A Fox and a Farewell

Dr. Nakamura came to get Himeko a while after, when her face was thoroughly soaked with tears and the midday sun bore down on her through the bedroom window. He wordlessly offered her a handkerchief and a hand, and together they left her old home.

They stopped at the park, where Himeko threw pellets of food to the fish that bobbled eagerly at the water’s surface and tried not to remember how it had once not been named after her and her long dead family.

She stood by the edge of its lake for a while. This lake was man-made, constructed by the architects of the past like all of New Urania, and plaques of hard light detailed their innumerable accomplishments. Rotating constructs depicting the wildlife found in the city could be found throughout the park as frequently as the plaques, many of the species being ones brought back due to the Takamagahara Protocol. It made her happy to see that more of it than just her focus – the Human Consciousness Integration Project (HCIP) – had succeeded in her absence. She thought about it as she watched the fish swim.

The Takamagahara Protocol, a series of plans designed by herself and her br0ther and countless others like themselves to restore humanity and the earth from the brink of total annihilation after natural disasters upon natural disasters and war had torn everything apart. Their opposition said it couldn’t be done. They said it was impossible. They said what the HCIP wanted to accomplish would only doom humanity further.

But they had succeeded. They were now firmly on a bright path.

Himeko looked up at the sky. The cumulonimbus clouds drifted leisurely across their blue sea as if they were ships, morphing into new shapes while they did. They hid the sun for a while, and when it reappeared, it shone brightly down to earth, washing it all in its golden glow, and it made Himeko’s pale visage seem to glow, too.

She watched as the clouds around the sun swirl when a familiar floral perfume wafted around her and someone whispered in her ear. “What does a little android like yourself see in the sky, Hime-chan?”

Tilting her head, Himeko came face to face with Dr. Tsuru. The scientist wore not a lab coat this time, but a fashionable brown coat and pants that flared out slightly at the ankle. Her lips were as red as the roses in bloom mere feet away, quirked into a smile as she cocked her eyebrow, waiting for a response.

“Possibilities immeasurable,” said Himeko.

“I see a duck.” Hanami chimed in, stretching as she tossed a handful of peas to said birds clamoring for them on the small, sandy strip between the grass and the lake. “But now it's a fearsome dragon.” She put her hands up into claws, mock-lunging for Himeko and grinning when it brought out a laugh.

“I didn't expect to see either of you today.” Himeko said with a smile.

"Nor did we expect to see you, at least until a certain someone invited us out for lunch.” Murmured Dr. Tsuru, clearly amused as Dr. Nakamura’s cheeks and neck turned a dusty rose.

“I believe Himeko needed a friend after this morning,” he said. “And who better than Hanami and yourself, Kaede?”

Dr. Tsuru chuckled in agreement. The two of them began discussing lunch options as Hanami rolled her eyes, handing Himeko the bag of frozen peas. They were rather mushy now, she observed as she pulled them out, but the ducks quickly ate them up, quacking in annoyance when Himeko failed to procure more fast enough. They chased the girls when they fled in laughter, throwing peas as they ran until their breaths were haggard and they were out of peas.

Dr. Nakamura and Dr. Tsuru beckoned them to follow a few minutes after. Dutifully, Himeko followed, though she stopped at the park’s edge, right next to her old house. Something was watching her.

“You alright, Himeko?” asked Hanami, spinning back around on her heel and tilting her head.

“Of course. Starving, though,” Himeko laughed, shaking off the feeling as she rushed to catch up with the scientists. It was gone as quickly as it had come, and when she looked behind her, there was no-one there to look back.

Ten minutes later, the group of four arrived at a small café on a corner where four streets converted. It was so cliché that its aesthetics simply washed over Himeko, and its offerings were much of the same, though she did get a sandwich and sweet, glittery bubble milk tea. She waited for her food with her companions and looked around the café. Catching a glimpse of familiar yellow hair, Himeko grinned and strode to meet its owner.

“Koiki!” She called out once she reached her table, excitedly clasping her hands together.

“Hi, Zaiyabōto,” Koiki waved, pausing a game on her phone before setting it down. In front of her was a coffee with latte art drawn to look like a cat, a sandwich, and a few pastries in the middle of the table. Another meal sat across from her, and Himeko internally groaned when she saw it, knowing Gakugi was surely close nearby. Koiki yawned. “It’s nice to see you outside of school. Are you here to shop too? Ume comes here every weekend for that reason.”

“Nah, but you’ve piqued my interest. I’m always looking for a good excuse to get some retail therapy in,” Hanami said, resting against Himeko’s shoulders and bearing both of their meals. “Mind if we sit?”

“I don’t, but Ume might.” Giggled Koiki. Emboldened by this alone, Hanami squeezed in next to her, leaving Himeko to sit on the same side as Gakugi.

Her expression was flat as she sat. “Really, Hanami?”

“Really what?” parroted Hanami, feigning innocence so well it could’ve convinced Himeko had she not been the latest victim of her antics.

“You’re incorrigible. I understand Dr. Nakamura now.”

Hanami stuck her tongue out. “I’m the most perfect girl in the world, actually. Don't you agree, Koiki?” She waited for the yellow-haired girl to laugh before speaking again. “Now, what’re the primer shops here?”

“You’ll have to ask Ume, I’m sorry. I just tag along.”

“What? You come here every weekend and don’t know the best spots?”

“W-well, I know a few shops…like where they sell the, um,” Koiki’s voice suddenly dropped to a barely audible whisper. “Collectibles?”

As Hanami opened her mouth, Gakugi returned, arms crossed and face twisted in disgust. “What are you doing at my table? Why are you bothering Hirune?”

“The table doesn’t belong to you, and Koiki said we could sit.” Hanami said snidely.

“There's plenty of open seating to be found, and my things are here. Therefore, it's my table. Hirune, why did you tell them that?”

“I thought it might be nice to hang out with them outside of school.” Murmured Koiki, wearing a small smile. “I was thinking that maybe we could take them shopping with us? I’d really like to.”

“I…” Gakugi opened her mouth, faltering when she looked at Koiki. She sighed with a blush and looked away as she slipped into her seat next to Himeko. “Fine. If that's what you want.”

Thrilled, Koiki launched into conversation as the four girls ate their lunch, exchanging numbers and making an itinerary. Hanami told Dr. Tsuru and Nakamura where they were going, grinning when Dr. Nakamura handed Himeko a few cards.

“Spend wisely, but get what you’d like, including things for your room,” he told her, soft yet stern. Himeko imagined this was like having a father was like. She nodded, though didn’t quite grab the cards. “And text me when you’re ready to be done, alright?”

“Thank you, and I will. Don’t miss me too much.” She laughed.

Hanami, ever an imp, leaned against the table, holding herself up with her palms, and cheekily looked at both scientists. “Neither of them will be missing us. In fact, they’re probably grateful we won’t be with them so they can go k-i-s-s-i-n-g-”

“-Hanami Yuutsuyu,” Dr. Nakamura grit out. “I’m going to revoke your internship-!”

“Oh, did you hear that, Himeko? Seems like Gakugi and Koiki are waiting on us! Better get going, and fast!”

“I’m not done with you yet-!”

Hanami pushed herself up and stuck out her tongue again, running off to their classmates before Dr. Nakamura could get another word in. He looked at Dr. Tsuru. “Your niece is a terror.”

“Hehe, you know she’s just being silly, and you love it. Besides…she didn’t have a bad idea, did she?” asked Dr. Tsuru, laughing as the other scientist went red from chest to ears. She turned to Himeko, who once again felt like a witness to something private. “Alright now, Hime-chan, it looks like all your friends are waiting on you. Make sure Hana-chan doesn’t get into too much trouble, would you?”

“I will,” said Himeko.

“Good. Now off you go.”

Nodding, Himeko scampered off with a grin and rejoined the girls. They left the café together, and Gakugi took the reins to show them every store she considered as ‘good.’ For hours, the girls perused fashion and furniture and makeup and retro games. Their hands burst with bags they had to put down for karaoke or the arcade, and it surprised Himeko that Hirune and Gakugi paid for most things they did together, and even some of what she and Hanami picked out alone. Although she tried to do the same, they wouldn't let her pay for much without immediately doing the same.

Himeko wandered ahead after they left the arcade. The street they were on, nestled between high-rises, glowed amber with the evening sun, pierced by the electric blue of hologram advertisements the same color as her eyes. Dark brown shadows colored the ground, and the smells of fresh coffee and sweet treats filled the air. It seemed that people were hesitant to get rid of their treats of winter, even as spring was slowly turning into summer. The summers and springs of Himeko’s time were sweltering, and she was delighted that they weren't like that now.

It surprised her they'd been able to cool down the planet. Even in her calculations, the Takamagahara Protocol would've only been able to halt its progression, not reverse it too. It was amazing how much had been accomplished in the last 135 years.

Jostling herself out of her thoughts, Himeko stopped in the middle of the street, beneath the swaying branches of a large tree. She scanned the street, and her eyes landed on a record store. Album covers and promotions and events littered its windows, a golden orange from age. Three model disks spun together in different tempos on its roof, made – whether intentionally or not – to look like New Urania City’s symbol of a celestial globe and stars. Her mechanical eyes zoomed in (they’d never done that before) on the disks. Tiny silver stars had been etched into them, reflecting the sunlight. She watched them spin until someone clearing their throat broke her concentration.

“Do you want to go inside?” asked Gakugi, smoothing out the delicate ruffles of her poet shirt. Cute bows were everywhere on its embroidered surface. Her expression was rather bored. “Seems like something more up Yuutsuyu’s alley. Heh.”

“It just seemed interesting. We don't have to.” Himeko narrowed her eyes as she replied.

“I didn't ask that. I asked if you wanted to go in.”

“I guess I do, but only if everyone else wants to…” She looked behind Gakugi. Hanami and Koiki were nowhere to be seen. “Where are they?”

Gakugi rolled her eyes. “Who knows? They ran off by themselves for some reason. All I can hope is that Yuutsuyu’s not teaching Hirune how to beat innocent people up in back alleys.”

“Hey, that's uncalled for. Hanami wouldn't do that.”

“Do you really know that for a fact? Seems like she’s not being so honest with you, but who can blame her for not wanting to share her secrets with you? It’s not like you’re human, after all.”

“What’s your problem with Hanami? I know you two don't exactly get along because you're jealous, but still. What is your problem with me?” Himeko asked, hands curling into fists. She put one up to her chest. “I’ve done nothing to you!”

“I’ll never be jealous of that delinquent. I know why I lost the position, and I work hard every day to be on the same level as her and get a second chance. I don't like you. I especially don't like Yuutsuyu. I don't want Hirune getting close to either of you. I don't have to tell you anymore, and you’re lucky I told you that. I’m trying to be nice for Hirune’s sake, because she wants to be friends with the two of you for some reason I can't figure out.”

“You’re awful at it, being nice.”

“I know. I’ve never been good at being interacting with other people, unlike you.”

Himeko sighed, looking away. “It's just a mirage. In my past life, I was similar. I felt like there was a fundamental disconnect between me and other people. But now? I’m trying to make a conscious effort to be different, so why don't you?”

“Hirune accepts me as I am.”

“But wouldn’t it be nice to have other people, too? I’m not saying you have to suddenly know how to navigate everything, but you can at least try to not insult someone at every turn.”

Gakugi crossed her arms and marched past Himeko. “Let’s just go into the store.”

Sighing, Himeko followed behind her. Would Gakugi even listen? Did she even hear her? It seemed pointless, and in her rumination, she almost didn’t notice Gaguki had bothered to hold the record store’s door open for her. She thanked her, but the the plum-eyed girl didn't even look at her.

Though its interior was large, it was tightly packed with rows upon rows with every type of vinyl imaginable, from new releases to tracks from centuries ago, and several people walked along them, perusing what they had to offer. Buttons present on the racks would project a hologram record player when pressed, letting someone listen to a few tracks just by holding up the sealed vinyl to it. Himeko immediately started rifling through them.

“Twenty minutes,” said Gakugi, coming up behind her before walking away. “We’ll spend twenty minutes here.”

Nodding, Himeko returned to her task. She looked through every cover she found interesting, from glittering and gilded depictions of the stars long past to more experimental ones that required a keen eye and a bit of analysis to parse what they were trying to communicate. Her hands were soon heavy with more than a few albums, eager to dig into them more, when Himeko suddenly remembered she didn't have a record player. She hurried over to where they were kept in the shop, a corner with slightly darker lighting than where the records were kept, but didn't get far in before stopping. Someone was staring at her.

She looked around. This section was surprisingly empty for it being a record store, but she wouldn't be fooled: there was someone else here. She looked closer until she found another pair of eyes looking back at her.

They weren't exactly unlike hers. They were orange, somewhere between tangerine and golden hour, and her own eyes caught that they projected some light, like the muted rays of twilight. Himeko wondered, irrationally, if there was someone else exactly like her, an android that wasn't just an artificial intelligence designed for a job and tried not to feel crestfallen when the owner of the eyes stepped out of their shroud of darkness and it was just a normal person.

She was tall and intimidating. Her jacket, a long black thing that stopped at her ankles was only buttoned up part of the way up, showing off her bosom. As she walked, Himeko could see that she wore thigh-length leather boots with silver embellishments. Her nails, as orange as her eyes, were long and pointed, like well-maintained claws, curled into each other and covering her strange smile. There was an off-putting glint in the woman’s eyes, like Himeko was a pray animal she was about to bite in the neck.

She stopped a few feet from Himeko. “Hello, Miss Zaiyabōto.”

“Hello. How do you know my name?” she asked cautiously.

“Need help picking out a record player? There's so many to choose from, but I know them all. We will surely find the one for you.” The woman ignored her as she continued. She picked out several different machines, laying them all out on a small table for Himeko to browse through.

Though they all followed the same basic principles, every record player looked different than the last. Some were utilitarian, their most striking difference being the color of their clamshell, while others were so retro that they might've well as been ancient history. One was designed to look like a camera, another a jukebox, and yet another was a model of New Urania, pier and all. This was the one Himeko liked, and as she went to grab it, the odd woman yanked it away and put every other one back in place and put only one on the table: a fox.

“You should get this one. It’s perfect.” The woman said.

“I actually liked the model the most-”

“-But this is the one you should get. It’s charming and cute,” the woman clipped, leaning in until Himeko could feel the strands of the woman’s hair tickling her exposed collarbone. Her breath was as sharp and biting as the teeth that nearly scrapped her skin. Her simulated breath quickened as the woman spoke again. “Unlike an abomination like you.”

Himeko tore herself away from the woman, backing up and clutching the records close to her chest as if a shield. Her body went rigid when she hit a wall. “Excuse me?”

The woman grinned and sauntered off into the darkness that cut the corner off from the rest of the store. Himeko breathed once, then again, and she slumped against the record shop wall before sinking down against it.

For the first time since her resurrection, she was scared.

Gakugi found her a few minutes later, her eyebrow raised as she looked at her. “What are you doing on the floor?”

“Nothing,” said Himeko quickly.

“Whatever. Let’s go.”

Himeko pulled herself up and dusted her clothes with one hand. She hesitated upon looking at the fox-shaped record player, stuffing it back into place with its brothers and grabbing the one modeled after the city. An uneasiness settled over her as she made her way through the shop, and she kept looking over her shoulder even as she and Gakugi paid for their items and left.

Even when the two met up with their friends, who showered them with tiny gifts and shared what they’d been up to, Himeko couldn’t shake the feeling, as if one wrong move would put her too close to the maw of a beast.

The girls hung out for a little while more before Gakugi and Koiki waved goodbye at the café they’d met at, leaving Hanami and Himeko to text their respective guardians. They arrived a few minutes later, hand in hand and Dr. Nakamura’s scarf wrapped around Dr. Tsuru’s neck. His face went red as Hanami teased him and Dr. Tsuru joined in, and he looked devastated once Himeko did, too. Laughing, Dr. Tsuru kissed him on the cheek, shaking her head as Hanami loudly and exaggeratedly exclaimed, “Ew.”

They left after that, and as she and Dr. Nakamura passed by the entrance of Zaiyabōto Park, Himeko cleared her throat. “Dr. Nakamura?”

“Yes?”

“Can we stop at my old house?”

“Sure thing, Himeko, but I’m afraid we may not have any special privileges from the Madam this time,” said the scientist, swiveling on his foot to change direction.

“That’s fine.”

With its lights dull, her old home cast a long, dark shadow on the grass around it, blotting out the dying daylight. Her boots, cute little things with charms clinking against each other, tapped against the wooden stairs as she walked up them and stood in front of the door.

She thought of everything she’d seen and experienced in the last week, of the new people she met, she thought of her parents she’d only known for a few years, and her brother she’d left the day after her nineteenth birthday. She thought about his cold hands being the last thing she’d ever held, of his fervent cries to not go through with her plans, and she wondered how he’d feel about her now.

Would he see her as an abomination like that woman had said? Would he be happy? Would their bond be irrevocably damaged? Was it even worth it to ponder?

She got so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t hear the scientist behind her clear his throat. “You don’t want to try and go inside?” he asked after a while of utter silence except for the wind. She wondered how long she’d been standing there, lost in her own cerebral sea of rumination, but one look around showed that dusk had long given away to night.

“No,” Himeko said, walking back down the stairs. The two of them resumed their walk, and her old house was almost completely out of view before she turned her head back, looking at the way it glimmered blue and silver under the moonlight. Those precious memories of childhood, even after they were colored by grief, flashed in her mind, and she could almost see the two of them running out of the house to witness the flowers together. She smiled, and then she looked at the moon, the same as it had been in her time, and the same as it would be after ‘this’ time. “Farewell, brother.”