A/N: Nothing to say here...
Chapter 5: Special
Hikaru gasped, "Ah, no not there!"
"Then maybe here master?" Kin questioned, sliding her hand over.
"Yes, that's much better. Let's move that a bit though."
"Master, that's too far! How about right here?"
"Oh, that's really nice. Shall we move that to?"
"Please no, it's fine where it is!"
"Mmmm, let's see what we've got then." Hikaru stepped back and surveyed the work with satisfaction, he nodded his approval at the bookcase. "It's perfect, thank you Kin! Here let me help you down!" He reached out and gently steadied her as she climbed off the ladder. "I was always to nervous to put things up there myself, I was sure I would fall if someone wasn't there to help."
Kin smiled up at him and clasped her hands together, "I'm happy I could be of assistance Master Hikaru." She quickly began folding up the ladder.
"There is no need to call me Master. Hikaru is just fine Kin." He chuckled and began pulling the furniture back into place.
She looked back at him, placing the ladder against the wall so it could be taken to storage later, "Are you positive?" Hikaru glanced up and nodded with a sincere smile. The surprise melted from her face, she brushed back a few strands of pale green hair. "Right then, from now on simply Hikaru."
"Thank you for the purchase, please come again!" Tokimi called with a wave to the customer. It came as a surprise to her, how much she missed being around persocoms like this. True she'd always loved their company but it seemed as if a small break wouldn't bring so much relief upon return. A sigh of happiness seized her and she leaned back against the counter. Her mind then started to wander and tears threatened the corners of her eyes.
"How is it going so far?"
Tokimi quickly spun around, she hadn't heard anyone come in. How long had she been daydreaming! Relief settled in as she saw Minoru and Yuzuki standing on the other side of the counter, "It's going very well, thank you."
He nodded, "Have you found anything yet?"
"As a matter of fact I have, I will tell you more about it once I return." It didn't seem like good policy to discuss it now, many people could listen in and it would be frowned upon furthermore.
"We will talk later then, Yuzuki and I will leave you to your job, Miss Yamashita."
"Goodbye." Yuzuki said, waving and following Minoru out the door.
"Goodbye!" She answered back, slumping once more against the counter. After surfacing the memory she couldn't force it back.
"I can't believe it!" Tokimi yelled angrily, fist tightening at her sides. Her hard stare was cast down on Minoru who calmly sat looking up at her. "How can you play such a cruel trick!" Her vision was blurred with tears and her mind clouded by denial and anger.
Minoru regarded her sadly, "It is no trickery Tokimi, I understand that it is difficult to bear. What reason would I have to lie to you... I'm sorry to be the bearer of this news but I thought you would want to know."
"I don't care! How could you understand Minoru? Genji was like family to me!" There was no way it was true, someone was playing a trick. The people who wrote the article were wrong, Genji hadn't disappeared and he couldn't be dead. It wasn't possible.
His sad gaze grew deeper, "Tokimi... I lost someone dear to me as well. I had a sister, she died when I was 10 years old. That is why I created Yuzuki, I gathered all my memories of my sister and tried to make a replacement. But, only recently did I realize that it wasn't possible for my sister to be replaced, and that Yuzuki, despite being a product of my memories, could never be the substitute I desired." He looked over at the persocom she stood by the computer, "I learned that Yuzuki is an individual who shouldn't have had to live up to my childish expectations, and that I wouldn't risk losing her because she is irreplaceable, just as my sister was."
Tokimi could feel the tears pour over her eyelids and trickle down her face, collecting on her chin and dropping heavily onto the front of her shirt. "There is still the possibility that Genji lives," Minoru continued , "But even if the worst has happened there isn't anything you can do for the moment besides keep him in your heart and your memories. Cherish the time you spent together and appreciate it for what it was."
She felt her knees shake and almost stumbled over, Tokimi balanced herself out and sat down on the floor where she allowed herself to weep. After a few minutes she looked up at Minoru, her face still streaked with tears, "I apologize Minoru... I let my emotions get the best of me. I don't really believe you are the type of person who would joke that way, it was just to difficult for me to accept." She wiped her eyes although she continued to cry, "I'm also sorry for bringing up such difficult memories."
"You don't need to apologize for that, I dealt with it long ago." Though his eyes were still sad he smiled upon her softly, "Please get some rest Tokimi, you should be prepared for work tomorrow."
"We're closing up shop for today, great work Yamashita." The man who had overlooked her resume walked from the back.
"Ah, thank you very much. I will grab my things and lock up."
Kotoko glimpsed up from her routine diagnostics check as the door swung open and a flat cart was quickly pushed through. Atop the cart was a lumpy mound covered it a yellowing tarp, Yoshiyuki grunted as he got it out of the path of the doorwhich he quickly shut behind him. His lengthy black hair was sticking perilously from his head and he smiled with pleasure. "I found the most amazing thing!" He exclaimed, crossing the room and retrieving his recently returned notebook persocom up off the table.
"What is it?" Kotoko asked, hoping up onto his hand and looking incredulously with her lavender colored eyes at the pile on the cart. Her long violet hair streamed over her pristine white sleeves in waves and the four large bells holding her ponytails up at the sides of her head jingled as she was carried to the other side of the room.
The tarp was yanked off in a swift motion, underneath sat a persocom with long ebony hair and a porcelain complexion, her hair was tied back in two segments behind her shiny white and pink ear ports. "I found her at that persocom store about 20 kilometers from here, they are going out of business and need to unload a bunch of stuff. They said she just came in but they couldn't find any information on her in the records." He kneeled down next to the cart and stroked her hair, "I practically got her for free! And look..." Tentatively he ran a finger down one ear port, "Just like that girls." Kotoko frowned with contempt and folded her arms, he hadn't even said anything about having her back and already he had found something of greater interest to be involved with. Humans just can't keep themselves from straying, Yoshiyuki being no different.
Yoshiyuki straightened up, "Even if there isn't anything special about her I could keep the parts for spares or make some modifications and customize her." He looked down at Kotoko and smiled, "Would you do a search of models matching her description and released within the last 3 months?"
"Yes master." Kotoko's eyes glazed and she fell silent aside from a few soft whirs emanating from her system. She stopped and stiffened, "I've found 7 possible matches, three PCN matches, two NAC matches, one Microsoft match, and one match from Softcorps."
Yoshiyuki nodded, "I expected as much, her outward design isn't revolutionary or very unique." He walked over to a screen on the wall and pulled a cord from one of Kotoko's bells. While plugging in the cord he set the little notebook persocom on the table. "Display the PCN matches." The screen flickered to life. Three images appeared side by side with little bits of information down the side. All had black hair one's was very wavy, the second had hair that was much to short but the third's resemblance was quite striking. "Omit the first two results, save the third." Black replaced the spots of the first two, "Show the NAC matches."
They went through the rest in the same manner, finding the closest matches possible and continuing to compare. In the end two were left. Yoshiyuki smiled, "Now we start her up, she should be able to tell us from there if we got a match." But in the back of his mind he truly wished the matches were wrong.
Runiko smirked and flipped down a pair of thin black glasses, from her perch in a nearby tree she watched Tokimi leaving the persocom shop. "Keep leading me closer Maehana Tokimi, I'll be your worst nightmare."
A/N: That's the end of Chapter 5! I had to do that first part, I simply couldn't resist! I like killing characters off so don't be surprised if it happens more often in the future... Wait, whoever said Genji was really dead though?