Longer Breath for Kazu (one shot)
Title : Longer Breath for Kazu
Pairing : Sakumiya
Genre : au, friendship, a little bit romance, science fic
Rating : pg
Length : one shot
Disclaimer : I swear it was just my imagination
Summary : Sho was a brilliant doctor, but also a bad drinker.
"I'm not drunk!" Sho grumbled to Aiba who insisted him not to drive home.
"You'd better stay here, you can sleep in my bed upstairs," the man suggested. The bar was almost empty that night; Sho was the only one left there.
"I'm fine, I'm going home," he said as he grabbed his jacket and walked towards the door. Aiba was still chanting his never ending worrisome.
"You might crash somebody on your way home, Sho chan, and you will end up in police quarter."
"Jun will take care of everything if that happens," Sho hiccupped and wore his jacket as they reached the front door.
"Jun had already enough with your bad reputation."
"Aiba, I'm going home, see you tomorrow," Sho opened his car door and slumped into the driver seat. He pushed the engine button and the flying car floated off of the ground - but it was low enough to say proper good bye to Aiba. The automatic navigator sound was heard to guide him home. Sho had always forgotten to add autopilot system in his car; especially at the time like this - when he wasn't capable enough to bring himself home.
He knew Jun would be so mad if he filed another form for his rule-breaking-accident, but tonight he wasn't that drunk - his head was clear enough to think straight.
"Make sure you don't crash anything or anybody, okay!" Aiba patted his shoulder.
"Understood, captain," Sho giggled, slamming his door.
He left Aiba's bar in high speed; flying over the main way. Jun might be on duty somewhere in this town, but Sho hoped he wouldn't meet him - by accident or not. He turned left and changed the gear to fly higher, but his radar showed something strange. A flying object approached his car and it was too late for Sho to avoid it. His car crashed the unknown object, he stepped deeply onto his brake until his car stopped and parked it aside off of the road. He looked around, nobody else was there.
"Oh no," he covered his mouth as he found what he had crashed.
A boy crouched around six meters away from his car - unmoved. Sho's heart jumped to his throat; he had crashed someone and that boy might be dead. He stepped slowly towards the body - making sure that this boy wasn't dead. His trembling hand touched the boy's neck to check his pulse; Sho inhaled a deep breath as he felt he was still breathing - even though it was very weak.
What was the point of becoming the most brilliant doctor if he couldn't handle an injury? He lifted the boy to his back and carried him towards his car. He paid attention to the boy closely; he looked okay and unharmed, despite the fact that Sho had crashed him that way.
He drove home with more alert, afraid that he would crash another unknown object. Speaking of which; this accident was weird, what was that boy doing in an empty high way? Besides, people were prohibited to access this place; it was only for flying cars - the latest brand, like what Sho had. It was weird, he glanced at the boy through the rearview mirror above his head; he was young - probably in early twenties.
Sho reached the end of the high way; heading towards his home afterwards. He parked his car carefully at his garage and took care of the unconscious boy. But when he was about to lift him out; the boy's eyes opened. He stared blankly at Sho; another weird thing - his eyeballs were glowing yellow instead of usual brown color.
"Run out of battery," he said.
"Run out of battery," he repeated.
Sho blinked several times; he had crashed a robot. A weird robot, because he looked nearly like human. Who was so insane in letting their robot wander the city all alone?
"Run out of battery," he repeated.
"Er-, Mr. Robot, what should I do to help you?" Sho scratched the back of his head. At least he didn't kill anybody.
The robot didn't response; the glow of his eyes grew dimmer and he closed his again
"Wait, wait," Sho grabbed the robot's shoulder, shaking him.
Nothing happened.
He tried to think of a solution and decided to bring him inside. He knew it wasn't illegal to own a robot, but there were only a few scientists who possessed the license to create them and let them to live among human. Whoever created this robot must have been crazy enough and super genius.
He laid the robot on his sofa and observed him closer. He was exactly looked like a human. His black hair covered his head, his skin was soft and fair, and he was fashionable. Sho couldn't think how the programmer added the fashion style to the robot’s system. He found a small wound on the robot's finger and it was bleeding.
"Blood?" he asked himself. He made sure that the blood was real thing before he took his tools and cleaned it. He wrapped the wounded fingers carefully. The robot's fingers were cute like children's.
He rose off of the floor and did the only thing made senses; he recharged the boy. He inserted the charger into the small hole on the robot's neck with hesitant. He hoped it wasn't just his insane hallucination; inserting the charger cable into human body wasn't a pleasant thing, it was so much different, compared with what he did in the hospital.
"Sleep well," he said. He wasn't sure what to do next, but going to bed was the first option. He gave the robot the last glance and left him.
***
"Sho! Your fine is waiting!"
Jun's automatic massager yelled out from his phone. Sho wished he could throw his phone out of his window, along with Jun, if it was needed. Jun was his best friend from his childhood and he was the best police officer this town could have, but also the most annoying one when it came to his stupid rules.
Sho rolled aside, he was naked. The bad habit that he couldn't erase up until now - he always took off all of his clothes when he was asleep. He didn't bother to cover his body; it was still early after all. He tried to collect his memories from last night, but it seemed that his head moved a little bit slower that morning - until he heard a little voice from his door.
"Oh, crap, how can I forget..." Sho cursed lightly. His backup memories started to flow like waterfall into his head. He had crashed a robot last night and that handsome robot must have been awakened and saw him lying naked on his bed. He shivered, imagining that robot had taken his pictures with his computer system and saved them inside his memory and printed them and would show them to all of the citizens.
But, who would spare their precious time to see his naked body anyway?
Sho hopelessly looked for his boxer, but it wasn't here. He must have walked on his sleep and wandered around the house. That robot had witnessed him naked? What a shame. He blushed - without any particular reasons.
He saved himself with a T-shirt, wrapping it around his waist. He walked out slowly.
"Please, don't hurt me!"
The robot hid behind Sho's sofa, crouching like a lost puppy.
"No, no, no, I'm not going to hurt anyone, I'm just trying to look for my boxer," Sho blushed over his last word, he considered to move his closet to his room properly next time; in case there would be somebody stay over in his house.
"I think your boxer is next to the refrigerator," the robot informed him.
"Oh..." Sho shifted as fast as he could towards the kitchen and grabbed his poor boxer from the floor.
"Thanks for charging me last night," the robot said, "and for taking care of my wound, doctor Sakurai."
"How did you know my name?" Sho murmured, taken aback.
"Your name written all over this place," the robot said, smiling.
"Are you truly a robot?" Sho asked.
"Sort of," the other answered, "I'm Kazunari, nice to meet you," he shook his hand.
"Wait, I...crashed you last night, I should apologize," Sho blabbered.
"I'm fine, I was just running out of battery and accidentally fell to your car," Kazunari said, as if car crashes wasn't a big deal.
"Where is your house, I'll take you there," Sho said, wearing his T-shirt.
"I live at the apartment, around two kilometers from here."
"With your owner?"
"Owner?"
"You're a robot, you must have an owner," Sho gazed suspiciously at this mysterious boy.
Kazunari formed an offended face, but soon it changed into a weak smile.
"I'm just a half robot," he said bitterly.
"Ha-half?"
"Long story," Kazunari stepped closer to Sho who accidently shifted behind, he was still embarrassed by the fact that Kazunari had witnessed him naked. “I…will go home by myself; I think the battery is enough. My charger is broken and my brother is too busy to repair it,” the boy explained while checking his arm.
“Oh…” Sho couldn’t find any right words to that. He still pictured how it felt to have a half-robot body.
“See you, doctor,” Kazunari said, turning his body towards the exit.
“Wait, wait,” Sho chased him, “we haven’t eaten our breakfast yet, maybe a cup of coffee and a slice of toast,” he said to the shorter.
“That’s very kind of you, but I have something to do,” Kazunari replied. “Thanks for crashing me,” he continued, winking.
“Well, uhm, that’s…you’re welcome,” he said as he walked the boy towards his door. “See you, Kazunari kun.”
“Call me Kazu,” the boy said. He searched something inside his pocket and slid it out; a small remote control, he pushed the button and a second later - he floated off the ground. “Bye, bye, doctor Sakurai.”
Sho waved his hand as he watched Kazu flew over his house. He shook his head; it was a weird night, and his fine was waiting along with Jun’s briefing. He sighed while repeating Kazu’s words.
“Thank you for crashing me.”
****
“What did I tell you?” Aiba’s hands were on his waist when he was talking to Sho that night.
“It was an accident,” Sho gulped his third glass and requested the next one. Jun was there too; he had given Sho a very long briefing regarding his accident - not caring about the half-robot who thanked Sho for crashing him.
“That robot might be a spy who wants to steal your newest note of your patients,” Jun stirred in.
“Probably, but he didn’t,” Sho said while setting his glass on the table and taking the edamame on Aiba’s plate.
“You said that he is a half-robot,” Aiba said.
“Yes, that was what he told me.”
“Could it be…” Jun put his right hand on his chin.
“What?” Sho leaned to him, lifting his eyebrows.
“I’ve just remembered about the accident a couple years ago,” Jun said; his eyes looked at the far corner of Aiba’s bar, “a boy was nearly dead, beaten by a group of robber. I was there at the scene, when an ambulance arrived, that boy had already missing. I saw a man, if I was not mistaken, but I can’t remember his face.”
“That’s scary,” Sho shivered, pouring his glass another beer. “Do you think that he’s the same boy?”
“I don’t know,” his friend shrugged and finished his own.
“I want to meet him again,” Sho said. But it was more to himself, he remembered that boy’s yellow eyes; it gave him a punch - maybe those eyes were brown once, before somebody changed their colors.
“I’ll drive you home this time,” Aiba grabbed his glass and took away the beer bottle. Sho pouted, but he had no choice than obeying the bartender.
***
“You should be more careful,” Sho told his patient. He had just finished sewing the wound, his patient was a new citizen named Ohno. He suffered a deep cut on his left arm; Sho couldn’t imagine how this man got this wound from.
“What do you do?” Sho asked.
“My occupation?” Ohno asked him back.
“Yes.”
“I’m just an ordinary mechanic,” Ohno answered, smiling.
“That’s a tough job,” Sho said, concerning. “You can’t use your hand normally, at least for ten days from now on.”
“That’s bad, I have to repair something.”
“Well, I think you must find someone else to help you,” Sho said.
“It can’t wait, or my little brother dies.”
“D-die?” Sho was taken aback, “what do you mean die? I can help him, I’m a doctor.”
“Are you sure? His system is a little bit broken and…” Ohno was hesitated to continue, “I’m sorry, I talk too much.”
“Wait,” Sho looked at his patient’s face more carefully, “what’s your brother’s name?”
“Kazunari, somebody had crashed him and damaged his system.”
Sho avoided the man’s gaze, that boy had lied to him.
“How is he?” he asked slowly.
“A little bit unwell, his ba…I have to go home,” Ohno looked for his bag, “thanks, doctor.”
“Ohno san,” Sho called the man, he turned around and waited, “can I see your brother? I think he needs a doctor.”
Ohno considered for a few seconds before nodding weakly.
“I’ll be ready in a minute.” Sho took off his cloak, hanged it on the porch and grabbed his tote bag. He followed Ohno’s steps towards the elevator - the short man looked stronger than his appearance, maybe which was because of his job as a mechanic.
Ohno guided him towards his own flying car - which was antique. The car was an old fashion, but it had artistic sense that Sho had never seen before.
“Please have a seat,” he gestured Sho to get in. He did as what Ohno had told him; it was more comfort than his what he thought.
“You have a nice car,” Sho complimented the man.
“Thanks,” Ohno answered, smiling, “do you mind if I use the autopilot? I can’t drive with this hand.”
“Go ahead, I love autopilot,” Sho said, grinning. He had just remembered that his car didn’t have it yet; maybe he could ask Ohno to add the system for him - next time, if the mechanic’s hand was fully recovered.
They flew in high speed and it needed only ten minutes to reach Ohno’s place. It was out of the town; a small house with nice front yard. There were several plants at the park, they looked nice. Sho had never done gardening and he didn’t know how to take care of plants.
“Satoshi-niisan, is that you?” a weak voice welcomed them.
Sho’s blood rippled as he heard it, Kazunari’s voice.
“Yes, I bring a companion,” Ohno said as he opened the door after activating the digital key to unlock it. Sho was hesitating when he followed Ohno’s steps, the mechanic gave him a questioning look as he gestured him to enter the house.
Kazu lay down on a bed in the middle of the living room with various wires attached onto his body; his eyes were cloudy, Sho guessed that he couldn’t see a thing. He gulped and held his breath; this was definitely the most heart-breaking-scene he had ever seen in his entire life. He had come this far as a doctor and had seen many patients, but none of them were half-robot.
“This is Kazu, my little brother.”
“Is that you, doctor Sakurai?”
“Do you know him?” Ohno asked his brother, checking one of the wires and fixing its position.
“I was the one who crashed him.”
“No,” Kazu shook his head, “it wasn’t you, doctor. I was on my way when somebody bumped me on purpose,” he added, shaking his head.
“My enemy - perhaps. I have already reported my case to the police this time,” Ohno mumbled.
“Enemy?” Sho asked.
“I’m a scientist before becoming a mechanic,” Ohno said. His eyes looked at Kazu with deep sadness, “It’s my entire fault that Kazu must lead his life as a half-robot.”
Sho shifted closer to Kazu; his dimmed eyes followed his movement - it made him a little bit discomfort. Ohno continued his story.
“Some people wanted to steal my invention and chased me down; I was able to hide, but they found out about Kazu. They used him as the hostage and they had almost killed him. I saved him on the last minute, but with this condition,” he took Kazu’s hand and held it softly, “I swore to stop becoming a scientist and moved to this town in order to hide from them.” Ohno inhaled deeply and looked at Sho.
“I found your database,” he told Sho, “I studied your reputation and I knew that you could help me to save Kazu’s life. It was totally a coincidence that you crashed him.”
“I’m not happy that you look into my database without permission, but I’m glad that I found him,” Sho gestured his head towards Kazu.
“Would you like to help me in saving his life?” Ohno asked.
“Sure, my pleasure. What can I do for him?”
“I need donor to substitute his blood and some calcium; can you provide them for me?”
Sho nodded.
“I also need an operation for him. I want to add some system, but it’s too dangerous for me to do it alone,” Ohno craned his neck at Sho, “I have done it by myself before and it almost killed Kazu, I don’t want to take the risk again.”
Sho gulped, he wanted to ask why Ohno chose him of all people, but he held himself from asking.
“The operation will take place next week. Will you available by that time?” Ohno asked.
“I can make it, don’t worry.”
“Good,” Ohno smiled weakly, “I have to shut him down now, or he will run out of energy.” The mechanic or the scientist told his brother to lie down, his hands pulled all the wires and when the last one was plugged off, Kazu’s eyes turned black and he looked like a dead body.
“Make sure you’ll be here by next week,” Ohno said.
Sho nodded, not knowing why he had agreed to help this man. He must have been hiding something in his invention; the reason why some people chased him. But, he didn’t want to know the reason; he just wanted to help Kazunari. He glanced at the boy before leaving Ohno’s house; reminding him not to use his wounded hand.
***
“Kazunari kun, do you want some beer?”
“Yes, please.”
“Not you, Sho chan, you drive him home tonight,” Aiba warned. He grabbed the beer can from Sho’s hand.
“Not fair, I have added autopilot on my car,” Sho grumbled, glancing at Kazu’s glass.
“I know it’s not working that well, Jun told me,” Aiba said as he shook head.
“That guy,” Sho satisfied himself by gulping the orange juice Aiba had prepared for him, Kazu chuckled at him.
“You can drink beers at home,” the boy said. “I’ll accompany you.”
“Accompanying means sleeping all the time,” Sho smiled at the boy beside him. “That’s unfair, Kazu.”
“Then I’ll accompany you,” Ohno’s voice was heard from the bar entrance. He looked bigger with his leather jacket; Jun was right behind him, wearing the same jacket.
“I’m not expecting you,” Sho saluted the scientist who joined him to sit in front of the bar. He ordered beer for himself and Jun.
It had been three months since Sho helped the man in operating his younger brother. Everything went well and Kazu was as healthy as they could hope for. Ohno and Kazunari automatically became friends with Jun and Aiba which made Sho super glad, because it meant he had more guys to hang out with. He looked at Kazu’s face; it might be strange to have this feeling towards a half-robot-person, but he couldn’t lie to himself. Kazu was special; he would do his best to keep him alive.
“Aiba, give me more orange juice,” he told the bartender who happily took his glass and refilled it.
End
a/n : I wrote too many sakumiya :P
Pairing : Sakumiya
Genre : au, friendship, a little bit romance, science fic
Rating : pg
Length : one shot
Disclaimer : I swear it was just my imagination
Summary : Sho was a brilliant doctor, but also a bad drinker.
"I'm not drunk!" Sho grumbled to Aiba who insisted him not to drive home.
"You'd better stay here, you can sleep in my bed upstairs," the man suggested. The bar was almost empty that night; Sho was the only one left there.
"I'm fine, I'm going home," he said as he grabbed his jacket and walked towards the door. Aiba was still chanting his never ending worrisome.
"You might crash somebody on your way home, Sho chan, and you will end up in police quarter."
"Jun will take care of everything if that happens," Sho hiccupped and wore his jacket as they reached the front door.
"Jun had already enough with your bad reputation."
"Aiba, I'm going home, see you tomorrow," Sho opened his car door and slumped into the driver seat. He pushed the engine button and the flying car floated off of the ground - but it was low enough to say proper good bye to Aiba. The automatic navigator sound was heard to guide him home. Sho had always forgotten to add autopilot system in his car; especially at the time like this - when he wasn't capable enough to bring himself home.
He knew Jun would be so mad if he filed another form for his rule-breaking-accident, but tonight he wasn't that drunk - his head was clear enough to think straight.
"Make sure you don't crash anything or anybody, okay!" Aiba patted his shoulder.
"Understood, captain," Sho giggled, slamming his door.
He left Aiba's bar in high speed; flying over the main way. Jun might be on duty somewhere in this town, but Sho hoped he wouldn't meet him - by accident or not. He turned left and changed the gear to fly higher, but his radar showed something strange. A flying object approached his car and it was too late for Sho to avoid it. His car crashed the unknown object, he stepped deeply onto his brake until his car stopped and parked it aside off of the road. He looked around, nobody else was there.
"Oh no," he covered his mouth as he found what he had crashed.
A boy crouched around six meters away from his car - unmoved. Sho's heart jumped to his throat; he had crashed someone and that boy might be dead. He stepped slowly towards the body - making sure that this boy wasn't dead. His trembling hand touched the boy's neck to check his pulse; Sho inhaled a deep breath as he felt he was still breathing - even though it was very weak.
What was the point of becoming the most brilliant doctor if he couldn't handle an injury? He lifted the boy to his back and carried him towards his car. He paid attention to the boy closely; he looked okay and unharmed, despite the fact that Sho had crashed him that way.
He drove home with more alert, afraid that he would crash another unknown object. Speaking of which; this accident was weird, what was that boy doing in an empty high way? Besides, people were prohibited to access this place; it was only for flying cars - the latest brand, like what Sho had. It was weird, he glanced at the boy through the rearview mirror above his head; he was young - probably in early twenties.
Sho reached the end of the high way; heading towards his home afterwards. He parked his car carefully at his garage and took care of the unconscious boy. But when he was about to lift him out; the boy's eyes opened. He stared blankly at Sho; another weird thing - his eyeballs were glowing yellow instead of usual brown color.
"Run out of battery," he said.
"Run out of battery," he repeated.
Sho blinked several times; he had crashed a robot. A weird robot, because he looked nearly like human. Who was so insane in letting their robot wander the city all alone?
"Run out of battery," he repeated.
"Er-, Mr. Robot, what should I do to help you?" Sho scratched the back of his head. At least he didn't kill anybody.
The robot didn't response; the glow of his eyes grew dimmer and he closed his again
"Wait, wait," Sho grabbed the robot's shoulder, shaking him.
Nothing happened.
He tried to think of a solution and decided to bring him inside. He knew it wasn't illegal to own a robot, but there were only a few scientists who possessed the license to create them and let them to live among human. Whoever created this robot must have been crazy enough and super genius.
He laid the robot on his sofa and observed him closer. He was exactly looked like a human. His black hair covered his head, his skin was soft and fair, and he was fashionable. Sho couldn't think how the programmer added the fashion style to the robot’s system. He found a small wound on the robot's finger and it was bleeding.
"Blood?" he asked himself. He made sure that the blood was real thing before he took his tools and cleaned it. He wrapped the wounded fingers carefully. The robot's fingers were cute like children's.
He rose off of the floor and did the only thing made senses; he recharged the boy. He inserted the charger into the small hole on the robot's neck with hesitant. He hoped it wasn't just his insane hallucination; inserting the charger cable into human body wasn't a pleasant thing, it was so much different, compared with what he did in the hospital.
"Sleep well," he said. He wasn't sure what to do next, but going to bed was the first option. He gave the robot the last glance and left him.
***
"Sho! Your fine is waiting!"
Jun's automatic massager yelled out from his phone. Sho wished he could throw his phone out of his window, along with Jun, if it was needed. Jun was his best friend from his childhood and he was the best police officer this town could have, but also the most annoying one when it came to his stupid rules.
Sho rolled aside, he was naked. The bad habit that he couldn't erase up until now - he always took off all of his clothes when he was asleep. He didn't bother to cover his body; it was still early after all. He tried to collect his memories from last night, but it seemed that his head moved a little bit slower that morning - until he heard a little voice from his door.
"Oh, crap, how can I forget..." Sho cursed lightly. His backup memories started to flow like waterfall into his head. He had crashed a robot last night and that handsome robot must have been awakened and saw him lying naked on his bed. He shivered, imagining that robot had taken his pictures with his computer system and saved them inside his memory and printed them and would show them to all of the citizens.
But, who would spare their precious time to see his naked body anyway?
Sho hopelessly looked for his boxer, but it wasn't here. He must have walked on his sleep and wandered around the house. That robot had witnessed him naked? What a shame. He blushed - without any particular reasons.
He saved himself with a T-shirt, wrapping it around his waist. He walked out slowly.
"Please, don't hurt me!"
The robot hid behind Sho's sofa, crouching like a lost puppy.
"No, no, no, I'm not going to hurt anyone, I'm just trying to look for my boxer," Sho blushed over his last word, he considered to move his closet to his room properly next time; in case there would be somebody stay over in his house.
"I think your boxer is next to the refrigerator," the robot informed him.
"Oh..." Sho shifted as fast as he could towards the kitchen and grabbed his poor boxer from the floor.
"Thanks for charging me last night," the robot said, "and for taking care of my wound, doctor Sakurai."
"How did you know my name?" Sho murmured, taken aback.
"Your name written all over this place," the robot said, smiling.
"Are you truly a robot?" Sho asked.
"Sort of," the other answered, "I'm Kazunari, nice to meet you," he shook his hand.
"Wait, I...crashed you last night, I should apologize," Sho blabbered.
"I'm fine, I was just running out of battery and accidentally fell to your car," Kazunari said, as if car crashes wasn't a big deal.
"Where is your house, I'll take you there," Sho said, wearing his T-shirt.
"I live at the apartment, around two kilometers from here."
"With your owner?"
"Owner?"
"You're a robot, you must have an owner," Sho gazed suspiciously at this mysterious boy.
Kazunari formed an offended face, but soon it changed into a weak smile.
"I'm just a half robot," he said bitterly.
"Ha-half?"
"Long story," Kazunari stepped closer to Sho who accidently shifted behind, he was still embarrassed by the fact that Kazunari had witnessed him naked. “I…will go home by myself; I think the battery is enough. My charger is broken and my brother is too busy to repair it,” the boy explained while checking his arm.
“Oh…” Sho couldn’t find any right words to that. He still pictured how it felt to have a half-robot body.
“See you, doctor,” Kazunari said, turning his body towards the exit.
“Wait, wait,” Sho chased him, “we haven’t eaten our breakfast yet, maybe a cup of coffee and a slice of toast,” he said to the shorter.
“That’s very kind of you, but I have something to do,” Kazunari replied. “Thanks for crashing me,” he continued, winking.
“Well, uhm, that’s…you’re welcome,” he said as he walked the boy towards his door. “See you, Kazunari kun.”
“Call me Kazu,” the boy said. He searched something inside his pocket and slid it out; a small remote control, he pushed the button and a second later - he floated off the ground. “Bye, bye, doctor Sakurai.”
Sho waved his hand as he watched Kazu flew over his house. He shook his head; it was a weird night, and his fine was waiting along with Jun’s briefing. He sighed while repeating Kazu’s words.
“Thank you for crashing me.”
****
“What did I tell you?” Aiba’s hands were on his waist when he was talking to Sho that night.
“It was an accident,” Sho gulped his third glass and requested the next one. Jun was there too; he had given Sho a very long briefing regarding his accident - not caring about the half-robot who thanked Sho for crashing him.
“That robot might be a spy who wants to steal your newest note of your patients,” Jun stirred in.
“Probably, but he didn’t,” Sho said while setting his glass on the table and taking the edamame on Aiba’s plate.
“You said that he is a half-robot,” Aiba said.
“Yes, that was what he told me.”
“Could it be…” Jun put his right hand on his chin.
“What?” Sho leaned to him, lifting his eyebrows.
“I’ve just remembered about the accident a couple years ago,” Jun said; his eyes looked at the far corner of Aiba’s bar, “a boy was nearly dead, beaten by a group of robber. I was there at the scene, when an ambulance arrived, that boy had already missing. I saw a man, if I was not mistaken, but I can’t remember his face.”
“That’s scary,” Sho shivered, pouring his glass another beer. “Do you think that he’s the same boy?”
“I don’t know,” his friend shrugged and finished his own.
“I want to meet him again,” Sho said. But it was more to himself, he remembered that boy’s yellow eyes; it gave him a punch - maybe those eyes were brown once, before somebody changed their colors.
“I’ll drive you home this time,” Aiba grabbed his glass and took away the beer bottle. Sho pouted, but he had no choice than obeying the bartender.
***
“You should be more careful,” Sho told his patient. He had just finished sewing the wound, his patient was a new citizen named Ohno. He suffered a deep cut on his left arm; Sho couldn’t imagine how this man got this wound from.
“What do you do?” Sho asked.
“My occupation?” Ohno asked him back.
“Yes.”
“I’m just an ordinary mechanic,” Ohno answered, smiling.
“That’s a tough job,” Sho said, concerning. “You can’t use your hand normally, at least for ten days from now on.”
“That’s bad, I have to repair something.”
“Well, I think you must find someone else to help you,” Sho said.
“It can’t wait, or my little brother dies.”
“D-die?” Sho was taken aback, “what do you mean die? I can help him, I’m a doctor.”
“Are you sure? His system is a little bit broken and…” Ohno was hesitated to continue, “I’m sorry, I talk too much.”
“Wait,” Sho looked at his patient’s face more carefully, “what’s your brother’s name?”
“Kazunari, somebody had crashed him and damaged his system.”
Sho avoided the man’s gaze, that boy had lied to him.
“How is he?” he asked slowly.
“A little bit unwell, his ba…I have to go home,” Ohno looked for his bag, “thanks, doctor.”
“Ohno san,” Sho called the man, he turned around and waited, “can I see your brother? I think he needs a doctor.”
Ohno considered for a few seconds before nodding weakly.
“I’ll be ready in a minute.” Sho took off his cloak, hanged it on the porch and grabbed his tote bag. He followed Ohno’s steps towards the elevator - the short man looked stronger than his appearance, maybe which was because of his job as a mechanic.
Ohno guided him towards his own flying car - which was antique. The car was an old fashion, but it had artistic sense that Sho had never seen before.
“Please have a seat,” he gestured Sho to get in. He did as what Ohno had told him; it was more comfort than his what he thought.
“You have a nice car,” Sho complimented the man.
“Thanks,” Ohno answered, smiling, “do you mind if I use the autopilot? I can’t drive with this hand.”
“Go ahead, I love autopilot,” Sho said, grinning. He had just remembered that his car didn’t have it yet; maybe he could ask Ohno to add the system for him - next time, if the mechanic’s hand was fully recovered.
They flew in high speed and it needed only ten minutes to reach Ohno’s place. It was out of the town; a small house with nice front yard. There were several plants at the park, they looked nice. Sho had never done gardening and he didn’t know how to take care of plants.
“Satoshi-niisan, is that you?” a weak voice welcomed them.
Sho’s blood rippled as he heard it, Kazunari’s voice.
“Yes, I bring a companion,” Ohno said as he opened the door after activating the digital key to unlock it. Sho was hesitating when he followed Ohno’s steps, the mechanic gave him a questioning look as he gestured him to enter the house.
Kazu lay down on a bed in the middle of the living room with various wires attached onto his body; his eyes were cloudy, Sho guessed that he couldn’t see a thing. He gulped and held his breath; this was definitely the most heart-breaking-scene he had ever seen in his entire life. He had come this far as a doctor and had seen many patients, but none of them were half-robot.
“This is Kazu, my little brother.”
“Is that you, doctor Sakurai?”
“Do you know him?” Ohno asked his brother, checking one of the wires and fixing its position.
“I was the one who crashed him.”
“No,” Kazu shook his head, “it wasn’t you, doctor. I was on my way when somebody bumped me on purpose,” he added, shaking his head.
“My enemy - perhaps. I have already reported my case to the police this time,” Ohno mumbled.
“Enemy?” Sho asked.
“I’m a scientist before becoming a mechanic,” Ohno said. His eyes looked at Kazu with deep sadness, “It’s my entire fault that Kazu must lead his life as a half-robot.”
Sho shifted closer to Kazu; his dimmed eyes followed his movement - it made him a little bit discomfort. Ohno continued his story.
“Some people wanted to steal my invention and chased me down; I was able to hide, but they found out about Kazu. They used him as the hostage and they had almost killed him. I saved him on the last minute, but with this condition,” he took Kazu’s hand and held it softly, “I swore to stop becoming a scientist and moved to this town in order to hide from them.” Ohno inhaled deeply and looked at Sho.
“I found your database,” he told Sho, “I studied your reputation and I knew that you could help me to save Kazu’s life. It was totally a coincidence that you crashed him.”
“I’m not happy that you look into my database without permission, but I’m glad that I found him,” Sho gestured his head towards Kazu.
“Would you like to help me in saving his life?” Ohno asked.
“Sure, my pleasure. What can I do for him?”
“I need donor to substitute his blood and some calcium; can you provide them for me?”
Sho nodded.
“I also need an operation for him. I want to add some system, but it’s too dangerous for me to do it alone,” Ohno craned his neck at Sho, “I have done it by myself before and it almost killed Kazu, I don’t want to take the risk again.”
Sho gulped, he wanted to ask why Ohno chose him of all people, but he held himself from asking.
“The operation will take place next week. Will you available by that time?” Ohno asked.
“I can make it, don’t worry.”
“Good,” Ohno smiled weakly, “I have to shut him down now, or he will run out of energy.” The mechanic or the scientist told his brother to lie down, his hands pulled all the wires and when the last one was plugged off, Kazu’s eyes turned black and he looked like a dead body.
“Make sure you’ll be here by next week,” Ohno said.
Sho nodded, not knowing why he had agreed to help this man. He must have been hiding something in his invention; the reason why some people chased him. But, he didn’t want to know the reason; he just wanted to help Kazunari. He glanced at the boy before leaving Ohno’s house; reminding him not to use his wounded hand.
***
“Kazunari kun, do you want some beer?”
“Yes, please.”
“Not you, Sho chan, you drive him home tonight,” Aiba warned. He grabbed the beer can from Sho’s hand.
“Not fair, I have added autopilot on my car,” Sho grumbled, glancing at Kazu’s glass.
“I know it’s not working that well, Jun told me,” Aiba said as he shook head.
“That guy,” Sho satisfied himself by gulping the orange juice Aiba had prepared for him, Kazu chuckled at him.
“You can drink beers at home,” the boy said. “I’ll accompany you.”
“Accompanying means sleeping all the time,” Sho smiled at the boy beside him. “That’s unfair, Kazu.”
“Then I’ll accompany you,” Ohno’s voice was heard from the bar entrance. He looked bigger with his leather jacket; Jun was right behind him, wearing the same jacket.
“I’m not expecting you,” Sho saluted the scientist who joined him to sit in front of the bar. He ordered beer for himself and Jun.
It had been three months since Sho helped the man in operating his younger brother. Everything went well and Kazu was as healthy as they could hope for. Ohno and Kazunari automatically became friends with Jun and Aiba which made Sho super glad, because it meant he had more guys to hang out with. He looked at Kazu’s face; it might be strange to have this feeling towards a half-robot-person, but he couldn’t lie to himself. Kazu was special; he would do his best to keep him alive.
“Aiba, give me more orange juice,” he told the bartender who happily took his glass and refilled it.
End
a/n : I wrote too many sakumiya :P