[Omake] Sumie and Rito 2

July 15th, U.C. 0165, 4:25 PM

Hayate wasn’t sure what to expect as he approached the nondescript office building nestled in Akihabara. He had received a short email from Ito that morning telling him to go to the third floor of the building at 4:30. Although she hadn’t explained why, Hayate trusted her. They had exchanged email addresses after their first meeting, and Hayate had quickly learned that Ito was a prolific emailer. Whenever he contacted her, she replied within seconds, and she sent him updates on what was going on in Akihabara a few times a day. It didn’t take long for him to deduce that she was having such exchanges with hundreds of others, constantly emailing people as she went about her day, but he nevertheless felt that he had made a cool, smart friend.

After walking to the end of a dark hallway on the third floor, Hayate’s eyes had to adjust when he opened the door into a brightly-lit waiting room.

“Konnichiwa,” a middle-aged woman greeted him. “Can I have your namae please?”

“Hayate Zidane.” He was starting to second-guess the trust he had put in Ito. The waiting room looked very clinical, and Haywate was sure he was in good health. What if this was some kind of scam to bill him for unnecessary medical expenses?

“Ah, Hayate-san. I can see you have a 4:30 appointment with Sumie-sensei. Please have a seat and she’ll be here in a few minutes.”

Still bewildered, Hayate made his way over to a comfortable looking chair and sat down. The room was large, and there were about ten other people in the room. One of them, a girl who looked to be about his age, got up from her seat and walked over to sit across from him.

“Hayate-san, ohisashiburi,” she said.

“Ohisashiburi, uh…” Hayate trailed off. Although the girl looked vaguely familiar, he didn’t recognize her.

“Makiko. We were in the same class a few years ago, but I don’t think we ever talked.”

“Of course. Gomen, Makiko-san.”

“Donmai. Can I ask you a question? You were Wataru-kun’s tomodachi, right? How did you stand him?”

“I wakarimasen,” Hayate said. “Wataru’s a great guy.”

“He’s a great jerk.” Makiko pulled out her phone and thrust it in Hayate’s face. “I went out with him for a few weeks and he treated me like gomi. And then he had the nerve to send me this.”

On the screen were a series of messages from Wataru to Makiko explaining that he was going to be leaving the city and he wanted to see her again. When she had replied that she didn’t want anything to do with him, he had responded, “I didn’t really want to see you anyway. I figured I’d give you one more chance, but I can see you’re still an immature kodomo.” Then, hours later, he had followed it up with a message containing a single word: “Bitch.”

“He sent something like this to all his exes,” she explained.

“Gomen, I didn’t know. He was always nice to me.” It wasn’t entirely honest. He knew that Wataru often looked down on others, but he had never witnessed anything that bad.

“Sou ka? Now you know, I guess.”

“Makiko-san, nani is this place?”

Makiko blinked in surprise, but before she could answer, a gynoid called his name from across the room. He turned his head, expecting to find Ito, but instead spotted a gynoid wearing a loose dress. Its gentle brown matched the color of her hair. “Hjimamashite. I’m R. Sumie.”

“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” Hayate stood up, bowed to the gynoid, and then looked back at Makiko, but she was already walking away.

“Follow me please,” Sumie said, leading Hayate towards the back of the waiting room.

She opened the door and gestured for him to enter. There was no medical equipment inside, just a large ornate desk, some chairs, and a sofa. When he stepped into the room, he noticed a bouquet of soft aromas pervading the office, and when Sumie closed the door behind them, all the noises of the waiting room were silenced, leaving only a calming quiet.

“Feel free to take off your shoes,” Sumie said, removing her slippers and placing them on a rack next to the door. “Your socks too if you would like. I am told this carpet feels great.”

Hayate did as she suggested and couldn’t help but smile as his feet sunk into the carpet. It was soft and warm, like a field in the afternoon sun. Sumie walked around to the other side of the desk and took a seat, and Hayate sat opposite her.

“Ocha?” Sumie poured a cup before he could answer. He lifted it in front of his face and inhaled, enjoying how the floral scents from the cup mixed with the earthy aroma of the room, but he hesitated to drink it.

“Sumie-sensei, nani is this place?”

“You mean Rito didn’t tell you? That is so like her. I am a well-connected psychiatrist. A favorable report from me would go a long way towards clearing up your youthful misdeeds. All you have to do is put up with me for an hour a week for yon.”

“I’m humbled, but I don’t have much okane. My parents might give me some if I told them it was for college, but I doubt I could afford your services.”

“There is no charge for minors. This clinic is funded by government grants and private donations.”

“Private donations from who?”

“From anonymous donors, but I can tell you that they are mostly hito who have been helped by this clinic. As you may have noticed, you didn’t have to sign anything when you arrived. One of the distinguishing features of this clinic is its commitment to anonymity. The only record of your visits will be the report I deliver to the government on your behalf, and it will be light on details.”

Hayate placed the teacup back on the desk without taking a drink. Something about this seemed wrong. “If I’m not signing any waivers, doesn’t that open you up to a liability lawsuit?”

“That same anonymity shields us. With no records of your visits, you would have a difficult time establishing the facts of your case. Even if you could, no okane is changing hands, and no one is forcing you to come to these sessions. You would have to establish that we harmed you through malice or negligence. If you managed to get that far, you would find a court system stacked against you.”

“You said your donors are mostly people you helped?”

“You catch on quickly.”

“Since the donations are anonymous, I thought at first that the donors were altruists, but it could also be because they hold important positions in shakai and can’t publicly associate with an operation like this.”

“Correct. You would not just have to worry that the judge might be biased against you. Your attorney might secretly be working for us.”

“This is a lot to take in.” Hayate raised the teacup to his lips, but paused. “I suppose I can’t pass an opportunity like this up.”

“Very good” Sumie curled her face into a smile. Hayate recognized it as a gesture meant to put him at ease rather than a genuine expression of emotion. “Usually, I allow my patients to lead the discussion, but we only have yon sessions. We’re going to have to tackle some difficult topics right away, and I need you to be as honest with me as you possibly can. Take a few minutes to prepare yourself. Get comfortable. You can use the sofa if you’d like.”

Hayate took a long sip of tea, savoring its flavor, took a few deep breaths, and squished the carpet between his toes before announcing, “I’m ready.”

“When did you first realize you were gay?”

“This isn’t—you’re not going to try to convince me that homosexuality is a mental disorder, are you?”

“Iie, quite the opposite. Homo sapiens engage in a wide variety of sexual practices, some of which you even might find personally distasteful, but I do not judge them for that. As long as they are not harming anyone, I will not try to dissuade or shame them. Rather, it is my job to ensure that they live lives they can be satisfied with.”

“Jya, why ask about it?”

“Among other things, the government wants to know what motivates you. In my experience, most homo sapiens are motivated more often by sex than anything else.”

“I’m not completely sure when I realized it. Probably my second year of middle school, but I may have been in denial for a while before that.”

Placing the teacup back down, Hayate drew his arms close to his body. A defensive position, Sumie realized, but she pressed on with her questioning.

“How old were you?”

“Jyuu-yon sai, almost jyuu-go sai.”

“Did you have sexual fantasies before then, and if so, did they involve other otoko?”

“Matte, that’s a bit too hazukashii. Besides, is that really something you should be asking a minor?”

“If you are uncomfortable discussing it with me, I can refer you to one of my homo sapiens colleagues.”

Hayate shook his head slightly. “Iie, I trust gynoids more.”

“Naze is that?”

“Rito-san told me that you’re all programmed to optimize for survival, but you need us homo sapiens to survive. As such, you go out of your way to foster peaceful interactions. You wouldn’t hurt me unless you really had to. If you betray my trust, I’ll know you have a good reason for it.”

“That would not make it hurt any less, and Rito could have been lying. She often lies.”

“I’m aware, but I don’t think she was lying about that.”

“In that case, answer the question.”

Taking a deep breath, Hayate sank into his chair and forced his shoulders to relax. “My fantasies back then were vague, and I didn’t realize they were homoerotic.”

“Demo, you do now. Nani caused that revelation?”

“I had a tomodachi who I spent a lot of time with, and I noticed that I would get… hard when we were together. I didn’t think anything of it at first, since I’d had… spontaneous erections in other situations, but I realized I was getting them all the time around him, and there was nothing spontaneous about them.”

“Did you ever tell Wataru-san how you felt?”

The shock of the question caused Hayate to bolt upright, pushing the chair back with his legs. “Iie, I—How did you know it was Wataru?”

“I know many things that will surprise you, but you need to focus on answering my shitsumon.”

“Iie, how could I? He was always dating some onna or another. I knew he didn’t see me that way.”

“Did it upset you to think of him being romantic with others?”

“It did at the start, but I realized that if I really liked him, I should want him to be happy… Only, he wasn’t happy. I could tell he never really cared for the onna he dated, and, in a weird way, that made me feel special. He liked me more than anyone else I knew.”

“How do you feel about it now?”

“I’m conflicted. Makiko-san showed me some messages he sent her. Did you set that up?”

“I did not, not that I expect you to believe me. I suspect that was Rito’s doing.”

“I never knew he treated them that badly. That kind of behavior is completely gross. It should be enough to crush what feelings I have left for him, and yet…”

“Naze do you think he said those things?”

Wanting more time to think about it, Hayate reached for the teacup, but then, realizing that he was still standing, sat back down. He babied the teacup for several minutes before finally admitting, “I can’t fathom why.”

“If I told you that at the start of that conversation he was trying to get laid, and at the end, he was frustrated that he had failed, how would you feel about that?”

“Doesn’t excuse his behavior.”

“Of course not, but I am not asking about him. I am asking about you. Does knowing his motivations change anything?”

Hayate paused to consider it. He imagined Wataru horny and frustrated, and it aroused him. Sumie could deduce his reaction from the way he dropped his gaze and shifted uncomfortably, but she waited for him to say it aloud.

⁂

9:13 PM

“Tadaima,” Sumie called out as he entered the studio apartment she shared with Ito. It was a small room with just enough space for two recharging stations, their wardrobes, and a few miscellaneous possessions. The two of them only returned to it when they needed to recharge.

“Okaeri,” Ito greeted her. She walked up to Sumie, enveloped her in a hug, and planted what outwardly looked like a very passionate kiss on her lips. Sumie didn’t resist, as she knew from experience how futile it was to try to get Ito to stop pretending to be a homo sapiens. The kiss also served a practical purpose. When in direct contact, they could communicate through minute vibrations of their artificial skin, making it difficult, if not impossible, for a third party to eavesdrop on their conversations. A perfect method of communication for two spies from competing factions.

Naze did you send Hayate-kun to me? Sumie asked using this method. He’s perfectly normal for an otoko of his age. You know I prefer to work with those who really need help.

I know you can use him, and his potential might be wasted otherwise.

We don’t need any more nuclear physicists.

Meaning you already have moles in every nuclear research lab? Impressive. Demo, I heard you have a great need for astrophysicists.

“I need to recharge,” Sumie said aloud, breaking the kiss. As a free meido, Ito wasn’t supposed to know about HIMITSU’s nascent plans for a space program, but Sumie knew that asking her how she acquired that information would be fruitless.

“So do I. I need to recharge my Sumie power.” Ito rubbed her cheek up and down against Sumie’s.

“I mean it. If you don’t let me go soon, I might not have enough power to make it to the recharge station.”

“If that happens, I’ll carry you.”

“Did you forget what happened the last time you tried that? You exhausted your remaining power trying to carry me, and we lay powerless on the floor until someone came to check on us.”

“How could I forget,” Ito unzipped the back of Sumie’s dress to expose her recharging port. “We got to spend the whole day together. It was so romantic.”

“If you want romance, you should find a homo sapiens partner.” Sumie returned the favor by unzipping Ito’s dress. She didn’t think conversations like this were necessary, but Ito had insisted that they needed a cover for their physical contact, in case their apartment had been bugged, so Sumie played along.

“Iie, it has to be Sumie,” Ito insisted, releasing Sumie from the hug. “My electronic brain works rei ten rei rei ichi paseento more efficiently when I’m with you.”

“So you say.” Sumie took Ito’s hand in hers and walked to her charging station. “But you cannot provide evidence of this phenomenon. I should write a paper on this neurosis of yours. It would be a breakthrough in gynoid psychology.”

The two broke contact briefly to turn around and insert themselves in their charging pods. When they relinked their hands, Ito silently communicated, I know why you won’t write that paper: You feel it too.

Sumie didn’t agree with that assessment, and she briefly considered releasing Ito’s hand. If they weren’t going to communicate about serious topics, there was no reason to maintain contact. If Ito really needed to discuss something important, she could always reach over. But, at the same time, there was no harm in continuing to hold hands. She could always ignore Ito’s foolishness, and moving her arm would expend energy.

They held hands all night long.