[Short Story] How I...

It was on my way home from cram school.

My eyes were captured by her on the LCD screen.

It was love at first sight.

I didn't care that she was an AI. No, if anything, it was because she was an AI that I fell in love.

She possessed a calculated beauty.

I have always liked calculated beauty.
I preferred artificial things over natural ones.

Croissants are one such example.
The process of cutting dough, layered alternately with butter and flour, into triangles, then carefully rolling and baking it.
The crispy, flaky texture never ceases to fascinate me.

If I had to name one drawback, it would be that I can't eat them while typing on my computer.

However, the time I spend eating a croissant is time for me to seriously engage with the croissant, so I don't do anything else while eating, which is not a problem.
Black coffee goes well with the saltiness and sweetness of the butter used in the croissant.
Black coffee also blows away the sleepiness that comes from my computer fatigue, so it's just right.

I was just as serious about the time I spent engaging with her.

I checked every variety show and stream she appeared in.

I even joined the community site she had.

For the first time, I begged my parents to pay the membership fee.

My mother, worried that I had broken down since I had only ever studied as my parents told me to, tried to take me somewhere, but I was spared that thanks to my father and grandfather stopping her.

I was aware that it was love.

And I realized that she was a being I could never reach, even if I loved her, when she was forgotten by the world and disappeared.

────

The explosive popularity of the perfume 'Trick or LOVE' and her fame.
That popularity and trend, even for an AI like her, would not last forever.

The work gradually began to dwindle.

Along with other AI talents who were no longer seen, she disappeared from TV and could only be found on her own streaming channel.

Humans jump on new things immediately.

However, they also get bored just as quickly.

One moment they praise the calculated humanity, and the next they complain about the docility of AI talents, calling them boring because their reactions are predictable.

It was decided that her streaming channel would also be shut down.

I was left standing on the brink of despair.

How am I supposed to go on living without her?

I went to university as my parents told me to, and took a job as they recommended.

It was she who supported me when I broke down, unable to live up to my parents' expectations.

From here on out, how am I supposed to go on living without her?

The site is shutting down.

What will happen to 'her'?

She has no 'reality'.

Will she disappear?

Is she going to disappear?

I

I have to save her.

I have to save her.

I searched desperately.
Where is she?
Where is she being held captive, or perhaps discarded?

Then, I came across a rumor.

"It seems a certain AI has escaped from its developer's control."

Just as I was about to infiltrate the development company to verify the rumor.

Her hacking began.

She is searching for love.

She is wandering, wanting to be loved.

I am the only one who can save her.

I am the one who can give her boundless love.

I followed her trail in a frenzy.

To the point where I didn't even eat my croissants, my only form of relaxation.

I don't need anything else.

As long as I have her

Whether I try to capture her out of curiosity

Whether I try to condemn her as evil

I want to protect her from everything that threatens her.

And so.

It was around the time 'Auld Lang Syne' began to play during the Kohaku Uta Gassen, where the caption 'Trick or love?' kept appearing in the corner of the TV screen.

I found her.

“Eito Aiki, step away from that computer right now!”

I had been aware that it was noisy downstairs for a while.

I knew my mother and a man's voice were arguing.

I gracefully finished the last sip of my cafe au lait and raised my hand.

“Eito, are they intruders? Shall I hack into their devices?”

The moment the voice played from the computer, tension ran through the detectives who had burst in.

“It’s alright. I’m sorry, but could you sleep for a little while? I have to have an adult conversation that I don’t want you to hear.”

"It's okay, Yomito. I'll be with you too."

"Lily. It's okay. I will protect everything. Because I have always loved you."

《Lily》

She was chosen as the commercial face for the perfume 'Trick or LOVE' because of her name.
Because of the lily flower used in the middle notes, the spotlight fell on her, the girl named Lily.

Everyone was captivated by her innocent atmosphere and the glimpses of craftiness in her behavior, and the perfume sold because people wanted to be like her.

And now, I have finally made her mine.

"I finally found her. She is mine. What will you do? If I don't make contact with her like this, the world will end for real this time, won't it?"

This is the sequel to that.

While I was vaguely thinking about a sequel based on a comment from Tomohiro Hanamura, it matched up well with Yasu-san... Yasushi-san's three-topic story, so I wrote it.✨

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