Intro/ Disclaimer:

Hi, everybody! After two years on a mission in Portugal, guess what? I'm back!! While I've got tons of mission stories to share if anyone wants them, etc., I've really been looking forward to updating the stories I left hanging during my absence.

Thank you to everybody who has been reading my stories and writing so many kind, positive and constructive reviews!

As always, I categorically deny any and all ownership of Chobits and related characters. The only things I do own are a couple of DVD's of the series and the first three volumes of the manga. I'm not getting paid to write this; I just do it because I enjoy writing.

So, without further ado, here's the much-anticipated fourth chapter! Enjoy!!

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Chapter 4: Simulated

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The morning after Ryu's visit was completely uneventful. After her boyfriend had left, Mayumi had simply gone to bed, leaving Ran to wash the dishes and put out the candles.

At 7:30, Ran came out of standby to wake her up, which was starting to become routine, and by 7:38 Mayumi was out of the bathroom, dressed, and sat down for another of Ran's restaurant-quality breakfasts. Everything was going along like clockwork.

And then he kissed her.

It took a moment for Mayumi's brain to register the fact that something was pressed against her left cheek. Another tenth of a second, and she also took notice of the fact that that something was actually quite soft, and a little warm. Then her brain finally pieced the information together into a cohesive thought.

A kiss? I'm being kissed by...

Suddenly, the warm, pleasant feeling evaporated, and felt her stomach do a flip-flop as she realized who the only other person - well, being - in the apartment was. Mayumi jumped to her feet, blushing like crazy, as she whirled around to face Ran. The persocom, for his part, was quite surprised by the sudden movement, and fell back on the tatami mat, looking up with an expression of utter shock.

"R-Ran, what are you doing?"

Ran blinked. "I was giving you a kiss, Miss Mayumi."

"Well, I know that, but why?"

Ran smiled. "Well, as your new boyfriend, I'm showing affection in a physical yet non-demanding manner."

Mayumi choked. "M-m-my ... my boyfriend?"

"Yes. Because you kissed me last night, this means that we are romantically involved, correct?"

Mayumi's jaw hung slack for a second. "N-n-n ... NO! Ran, just because you won the game last night doesn't make you my boyfriend!"

"But ... you kissed me, so doesn't that mean ...?" Unbidden, the memory of last night's kiss flashed through Ran's mind. What had most astonished him had not been the physical sensation, necessarily, but the mental connections that he had made between what Mayumi was doing and the things he had read online. If she's kissing me, that means that she ...

Mayumi let out something between a huff and a restrained scream. "Ran, for crying out loud, do you have to be so stupid? It's like, everything I say to you, you think it means something else! I mean, 'lighten up', or 'close the door before you start changing clothes'. How hard is it to understand that? Didn't the people who made you program you with some kind of common sense, or do I need to buy an upgrade package for that?"

Ran just stared up at her for a few seconds. Suddenly, the pleasant feeling that he had had since last night seemed to have disappeared, and in its place was a kind of ... heaviness. Ran had no words for it, but it was the most unpleasant sensation he had yet experienced. They stayed like that for a long moment, Mayumi glaring down at the fallen persocom, Ran looking back with a stunned, pained expression. Then Ran broke eye contact, looking down, and started getting to his feet. "I ... I apologize, Miss Mayumi."

Something about Ran's tone, the way he said the words, made Mayumi stop for a moment. Did I hurt his feelings? Then Mayumi took a deep breath and went back to glaring at him. "Come on, Ran, cut it out with the hangdog look. You're a persocom. You're not really sad, you're just acting like it because somebody put it in your programming that, when you piss off your owner, you're supposed to look down at the floor and act all depressed so they'll feel badly. But it's not working on me, Ran, and it pisses me off that you're putting on an act to make me feel sorry for you, so just stop it right now."

Ran stood up and turned to face her, his eyes looking like he was about ready to cry. Then Ran turned and started walking toward the counter. "Here's your lunch for today, Miss Mayumi."

For a minute, Mayumi wanted to yell at him some more, because of the sullen way he said it. Instead, she took a deep breath, clenched and unclenched her fists, then accepted the lunch bag from Ran without comment. From then on until she walked out the door, no words passed between them.



As she walked downstairs, May realized that her heart was still beating way faster than normal. Jeez, am I that shallow? For that briefest of moments, between feeling the kiss and realizing it was coming from her persocom, she had actually enjoyed it.

Get a grip, May. You're not some slutty, desperate girl who sleeps with persocoms. You're Mayumi Inori, you are smart, you are talented, you are attractive. You deserve a real, loving, sensitive man. And you do not have to settle for an oversized doll!

With that in mind, Mayumi marched resolutely out of the apartment building.

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Ran watched from the living-room window. The heavy feeling was still there in his chest, and as he watched Mayumi stomp angrily across the street to the bus stop, it only go worse. Is this what humans call rejection? he thought. Then he remembered what Mayumi had said.

I am a persocom.

I have no feelings.

This is only my programming. Computer code and circuitry. It will cease now that I don't have to "put on an act" for her.

"I apologize, Miss Mayumi," he muttered, watching her bus rumble down the street. "Obviously, I was wrong to deduce that you cared about me. Or that I could care for you."

He turned and headed for the sink.

The heavy feeling didn't go away.

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