I fell in love with a Robot [Mikaze Ai]

○Chapter 30○ No matter what

"You fell in love. Just like I did. For him, right?" I finished for her. She seemed a little taken aback, but nodded silently.

I giggled and smiled. "Then we aren't replacements. We are living. We aren't simple programs created to replace someone. We are real living beings. We feel and livejust like normal humans. We aren't robots or tools."

"We aren't?" Yurika looked up to me.

"We aren't" I got off the bed and patted her head. "Come on. Let's get out of this room together." She nodded and smiled. "There must some sort of switch. Come on, help me out."

"Maybe we could try moving some bookcases. You know, those movies where the doors hiding behind a bookcase and there's tons of bookcases in this room," Yurika suggested.

"That's quite a bit of work to do..." I stated nervously. "But we can do it!"

We headed to push each bookcase one by one. There were about 2 at each side of the room. That made it eight bookcases to move. It was tiring and took a long time.

"What are with these books though?" I asked as I took one from the bookcase. I opened it and flipped through. "They are blank..."

"Let me check out the books here..." Yurika took a book from the bookshelf near her. "This one is filled with music sheets." She touched on of them and music started to play. It was a very sweet piece of music. Unfamilar to the two girls, but nostalgic at the same time. I grabbed another book, this time it was filled with pictures. They were all places I saw in Yurine's life.

"What's up with this room?" I questioned. "It's like... We are in some memory space... All these are Yurine's memories. So the only way to get out... Is to find the book with the memory of Yurine getting out of here!"

"... That sounds tiring..." Yurika replied. She pointed at the pile of books on the bookshelves. There are too many to look through, it will take us forever!"

"You are right, I suppose..." I chuckled nervously as I placed back the books. "But I feel like they will give some kind of clue..." I continued taking out books and flipping through them.

"You do that and I shall continue moving these bookshelves," Yurika replied. I nodded and continued flipping through. Then, I found a weird line. It wrote 'To get out, try where you start.'

What did that mean? Where I started? I woke up on the bed...

I walked over to the bed and flipped over the mattress. There was a switch there. No wonder it felt uncomfortable to lie on. Yurika walked over and asked, "Wanna flip it?"

I nodded and flipped and switch. A part of the wall fell to the ground and showed a hallway. We quickly ran out of the room and there were two doors. One was marked with my name and the other with Yurika.

"I guess... Good bye?" She said and grabbed the door knob.

"Bye. It was nice knowing you Yurika," I waved good bye and opened my door. The first thing I saw was a vast colour of cyan blue. It was really bright so I instinctively shut my eyes.

"Yuriko, that was a good performance," I heard the familiar voice of my lover say. I opened my eyes and saw Ai standing in front of me. It felt like forever since the last time I saw him. I hugged him and said, "Ai... It's good to see you again."

"What are you talking about Yuriko? I've always been here," he asked. I let go and looked into his eyes.

"I have been gone for some time Ai. I finally get to see you again. Don't you remember?" I asked.

"Sorry, but no. Is something wrong dear?" He asked. It felt so weird. Like it was not the real him.

"You aren't Ai... Are you?" I asked and looked down.

"I am Ai, your boyfriend," he replied. "Yuriko, you are the one being weird."

"No! You aren't acting like the Ai I know! You aren't Ai!" I shouted and everything I saw cracked into pieces and fell to the ground. I gasped in shock and glanced around. I was standing in a dark abyss, even the door was gone. "What is happening?"

"You aren't satisfied with the illusion I gave you?" A familiar voice from above asked. I looked up and saw Yurine floating down.

"An illusion? So it wasn't real Ai after all..." I smiled to myself, the my lips curled down and glared at her. "Let me out. I want to see Ai."

"Why? I don't understand. It's not good for you if you go outside. It's not safe. You should stay here. The world is a dangerous place. Anyway, the Ai illusion is just like the actual one. He was just a robot anyway," she said.

"... How could you say that? We may be robots, but we are alive! We are just as alive as human beings! We work, we talk and we love just like normal human beings," I protested.

"It's foolish. A robot like you cannot last outside. A robot that's adapted from me can't. You know Yumi right? My younger sister. She's out to get me and anyone who is like me. I'm keeping you safe here, don't you understand that?" She asked.

"I don't care! I want to see Ai and that's all I care about! I love him so much it hurts. I don't care about your little sister! Sure, she was depressed but what did you do?" I asked. Then I realized Yurine avert her eyes away and grit her teeth. She was hurting too... "Sorry... I went too far, but I really want to see Ai again. I want to be with him and love him."

"... Why do you love him so much?"

"Why do you love Aine?" I answered her with a question. She kept silent for a while then she burst out laughing.

"I love him because he was the one who broke me from my work life, he made me life have another meaning besides just working tirelessly," Yurine replied. "You... Loved Ai because he was always there with you, didn't you?"

"... Yeah... I really love him..." I muttered.

"He feels the same Yuriko, I can see what he is doing. He is desperately trying to save you. It's impossible for Aine and me anymore. Actually I'm afraid to meet him... After I tried drowning him like that... I am afraid of..." She hesitated to continue. Her solemn black eyes looked down sadly.

"Don't say that. I'm sure he understands Yurine, but please let me free," I asked desperately.

"..." She seemed hesitant, then she sighed. "Very well. Otsuka Yuriko. I let you take over."

Yurine disappeared and a door appeared in her place. With no second thoughts whatsoever, I opened the door. The light blinded me and my eyes closed instinctively.

"Yuriko...  Is moving. Professor." I heard his voice. My eyes opened slowly and I laid my eyes on my cyan haired lover. I finally got to see the real him.

"Yuriko... Welcome back. Teach me more about love, kay?"