Heroes and Villains

25 - k********g a robot

Yumi

I have to sit down for a moment after Daniel-san fully explains Itsuki’s entire plan to me. I feel a slight headache forming and I rub my temples to try to relieve the pressure.

“I know it is too much…” Daniel tells me, sitting in a chair next to me. “But I wanted you to know”

“The one thing I don’t understand is why Kitty Girl is so important to this?” I say, trying to take everything in. “What is so special about her?”

“All dad told us is that she is the only one who can control the radiation in order to place the meteor in the machine we built” He explains.

“Yes, but how?” I insist. “Isn’t she just an ordinary mutant?”

Then, it hits me. Mia is not like ordinary mutants. She has proven me she can turn into human form at will, something other mutants aren’t able to do.

“How do you change into human?” I ask Daniel, looking at him. He hesitates for a moment and then starts talking.

“It’s a serum invented by a scientist years ago…” He explains, looking into his lab. “It is only temporary but I did manage to make it last longer over the years”

“How did it get invented?” I ask, getting closer to him. “We could use it with the mutants. It would make their lives so much easier”

“We can’t” He says, shaking his head. “I don’t know how the serum was invented but as I researched it, I came to conclude it is probably made from the meteor”

Why does everything have to come back to that meteor?

“Is there a way to access it?” I ask him, remembering what my grandmother said about me being able to control the meteor. Maybe we don’t need Mia after all.

“The meteor is sealed off in separate facilities” He tells me. “I remember dad commenting that it was once accessible with the usage of a strong glass barrier but after an accident 15 years ago, it had to be permanently sealed off”

“But 15 years ago, one could access the meteor and its properties” I conclude.

“I think so, yeah” He confirms. “I was very young when the accident happened. I don’t remember much of it, but I remember dad was so angry”

“Why would he be angry?” I ask.

“You don’t know?” He asks, looking surprised as I shake my head. “Dad was sent here purposefully to protect the scientist responsible for the meteor”

I frown at this reveal. It’s true I did not know why an Yoshiro had been given such an important role in the company. It seems he did start out as a bodyguard after all.

“But the scientist vanished after the accident, probably obliterated by the strong radiation” Daniel continues. “Dad was probably angry because he failed at his very important job”

“But it was just an accident, right?” I ask.

“No one really knows what happened back then” He says. “It’s all very secretive. There aren’t even any records of what the scientist was doing with the meteor”

“Do we know his name?” I ask.

“No” He answers. “The records don’t even say his name but I remember dad mentioning it when he was angry after the accident”

I look expectantly at him, waiting for him to say the name.

“Dr. Jones” He tells me. “But it is all very subjective. Like I said, there are no records of it”

“So, his work was being covered up” I say thoughtfully. “Question is, who was covering it”

“I think Lady Yuna was the one who hired him when the Chicago facilities opened up” Daniel tells me. “Hamato Industries only came here because of the meteor, after all”

My mind wanders to think of how Obaasan changed in front of me and mentioned something I will never forget, no matter how hard I try. She mentioned she belonged to a kind named Mercurians. I have no idea what that means but maybe if I can analyze one of those robots more closely…

“I have an idea of how we can get more clues of what is going on, but I will need your help” I say.

“Of course” Daniel-san says. “What do you want to do?”

“We need to take one of those robots and see how they function” I say. “I have a feeling they hold some kind of clue to all of this”

“What robots?” He asks, confused.

“The robots who replaced all the guards around the facilities” I tell him.

“What are you talking about?” He says. “They’re the same people who have always been here”

“No, they aren’t” I insist. “And I’m going to prove it to you. We just need to get our hands on one of them”

“Yumi, that is k********g” Daniel says and follows me when I get up and head to the elevator.

“Trust me, Daniel-san” I tell him. “It will be worth it”

He is still not very convinced but knows he can’t stop me.

“At least let me change back” He says. “I’ll go with you and help you”

I look at him and notice him pulling a pen-needle, usually used for diabetics, out of his pocket.

“Is that the serum?” I ask and he nods.

“Yes. The change is a little painful” He admits. “But it allows us to live a somewhat normal life. At least, while we still have supply”

“You don’t have enough?” I ask him, now worried.

“We only have enough for me and my brothers” He admits, revealing his brothers are also mutants. “The amount we have has lasted us several years but I am afraid we are running out. If everything goes well, we won’t need it anymore”

I hold his hands in mine and he blushes as he looks at our intertwined hands.

“You can be yourself with me, Daniel-san” I tell him, sincerely. “You don’t need to be human for me to find you beautiful”

“You think I’m beautiful?” He asks incredulously and I smile in response, looking directly into his unique eyes.

The vision I see of what happens next makes me gasp in anticipation and I can’t wait for it to happen as it should.

Leaning in, I plant my lips upon his and it feels like fire has emerged between us.

He places his arms around my waist but he doesn’t have to pull me for me to get closer to him. My hands flutter to behind his neck as our kiss prolongs, the taste of his lips in mine intoxicating.

An innocent kiss but with the promise of so much more.

We tenderly look into each other’s eyes after our lips part, our bodies still intertwined. Now that I have found him, I don’t want to leave him anymore.

It doesn’t matter that I will end up dying in his arms. My love for him now surpasses all of that.

Still holding me close, our foreheads touching, I feel I am right where I belong. I close my eyes as I relax upon his touch on my back.

I want him to know everything about me, even the things I don’t know myself. I want him to see every inch of me, in a way I was never able to see myself.

But all that has to wait, I suppose.

Slowly pushing away from him, I remove the pen-needle from his hands gently. He looks intriguingly at me, still a bit dazed from our kiss.

“How does it work?” I ask him.

“Huh…” He mumbles. “It blocks the part of our DNA that holds the mutated stripe”

I nod and get the pen placed at the base of his neck, ready to inject.

“After this, you won’t have to change so soon anymore” I tell him. “I promise”

I inject him with the serum and the effect is almost immediate. He groans in pain and bends over his stomach in agony. I hold him close to me, kneeling on the floor, as I watch his body change.

First, his skin turns to the usual tanned color. Then, his hair grows back and lastly his eyes go back to chocolate brown. I am conflicted over which of his eye colors I love the most.

I smile when the transformation is over and pet his cheek gently, wanting to take all of his pain away. His breathing is still a little stale after the change. I lower myself to kiss him again and he responds to my kiss tenderly.

“There’s something else I need to tell you before we go” I say, deciding to share my last secret with him, even if Itsuki asked me not to say anything. “Something that happened when the explosion went off downtown”

He manages to sit upright, but I know the transformation is still weighing on him. I can’t even imagine what he has to go through every time he needs to turn human.

Before I lose my nerves, I tell him everything that happened from the moment I stormed into Obaasan’s office to when Itsuki revealed he is my grandfather and we are not human.

When I am finished, Daniel sits there for a while trying to understand everything I just told him.

“Lady Yuna is one of those robots?” He asks, stunned.

I can only nod in response. “According to Itsuki, she is no longer the real Lady Yuna” I say. “She was replaced long ago”

“And you and dad are robots too?” Daniel-san continues, his expression one of pure horror.

“No” I immediately correct. “I don’t know what we are. Itsuki just said we are ancient creatures thought to be extinct and that the meteor is our life force”

“That doesn’t make sense” Daniel says. “If the meteor is your life force, you should be able to control it”

“That’s what I thought…” I admit. “And that’s what Obaa- that robot said too. Itsuki called me a catalyst”

“Why would he need Kitty Girl, then?” Daniel wonders.

“I don’t know” I say. “None of this makes sense anymore…”

Surprising me, Daniel-san pulls me into his arms into a tight hug.

“We will figure it out” He says. “If analyzing those robots will help, that’s what we are going to do”

I smile and cup his cheeks with my hands, trying to convey all the adoration I feel for him.

“You are perfect, you know?” I tell him and his face changes color.

Chuckling at his adorable embarrassed look, I lean in for yet another kiss. I will never get tired of kissing him.

However, this time our innocent kiss takes a different turn when we both notice just how naked he still is under his lab coat.

Feeling my cheeks flush, I allow him to kiss down my neck as our desire for one another can no longer be controlled. I have never been this close to a man before. These feelings are all very new to me, but they feel so right.

I never thought I would allow myself to get this close to a man so quickly, but Daniel-san makes everything feel perfect.