Perfect World Part 4

"What are we going to do today?" Yui patted the cute dress she had on. She was following the trends of everyone. It was a metallic one-piece suit with a skirt. Metallica Shoes reached her knees as she walked with Haruto to their new destination.

Haruto looked her up and down and a small smile crept up on his lips but didn't say a word at her new fashionable choices. He stopped in front of another domain. She curiously looked at it in confusion. The strong blue colour of the sphere was making it hard to see what's inside.

Haruto stood before the small device stuck to the sphere and placed his card inside. The door parted, revealing what's inside. Yui's eyes sparkled, letting out a content breath.

"We are going to a snowfield, the land of winter." Beyond the wall was nothing but a pure, delicate blanket of crystals falling slowly on every visible surface, overtaking them. The whole place is cloaked in white.

She squealed in delight as she spread her arms, running around Haruto. A golf car stopped right by them as they were near the entrance. A symbotic was inside the Airforce car. "Welcome back Nakamura-sama. It's rare to see you around. Where would you like to go?"

"I would like you to give us a tour of this city." Haruto said as he beckoned Yui over. She kept her eyes at the symbotic, watching the way it's dressed. Thicker, heavy material clothes made out of cotton. The fashion was completely different that she started to feel out of place but her only comfort was knowing Haruto was the same. She took a seat beside him.

"Very well." As the car started to move, Yui gazed out to see the sky. The clouds had multiple shapes of different species and breeds of animals. "Look, look, look!"

Haruto leaned beside her, to see what caught her attention this time. "Do you like it?"

"I do~" she turned to look at him, the close proximity had her momentary freeze. She stared at his face as he looked at the sky. He was... Handsome.

"Would you like to see something more?" Haruto asked as he looked at her. She nodded, unable to speak.

Haruto grinned as he returned back, signaling something to the symbotic. In a few moments, they reached another area where the snow was orange then green, then brown, pink, taking in different ranges of colors. "Wait, snow can be in different colours?"

"They can be, if you want," Haruto responded.

"I want it to be blue," Yui whispered.

"Blue?" Haruto blinked; he gestured for the symbotic to make it blue. Yui nodded, smiling as she stared at the sapphire eyes of Haruto. He tilted his head to the side. "Is it your favourite color?"

"It is." Yui grinned, cheeks rosy red. His mouth curved to the side, giving him a child-like innocence but he didn't think much of it. As the world turned blue. Even the patches of snow on the wooden rooftop, turned blue.

"I want to stop here." She pointed at an open field of blue snow with fully bloomed flowers. As the car stopped, she let out a deep breath out, inhaling the air. It had such a unique smell, and she wondered how they were able to switch the colors out like this. She ran to the nearest patch of snow and threw herself into it. "It's sooo-"

Her fingers sank in, curling them inwards as she squeezed them. "Soo.... Not soft." She raised her head up to look down. "It's pretty crunchy."

She squeezed them in and loosen it, then again. "Unlike how it looks."

She turned to Haruto for an explanation. Haruto came closer to her and plopped down. She grabbed one of the blooming flowers from its mechanical stems to get a closer look. When she pulled it out, the rose faded away.

"Ah?" She looked at it disappointed.

"It will turn back to normal if you put it back in its spot. It only has the hologram when it's connected to the cord," Haruto mentioned. Yui looked at it from a moment, returning it right back. The flower returned back as a fully bloomed rose. She turned to her back, spreading body to swing her arms and legs to do a snow angel. She looked at her skin and noticed it was quickly becoming red. That was strange. She looked at Haruto, but he seemed fine.

"The world is so beautiful." Yui exclaimed as she looked back at the clouds.

Haruto stared at the skies too. "Is it?"

Yui wondered why he didn't seem satisfied despite the beauty of it all. "Why wouldn't it be?"

"When I see you happy, it makes me feel some type of way. You are experiencing the world for the first time unlike me, so everything feels beautiful to you." She beamed, smile getting wider.

"But then I feel so angry." His fist tightened on the snow and her smile quickly dropped as his piercing gaze flickered towards her.

"Because you are just like everyone else. I thought... you would be different," he hissed. Yui quickly stood up. "What do you mean?"

He took his gaze away and ran his fingers through his hair. He was getting agitated by this issue again. "No, nevermind, I shouldn't get mad at you… it is not your fault that you are like everyone else. In the end, it doesn't matter. Nothing really matters..."

He stood up, dusting his hands to rid the particles on his palm as he started to walk away. Yui felt like something was wrong.

“Tell me.”

“There is no need.”

She started to follow after him, but he was moving much faster.

“Come on, tell me.”

“Forget about it.”

Her lips quivered as she picked up her pace but still wasn't able to catch him. “Tell me now.”

When he didn't respond, she felt indescribable emotions in her core and she burst out, running to catch up to him, pulling him by his hand. “If you don't tell me, how would I know!’

He pulled his hands away aggressively. “You are impressed by every little thing… must be nice to be the only person here who can enjoy it.”

“What?”

“Have you not noticed yet? Don't you see? Everything is fake! Everything and everyone are fake! Everyone here is pretending this is a good life. Do you not notice?”

She didn't look away from him. "I thought because you lived sheltered, you would notice it.... or are you just closing your eyes like everyone else?"

What was he talking about? What was she supposed to notice? She was a robotic, she wasn't sure what it was that everyone was pretending to see. "I'm not... I don't know what you are talking about."

Yui was starting to feel a swirl in her body that was quickly taking control of her. It was burning her insides, and she felt suffocated by the idea of it. What were these emotions? Was her core acting up again? She clutched near the core, glaring at him.

"Why should I tell you, it's in your face-"

"JUST TELL ME!" she screamed and he seemed surprised to see the emotions in her. Suddenly, he went quiet. He avoided her gaze, and his fingers played with each other. "Do you... Really not know?"

"I don't," she replied as her face reddened

"Do you not notice how...Rain… was not wet? Even though it's snowing right now, it doesn't melt.” He pulled out his hands and just as he said, there wasn't any liquid on his hand. The snowflake was passing through his hands. Yui looked up at the sky and as expected, it was digital. An artificial projection falling from the sky, creating a snow-like effect illusion.

“How Winter isn't… cold.” His hands covered one eye of his as he muttered. She gazed at the patch of snow. She got on her knees, putting her hand through it again, it fell in between the cracks of her fingers while some stuck to her palms. She rubbed her hands through it and as expected, the redness grew thicker because of it. The pad of her fingers tapped her own tongue to try it. It was salt.

“Have you noticed how summer isn't hot? Flowers aren't real. Nothing is real… am I the only one... who hates it here? Am I the only one different?” he turned towards the domain, looking beyond the shield. He thought she would at least notice how everything was artificial since she was locked up and sheltered. “Why... Why am I the only one miserable? Why can't I be happy like everyone else? Why do I feel alone…”

His teeth grinded against each other as he held his hair.

“I want to see and feel real rain. I want to see and feel the warm weather. I want to see and smell flowers. I want to see and feel cold. I want to feel human.”

He looked at Yui from a moment, picking up the patch of snow and squeezing it himself. "You know, I heard there are animals outside from ferocious and gentle ones!" His eyes brightened a little as a smile came to his face at the thought. "I want to hold as many of them as I can."

The smile on his face slowly transformed into shock as soon as he saw the blank look in Yui. She didn't understand anything he said. The eyes of multiple people overtook his vision, people who looked at him like he was different. His eyes dulled as his arms fell to his sides."... That right... Nobody... Nobody understands me."

She didn't know what to say. What did she need to understand? At that moment she felt a strange distance between them that was stretching longer even though they were right in front of each other. 

“I thought you would get it… I… really wanted you to get it… I-I… why…. you… aghhh, you made me feel worse than I thought it would.” Haruto's silent admission had her stunned. 

She made him feel worse? How? What was this feeling? She clutched her core. Her core defection acting up again. The feelings didn't burn, they were numb, yet it felt so suffocating.

"Come on... Let's go home," Haruto finally decided, looking down at the ground unable to look at her. Even though they went home together, it felt like there was something keeping them apart