Chapter Text
Just another day.
For Kasane Teto, this is all her life was now, being a perfect idol who could do no wrong. She was tired. She just woke up and she was already tired, her activities weren't even that busy for the day, just an interview, on paper it isn't all that dreadful. But leaving bed still felt like pulling herself off a 10 ton anchor, and even when she got up, she felt this weight constantly pulling her down, but she still had to get up and prepare for work after all. After her small fight with properly getting out of her bed, she headed to the bathroom to start preparing for the day, completely avoiding the mirror until she had to do her makeup. Disgusting. Even when she prettied herself up, the only thing she could feel towards the person in front of her was disgust and anger. In fact, the makeup only made those feelings worse, she didn't even look like herself anymore, she looked like a doll. That's all she was now, a pretty, plastic doll that would inevitably be thrown out for the next shiny toy. But there wasn't time to dwell, she simply winced at the thought and looked away to finish up her preparations for the day.
The interview was fine, but monotonous. It was the same thing over and over again, she's done this exact same for what feels like a hundred times. Every answer was the same exact reply she's used before in a different flavor, except for one. It's always the last question, and every time it's the same exact thing she has to say, “my power comes from my fans!”. Every time she said it, it took everything in her to not roll her eyes and cringe while saying it. When she started out it was true, but now they're only obsessed with a version of her that doesn't exist, a version with no passion or personality. They're obsessed with a doll.
The entire exchange that she just endured was almost entirely wiped from her memory as soon as she left the building, all there was to do now is waddle back home without paying any mind to the things around her, almost pretending that she didn't exist. Nothing even felt real as she got home, as everything went quiet around her, and thoughts went rampant in her head. They were all saying the same thing, they all hated her with all they had, they were loud, so loud. But nothing would make them quiet down, they only quieted down when she accidentally bumped into an unfamiliar individual.
“OH! Sorry about that, I didn't really notice you there”
But as the person turned to look Teto in the eyes, she noticed something off about her face.
Her skin was ghostly pale, not even having a hint of red to it. She wore a completely muted expression on her face, looking exhausted beyond belief. Her eyes shined a bright orange… somehow? It would be easy to rule the odd color out with the existence of contacts, but they had this glow to them that was completely outside of the possibility of contacts.
Her clothes shared the motif of orange, with her large, oversized white jacket having some large patches of orange across it. The hood was pulled up on the jacket, somewhat hiding the stranger's face, but her eyes and expression were still easy to read, Teto even noticed some strands of orange hair peeking out from underneath, with a black headset also making itself somewhat visible.
The two stood in silence for a second, with the two of them just awkwardly staring into each other's eyes, the silence finally being broken by the odd girl.
“Do you know where I am?”
Oh. I guess she just needs directions, thought Teto. She was pretty bad with directions, though. She only really knew the areas of the city by what was contained within the districts.
"A lot of people usually just call this area the office district of town, is there anywhere you're specifically looking for?”
The stranger just looked at her. Teto felt like the words that just left her mouth completely whizzed by this person. But after a pause, the stranger began to speak again.
“I am lost. Can you assist me?”
At this point, Teto wasn't sure what vibe she was gathering from this girl, she could either be some sort of scam artist, trying to accompany her and ramble on about some unfortunate plight, which the stranger would then try to goad her into buying some weird, useless product. Or maybe she is telling the truth, and that she's genuinely lost her and needs help getting around, maybe she's one of those people who have a company cover up their supposed demise, only for them to just move away somewhere else to start anew. But looking at the girl's expression, it was easy to deduce that the girl was simply just lost. Her face just looked so… confused, maybe even a bit scared. It almost feels like she just stumbled across an abandoned pet of some sort. With all this in mind, Teto decided it couldn't hurt to help the poor girl out, besides, maybe it'd be nice to talk to somebody after such a draining day.
“Sure! Is there… anywhere you're looking to go specifically?”
The girl looked at Teto with a somewhat pathetic expression.
“I… do not know where to go. I am lost.”
Teto's heart sank a bit. It wasn't a long sentence at all, but the way it was spoken just pulled at her heart strings a bit. This girl wasn't just lost, she was completely alone. It was no wonder she was so pale, she's probably experiencing the worst days of her life right now. Teto had lost count of how many times she's ended up like that, just walking around the city with no goal in mind, having nothing and hoping that some divine turn of luck could just turn everything around for her. There weren't many places she could direct this girl towards, she was searching through her head for where to even start here, I mean, where do you even take a random stranger to if they have nowhere to go? While scratching her brain for ideas, a small shiver went down Teto's spine, that's when she noticed how much the temperature had dropped since the afternoon. It was getting late out, and since they were still in the middle of winter, it was about to way colder.
That's when an idea finally came to her.
“Hmm… Well, since it's getting a bit cold out here, how about you grab a coffee with me? Maybe we could sort things out in the café?”
The stranger shot Teto with a puzzled expression.
“..Could you please define the following terms of “Coffee” and “Cafe”? “
…what?
How could she not… literally how did she not know? Where did this girl even come from? Teto would try to explain what it was, but as soon as she tried thinking about it, her mind went completely blank. Still though, she wanted to get this poor girl out of the cold.
“Well it’s uhm… It's kind of like.. actually, it'd be easier if I just showed you! Just follow me, kay?”
The girl gave Teto a small nod, with that, she started walking towards the nearest café, with the stranger following not too far behind her. After a relatively short walk, they both arrived at the café, With Teto gently opening the door, giving way for the stranger to go first, only to be met with a confused stare.
“You can go in first!”, Chimed Teto
Once again, the girl only gives a small nod, and shuffles her way inside the café.
Teto guides her to a nearby table, and eventually gets the two of them to sit down. The interior of the building was warm, with the walls being colored with a variety of warm yellows, and being trimmed with dark brown wood panels, a much needed change of scenery compared to the gray, overpacked city outside. Honestly, Teto didn't even know what to do from here, she at least got the stranger into a much calmer environment which seemed to have worked on her, as she was mostly just analyzing her surrounds, seemingly eyeing each item in the establishment, mattering not how interesting each of those items actually were. Still, she needed to start a conversation somehow.
“Soooo… ya mind telling me your name?”
The girl's eyes from the café’s interior and immediately locked them with Teto's
“Ah… pardon me, I am Adachi Rei, may I ask for your name aswell?”
Oh right… “should i even use my real name?” Teto thought she didn't want to bring attention to the fact she's an idol, her name was pretty well known at this point so it's not too out of the question that this person may have heard it once or twice. However, this girl seemed pretty… out of touch to say the least, so she concluded that it should be okay to just use her actual name.
“I'm Kasane Teto! It's nice to meet you, Rei!”
Teto held out her hand over the table expecting a mutual handshake, only to see Rei just sitting there, completely unamused. “Oh. Yeah. Right.” Teto awkwardly pulled her arm back under the table, with Rei just staring on, not even asking what the motion was supposed to entail. This seriously started to make Teto ponder on what could have happened to Rei for her to be completely oblivious to basic social gestures. Did she have her memory wiped? It's an absurd idea, but at this point it's starting to enter the question. It’s almost as if she just appeared in this world, only having linguistic and reasoning skills in hand. The only way any of her questions were gonna be answered is if she stopped asking herself, and started actually asking Rei a few things.
What ensued is a discussion that felt like driving on a road that only led back to itself.
“Where did you come from?”
“Unsure”
“Do you have any family?”
“Negative”
“Do you have any hobbies?”
“Define “Hobbies”.”
Every question either leads to a “I don't know” or a “What is that?” and while this was partially annoying, it was even more concerning if anything. Rei didn't know a single thing about the world, she understood concepts of society and basic human functions but that was about it. In all honesty, if Teto didn’t know what to do before, she was certainly at a loss now. There was no way she was just going to call this off and leave Rei to the streets, she wouldn’t be able to forgive herself if she did. But at the same time what could she even do? Maybe she could invite Rei to stay at Teto’s apartment for the night, but that won’t solve her issues relating to her knowledge of the surrounding world. Why is she so concerned about this person anyway? They only met about 20 minutes ago and they’ve barely been able to hold a conversation the entire time. …So why does she care so much? Why does she feel responsible for this person? It just wasn’t making sense.
Nonetheless, she still wanted to make sure Rei would be safe for the night, so it’s only fair she invites her over for the night, right?
“Hey Rei… since it seems like you might be alone for a while, do you want to just stay at my place for tonight? It shouldn’t be too far from here.”
Rei’s head perks up.
“...Would that be okay with you?”
“Of course! Just follow me, it really isn't far from here.”
Teto started raising herself from her chair, with Rei following suit, they both walked to the front door with Teto giving way for Rei once again, with her actually picking up on the queue this time around. Once both outside, Teto lightly took Rei’s hand as they both started making their way to Teto’s apartment.
Along the way, Rei asked a single question.
“Teto?”
“Yes, Rei?”
“You never provided an explanation for the term “Coffee”.”
…Whoops. Teto just took this girl to a cafe and completely forgot to order anything. However, Teto just figured she could fix Rei some coffee at her place once they got there, she was pretty sure she had some ground coffee lying around somewhere, and brushed it off with that reasoning.
After a rather short walk, they arrived at Teto’s apartment, with Teto quickly opening the door, and immediately going to lay down on the couch, quickly plopping down on it not even 10 seconds after entering. Rei waddled in not long after, only settling herself within the entrance way of the apartment.
“Feel free to sit wherever and eat whatever, I really don't mind.”
Rei simply stood around, seemingly analyzing everything about her new surroundings. Her eyes darted to each new object, spending a good 10 seconds on every detail before switching to another point of interest. She must have analyzed about half of the apartment before her eyes became particularly fixated on one point of interest.
“How do you achieve such a structure with your hair?”
“HYAH?!” Screamed Teto,
Teto was surprised at how quiet Rei was, not even hearing the girl approach behind her.
“O-oh uhm… I just use a hair curler and then use these like.. hair roller things in my hair overnight.”
“I see…” Rei replies, turning her head a little in a curious fashion.
“May I request to view a demonstration of this process one day?”
“Oh of course! I could even try it out on you if you want.” Teto chuckles
Truth be told, Teto had no clue how she would get something so elaborate to work on Rei's shorter hair. Teto had to have her hair grow down to about halfway through her torso just for it to work, but there was no harm in trying one day.
“Y'know you can sit next to me over here, Rei. You don't have to stand the whole time.”
Rei simply stares at Teto for a second, before making her way to the front of the sofa, where she softly plants herself down next to Teto.
“Are there any more activities you would like to do, Teto? I may assist with tasks that you require to have finished if you would like.”
“Ah no that's okay! Actually, I just want to get to know you a bit! You will be staying with me for a bit after all.”
Teto had invited this woman over to her house and barely knew a thing about her, not her favorite food, not her backstory, she practically just invited a stranger over. And to be honest, she wasn't 100% sure why she did. Rei certainly made herself out to be odd with the way she stared so intently at things, and the way she spoke with such a sophisticated manner, none of these things were bad really, but it was definitely out of the norm.
“As discussed before, I do not have much information regarding myself, most memory searches of myself only retrieve my name in return .”
Teto turned with a confused expression
Her name… it seemed to be the only thing Rei had. Was Teto right about her throwing her old life out and starting anew? I mean, that’s one way to explain the way Rei acts, but it’s a bit of an extreme theory. Probably not worth pushing her about either. But… memory searches? I mean I guess that’s a way of saying that you’re searching your memory, but it just sounds so robotic.
“Why only your name?”
“I have no past memory worth reviewing due to my activation only being administered on today's date at 11:34am.”
Activation? Wait, So that implies that…
“Wait. Are you telling me that you're a robot?”
“Precisely.”
Okay. Definitely not what she was expecting, but that also answers almost every question she had about this girl. The pale, almost synthetic looking skin, Her mannerisms of speech, and her whole attitude. She didn't just bump into anyone today, she bumped into someone who was entirely new to this world, someone mature, but completely lost and clueless about everything around her. But that only answers part of if, where did she even come from? It's not a regular thing to just stumble upon a fully sentient android, in fact, this is probably the first time this has ever happened to anyone. Teto was completely at a loss for words, any words she would try to form would instantly disappear from her.
“Is this fact… upsetting to you?”
Teto suddenly breaks her train of thought, looking up and meeting eyes with the curious robot, her head tilted to the side in an inquisitive manner. She was really struggling for words, but if she just kept staring at her for much longer things would just be that much more awkward.
“N-no!! I uh.. I just… I'm just really surprised- I didn't even know androids were a real thing until now…”
Rei just kept staring at teto, did she say the wrong thing? Was Rei upset? Her mind was still rushing with so many thoughts, until one thought broke through all of the noise. “She's just as alone.” This got Teto to properly think of the situation in front of her, Rei stated herself that she's only been active as of today, but in a way that struck her as a pretty scary thought. This woman just woke up to the adult world out of the blue with no one to guide her, and no where to go. This may very well be Rei's first interaction with a human. With all this in mind, Teto decides on what to finally do with Rei.
“Yknow… since it seems like you don't have anywhere to go, would you like to just live here with me?”
“Would that be okay? I do not wish to become a burden to you.”
Teto nods her head
“Of course it's fine! I really don't see how you'd cause any trouble.”
Rei opens her mouth but no words come out, she pauses for a second before trying to speak again.
“I… I deeply appreciate this, Teto. I was beginning to fear that finding a sufficient rest spot would prove impossible. If you truly do not mind...”
Rei forms a small smile.
“I would love to stay with you.”
Rei's smile made Teto’s heart melt a bit, it was so warm and genuine, in her head, it solidified the fact she made the right choice.
“I hate to make a request so quickly after you provided me with such generosity, However I must ask, do you possess an outlet that I may charge at?”
Teto looked back at Rei and noticed that the light on her headphones had changed to a bright red, surely indicating that her battery was running low.
“Oh uh, o-of course! I think there's one in my room that I'm not using, just follow me!”
Rei nods as she raises herself up from the couch to follow Teto to her room. Once she opens the door, she's greeted to a fairly simplistic bedroom, its size was decent, not too large, but was also just enough for what Teto needed from it, Although it was a bit messy with a few dishes on the bedside table, and several articles of clothing thrown about the floor. Rei's eyes quickly became fixed up a queen sized bed placed on the back wall of the room. The top of the bed was adorned by a large, red duvet…which was completely pushed to the right side. The only other thing to really stand out was a pile of plush toys on the other side of the bed, every single one of them adorned Teto's likeness.
“Did you craft these yourself?”
Teto completely forgot about how many of those she had stuffed over there, they were all sent to her for approval from merchandising companies, but she still doesn't want Rei to catch on about her idol life.
“Ohhh don't worry about those! Look T-there's an outlet over there you can use!”
Rei turns her head to the left to see an open outlet next to the closet door, there would be just enough space for Rei to rest without blocking the door, should it open.
“Oh, Thank you very much. I will begin my recharge process now. I will be completely inactive during this process, but if you require any assistance during this process, please press and hold my activation above my charging port.”
Teto forms a somewhat awkward smile, hoping Rei won't ask more about the plushie pile.
“Okay no problem! I hope you rest well!”
Rei reaches up onto her back, and then pulls down a long, red cable, She then slowly connects the prongs to the open outlet. She then plants herself down onto the floor, resting down into a calm, almost meditating pose. Her eyes then closed, with her head slumping down into her chest, indicating that she had fallen asleep.
Teto breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't want to keep secrets from Rei so early on, but if she knew about Teto's career, she'd probably start asking questions she wouldn't be able to reply to in a natural fashion. Teto looks back to the other side of the room, only to notice the time displayed on her bedside alarm clock.
“11:56PM”
She hadn't noticed how late it had gotten, at most she's usually asleep by 11 flat. Luckily, she wasn't scheduled to do too much the day after, so she could afford a bit of leeway with her rest time tonight. But nonetheless, it was time for her to settle down for the night. She went about showering, and cleaning herself up for the night, before finally putting on her pajamas to rest for the night. She slipped into her somewhat messy, yet comfortable bed, completely wrapping herself in the warm sheets. Before she turns out the lights for the night, she gives one last glance towards Rei. She seemed peaceful, her round face somewhat illuminated by the now orange light that shined from her headphones, adding some color to her rather pale face. She couldn’t quite put her finger on why this was, but Rei’s presence made Teto feel more relaxed, for what feels like the first time in forever, she could lay her head down peacefully, without a barrage of negative thoughts overwhelming her brain.
Teto formed a small smile on her face, before turning off the overhead light and shifting her body to the side, finally shutting her eyes after such a strange day.