Prototype 501 (Original Anime Story)

Chapter 3 - Be the stars that will always guide me

It only felt like a few winks of sleep before dawn settles in.

Kohane flutters open her eyes and is blinded by the morning sun. She abandoned the thought of charging last night since she was comforting Itsuki.

Upon sudden realization, she sits up from the futon and spins her head around violently, desperately trying to search for him.

To her surprise, Itsuki is already awake and has gone to wash himself.

Struggling against her lazy nature, Kohane stretches and saunters to the bathroom.

"Good morning Kohane! Did you sleep well last night?" Kohane hears him say cheerfully as she peeps her head into the room.

Mysteriously, it's as if last night never happened, because Itsuki is back to his normal self. He dries his brown hair with a fluffy yellow towel and approaches the robot. But just as he is nearing her, Kohane suddenly feels lightheaded and staggers forward.

"Whoa! Are you ok?" Itsuki questions as he gently steadies her.

Kohane uses her hand to provide support for her head. It must be because I didn't charge properly last night...

Miraculously, it's as if Itsuki can read her mind, because it suddenly dawns on him that Kohane is deprived of electrical energy. On this note, he guides his AI friend out of the bathroom and into the lounge room where her charging pod is located. He lays her down in the empty compartment and plugs her cable in.

"You must be tired. I'm sorry I kept you up last night," he apologizes. But before he leaves, he places a paper note on the table beside her with something written on it.

"When you're done charging, would you mind running down to the market nearby and getting the stuff on the list? We've got guests tonight," he tells her chirpily.

But before Itsuki heads to his bedroom to get changed, Kohane reaches her arm out and softly tugs at his shirt's hem.

"Um, are you ok today Itsuki? You know, with last night and everything..." she poses with concern. Itsuki gives her a tender look before giving her one of his classic smiles.

"I'm fine because you were there to comfort me last night," he tells her.

The robot smiles and nods, before Itsuki prances off to his room.

...

By the time Kohane wakes up, the house is silent. It's 2:30pm and everyone is out.

She yawns and unplugs her cable from her head before stepping out of her charging pod.

Just as she walks past the table near her, she remembers the note and goes back to retrieve it.

On the paper, a list of groceries is written in neat handwriting. The robot reads the list to herself before taking her purse from her belongings.

As she exits and locks the front door, Itsuki's words suddenly echo in her mind. We've got guests tonight!

Kohane stops and ponders of who these people might be. She starts shaking as she slots the key in place. What if I get scared and run away like last time! I mustn't make a fool of myself! I don't want to embarrass Itsuki!

But she shakes the negative thoughts away.

Without another thought, Kohane dashes to the lift.

...

Getting the groceries wasn't a hard task for the AI, but getting past crowds of shoppers grabbing at the items that were 50% off today was! By the time she has paid, hopped on the Bullet Line and arrived back at Galactica, it's already 6pm.