Big Book of Writing

Safe (IRL Mikado & Kokoro, SDRA2)

Prompt: https://platonic-prompts.tumblr.com/post/660311546603487232/amp

"A fell asleep on the couch, against their parental figure, and later when they start to slowly wake up, all they can tell is that they're warm and someone is hugging them, and they really don't want to wake up."

This is the 3rd year I've celebrated my birthday while writing, so I made this as a treat for me!

Warning: spoilers for chapters 0/6

***

Mikado made sure to knock on the door before unlocking it, quickly entering the lab and locking the door behind him. "Mrs. Kokoro, I'm back!" he called inside. It was a habit of his to alert the psychologist to his return so she wouldn't be concerned about intruders.

The lab was built on an island, converted from a nuclear fallout shelter into a base to hide from the Kisaragi Foundation. It was relatively big, with a main entrance and large space just beyond there, but also some rooms branching off the entrance. Mikado had a feeling that Kokoro was in one of the rooms set aside for their living spaces.

He poked his head inside a few rooms until he found Kokoro sitting on a couch, eating out of a plastic container. Another plastic container remained unopened on a nearby desk. "Mrs. Kokoro, I came back," the hacker greeted, putting a small cloth bag in his hands onto the desk. "I brought this month's payment."

"I'll put it in my account later. Your supper is beside you, I went to the convenience store earlier," Kokoro told him in reply, gesturing to the unopened container beside the bag of money. While Mikado took the container and sat down beside her, Kokoro put her own empty container in their garbage can.

Mikado dug into the food quickly, he didn't want to waste any time that could be possibly spent on working. Not to mention that he had barely eaten all day, so he was feeling very famished. Today's supper was curry and cheese spring rolls, which Kokoro had already heated up beforehand.

While Mikado began to eat his meals, the psychologist pulled out an old tablet from her coat. "While you were gone, some news got released. Security's functional again for the foundations, air purification has occurred en mass through Japan and will be spread through the world, and the rebuilding of Hope's Peak Academy will be starting soon."

"Hm, that first one seems troubling. But then again, I guess I won't need to hack from them anymore. It'll make it difficult to tamper with their evidence though," the hacker remarked, already halfway through his meal.

"Another thing, a problem's come up with our Alter Ego plan. The data of that 'Utsuro' person you want me to implement, it's difficult to assemble a personality and brain data even with my daughter's memory data of him," Kokoro added.

"Oh, that does seem like a problem. Maybe we should make a test version to make sure the technology works and such," Mikado suggested. "Maybe on one of us? but if you're the main developer, maybe testing it on me would be a better idea."

"I'm no stranger to experiments, so it's fine." Kokoro stood up and went to another table, where she brought back a pen and clipboard that previously held their grocery list. "Could I record your data for a sec? It would be helpful for creating a framework for digitizing your data."

"Well, you'll have to attach those strange connectors to my head later...but I guess this will shorten the process. What do you need me to talk about?" Mikado suddenly noticed that his container was empty as well, and he tossed it into the garbage can nearby.

Kokoro paused for a moment as she thought, then came up with an answer. "Your emotions are particularly interesting when you talk about your first meeting with 'Utsuro'...please tell me more about that," she requested, readying her pen to write down every single piece of data.

"Well, I've told you this story before. I was put in an orphanage before I was even weaned, and I grew up with no dreams and no will to live. But that changed when my orphanage caught fire. Everyone else was trying to escape, everyone except for me."

Mikado took a deep breath as his heartbeat began to speed up. Kokoro kept writing down her notes, taking into account every detail, every emotions and expression on his face.

"But I saw him...standing on the street. Clouds rolled in, and heavy rain extinguished the flames on the orphanage. It was him, I know he did it. He disappeared shortly afterwards, when I looked away because I heard a noise. After that, something sparked within me. Emotions, a will to live, a purpose to live for..."

"Yes, this will make good data," Kokoro interrupted, clicking off her pen.

Mikado was startled as he snapped out of his memories. "Eh?! B-But I'm not finished..."

"I told you, didn't I? That I only needed the data to prepare the framework." Kokoro turned her clipboard around, showing Mikado the paper completely full of notes.

The hacker blinked in surprise at the full page, and then sat back. "Well, that's our Mrs. Kokoro for you," he lightly chuckled. "We should get to work now."

"No, you should rest for a bit. You look completely exhausted, did you miss sleep last night? I thought I said we needed to go to bed last night," she reminded him.

"N-No, I did go to sleep! I was just busy all day, that's all..." Mikado quickly became defensive, but the psychologist didn't change her stance.

"Mikado Sannoji. If you expect to help make progress on the Alter Ego, you need to rest," Kokoro insisted.

Finally, he relented. "Alright, alright. I'll just take a short nap here," Mikado agreed, and he adjusted himself to fall asleep leaning against the back of the couch.

Kokoro sighed at his stubbornness, but at least he was resting. She decided to take a small break too, partially to keep an eye on him. She got up and put her clipboard and pen away, then returned to the couch with a book.

A few hours passed, and Mikado began to stir. Without opening his eyes, he felt that his position on the couch had changed. Not only was he laying more horizontal, but he felt himself being embraced by something.

Something, or perhaps someone? But the only one here besides him was Kokoro, who didn't give out any affection besides the occasional praise and frequent cups of coffee. Was she holding him in her arms? There was no other explanation, none that could come to Mikado's head.

He couldn't understand why she was doing such a thing, and more jarring was how calm his heart was. He couldn't will himself to move his body at all, it was almost like he wanted to sink into her warmth. Like there was something missing.

Mikado couldn't identify the feeling, but the best thing he could compare it with was a feeling of safety. He rarely ever felt safe, even in their hideaway on this island. Then, he thought, what would make a person feel like a safe haven? The only ideas he could come up with were a lover, family, or friend.

Kokoro was most certainly not his lover, and he didn't think that friends could truly keep you safe either. So that left family, but that was most certainly impossible. Kokoro only had her daughter for her experiments, and Mikado was an orphan. Neither of them would know what a family felt like... He stopped himself when he recalled her mentioning having parents once.

But the reason he felt safe like this, was it because he felt like she was family? No, it couldn't be. As far as they were concerned, they were work partners. He paid her for help and nothing more. But she even trusted him with the secret of her daughter and husband, so was it okay to feel safe like this...?

He decided that it wasn't okay, they were just work partners. There was nothing familial involved, and she wouldn't feel the same way. And speaking of which, he needed to get back to work, they were wasting precious time that the Kisaragi Foundation could gain.

Mikado opened his eyes, and Kokoro looked down at him when she noticed him. "Oh, you're awake," she commented, closing her book and putting it aside.

"Yeah, sorry I was out for so long," Mikado apologized, slowly forcing his body away from her and off the couch. "We should get back to work. I'll prepare the connector cables for your data collection."

***

Art credit: chebrizza on twitter