Chapter 3: Disquieting Advice

Summary:

"Acting so high and mighty just because she has a nice style. Not like she had to work for her looks."

"Hey, what kind of maniac do you think splurges that much money on a puppet like her? You've to be sick in the head to go out and buy something like that."

"She's probably the toy of some sweaty middle-aged geezer. Probably has her engaging in all sorts of messed-up plays too, stuff like calling him master."

"If you choose to pursue something that is rejected by society, don't act all surprised when society rejects you as well."

"Maybe I'll reject society right back then. Wrong things are wrong, no matter how you look at it."

"Once the ticking clock is set in motion, it cannot be rewound, Owner."

Somehow, the words that Lacia spoke clung to him. On the surface, it seemed like she was merely advising him, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was some underlying meaning to her disquieting advice. But knowing her, he was probably just overthinking it.

Probably.

Arato felt a gentle shake on his shoulders.

"Nnn... Just give me five more minutes…" He whined childishly. And just like a kid, he retreated further beneath his covers to escape the intruder. In that comfortable darkness, it wouldn't take long for him to return to the place that brought him the greatest bliss. Automatically, his hand moved to the usual spot where he kept his terminal under the pillow, intending to smash the snooze button on his alarm.

"It is morning. Breakfast is ready."

The sweet voice that reached his ears woke Arato in a flash. Lacia was standing before him in her apron, brightening his dull room with her sheer presence alone. Having Lacia wake him up like this was starting to turn into a regular occurrence, but Arato still couldn't help but feel like he was being ambushed.

"I-Is it?" He made a meaningless acknowledgment in an attempt to buy time as he frantically sat up, hurriedly pulling at the covers to make sure his boxer shorts weren't showing.

A week had passed since Lacia entered his life, but to Arato, his life was still a confusing ordeal. He didn't trust himself to say anything that wouldn't dig his own grave, so he kept his mouth shut and said as little as possible.

Lacia paused for a moment, and soon after, his window turned transparent, the built-in photochromic technology working as intended. The digital glass panel lit up, displaying a series of numbers that was soon read out to him.

"The time now is 7.15 am. The current temperature is a pleasant nineteen degrees Celsius with an estimated high of twenty-two. Rain is not to be expected." Lacia said. "I have also prepared your school uniform."

"Ah, yeah." Arato mumbled, his head dull. "Thanks, Lacia." He added numbly at the end after realizing she was waiting for him to finish.

In contrast to his dreadful reply, Lacia flashed him a sunny smile before excusing herself, leaving behind a lingering trail of fragrance in her wake.

Arato found himself trapped alone in his room. Assailed from all sides by the smell of tea leaves and miso, underlaid with the distinctive scent of apricot blossoms. It clung to his body and stifled his ability to think clearly. He saw his face reflected in the window. With the washed-out colors of the reflection, his face resembled a fool drunk on his own arousal.

It was a face of someone waking up from a dream too sweet to be true.

Arato groaned. Recalling the sweet breathing in his ear was sending a pang of tension through his body. He gave a forlorn look at the stirring heat pooling under his covers.

"...I'm such a mess." He muttered.

After slipping on a set of simple clothes, Arato took a moment to compose himself before heading out to the living room. There, he found Yuka already waiting with a cup of green tea in her hand.

"Good morning." He greeted Yuka as he joined her at the table.

He noticed the teapot on the table. So this was the source of the scent, his mind recognized. There hadn't been any tea leaves in the house, the Endo household being a strict advocate for bottled tea culture, so Lacia must have been the one to order them via mail delivery. Arato moved to pour a cup of tea for himself. After all, he couldn't have Lacia do every single little thing for him. It was small actions like these which kept his sense of self from falling apart.

The strong aroma that wafted off the cup along with the steamy heat really helped to properly wake him up. Since Lacia had come, his mornings had become more relaxed. Arato found himself with more time than he knew what to do with.

"You're late, Arato. Did you oversleep?" Yuka hummed. She seemed like she was in a good mood today, judging by how she was sipping at her cutesy personal teacup. Arato already knew from this that that meant she had already happily scarfed down her breakfast, his little sister being the simple creature she was.

"Today's brew is from Ceylon." Lacia informed her. "If you add sugar, it will taste similar to black tea."

"Really?" Yuka perked up. That uncharacteristic action of hers confirming to Arato the presence of her good mood.

"It seems in Sri Lanka, this particular variety is commonly sweetened with sugar before consumption."

Lacia spun around to look at them from behind the kitchen counter where she was standing, her light violet hair swaying in a graceful motion. To Arato, even when she was dropping useless trivia bombs like an elevator girl, the machine which took the form of a human looked beautiful nonetheless.

Upon seeing that, his heart involuntarily clenched in pain. Lacia might not have had a soul, but her expression was perfect. And it was this perfect expression that was causing heat to rush to his face. His chest felt tight, as if he was holding back a breath.

Arato thought he had managed to get a handle on himself before leaving his room, but just seeing Lacia again was causing strange fantasies to run wild in his mind.

"Huh. Is that so? Let's try it." Yuka decided on her own, oblivious to his internal commotion. She grabbed the sugar bowl and dumped two heaping spoonfuls of the pure white crystals into her cup. Realizing she had nothing to stir the tea with, Yuka settled for using the communal teaspoon that came with the sugar bowl. In the meantime, Lacia came over with a tray loaded with assorted dishes.

"Woah. Rice for breakfast." He marveled at the spread before him. Atop the lacquered tray sat chopsticks, rice, rolled omelet, miso soup, grilled saury, and takuan all made by Lacia. Arato couldn't recall the last time he had a traditional breakfast. Western-style dishes were just so much more convenient to prepare during the daily morning rush, even on weekends. Now he understood just why Yuka was in such a good mood this morning.

Arato found himself so distracted that he'd entirely forgotten to yell at his little sister for her terrible table manners. The miso soup in particular brought him a sense of peace and tranquility.

"Thanks for the food."

"One moment." Lacia interrupted him before he could reach for the soup. She lifted the bowl close to her lips and Arato heard a soft blowing sound. Next, she picked up the chopsticks. With a soundless glide, chunks of white meat emerged cleanly from the fish. In but a few moments, there was a pile of deboned fish meat resting on his plate, leaving only the untouched head and pristine skeleton as if it was preserved on display at a museum.

Compared to her masterful expertise, his usual method of digging into fish resembled a gorilla operating a bulldozer. Even the way Lacia held her chopsticks was filled with a quiet dignity. A sublime being from another world unlike someone as mundane as him. That was natural after all, for she was a robot that never failed to perfectly execute its range of motions.

But even so, Arato thought her beautiful.

"Please enjoy." Lacia said as she returned the chopsticks to the holder and bowed her head politely.

Arato thanked her hesitantly, his mind sluggish and unsure of how to properly respond. He normally gulped it down in a rush, rarely bothering to savor the flavor or smell, but today the miso soup carried a different taste. A deeply rich flavor that the powdered mix he usually used couldn't compare to. His mouth crunched on the pockets of fried tofu and konbu.

That was when a particularly loud crunch from his mouth made Arato pause. He peered at the offender. A star-shaped piece of carrot was floating in his miso soup.

Arato couldn't stop the inevitable smile that crossed his face. Since Lacia had started taking over the cooking duties in the Endo household, he noticed an increasing amount of vegetables appearing in their dishes, part of her efforts to fix their diet and nutritionally balance their meals.

According to Lacia who said something along the lines of "All those convenience store lunches and eating out all the time aren't providing a balanced diet." Looking at her pouty face when she insisted, Arato found himself unable to disagree and quickly allowed her to completely take over cooking duties in the Endo Household. Even if the way she said it had implied that she found their previous eating habits unacceptably unhealthy. He allowed it to slide in order to allow the fantasy of having a cute girl cook for him daily to come true. No way was he allowing such a chance to slip past his fingers.

And having said all that, that was the reason for the cutely shaped carrot in his soup. Lacia had snuck in something silly like that. Even though a regular slicer would have fulfilled the same purpose. To Arato, it felt like a way for Lacia to express herself through her cooking.

"An object in human form... Huh." He murmured.

Ever since his mother passed away over 10 years ago, Arato hadn't expected that he would have gotten the chance to find himself being fussed over like this again. Even though he wasn't used to such an act, it still brought a warm, soothing feeling to his chest. The traditional Japanese breakfast helped as well, it brought a touch of normalcy to his topsy-turvy world.

"Have you still not called Dad yet?" Yuka chipped in, ruining his morning as usual. "Seriously, Arato. It's been a week."

"Listen, there's a lot of crap on my plate right now. I'll get around to it."

By that, she meant ringing up the Endo patriarch to inform him about their new occupant. Something that Arato had been putting off as much as he could. His father rarely came home nowadays due to his nature of work as an hIE researcher. It was this lucky break that Arato thanked the heavens for allowing him to continue running away from his problems.

Despite his dad being one of the foremost hIE scientists in the country, Arato couldn't manage to summon up the courage to break the news to him. It wasn't because of any potential anti-hIE discrimination, his father being more used to interacting with hIEs than anyone else, but rather, Arato's fears came from a more irrational source.

The fear that on the off-chance, the face on his father would turn grim and utter "No." and that his life with Lacia would come to an end just like that. He knew better than anyone that he was being selfish, but Arato wanted to indulge in this fleeting fantasy for just a while longer. Besides, he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to his dad in a while, and he didn't want to contact him just to drop a bombshell like this.

"You still haven't told your friends about Lacia-san as well." She pointed out.

"Yeah. Like I said." Arato growled out through gnashed teeth. "I'll get to it eventually."

What rubbed him the wrong way was that everything his idiotic little sister had said was true. Broken clock, twice a day and all that. Arato still hadn't brought up Lacia to his childhood friend Ryo, or his fellow classmate Kengo.

The growing pile of problems he faced was giving him a headache.

"Jeeze, Arato. What is this? An intimation of illicit escapades? Why are you treating Lacia-san like she's your paramour?"

His little sister too gave him a headache.

"... School's been busy lately." Arato added at the end, after a thought. "Moron."

Yuka was tapping away at the tabletop touch screen, continuing to display her bad manners by accessing the home system terminal even though breakfast was still in session. Arato had long given up trying to lecture her. A flurry of fashion magazines cropped up on the screen, but since the table was still cluttered with assorted bowls and dishes, most of them were unintelligible.

A sly grin crossed Yuka's face as she brought up a window on the 3D display. An image of Lacia appeared on the screen in the form of an advertisement. Fabion Media Group's hIE Model Audition Grandprix, Lacia, it read.

"Just stop fighting it, Arato." She mocked his powerlessness. "Lacia-san here is going to be a star! And our fridge is gonna be loaded to the stars along with her!"

"We are already loaded, you dumbass." Arato chided her, only for Yuka to stick out her tongue at him.

"Just because Dad is loaded, doesn't mean we're loaded." His little sister lectured him as if he was an idiot for not realizing such a simple fact. "Just the other day, I had to buy a small ice cream instead of a family pack."

"Poor you." Arato said dryly.

When he saw the offered cash reward, Arato had long given up on fighting it. It was a sum way bigger than he'd imagined. If Lacia won, he too would be able to cruise through the rest of his school life without any financial worry.

"Don't forget that Lacia-san's first job is on Sunday." She reminded him.

"Let me guess. As her Owner I'm the one who has to accompany her." He shot his little sister a harsh glare.

"Yup! Good work, Onii-chan!"

Yuka beamed a shameless grin at him as she happily shoved all the work onto his shoulders. For his part, Arato bit back a caustic comment before it could have the chance to slip out.

"Yuka-sama is indeed correct." Lacia, who was the center of their discussion chipped in, displaying her robust ability to remain calm and collected no matter the situation. "As my Owner and the signatory of the proxy labor contract, it is your responsibility to meet with the agency to confirm the terms once more in person."

In the eyes of the state, an hIE was considered the property of its Owner. As such, the regulations regarding the rental of hIEs called for the renting firm to contact the legal Owner to negotiate terms for a proxy labor contract. Apparently, there were also different rules regarding the renting out of hIEs as an individual and as a corporation managing multiple hIEs, but the details flew over his head and he got Lacia to settle the complicated stuff for him.

Admittedly, it was a cop-out but Arato felt it was a far better solution than half-assing an online crash course in business law and making mistakes that would come to bite him in the rear later down the line. As an hIE, Lacia could access the secretarial cloud and manage complex paperwork with a stunning efficiency far above his own competency.

"Still, it would be nice if you didn't take her side all the time. I thought I'm the one who was supposed to be your Owner here." Arato complained.

"Oh my." Lacia pouted as she sat directly across him. Apparently, she was already done with her usual morning chores. After that incident in the kitchen, she was dressed in her own clothes that she'd bought for herself. They were simple and cheap, something that one would find at your generic apparel store, but Lacia wore them well and they looked great on her despite that. "Then I shall endeavor to conduct myself in a way that better appeals to your tastes, Owner."

Lacia flashed him a perfect smile to match her equally perfect delivery. As an hIE, her actions were all specific calculations carefully selected to form the optimal response to humans around them. Thus, Lacia maintained a steady confidence that came from one who had no reason to fear failure or rejection. But even with that knowledge in his mind, Arato didn't trust his eyes to not betray him so he settled for fixing them somewhere over her shoulder.

Once she was done relaxing, Yuka excused herself. It was her turn for morning duty at her middle school so she took off earlier than usual, leaving him all alone with Lacia. The unfinished cup of green tea remained on the table.

He reached for the cup and took a sip. It tasted overly sweet. No wonder his little sister possessed a rotten intellect. The large amount of sugar she dumped into the tea must have done a number on her brain.

"Are you really okay with this whole modeling thing?" Arato asked gingerly. It was an indulgence in his own curiosity, but he wondered if Lacia responded differently now that they were alone and in a private setting, like a real human would. "I mean sure, the reward's great and all but I just don't see what you get out of it, Lacia."

Arato was being childish, but despite what she'd told him, he was still searching for a heart in a heartless machine.

"How is it?" Lacia asked.

"What?" Arato replied, perplexed at her abrupt question.

"The tea." She repeated herself, a tinge of honest curiosity laced in her voice. "How is it?"

"Would you like to try some?" Arato wasn't sure if hIEs could consume food like a human. He couldn't recall Lacia eating anything from her time in the Endo household. As an hIE, Lacia ran off the wireless power supply provided by the surrounding infrastructure, and even if she could eat, she possessed no way to dispose of the remains, so the answer to his question was already obvious, but he asked anyway.

Arato felt a silky sensation brush over his fingers.

"If I may." Lacia tilted her head politely and took the teacup from him before bringing it to her lips. The sight of a pretty girl like her daintily sipping tea made a rolling coil of tension seize his body and Arato found himself sitting stiffly.

"I didn't know hIEs could drink." Arato asked, his piqued interest overriding the previous feelings of tension.

"hIEs require a certain amount of water to prevent their coating from deteriorating. There are three methods to refilling the water supply of an hIE, depending on it's construction and features. The first and most common method universal to all hIEs due to it's low cost is the oral consumption of fluids. The other is absorbing moisture through direct contact with the skin. However, this feature is only available to frames with hygroscopic skin such as mine."

"So that's why you take baths." Arato marveled. Now he understood why despite not having any worries of sweat or wrinkles, Lacia still took baths regularly.

However, there was still one thing nagging at the back of his mind. He distinctly remembered Lacia mentioning three methods during her explanation. Without pausing to consider why she would withhold that information, Arato asked before he could stop himself.

"And the third?"

"Out of the aforementioned methods, the third possesses the lowest adoption rate. In fact it is usually an optional add-on reserved for hIEs performing specific supplementary functions." Lacia explained vaguely, without really explaining anything at all. Compared to her usual blunt and direct demeanor, Lacia's response was strange. And it was this strangeness that brought a small thrill to spark in Arato's heart.

Even though he could clearly tell she was being evasive, Arato pressed on.

"I won't understand unless you say it clearly, Lacia."

Lacia paused with a troubled look on her face, as if she was carefully considering her next words.

The itching in his heart only grew at the sight of her defenseless expression. A vulnerable side of her he rarely got to see. Before he knew it, Arato was leaning forward, gripping his knee tight enough for his knuckles to turn white.

Seeing the usually cool and composed Lacia driven into a corner was stirring an impure sensation within him.

And then with a pout, Lacia blushed and averted her eyes.

"I will tell you if that is your desire, Owner. But I believe that such a method should be held back until there is a further development in our connection."

Arato paused.

And then after a beat, the jigsaw puzzle clicked in place.

Arato's mouth flapped open a couple of times, but he couldn't find any words. His programming had crashed and his brain was mindlessly looping the same thing he was screaming in his mind. The sudden rush of excitement Arato felt at her confession sent all other thoughts flying out of his head.

"If you do not leave soon, you will be late for school." The cool, husky contralto breathing into his ears violently shattered the remaining fragments of his sanity.

Looking up, he saw Lacia's delicately crafted features centimeters from his own. Her expression was serene again, but there was still a faint tinge of redness lingering on her cheeks. Not that it did his rebooting mental faculties any good. Looking at her made Arato too excited to think. Without Yuka to charge in and break things up, the atmosphere between them was turning dangerous. Arato looked around and wondered if Lacia took that into account when deciding to act this way.

Arato noticed that, at some point, Lacia had started resting her hand on his knee, her slim fingers almost slipping between the cracks to entwine with his.

"Unless you intend to skip?"

She flashed him a mischievous, playful smile. One which promised a sinful reproach if he agreed to submit to her dangled temptations and take her up on her offer.

"That's, I mean." Arato said. "My attendance record is pretty good so I don't think the school will ask questions if I call in sick once in a while."

"Would you like to skip?" The coquettish woman repeated herself. She was biting her lip in a sultry way that inflamed his heart.

The spark in his heart transformed into a firecracker about to go off. With the last of his rational thoughts, Arato leaped to his feet. For an instant, looking at her face, he really had been about to reach out and hold Lacia, this unknown robot who could easily swing around a 100kg metal coffin. One wrong move and he would find himself being squashed like a hapless bug.

"School, no!" Arato yelped quickly like an idiot. "Very important! The springtime of my youth!"

"That's a shame." Lacia remarked, coincidentally hitting the nail directly on the head regarding his feelings. "Although I would urge you to hurry if that is your choice. After all, once the ticking clock is set in motion, it cannot be rewound, Owner."

Arato performed his best Yuka impression by blitzing through the rest of his morning routine. There was so much embarrassment coursing through his veins that he couldn't find the courage to have Lacia see him off as usual. Instead, he chose to dart out of his home with a hurried greeting. Somehow, the words that Lacia spoke at the end clung to him. On the surface, it seemed like she was merely advising him to hurry to make it in time for school, but he couldn't shake the feeling that there was some underlying meaning to her disquieting advice. But knowing her, he was probably just overthinking it.

Probably.

Lacia cradled the empty teacup in her hands as she watched him depart with a vaguely satisfied smile on her face.

The hallway near his homeroom was filled with noise and activity. However, no one greeted Arato upon seeing him. Not that it was unusual, that was what being part of the Kaidai clique got you.

Entering the classroom, Arato placed his haversack on top of his desk and sat down, on the way, he passed by Kengo and Ryo and exchanged their customary greetings. He then kicked back and yawned shamelessly. Spending the rest of the time until lunch asleep seemed like a great idea to Arato.

Covering the desk with his face on top of his arms, Lacia's words inadvertently ran through his mind.

"Can you even do it with an hIE?"

To be honest, it wasn't like he was a herbivore indifferent towards such things. But obviously, one wasn't looked upon favorably by others if they stated their desires out loud. An oddball that ran his mouth without filtering their words risked being treated as a black sheep and ostracized by society. The eccentricities of a talented person might be an exception to that law, but a monochrome individual like him wouldn't be able to avoid society's judgment.

"I never thought I would fall in love again. It's refreshing."

In fact, ever since that girl perished in the explosive accident, Arato had never held the same intensity of emotions towards anyone else. Of course, it wasn't as if he lacked sexual desires of any sort. There were still times when he would look at a girl and think, 'She's pretty', or 'She's beautiful'. But liking someone as a member of the opposite sex, up until recently, he hadn't gotten the chance to rediscover the rapid beating of his heart akin to that fated day.

Arato could vividly recall the soft touch he felt on his hands. The memory of it made him restless. However, there was still the reality facing him that Lacia might have reacted that way to merely please him. She was an hIE, and they were programmed to pick the most optimal responses towards their human Owners.

But, no matter how Arato rationalized it as such, the boyish part of him couldn't deny that Lacia and her devilishly flirty behavior thrilled him all the same. And despite everything, there was a small, childish part inside of him that desired to believe that the affection she was showing him was her true feelings. And that there was meaning behind her actions and words, just like the star-shaped carrot in the miso soup.

That was why the current situation was giving him a headache. It was annoying but there was nothing he could do. Well other than going back to the comforting land of dreams, Arato thought to himself as he laid face-down on the table and closed his eyes.

Or so he would have done. But then the sound of the door opening and the following commotion dashed any hopes of him drifting off in peace. He turned to face the window, squeezing his eyes even tighter shut, trying to power on through the noise to force himself to fall asleep. If only he had a pillow to cover his ears, Arato wished.

That was then he heard his teacher speak.

"Ah. I know this is sudden, but I'll be introducing a new transfer student to our class. Come on in!"

There was a sudden increase of noise from the students around him.

"A girl!"

"She's cute!"

Arato lifted his head, equal parts curious and annoyed at the excited whispers, wondering just what the fuss was all about. Upon the classroom podium stood his homeroom teacher and a single girl.

A foreign princess from a faraway land had come to visit them. Her refined features were beautiful, a perfect blend of the classical with a touch of the exotic. Her presence was captivating, so much so that the environment around her seemed to sparkle. She was the type of sublime beauty who gave off the same sensation of joy akin to a thirsting traveler stumbling across an oasis in a desert when one looked at her. Her light violet hair swayed sleekly, and she had pale, almost transparent skin. Her lips were a light, peachy color, her cheeks radiated rosiness and life, and her icy blue eyes glittered like sapphires.

The students in the class were left flabbergasted in unison at the dazzling features which were hardly believable for a human. At the inhuman level of physical attractiveness before them.

Which went without saying. Because the girl in front of them wasn't human to begin with. But rather, she was an hIE.

"...The hell are you doing here?"

Arato blurted out before he could stop himself.

Perhaps the girl at the podium heard him, for she took a step forward and tilted her head at Arato in acknowledgment. The gazes in the classroom that had been thoroughly taken by the otherworldly beauty refocused all at once onto the unremarkable loner in the class.

"Uh, this is..." The slovenly adult fumbled at the interruption as he checked his work terminal. "Endo Lacia. Eh? Endo? Are the both of you related by any chance?"

"He is the one who I have entrusted my future with."

The sight of a fairy-like beauty bowing as she smiled like a blooming flower caused Arato's face to fall onto his desk once again.

From homeroom onwards, the rest of the day blew past him like a violent storm.

Lacia, who had been assigned to the empty seat right next to him due to her hijacking of his family name, made it a habit to stick tightly to him. Between periods, he tried to ask Lacia to explain how did she manage to trick the faculty into mistaking her for a human, but she dodged his questions the entire time, insisting that he needed to focus on the lesson.

When the time came for lunch, she joined their desks together and produced an elaborate bento from her sling pouch. Using a pair of bamboo chopsticks, she picked up a piece of pork cutlet and brought it close to his lips to feed him, with her urging him to open his mouth every now and then with monotone noises. Arato felt like he'd lost control of his body and he couldn't do anything but follow her instructions mutely.

Probably because they flirted so incredibly brazenly and overbearingly, their classmates only looked on from afar without conducting the typical questioning session reserved for transfer students. Even though it truly felt sickeningly diabetic at times, but Arato still felt a guilty pleasure mindlessly indulging in being an idiot couple with Lacia.

"Hold still." Lacia instructed him before she leaned forward, bringing her face close to his. "There is food on your face."

Her moist, shining lips beckoned tantalizingly.

Out of nowhere, Arato was struck with a sudden, overwhelming rush of desire.

Lacia gently shut her eyes and let out a damp sigh.

He mirrored her.

"...Arato."

There was a voice in the background but Arato ignored it in favor of the girl in front of him. He adjusted his approaching angle and then followed her in closing the distance.

"Arato."

Just a bit more. So close. The gap between their lips now seemed non-existent. Now, if only that annoying voice went away then everything would be perfect.

"Arato!"

In an instant, the world around him vanished, and Arato found himself face to face with an exasperated Kaidai Ryo.

"Welcome back to the land of the living." He drawled sarcastically.

Arato looked around him. Class was over for the day, so other than a couple of dawdling students it was just the three of them left in the classroom.

"A dream... Huh." He mumbled. Apparently, his pent-up frustrations had manifested themselves in that manner. Of course, hIEs weren't allowed to attend schools, only humans. It was a fantasy-like scenario that played to his teenage desires, nothing more.

"Oi. Don't just ignore me and mutter cryptic stuff in the distance. And what's with the main character roleplay? Did you get your head infected with eighth-grader syndrome?" Ryo snapped his fingers impatiently.

"You're one to talk."

"Cool your jets, Protagonist-san. Kengo and I were talking about hitting up HEY today. I heard the latest edition of Endlave Versus just came in. The ones with the pods with 360-degree panoramic monitors and AR displays. Wanna come with? We can get beef bowls after."

Hirose Entertainment Yard, also known as HEY, was a popular arcade in the Akihabara district housing multiple floors of video game cabinets. Despite the overall decline of arcade gaming due to the rise of home-based entertainment systems, HEY somehow managed to stay afloat and secured its niche as one of the last bastions of the classic arcade experience.

"I'll pass. Mecha isn't my thing. Besides, I have plans with Yuka."

"Giving me the cold shoulder again, huh? You know, Arato, I kinda feel like our friendship has gotten a bit strained lately."

Arato listened to Ryo's complaining disinterestedly as he checked his mail on his desk terminal.

"That so?"

"That's right. I keep inviting you to hang out with us, but this past week you've just kept charging straight home after school."

"That's because you wanted me to go to karaoke with some girls or something like that, right? I told you before, that isn't my type of scene. Also, Yuka starts to complain if I'm not at home."

Arato lied as easily as he breathed. Of course, that was not the true reason for him rushing home every day after school ever since that incident. Rather, it was a sense of excitement driving him on. The joy of looking forward to coming home to a sumptuous home-cooked meal and a bewitching smile.

Life just seemed so much brighter when one had a girl waiting for you at home.

"Then bring her along too."

"Pass."

"Why not!?" Ryo demanded. "Stop hiding her from me! Arato, I wouldn't have pegged you as the possessive type. Not in a million years."

"She doesn't even know you. In the first place, why the hell are you so obsessed with my little sister?" Arato shot back.

"Because I want a girlfriend." Ryo stated bluntly without the slightest bit of hesitation.

Arato felt a headache forming at his childhood friend's idiocy.

"That doesn't sound like much coming from the guy who has the ability to land any girl he fancies."

"Nah, that's where you're mistaken. I'm the kind of person who hangs out with a lot of girls but just can't seem to close it out and score a steady girlfriend."

"Isn't that because they could sense you were just trying to get into their pants?" Arato deadpanned.

"Objection!" Ryo shouted as if he was in a courtroom. "That was a long time ago. I learned my lesson after the first bloodbath."

The bloodbath Ryo referred to occurred during their first year. The wannabe casanova had committed the number one breach of them all. He had been caught red-handed by the principal parties involved double-booking dates on the same weekend. That is to say, both girls found out that they were being two-timed on.

It took an entire week for the swelling on Ryo's face to subside. His reputation, however, never did. Not that one could tell from his confident behavior.

"I'm still impressed things even reached that point." Arato said.

"It was an inevitable conclusion." Ryo dramatically delivered his soliloquy, his arms waving around in complex gestures. "The impulses of my raging youth could not be contained! I simply wished to deepen my relationship with everyone!"

Arato thought that Ryo would have made for a great actor with his antics.

"Go see a doctor."

"A doctor can't help me get laid! Only your sister can!" Ryo pleaded with him.

"The hell, why do I have to do everything for you? At least put in some effort when trying to pick someone up!"

"Eh? That kind of thing is just a pain in the ass." He flashed a sparkling grin at him. "Why bother with something annoying like that when I can get you to do all the work for me?"

His head throbbed from the full-blown headache that had formed. Now Arato was one hundred percent sure if his lifestyle continued like this without change, he would wind up busting a vein by thirty.

"God, you're shameless. Forget it." He snapped. "I'm not introducing my little sister to any guys, least of all you."

"Please, my future brother-in-law! I'm begging you!" Ryo started making a huge fuss. "Look, I'll even trade! You can have Shiori and I'll take Yuka. We'll hold the ceremony together and become one big family!"

"...I'm getting a restraining order."

"I knew it. Arato..." Ryo narrowed his eyes and uttered dangerously.

For a moment, beyond the routine interaction he was running through the motions with, Arato felt a small amount of fear seep into his heart. Despite his behavior, Ryo was still one of the sharpest tools in the shed. The nagging possibility of being exposed and found out about Lacia haunted him.

"You're a siscon aren't you?" He finished his accusation in a growl.

Or maybe he really was an idiot after all, Arato concluded with serious doubts in regards to his friend's sanity.

"You hit your head or something!? Why would I date Yuka?" Arato sputtered. "She's fourteen!"

"And your sister."

A wry comment interrupted their inane conversation. Kengo was watching their antics with a dry expression on his face.

"Yeah, that too." Arato added as an afterthought.

"I'm not falling for the bait." Kengo snarked. "Besides, how much longer do the two of you plan on continuing this third-rate comedy routine?"

Arato was about to pick up his bag and return fire at him but a beeping notification on his desk snuffed out any energy he might have left. "Sorry, I gotta take this." He apologized as he sat back down to submit his overdue assignment. Usually, such things would have been completed during the class itself. But apparently, for Arato, the price of indolence was steep indeed.

"Well, whatever. In for a penny, in for a pound." Kengo sighed as he fished out his cell to pass the time.

Arato groaned audibly at the mess of trigonometric functions before him. But he didn't allow himself anymore self-indulgent complaining beyond his initial reaction. After all, the quicker he got his tasks done, the faster he could find an excuse to bail on his friends. And the faster he bailed, the sooner he could return to Lacia and her captivating smile.

"What's that you're looking at?" Arato heard Ryo strike up a conversation with Kengo.

"Nothing much. Just stuff surrounding the new Android Politician system. They did the frame reveal at a press conference the other day."

"Let me see." He heard Ryo let out a low whistle. "Damn, would you look at that level of detail. They really went all out, huh?"

The noise made Arato pause and focus on their conversation. That was because it was a rare occurrence for someone like Ryo to express even the slightest bit of a positive reaction towards an hIE.

"A high-end design of that caliber... She has to be a foreign import, right? A premium brand from overseas?" Kengo asked, sounding oddly interested.

"Pretty sure it is. Japan doesn't have the capability to domestically manufacture something at that level. We're one of the only developed nations without an exotic label for hIEs, after all. And no, Lexus isn't one no matter how much Toyota desperately wants you to believe it is."

As expected of Kaidai Ryo, eldest son of Kaidai Tsuyoshi and heir apparent to one of the most valuable corporations in the world, Arato watched him casually dismiss Japan's largest hIE manufacturer with stunning ease.

"I heard she's a replica of a popular vocalist from an internet band back in the day." Kengo commented.

He saw a twisted sneer cross Ryo's handsome face. "That explains our government throwing money at her appearance." From this distance, Arato couldn't clearly see the image displayed on Kengo's terminal. "After all, what better way is there to analog hack your average electorate into accepting something supposedly for their own good than your classic T and A service?"

"Did you know? The story of the real person that this android politician was based on? An Oricon chart-topping singer by day and a freedom fighter by night. All at age sixteen. But that's historical figures for you. It's ludicrous. People just don't live lives like this anymore."

Somehow, Kengo's voice sounded heavily bitter to Arato's ears. As if he was cursing the world around him.

"I'm heading off first!" Arato called out after submitting his assignment. He grabbed his school bag and was about to bolt out before anyone could stop him, but Ryo was already blocking the exit to the classroom.

"Not this time."

"Fine." Arato said, admitting his defeat and going with the flow. He took out his terminal and sent a quick message to inform Yuka that she could start eating without him.

As they left Class 2-A and neared the front entrance of the school building, Arato was surprised at the unexpected bustle of crowding students barring their way.

"Woah." He uttered.

There, spilling out from the front entrance all the way to the shoe lockers, a donut phenomenon had occurred. What was this 'donut phenomenon', one might ask? It was a way of describing how humans possessed the tendency to surround themselves around interesting events in a strange, distant circle with the object of interest occupying the empty three-meter radius in the center of the ring which resembled a 'donut'.

"She's beautiful."

"Cute."

"Go talk to her."

"No way, you go."

So on, so forth the whispers went.

Before Arato could say anything, Ryo let an amused huff. "Stay here." He ordered. "I'll go check it out."

"More like go check her out." Kengo drawled. "Don't get slapped this time, Kaidai."

"You miss one hundred percent of the shots you don't take." Ryo flashed them a roguish grin before proceeding to confidently plunge into the mass of humanity.

"And he's off. Arato, can you believe that guy?" Kengo looked towards him as he said. Ryo was smoothly weaving through the crowd like he was performing a waltz. "He's a sight to behold, huh? That Kaidai."

"Ryo's always been on a different wavelength." Arato agreed. "That's the reason why he doesn't get along well with his family, or so Shiori tells me."

Looks, intelligence, wealth, popularity, status, and confidence. Kaidai Ryo was an outstanding individual that possessed the full spectrum of these positive traits. It was almost unreal how much higher in terms of levels he was when compared to your average person. If life was a storybook, Kaidai Ryo would be a shoo-in for the role of the main character. In comparison, Endo Arato was nothing but a side character. The comedic foil to his protagonist resigned to finishing the race as the eternal runner-up.

As they awaited the return of the king, Arato's attention drifted to a group of girls close to them. They were glaring at the mostly male crowd and throwing dark looks their way, not that any of their targets paid heed to them.

"Tch. Acting so high and mighty just because she has a nice style." Girl A spat out. "Not like she had to work for her looks."

"Hey, what kind of maniac do you think splurges that much money on a puppet like her?" Girl B provoked with a cruel smile. "You've to be sick in the head to go out and buy something like that."

"She's probably the toy of some sweaty middle-aged geezer. Probably has her engaging in all sorts of messed-up plays too, stuff like calling him master." Girl C said as she happily poured more fuel into the speculation bonfire.

"Say, you think she ever ruminates her fate as she's taking it inside?" Girl B sardonically snickered. "Kyahaha. Just kidding, heh. A trophy like her, night service is the only thing she's good for. Having a dick inside is probably the closest as it gets to being filled for an empty husk of a doll like her."

"Gross." The trio of witches cackled as a single unit.

"Damn, they really aren't holding back at all." Arato commented as only an uninvolved spectator could.

"That's just how it is nowadays. Society is just itching for a chance to jump on someone the first chance they get." Kengo remarked. "That's what you get for not conforming to the values expected of you."

"But that's social media we're talking about. This is real life. You should have some respect at the very least."

"Respect?" Kengo peered at him through his glasses as though he was looking at someone who'd lost their mind. "Say, Arato. Have you been living under a rock or something? We live in an era where there's no separation between your online identity and your real one. Not even video games these days will allow you to sign up for an account without first verifying your identification documents. And putting that aside, look around you. When someone puts themselves out there, we slap an open season poster on their backs and have at it. Nothing is off limits."

Deep down, Arato understood his point. It wasn't as if he didn't recognize the despicable reality that Kengo was referring to. There was a reason why he stayed off Twitter, after all. But even so, just because he understood didn't mean he couldn't possess the right to get angry.

"Nothing is off limits? Are you listening to yourself? Just because you feel like you're in the right, this gives you a free pass to do anything you want towards someone else?"

"If you choose to pursue something that is rejected by society, don't act all surprised when society rejects you as well." Kengo shot back.

"Maybe I'll reject society right back then." Arato growled. "Wrong things are wrong, no matter how you look at it."

"Hey, I'm not saying it's right or wrong, just the way it is. But if you want to pick a fight with seventy-eight million people, that's your funeral. Just don't get me involved in whatever social justice crusade you fancy yourself leading. Well, it's not like a riajuu like you will ever do something that nuts."

"Come on. I think Ryo suits that description better." Arato joked, trying to ease the growing tension between them. He wasn't sure why, but he'd gotten Kengo oddly fired up for some reason.

"He's really not who he seems. Sure, at first glance Kaidai looks like one but interact with him for more than five minutes and the entire act falls apart completely. He's a fake riajuu." Kengo insisted. "You, Arato, on the other hand, are a riajuu of the highest order. The very fact that you can get seriously worked up for someone else's sake says everything about you."

"Me?" Arato scoffed. "I'm a side character."

"You? A side character? Someone who's well off, has a good future ahead of him, and gets along with his little sister to boot? If you're a side character, then what am I? A background extra? Seriously, Arato. Just stop, or else I'm really going to get angry." Kengo glared at him. "Carrying yourself all modest like that. You're not just a riajuu. You're the lord of the riajuus."

Before he could fire off a retort, they were interrupted by the returning Ryo.

"I'm back. What did I miss?" Ryo deadpanned. Obviously, he'd caught on to the negative turn their conversation had taken. He was sharp like that.

"According to Kengo here, apparently I'm the lord of the riajuus or something." Arato said. "How did the scouting mission go?"

"Nothing important." Ryo told them flatly with a hard look in his eyes, all of his earlier interest seemingly evaporating overnight. His smile was gone, replaced by a bored, almost cold look.

Looking back, it was probably at this moment Arato already realized the cause of his childhood friend's change of heart. And perhaps, he might have been more prepared for what lay ahead of him. But he tried not to dwell on it too deeply in the hopes that the problem would go away if he ignored it long enough, which made Ryo's next words hit even harder.

"Some dumbass left his hIE in the waiting area, that's the reason for all the fuss."

"Oh, you gotta be shitting me." Arato blurted out instantly. A cold bead of sweat was rolling down the back of his neck. His school, Tennozu, should have been a safe place for Arato, but at that moment he was feeling the same goosebumps he had on the night of the flower storm attack. Ignoring the shouts of his friends and the people around him, Arato elbowed his way to the front.

It couldn't be. There's no way. These were the words running through his bewildered mind as Arato continued pushing forward. He hadn't given her instructions to do something like this or even the directions to be able to execute it.

She had a different hairstyle than usual. Her trademark lavender tresses were tied in a ponytail with a white ribbon on the back. The girl, who normally appeared to be slightly older than him, now looked more like a high school student, probably the result of her new change in style.

The hands of the ticking clock continued to relentlessly turn.

The question repeated itself relentlessly in his mind.

Her outfit was also different from the one he'd seen her wearing earlier that morning. A sleeveless one-piece sundress the same shade as her eyes paired with earthly brown mules. The wind made the thin material billow loosely around her knees.

That weekday, during the height of April, Summer arrived early in the form of an unwelcome surprise at the gates of Tennozu First High School.

"This isn't a dream... Right?"

It was slipping from him.

This world, this reality.

Spiraling out of control.

It was all falling apart.

From beneath the shade of the roof panel, Lacia took a step out onto the tarmac where she had been waiting.

"It's real." She fixed her eyes on him and flashed him a cryptic, ambiguous smile.