Two Weeks Later

"I can't believe I let you two talk me into this."

"Oh come on, Minako-chan," Hitomi laughed, as she took a handful of the persocom's luxurious lime green hair and began folding it. "We're just giving you braids, not dying your hair hot pink or something."

"Onee-chan would look good with pink hair, though," Tomoko commented as she assisted with the process.

"Come to think of it, I agree," the human girl teased. "Maybe we can grab some spray cans and go to work the next time she's recharging."

"Try it and they'll never find either of your remains," Minako deadpanned, before shifting into a playful grin.

"Hey, do you think we should call Junji-san?" the laptop asked. "He said he was going to be here four minutes and thirty-seven point one seconds ago."

"Humans aren't nearly as punctual as we are," Minako said, playing with one of her completed braids with her left hand. "Give him time; I'm sure he'll show up soon."

"Okay, but the broadcast starts in under an hour," Hitomi said, checking her watch. "We did all agree to watch it together here at my place. I just hope he didn't forget."

"There's no way he would!" Tomoko exclaimed. "It's not like we're talking about Yumi-san here."

The other two girls fixed the laptop with harsh glares, and she immediately realized that she had made a mistake.

"Ahh..." she muttered nervously, looking away and blushing. "I guess that wasn't the best thing to say right now."

"It's okay, Tomoko-chan, you're still learning," Hitomi smiled, scooping the miniature 'com up in her arms.

"I don't blame you either," Minako said, sighing. "It's just that it's a tough situation for all of us, watching her slowly lose her mind like this. Ueda-san told me that for the past few days, she's been struggling just to go half a minute without a memory lapse."

"Maybe we should focus on more uplifting things," Hitomi suggested. "What do you think are going to be Qian-san's first words when he steps onto the surface?"

"Hopefully something more creative than 'One Small Step for Persocom', Minako said, smiling faintly. The upcoming Mars landing was receiving a lot of attention in the media lately, and today was finally the big day. The Chinese-built rocket, which had been launched over three hundred days ago, had finally arrived in orbit of the red planet the previous night, and the world's most famous persocom astronaut was readying the lander as they spoke. Junji and Minako had originally planned a big party where all of their friends could watch the event together, but unfortunately most of them were either too busy or didn't share the couple's enthusiasm for astronomy.

"Going to another planet sounds so cool!" Tomoko exclaimed. "I still can't believe Rika-chan wasn't interested when I e-mailed her about it."

"Really? What did she say?" Hitomi inquired, finishing the touches on Minako's right braid.

"It's a lifeless ball of red dust that we've already sent hundreds of probes to," Tomoko replied in a perfect imitation of the other laptop's voice, while miming one of the extravagant fan gestures she was so fond of. "I don't see what the big deal is." Hitomi and Minako both burst into laughter.

"Yeah, that sounds like Rika-chan, alright," the green-haired 'com said. "It seems that she just doesn't share our passion for space exploration."

"Hey, I hear something!" Tomoko shouted. Minako dialed up the sensitivity on her audio receptors, and then smiled as she heard the distinct sound of Junji's car engine as it pulled into the driveway of Hitomi's apartment complex.


A few minutes later, they had all gathered downstairs to greet him as he rang the doorbell.

"Sorry I'm a bit late, everyone, I got-" he stopped as he noticed his wife's new hairstyle. "Twin braids?" he said, grinning.

"It wasn't my idea," the elf-eared 'com replied, holding her hair self-consciously as her ears angled downwards.

"Hey, I think they look great on you!" Junji smiled, pulling her into a hug.

"See, I told you!" Tomoko said from her perch atop Hitomi's shoulder.

"So how have you three been getting along?" Junji asked, slowly removing his arms from around his wife's hips.

"Pretty good, if you don't count the death threats," Hitomi giggled.

"Death threats?" Junji repeated, looking baffled.

Minako rolled her eyes. "We were just kidding around. You know the kind of thing."

"I guess," Junji said, taking off his shoes and coat as the group proceeded back up to Hitomi's apartment.

"How much longer until the show starts?"

Minako pointed at the large flatscreen on the wall and snapped her fingers, sending a radio signal that caused the device to flare to life, displaying a browser window. "Forty-one minutes, give or take," she said, wirelessly navigating to the ShareTube homepage and scrolling through several of the most popular videos.

Junji glanced idly at the video titles as they scrolled past.

CRISIS IN THE MIDDLE EAST - LATEST UPDATE

PERSOCOMS REACT TO CLASSIC TV SHOWS - WESTWORLD

CHOBITS - THE TRUTH BEHIND THE LEGEND?

Before the screen finally settled on a video titled CNSA MARS LANDING LIVESTREAM.

"False advertising," Junji laughed, taking a seat on a nearby couch.

"What do you mean?" Hitomi asked.

"The signals take over ten minutes to get to Mars and back, so it can't exactly be called live," he explained.

"Relativity rears its ugly head once again to ruin the party," Minako chuckled. "Anyone want to watch something else while we wait?"

"Let's watch anime!" Tomoko shouted enthusiastically.

"How did I know you were going to say that?" Hitomi asked, gently rubbing a fist over the laptop's green hair. Junji watched the two of them with amusement. He had never been a huge fan of the kind of cutesy stuff that Hitomi and her new friend enjoyed so much, but it wasn't like it bothered him or anything, so he decided to just relax and go with the flow.


Halfway through an episode of some magical girl show Junji didn't recognize (he was barely familiar with the most popular offerings from that genre back when he was a teenager) there was a knock on the door.

"I'll get it," he said, excusing himself. When he reached the door, he was bemused to find no one there.

"Hello?" he said, taking a step out into the hallway. Suddenly, two figures jumped out from where they had been concealing themselves against the wall on either side, screaming in his face.

"YAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Aaah what the-!?" he barely managed to get out, losing his balance and nearly falling over, before the two began laughing.

"Masahiko-san? Kameko-san? You nearly gave me a heart attack!" Junji shouted indignantly.

"Sorry," Kameko replied with a slight blush. "It was his idea," she indicated her partner in crime.

Junji, now fully recovered from the shock, narrowed his eyes in disapproval. "Is this really any way for adults to be acting?"

"Well, technically, I'm only five years old," Masahiko said with a smirk.

Junji rolled his eyes. "You do know this is an apartment complex, right? The neighbors could make noise complaints, and Hitomi-san would have to take responsibility."

"Come on bro, stop being such a stick-in-the-mud," the male persocom replied, genially slapping Junji on the back. "We're both just a little giddy because-"

"Hey, you said you would let me tell him!" Kameko interrupted.

"Tell him what?" Minako asked, having come to investigate the commotion.

"We're getting married!" Kameko announced, showing off the engagement rings on her and Masahiko's fingers.

"She proposed Wednesday night," Masahiko continued. "How could I say no?"

"Isn't it great, Minako-san?"

"I don't know about that," the elf-eared persocom replied with a touch of sarcasm. "I'm not convinced that either of you are mature enough for marriage, considering that childish prank you just pulled on poor Junji here."

"Sheesh, no wonder you two chose each other, you're such both killjoys," Masahiko said, grinning.

"I thought you said you couldn't make it today?" Junji changed the subject.

"Change of plans, you know how it is," Kameko replied. "Besides, the Mars landing does sound exciting."

"Right, come on in then," Junji said, ushering them into the apartment. "It should be about-" he glanced at his wife.

"Ten minutes, fourteen point nine seconds," she answered instantly. "Hitomi-san and Tomoko-chan are watching some anime to pass the time."

"I hope they're not too into it, I'd like to have a chance to introduce ourselves before the broadcast starts," Kameko smiled.

"Oh, that's right, you two have never met Tomoko-chan before, have you?" Junji asked.

"Well, Hitomi-san introduced us online, but that's not really the same," Masahiko explained.

"I'm sure she'll be glad to meet you both," Minako said, as she closed the door and the four of them headed to Hitomi's living room.


After introductions had been made, and the anime episode had been paused (despite Tomoko's protestations that it was just getting to the good part), the six of them all gathered on the couch to watch the broadcast.

"Hey Minako, would you mind turning off the subtitles? I want to practice my Chinese."

"That's no fair, Junji-kun!" Hitomi objected. "I hardly know any Chinese!"

"Here," Masahiko said, offering the human girl a tablet he had brought with him. "You can read the subtitles on this."

"But I want to watch it on the big screen," Hitomi pouted.

"Fine, fine," Junji said. "We'll keep the subtitles."

"Sssh! It's starting!" Kameko announced.

They all became silent as they were greeted with the image of a small, slowly descending spacecraft approaching a rusty red, cratered surface.

"Ten seconds to landing," a voice announced in Chinese (with accompanying Japanese subtitles for Hitomi's benefit).

"Nine... Eight... Seven... Six... Five... Four..."

"This is so exciting!" Tomoko squealed, as everyone else immediately shushed her.

"Three... two... one... Contact! This is Peizhi Qian, confirming, I've touched down on Mars."

A chorus of cheers was heard from the ground control crew, as the image shifted to the interior of the lander, the Chinese persocom giving a thumbs up.

"Is he going to step out onto the surface now?" Hitomi asked.

"There are still some safety checks and protocols he has to go through first," Minako explained, "but it shouldn't be long. It's not as if he needs to put on a spacesuit or anything."

"I wonder how he feels about-"

Kameko was interrupted as Minako, Tomoko, and Masahiko's eyes all began to flash simultaneously.

"What's going on?" Junji asked.

"Text from Hiroyasu Ueda-san," Masahiko announced. "You two got it as well?"

The female 'coms nodded.

"Junji," Minako said, her voice taking on a tone that chilled the man to the bone. "It's Yumi-san. There's been an accident."


"We were just crossing the street, when this car came out of nowhere and-"

"Considering how bad her condition has become, it might not have been the wisest idea to take her out in public like this-"

"I know that!" Ueda shouted, taking Junji slightly aback. "I was just hoping that a walk around our familiar neighborhood landmarks might help to jog some of her memories. I guess I wasn't paying attention and I stepped into traffic. She dived in front of the car just in time. She saved my life. But then she-" the man couldn't continue as he broke down crying.

"Now let's see if we can save hers," Minako said decisively, taking a cable out from behind one of her ears and plugging it into a port on Yumi's lifeless body.

"Minako, be careful! That could be dangerous! If there's electrical feedback or a short circuit-"

"I'm willing to take that risk, Junji, if I can do something to help her," the green-haired persocom replied, as her eyes flashed intensely with streaks of white light. She turned to Ueda. "There's barely anything left - her neural pathways are deteriorating fast. In a few minutes I won't even be able to interface with her anymore."

"There's no way we can get her to a repair shop that quickly! Isn't there anything you can do?" he pleaded.

"I might be able to force her system into a hard reboot. It won't fix her, but it could give her a few more moments of consciousness."

"Do it." He said. She nodded.

Junji, Hitomi, Tomoko, Masahiko, Kameko, and Ueda all gathered around the street corner where Yumi and Minako lied motionless for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, Minako turned to Ueda and the others, her eyes returning to their normal sky - blue hue. "I did it. Let's just hope this works..."

"Yumi, can you hear me?" Ueda said, rushing up to take his wife in his arms. Slowly, she opened her eyes. "Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, you're my h-husband... H-H-Hiroyasu," she stuttered, her voice suffering from a noticeable electronic distortion.

"Yes, that's right!" he smiled. "Yumi, you saved my life."

"S-s-saved your life..." she repeated.

"Minako-san helped reboot you. You remember Minako-san, right? And Junji-kun?"

Yumi's head slowly turned to look at the two people in question, damaged mechanisms in her neck whirring loudly.

"Yes... M-M-Minako-s-san... and J-J-J-J-Junji k-k-kun... M-Minako... you changed y-your h-h-hair..." she muttered, her voice beginning to fade.

"And me, you remember me too, right Yumi?" Hitomi asked.

"Y-y-you? I r-r-remember... don't r-remember..."

"Yumi, stay with us! Please!" Hiroyasu shouted, hugging her tightly. She turned to look at him one last time, but no words came out. "Yumi... thank you... I love you," Ueda said, eyes flowing with tears as he prepared to accept the inevitable.

An electronic tone sounded, and Yumi's eyes glazed over, only to return back to normal a fraction of a second later. "Konichiwa!" she announced in an artificially cheery timbre, smiling as the light finally faded from her pupils for good.

"No! Not again! Yumi!" Hiroyasu cried out, cradling the now completely lifeless body of his wife as he was left with only the first and last word she had ever said to him.

The others could do nothing but stand back and watch sullenly.


Author's Note:

It seems that I end up writing the same damn AN here every time, but once again I'm sorry for taking so long. I could list everything that made this chapter so late, but then it would take even longer. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter - I know it's rather short, but a lot happens in it. I'd also like to recommend another new Chobits fanfiction author, DovakhiinDreaming, whose stories Priceless Sorrows and The Model and her Maker are excellent so far and quite worth your time. They've also featured cameos from Minako and Junji, and perhaps more of my characters will appear in the future. Give them a read and leave reviews - it's always a good idea to encourage authors here in this nearly - dead section of the site. I'll probably skip straight to Yumi's funeral in the next chapter, but it won't be all doom and gloom from here on, so don't worry about that.