A discovery

A couple hours later Miku woke up, finding himself still cuddled against Kanon. Carefully he pulled away from the other and looked at him, he'd be stiff in the morning if he didn't lay down... So, with out waking him up, Miku scooped him into his arms and took him to his room, where he laid him down and recovered him. He watched him for a few brief moments before retreating to his room to lay on his own bed. But not before taking the journal into his hands and settling in. He flipped through the pages quietly, taking in all the information he could gather. Small notes and entries about Kanon were scattered throughout its pages, until eventually it lead to a confession of love from both of them... No wonder Kanon always looked so sad... He'd never be able to compete with something like that.

Tucking the book under his pillows, he laid down and closed his eyes again, feeling a little sad as he drifted off to sleep.

Kanon woke up the next morning in his bed...but he distinctly remembered going to sleep on the couch...right? Quietly he got up and made his way to Miko..Miku's room. Opening the door quietly he looked at the AI's sleeping form. He was quite attractive...but...Miko was still in his head. And Miku was a male. He really couldn't do something like that...and it was way too early in their friendship to even think of something along those lines. But he was still adorable. Since he made breakfast yesterday Kanon was going to today. By making something nice...like muffins. Blueberry muffins...Miku liked blueberries right?

Miku rolled (literally) out of bed, groaning as he looked around the room. He sat up and tried to untangle himself from his blankets, but failed terribly. Sighing, he squirmed around until he could simply weasel his way out. Freedom was his! Standing up he grabbed some clothes and trudged through the house, ruffling his hair sleepily as he turned into the bathroom. Shower, clothes, then whatever Kanon was making. It smelled great, he could even smell it over the vanilla shampoo he was using.

Stepping from the shower, he dried himself and changed into his skinny jeans and a black and red splattered shirt, making a half hearted attempt to brush his wet hair. He failed to notice that his hair wasn't covering his secret as he walked out to the kitchen. Bending down he inspected the oven, smiling up at Kanon as he noticed what it was, "Muffins?"

Kanon heard the shower going and knew he was awake. He busied himself making his muffins and smiled when he heard Miku's voice. Looking down though, he froze. Miku looked up but he'd seen if plain as day...Miko's barcode. It was Miko's. He'd spent so many long nights simply staring at the marking behind her ear...he had her ears.

"You...'

Miku blinked in confusion for a moment before it finally came to him, his hand instantly slapped over the mark as he stood clumsily and backed away. He didn't like the look Kanon's eyes, its scared him a bit... It wasn't that he thought Kanon was mean or violent in anyway, but if what he read what was in that journal correctly... Kanon had loved Miko, and the idea of her being taken apart, especially after being forced to give her to that doctor anyways, was probably not something he wanted to see.

He backed out of the kitchen until he was in the living room then darted to his room. Quickly stepping inside and closing it behind him. Since the door had no lock, he simple sat in front of the door, allowing his full weight to keep the door blocked. He didn't want to face Kanon... This probably had hurt him beyond belief, what was worse was he knowingly kept it from him.

Miku all but ran away from him...it was sad and angering at the same time. He knew...he knew that he had Miko's parts and didn't say anything. Of course he didn't either...slowly Kanon moved to the bedroom where he was sure that Miku had retreated to.

"Miku?...Miku come out. You knew...you knew you had Miko's parts didn't you? Look...she always said no matter what she'd be with me...and she still is. She's with me because of you. You have parts of her...and as much as I hate the thought that she was disected like some dead animal...she's here." He was trying to get him to open the door so he could see him face to face. Maybe if he saw his face he'd know if he felt bad about it or not...well there was one way...

"Look...I. I've been holding something back too. Yesterday when you got registered they told me that Matsuto...your first owner...your creator...well he...he died Miku." Kanon's voice could tell the AI that he was sorry for having to be the one to tell him the news. He wanted to get to open the door. He wanted to know if other AI's had Miko's parts or how many more Miku had.

Miku curled up more as he heard Kanon's step walking closer, the guy he'd been given to had done this often, only his had ended in a beating and being used... And he didn't want that to happen again... It was too much the last time.

Kanon had started speaking, his voice had a hint of anger, hurt, and a small shred of understanding. Which served to only make him feel more guilty. In a way it almost made sense that now the only reason he'd be kept was because now Kanon knew he had some of her parts... It hurt... for some odd reason. He hated that Matsuto had discovered a way for free will and advanced emotions... it sucked.

"I'm sorry..." He couldn't chose where his parts had come from... Is he could he wouldn't have done this... It was illegal at the time it had happened anyways... His head thumped against the door as he contemplated moving... He didn't want to face Kanon... But the other owned him, he couldn't avoid it. He was just about to move when Kanon spoke again. The words went through his ears and processed slowly, his body felt... cold. Matsuto was dead... more like murdered... Any hope he had of seeing him or his daughter was gone.

So the whole week he'd been a toy to that man... and it still ended in his creators death. Great... His eyes grew wet, another advanced thing Matsuto had given him... He got up and went to his bed, burying himself in the blankets as he cried. Kanon could get in... Miko's parts were the last thing on his mind... though they were there, eating away at him along with Matsuto's death.

The timer for the muffins went off and Kanon sighed...Miku wasn't going to come out. He slowly made his way back to the kitchen and took out the muffins. He souldn't have been angry with the AI. It wasn't his fault...it was Matsuto's but then again...he was only trying to make a companion of his own. Miko would have wanted someone to have happiness because of her, even after her death. Using her parts had done that for Miku's creator, as well as giving him life. He hated that his beautiful little angel was torn to pieces but in her place came Miku. She was still in his heart always but she was gone. Miku was there and he was probably hurting from knowing his creators death.

An idea hit him though...if Matsuto had died within the city then his death and burial place would've been in the obituaries. Quickly Kanon placed the muffins on his tea cake tray and went to his laptop in his room. Searching for about an hour he found what he was looking for. One print button click later and he had something that would at least give his new AI closure. The man moved back to Miku's room and opened it timidly.

"Miku...Can you come out? There's somewhere I want to take you." Kanon instantly wanted to take back the words because of how they sounded. He wasn't by any means getting rid of him.

"It isn't your fault you have Miko's parts and you being alive made at least a few people happy. She would've wanted it that way. She loved making people happy...but I know somewhere you'd want to go. Matsuto's death was in the newspaper about three weeks back. He was buried downtown. I know the place...if you'd like to go..." He was in the middle of the room looking at the lump on the bed hoping he'd come out.

"Miku...Can you come out? There's somewhere I want to take you."

Was he going to take him back to that doctor and trade him in? It'd almost be fitting... since he was here because of other parts that had been taken from other AI's... but it seemed that that wasn't Kanon's plan at all. He was offering to take him to Matsuto's grave... and though he wanted to... he didn't deserve it.

Sniffling he curled up into himself some more, his voice still sounded watery from the tears, "Thank you... but I really don't deserve it... It's my fault." Miku was more than willing to accept that too. He was meant as payment, but wasn't good enough, so they killed him anyways... Just like they said they would. And his daughter... Hopefully she was with her mother when it happened...

"I'm sorry Kanon..." The AI was feeling almost as low, if not lower, as the day he'd first met Kanon. But he wasn't sure if he could recover from two large blows at once.

Didn't deserve it? How could he not deserve it? Kanon moved over to the bed and sat down. Miku couldn't hurt him right? He was technically the owner so he couldn't hurt him. "Hey...everyone needs closure. Come on. Don't be sorry. It's not your fault. Now come on...get up...please?" If he had to he'd order Miku out of bed. He knew that the Ai wanted to see his creator...he had to.

"It said his daughter was the one to find him...she had stayed the night with a friend and found him in the morning when she came home...Are you sure you don't want to go?" Letting go of Miko was hard but Kanon would move on. Miku needed someone there...and he wanted to be the friend that helped him through it.

"You don't understand... I wasn't enough for payment... I didn't... satisfy his needs... He said he was going to kill him... I couldn't find my way home though... I wasn't good enough even with all of my over the top advancements..." He sat up as he spoke, leaning back against the wall so he wasn't invading Kanon's space and continued, "Then... even though I knew about the parts after seeing your tattoo... I still didn't tell you... But you love her more than anything... I should have told you before you registered me..."

More tears slipped down his face as he continued to quietly downgrade himself, "You would have been better off leaving me in the trash and buying a new model..." No... he didn't deserve to see his creators grave, to see his daughter that had one time been his friend... He wanted things to go back when it was just Matsuto and him... It was easier... not knowing he had parts from someone that someone else had loved...

Kanon felt very bad...he wanted to cheer Miku up by doing that, not make it worse. "Miku...I understand why you didn't tell me. It was the same reason why I didn't tell you. Look. The guy you were given to probably forced Matsuto to give you up...and was probably going to kill him anyway, even if you had been enough. Don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. You got that? Not your fault. I'm glad I found you. I wanted an AI that had the spark of life. One that wanted to simply live and just...be. I didn't one that wanted to wait on me hand and foot like all the other models out there." Miku was having a hard time with the information that he'd given him...he didn't know what to do.

"Don't worry about having Miko's parts. You didn't do it. Don't feel bad either. She would've wanted to have made someone else happy and from what I can gather you made Matsuto happy. I may not have wanted to give her up and have her taken apart...but I'm happy that at least a few were given to someone else who had as kind a nature as she did. I adored Miko more than anything but she's gone...you're here now. You're who matters now."

Sure he made Matsuto and his family happy... But what about Kanon? Kanon never said he was happy because of him...

"What about you?" Sad eyes locked with Kanon's, waiting to hear an answer, but he looked like he was just as confused, "Are you happy?" Probably not as happy as he could be... But he was upset about what had happened with Miko... wait.

He wiped a tear away and sat up a bit straighter, "Matsuto... just after booting me up... He replaced the parts on Miko... they weren't functional parts... but he never laid AI's to rest in pieces. She's behind his house... in a private cemetery of his old AI's." Maybe knowing she wasn't in piece all over the place would make it easier for him... Which gave him an idea... one he'd keep to himself until he could present it.

"I am...and I'm even happier now that you've said that." Kanon smiled at Miku and leaned in to give him a hug. His mouth was right next to his ear...her ears. Ears he had whispered so many sweet nothings into...but they weren't her ears anymore. They were Miku's.

"Thank you..." At least he knew that Miko wasn't spread out on a bunch of different AI's. Miku was the only one to have her parts and the fact that he ended up here with him...Miku was meant to be here. Kanon was meant to have found him.

"Now...do you want to go say good bye to him? We can grab one of the muffins one our way out, though they're probably cold now..." He'd pulled away to look into Miku's eyes. This was right...Miku and Kanon being there, together...it was right.

Miku welcomed the hug and gladly returned it, he was warm... and his presence was relaxing. It wasn't hard for him to feel at home with people like him.

He was glad to hear though that Kanon was happy, and that the information made him even more so.

The question about saying goodbye came up again was Kanon pulled away. Miku frowned, but nodded, "As much as I don't want to say good-bye... I need to, because that would be selfish of me... Besides." He scooted to the edge of the bed and started to put his shoes on, "He made you happy, and you're all that matters now." Matsuto and his daughter were important to him, but Kanon had saved him and gave him someone to belong to. Kanon was his family now.

Kanon smiled at Miku and watched as he got ready. They were going to say good-bye to his creator...say goodbye and hello. Hello to a nice life and good bye to an old one.

"Come on...it's downtown. He's in a good graveyard at least. It's beautiful there. I've taken pictures of it before." Kanon led Miku out the door and to the place that they would start from. From the graveyard they would start their friendship and lives together. As friends and companions.

(end)