I don’t own Angelic Layer. CLAMP does. I don’t own Chobits either. CLAMP owns them too. I do own Hitomi, but who really cares?

The Shining One

Chapter Five

Hatoko stirred at the feel of the cold, damp cloth touching her forehead. "Oh...I think I hit my head." She opened her eyes...then closed them again. "I must have it it really, really hard."

"Rest for a minute, then." The voice was low, mellow and musical. "Misaki, she’s awake."

"Thank you, Hikaru."

Hatoko opened her eyes again, and looked up at the former Angel. "What..." She sat up, the cloth falling off her forehead into her hands as she did so. "How did--" She broke off. "Can’t be. You’ve gotta be doing cosplay, right?"

Hikaru blinked. "What is ’cosplay’?"

Misaki entered the family room, and set two cups of tea on the coffee table. "She’s not doing cosplay. She’s a persocom, made to look like Hikaru the Angel, and containing her brain."

"A persocom..." Hatoko blinked. "Using Hikaru’s neural net?"

"Not the hardware itself. Just her memories."

"You are Hatoko?" asked Hikaru. "Kobayashi Hatoko, the Deus of Suzuka?"

Hatoko nodded warily.

Hikaru clapped her hands under her chin, eyes sparkling. "Can I go to school?"

"That depends," chuckled Hatoko. She picked up her teacup, blew across it, then turned to Misaki. "I take it you were thinking of using her for the history class?"

"Yes, but..." Misaki looked down. "I wasn’t kidding when I said I really know nothing about computers. Will she work for that? I know she doesn’t have a monitor or keyboard or anything like that--"

"Doesn’t mean a lot." Hatoko waved it off. "The first computers didn’t have monitors and keyboards, either. They had to add a separate terminal to communicate with the computers."

"Like the Angel Terminal."

"Yes," said Hatoko. "The Angel Terminal communicates with the computer onboard the Angel." She turned to Hikaru. "What sort of connectors do you have?"

"I don’t know," admitted Hikaru. "I can’t read my user’s manual."

"Okay," allowed Hatoko. "Where are your connectors?"

Hikaru looked at her blankly. "I don’t know."

"I do." Misaki reached over and touched the yellow button on her headset. The antenna popped open, revealing an assortment of connectors. Hatoko leaned over and inspected the equipment.

"Hmmm...power lead, standard CAT5, that’s precisely what’s needed for the class. Also an audio connector, and this looks like HDMI...interesting."

"All Greek to me," admitted Misaki.

"And this looks like a standard Angelic Layer wireless adapter antenna." Hatoko leaned back. "Bring me your Angel Terminal."

Misaki nodded. "Might take me a while to find it. I don’t remember when I used it last." She turned and headed towards her bedroom.

Hatoko grinned. "So, Hikaru. How are you enjoying being off the Layer?"

"I was scared of leaving it." She looked down. "It was all I knew. But..." She looked up and smiled. "I get to talk to Misaki."

- - - - -

"Good morning, Misaki." Kotaro grinned as his friend emerged from her house. "And good morning, Hikaru."

The persocom smiled at him. "Good morning, Kobayashi-san."

Kotaro glanced at her. "Nice uniform. Doesn’t match ours, though." At high school levels, the blue and white uniforms had made way for hunter green. Hikaru’s uniform, on the other hand, was a black skirt, white blouse and red vest, with a white bow on the shirt. The uniform was ornately trimmed, whereas the Eriol Academy uniform was rather simple.

"Misaki tells me that I do not need to wear the school uniform, as I will not be a student." Hikaru looked a bit puzzled. "If I go to school, I am a student, but Misaki tells me--" She broke off. "I do not understand."

"You’ll be a student, but not of Eriol Academy," explained Misaki. "At least, not unless they change their membership policies." She shouldered her bookbag. "Ready to go?"

Hikaru nodded, smiling slightly.

- - - - -

"Guys." Jiro smacked his nearest neighbour’s arm. "New student. And she’s hot."

That drew the attention of every member of the small knot of friends. As one, they turned to see Suzuhara and Kobayashi, along with a girl they didn’t recognize in a uniform they didn’t know. She was tall and slender, not as curvy as the girls they normally courted. (Or as said girls put it, pestered).

"Looks like she’s with Kobayashi and Suzuhara."

"She’s not in our uniform, so she must be a transfer." Jiro rubbed his chin. "Wild uniform; wonder if that headband is part of it, or if she just likes to be different?"

"She’s definitely cute. Looks kind of familiar."

"I’m certain I’d remember her." Jiro grinned. "Damn, that skirt is short."

"Gonna go chat her up?"

"You know, I think I will. Watch me work, boys."

He swaggered over to the threesome, but addressed himself to the redhead. "Good morning, beautiful. Just transferred in to this school?"

"I’m not a student here." She looked down. "Maybe they’ll change their membership policies."

He blinked. "Okay. I’m Jiro. Hitsugi Jiro. But you can call me Jiro."

"Pleased to meet you, Jiro." She bowed to him. "My name is Hikaru."

"Well, Hikaru, would you care to join me for a cup of coffee after class?"

Suzuhara giggled, but Hikaru’s expression did not change. "I do not drink coffee. It would be very bad for me." She turned and walked away.

"Or tea, or whatever you wish."

Now Kobayashi was snickering openly, and the three of them entered the school building, leaving him standing outside, jaw agape.

- - - - -

"Why are you laughing at me?" It was her ’plaintive’ voice, a sure sign that she was unhappy.

"We’re not laughing at you, Hikaru, but at him," said Kotaro.

"That guy will chase anything in a skirt," added Misaki. "He’s gonna feel really stupid when he finds out you’re not human."

"That’s awful." Hikaru turned to face them. "He was just trying to be nice, and you two laugh at him!"

They stopped, and stared at her. Misaki finally broke the silence.

"Hikaru, I’m sorry. It probably does seem harsh to you. But trust me on this: He wasn’t trying to be nice to you. He was only trying to be nice to himself."

- - - - -

"Good morning, class." Nakaguri-sensei adjusted his glasses. "We have two new students today. One is a transfer from another school, and the other is...well, I’ll let her explain." He smiled. "First, we have Tanaka Hitomi."

Tanaka was a tall girl, taller than anyone in the room, including Nakaguri-sensei. Her long black hair cascaded down to the back of her knees. A clasp held it gathered at her neck, and caused it to billow out about his face. She bowed to the class. "Good morning. I’m transferring here from Akihabara. I am pleased to be here."

"Tanaka-san, you can sit behind Kobayashi. And our second new student is Suzuhara Hikaru."

Hikaru bowed to the class...and about half of them jumped up in shock as the name registered.

"Hikaru?"

She smiled. "You have seen me play on the Layer? I recently got an upgrade, and I’ll be helping Misaki at school."

"Normally," Nakaguri clarified, "a personal computer would not be considered student material. But because of her advanced learning AI, and humanoid form, Suzuhara is not a normal persocom. Hikaru, Misaki has told me that you require direct sunlight for optimal performance - shall we say, for your health. You can sit next to Misaki, on the window side."

"Thank you."

Nakaguri sighed. "Time was, students brought laptops to class. Suzuhara just has to be different..."

- - - - -

Lunch arrived, and the predictable assault on Hikaru began. Students crowded around, their expressions ranging from curiosity to adulation.

"How do you stay balanced?"

"How long will you be at the school?"

"The fight against Eagle, I missed that one. What happened?"

"Are you, you know, fully functional?"

Kotaro smaked the guy who asked that last question. "Keep some manners, will you?" He turned to Hikaru. "Sorry about this?"

"I am not offended, Kotaro." She smiled. "I can understand their curiosity.

"I stay balanced the same way you do; I learned to walk. I will be at the school until Misaki or the school tells me I cannot. I defeated Eagle by taking flight - her own flight ability is rudimentary. And I am fully functional."

Several of the boys present spontaneously developed nosebleeds.

"All my systems are functioning as designed, though I lack several systems, such as digestion, that humans have." She looked at the boy who had asked her about her functions. "Does that answer your question?"

"Uhh..."

"Perhaps if you were more clear on your request for information? I am only a computer, after all."

Snickers broke out among the students, and the boy slinked away, head bowed. Hikaru watched him leave, puzzled.

"Again, I hurt him. I said something wrong, and they laughed at him."

Hikaru was huddled in the corner of the hallway, looking ahead blankly.

"It’s not your fault, Hikaru. He was asking something rude, and you turned it around on him." Misaki shook her head. "He deserved to get laughed at."

"But I’d rather not hurt people."

"Hikaru..." Misaki knelt down before her friend. "I’m happy that you have empathy. We didn’t expect that so much. But not everything is your fault."

"There’s no need to mollycoddle her."

Misaki blinked, and looked up, to see Tanaka Hitomi standing over them. "How can you--"

"If she feels remorse at causing that boy grief, then she should be allowed, even encouraged, to feel so." Hitomi didn’t change expression, just stared down at the persocom.

"But she feels badly about it! It’s hurting her more than him."

"So?"

Misaki stared at the girl in disbelief. "How can you say such a thing?"

"A persocom that feels emotions, that is not merely running a personality program. How can I not?" Hitomi looked up at Misaki. "Support her. Help her deal with the pain. But if you value her, do not try to take it away."

- - - - -

AN: For those not in the know, ’persocom’ is merely the Japanese slang term for a personal computer - the equivalent of ’PC’ in English.