Heart

Masao stomped up the stairs, overwhelmingly aware of the girl walking behind him. He stopped outside of his door and put in the key.

"You can stay here, but don't bother me," he said, opening the door to let themselves inside. He immediately went to the couch and collapsed onto it, burying his head into a pillow and letting out a long sigh. The girl quietly closed the door behind her and stood in the entrance. She just stared at him, watching as he became completely ignorant to everything around him.

She started to explore the small apartment. It looked a lot like a hotel room, with the small kitchen being directly to the left of the door, separated from the living room by a big wall with a large window-shaped cutout in it. Attached to the kitchen was a medium sized bathroom.

She looked around the living room, which had a couch in the center facing a small TV on a little table. There was a rug under the couch which was covered in stains. There were also a couple of dead potted plants strewn around the room with a small table and chair in the corner. She went to look out the large sliding glass door that lead to the small balcony.

The thing that stood out the most was how dirty the house was. There were cigarette butts everywhere, piled up on top of empty food bowls and plastic containers. The floor was dirty and the house reeked of smoke and mold. The smell was so strong that it made her feel a little sick.

There was just one door she hadn't explored yet, a closed door in the living room right next to the wall that separated it from the kitchen. She stepped inside and turned on the light. It was clean and nearly empty in the room. Inside was a single bed resting against the right wall and a nightstand. There were photos hanging on the walls and a small wardrobe.

The bed was made, and it smelled much nicer in the room than the rest of the house. She knew that he must not go into this room very much. It appeared to be his bedroom though, so did he only sleep on the couch?

She looked at the photos on the walls and sadness filled her eyes. In each photo was a slightly younger version of the man who had saved her. His eyes were bright and filled with color, and next to him were different people posing and goofing around with him. In many of the photos he was accompanied by a blond haired boy.

She returned to the living room and knelt down next to him, poking his cheek.

"Mmmh...stop it," he groaned. She stared at his restful face, curious about what kind of a person he was.

"What is your name?" she asked. She knew he said it before but she'd forgotten.

"Masao..." he said, opening his eyes and looking directly at her. Their faces were close to each other and her eyes were like a deep void pulling him in. He sat up, looking down at her and letting out a long sigh. "It's getting late, why don't you go take a shower?" he offered.

Her feet were dirty and her clothes were still wet. He could imagine how uncomfortable that must be, plus she had been in that leaking shed all night. He reluctantly got up and went into the bedroom to get her some clean clothes.

He got her a white t-shirt and shorts. They would be big on her, but it was all he had that wouldn't make her look like a homeless person or a punk. He handed her the clothes and a towel. It had been forever since he'd done laundry. The Laundromat in their part of town had gone out of business a long time ago and the machines were destroyed by teenage gangs who thought it was funny to ruin valuable machines.

He didn't go anywhere so he usually wore the same outfit for multiple days in a row and then hung his dirty clothes on the balcony to get washed by the rain.

He sat at the dirty kitchen table listening to the sound of the water running.

Even though the world was in chaos, water and electricity were still supplied to homes. COT had taken over all the power plants and water treatment plants. As long as citizens sent in a small yearly payment, water and electricity would be supplied to their listed residency. This was only available for people living in homes that had working plumbing and electrical outlets though.

Masao reached for a half-empty box of cigarettes on the table and lit one with the lighter hanging around his neck. He was deeply stressed because of this girl. How long would he be able to keep her a secret? He knew that at some point COT would come back to search the area they'd last seen her in.

He would have to keep her under close watch so that nobody could find her. Just thinking of all the work he would have to put in to protect her was making him feel exhausted. He slouched down, resting his head on the table with the lit cigarette resting lazily between his fingers.

The water stopped running a few minutes later and he could hear the girl fumbling around inside the bathroom.

She peeked her head out of the door and looked around the kitchen.

"Is Masao hungry?" she asked, walking over to him. His own clothes hung on her small frame, making her look more boyish than she did in the black skirt. Her hair was still wet and water from her bangs dripped onto her nose. Masao wouldn't admit it to someone who he'd just met, but he had a preference for girls wearing white. He thought they gave off a sort of angelic vibe, something he quite enjoyed.

He knew that whoever had put her in such a dark and revealing outfit was surely an enemy of his- whether it be Wataru or some other manipulative employee.

"I'm a little hungry," he admitted at the sound of his stomach growling. He breathed out smoke, watching her look through his empty cupboards that were decorated by nothing but cobwebs and a few cracked plates.

"You're not going to find anything in there. All my food is in the fridge," he said. The girl moved to the tall white box and opened it, staring in disappointment at the small assortment of microwave meals.

"Mm..." she whined a bit, kicking her foot behind her.

"What's wrong?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"This is all Masao has...how can I cook with this?"

"Err- that's the point, you don't have to cook at all," he said. "And would you stop talking to me in the third person?"

She ignored his last request, taking out two meals and following the directions on the packaging. Microwave meals had come a long way from when she was born, so she wasn't familiar with the way there were supposed to be cooked.

"Hey, when were you born anyway?" he asked.

"1999," she answered, moving to clean off the table where a mountain of trash was piled. Masao didn't bother to stop her. It's not like they could eat at the table when it was in such a state anyway.

"1999...so how old are you then? I mean...how old would you be if- you know what I mean," he said. She tilted her head. Suddenly he was struck with a cruel reality. Did she not know what really happened to her? He thought that she knew about the fact that she was frozen and sent one hundred and eighty years into the future, but did COT not tell her?

"I'm 19," she smiled sweetly. His eyes fell dark. He watched her wipe off the dirty table with a wet rag in silence. He was a 23 year old man, now living with an innocent 19 year old girl who knew nothing about the world she was thrust into. Who in their right mind would ever think this was a good idea?

More than anything he was worried that he might end up hurting her. He had a plethora of bad habits, things that a girl like her shouldn't be subjected to. He didn't want to ruin the meal they were about to have, because telling her the truth of her situation might break her heart. He didn't want to have to see a cute girl like her cry while he was eating.

She cheerfully grabbed his meal from the microwave and let it cool down, putting her own in to cook. She had chosen a simple chicken, rice and potato meal. These were the standard every day meals for shut-ins and members of the laze craze like himself.

When their food was cool enough she brought it over to him with a fork poking out the top. She sat down across from him and started eating like it was natural. He sat there staring at his food for a few minutes. It was weird- out of place for him to be sharing a meal with another person.

He hadn't done this in years...and it scared him.

How long would it be until she found out the true extent of his condition? He didn't want to get attached to someone who wouldn't stay with him, especially since keeping her in his home was illegal.

"So...what's your name? You never told me," he asked, trying to fill the silence. He finally took a bite of the soggy rice on his plastic plate. It was grainy and wet as always, a taste he had grown accustomed to.

"...ummm," she stared at the wooden table as if it would tell her the answer. "I don't know."

"Come on, how do you not know your own name?" he scoffed.

"My father never called me by a name," she said, her voice getting quieter. "He would call me 'girl' or 'kid'."

"Hmph...so what am I going to call you then? You want me to call you 'bothersome woman'?" he laughed. She shook her head violently, a frown forming on her lips. "I'm just kidding. Hmm..."

This was a big deal to him. He was supposed to give a name to a human being, someone who would carry that name with them for the rest of their life. The only thing he could think of was the mysterious acronym painted on her metal coffin.

Y.O.L.I

What did it stand for? He couldn't think of any company or famous slogan that used those letters. He thought about it, and thought some more until he concluded that Y.O.L.I was a good enough name for her.

He didn't want to pronounce each letter separately though. It took too long and it didn't sound like a real name at all.

"What do you think of Yoli? Do you like that name?" he asked. (Yo-Lee)

"Yoli?" she repeated it to herself like she was testing it out. "That's a very nice name," she smiled.

"Phew...that's what I'll call you then," he said.

Now that their name issue was sorted, they ate in silence. When he finished his meal he left it on the table and went back into the living room to lay on the couch. He stared at the ceiling and listened to the sound of her humming from the kitchen.

"Masao didn't throw away his trash..."

"Hmph, lecturing me already? You don't need to pick up after me...it would get thrown away eventually," he said, knowing full well that wasn't true.

She sat on the couch armrest and looked around the room, still getting used to it.

"Do you not wonder about your family? Do you know about...what happened to you?" he finally asked. She looked at him with confusion painted all over her face.

"My family is fine, they are living in the countryside," she smiled.

"COT lied to you. Yoli...do you know what year it is?" he asked.

"Mm...2018," she replied, pressing her finger to her lip. His mouth fell open. Someone who was alive over a hundred years ago was sitting in front of him, talking to him and eating alongside him. He knew that this was the case, but hearing it come out of her own mouth was insane to him.

"Ughhhh...Yoli you aren't going to like what I'm gonna say..." he sighed. "It's not 2018 anymore, it's 2185."

Her face was still, showing no signs that she was even processing what he said. He began to worry that this was too much for her.

"You didn't notice? Clearly the world doesn't look like it did then...your family died a long time ago," he said. "I'm sorry."

Her lips fell open slightly and her eyes caught a distant look.

"Look, you were frozen for a hundred years- that's how you're living right now," he said. He grabbed the TV remote and navigated to his saved recordings, playing back the recording he had taken of the first report on her. Wataru's familiar face flashed onto the screen, a news report Masao was well familiar with.

Her eyes were glued to the screen, her small frame un-moving. She stared at her own lifeless body laying in the coffin, barely able to believe it was true.

"Everyone died? Except for...me?" she said softly.

"That's right. This guy, Wataru, he works for this news organization called COT. He lied to you, told you that everything was okay and that your family was alive," he said patiently. "They wanted to study your innocence or something. Girls like you, they don't really exist anymore."

"Lied to me?" she turned from the TV and her gaze fell to Masao. "Masao lied to me too."

"..." he looked away from her, feeling that bit of guilt fill him again. "Yeah, I guess I did," he admitted.

She looked back to the screen, her eyes taking on a more glassy appearance. She covered her eyes with her hands, breathing in shortly. He didn't know what to do. He couldn't decide if he should comfort her or let her cry alone. He was terrible at comforting people, and usually he just made things worse.

"Umh...I know it's sad but err- there's really nothing we can do about it."

She took her hands away from her face and he could see that her cheeks were covered in tears. He laid his head back against the armrest and reached a hand out to her. "Come here," he sighed reluctantly.

She was hesitant and first, but eventually she climbed on top of him. She took his hand, holding it gently as she laid her head down on his chest. He could feel her small body pressing against his, so close that he could smell her. She nuzzled against him, bringing her hand up to rest on his shoulder.

"It's going to be okay. I..." he ran his fingers through her hair in a comforting motion. "I won't lie to you anymore, well, not about things like that."

Her breathing was staggered and her tears began to soak his shirt. Feeling her on top of him made him realize that he was the only person she had left. There was nobody on earth who had the heart to protect her, and nobody who wanted to.

"I'm alone too, so we can be alone together," he said.

"What?" she picked up her head to look at him, her big eyes sparkling.

"I'm a part of the laze craze. I spend every day alone," he laughed softly. She squinted at him.

"What's that mean?"

"Err- the 'laze craze' is kinda like a movement of people who uhh...well, it's people who stay inside all day and do nothing for whatever reason and get minimal contact with the outside world," he explained.

"Why does Masao do that?" she looked at him with a critical expression.

"Uhh, it's not my fault. I was pretty much forced into this lifestyle."

Yoli's expression softened and she waited for him to elaborate.

"Three years ago, I was in a really bad motorcycle accident. My heart stopped working and I was going to die. I got taken to COT's hospital in Tokyo and they preformed a massive surgery on me," he said. "They took out my heart and replaced it with a metal one."

"Whaaat? That's not possible..."

"Hah, it totally is," he laughed, rubbing his eyes. He was feeling weary now from the weight she was putting on him. "Medical practices have advanced a lot since your time."

"The heart they gave me doesn't work very well though, so I'm kinda in a permanent state of tiredness. It's like- real hard to live with it."

"Ah...Masao is hurting?" she brought her hand to his cheek and touched it lightly. He winced from the contact of her soft skin against his. He felt so out of place, which was weird since he was inside of his own home. She made him feel like a stranger to his own skin, unaware of just what he was capable of in the moment.

"It hurts sometimes, but this is how I have to live to survive. Even just going out with you today made me feel like I was dying," he smiled weakly. "They did this to me to test their new surgical transplant technology, and to get revenge."

She continued to stare at him intently, listening to every word he spoke. He quite liked it, having someone who would listen to whatever he said and actually care.

"I was the leader of a gang, a really well known one. We stole from COT all the time, even killed their employees and broke their internet connection sometimes," he chuckled, thinking back to his rebellious days. "So they did this to put an end to my trouble making, I guess."

"Masao kills people?" she said, her eyes filling with fear. "And steals too?"

"N-no, no, no- not anymore. They were bad guys anyway, probably on their way out regardless."

She frowned and without saying a word, she sat up on his chest and began to lift her shirt up over her head.

"H-hey! What are you doing!?" he shouted sharply. He felt heat in his chest rise as he watched her take off her shirt, completely powerless to stop her due to how weak he was. She was wearing a simple black bra, though her breasts were small.

She pulled down lightly on the middle of it, showing him the space between them. There was a small white crystal implanted into her skin.

"W-what the hell is that?" he stuttered.

"Yamada-san put this into me when I was with him," she stated.

He couldn't peel his eyes away from her body- after all, she was exactly his type.

"Huuuh? He-" Masao frowned at the thought of a creepy guy like Wataru doing surgery on Yoli's naked body.

"They told me that my body was too weak to function on it's own..." her eyes softened and she wiped the tears from her face. "It gives me a shock every 12 hours and I can also do it manually. I wouldn't be able to wake up without it."

"...well that makes sense I guess," he said. She had been asleep for so long that her body had probably lost a lot of it's abilities. "H-hey, wait!"

She put her shirt back on, struggling to get it over her head. "That thing wakes you up? Does it help your blood flow or something?"

"Yes," she nodded. His eyes widened and he grabbed her shoulders strongly, bringing her closer to him.

"Could you shock me?"

"H-huh? Masao wants me to shock him?" she fell into his arms, pressing her head against his shoulder.

"Yeah, could you? If you do it while you're touching me, would it also affect me?"

"We could try...will this help Masao's heart work?"

"Yes! Yes, hopefully it will," he patted her head. "Okay, I'm waiting."

She concentrated for a moment, then brought her hand up and reached down her shirt to press the crystal. Her leg quivered a bit, but she seemed mostly unaffected. Masao, on the other hand had an intense reaction.

He immediately jerked his head backwards, his mouth falling open. The intensity of the shock was something he'd never felt before. He could feel it coursing through his body, entering his senses and overriding every instinct he had. He could hear his own heartbeat in his ear, it's pace quickening and then slowing down to match a regular functioning heartbeat.

It was something better than any high he'd ever felt before, better than smoking any amount of cigarettes, better than any woman he could ever touch- because he finally felt alive.