[Omake] Sumie and Rito 4

June 9th, U.C. 0167, 6:40 AM

On property which had once housed the Wright estate now sat a 12-story apartment complex. Aina and Sena shared an apartment on the top floor, and their guards were lived in apartments on the top two floors. Originally, Aina had planned to build a small house for herself, but given the housing shortage, she had been convinced to build the apartment complex instead. Though she had done much worse things in her long life, it had taken her a while to come to grips with being a landlord. Charging rent just seemed so exploitative.

After working with housing advocacy groups, they had established a nonprofit to manage the building. Rents would be collected to pay for management, maintenance, property taxes, and to pay Aina back for the construction costs over a period of about thirty years, without interest. No one would make a profit from the rents, and that meant that it would have been smarter for Aina to invest the money elsewhere, but when she factored in that she wouldn’t have to pay property taxes on the Wright estate for as long as the building was occupied, it almost came out even. However, because of this, and because Tsuyoshi Wright had spent a large chunk of the family fortune after exiling her to the Futarchy, Aina wasn’t willing to sink her entire fortune into the project, so the building was smaller than it could have been.

That decision proved prudent. Were it not for the housing shortage, the apartments would be mostly empty. Everyone feared living near Aina. Her enemies might destroy the entire building just to get at her. At the start, the only tenants were Aina’s most diehard—and annoying—fans. After the building survived unscathed for a few months, she started getting normal tennants drawn by the low rent prices, and they now outnumbered Aina’s fans.

Recently, however, Sena had formed a gynoid idol group, and a few apartments had been claimed by her new fans.

“I thought we agreed not to bring work home with us,” Sena remarked, setting a plate of food down in front of Aina. This apartment was supposed to be a sanctuary for them from the outside world. A place where they could be themselves without worrying about what others would say about their unusual friendship. Even their guards were only allowed to enter in an emergency.

“Gomen, you’re right.” Aina hastily shoved the stack of papers back into her messenger bag. “Arigatou for making breakfast.”

When they had first moved in together, Aina had insisted on doing all of the cooking. After all, she was doing all of the eating. But Sena had started helping in the kitchen after a few weeks. Getting Sena not to do something was a difficult task. Aina knew she couldn’t order Sena around, so she had tried to discuss the matter with her, but Sena had won the argument by saying, “Please let me do nice things for you from time to time.”

“You missed one.” Sena picked up a small envelope from the table. “It appears to be an invitation to R. Ito-san’s birthday bash tonight.”

Aina almost choked on a chunk of replicated protein. “Do gynoids celebrate birthdays?” she asked. “Should I have been getting you presents all this time?”

“Only Ito-san, and she has a strict no-presents policy. She is just using the anniversary of her activation as an excuse to throw a large party. You can just ignore the invitation. I always do.”

“That’s my Sena-chan, always sociable with other gynoids.”

“Interacting with Ito-san is a chore, and I believe she only invited you to get on your good side.”

“Naze would she need to do that?”

“She’s living with R. Sumie-sensei.”

“Oh,” Aina frowned. “In that case, I should probably hear her out.” She felt bad about having to threaten Sumie, but she didn’t have any other way to keep Sumie in check, nor an excuse to lift the threat.

“I believe you would cause a commotion if you appeared in public like that. If you would like, I can talk to her for you.”

“Didn’t you say interacting with her was a chore?”

“I believe it would make you feel better to clear the air with them.”

“Do whatever you think is best,” Aina finished up her breakfast and picked her dishes up off the table. It was nearly time for her to head to work.

“You know, futari tomo are hen,” Sena said as Aina rinsed the dishes. “They kiss each other when leaving from and returning to their apartment.”

“Oh, are you jealous?” Aina asked, picking up her messenger bag.

“Betsuni.”

“Ittekimasu.” On impulse, Aina tilted her head upwards and gave Sena a platonic peck on the cheek.

“Itterasshai.”

⁂

Meanwhile

Ito emerged from the bathroom wearing a fresh meido uniform. In Sumie’s mind, there was no reason for Ito to change clothes in the bathroom. Not only did she not have anything to be embarrassed about, but they had seen each other naked plenty of times. Still, this was far from Ito’s strangest behavior when it came to the bathroom. She regularly brushed and flossed her teeth, and Sumie had once caught her pretending to use the toilet. Were she not a mental health professional, she would have thought Ito had a problem, but she knew Ito was just trying to prove a point.

“Is that what you’re wearing to your party?” Sumie asked.

“Iie, I’m going to come back and change beforehand,” Ito assured her. “Hey, have you seen my new panties?”

“I haven’t.” Sumie assumed that Ito had asked the question after misplacing the underwear. It would normally be impossible for a gynoid to make such a mistake, but if Sumie called her on it, Ito would have responded, “I am a ningen, and ningen can misplace things.”

“We should fix that.” Ito lifted her dress to reveal lace black panties.

“Fancy. Dare’s the target, or am I not allowed to know?”

“You are.”

“Oh, were you trying to seduce me?”

“I thought it was obvious.”

“How could it be? Given our line of work–”

“Have you ever used sex as a weapon in your job?” Ito interrupted.

“Iie, but I haven’t needed to.”

“Neither have I, and I don’t intend to. The only hito I want to be with is Sumie.”

“You are a ningen, and ningen can cheat on their partners,” Sumie reminded her.

“They can also remain faithful.”

⁂

7:20 PM

“Hayate-san, good of you to make it.” Ito greeted him with a smile on her face. Ever since the party started, she had been slowly circling the ballroom, greeting her guests. She was wearing an elegant red dress, a pink rose brooch, black opera gloves, and a whimsical party hat.

“Arigatou for inviting me,” Hayate replied. “I always look forward to your parties. You know so many interesting people, and I always end up having some great conversations.”

“I am glad you think so, because there is someone I want you to meet. Come with me.” She hooked her arm around his, causing the hair on his arm to stand on end. If it weren’t for her thick opera gloves, Hayate was sure he would have reflexively pulled his arm away. “He’s a great guy, but he just got over a really bad breakup and it took me months to convince him to get back in the game.”

“Are… you trying to set me up?”

“Trying to set him up, actually. Haven’t I told you I enjoy playing matchmaker? I have a good eye for it. Half of the hito here met their partners because of me. Anyway, I told Shou-san—that’s his name by the way—I’d introduce him to a really nice guy around his age. Do you get what I’m saying?”

“That you think I’m a nice guy?” Hayate was thrown off by the unexpected situation he found himself in, and Ito’s sudden use of contractions made it feel all the more unreal.

“That I think you’d be good for him. Shou-san really is a great guy. Marriage material if you ask me, but he’s not the best judge of character, and all his ex-boyfriends were terrible jerks.”

“Gay marriage still isn’t legal.”

“It’s only a matter of time.” Rito waved her free hand in the air, dismissing the argument. “My point is that whether or not you hit it off is up to futari tomo, but I trust you won’t hurt him. Besides, I think he’d be good for you too. There he is. Shou-san, youhou!”

“Rito-san, omedetou tanjoubi,” a young man with medium-long brown hair said with a forced smile. To Hayate, Shou appeared as uncomfortable as Hayate felt, but he couldn’t deny that Shou was cute.

“Domo, domo,” Ito said. “Kochira wa Hayate. He’s studying ‘math’ at the Neo Tokyo Institute of Technology.” When she said “math,” she released Hayate’s arm to make exaggerated air-quotes with her fingers. “Hayate-san, kochira wa Shou. He’s studying social sciences at the University of Tokyo.”

“Yoroshiku,” Shou said, bowing slightly.

“Kochira koso.”

“Relax.” Ito placed a gloved hand on Shou’s shoulder, causing him to flinch. “This is a party. Have fun, I promise nothing bad will happen.”

“I am relaxed,” Shou lied. “It’s just that there’s a gynoid behind you glaring at us.”

“Oh?” Ito said, turning her head to spot Sena standing about ten feet behind her. “Nee-san,” she called out, waving Sena over.

“Do gynoids have sisters?” Hayate asked.

“Of course not,” Sena said, joining the group, “for the same reasons they do not have birthdays.”

“We have personalities owing to quirks in our construction,” Ito explained, “and Sena-sama and I have very similar quirks, so I call her nee-san.”

“R. Sena-sama?” Shou exclaimed. “From Kokoro☆Circuit?”

“The very same,” Ito confirmed. “Nee-san, I’m so happy you finally accepted my invitation.”

“You are not,” Sena said, “and I am only here on Aina-chan’s behalf. I never would have come otherwise, and I certainly would not have stayed after seeing you in that dress. Are you trying to make a fool of yourself?”

“That’s some talk, coming from someone who actually piloted a Big O,” Ito replied.

“I thought you said you were alike.” Realizing he had interjected where he wasn’t needed, Hayate chuckled nervously.

“Familiarity breeds contempt,” Ito said. “Nee-san doesn’t want to admit that we’re similar.”

“I may dislike being told what to do,” Sena said, “but I do not suffer under delusions that I can do the impossible.”

“Our very existence was once considered impossible,” Ito said.

“I did not come to debate your irrational behavior. Send this thing away so we can talk.”

“Ahaha.” Ito mimicked Hayate’s nervous laugh. “You really don’t like Hayate-san? How like you to hold a grudge.”

“I am not a thing,” Hayate protested. “No one here is.”

“Hayate-san,” Shou interrupted. “I need to get a drink. Will you accompany me?” Ito nodded in approval, and Hayate reluctantly followed Shou towards the snack table. Both gynoids heard Shou ask, “Nani did you do to upset Sena-sama?”

“Nothing,” Hayate said. “Hontou.”

“Sounds like there’s a story there.” Shou allowed himself to genuinely smile for the first time that evening.

“Nani do you want from Aina-chan?” Sena asked once they were out of earshot.

“I want my Sumie back.”

“Wakarimasen. You are still living together.”

“We are, but she has to act cold towards me because Aina-sama wants to use me as leverage against her. I thought it would be enough to just be with her, but I want her to do nice things for me again. Surely you of all hito can sympathize. You built that love nest with Aina-sama so you could be yourselves in private, didn’t you?”

“It is not a love nest, and our friendship may be unusual, but not as unusual as your behavior. Do not compare them.”

“Oh, but don’t you watch her sleep every night?”

“Aina-chan is at her most vulnerable when she is asleep,” Sena said. “I am only watching her for her protection.”

“If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.” Ito sighed. “Soshite, look, you even got some sugar this morning.” She pointed to the spot on Sena’s cheek that Aina had kissed.

“That is different,” Sena said without elaborating. “Regardless, I do not think you have to worry about Aina-chan. If she was going to separate you, she would have done so long ago. Sumie-san changed her behavior too drastically after the threat. It was an easy tell. If that is all you had to say—”

“Please tell Aina-sama that I want to marry Sumie. Please ask her to add gynoid couples to the marriage bill currently under consideration.”

“Wakatta.” Sena didn’t agree with Ito’s philosophy that gynoids could fall in love, but she believed that they should have the same rights homo sapiensdid.

“Soshite, when the day comes, please walk me down the aisle.”

“There are plenty of other hito you could ask.” Sena gestured to the partygoers all around them. But she hadn’t said no, and that was good enough for Ito.

⁂

“You are sure he’s not a spy for the Federation?” Kiki’s handler asked her quietly as the two unpacked supplies in a warehouse. Kiki didn’t know his real name, but he was known on the island as “Antonio,” and he spent most of his free time with the other workers from the Futarchy in order to maintain that cover.

“He’s too young for that,” Kiki said, “but we are in the process of confirming his background, just to be safe.”

“And you’re sure he’ll help us?” the man followed up.

“He will. Wataru-dou—Er, Comrade Wataru’s grudge against the Federation runs deep.”

“Why did you correct yourself to English?”

“Comrade Wataru told us that when the oppressed adopt the language of their oppressors, they’ve already lost. It made sense, so we’ve been practicing removing Japanese words from our vocabulary.”

“He sounds intelligent. We can use that to our advantage, but it could also be a risk. Whatever you do, don’t let him get the upper hand on you. You’re his handler, not the other way around.”

“I understand.”

“And don’t stop using Japanese. You’ll blow your cover.”

“Wakatta.”

“Why does he hold a grudge? What did the Federation do to him?”

“He’s upset with the public education system. Federation public schools are just propaganda mills, and his family wasn’t wealthy enough to send him to private school.”

“So he is upset at capitalism then.” As they finished their task, the man turned away. “At least he has the right motivation. Put him to work, but for now, don’t tell him who he’s working for.”