[Multi-chapter] Kimi no koe ga boku wo yonderu (5/7)
Title: Kimi no koe ga boku wo yonderu (Your voice is calling me)
Author: tsuchi8562
Beta: andreja1989 <-- Thank you so very much!
Pairing: SakurAiba
Rating: PG-15
Genre: AU, Sci-fi (?!), Romance
Disclaimer: I don’t owe anything except one tiny screw...
*MASTERPOST*
Dream. Yes, that had to be a dream! After all machines don’t have feelings or needs, right? It’s impossible to feel robot’s soft fingers on cheeks, neck, chest and stomach? And most important, you can’t desire an android as your lover! This is wrong from so many reasons!
If that’s the truth, then why Sakurai actually could swear that he felt the touch? Why he liked it? And why, on heaven’s sake, he wanted to repeat it?
The teacher woke up sweaty, breathing heavily. He didn’t feel that way from a long time; his heart was pounding and he was tired. However this kind of tiredness was pleasurable and nice; probably that’s why he was terrified. There was only one person in the room except him who sat casually on the floor and looked at him with those teary eyes. In that moment it was extremely hard to remember that this is just a computer.
“Good morning Sho-kun. Are you hungry?” Aiba said with a smile… A SMILE! That was something new; another difference to fill up the list of strange behavior. This was just too much; Sakurai didn’t understand a thing and he was frustrated. His robot was acting more like his boyfriend than typical kitchen appliance, his friend was hunted by some unknown bad guys and the creator of this robot had to run away. Nino said that the people that beat him want Aiba. Yesterday the questions were troublesome, today they were necessary.
“Aiba-chan… Explain everything to me. Who are you? No, I asked the wrong question… You know who is after you, right? I want to help you but I won’t be able to do that without knowing everything…”
“I can’t tell you. This is too dangerous. I will make you a breakfast.” The android went to the kitchen and soon Sho could hear the sound of frying eggs. He sighed and looked at the clock; it was still too early to go to work now, so he lay down again. Namikiri didn’t contact with him at all, Nino as well. His other two friends were busy, besides he didn’t want to worry them. Because of all that thinking he forgot how many days had passed since the last time he saw the IT guy, so he took his cell phone and looked at the calendar. If he was right (and he was) he met with Gaku on the 28th… That means that it was… exactly one month ago! If Namikiri won’t call him until midnight, he will be able to watch that CD he received and everything will be clear or at least Sakurai hoped so. Meanwhile he had to go to work, so he pushed away any thoughts about Aiba; he need to be focused, however image of that CD couldn’t leave his mind.
***
Sho came back from work late; his car broke down few blocks away from his home, so he had to walk. He looked at his watch to notice that it was almost midnight. The robot was sitting in his bedroom, charging the batteries, as always at this hour, so the teacher decided to watch the video. He put the disc into his laptop and he wanted to play the content, when doorbell sounded, just seconds before midnight. Sakurai rushed to the door and saw Gaku who was breathing heavily.
“Namikiri-san!”
“Shh! Not so loud! Can I come in?”
“O-of course, please…” Sho let the man in and offered something to drink but the IT guy asked about Aiba. The teacher told about the changes in the robot’s behavior what made Gaku sigh.
“I was afraid of that… Truly I shouldn’t put that application on the CD but I didn’t have any choice. Except charging in your room and difference in speaking did you notice anything else?”
Sakurai was confused; he wasn’t sure if he should tell the older man about the dream he had. Because he still believed that it was just a dream… That’s why he didn’t say a word about it.
“Sakurai-san… I will ask you a strange question, extremely private one… I hope you will answer it because I am not asking about your private matters out of curiosity. Did Aiba tried to… touch you…?”
“H-how did you…?!” The teacher blushed and hid his face in hands. “Yes, he did. I thought it was just a dream, but it was too real…”
“So he is back… Things are more complicated that I thought…”
“Can you explain everything to me? It seems that something bad could happen to me and I don’t know what’s going on… Please, Namikiri-san!”
“I guess that I don’t have a choice…” Gaku sat on the floor and drank some water that Sho brought him. After that he started telling the story.
***
Aiba Masaki was a son of rich president of one of the biggest companies in Japan. It could be said that he had everything he could imagine. The best schools, studying abroad, private jet… Every little thing that will make a decent heir of his father’s empire. However there was a little scratch on that seemed to be perfect life. The businessman expected that his only son will create a family and soon he started to ask about Masaki’s private life, especially about women in his life. At first some lame excuses could be interpret as shyness but with time passing by they started to be strangely suspicious. As it occurred later, the yet-to-be-president wasn’t interested in women, in fact he was gay and that small obstacle made his father mad. The reason of that rage was obvious; however lack of perspective for a grandchild was only a part of it. Honestly speaking the old man couldn’t accept his son’s sexual orientation and he tried to make him change. Soon many women visited the Aiba’s mansion having only one purpose: to force Masaki to sleep with them and maybe later marry one of them. Of course that didn’t work and shortly after another problem came: the young man was caught red-handed on having sex with some unknown teenage boy in his bedroom. That was the spark that lit the fuse; the president locked his son in the house and forbade leaving the building. Shortly after that incident many girls in different age were visiting the residence, from different excuses: helping in studies or learning new languages but somehow every one of them ended up with attempts of seducing him. When it occurred that all these procedures are useless, the cruelest decision was made; Masaki was put in a locked Psychiatric Institution as a mentally ill. He spent a few months there but when the doctors saw that there is nothing wrong with him they had to let him out. Because he didn’t have any place to go, he was forced to return home and after that his father started to talk about marriage. It seemed that everything has been settled without Aiba’s knowledge; he had a beautiful and young fiancée which didn’t know a thing about her husband-to-be. The date of the wedding was settled, however the groom tried to escape and since that desperate act he was intoxicated by strong medications. Masaki lost contact with reality and because every attempt of sober him up ended in the same way (trial of escape) his father decided to still giving him the drugs. The problem occurred because his son couldn’t get married in that state of mind, so the businessman brought the most intelligent and competent man and asked him to build a robot which will look exactly like his only child. That expert was Namikiri Gaku, a university professor, with specialty in robotics. It happened that he knew Masaki well from the school; the boy was telling him his secrets and treated him more like a father. At first he didn’t want to agree on that proposal but soon enough the president found few humiliating details from Namikiri’s past and he had no choice but to accept the offer. He managed to persuade his new boss to let him hire his student for help. After a long conversation Ninomiya (the student) was allowed to help Gaku in building the android. The professor didn’t want to work exactly like he was told to, so he made two different neural systems: the one based on real Masaki’s personality, with every detail, including his interest in men and the one which Aiba’s father wanted.
Things got complicated in the day of the wedding. The real president’s son saw his electronic copy and went mad; nobody could calm him down. It was a result of constant taking the medications. This time the young man was locked in the basement, without possibility of escape. Namikiri didn’t approve that action, so just before the ceremony he switched the systems, so android was able to run away from the mansion, believing that he is the real Masaki. Unfortunately when Gaku, few hours later wanted to save the true Aiba, it occurred that the house was empty and the whole family disappeared. Soon enough the only proof of Masaki’s existence was sentenced by the businessman to destruction. The professor managed to hide the robot and change the systems again but they found him. That was the day when he asked Ninomiya for help…
***
“And where is the real Masaki now? Is he alive?!” Sakurai asked after Gaku ended the story.
“I don’t know… Although I managed to find out that a man who looks like him is held in abandoned old hospital… I went there but I couldn’t find a thing. Anyway, the president’s guards seem to know about your robot… They beat Kazunari and they tried to kill me. It’s not safe here! The best way is to escape. I have a hut in the mountains, you can go there….”
“But Namikiri-san! I have work! I can’t simply leave…”
“Sakurai-san, I don’t think you understand. The man who is able to poison his only child is capable to kill a stranger that is in his way. This person is you!”
“He’s right, Sho-kun.” Silent Aiba spoke all of sudden. “They will kill you in a blink of an eye. Let’s go…”
“Aiba-chan…” Sakurai whispered. How come a simple computer can express that many feelings in one sentence? He sensed care, worry and… love? Sudden pain came to his heart but it disappeared quickly. They’re right, he is in great danger. Not only because somebody wished him death, but because he started to fall for that android. Looking straight into robot’s face he whispered:
“Let’s go…”