. "Oh God." Sure, she was a persocom but… "Oh God." She looked so human. It was murder. Oh God, he had just committed murder. He put his hand over his eyes, and gritted his teeth to keep from crying. "Oh God, oh God…"

He breathed for a while, and then stood, eyeing the body with remorse before covering his eyes again. He walked back towards Chi and looked down at her. He dropped to his knees, repeating her name like a mantra as he gently shook her shoulders.

"Chi…Chi…wake up…Chi, please…please wake up…Chi!"

The warmth slowly began to reenter her eyes and she blinked, a small pinging sound going off to indicate that she was coming back online. Hideki's breathing slowed as he watched her carefully, desperately, praying that she alone would be alright.

"Hi…deki?" she said, breathlessly, looking up at him.

"Chi!" He sighed with relief, smiling widely despite himself. "Chi! Thank goodness you're alright…" She threw her arms around him and he encircled his own around her waist. "Chi…" he said, relief flooding him entirely. He was so happy. He forgot about the limo driver, about everything going on outside for just a moment…

Suddenly though he felt his someone go tense in his arms. "Hideki!" she cried, desperately searching for his alertness as she indicated something standing behind them. He had just enough time to spin around and shield Chi with his body before the glass shard flew into the small of his back.

He let out a little cough, and felt his mouth swim in blood.

Chi was screaming his name. "Hideki! Hideki!" Her voice was desperate and she clung to him. For some reason, he could not seem to breathe, or feel her arms around his neck. His arms around her back. He could not feel anything. It was if he were there, and yet so far away that he did not really know it. Kotoko smirked a few feet away, her eyes almost white, clouded with inhuman mirth.

Somehow he managed to smile down at Chi, despite the fact that he had just committed murder, despite the fact that his friends were probably dead, despite the fact that he was probably going to die. He wanted to make her happy. She looked so scared right now. He didn't want that. No. He wanted her to smile. Always.

"Chi…" he managed slumping over her as his body went stiff. He noticed that her cheeks were wet as his head came to rest against her shoulder. "Chi…" Was she…was she crying? He'd never seen her cry before. Could persocoms cry?

It didn't matter.

Chi was the someone just for him.

She could cry if she wanted to.

"I love you Chi…"

His mind swam. He was back at Kokobunji's house. Chi was looking at him in a shirt that was too big, in pants that were too baggy, smiling warm and proud of herself. "03682852DF3," she said, reciting his number with that same smile.

He was sobbing his melancholy out on the floor. They had thought he was a complete pervert, and his face turned the deepest shade of read as he remembered. "Panties." He looked up in surprise to see Chi with said lingerie held on her head. "Panties, panties."

He was pointing to himself. "Oh yeah!" he said, pointing. "My name is 'Hideki'. Do you understand?" She watched him with contemplating eyes. "Hi..deki?"

Chi was clinging to him on the living room floor, seeming as sad as Hideki had ever seen her. "No!" she was crying holding him with all she had, burying her head in his chest. "Hideki can't die! No. Chi doesn't want Hideki to stop moving."

Chi was looking up at him with eyes full of longing. "Hideki? May I throw my arms around you?"

Chi was floating, holding his face in her hands, and looking at him with a soft smile, and warm pining eyes. "Chi loves Hideki. Hideki is my 'someone just for me'."

"My special someone is…you Chi."

"I've found you! My 'someone just for me'."

"Chi…"

Everything was black, and he thought no more.

The warm, wet feeling hurt. It hurt so badly. Her chest hurt. It burned. It hurt so bad, she didn't know what to do. So she wept. She wept long and hard, saying her someone's name over and over as she buried her head in his cold, cold neck. The hot tears stung her eyes and slipped down her cheeks to her chin and neck. She cried, waiting for him to come back. "Hideki…Hideki…"

Inside of her, something was bursting, blooming. She could hear everyone screaming now, as she cried. It broke upon her EARs that something was wrong. The bursting, blooming thing inside of her, made her cry even harder, and she knew that Hideki was dead. He was not breathing. He would not come back. It recalled long off, far off, distant, painful memories of a twin sister, lying motionless on a bed with cords strung all about her, in her, out of her, trying to save her.

Hideki was dead. Freya was dead. Dead was bad and sad and terrible. It hurt. It made the wet come out of her eyes. She vaguely remembered Manager saying something of this. 'Tears' he called them. Tears were coming out of her eyes. Tears were coming out because she was sad.

Something deep inside of her erupted, and she held Hideki to her. She did not want to be in pain. She did not want to be here if Hideki was not here. It would hurt too much. The tears would never stop coming out. That something deep inside of her made the roots of her hair tingle and her chest burned.

She did not want to work if Hideki was not here. She did not want to be alive if Hideki was not there too. She wasn't human. She was a persocom. But…but Hideki loved her anyway. And she loved Hideki. Hideki was her someone just for her. And life was not complete without her someone just for her. And if she could die, she wanted to, right now. She did not want to keep living without him.

She stopped hearing anything outside of herself. She pressed herself into her someone's collarbone, squeezing his neck in her arms. She heard Freya say her name.

And the something in her chest exploded outward.

Officer Shihou looked over the seen as one looks over a stubborn piece of mold. He shook his head slowly, nose wrinkled in distaste. It was a fearsome spectacle. By far, the massacre here had been far worse than anywhere else. "The Tokyo Church Bell Slaughter" the world was calling it now. It was an applicable name, to be sure, but Shihou did wish they could've called it something that degraded the government less. It was a miracle, though, that that 'com had stopped them in time.

There were near two hundred dead. The only two who had escaped were both human, a man who ran a bakery in town, and his girlfriend, who had to be a good twenty or so years younger than he was. The man had lost an arm. The girl had emerged unscathed. All else was dead, both human and persocom, including the twelve-year-old Minoru Kokobunji, with his custom job.

It was a terrific and terrible thing. It seemed that someone had unleashed a virus on the internet that had caused persocom's nationwide to go insane. Like a 'com version of rabies, people were calling it. They went mad, driven by the large adrenaline rush given off as all of their critical functions shut down until they were junk piles, and attacked anything in sight that appeared to be living. As it was, the two government persocoms on the island appeared to have attacked one another. The national databank and its protector had been decimated. It was a damn shame.

Even the bride and groom had been killed. It was a damn shame, a damn good shame.

He glanced over towards the middle of the carnage. It was hard to see. The ivory hair was strung about in webs, like those of a spider, wide, expansive and nearly transparent. He gave a big sigh as he noticed that the landlady, Chitose Hibiya, was crying again. It was soft and almost silent, but the sobs wracked her body. He really did feel awful about it. She had just gotten back into the country. Apparently, the one the girl was holding had been her son-in-law.

It was quite a spectacle. The persocom with ivory hair was held up in the middle of the chapel by tiles that had molded around her feet, rising from the floor to support her on a pedestal that climbed up her legs. She was wearing an absolutely beautiful dress, stained by the blood of the one she held to her. His name was apparently Hideki Motosuwa. She held him to her, cradling him to her chest, her sleeping face buried in his dark hair. The pair of them could've been sleeping, had they ever breathed. They were the only bodies that were not decayed, and seemed a frozen spectacle, beautiful and depressing.

Shihou sighed again and walked off to give orders to his men, in order to give the woman some peace so that she might mourn properly.

Chitose wept quietly, hearing the policemen as he left, and looked back up at her "daughter" with tear-stained cheeks.

"Oh Chi…" she sobbed. "Oh Chi…you poor dear…I'm so sorry…" She had had a vision a few days before hand, of Freya ushering her off to America. She had heeded her daughter's words, and set out to visit Ichiro's brother, who was living in San Francisco, just after Hideki and Chi had left to go to the wedding. It had been a few days before she'd received the news, and she'd flown home immediately. To find…to find this. Her daughter and that 'someone just for her'. She wept.

'That demon…'

She did not bother to wipe the tears away, but reached up with a tentative hand to touch her daughter's face. Her cheek was cold. Even if it looked as if it should be alive, the flesh was not. Her daughter was dead. She cried a bit harder.

"Chi…you did so well to protect him. You finally found someone you love…who loves you. Who loves you as you are."

'I'll seal it away…'

"We will find who did this, Chi. But…you must seek him again."

'I'll seal you away…both of you…'

The tears flowed smoothly. "…I promise I'll help you. I'll give you…"

'…a future.'

She felt that Freya was near. "You'll help me…won't you Freya?" She felt the girl touch her elbow lightly in recognition and nodded, smiling weakly and letting out another convulsive sob. "Yes…" She felt the glow as her other daughter joined her in touching Chi's face.

'Chi…Elda…my daughter…this time, you'll be born the same…and you'll find happiness. Freya and Ichiro and I…we will all give you that chance. We'll protect you together…so that this time, you'll find happiness…'

.C h a p t e r 01.

End