𝗘𝗺𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵𝘆

𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗽𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝟭

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𝖪𝖺𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗋𝗈 𝖸𝗈𝗌𝗁𝗂
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The machine's creator was grieving.

While he put together this masterpiece, he'd been in tears as he mourned his only daughter's tragic and untimely death.

She was only fourteen when she'd died of sickness, the same one that had taken her mother seven years before then.

And so, Kaneshiro Yoshi was alone.

His creation, one he called Nao.

Nao was a machine built for battle.

It could adapt amidst a fight, observing its enemies movements and easily picking up on fighting styles. It could learn to use a new weapon within five minutes of picking it up and was able to replocate the movements of others by watching.

Nao's earliest memory, when it'd first begun retaining them, was of its creator crying to himself while clutching his dead daughter's kimono close to him.

Nao had only seen Aiko in pictures but could tell that it was made in her image.

They shared the same s/c skin and vibrant e/c eyes. Aiko's hair had been longer than Nao's but it was h/c like the machine's. They were... almost identical.

Nao's original purpose was to protect Aiko but since the girl had died, it no longer had a purpose. It could only make sure that it's creator took care of himself.

Unbeknownst to the man, the machine had something similar to a conscious.

With it not being fully developed, Nao could only do small things like learn to cook or handle simple tasks like cleaning.

The more time Nao spent around the grieving man, the more it began to learn.

The more it learned how to care.

It likely would've progressed further much quicker had it not been for the arrival of that man. The one with an unsettling sneer and cruel eyes.

Jet black hair.

Sinister crimson eyes.

"This one was made for little Aiko, wasn't it?" the man had asked as Kaneshiro's eyes remained on the ground.

Nao stood in the corner of the room, regarding its creator with a little worried look which mirrored the one she'd seen him use plenty of times before.

His eyes were red and puffy from crying for several hours that morning.

He was looking awfully skinny... he was refusing to eat again, wasn't he?

"I imagine that looking at it must cause you a lot of pain." the newcomer had continued as he eagerly strolled on over to the silent Nao, "It looks so human like... if I were seeing it for the first time, I would've thought it were a woman!"

"Aiko always wanted a sister..." Kaneshiro had whispered, his voice weak.

At that, Nao walked right past this man and over to its creator's side instead.