[ 🫧 ] sᴇᴠᴇɴ 𝘢𝘯𝘥 ᴄᴏᴜɴᴛɪɴɢ

viii. heiyaoshi

Heiyaoshi knew that Cornelius hadn’t been around a lot of humans, but he was a lot better at interacting with other humans than Heiyaoshi was. Perhaps it was because Cornelius actually had other humans to interact with and Heiyaoshi spent years alone and his father had to work for twelve hours a day.

If Cornelius went inside a room filled to the brim with other humans, Heiyaoshi was certain he’d talk to each and everyone effortlessly. And Heiyaoshi would hide in a corner hoping not to get noticed.

Humans are social by nature. So what’s wrong with me?

Although Heiyaoshi admired Cornelius’s confidence, it shone a little too brightly. Sometimes he’d fall behind, talking about the raccoon he found in a dumpster and took home because he thought it looked cute, then realizing Heiyaoshi was too far ahead and sprint back next to him. And his gaze wandered everywhere. Heiyaoshi couldn’t really tell, but sometimes Cornelius’s stare would seemingly linger on Heiyaoshi for a little too long.

“Cornelius?” Heiyaoshi whispered, still staring straight ahead.

“Yeah?” Cornelius responded, darting around another human—bot—whatever—and taking his place next to Heiyaoshi hidden in the shadows.

“Um. . . we don’t want to be noticed because—well—it’s dangerous, right?” Heiyaoshi began slowly. “So. . . that means—”

Cornelius laughed and dropped his hand on Heiyaoshi’s shoulder, making him jump. “I’ll punch anyone who sees anything. It’s fine.”

“But—”

“Tsukuyomi’s really good at hacking and coding and whatnot. He deletes everything the bots and humans know about me,” Cornelius interjected. “So I don’t exist. Pretty much. I still have to be careful around real humans, though.”

Tsukuyomi seems a little scary. “Do you go outside a lot?”

“Yep,” Cornelius answered.

Maybe I should go out a little more often. “It’s right here,” Heiyaoshi whispered, turning the corner into another alleyway. He unlocked the door and ushered Cornelius inside, quickly shutting and locking the door once they were both safely inside.

Heiyaoshi took a little bow when he walked past the picture of Mama on the wall before heading over to the kitchen, where he placed his bag down on the table.

Cornelius hesitated at the wall, but slowly took a bow as well and then followed Heiyaoshi inside.

“It’s messy,” Heiyaoshi mumbled. “Sorry.”

“It’s better than my place,” Cornelius assured. He shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced around.

“You can leave now,” Heiyaoshi offered shyly.

“Can I stay?”

Heiyaoshi’s face warmed up just a bit. “Th—that’s fine.” I’d love that. . . “Do. . . do you want anything?”

“I thought you didn’t have anything.”

Oops. . . “I-I mean—I have a bit.”

“It’s fine. We can go looking for food once Tsukuyomi comes back.”

Heiyaoshi sighed as he let the strap of his bag fall off his shoulder. He gently squeezed his shoulder where the strap dug into his skin. Maybe I should’ve kept one textbook at home. He carefully lifted the three textbooks and his four notebooks out of his bag and opened up one of his notebooks, taking a pen out of the bag as well.

September 29

The tip of his pen hovered above the number 29.

I’ve collected more information today than any other day. Where do I start?

The silence was thick. Cornelius took a few careful steps, seeming to wince a little as he broke the silence. “Those are books, right?” He didn’t whisper, but he paused between each word as if he were just learning how to speak.

I never noticed how quiet it was here. “Oh—yes!” Heiyaoshi stammered. Even though he tried to project his voice, it still somehow came out quieter than Cornelius’s.  “Um. . . most books aren’t as big as these.”

Cornelius hesitated again. “So. . . these aren’t normal sized books?” Heiyaoshi nodded. “Thank God. I don’t think I could read all of that.”

Oh, I forgot—humans don’t have the attention spans they used to have.

“So, where’s the book about making humans?”
Heiyaoshi pressed a hand over his mouth, shoulders tensing as he felt the warmth rise to his cheeks and ears, compared to his hands, which felt like cold porcelain. His heart pounded a little faster. I know how humans are made. Why does it make me so nervous. . . “I-I. . . um. . . I’ll go look for it.” He inhaled shakily and scurried upstairs to his father’s room.

He pulled the textbook about human reproduction off the shelf and flipped it open to a random page. His gaze darted around the various diagrams and ten-point font, ears heating up even more as he scanned a caption.
He’s old enough to know this. I hope he can handle it better than I do.

Cornelius was standing in the same spot when Heiyaoshi descended the stairs. He padded over to him and shyly held the book out to Cornelius. Cornelius gazed curiously at the book before taking it gingerly. He glanced over at the book Heiyaoshi had placed on the table earlier and slowly flipped open the one in his hands.

He placed his index finger and thumb on the page and spread them out, his eyebrows furrowing in bewilderment. Heiyaoshi giggled but quickly pressed his hands over his mouth again. “You can’t zoom in on paper.”

“So why’d they make the text so small?” Cornelius frowned and squinted. “What the fuck. . .”

“Here.” Heiyaoshi gently took the book from Cornelius and placed it on the table. He placed his finger under a caption, inhaled shakily, and slowly read the words aloud. “‘Male reproductive organ’,” he mumbled. He pointed to the diagram without looking directly at it. “Um—this picture shows all the parts of a—a male reproductive organ.”

Cornelius paused. Heiyaoshi squirmed slightly when the awkward silence smothered the room again. Cornelius glanced down. “So that's—”

“Mhm,” Heiyaoshi said quickly. “That's—that’s your reproductive organ.”

“So you use it to make humans?”

“W-Well—you need the female reproductive organ as well,” Heiyaoshi responded. “You need two people to make humans. U-Unless um—unless you take the—um—human ‘seeds’ and send it to a lab, they'll—they can put it in an ‘egg’ and make humans without—um—with just one human.”

“So. . . is that how they're making humans now? In a lab, I mean?” Cornelius rubbed the back of his neck, his ears slightly tinged with red.

Heiyaoshi nodded. “W-Well, the ‘seeds’ have to come from someone, at least, and the ‘eggs’ do, too, but. . . um. . . yeah. Humans are made differently now.” Except for me.

“But the—the old human-making process still works, right? The one with the uh—the ‘male reproductive organ’?”

“Y-Yeah. Mhm.” Heiyaoshi grabbed the book and closed it, a little quicker than he intended. “So now you know how humans work! Is there—anything else? I have quite a few books. . .”

“Well, uh—I didn't come here just for the book. I mean—well, I did—kind of—I mean, uh. . .” Cornelius's arm stopped and he gripped the back of his neck a little more tightly. “Goddamnit.”

He's usually so outspoken and confident. What happened? Oh no, is he sick? He is turning a little red.

“A-Are you okay?” Heiyaoshi squeaked. He reached forward hesitantly.

“Yeah, this happens all the time. I just gotta—” Cornelius cut himself off abruptly and blinked rapidly a few times. His gaze suddenly wandered up, straight forward, and his eyes didn't move for a second.

“C-Cornelius?”

Heiyaoshi squeaked when Cornelius’s shoulders shook violently. He collapsed with a hollow thud that bled throughout the silent room and began spasming on the floor.

“Cornelius?!”