Chapter Text
I’m so sorry, Saya
I couldn’t see you again
Maybe I’ll do one day
Maybe when I feel a bit of “yay”.
Is what I wrote in my diary. The writing seemed to jump around, but I don’t care. It’s now the 5th anniversary of my sister's passing away due to the war, and I’ve been struggling to maintain a healthy life within this household. It’s a mess. It’s disgusting to me.
I want my sister back, but I guarantee she’s not stepping inside my house, a clear mess for now. When she died, I inherited a bunch of stuff from her. Mostly clothes and money, which she has been saving up for.
I lay on the floor, flat on my stomach, feet kicking up into the air, full of boredom and barely any sense of barely to no emotion at all. I’m tight on money, and I barely have any money to maintain this house, which I saw my sister build. The yellow, classic pencil sat between my fingers as I rested, letting my other hand support my chin. I’m quite skinny for a 12-year-old. I sense the clock ticking every second, the synchronized timing slowly making me crazy. I had to get groceries today, right… I look around, getting a quick observation of my surroundings.
Trash.
Garbage.
Dirty, stained clothes piled on top of each other.
This is how it’s mostly been. I haven’t dared to clean ever since I fell into a depressive episode about being alone. I just had a notebook and a laptop. Wait.
That gets me an idea— Go on the laptop to order the groceries from my local supermarket. Right. I’m basically a hikikomori, but just very closeted with a sense of hygiene and consciousness, whether to care about needs or not.
I go on—
Huh?
That’s… Not my computer. I thought to myself quickly, eyeing the pink-charmed laptop. It probably was my sister’s, right?
“Weird,” I mutter to myself, crawling over the piles of clothes on the tiled floor to approach the folded, charmed device. The device also had a USB plugged into it… It genuinely confused me— What the hell was this? A virus?
I unfolded the laptop open, taking in view of the blank, dark screen alongside the keyboard, although it seemed brand new, along with new, unfamiliar features. Suddenly, the laptop screen opens without any of my commands, then—
”привет!~” The Russian accent hit the screen’s speakers like a tiny sound wave, although it was not loud enough to cause a nuisance. I quickly regained my composure. What the hell?
”Ah, hello. I am Cka, a personal hologram.” The screen casually introduced itself. It had not fully turned on yet, but a light flickered within the device. I just blink. Twice. Genuinely drowned in confusion. After a few more flickers on the screen, it had fully turned on. There, on the screen, was the face of a girl so similar to my sister. Same uniform, hair— Although this one’s hair is literally a shit ton of baby pink, she looked a little too identical to my sister. On the bottom, I notice a chat log, where I was able to talk to the artificial intelligence by myself through code. With a few seconds of slow typing, I wrote—
“Who are you?”
A boring question, but it was the only thing that filled my mind recently. I adjust my weird position, sitting down on the plush bed… (Even though it’s probably obvious that there’s gonna be old clothes on there.)
”Ah, who am I, malyshka? Ah, like I said, I am Cka. Cka Klavdiya Himeji at your service!”
Although the Russian did answer my question, it wasn’t heavily informative. I look at the screen again, like it was an Alter Ego. Genuinely, she looked female and sounded female. But anyway, what the hell was this set up even about?
The woman on the screen looked at me, still in a 128x128 pixelated form as she just… Pauses. Is this a malfunction or what?… I was starting to get impatient, but then—
“… So, your sister had coded me into this hologram as your personal assistant. That’s it!” The woman-- or whatever, "ho-lo-gram" just creepily smiled at me as if I was someone like a daughter, cousin-- Wait. A sister. My mouth was agape at this point due to the shocking fact- Is THIS my sister? Reincarnated? Oh my god. Whatever, but like, what is IT supposed to do? I don't need an emotional support hologram, I'm fine on my own--
And that's what I just thought to myself before disaster-- Or maybe even worse, a calamity struck.
As so as I thought this situation couldn't get even worse than before, the hologram thing started fucking crawling out of the digital computer screen. I quickly backed up, scooting my derriere on the floor until I hit the hard, decaying, termite-infested wall. What. The. FUCK. I saw the holographic medic soldier's helmet peeking out of the screen as she continued to climb out of this unrealistic, unimaginable screen without any intent. I then froze as the hologram's hand began to peek and rise from the screen of the bedazzled computer. "Heyyyy........." The thing just-- Oh my god, I can't even speak at this point. "A-a-- WHAT THE HELL?!!!" I suddenly screamed out, a mixture of shock and scared emotions washing over my damn young face.
She has now emerged from the very own device that I just found.
“Hey Shoujo…” Cka, the holographic device just spoke out in a secretive and teasing tone. Who the fuck calls me Shoujo? Not even my sister. Ugh. “What do you want?” I said, with no intention of being rude. It pisses me off whenever someone just… Calls me nicknames. Especially “Shoujo”.
”Your room looks a bit concerning. Are you about to go homeless?” The damn clanker just said without any excuse for being rude. Especially with that slight Russian accent. This whole thing is getting on my damn nerves… ”Yeah. It’s a mess. Do you have OCD to the point you can’t stand the sight of this chaos?” I said with a tone full of a slightly offended background. I was on the verge of crossing my arms out dramatically, but as I blinked, I genuinely saw the light ahead of my future right in front of my eyes.
What the fuck. I just sit there messily, petrified— “You like it?” Cka just peeked out of the laptop’s screen just to say that. Right before me was a genuinely brand-new, clean house without a single dusty spot within the whole room. My eyes weren’t even blinking anymore— This felt like a dream. No. I then quickly pinched my own cheek before telling myself that this whole situation was indeed real. “I just set the coding variables to all ze— The. The trash and garbage around and in this room. Yeah.” She just sheepishly smiled; it just sounded like she didn’t wanna have such a German accent. How the hell does she even do that?! I then take a deep breath to calm myself down, before looking at the bright cleanliness of my room. “H—how did you even do this?!” I said with a panicked tone. This has never happened in my dear life, plus it was so abnormal. “Ah. So first, you just have to set the coding variable to every piece of garbage in the room…” I was basically to the point of frustration. “I’m a human, I don’t randomly see lines of coding everywhere!!—“ I yelled in advance, my fists balling up. I'm just a 12-year-old human girl after all, not someone specialized like Cka. Ever. My hands then dig to my hair, then I just crouched down. "Hey. No need to worry! I can just--" I look at the computer screen again, before blinking. I then suddenly was met with the soft, cozy blanket covering my own petite figure. Before I could realize, the static of that very same plain, beige blanket reached me, and I yelped. I fucking hate dry-aired areas. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!--" I then prepared to roll on the ground. Yeah. It's like I'm allergic to static. But then, Cka, the hologram, decides to watch me suffer in vain as I dramatically roll on the ground to get rid of static. (You Canadians know what it's like here.) As Cka giggled, 5 seconds had now passed by, and she was still watching me roll on the ground. Not because I'm laughing, but because I have hadenough of these little static particles that electrocute me whenever I touch something. She finally closed her eyes-- Then set the coding variable to the blanket, making it disappear. "There. Are you okay?" She didn't even feel sympathetic, just curious whether I was okay or not. "I hate static." I roughly replied to her, but then she just had the nerve to get a bit angry. "I asked you whether you're okay or nottt." She gritted her teeth, but I generously had ENOUGH. I then slowly crawled over to the laptop, my knees softly scraping against the wooden panels of the floor, then I shut the laptop closed. I quickly shut my eyes when doing so, but when I opened them again-- Nothing happened. Not even Cka had come back to get revenge on me. Ah. So this seems to be her weak spot then...
I just had the urge to open that damn computer again. Not even without a single regret-- Just straightforward. My skinny fingers hover over the neon, pink cover of the laptop, bedazzled and jeweled with various items like gemstones (obviously, they are fake), and charms. I scrunched my face as I held the top of the laptop cover, gritting my teeth. Not because of pain, just because I'm so fucking scared. I finally had the courage to open that computer again, but this time…
I felt a hand wrap around my socked ankle, wrist bending a bit. That’s when I noticed that it was coming from the source of the computer. I screamed in agony as another hand had lain above the other, still targeting the same ankle. The soft fabric of my left black calf sock was slipping off by now. I then finally had the balls to scoot my derrière away, until my hard head hit the newly “constructed” wall. It was neat, like a disaster of chaos and mess never happened in the same area. Just as I sighed and relaxed, I then realized— The laptop. Fingers were still crawling out of it, forcing the device open. I grit my teeth before quickly crawling towards the damn screen and trying to shut this close. But for some reason, the holographic fingers that belonged to Cka felt like a human’s. “Ow, ow, ow!!— Shoujo, stop, that hurts!!-“ The familiar voice seeped through the crack of the gap between the laptop’s foldable keyboard and screen. I roll my eyes sassily, not giving a single care about the pain she’s currently feeling. “Don’t ever scare me again like that, you clanky little materialistic creature,” I said, with a tone that felt insulting. But for some reason, I didn’t expect Cka to also not give a single fuck about what was happening right now. I then pinch the bridge of my nose cause currently, this situation would generously give me a headache that would last several hours.
“When was the last time you took a bath?” The dang hologram. Oh my god. I mean, it wasn’t that offensive, for sure; she was concerned. I last took a shower…
Two months ago.
God, it’s because of the electrical bills and rent!!! It all seems to be way too expensive and complicated for just a tween like me. My rent is even overdue.
The upper half of the laptop seems to be opening due to Cka’s palm emerging from the artificial lights of the laptop’s bizarre screen, given by her incredible strength. It makes sense that she was a soldier, although her role was kept as a medic. “Shoujo, why did you close me?!-- Rude.” The hologram pouted. She kind of looks like a Tamagotchi, something I’ve actually heard of but never touched in my life. But as I opened my mouth to speak, my stomach embarrassingly growled in hunger. Both Cka and I stared at each other in silence, before she spoke up– “What do you wanna eat?” She asked me straightforwardly, not even asking first if I wanted to eat. “Y-yes.” I nervously admitted, gulping after the single-word response I said. “I said ‘What do you wanna eat?’, not ‘Do you wanna eat?’. Now, tell me.” I thought about it for a moment. Pizza is way too cheesy. Steak is too juicy (and sometimes pepper-y.) Oh god, I’m way too picky. “R-rice.” I stuttered out, basically just thinking of whatever came into my mind at first. Cka had a moment to process what I just said, before saying;
“Rice? RICE?” She started giggling maniacally. This is embarrassing. I just want a soggy bowl of rice topped with soy sauce! And tempura– “And tempura. Batter-fried shrimp.” I instantly sputtered out as the mention of another type of food that I like followed alongside throughout a chain of words that arrived towards my own little mind. “Rice with tempura, alongside soy sauce and chopsticks for me to use.” I was then sitting on my folded legs, a determined look on my face. What the hell was I even determined for? Cka just stared at me blankly, that same default smile on her face before saying;
“Rice and tempura it is. Close your eyes.” Her request knocked me off. “Why do I need to close my eyes?” “Just close them already!!!” She said with a hurried voice. I shut my eyes before Cka gave me a signal– “Done. Open your eyes now.” I look now before my eyes; A freshly cooked bowl of rice and a plate full of at least several pieces of tempura, alongside a tiny bowl of soy sauce. I look before my eyes, resting my palms on my thighs. Before Cka could even react, I dug in so quickly like a feral dog. And yes, I was VERY hungry. “Whoa, woah, calm down, you bundle of rabies disease!!--” I then paused, rice and shrimp filling the insides of my mouth. “Wha?” The food inside my mouth muffled my sounds. I just kept eating until there was nothing left– Even the shrimp tails, which were quite crunchy, and I don’t think those were genuinely edible… “Whoa, woah, Shoujo, slow down, those tails aren’t edible!-“ Cka showed a huge amount of concern as I chewed, rice grains all over the bottom half of my face. I genuinely did NOT care a single bit of what just happened right now. After taking the last chomp, I laid the chopsticks down beside the bowl on the new, clean, wood-paneled floor of the living room. “T-thank you, Cka.” I clasped my hands together, being quite grateful for the large meal— Probably the largest it’s ever been for the past few years. As I slowly blinked again, the laptop was staring at me. I then scooted closer, before Cka had suddenly whispered— “Let’s go shopping, Shoujo.” Shopping? It’s been…
One. Two. Three. Four.
FOUR YEARS WITHOUT SHOPPING A SINGLE BIT?! Oh my god. This was once in a lifetime for me! Without any hesitation, I quickly accepted Cka’s offer.
I held both of my hands together, intertwining them in excitement. Maybe my older sister is really watching me from the heavens above!
”Cka, when are we going? I don’t even have money.” But just as my mouth had formed those words, a pile of money (preferably NOT stacked together nicely) had fallen on top of my small head, one after another. I just sat there, mouth slightly agape, as a shocked expression washed all over my face. “W-wha?—“ I mutter to myself, but as I look at the paper currency, it is indeed real. I’ve been living off coins and cents, never this. “We actually do have money— All that depends is the coding variable! For example, I have the power to spawn my pet elephant in the room-“ I cut her off immediately as she stuck out her tongue out of the corner of her mouth with a peaceful expression. “We are NOT spawning an elephant in here. ARE you crazy?-“ I showed a look of concern all over my face, but that did not stop her. Piles and piles of money were scattered around the floor, almost covering the whole living room. If I could just calculate how much Cka had spawned… “Forty-two thousand dollars.” The hologram suddenly said, still looking at me mischievously through the laptop’s screen. What the hell. “T-that much?” I stuttered, a bit reluctant to even touch a single bill. All of it was spread unevenly across the cold wooden panels, my small body pressed against the wall. ”Now, what are you waiting for? C’mon. Just grab a bill, don’t act so scared.” Cka said so calmly, as if it was a ticking time bomb and I was a hostage. I was quite a bit hesitant at first, my right hand shaking a bit as I reached out to grab a bill. It was valued... "... I can't read." I stared blankly at the bank note, trembling a bit. The numbers seem to jolt around for me.
“But anyway, can we just go now? You’re acting as if you were allergic to paper bills.” She said with a slight Slavic accent. It somewhat calmed me down, yet my body was still hurled up against the wall. Her ability… It was extraordinary. I slowly stood up, light on my feet, before leaning over to pick up the dollar, worth less than the debt I owe the landlord of this house. “... You literally just spawned this,” I said blankly, just staring into the bill in my hand. “You’re so slow at trying to process my words, Shoujo. Do. You. Want. To. Go. Shopping.” Okay, okay, Cka sounded pissed enough, but not enough as my elder sister when I forgot to wash the dishes last Friday and would nag me about it. I slowly gulped before breathing out my words– “Yes.” Given by the hologram’s threat-like words, I just decided to say yes. It sounded like she wanted me to say “yes”, so I did. “Great!” Cka just smiled happily with her mouth closed, before transforming me into a brand new pair of clothes as I yelped. “Oh gosh, wrong step.” A huge gush of water fell on me like a heavy waterfall, and that just made me yelp harder. “You see, you kind of stink, so here’s a free shower.” The water finally disappeared, making me look like a damn wet owl. I literally still had the pair of clothes that Cka created on my body, soaked as hell.
wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep wet towel beep beep beep -fuyumi
“My bad.” The hologram decided to magically dry my hair up before putting me in brand new clothes. And a damn bow at the back of my navy blue dead hair. “CKAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!” I screeched out loud in annoyance. The bow was NOT it. “What? Anything wrong, Shoujo?” “YES.” The conversation halted with an agreeing statement, clearly cross-examined. Cka was now eyeing me as if I personally offended her. And then so suddenly, a holographic hand emerged out of the screen of the computer. Then another. I quickly backed up, but it was too late. My blank stare gazed across the half upper body of the soldier, then she just popped out of the computer. “W-what?--” But as the words escaped out of my mouth, the hologram grabbed my ankle, and I screamed. Not in fear, yet not in joy. “Hey, I just wanna fix the bow on your hair, okay? Stop screaming.” My mouth immediately stopped to a halt. I then slowly straightened my back. My hair was genuinely dead for sure. Cka then laid a hand on my shoulder before turning me around for my back to face her body, and she just started combing my hair peacefully (without knowing it hurts so damn much) “OW!! BE GENTLER!!” “Sorry, Shoujo.” She said in that usual, joyful tone where you’d probably assume she wouldn’t be that sorry if she did apologize. I slightly puffed my cheek as she fixed my hair a bit. After a few minutes of silence and hair combing sounds in the air, Cka turned me around to face a mirror stand that probably wasn’t even there before in my house. As I look in the mirror, Cka, this little idiot, decides to put the bow on my upper abdominal area on my clothing instead of the back of my hair. “Better? You wouldn’t stop being such a brat earlier.” Cka pouted in disbelief, yet still not aggressive towards me. That was a promise between my older sister and me. “Never. Be. Aggressive. To. Each. Other.” She was supposed to represent my older sister with baby pink hair, right? Right. “Shoujo. Hellooooo.” She waved in front of my blank face before I eventually snapped back to reality. “Just put it on the back of my hair, or give me a fancy jabot collar or whatever suits me better. Your style in twelve-year old girls is quite childish.” The hologram looked at me, confused, with that blue-ish green hue all over her digital body. “We are definitely not somewhere in the nineteen hundreds.” I sighed in defeat. I don’t wanna wear something that’s definitely not my style. As I inhaled a deep breath, Cka then pressed on my head. Then a pat. And a playful smack. “Let’s just keep this bow on the back of your hair and go shopping.” She settled her hands on my shoulders, shaking me a bit before I replied a singular word: “Fine.” Cka then crawled back into her laptop creepily, transferring herself to the USB I plugged in earlier. I stare at the bedazzled pink laptop, yet still surrounded by lots and lots of dollar bills worth hundreds. Before she got back in the device, I noticed that she had spawned in a large tote bag in order to maintain the items around my room, the bag taking on a shade of beige. Before I reached out to pick up the money around me, a voice erupted from the laptop again. “Hey, don’t forget that I can easily switch between devices. You got a phone?” Cka asked, yet no Slavic accent hid in her tone. My hands were as dry and empty as the Sahara desert, which I heavily disliked. “No… What makes you think that a girl like me inherits a phone? The only device I have, and just discovered, was the laptop that you emerged from.” I replied with a tone of confusion, yet there was actually no problem behind it. Cka looked at me with doubt, yet she does reckon that I’m a brokeass. “Well, then, I’ll spawn one for you.” With a snap of her pale fingers, she had used her perk of creation to make a newly-produced device plop into her hands. “Here.” The phone was literally as pink as a flamingo, and yet, it matched the bedazzled laptop I discovered an hour ago. Cute keychains, but it wasn’t my type. “Seriously? Pink? And bedazzled? And also topped with keychains?” I sassed out. Maybe these items that Cka produces are always gonna be pink, just like her damn hair. “What? Don’t you like them? What a sassy little delinquent who thinks that dressing up like a hierarchy from the eighteen hundreds would be better–" "Cause it IS.” I cut her off abruptly, literally pissed off. “Just… Don’t give me anything pink for now.” I stammered, yet the silence was so loud to the point where the only thing my brain focused on was the feeling of the large bow of the back of my hair. “... Fine. You’re so moody with your taste of color.” It really didn’t make sense how she looked like a soldier and a medic in war with such light, pink hair. It was unrealistic to the point it hurt me. “Here. Take this phone, and also my USB, so that I can travel alongside you. Use the money I spawned in to call a taxi and pay them.” Cka walked towards me, yet she was literally a few inches taller than me. She then grabbed my hand, opened it, and placed the dithering, bright pink phone on it, and then disappeared like a hologram being disconnected by its browser. The phone had also come with a USB, except that this was a different one. I held the phone lightly, my grip feeling a bit loose. “... Alright.” After such a long silence, I finally grabbed the tote bag, stuffed money into it, and left with my phone resting in my left palm. This was my first time leaving the house. “Remember, use your phone to call a taxi!” Cka said, her voice a bit distorted due to the communication through the phone and reality. “Right,” I replied confidently, grasping the phone in my hands before pressing the buttons. Just a few minutes later of silence and standing on the block, a car finally arrived. “Hello, miss. Where would you like to go?” The old, male driver politely spoke out, a smile washing over his face. As I stepped into the car, I calmly said, “The mall, a kilometer away.”