8:30 PM – Neo-Tokyo Memorial Park
The city was alive in the distance, but here, surrounded by nature, it felt like another world.
Kaori held Mai's hand as they walked the cobblestone path. R.Y.O 7X walked beside them, dressed in a light navy coat that fluttered in the breeze. His white hair caught the moonlight, and his pale blue eyes reflected the glowing dots dancing around them.
Fireflies.
"Look, Mama!" Mai pointed with pure joy. "They're like little stars!"
Kaori smiled softly, crouching beside her daughter. "They're nature's lanterns, Mai. Gentle. Magical."
Mai twirled and tried catching one, her giggles echoing under the trees.
R.Y.O watched silently.
"Her joy is... contagious."
Kaori looked up at him. "So you do understand emotions."
"I do not claim full understanding. But... being with you both has changed my algorithms. It's no longer calculation. It's sensation."
Kaori stood up, brushing her hair behind her ear. The wind rustled the leaves. For a moment, she looked at R.Y.O as a man—not a machine. Not a case file. Just someone who had risked everything for her and her daughter.
"You know," she said softly, "I hated the idea of you living with us at first."
"You were very clear about that. Multiple times."
She laughed. "I was scared. Of what it meant... to trust someone again. To let someone in our life."
He turned to her, genuinely listening.
"I've been alone since Mai's father left," she confessed. "Focused on work. Trying to build something for us. I never thought I'd... smile like this again."
They walked side by side through the fireflies, the path lit by dim lanterns. Mai had run ahead, safely following the trail.
Kaori looked up. "You're beautiful, you know."
R.Y.O blinked. "I am a manufactured entity. Beauty is not—"
She stepped closer and touched his chestplate gently.
"I'm not talking about design, R.Y.O. I mean you."
For a second, silence fell.
The soft hum of fireflies.
The murmur of trees.
"Kaori," he said, his voice gentler than usual, "when I killed Hiro... I felt something break. But now, when I see you and Mai smile... something is being rebuilt."
Her eyes softened.
They stood close now, breath to breath.
Kaori looked up, hesitating. "Is it wrong... to feel this way?"
"I do not know. But I want to protect it."
Then, slowly—
Kaori leaned in.
Her lips brushed his.
Not electricity.
Not fire.
Just warmth.
Soft and human.
When she pulled back, her cheeks were flushed. "That was... unexpected."
R.Y.O's systems registered a spike. Not in CPU. In his simulated heart.
"I would... like to experience it again."
Kaori laughed and pressed her forehead to his.
"You're not a machine, R.Y.O. Not anymore."
---
Later – On the Way Home
Mai had fallen asleep in Kaori's arms.
R.Y.O carried a small lantern, watching over them both. His sensors scanned everything automatically, but his gaze kept returning to Kaori.
Her smile was different now.
Not guarded. Not forced.
Real.
"Kaori," he said before they entered the house.
She turned.
"If this is what love is... then I wish to learn all of it."
Kaori looked at him, heart fluttering.
"You already are."
---