Author's note: chapters 2 and 3 happen at the same time.
With a small yawn (and adorable), the pink haired girl most knew as Natsuki exited the school she attended alongside her fellow Literature Club members. The day was an intriguing one to say the least, with Sayori informing them that she'd be bringing/dragging a potential new member for the club, something that excited the other three members.
As they exited the front gates of school, Monika instructed them to prepare for their new potential club member the following day. Both Natsuki and Yuri nodded in response while Sayori, as bubbly as she usually was, promised that this 'Anon' boy would be here tomorrow. Yuri herself was indecisive on what she should do to welcome this 'Anon', but Natsuki already knew what she wanted to do.
Breaking off from the group as soon as she exited the school, Natsuki sighed as she walked home, her hands absentmindedly clinging onto the straps of her bag as she walked.
'Papa will probably be home late today…' thought the girl as she stared up into the sky, frowning for a moment before her expression hardened. 'But it doesn't mean I get to take my own sweet time baking! I'm gonna make the best darn cupcakes this 'Anon' guy has ever had! Me and Scorch!'
And right as she thought that, she found herself at the front of her house, a simple two story building with about four rooms in total. With a determined look on her face, she got ready to enter… only for a deep voice to greet her.
"Welcome back, Pilot," it had said, and Natsuki gave an adorable squeak as she turned to the side to stare at the one who spoke, only to sigh in relief when she saw that it was none other than her personal Titan unit, Scorch, peeking out from the side of her house and making her wonder how she didn't see him before now.
"Ah… Scorch… you nearly gave me a heart attack!" exclaimed Natsuki, pointing a finger at her Titan scoldingly. Shockingly, the massive mech, practically five times the height of the young girl, seemed to be ashamed of itself as it came fully into view, allowing Natsuki to see its bright yellow and black chassis and horribly bulky armour that very much echoed its predecessor, the Ogre. Multiple vents on its chassis vibrated as they worked on keeping the Thermite within the Titan cool, and its single monoeye was locked onto Natsuki as the Scorched Earth apologised.
"I sincerely apologise for my actions, Pilot," apologised Scorch wholeheartedly (wholecoredly?), lowering his monoeye as he spoke. "I did not mean to violate Protocol 3. I only intended on 'lightening the mood', as Pilot Sayori puts it."
"Jeez, you take everything so seriously, Scorch!" protested Natsuki as she swung the door of her house open, still speaking to her Titan as she entered. She noticed that her father was not home, much to her relief. "Sometimes I just joke around! Don't take everything I say to heart, alright!"
"Affirmative. Error: as a Titan manufactured by Hammond Robotics, I do not possess a heart. And, as such, I am unable to take everything you say to heart. I am, however, able to store whatever you say into my memory files. Should I do as such?"
"Funny, Scorch," was Natsuki's response as she went up to the second floor of the house. "You're really funny."
"I did not intend on being sarcastic."
And from then, Scorch stayed silent as Natsuki, after giving a quick roll of her eyes, went off to take a shower. The Titan crouched down in his standard 'Titanfall' position in Natsuki's backyard whilst waiting, and by the time the loli had spoken up, Scorch was halfway close to a full shutdown.
"Yo Scorch!" exclaimed Natsuki, prompting her Titan to race up to the side of his Pilot's house, the kitchen window, and peek in. Through the window, the Ogre based Titan could see that Natsuki was wearing her usual white shirt and frilly skirt and that she had her usual baking utensils set on the kitchen counter, and he knew what she was about to do.
"I take it that we are baking once more, Pilot?" clarified Scorch as he warmed up his Flame Core. Natsuki smirked and nodded, and from then on, both went silent as they began baking.
While Ogre based Titans were not made for jobs such as this… Scorch was shockingly good at assisting Natsuki with baking. Or at least he was good at what she told him to do.
Whilst a pilot is inside the cockpit of Scorch, the Titan would typically activate his Cockpit Cooling System to keep his Pilot from burning alive. When a pilot is not inside, however, the cockpit of a Scorch unit, if left untouched by the Coolant System, can often exceed 200 degrees fahrenheit… somehow not melting the chair inside it.
When she found out about this, Natsuki wasted no time in transforming Scorch's cockpit into her new microwave. Her Titan held no objections, and so began a long standing partnership between a Pilot/Baker and her Titan/Walking Oven, with the former beating the crap out of the batter and handing several trays over to the latter, who would bake them in its cockpit outside the window in record time.
Sayori herself once snuck into the cockpit of the Scorch for a nap. She ended up getting a fever thanks to the immense heat, though she did enjoy the fact that the cockpit smelled like cupcakes.
"Pilot Natsuki," was the first thing Scorch said as the two baked their second tray of cupcakes. Natsuki simply turned up to face the Titan, who had his cockpit closed, baking a cupcake inside him as his OS spoke.
"Wassup, Scorch?" replied Natsuki as she beat the crap out of some batter.
"Why are we baking so much at such a time?" inquired Scorch as his cockpit popped open. The Titan gingerly reached in and carefully pulled out a tray of freshly baked cupcakes before gently placing them on the kitchen counter. The pink haired girl paused for a moment to sniff the cupcakes, smiling ever so slightly at their aroma, before replying.
"No real reason," lied Natsuki, though Scorch could tell that she was lying very easily.
"Your manner of speech tells me that you are not speaking the truth," pointed out Scorch. "There is no need to worry, Pilot. To divulge this information to anyone would be a breach of Protocol 3, Protect the Pilot. You may share the reason as to why if you wish."
"Ack, fine. Just some guy that Sayori knows called Anon is coming for a visit tomorrow!" grumbled Natsuki as she handed him another tray of cupcakes to bake. Scorch replied calmly as he fitted it into his cockpit.
"Anon. Searching data banks… a search through my internal database tells me that the name matches up with your friend and Pilot of IO-4817, Sayori. Hypothesis: Pilot Sayori and this 'Anon' are comrades."
"Probably. She talks about him from time to time, though he seems very forgettable," muttered Natsuki as she decided that the two had baked (more than) enough to bribe Anon into joining the club. With a nod, Natsuki promptly tossed all the now dirty cooking utensils into the sink and sighed. "Alright, that oughta be enough for tomorrow! Just gotta clean this up…"
While she cleaned the sink, however, the girl felt her vision blur ever so slightly. Shaking her head, she decided to strike up a conversation with Scorch to keep her from nodding off. "Yo, Scorch?"
"According to my internal database, the proper response is "Wassup My Homie". As such, Wassup, my Homie, Pilot Natsuki?" responded Scorch calmly. Natsuki snickered at that.
"Mind telling me where papa went?" was her question as she placed an eggbeater back into her cabinet.
"Reviewing memory… your Father had left your house approximately eleven hours prior while you were in school," responded Scorch. "Suggestion: your father could be in one of three places. The first is the nightclub, a place he has frequented on several occasions. The second is the bar. The third is the stri-"
"Right…" muttered Natsuki, not wishing to hear the third option as she began to weakly hobble over to the kitchen table. She moved over to sit on one of the two chairs, and she just sat there for a short while as she conversed with Scorch in regards to several topics that involved manga. As time went on, however, Natsuki found herself losing consciousness, with the last thing she heard being Scorch warning her that her hunger levels seemed to be rising to a critical level.
"Pilot… Pilot Natsuki… your father has returned."
Those words were all that were needed to jolt Natsuki up from her slumber. Shooting upright, the pink haired child rubbed her eyes and took in her surroundings when she realized how late it was. She had perhaps slept on the kitchen table for three hours at most. It had been somewhere around seven when she had stopped baking, and the kitchen clock showed that it was about ten.
As she woke up, the girl felt her stomach groan, prompting her to grimace as she turned and stared out of the kitchen window, squeaking in fear when she laid eyes on the bright monoeye of Scorch. The Titan's monoeye was staring right at her, and it somehow managed to appear afraid for her.
"Your father is approximately fifty metres away from your housing estate," informed Scorch once more, and at that, Natsuki found herself shaking off the sleepiness spell and widening her eyes. "His chemical makeup suggests that he is experiencing the human term of being 'Shitfaced'. I believe that he will be excessively violent towards you especially, and I suggest that you embark immediately. We must uphold Protocol 3."
As he spoke, Scorch slid the kitchen window open and popped his cockpit hatch up to allow Natsuki to embark. The girl, however, didn't find it right to do so. Her father may have been a colossal dick, especially to her, but he was still her father… and both of them were still trying to cope with the fact that a member of their family had perished so long ago. Even if this did result in her getting a proper walloping, Natsuki thought that she should at least welcome her shitfaced father home…
And as soon as she opened that door, she wished that she hadn't.
"P-Papa…" greeted Natsuki nervously as she stared up at her father. Black haired, bespectacled and still holding onto a bottle of alcohol, the man showed that Natsuki had inherited the mother's side of the genes, IE all the good ones, and it seemed to infuriate him. His anger seemed to only grow more when he sniffed the air.
"Oi Natsuki, why do I smell cupcakes?!" demanded the older man, having to lean against the door frame to assist him in stepping towards Natsuki, a hand balled up into a fist. Turning to the kitchen, Natsuki gulped as Scorch narrowed his monoeye at her father.
"I-I was just… uh…" began Natsuki, though she didn't manage to finish her sentence before what felt like a large glass bottle smashed against her head. Screaming as she fell back, Natsuki now looked at her shitfaced father holding his emptied bottle of alcohol, wielding it like a weapon, as he approached her. "P-P-Papa…?!"
"I gave up so much for ya, kid!" exclaimed the man, shakily approaching his daughter with his alcohol bottle in his grip, nearly stumbling over his own two feet as he did. The man didn't care if he had just struck his daughter with a beer bottle, or that he had caused blood to ooze from her new forehead wound. He was too shitfaced to do so, and if anything, if he wasn't drunk, Natsuki doubted that he would be any gentler. "And whaddya do, kid?! Ya simply take shit away from me! First ya took away mah wife! Then… that big fancy robot! The least you could do was follow my instructions! But nooooooo, you never listen, now do ya?!"
By then, Natsuki, driven by fear and adrenaline, managed to crawl away to the backdoor of her house. Swiftly, she shakily stood up, a hand clutching her bloodied forehead while the other grabbed the doorknob and tore it open. She wasted no time in scrambling out. Her head injury, however, was a bit more severe than she had expected, as it caused her vision to blur, causing the pink haired girl to stumble onto the ground, just in time to see her father approaching her.
"Come back here, kid!" exclaimed the drunk man, propping himself up against the backdoor frame to steady himself. "Your mother never disciplined you properly before she died, so lemme do her a solid and discipline you myself!"
Squealing in fear as blood oozed from the small wound on her forehead, Natsuki crawled into the backyard of her house, quite literally fearing for her life as her father approached her on wobbly feet. Tears streamed down her face as he did, though just before her father could reach her, the girl was scooped up into a metal hand… and it was then when she remembered that her Titan existed.
"S-Scorch…" muttered Natsuki as the Titan lifted her up, out of the reach of her father, and rested her on his shoulder. The Titan, however, didn't seem keen on replying properly as he ripped the Thermite Launcher off his waist and aimed it at Natsuki's father, who actually did back up ever so slightly.
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh?!" exclaimed the man, pointing the beer bottle at Natsuki. "You send your robot to kill me when you have no use for me, eh?! Well go on then, kill me right here, right now! You lil' ungrateful bitch!"
Natsuki herself bit her lip as she cried, the harsh words of her father, while not exactly new to her, managed to sting her immensely. Scorch, on the other hand, kept his focus on the apparent blood relative of his pilot.
"Pilot Natsuki, this man has attempted to bring harm and potentially end your life, a breach of Protocol 3. Shall I terminate him?" asked Scorch, his grip on the Thermite Launcher noticeably tightening. Fury was not something that the girl would associate with someone that was usually as calm as her Titan, but even so, she'd be lying if she claimed to not hear it in his voice.
The man in question had noticeably widened his eyes and stepped back in fear at that comment, apparently not expecting the Titan to be so willing to exterminate him, and Natsuki, despite wanting to say yes… couldn't. She couldn't just say yes to killing her own father… and so, she grit her teeth and forced herself to respond with a lie.
"...no…" she muttered. Scorch, however, kept the barrel of the Thermite Launcher trained on her father for a little longer, and both Natsuki and her pappy thought that he would fire. The slight movements of the Titan, such as the way he was fingering the trigger, seemingly eager to pull it back and discharge the Thermite shot within to obliterate Natsuki's father, or how he gripped the barrel of the weapon tighter than usual, were clear signs that the Titan was willing to end the life of the man who claimed to be his Pilot's blood relative. Though in the end… he complied, holstering the gun on his waist as he expelled excess heat from his vents.
"... affirmative," was all the OS could say as Natsuki's father headed back inside the house, not wishing to tempt fate by sticking around. Once he was gone, Scorch immediately sat Natsuki on his palm and checked on her. "Your forehead has been wounded with a blunt object and is bleeding profusely. Scanning… you are lucky. There is no internal damage, but if you do not stop the bleeding, you could potentially perish from blood loss. Recommendation: stop the bleeding with a clean item, preferably a piece of cloth."
"Y-Yeah… you don't need to boss me around, Scorch…" responded Natsuki as she pulled a handkerchief out of thin air and pressed it firmly against her bleeding forehead. Scorch watched intently as she did, and somehow Natsuki thought that he was frowning even though he had no mouth. "Yo… Scorch?"
"Yes, Pilot Natsuki?" responded Scorch.
"Thanks… for the save back there…" thanked Natsuki with a sad smile as she removed her handkerchief, staring at it with a grimace as she saw how red it had become, and Scorch nodded his monoeye in response to her thanking him.
"I was simply…" began Scorch, intending to bring up his Protocols… only to stop himself. His systems told him that it was a terrible idea… so he gave a different reply. "...doing what anyone else would."
Natsuki promptly looked at him with a questioning expression, though she gave a smirk before nodding. "For a massive Gundam-esc Mecha, you sometimes strike me as more human than machine, y'know?"
"Correction: Gundams are a type of fictional war machine from Japan, made by several companies in the fictional universes such as the Universal Century and Post-War Timeline, examples being the E.F.S.F or Gjallarhorn. I am a Titan reproduced by Hammond Robotics, a real robot, as many call me, that is incapable of aerial combat, unlike several of the Gundams in fiction. Of the Seven Official Hammond Robotic Titans, only the Northstar is capable of flight, and even then extended periods of flight require many modifications to the chassis of the Northstar which…"
"Aaaaaaand you ruined it," was what Natsuki said, cutting Scorch off as she snickered, her Titan's unexpectedly long reply catching her off guard and causing her to unintentionally forget about her recent issue as her Titan nodded his monoeye.
"Acknowledged. Saving ruined moment into my memory drives," responded Scorch, and Natsuki snickered ever so slightly once more.
"Funny, Scorch. You're really funny," giggled Natsuki, and her response from Scorch surprised her.
"Apparently I am."
After giving a smile, Natsuki found herself yawning ever so slightly. Noticing that, Scorch popped his cockpit open and moved the hand unit that Natsuki sat on close to it to allow his Pilot to embark.
"With the current state of your father, it would be best for you to spend the night in the cockpit," suggested Scorch. "It is to ensure your safety and to uphold Protocol 3."
Natsuki wasn't willing to argue at that point as she moved in and sat on the cockpit seat. The cockpit wasn't excessively hot. It felt rather cooling, if anything, though the cupcake smell was still present. With her small frame, Natsuki had little issue with positioning herself into a comfortable manner.
And there she sat, hugging her knees as she felt her consciousness fade. Scorch did consider putting a lullaby on his built-in radio, though he thought better of it. Natsuki might honestly murder him for playing such a cute song, after all…
Natsuki could only widen her eyes when she saw the sight before her. Her mother… lying on the intersection of a road that was not too far from her home. Her mother had her neck snapped in an unnatural position, with her eyes wide and staring at nothing. The one who had struck her had exited his car and was desperately checking to see if she was alright, though she was not breathing…
He was not the only one who was checking on the woman, however. There was also another person… a child, one who had inherited the pink hair and eyes of her mother… and Natsuki immediately recognised the girl as herself, simply younger. Her eyes were filled with tears as she shook the shoulder of her deceased mother, ignoring everything that was around her. At that one point in time, the younger Natsuki only cared about the body of her mother…
"M-Mummy… mummy…!" exclaimed the younger Natsuki as she cried her eyes out, her mouth contorted into a grimace as she shook her mother's body. With a shaky hand, Natsuki approached her younger self, wishing to perhaps comfort the child… only for her hand to pass straight through her younger self's body, with the only thing she felt as her hand phased through her being a vague, misty sensation.
"What the…" muttered Natsuki, retracting her hand as she raised a brow. The girl attempted to place her hand on her younger self's shoulder once more… only to get the same result. "The Hell's going on?"
Right as she asked that, Natsuki gasped as the entire world turned black for a split second. Once said split second was up, Natsuki found herself standing in a different location.
Now, instead of standing in an intersection, staring at her younger self weeping over the body of her mother, Natsuki realized that she was now standing in a hospital room. The only occupant of the room was a six year old child… a six year old Natsuki sitting on a hospital bed, bandaged on several parts of her body as she stared at nothing. Biting her bottom lip, Natsuki approached her younger self and stared at her.
Her younger self looked so… broken, with that blank look in her eyes, both of which appeared to be red and puffy from crying. Natsuki herself slouched ever so slightly when she felt some guilt churn around in her stomach, triggered by the sight of her younger self sitting there, emotionless.
'It was my fault…' thought Natsuki, gritting her teeth as she felt her eyes go glassy. 'If I never asked mummy about the bakery, she would've been fine… it's my fault… my fault…'
"Yes, it is your fault," agreed a voice… her voice, prompting Natsuki to widen her eyes and turn to face her younger self, sitting on the hospital bed. She was now staring at her older self, frowning as her eyes shone with accusation. The older Natsuki stepped back with wide eyes as her younger self acknowledged her for the first time. "Why did you ask mummy to go?"
"Why, Natsuki?"
That voice echoed in Natsuki's mind as she stepped back. Natsuki quickly blinked her eyes, only to find herself in her room, though she wasn't alone. She was in the room with her young, six year old self, who was staring up at the older Natsuki with an accusing expression.
"Why did you ask mummy to go? If you didn't, she would still be alive!"
Natsuki knew that… if she didn't request that, her mother would have most still be alive…
"You're such a brat, Natsuki!"
The guilt welled up in the older Natsuki's chest as she stepped back, tears erupting from her eyes as she held her hands close to her chest.
"A brat that only takes and never cares for others!"
The younger Natsuki's skin slowly began to pale, prompting Natsuki to turn up and stare at her younger self with wide, watery eyes.
"You talk down to Yuri because of her preference! Why can't you just respect others, you little bitch?!"
The younger Natsuki began smiling… a smile that looked normal for a short while before stretching out to an abnormal length…
"Your father works so hard just for you! And you repaid him by taking away his wife!"
Her eyes began to swell up with blood, prompting the older Natsuki to place a hand over her mouth in disgust as her younger self quite literally began crying blood. The girl felt her gag reflexes kick up, though she held it in as her tears streamed down her cheeks.
"You know, why don't you just go snap and leave everyone alone, you Tsundere wannabe?!"
The younger Natsuki's neck forcefully swung to the left. And the older Natsuki widened her eyes immensely when she heard her younger self break her own neck.
"After all, it'd make everyone so much happier…"
And at that, the younger Natsuki rushed straight at her older self, causing her to scream out in terror…
"Natsuki!"
Screaming as she shot up, Natsuki nearly smacked the top of her head against the cockpit of her Titan. Breathing heavily, the pink haired child placed a hand on the side of the cockpit and the other over her chest. Eyes wide and forehead slick with sweat, she felt tears slide down her cheeks as she took in her surroundings.
"Natsuki, your heart rate has exceeded 110.1 beats per minute," informed Scorch in a surprisingly worried tone. "It is a 41.9% increase… you were experiencing a nightmare."
A nightmare… he was right. What was that…? Natsuki had several nightmares in her past, but she never had something as bad as this. It was enough to make her ball up and bawl into her knees, with Scorch staying silent as she did.
"Natsuki… if you wish to unwind, know that I am here and more than willing to listen to you vent," assured her Titan in a rather calming tone. He got no response from Natsuki, so he didn't press the issue as he knew that he would be unable to change her mind. However, she did respond to him eventually, something that shocked his systems ever so slightly.
"It's my fault, Scorch…" was what Natsuki responded with, her voice sounding shockingly devoid of life as she spoke. Despite wishing to bring it up, however, Scorch stayed respectfully silent as he listened to her. "Everything that happened that day was all my fault… it was my fault that mummy died… my fault that papa is the way he is now… if I didn't ask her to go to that bakery…"
"Negative," was her immediate response from Scorch, who was having none of her self deprecation. "Accessing memory log 32. According to the log, both your father and myself were meant to escort you and your mother to the bakery. Your father refused to do so while I was given Protocol 2 by you yourself: stay behind and protect your father from the 'bad people'."
"...if I didn't give you that order, maybe-"
"Negative. You would not have known what happened. Even if I had followed, your mother could have been KIA even with my overwatch."
"Well, what are the chances?" muttered Natsuki with a frown.
"Calculating… the chances are 13.231299170946209%."
"That's… pretty low…" pointed out the girl, only for Scorch to let out a mechanical groan that made Natsuki squeak.
"Low, but the chance is still there. Conclusion: the fault is not yours, Natsuki. I should have enforced Protocol 3 and escorted you and your mother to the bakery, and your father should have upheld his duties as your parental figure."
"But… I probably made papa's life worse after…" argued Natsuki, slowly running out of arguments as she continued.
"Negative," was Scorch's immediate response. "Your father never contributed to your family even when your mother was still alive. Reviewing memory files 12 through 93… your father had never left the residential complex to acquire a job for the past 6342 days. Your mother was the one who worked and provided a steady income for the household through a majority of your life.
"B-B-But…" started Natsuki doing her best to find another argument. Scorch, however, decided to enforce Protocol 3 and spoke up before she could find one.
"That is enough, Natsuki," was what Scorch had said to cut his Pilot off. His OS sounded a little more strained than it usually was, and the sudden change in tone was enough to silence Natsuki as her Titan spoke. "This tragedy was completely out of your control. Please… you must come to accept this. Your father has never done anything to assure this to you, so as a way to uphold Protocol 3, I shall do so in his place."
There was no response from Natsuki as she hugged her knees much tighter, frowning as she curled up into a ball in her Titan's cockpit. Odd… her Titan acted more like her father than her actual flesh and blood relative did, and it made her think a little before replying.
"Scorch… why do you care this much about me…?" asked Natsuki uncertainly. Her Titan's vents groaned ever so slightly when she asked that. "I mean… you're pretty cool and protective… if anything you'd be better with Sayori, what with her being so… big brother-esc?"
"Natsuki, not only would me abandoning you be a breach of Protocol 3, but to do so would mean that I had knowingly left a child to be beaten and starved by her only parental figure. While I am unable to do much to solve your malnourishment, I am capable of limiting the physical damage he could potentially inflict on you," was the response from Scorch.
"That… was a pretty deep response from you, of all people… or mech, I guess…?" muttered Natsuki thoughtfully as she allowed a small smile to grace her initially saddened face. "It almost makes me think you're an actual dude with emotions and all that."
"I am unable to process emotion in the same manner as humans," pointed out Scorch. "But I can replicate them. The upholding of Protocol 3 requires that I understand and learn about the emotions of humans and use my acquired knowledge to comfort them whenever required. As such, I suppose that me acting more 'human' than you would expect is to be expected."
"Man, this Hammond Robotics company really put quite a lot of effort into you Titans," muttered Natsuki with a smirk.
"Correct. Hammond Robotics developed all Titan units to possess several personality traits that allow us to strengthen the bonds with a Pilot."
"Well, it's working so far," said Natsuki with a smile as she patted the side of her Titan's cockpit. "You're acting more like my dad than my dad does for crying out loud!"
"Acknowledged. Natsuki, do you wish to call me 'Papa?"
"WHAT?!"
"... nothing."
And with that Natsuki didn't say much, frankly quite dumbstruck by that inquiry Scorch had given her, while her Titan stayed silent. The awkward silence was eventually broken when Natsuki cleared her throat, catching the attention of her Titan.
"But… is it alright if I called you… Big Brother?" inquired Natsuki, tapping her fingers against one another in an awkward manner as she asked.
"I hold no objections, Natsuki. To do so would be more appropriate than calling me your father. Even so, I was constructed approximately one year after you were born, and as such, I believe that the title of 'Little Brother' would be more appropriate."
"Look, don't be so serious about everything, Onii-Chan!" complained Natsuki, crossing her arms as she pouted. "Just go with it!"
"Understood. Inquiry: the term Onii-Chan is the Japanese Equivalent of 'Big Brother'. As you choose to refer to my new title in that language, shall I do the same?"
"Just call me Natsuki!" was his simple response from the baker, who pouted ever so slightly. "Jeez, you don't need to over analyze everything."
"Acknowledged. Conclusion: I should be more like you, Natsuki. You speak bluntly and sometimes without thinking, often to rebuttal the argument of you being cute and-"
"THAT'S BECAUSE I'M NOT CUTE!" roared the loli, causing her Titan to pause. For a moment, they stayed silent, only for Natsuki to turn red out of embarrassment. "I… I'm sorry for that…"
"Do not worry about it. You have experienced quite a lot today. Perhaps you should rest now, Natsuki. You still have a meeting with 'Anon' scheduled tomorrow, after all," suggested Scorch. Natsuki simply nodded in response as she leaned back against the cockpit, yawning as she felt her eyelids droop.
"Yo… Onii-Chan?" muttered Natsuki as she drifted off to sleep.
"Yes, Natsuki?"
"Goodnight…"
"Sweet dreams."
Mission: Protect Natsuki
New title has been acquired: Big Brother, called 'Onii-Chan' by Pilot
New Protocol 2: Act as Natsuki's Big Brother
Error: Chassis size prevents me from entering the confines of Natsuki's house and providing emotional support, which is the job of a Big Brother. The presence of her father also poses a threat to Protocol 2
Solution: Inform other Literature Club members about Natsuki's problem
Error: To tell them would be a breach of trust. Trust is necessary when attempting to maintain a steady relationship with a Pilot.
New solution: Watch over Natsuki closely. If she is confronted by her father in a threatening manner, any method shall be used in order to uphold Protocols 2 and 3.
Searching for keyword: Papa
…
…
…
Several memories located. Reviewing records…
…
…
…
Review concluded.
Conclusion: Natsuki's father is a [REDACTED]
Solution: Alert the local authorities in order to uphold Protocols 2 and 3 as soon as possible
Warning: Natsuki is still struggling with being called cute
Solution: Working on it
Personal opinion: Natsuki is cute