Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Synthetic Emotions ❯ Phase 03: First Day At School ( Chapter 3 )

X.X.X.X

Synthetic Emotions

By: Melissa Norvell

Phase 03: First Day At School

X.X.X.X

Red eyes cracked open with the haze of sleep. Her vision was blurry but slowly turned sharp with her wake. As it cleared up, it homed in on a young man's face sleeping very close to her, as this thought reeled through her head, a sense of panic filled her being.

Eros' robotic and cold eyes stared straight into her own.

"Good morning."

"Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" She screamed, scooting back as fast as she could until she ran into the wall. Aroura then fell silent for a few moments before recalling the events of before. "Oh…Yeah…" The girl replied, finally calming down after her ordeal. "You're still here…" She pointed at the robot, which was still lying in her bed.

Eros sat up, looking straight ahead. "Am I supposed to be gone?" He asked.

"No. When I go to school tomorrow, I've got to ask Chacha about Syntacoms."

"Chacha?"

"Yes. Chacha is my friend. She's excellent in robotics. She even built her own robot," Aroura remarked.

"Built her own robot?" The Syntacom cocked his head in question.

"Yeah, her name is Tetsumaru. She's going to be up and running Monday. I can't wait to see her, " the school girl said in excitement. After all, she had been waiting for her friend's project to come along, especially since she'd admired her work for so long.

"You like robots?" Eros asked in his familiar serious tone. He had always been strangely stoic, even with light hearted matters. This factor alone was a constant reminder to the girl that he wasn't human.

"Yeah, I love robots! Ever since I was little I've always had a fascination with them. So I'm really happy I can be with you, Eros," she smiled.

"Eros…" The male looked to be in deep contemplation as his eyes lowered to the lower half of his form, still covered by the sheets. "Is that really my name?"

Aroura blinked in response, lowering her happiness to a semi-serious tone. "I just named you after what was on your arm."

The male slowly looked to his arm and pulled up his sleeve to reveal the number and name printed on his arm. "Eros…" He read the print below the number.

"Oh-seven…07…I've heard of that before. Too bad you can't connect to the internet…" She sighed. "I could look up something on the 07 model Syntacom. Come to think of it, I don't remember Akemi or Tomiko telling me about it either."

"Tomiko? Akemi?"

"Two Syntacoms I met earlier."

"You go to school," Eros stated simply.

"Oh yeah," Aroura responded, and then a look of confusion crossed her features. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"I can go with you, if you don't want to leave me alone," Eros suggested.

"Hey, good idea," the girl's features lightened up. If Eros were a student at school, it would make her life a lot easier and she could keep an eye on him. This meant that she could keep the secret easier and she wouldn't be worrying about him alone with her parents while she was in school. "You can be a normal guy. Just don't do anything weird and keep your clothes on in the public. Your robot parts will make you different and I don't want anyone to find out."

"Because I'm different."

"No…Because I'm not sure what to say about you. You're special…" She paused, looking a little worried about how he would react to her next phrase, "and you should be kept secret, at least for a little while."

"I see," he replied simply.

"We can enroll you today. We'll just say that you suffer from amnesia and I'll suggest that you be in my classes so we won't be apart," Aroura suggested.

"Alright."

X.

Before class, the two walked amongst the general population of students. They were dressed in their usual school attire. Eros wore a plain navy blue jacket that buttoned up the middle, but was currently unbuttoned and matching pants with a white button up shirt beneath it. Aroura wore a short-sleeved white shirt that buttoned up the middle with a navy blue tie and fuku with socks of the same color which were pulled up to her knees with black mary janes adorning her feet.

The masses walked around them, talking, running and acting in every emotion possible. Eros studied these subjects and the emotions they held. Despite his cold stare he was inquisitive about humans and how they lived in their environment. This new information about school could also prove helpful in attending and acting as a student should so he didn't give away the fact that he was only a machine.

Aroura held a bit of a nervous gleam in her eyes. Inside she was paranoid and didn't want anyone to suspect that Eros wasn't a human, especially those of the Robotics Team, who usually held a keen eye for this type of thing. If she could just get him through today, it would surely be a miracle.

'I hope no one notices that Eros isn't a human.' Her mind reeled on the thought. 'Man, I'm going to have to be on my toes with him.' Her thoughts ended upon colliding with something soft that felt like fabric as her head landed into the black-clad chest of Tetsumaru. Red eyes looked up to meet cold sky-blue ones. Then they widened in horror as she realized exactly where her head landed. "Huh? Gack!" She exclaimed, jumping back from the robot.

"Greetings, I am Tetsumaru," the robot informed in a low and feminine voice. It held that same stoicism as Eros' did. The girl wondered if all robots sounded so dead.

"Hey, so she got you up and running after all," Aroura beamed.

"Yeah, isn't she awesome?" A girl with short brown hair what was flipped out in disarray as she popped over the robot's shoulder.

"She rocks socks!" An exact replica of the previous girl replied, only this girl was more tomboyish and her voice spunky, versus the lady-like one of her twin.

"Wow. She's so cool!" Aroura beamed.

"Who's the dude behind you?" The feminine twin pointed to Eros casually, leaning her arm over Tetsumaru's shoulder.

"Dude behind me?" Aroura asked, turning half way to come face to face with Eros once again. "Gack!" She jumped back in surprise. "Oh…" She calmed, putting a hand over her quickly beating heart and sighing in relief. "That's Eros."

"Eros? You know him?" The feminine twin asked, surprised that the girl would know a type like Eros.

"Yes…er…he's my cousin," Aroura lied. "He has amnesia and he doesn't remember much."

"Oh, poor thing," she replied sympathetically, casting a sad look towards the male.

"Indeed. It must be tragic," Tetsumaru agreed, but showed no sign of physical acknowledgement.

"I'm Hisame," the lady-like twin introduced herself.

"And I'm Kisame," the more tomboyish twin spoke boldly.

"We're twins. It's nice to meet you," the said in unison.

"Nice to meet you too," Eros bowed to the blue-eyed twins.

"He's so polite," Kisame remarked.

"Yeah, you don't find men like that often," Hisame replied.

"Oh really?" A calm male voice asked as the quartet of women turned to see Hisaka and Chacha walking up to them.

"Hey Hisaka. Hey Chacha," Hisame greeted the two.

"Are you two done showing Tetsu around school?" Chacha asked in her usual calming tone, blue eyes looking to the twins in question.

"Almost," Hisame replied, "we were getting ready to show her where the Library was when we ran into Aroura and her cousin."

"Her cousin?" The lime-haired girl questioned, now looking to Aroura.

"Yeah, this is her cousin," Kisame pointed to Eros, who bowed.

"Nice to meet you."

Chacha bowed in return. "Nice to meet you too, I'm Chacha."

"And I'm Hisaka," the aforementioned man bowed. "We're head of the robotics club here at Hishada High."

Chacha rested her forearm on Tetsumaru's shoulder. "This is Tetsumaru. She's my robot. I just got her up and running so she's new here like you. You can maybe learn some things together. What grade are you in?"

"Grade?" He asked, seeming confused.

"He's in high school like us. Same grade," Aroura replied swiftly, trying to cover his mistake up.

'Odd…I don't sense any human characteristics from this one. He seems rather odd. I'll have to keep my readings on him.' Tetsumaru thought to herself.

"What's his name?" Hisaka asked.

"I am Eros," the male in question stated.

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Hisaka extended his hand to shake Ero's. The robot looked a little unpredictable, although his face held no emotion but he had a certain flicker in his eyes as he took the boy's hand. Suddenly, Hisaka was judo-flipped and landed on his back on the ground, his glasses nearly flying off of his face.

"Eyaaah!" Hisaka screamed as everyone went wide-eyed at Ero's sudden choice of movement.

"Ouch…" The injured male whined.

"What are you doing!?" Aroura scolded. "You don't Judo Flip people like that!"

"I don't?" Eros questioned. "But the self-defense book I examined said that if someone made an offensive gesture to protect myself from them by all means necessary."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Chacha asked, confused by his actions but still trying to be rational. "He was trying to shake your hand."

Aroura walked over to Hisaka and bent her knees in a little, putting her hands on them and examining her friend with a concerned expression. "Are you alright, Hisaka?"

"I'm alright…Just a little stunned," Hisaka replied, a little disorientated from being assaulted.

"Shake hands?" Eros asked, looking back to the two.

"Most people here bow to introduce themselves," Tetsumaru explained, "but another formal way of greeting each other can be signified by a friendly handshake.

A handshake is administered when you take the other's hand and shake it with their own."

"Wow…He's strong. He did that one-handed!" Hisame complimented, impressed by his show of strength.

"Poor Hisaka," Kisame replied as Aroura helped the boy get back up to his feet with an arm around his neck.

"Your cousin is strange," Chacha commented, sounding intrigued by Eros.

"Sorry about that," the black-haired girl replied. "I really am. You see, he has amnesia and he's relearning everything over. I gave him a bunch of books to read and I guess a few martial arts books got in there. He probably thought you wanted to fight him."

"He's unusually strong," Hisaka commented.

"He works out a lot," Aroura made up a quick excuse to try and cover for that minor detail.

"Maybe he should be in the Martial Arts Club with me! Cha!" Hisame replied, punching out once in confidence as the bell rang, signifying the beginning of classes.

The short-haired boy straightened his once cock-eyed glasses and dusted himself off. "Well, I must be off to class. We'll talk later."

"I am sorry," Eros apologized.

"It's alright. A person of your mentality is excusable from such actions."

"What is your name?"

"I just told you, but maybe you didn't catch it. I'm Hisaka."

"Hisaka…I will try to remember it," Eros looked as if he were processing the information momentarily.

"See you around," Hisaka walked in the opposite direction as Aroura grabbed the robot's hand.

"Come on, I'll show you to your first class," the two left as Tetsumaru and Chacha stood a few feet away. They both held the same look on their faces, stoic and emotionless with a hint of contemplation.

Tetsumaru was silent as she watched them walk away.

"What a peculiar boy," Chacha commented.

"Yes master. He is indeed remarkable."

X

In class, the teacher hadn't come in yet so the students had a few extra minutes to get out the last of their conversation before the learning process was initiated. Beside of Aroura sat a tall blonde with bangs that were cut at a diagonal, covering her left eye. Her right one was exposed and cat-like and her hair was almost cream in coloration and long, stopping just above her butt. She wore a different uniform then Aroura. Her skirt was long and to her knees and her socks low around her ankles. Her shirt looked like a classic Japanese uniform and was white with navy trim and a red bow around her neck.

"Who's the guy?" She asked, her voice deep and tough in tone.

"Ooh!" Another girl beamed. "We have a new student! Kewl! What's his name?" She asked from the other side of the girl. This student wore the same uniform as she did, but had long, blonde wavy hair and wore a sun hat that always covered her eyes. All that could be seen were painted lips of a deep red as she spoke.

"Ah, so that's why you were busy this weekend?" Mariko chimed from two seats to her right.

"You should have told us that you had a boyfriend," Himemari told her kindly as the girl blushed in embarrassment.

"What? He's my cousin!" She defended as the wavy haired girl cackled.

"Aw man! I'm sorry!" She apologized loudly. "Dude that must be embarrassing!"

"Well, the hair's similar," the long haired blonde noted.

"Look at those girls over there," Mariko said, pointing to a small group of upper class females, who were staring at Eros from across the room. "They must like him. They're staring a lot."

"I don't see what's so good about him," the guy with short, flipped out hair who was talking to Himemari the day before commented, a hint of jealousy in his tone.

"I know," a feminine looking boy commented from beside of him, "I look so much better than him." This male looked similar to Mizuki. He had the same color hair and eyes. His hair was long and fell in his face, covering the same eye but so long that it also covered most of that side of his face, but was pulled back mid-cheek. He had lazy eyes with long eyelashes and a small mole underneath his right eye, acting as a beauty mark of sorts.

"Can it Hyobe! You vain bastard!" His counterpart fumed.

"I'm not a bastard. We have the same parents," he whined as twin rivers flowed down his face.

"I refuse to believe that," she dead panned.

"You two really do act nothing alike," Himemari commented.

"She's just mad because I'm more beautiful than her," Hyobe gloated narcissistically.

"What?" The insulted one stood up abruptly, fist drawn close to her body. "I dare you to say that again." She threatened.

"Mizuki, we're going to get in trouble," Himemari warned.

"Whoo! Beat his ass! Do it! Do it!" The girl with the hat on cheered loudly as the boy with flipped hair laughed.

"What's so funny? I don't want any bruises on my beautiful face," Hyobe whined, touching his face and looking at the laughing boy over-dramatically.

"Oh please," Mariko waved in dismissal.

"Aroura…Who are they?" Eros asked, looking to his master in question.

"Oh! I almost forgot! This is Eros." She introduced the robot to her friends. "Eros these are my friends. Mariko…" She gestured her hand to Mariko.

"Hey, how's it hanging?" Mariko greeted him with a smile.

This caused the robot to look down. "Um…Down?"

Everyone held different expressions at his choice of words. Mizuki had a look that seemed to say 'what the fuck'? Mariko and Hyobe were horrified, as if they had seen a murder taken place. Himemari blushed and the girl with the hat and her male friend snickered, attempting not to laugh, but they couldn't hold it long before they busted into a fit of laughter.

"Ya damn pervert!" Mariko fumed.

"But you asked-" Eros tried to defend himself as Aroura drug a hand down her face.

'Please…I just want to run away and hide…'

"All men are just alike," Mariko scoffed as the other male continued to laugh.

"So much for introductions," Mizuki replied. "My name is Mizuki. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you as well," Eros replied attempting to bow but his forehead soon collided with the table, producing a loud thump that could be heard all throughout the class. "Registering pain…" He murmured.

"Aroura, your cousin's an idiot," Mizuki told her simply.

"I like him!" The wavy haired blonde replied. "He's too funny!"

Aroura sweat dropped, producing her nervous happy-anime eyes. "Now, now Eros…You really don't need any more brain damage today. It's hard enough that you have amnesia."

"He has amnesia?" Mizuki asked, her features turning serious.

"Yes, but he's well enough to go back to living a normal life."

"Will he ever recover his memory?"

"No one's sure…" As Mizuki's words ran through her mind, a look of worry crossed her face. She looked at Eros with fret in her eyes. 'Eros…I wonder if he will and if he does, will he still treat me the same?'

With the end of that though, the teacher walked into the room and all of the students scrambled to their desks and quieted down as she spoke. "Alright class, let's get started on today's assignment. Please turn your math books to page seventeen and we'll begin on Section A."

At the end of that sentence, Eros began to flip through the book quickly, as if he weren't really reading it, but his eyes were scanning each page.

"What's he doing?" The wavy haired blonde asked.

Mariko had her math book covering her face as she propped her feet up on the desk. "Who cares?" Her voice was muffled beneath the book, "I'm going to sleep."

'Odd…' Mizuki thought, studying his actions carefully as the sound of chalk could be heard on the blackboard.

"This is your assignment," the teacher gestured to some kanji and numbers on the board. "It's due by the end of class. You may begin."

At the utterance of the word, Eros began to scribble frantically on his once blank piece of paper.

"He's a fast writer…and he's extremely good at math for someone who has amnesia," Mizuki replied, looking to Aroura.

'Crap! Leave it to Mizuki to get suspicious!' Aroura's thoughts became frantic. She knew that her friend was on to her.

"Who cares?" Mariko asked, saving her from answering to Mizuki's constant questioning. "I'm trying to sleep."

"After school, everyone is going to hand out at Himemari's house. Do you want to come, Aroura?" Hyobe asked, looking to the girl with red streaks.

"Huh?" The girl in question looked up from her math book. She was hoping that no one would talk to her if she decided to be quiet, but it didn't work and she now looked caught red-handed. "Sure. Who's going?" She asked.

"Momoko, Mizuki, Hisaka, Chacha and of course, Tetsumaru, Kisame and Hisame and the beautiful and talented moi," Hyobe replied, putting a hand to his chest, attempting to look as bishounen as possible and pulling it off with ease.

"If you're so beautiful and talented, where were you when god gave out brains? Because you forgot to mention Hima!" Mizuki scoffed sardonically.

"Oh! Well I thought it was obvious that she'd be there because it's at her house."

"Don't try to cover up your stupidity now."

Shortly after Mizuki uttered that line, the sound of a book closing nearby could be heard.

"Done," Eros replied.

"Damn. That was fast," Mizuki commented.

"Hey Mariko," a male voice could be heard a few seats over, where a school boy was leaned over Mariko's shoulder from his desk, positioned slightly above hers.

"Ugh…" The short haired girl replied in mid-sleep.

"Are we going to meet outside of the football field after school?"

"Yes…Can I go back to sleep now?" She replied with annoyance.

"Mariko said that she was too busy to come with us," Himemari replied, glancing at the two.

"Anyone else coming?" The girl with the hat, also known as Momoko, asked.

"Well, Kyoui…" Himemari started.

"Please no," Aroura begged.

"It would be wrong if I didn't."

"Kyoui?" Eros asked.

"That guy's the biggest idiot," Momoko began.

"Kyoui is the meanest guy in school. He's a real jerk to everyone," Hyobe explained.

"He's bias and bigamist," Mizuki told them in a serious tone.

"Not very smart," Momoko added.

"I'll say. I'm glad I can't go then. He's the only guy in school I wouldn't date."

"He's not that bad you guys," Himemari defended her boyfriend.

"Not bad my ass," Mizuki shot back.

"You know, he's in here," Aroura noted, pointing to the man in question, who was busy writing notes. 'Why me? This is going to be one long day. If I can even survive it will be a miracle.'

To Be Continued…