Blending in Part 4

The entire friend group were outside of the gates of the Nakamura family, having been invited by Haruto to come over and have dinner with him. She looked in wonderment at the big mansion and how big it was from outside alone. Tubes of liquid were running all over the place in neon blue, being the streetlamp to guide them in. They followed the flow of water and got near the main door. The facial sensor light on them then parted, letting them go right in. 

It wasn't long before she reached a treadmill platform extended as they all got on top. The moment they did, the conveyor belt pulled them in. Where is the furniture? Suddenly, she lost her foot and rolled on the air, screaming, her arms flailed around before she was pulled into the ground by her feet by a magnetic pull. "Oh."

Rinrin, Mei and Kaito's reactions were blank and emotionless. "That's a new one."

She was now inside living room. She raised her head up to see all the conveyor belt that she was on, were upside down. The whole place relied on gravity. "I was just a little startled. My- urm- house doesn't do this."

"My family just likes to be extra, don't mind them." Haruto dismissed her claims as innocent. "Please make yourself home."

Yui turned around just to be startled by another person behind her. "Oh, I didn't know someone else was here."

The person bowed down, wearing a butler outfit. He had short, slick black hair, youthful face with stress lines, with his hand on the front of his breast pocket, "Welcome home masters."

"Hello~" Yui bowed back. "It's nice to meet you, I'm Yui."

Everyone looked at her for a moment.

"Why are you treating that Robotic like it's human? Just come sit down with us." Mei beckoned her to sit beside her.

She looked back towards the butler, its eyes closed, with a smiley face of a robotic. This isn't human. She moved away, ripping her eyes away from it. She usually doesn't see robotic that aren't white haired and colourless. It's her first time leaving the factory so she couldn't make the distinction between them. Is that how she looks to them? Very human-like? It feels strange to hear that she couldn't tell the difference as well. She should continue to use it to her advantage.

Yui jogged towards the table, and she saw both seats on the side of Haruto were empty. Everyone was sitting far away from him. She didn't see anything wrong with it and sat right next to him, bringing the attention to her.

"No-wait- you shouldn't sit next to Haruto, he doesn't like-"

"It's okay." Haruto glanced at Yui as she blinked her big eyes.

"It's okay?" Mei frowned as she shared glances with everyone else. They decided not to bring up the topic and chose to eat in complete silence. Nobody was talking or making conversation. Yui looked at each of them as she ate in silence. The robotic walked across the tables, filling in the table with food selections individually.

"Didn't I personally request no carrots in mine because I'm allergic?" Eisuke raised his head up to the robotic. The robot smiled and never faltered.

"Apologies, I don't recall specifics details about your allergies in my dat-"

Eisuke stood up abruptly, flinging the plate upwards, startling Yui. The others didn't even flinch, eating as if nothing is unusual.

Eisuke's hands slapped the robotic, its head went to the side. "My apologies, I don't recall the specifics-"

Eisuke kicked it. Yui stood up when it tumbled down, hand on her mouth in confusion. He stomped on it over and over again, angrily gritting his teeth.

"How. Can. A. Robotic. Make. A. Mistake!" With each stomp, he emphasized his words. "I told you many times I'm allergic!"

The robotic didn't even move from the ground, taking each hit with a blank expression.

"No. Matter. How. Much. We-" he stopped temporarily to catch his breath."-upgrade you, you can't even be like us."

Yui watched in silence, sitting right back down when she noticed nobody cared but under the table, her fingers curled up on the skirt. She knew she was just a robotic to them, but they feel pain. Just like a human, she can feel pain. They have pain receptors in their bodies so they can be closer to humans than any other type of artificial intelligence. She checked the reaction of the other humans, and they were all watching blankly as if it's normal. Yui's eyes lowered, unable to watch. She didn't want to be caught so she was going to ignore it-

"Stop it." Haruto spoke out as he finally stopped eating, taking off his napkin, tapping his mouth.

"Come on, Haruto. You need to teach these things how to be perfect otherwise, what's the point of havi-"

"Enough." Kaito, as well, intervened. "You shouldn't abuse them when they are this helpful to you."

Yui was relieved that both of them stopped him.

"You shouldn't abuse them because it hurts them. The amount of pain they feel is said to be unbelievable." Haruto's insight surprised Yui. He knew?

"Who cares if they get hurt. It means nothing." Mei added as she bit into her fork. Rinrin nodded.

There seems to be a division in the opinions although the popular one had to be the one they were arguing against. Yui chose to stay quiet, trying to understand why they had such negative views.

"You think these are helpful to me? I'm better than them. I don't need their inferior intelligence. Since centuries ago, they have never been able to keep up with us-"

“Eisuke, quiet.” Kaito shut him down immediately, putting his hands in his pockets. “Don't cross me right now."

He suddenly went quiet. Haruto raised a brow, finding the shift odd but instead of going against it, he decided to de-escalate. "Let's not fight. This is my father's assigned robotic anyway, I haven't gotten mine yet so don't break things that aren't yours."

They all nodded. "True, I wouldn't want you to touch anything of mine. Go abuse your own robotic," Mei scolded Eisuke immediately.

"So why haven't you gotten yours yet Haruto-kun?" Rinrin leaned on the table, staring at Haruto.

Yui was curious to hear about the answer too since she was the assigned robotic for Haruto. Did they let him know she was defected? Were they going to replace her?

"Oh... Personal reason." A certain look crossed Haruto's face. Personal reason? Yui was confused. Was defective robotic a personal reason? She decided she will ask another time for the details.

"Anyway, let's finish eating."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Bye!" Rinrin, Eisuke and Mei waved them goodbye, walking out after spending time with them.

Yui approached Haruto once she caught him alone. She had no place to stay but if she stayed with Haruto, maybe she could get closer to him and get him to fix her faster! "I just wanted to ask you if you don't mind if I stay over?"

Haruto's icy eyes glanced at her for a moment before a small smile came to his lips. "I don't think a girl like you should stay out in some stranger's place. I think it's best if you go home."

Yui's mouth opened then closed. Yui's legs bend inward and outward as she panicked deep inside on ways to approach Haruto and get him to fix her core. She can't leave without setting up another meeting. Where was she going to stay?

"Yui?" Kaito gently patted her shoulder, and she snapped out of it. "Oh, I'm okay. I just wanted to check with Haruto if I can visit him sometime?"

She looked at him hopefully. Haruto seemed surprised and his finger lay on his lips, eyes devoid of emotions. "I'll think about it..."

Kaito glanced between them with a tilt before he decided to ask. "Yui, want to stay at my place? We have an extra room for the guest y-"

Haruto immediately interjected. "You can stay here. My family is currently not home, they are on a business trip."

Yui blinked. The two childhood friends eyed each other for a moment, an electric line in between them. A smile plastered in both of their faces. "Haruto... This is unusual of you. You hate anyone who comes near you, so I don't understand why you suddenly changed your mind..."

"Likewise, Kaito..." Haruto threw it back. "You never invited anyone over for no reason..."

They were gauging each other. Yui understood nothing except the fact they are both offering her a place to stay. While Yui appreciated Kaito's kindnesses, she needed Haruto's more. "I'll STAY!"

She raised her arm, lightly running to hide behind Haruto. Kaito seemed surprised, his eyes narrowing, a strange look overtook his gaze. "I see. I think I understand what's going on..."

He then let out a small chuckle. "She already chose you, so I'll be the gentleman and take myself out."

Kaito smiled and waved goodbye, Yui immediately waved back as he turned around. Haruto pivoted as he gestured for Yui to follow him, unknowing that Kaito glanced back, as the doors closed.

“Yui… if you are Haruto’s missing robotic… you are going to regret this,” Kaito muttered to himself as he shook his head before placing his hands back inside his pockets, walking away.