And because I'm on a roll...

Excerpts from "Chiyobits"

by The Eternal Lost Lurker

Azumanga Daioh belongs to Azuma Kiyohiko

Chobits belongs to CLAMP

Used without permission

May God have mercy on my soul.

1. The discovery

Sakaki stared at the bundle on the trash pile. Wrapped in clear plastic and
many bandages, it looked like a young girl, but upon closer inspection...

"A persocon?"


She was very cute, and seemed to be in fairly good condition. Made to
resemble a ten-year-old girl, with short brown hair; the pink and white
interface terminals attached to her head were positioned so as to look like
a pair of small, cute pigtails.

Sakaki blushed at the cuteness of the persocon. Glancing around, she saw
nobody was watching, and quickly picked up the machine from the trash pile.

A clatter alerted her to a data disc falling out of the loose packaging. She
scooped it up, pocketed it, and made her way home.

2. Awakening

It had taken a while to find the persocon's activation switch once Sakaki
had removed the bandages. She frowned; she'd have to go shopping for some
cute clothes for the persocon later.

She thought about the wonderfully cute outfits that this persocon could
wear, and blushed, trembling.

The persocon opened her eyes. "Chiiiii...?"

"Chii?" Sakaki repeated.

"Chiiiiii..."

"Is your name...Chii?"

"Chii...chii yo!" The persocon smiled, and her terminals bobbed cutely.

"Chii yo..." Sakaki smiled. "Alright, I'll call you Chiiyo."

3. The neighbor

Yomi frowned as she looked at the persocon, which was now dressed in a
simple high school girl's uniform. "So the data..."

Sakaki pulled out the disc she'd picked up at the trash pile. "I think this
is it, but I don't know how to install it."

Yomi studied the disc, adjusting her glasses, and nodded. "This is it.
Yosh'...Tomomo!"

A small form popped out of Yomi's bag, and blurred around the room at high
speeds. "YOSHA'! Yomi-momi needs me to show what a genius persocon I am!"

Sakaki blinked. "Yomi-momi?"

Yomi scowled, blushing. "Urusai!" she hissed. "Get over here and help me
with this data install."

"ARI!" Tomomo squealed, waving a hand.

4. Genius persocon

"with an elevation of...and the current population...but this data is three
years out of date. Connecting to the government public information
database..."

Sakaki, Yomi, and Tomo stared at Chiiyo as the persocon continued to rattle
off tons of information about Japan, Tokyo, and other things.

"...this persocon is very, very intelligent," Yomi said.

"...un."

"If you don't mind, I have a friend who I'd like to introduce her to. She's
an expert on persocons, though she can be a little spacey at times."

"...un."


"Would you like me to organize your day planner and prepare a menu for the
month as well as a budget and a daily shopping itinerary, Sakaki-san?"
Chiiyo asked.

"Ah...hai," Sakaki replied, bewildered.

Chiiyo smiled. "Hai! Dekimashita!"

5. Persocon expert

"Your friend sure has a lot of persocons."

"Yes, she does."

A persocon with a deep tan, short brown hair, and a rather impressive
figure, wearing a swimsuit, walked up to them. "Yomi-sama! Have you come to
see Ayumu-sama?"

"Yes, we have."

The persocon bowed. "Please, come this way, into the study."

The group entered the study, where a girl with shoulder-length dark hair,
somewhat glassy eyes, and a school uniform similar to the one Chiiyo wore
sat behind a brightly lit computer desk, tapping a light stylus idly on the
surface. She looked up, and smiled. "Ah! Oha, Yomi-san!"

"Hello, Ayumu," Yomi greeted.

Tomomo leapt from Yomi's shoulder, landed badly on the desk, and skidded
across, nearly falling off. She stood up and shuffled back over to stand in
front of Ayumu. "Oi, Osaka!"

Ayumu winced. "Tomomo, please don't call me that."

"But you're Osaka! Osaka Osaka Osaka Osa--" Tomomo suddenly went limp as
Yomi clicked a small remote she'd just pulled from her pocket.

6. Bean knowledge.

Yomi and Sakaki sat on a sofa, sipping tea and staring.

"Your friend is very..." Sakaki observed.

"Yes, she is."

Ayumu and Chiiyo sat across from them, lost deep in a conversation.

"Ah! So there's not a man named Juan Valdez who picks all the coffee beans!"

"No, it takes a lot of workers and machines to harvest the coffee beans."

"I see! I always thought it seemed kind of weird that one guy and a mule
could do so much work. You sure know a lot about beans, Chiiyo-chan!"

The persocon giggled. "But you know some interesting things about beans too,
Ayumu."

Sakaki leaned toward Yomi. "Do you think they'll ever stop talking about
beans long enough to get around to the subject of persocons?"

Yomi shrugged. "Who knows?"

7. Yorokonde

"You like your persocon a lot, don't you, Sakaki-senpai?"

Sakaki looked at the girl who had helped her get her present job. She was
young, though probably not much younger than Sakaki herself, and she was
very cute and energetic. Her seeming worship of Sakaki unnerved the taller
girl somewhat, but she tried not to let it show, as Kaorin was really very
nice. "Ah...hai. Chiiyo-chan is very helpful and very nice and a lot of fun
to have around."

Kaorin looked down. "Sou ka..." She sighed, a slightly glazed look in her
eyes. "I guess...I guess there's no way I can compete with a persocon..."

8. The bake shoppe

"Chiiyo has been working very well, Sakaki-san. She really brings in the
customers."

"I'm glad."

"Wouldn't you consider working here too, Sakaki-san?"

Sakaki eyed the baker warily. His vacant stare (made more so by his thick
glasses) and gaping-jawed expression unnerved her, and she was truthfully a
bit nervous about letting Chiiyo work for the man, but he seemed to have a
lot of good qualities as well. Still...

"I'm sorry, I already have a good job that I like."

"Oh. I see..."

Chiiyo emerged from the back room wearing an outfit that consisted of a
white leotard, an abbreviated pink skirt, puffy little pink boots,
elbow-length white gloves, and a pink, cake-shaped hat with a big fuzzy
cherry on top. "How do I look?" she asked.

Sakaki blinked, and blushed. "Kawaii..."

"Isn't it?" Kimura asked. "It's the same design as the outfit I made for a
girl who used to shop here all the time..."

Sakaki blinked. "For...a customer?"

Kimura nodded. "For a customer." He sighed, then bellowed, "SHE STOPPED
COMING!"

Sakaki and Chiiyo both blinked.

Kimura slouched into the kitchen area. "I need to finish a customer's
order."

"He's strange," Chiiyo said.

Sakaki nodded.

Across town, Kaorin sneezed, and shivered slightly...



******************

That's as far as I dare go with this. ^_^;;


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