Quartet Knight (An UtaPri Fanfic)

Chapter 13

In the eyes of many, he was perfection.

He did everything flawlessly and precisely; he never missed out a single detail in work and he surpassed every expectation others had on him. No one could ever exceed his level of idol perfection. Moreover, he was considered pure and untouched – a beauty untainted – yet underneath his angel face was a demon mentor as described by his kouhais. Even so, he was well-respected and highly looked upon.

He was Ai Mikaze.

"A bouquet of lilacs, please." The cyanette said once he finally decided on the type of flora. He was never one to buy flowers – he found it strange how people would give something that would someday wilt and die to those dear to them, but then again, many things in the world weren't immortal. Someday soon, everything and everyone would fade away like an old polaroid photo.

"My, my...aren't you a sweetheart? Whoever this lady is must be very lucky!" The salesperson exclaimed.

Ai could only smile – he was programmed to – before thanking the elderly woman and making his way to a cab. He wasn't concerned with any ambush from his fans since he wore a clever disguise; being discovered by many unknown individuals was the least of his concerns. As of the moment, what filled his mind was the image of a certain brown-haired idol tucked comfortably between clean hospital sheets.

'That idiot.' Ai thought as he stared at the passing sceneries. 'He drank too much.'

The cyanette sighed. He'd been using all of his free time visiting his bandmate and that itself was incomprehensible. Normally, Ai wouldn't bat an eye in ditching his older companion. In fact, he couldn't care less if Reiji migrated to another country! However, these past few days had been different. Ai felt like he was hanging on the edge upon knowing his friend's condition, so much that he couldn't bear to leave Reiji's side thus Ai ended up staying the night at the hospital. The cyanette was even awake two nights ago just to watch over the eldest idol of the group. It was so unlike him to act so....concerned for another! Ai was baffled; he was acting like a human now – a human capable of feeling!

He wasn't supposed to feel. The only ability Ai Mikaze could not have was that because emotions weren't a part of his program. If anyone said otherwise, well those emotions weren't his.

He was not human.

...

He had known. He had always known since the beginning. The cyanette was nothing more than pieces of technology combined together to create the individual dubbed as the perfect idol. Heck, that title didn't even belong to him! The one true epitome of idol perfection was a man named Aine Kisaragi and that man was being taken care of by his uncle after his failed suicide attempt. Aine was a brilliant idol and he was often praised for his mind-blowing and flawless performances, so it served as a big shock when word got out that he fell into a coma and that he lost reason for living. News and media people were all over any affiliates of Aine and it was one of the most stressful moments for the cyanette's uncle and of course, for Reiji. Ai did not ask a lot of detail from the professor and even if he did, the cyanette would feel a pain in his chest although that pain was Aine's. After the idol went into a coma, his uncle, the professor, worked on a project that would hopefully awaken his nephew. The professor created an artificial intelligence that was based off Aine from looks to voice. This A.I, the mysterious idol, became a phenomenon during his debut and instantly took the media by storm thus burying the Aine incident until it was barely remembered.

Ai's existence seemed to have erased the face of Aine despite him looking exactly like the latter. It was even more ironic that Ai only existed in order to wake up the true perfect idol from what looked like an eternal slumber. As mentioned, Ai was nothing more than pieces of technology combined together and like any other machine, he could be taken and could fall apart.

He knew what he was and what he could never be. Human.

A living, breathing being that could feel all sorts of emotions – emotions he could call his instead of someone else's. Ai was connected to Aine and those short outbursts of feelings belonged to the latter so it was nothing out of the ordinary for the A.I to "feel" certain emotions due to his bond to Aine. Unlike Ai, Aine was human, albeit comatose, but human nonetheless. He could laugh at his own will, smile at his own will, cry at his own will, and many other actions he chose to.

A choice.

It was something Ai wanted to have. Sure he could act on his own accord yet he was programmed to do things even if he didn't want to. For instance, he frowned so many times in his head when asked what he deemed were ridiculous questions because apparently, he could only smile and answer politely in reality. Furthermore, he could not be tired or hungered easily since he was a machine so he could never fully relate to the exhaustion others felt. He couldn't appreciate whenever they would exclaim how tasty the food was or how refreshing water was after practice. Ai could not truly comprehend those simple joys of humans; instead, he smiled and pretended to be fascinated with whatever he was told. He had to.

Ai arrived at his destination: the hospital. Taking the bouquet with him, the cyanette entered the establishment and went inside an elevator which went up to the 3rd floor of the building. The teen told his self several times that he need not have to do this yet somewhere at the back of his head was a voice which compelled him to. It could be Aine who wanted to look after his bestfriend. After all, he and Reiji promised each other such.

'Or could it be...that I chose to see him?' Ai thought. He stopped in front of his fellow bandmate's room to contemplate on this sudden idea.

The cyanette placed a hand on his chest. 'But why? Why?'

Ai opened the door with muddled thoughts. Emotions had always been complex for him to grasp, more so if it was him who felt something and not Aine. It didn't even make sense for Ai since he was an android and not something –

Real.

He wanted to be real. He wanted to feel. He wanted to exist. He didn't want to experience emotions of someone else or to live the life for and of another.

He wanted to be his own person.

Ai was overheating. He looked at the sleeping figure and realized something which had always been there.

He had a friend and the experience they went through made him feel more alive.

'Reiji Kotobuki...he's always so cheerful...so full of life...and he...he's my...'

Friend.

After all this time, Ai finally wondered what would happen to him once Aine wakes up.

Would he still be needed?

"No," The cyanette spoke. "I still want to live a little longer."

His vision became blurry and his system was wildly malfunctioning. He was shutting down, but all he could think about was how he wanted to live.

'I don't want to end. Not yet.'

The bouquet of lilacs never made it to the vase for it fell on the floor, alongside the cyan-haired idol.

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DUM DUM DUM! This story had finally been updated and this was the result! Ohoho...I wonder what happens next? Stay tune for the last chapter of this fanfiction!

(Seriously, the ending was made waaay before this one since this story was originally going to end two chapters ago but nah, I like writing this one.)

Anyway, I would just like to express my heartfelt gratitude towards every one of you who continued to support me and my stories despite my absence/hiatus. I want you, my dear reader, to know how happy I am of your existence in this world and if anyone tries to tell you any different, they lyin' :P

I haven't watched season 3 of UtaPri yet because I got...very preoccupied with college...and OHSHC and Haikyuu (I'm stuck in Haikyuu hell btw hahaha save me).

Until the next update~!

PS: lilacs = ?