Kyouma crossed the parking lot to his apartment. Passing through the empty courtyard, he climbed the stairs to the top floor and took out his keys. After staying here a couple months, Kyouma was sure that no one else lived on this floor. And save for the one annoyance who lived on the ground floor, that the place was entirely empty. And that made him a lot calmer. He chuckled at himself. It seemed that he was getting paranoid.
'Why shouldn't I relax?' He thought, looking out upon the city below. 'Things are better now.'
But, there was still the part of him that was guilty that he was alive. The part that-
The sound of glass shattering ripped Kyouma from his thoughts.
MIRA.
Kyouma raced down the hall, dropping the bags of groceries for his skewers. Kicking in his door, Kyouma was ready to fight his way through a bloodthirsty horde of nameless abominations to get to his partner. But was shocked with a completely different scene.
There, smack dab in his kitchen, was standing a completely naked young robot with a maid-style apron wrapped around her. At her feet were countless broken plates and assorted piles of cooking materials. Behind her was an oven fire that spat thick black smoke out the open door. Next to her, an overflowing sink that was hard at work ruining the pine wood floors. And lastly on her head, a mix of flour and eggs.
Kyouma closed the door and sighed.
After a minute, he entered his home.
"Kyouma!" Mira greeted, running over to give him a hug. The apron falling to the floor as she wrapped her arms around him.
"You're naked!" He stiffened, looking anywhere but down at his robot.
Mira nodded, stepping back.
"Why are you naked?"
"What do you mean? What's wrong with my body?" Mira asked, cocking her head. "I didn't want to get my clothes dirty while I cooked you dinner."
She paused, eyeing his constantly shifting eyes.
"Are you all right, Kyouma?" Mira asked, taking another step back.
Meeting her eyes, Kyouma nodded. "I...you…"
She took a step closer.
"How about you go get something to wear? I'll clean this up." He said, trying his best to maintain eye contact. With a shrug, Mira went to the room to get dressed.
Bringing in the groceries, Kyouma inspected the crime scene. He noticed some milk on the floor and more substances that he couldn't identify. On the table he noticed Mira had opened a website on his tablet.
'How to make a Romantic dinner for 2.'
Shaking his head, Kyouma grabbed the broom and began to clean up. "She doesn't even eat."
Mira returned from the room, wearing one of his shirts. She still didn't have pants. But thankfully his shirt almost reached her knees.
Do robots have knees?
He ignored this and gave a curt nod.
"Well at least you're not completely naked…" he said.
Though not the best of compliments, Mira smiled and grabbed a few strands of her hair with her fingers.
"You could have said it made you uncomfortable. And I would have fixed it." She said giggling.
Kyouma grunted, starting work on the dishes that had survived.
"Sorry about the mess, Kyouma. I tried following twelve recipes but they didn't turn out so well." She mumbled and lowered her gaze.
"I've seen worse." He said to her, then seeing her face, "I appreciate what you were trying to do. Let's try it again later."
Mira bounced into the air, her amplifier waving furiously. "Really?!"
"But!"
She froze mid-bounce. "But…?"
"I touch the oven."
She pouted at this, but agreed. "Fine…"
"Anyways, any luck with the necklace?"
"No way! No way! No way!" Mira screeched as she fell forward on the table. "I tried everything!"
Kyouma nodded, watching the drama filled bot as he put away the groceries. Sadly, there hadn't been many dishes. Guess that's another thing for his list.
"I can't believe what a bad week I had!" Mira exclaimed angrily as she sat on a chair at the table. "All we do is work! Disgusting!"
"It's all in your head," Kyouma said, stacking the pantry. "You're a robot. You don't get tired."
"Yeah, well…" Mira pouted. "That's not the point."
Kyouma's head turned. "What is the point?"
Mira jumped to her feet, knocking over the chair she'd been sitting in. From beneath the shirt, she produced a picture filled flier. "We're going to the pier!"
"I refuse." Kyouma responded stoically.
"Rejected." Mira tried to look as menacing as she could.
"I'm not going." Kyouma met her eyes. He hated public places. The thousands of chattering people. All the shouting of vendors, as they tried to entice Mira with overpriced perfume and shiny things. Not to mention how overpriced everything was. If the boredom didn't get to him, the place would definitely be the end of his wallet.
"You're not listening." Mira whispered, bringing Kyouma back to the present.
Kyouma jumped back in surprise, not realizing he'd begun to daydream. Trying to play off his shock, he waited for the barrage of strong words he didn't want to hear.
Closing her eyes, Mira blurted out: "You say you care about me. But I feel alone."
That wasn't the usual berating conversation he usually got.
"I do care about you." He affirmed as he sat next to Mira at the table. "I do all the things you want."
"Not what I mean!" She huffed, pushing down on the table. "I mean I want to feel like other girls. I want you to treat me like a normal girl!"
Suddenly his entire body seized up, and he found himself unable to breathe. Mira was still the same. Still pursuing the pain of trying to be like everyone else. But surely she must know how it would end?
Kyouma remained silent. Nothing he could say would win this battle. Even he could see the fight inside of Mira breaking her apart. How long would she chase this dream of hers?
"Are you listening?!" Mira slammed both fists on the table, buckling the legs and causing it to fall in on itself.
Kyouma sighed. He liked that table. A lot. "Mira."
"I want to go to the pier."
Kyouma opened his mouth to respond but decided against it. Instead, he reached across and covered Mira's fists with his hands. Maybe he could afford to spoil her for a while.
"Kyouma…."
"Are you alright?" He asked, sliding his right hand up to the long, green hair that enveloped her face.
"I-I'm fine, Kyouma." She said, her face flushed.
"I worry about you, you know that right?" He traced her face with his other hand.
"I do Kyouma." Mira said lovingly, leaning into his touch. "You're a regular worry wart."
"Do you really want to go to the pier?"
She nodded in his hands.
Kyouma sighed. "Okay. I'll see you in the morning."
