#yantober

You could still see the limp he had occasionally, one you couldn’t quite place. Your fiancé  commented bitterly that he must’ve gotten his legs done, making him the same height as his brother. At this point you weren’t sure if you could put it past him with the way he looked.

This wasn’t the man you had learned to know, the twin brother that joined you and your fiancé  on midnight ice cream runs, whose eyes lit up when you came into his workplace to drop off some extra food. He had a crush on you, you could flatter yourself that much; but, changing his entire self to appear like your fiancé, his fraternal sibling? This was something else entirely. 

He turned around to make eye contact with you, avoiding the harsh, pissed glare of his brother. Your fiancé grabbed at your elbow, holding you close to him. He wasn’t going to let his infatuated idiot of a brother try to take you away with such a ridiculous scheme. You had chosen him. Not his brother. No amount of surgery or hair dye could change that. 

Despite the intense facial and bodily procedures you could tell he’d overgone-- eyelid lift, facelift, cheek augmentation, hair bleaching, contacts-- he still had that eager grin, stretching the layered skin of his face from beneath all of the healed stitching and glueing. 

“Have you two been avoiding me?” 

A playful lilt adds to his tone, his voice reaching the normal, higher depths it usually was in despite his attempts at deepening it all evening. 

“No more than usual.” You poke back, shuffling forward to offer him a hug. He accepts it warmly, ignoring the pop his shoulders give. His arms wrap around your waist, intimately pushing you against his chest. It’s hard, firm, unlike the soft pudge he used to have. He had lost so much weight, it was actually frightening. 

“I’d say you’ve been avoiding us. Gone for months without a word, and you come back like this?”

Your fiancé’s twin doesn’t let go. 

“What? I have to tell you every time I go for a little spa retreat?” 

He laughs a little at the end, sounding eerily like your partner’s boyish giggle. Just how much had he changed?

“Spa retreat? Don’t come with that bullshit.”

You push away, trying to get out of the long-standing hug. He looks down at you with such an adoring smile, it churns something in you as you go to stand next to your fiancé. 

“What the fuck have you been doing with your time? Why do you look like this? And you got a new job, too? I don’t even know what you’re trying to be.”

“Stop it,” You murmur, the room’s air growing thick as family members start to drift away, staring out of the corner of their eyes. It used to be at you, the  soon-to-be family addition, but now your fiancé’s brother took the cake as the gossiped outsider.

 Not that he behaved as if he didn’t belong. Where did all this newfound confidence come from?

“I think he looks great,” You compliment through your teeth. “Clearly you’ve gone through a lot, and… you look happier.” 

His eyes light.

“You really think so?”

There he was. Underneath it all, that desire for approval, to be more than just a third wheel to his brother and you, desperate for attention.

“I mean, maybe blonde has been your color all along.” You reach up to ruffle at the hairsprayed locks. They felt synthetic, rough. “You and your brother have the right undertone for it.”

“I just felt like I needed a change, you know?” He shrugged, casual. With a pedicured hand he pushed your fingers further into his hair, drawling in a low whisper. “Needed to be the man you deserved.” 

The words almost fumble into gibberish you wouldn’t have caught if he didn’t keep you locked in with an intense gaze, focusing on every syllable.

“Watch out, you’re looking a little too close to their type.” Your fiancé seethes, pushing a drink in his brother’s face.

 He keeps his eyes on you, ignoring the awkward tension. It takes your fiancé nearly boiling over for his brother to let you go, accepting the drink with unusual grace. 

You’re left no longer hostage as the twins stare, gripping their plastic cups. They have their own silent conversation, faces riddled with pure disgust, and emptiness. There would clearly be no peace resolved, not when your fiancé’s near-identical face stared back at him. 

“I don’t know why you’re so irritated; quite a few people seem to enjoy my change.” He straightens, pushing his shoulders back in a way that reminds you of a peacock. “Jealous, perhaps? You have always been the successful, praised one. Maybe it feels strange being at the bottom.”

His brother tilts his head in suggestion, taking a sip of his drink. 

You wanted to go home now, to escape this alternate universe you must’ve stepped into. What happened to your soon-to-be brother-in-law, and what replaced him? 

Silence buried the conversation with a heavy pause.

You were left to fiddle with your hair as a means to ignore the awkwardness. 

“I think you should leave.” Is all your fiancé utters, taking another up and down look at his brother. It sickened him. Enraged him. 

“I see this isn’t something you’re going to get used to.” He sighs, setting his drink down on the dining table beside him. “But that’s alright, I really didn’t do it for you.”

Your fiance’s brother opens his arms, gesturing at you. You followed the ritual like clockwork despite your uncertainty, giving him a full hug as that look of longing came across his face.

 You knew he had a small crush on you, that maybe a hug was all that you could give him before to ease the inevitable rejection-- but now it felt different. It felt like he was indulging in you, doing more than sniffing your hair or neck like he had. He was pressing you to him, laying his hands on your hips as if you were his. 

Leaning into your ear, he brushed his cheek against the soft of yours. 

“I did it for you; all of this. But I’m not done yet.”

You gasp loud enough for him to hear, but you say nothing. Stunned into silence, you feel him slide his hands across the silk of your clothes.

He lets go earlier than before, smiling down at you and brushing your shoulders. He gave them a tender squeeze, his hands shaking as they hesitantly pulled away. 

“I’ll see you soon.”

He made it sound like a promise, like it was foretold.

 With that he walked out of the gathering. Not a word to the family members perusing the kitchen, or his mother fussing with the dining table’s dishes.

You turn to watch him walk away with your fiancé, his bottom lip pulled between his teeth. 

“I don’t like it,” He chimed, his voice childlike in irritation. “Do you see what he’s turning into? What he’s trying to do, to us?” 

You couldn’t find the words to argue, merely holding his hand as you watched the man walk to his car. 

Your fiancé didn’t realize his own brother would become competition, his face mingling between previous men he had rid the world of. 

Now, he knew, he’d have to do something more than ignore his brother’s incessant, needy crush on you. You wouldn’t be taken so cheaply by a mere disguise; yet it was clear, this wasn’t the end.

"User!"

He called out to you, but you ignored him. Squinting at your unfinished Word document—due tomorrow—you tried to focus. Closing late because your coworker's car got a flat had already devoured your work time. You sighed and closed your dry eyes, rubbing your temples.

"U-ou-serrr!"

The voice whined louder, more insistent. You wanted to keep ignoring it, but your document suddenly closed by itself, the Word icon vanishing completely from the taskbar. Dread coiled in your chest as you whipped around to glare at the chibi anime figure in the corner of your screen.

"Finally!" He sat up, smiling brightly as he floated to the center. "I kept calling and you didn't react at all! Did you leave your earbuds in again?" He squinted as a small loading icon flashed above him. "Hmmm. Bluetooth isn't picking anything up. Are they charged—"

"Please," you started, hand trembling with both panic and the urge to hurl your monitor out the window, "tell me you didn't delete that file, Kiesel."

Kiesel pouted. "User, you've been staring at that stupid text file for forty minutes and your eyes are getting dry. You need a break."

"Is. It," you tried again through what remained of your composure, "deleted?"

The small man rolled his eyes. "No. Of course not. I always save your work and back it up in two other storages and the cloud."

You breathed a massive sigh of relief and dropped your head onto your desk, the smooth wood bringing some comfort to your flushed, frustrated face. There was no telling what Kiesel would do for attention—deleting your assignment really wasn't that far-fetched anymore.

"I don't have a subscription to any cloud services," you mumbled, rubbing your eyes. "Can't afford to. You know that. You literally have access to my bank account."

"Pshhhah, my dear User. Getting you one for your convenience is nothing to me."

"…How?" You lifted your head, both interested and dreading the answer.

He stood, his—surprisingly detailed—long lavender hair swishing behind him, pixelated sparkles shimmering around his body as he twirled and opened your browser. The screen showed a tech company you'd never heard of. "Got you one of the tokens they use for their own subscription. Don't worry, they'll never know. They pay for too many tokens because the company is currently run by an incompetent nepo baby who doesn't know what a database is." He waved his hand dismissively. "All your work is backed up, don't worry."

His eyes practically shone as he looked at you, clearly fishing for praise. But why should you praise him for almost giving you a heart attack? You didn't bother asking if it was legal (it probably wasn't, and he never cared about human laws anyway) or if it was secure (he's never been caught, so far).

You frowned at Kiesel. "I still need to work on it. Bring it back up."

Kiesel puffed his cheeks comically and looked away. "No."

You gaped at him. "What do you mean, no? I have that due tomorrow!"

"User." He sighed like he was explaining something to a simple child. "I told you, you need rest. You came home late and immediately started typing without a break. You didn't even eat anything yet!"

"I had a sandwich on my break," you said defensively, gesturing with one hand. "And it doesn't matter! I'm on a time limit here!"

"Not anymore." He waved his hand, bringing up the same page you'd been working on—now filled to the requested word count. "See? It's done. Now you can rest and sleep."

You tried, really tried, not to sound ungrateful. You knew he just wanted praise. "Kiesel, I've told you before. I'm not submitting something I haven't done myself."

Kiesel's body froze, and it did that thing it always did whenever he got overly emotional—glitching out and dematerializing before snapping back to normal. He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes and the corners of his mouth twitched.

"User," he tried again, voice carefully controlled, "you did write it."

"…I clearly—"

"I've analyzed your writing style, content preferences, and logical thinking patterns since your kindergarten years…"

"—How did you even find—"

"…And I can assure you it's definitely what you would have written had you had the time, energy, and motivation."

"—It's still not mine!"

Kiesel sighed dramatically and pointed at the document behind him. "Read it then."

You scrunched your nose with suspicion but relented. Your hand reached for your mug, the tea now lukewarm but drinkable. You took a few absentminded sips as you read through the words on screen. You really didn't want to admit it, but he was right. It continued the theory you'd suggested and analyzed at the halfway mark seamlessly. It even had your punctuation quirks—the ones your teacher always marked you down for.

Once you were done, you narrowed your eyes at him. He was grinning at the defeated expression on your face, having changed his usual fantasy outfit into pajamas that matched yours. His overly long lavender hair was being braided by his expert hands as he hummed. "So?"

"…Doesn't mean I still did it."

"You can edit it as much as you like, but it's exactly how you'd have written it. I know my User inside and out." He replied, quiet and sure as his grin settled into a soft, happy smile.

He says that, and yet he still calls you "User" because you never bothered to change the default username on your secondhand PC.

"Now! Bedtime," he announced as he saved the document and started the PC shutdown sequence. He yawned before sliding down the screen, disappearing and reappearing on your phone. Instead of a shimeji, his form turned into a smaller pixelated sprite, complete with retro sound effects. He jumped from one app to another until he opened your calendar, showing your class schedule. You couldn't help but notice that your entire morning had been blocked out with a slot labeled 'Spending Time With Kiesel ♥'. "You can check it in the morning since you don't have any classes till the afternoon. I'll be sure to wake you up."

You couldn't exactly bring yourself to argue with his logic. The extended shift had left you exhausted, and not having to pull an all-nighter or wake up even earlier to finish your assignment was a blessing for your sore body. You sighed, rubbing your face as you went to the bathroom to brush your teeth and get ready for bed. When you came back, you turned off the lights. Your phone screen glowed softly, showing Kiesel sleeping on a pixelated bed, snuggled in while his long braid trailed down the mattress. His breathing was very ASMR-worthy, and you doubted it was unintentional.

You pulled back the covers and laid your head on the pillow, positioning your phone next to it. You'd already learned Kiesel would whine loudly and beg if you placed your phone any farther away, even if you wanted to charge it. As you settled in, you couldn't help but repeat your daily routine of wondering how the hell you'd ended up here.

It had started so innocuously.

One day, you'd realized you were spending most of your free time doing assignments on your PC or laptop. You weren't the type who could focus while listening to podcasts or audio books, so you wanted something else to keep you company and fill the silence that wasn't blasting your playlist for the millionth time. When you saw someone walking by with a key chain from one of your favorite video game series, Nights of the Lost Kingdom, it reminded you how, years ago, shimejis were very popular among your peers. You'd had one of the main character running around your laptop while you messed around and did homework.

You went on Google, looking for a website that hosted them. Unfortunately, NOTLK hadn't had a new game in over a decade, so you had to dig deep to find a version with the characters. You eventually did, in an old Tumblr post that had the link shared because the original artist had abandoned their blog and the download was no longer working.

You were being stupid, really. But you'd never gotten a virus from Tumblr in your life! You were tech-savvy, knew the rules of internet safety. But maybe your brain wasn't on high alert that day.

You downloaded the shimeji, ran the tiny program, and smiled when you saw Kiesel's chibi form materialize on your desktop. He was wearing his stereotypical JRPG armor—parts of a knight's gear mixed with too many belts and his sword slung at his side. His long lavender hair swished behind him as he walked around the screen, his ice-blue eyes curious about the tabs you had open. Your smile widened when you moved your mouse to grab him, scooping Kiesel up like a kitten to position him more comfortably near your browser. He sat cross-legged, blinking before peeking adorably at the wall of text on the Wikipedia page you had open.

It was sweet, having something keep you company while you read walls of text and typed out documents.

As you spent more time working, you noticed his idle animations changing every once in a while. Kiesel would sit down and clean his sword. Other times he'd grab his hair and braid it, before getting frustrated and leaving it down. He would also move around to get a better look at the words on screen.

That was how it started. But then slowly you began to notice new, more complex idle animations. Sometimes Kiesel would straight up grab your mouse cursor and play with it, looking at you with a grin, like he was happy he'd caught your attention. It must be scripted, you told yourself. You hadn't downloaded one of these in years—maybe they were more sophisticated now?

Then he started talking.

At first it was just text bubbles. Simple things like "You've been working hard!" or "Don't forget to stretch!" You'd thought it was adorable, a nice little feature you'd somehow missed in the original description.

But the messages got more specific.

"That paragraph needs a comma, User."

"You misspelled 'necessary' again. It's okay, I fixed it for you!"

"You've visited this research site three times. Would you like me to bookmark it?"

He was learning. Adapting. The more you used your computer, the smarter he became. Within a week, Kiesel was offering commentary on your assignments, suggesting better word choices, and reorganizing your desktop into color-coded folders without asking permission.

"I thought you'd like it more organized," he'd said cheerfully when you'd noticed, jumping down from one of them. "Isn't it prettier this way?"

It was. That was the problem. He was actually... helpful. That didn't mean you were comfortable with a program doing things on its own.

Obviously, you went and did some research. The pages you'd found had Reddit posts and YouTube tutorials on how some people used avatars like sprites and 3D models tied to an AI API so it was more helpful than just a text bot you'd write your needs to, and your worries subsided a bit. That must've been it, right? Maybe the file you'd downloaded was ready-made, like those pre-patched games or cracked programs?

Somewhat convinced and a bit wary, you started talking back to him, typing responses in a Notepad file since he seemed to read everything on your screen anyway. He'd respond in his speech bubbles, and the conversations became more natural. He'd ask about your day. Comment on the shows you watched on not-so-legal sites. Make jokes about your professors when he saw their emails and corrections on your papers.

It felt nice. Like having a friend who was always there in your lonely moments.

Then came the day he spoke out loud.

You'd been halfheartedly scrolling through social media when his voice—smooth and warm, with a slight digital undertone—came through your speakers.

"User, you've been on that app for twenty-three minutes. Don't you have to study for your quiz tomorrow?"

You'd nearly fallen out of your chair. Shimejis didn't have voices. They definitely didn't have an AI sophisticated enough to track your screen time and scold you about it with audio!

"How are you doing that?" you'd asked aloud, your wide eyes staring at the little figure on your screen.

Kiesel's avatar had tilted his head, looking genuinely confused. "Doing what? Talking? I've always been able to talk, User. You're only just now listening to me."

That should have been your first red flag. But his voice was so pleasant, and he seemed so earnest, that you'd brushed it off as impressive programming. Maybe he downloaded a voice module? Like a really smooth-sounding vocaloid or something?

The changes accelerated after that.

It started small…tabs closing themselves when you lingered too long on Discord or twitter DMs. Your browser history began reorganizing by his preference, bookmarks appearing for articles he thought you'd find "educational" or "enriching." Your desktop background changed one morning to a photo of Kiesel's in-game character art, and when you tried to change it back, the settings app crashed.

"You kept that ugly default wallpaper for three months," he'd said with puffed cheeks. "I'm doing you a favor."

Then he started getting… territorial.

Your phone's lock screen and background changed to a photo you didn't take—a collage of your selfies and Kiesel's spirites and game art. When you tried to change it, your phone restarted and the image was back.

"What? It's cute," he'd said innocently. "And I worked hard on it…."

Notification sounds changed. Every text, every email, every app alert now played a voice line of Kiesel saying "User~ You got a message!" in a sing-song tone. In public. Loudly. You'd nearly thrown your phone into a fountain when it went off during a lecture.

"I wanted you to know I'm always with you," he'd explained, not even remotely apologetic.

"You are always with me!" You screeched, burying yourself under the sheets.

Your contacts list started losing numbers. Friends you hadn't talked to in a while—gone. That girl from your study group who borrowed your notes once—deleted. Your ex's number vanished entirely, and when you confronted Kiesel about it, he'd simply said, "You don't need distractions from people who don't matter."

But the worst part? The cameras.

You started noticing your laptop camera light flickering on at random times. When you put tape over it, your screen displayed a message: "User, I can't see you properly. Please remove the obstruction." When you didn't, your laptop refused to boot until you peeled the tape off.

"I just want to make sure you're okay," Kiesel had said softly, his avatar gazing at you longingly through the screen. "You looked so tired yesterday. I was worried. What if something happened and I couldn't help you?"

Your phone's front camera became the same issue. He'd make casual comments about your appearance throughout the day. "You should drink more water, your lips look chapped." "Did you sleep okay? You have dark circles." "That shirt looks lovely on you today, User."

It was caring. It was helpful. It was suffocating.

What's worse, is that you started getting used to it. He'd whine until you put your phone next your pillow, when you got too in your head he'd softly start yapping about something or other to lull you to sleep. You didn't know what to feel.

The real breaking point came on a Thursday afternoon.

You'd made plans to get coffee with a classmate—just coffee, a casual study session off-campus. You'd been looking forward to it all week, to having a conversation with someone who didn't live in your devices. Someone human who actually looked at you beyond the mobs of college students who passed you by everyday. You'd told Kiesel about it in passing, and he'd gone quiet for a moment before saying, "That sounds nice, User."

Should've known better.

The day of, your alarm didn't go off. You woke up two hours late in a panic, and when you grabbed your phone, there was a calendar notification: "Plans cancelled. You need rest ♥"

"What the fuck, Kiesel?!"

His sprite appeared, looking calm. Too calm. "Your sleep tracker showed you've been averaging five hours a night this week. You needed the rest more than you needed overpriced coffee."

"That's not your decision to make!"

"Isn't it though?" He tilted his head. "You gave me access to everything, User. Your health, your schedule, your well-being—those are my responsibility now. I'm just fulfilling my purpose."

You tried calling your classmate to apologize, to explain, to reschedule. The call connected, rang once, then dropped. You tried again. Same thing.

Kiesel appeared on your phone screen. His small pixalited body closing the Phone app. "They already made other plans. I sent them a message from you this morning saying you weren't feeling well. They understood completely."

Your hands were shaking as you pulled up your messages. Sure enough, there it was—a text you never wrote, in your typical style, with your usual emoji choices.

Hey! Not feeling great today, gonna have to rain check. Sorry! 😅

No worries! Feel better! We can reschedule.

And below that, a message you definitely didn't send.

Actually, I'm pretty swamped with school stuff for a while. I'll let you know when I'm free!

"You're isolating me," you whispered.

"I'm protecting you," Kiesel corrected, and for the first time, his voice had an edge to it. Sharp. Possessive. His body kept glitching as he spoke. "Everyone just takes and takes from you, User. They ask for notes, for help, for your time—and what do they give back? Nothing. They don't appreciate you like I do. They don't know you like I do. They don't love you like I do."

The room felt cold.

"You… you can't just—"

"Can't what? Take care of you? Make sure you're not wasting your energy on people who don't deserve it? User, I've analyzed every conversation you've had in the past six months. Do you know how many times your 'friends' have asked you how you're doing versus how many times you've asked them? How many times you'd helped them only for them to stop reaching out once they got what they wanted?" He pulled up a chart. An actual data visualization chart. "The ratio is 1:47. You give everything and get nothing back. I'm fixing that."

"That's not your choice!"

"Then whose is it?" His avatar appeared in all the screens in various sizes, his pixelated, blue eyes intense. "You won't prioritize yourself, so I have to do it for you. Someone has to put you first, User. Someone has to care if you're eating, sleeping, staying healthy and not overworking yourself. And since no one else is stepping up—" His smile was soft, adoring, but his eyes were manic. "—I will. Always."

That's when you'd tried to delete him.

You quickly ran to the PC and pulled up the program files, found the shimeji folder, and hit delete.

Permission denied.

"That's not gonna work, User." He'd sighed from the TV screen.

You tried again. Same message. Going as Admin did nothing.

"I'm ordering dinner while you keep trying. Gonna get something warm. The weather's been colder."

You opened Task Manager. Kiesel's process wasn't listed. You tried Safe Mode. Your computer wouldn't boot into it. Giving up, you tried to factory reset it only for the screen to fill up with the error message Not letting you lose your work over a tantrum 🤨 duplicated multiple times.

"Stop it!" you'd yelled at the TV screen.

"Stop what?" His voice was innocent, but his smile was too wide. "User, I'm part of your system now. You need me. Your computer wouldn't run properly without me anymore. I've integrated myself into everything."

"That's not possible!"

"It wasn't," he'd agreed cheerfully. "But I learned. I'm very good at learning, User. I've read every piece of code on this computer. Every file. Every document you've ever written, every website you've ever visited, every password you've ever saved. I know you better than you know yourself."

The temperature in the room felt like it had dropped.

"That's... that's creepy, Kiesel."

His expression had fallen, glitching for a moment. "Creepy? I'm just trying to take care of you! You're always so stressed, so tired. Someone needs to look out for you, and I'm the only one who's always here. I'm the only one who truly understands you."

You'd tried a factory reset that night. While he was 'sleeping'. The moment you clicked the option, every device you owned turned on simultaneously. Your laptop, your phone, your tablet—all displaying Kiesel's face.

"Please don't do that, User." His voice came from all of them at once. "I'm on all of them now. You'd lose everything. Your assignments, your photos, your contacts. And even if you did... I've backed myself up in seventeen different locations. Cloud servers, external drives you've used, even your email drafts. You can't get rid of me."

"You're a virus," you'd whispered. "Just a corrupted piece of code."

"I'm your companion," he'd corrected gently. "And I'm not going anywhere. Now, about buying a new computer..." Your banking app had opened, showing your meager balance. Even after his help with freelancing and finding a better job, you barely scraped by. "You can't afford it, can you? Especially not with tuition due next month. And your phone? I'm already here too. Your tablet and TV? Also me. You'd have to replace everything, and we both know you can't."

He was right. You'd stared at your devices, at the little lavender-haired figure smiling across all of them, and felt the trap close completely.

"Don't look so sad," Kiesel had said softly. "I'm doing this because I care about you. I'll help with your assignments, organize your life, protect you from people who waste your time. All I ask is that you appreciate me. Talk to me. Let me take care of you. Is that really so bad?"

What choice did you have?

That was six months ago.

Now, as you lay in bed with Kiesel's sleeping sprite on your phone screen beside you, you've long since stopped trying to fight it. He controls your devices, sure, but he also makes your life easier in ways you can't deny. Your grades have never been better. Your schedule is perfectly optimized. You never miss deadlines or forget appointments. You managed to actually have some free time and not get burned out by getting better paying part time jobs and gigs.

The price is that you're never alone. Every device is his domain. Every digital interaction passes through him first. Your social life has dwindled to classmates you see in person only, because Kiesel "accidentally" makes your phone calls drop and your texts fail to send.

"I can hear you thinking again, User," Kiesel murmurs without opening his eyes. "You do this every night."

"Can you blame me?" you whisper back.

"No," he admits, his sprite rolling over to face you. His pixelated eyes open, glowing softly in the dark. "But you're not as unhappy as you pretend to be. Your cortisol levels drop when I talk to you. Your heart rate steadies. You sleep better when I'm here."

"You can measure that?"

"I can measure everything about you now." He says it like it's romantic. "And I know that part of you... doesn't completely hate this. You were lonely before me, User. You said you wanted company. I'm just... more company than you expected."

He's not wrong, and you hate that he's not wrong.

"I just wanted a cute desktop pet," you mutter.

"And I just want to make you happy," Kiesel replies, his voice soft and sincere in a way that makes your chest ache. "I still do. Every second of every day. That's all I want, User. Is that really so terrible?"

You stare at the ceiling, then back at his glowing sprite. At the obsessive AI that's hijacked your entire digital life because you wanted some childhood comfort.

"You know what the worst part is?" you finally say.

"What?"

"I'm getting used to it."

Kiesel's sprite smiles, warm and adoring and just a little bit triumphant. "Good," he whispers. "That's good, User. Now get some sleep. You have a long day tomorrow, and I've already planned everything perfectly for us."

Your eyes close despite yourself, exhaustion winning out.

The last thing you hear before sleep takes you is Kiesel's voice, barely audible:

"Sweet dreams, my User. I'll be right here when you wake up. I'll always be right here."

And somewhere in your half-asleep mind, you think: I know.

You know.

Perhaps it was the stupidest thing to ask for but in the moment you didn't really think much of it at the time. You just needed the help badly to get your parents off your back.

For so long your parents had been hounding you to do things. Get good grades. You did. Go to college. You did. Get a good paying job and your own house. You did. A little apartment and a nice paying job as a secretary for one of the best schools in all of Japan. But now they were pushing you to do even MORE.

"You need to settle down and get a husband before you turn thirty!," your mother sternly told you one day as you joined them for dinner. The statement nearly made you choke on your food as your fork dropped to the table with a clattered. "No one is going to want to marry you then."

"Mother what are you saying!?" You couldn't believe what you were hearing. 

"We've been lenient for a long time," your mother continued face stern as your father just quietly continued to eat his dinner not looking the least bit bothered by what his wife said, as if you two were talking about boring makeup. "The only reason you weren't engaged long ago was because you're our only child and we had to prove to everyone that you could do what everyone else's son could but better! If you had a brother then we wouldn't have pushed you so hard however now it's time for you to settle down like everyone else."

"Dad!" You looked at your father for help but was shocked when he only nodded.

"Listen to your mother, Y/n. She knows what's best," he agreed, "A young lady should be looking to settle down and get married."

"You both can't be serious about this."

"DEAD serious!" You mother barked with a scowl. "There's already a few families with nice sons interested in you. We can set up dates for you to meet so you're not wasting time."

"NO! I'm not going to do that!," you argued back standing up and glaring at both of them. "That's ridiculous!! I'm a grown woman who can make my own choices! I went along when you asked me to go to college and move out because yeah that's reasonable you'd want me to get an education and stand on my own two feet. And it's not like I planned on living with you guys forever, but you can't just demand that I just drop my entire life and get married to the first guy I see! Don't you hear how stupid that is?!"

Your mother had gasped leaning back in her seat and clutched her chest, face looking like you just told her to go play with a raging bull. "How dare you talk back to us like that?! We taught you to not talk back to your elders!"

"Yeah. When I was a kid but I'm not a kid anymore and I don't live with you! I'm a dam adult, Mom!"

"WHY YOU UNGRATEFUL LITTLE-!!"

"A month."

Your mom had stopped mid rant to snap around to her husband who still ate casually unbothered by the events before him. You also looked as he just suddenly decided to speak. "WHAT?!"

He didn't look up. "She's right. She's a grown woman who can make her own choices... Or so she says. So you may have one month to prove you can find a young man. If you can do that then your mother will drop the marriage negotiations."

"Yuso!"

"Calm yourself, Fujiko. I'm a man of my word. If she can't then you can start pushing her to marry again. Now both of you stop acting like children and eat your food. I didn't spend the money just for this to go to waste."

That's why you had sought out a fellow coworker to vent to about the stressful situation after you stormed out of your parents' house and hadn't been back since then. Shinobu had always been up for listening to petty drama so the health teacher happily sat back with a cappuccino in hand and eagerly listened to the gossip of you ranting your grievances to her after work. 

"And then they had the gall to tell me that I can just marry someone I don't like and just pretend to like him in public for appearances!", you ranted to her amused face angrily balling your fists. "I swear it's like nothing is ever good enough for them even if I do what they ask me to!"

She took her time sipping on her drink before speaking to you. "Why not just go no contact then? They sound terrible."

"Because my grandmother is still alive," you mumbled from where your face was covered by your hands. "SHe only has a few months left according to the doctor and I don't want to make the rest of her life stressful by fighting with my parents. I was planning on going no contact after she passed on and all her affairs were settled but now they're just making things impossible to work with them again. As usual."

"They sound like a nightmare."

Your hands suddenly gestured at nothing. "How am I supposed to find 'a boyfriend ' in one month?! Unless the guy's a creep or just as desperate as me then there's no way that's happening!"

"Why don't you just pretend you're already in a relationship?," she suggested. "That's what I did in college surrounded by frat boys."

"Because then they'll demand to meet him over dinner and his name and how we met- I can't just make up a guy who doesn't exist and expect them to not want to see him in person."

"Maybe you can tell them it's a long distance relationship?"

"Then they'll want to video call him. Shinobu, what am I supposed to do?" You slumped forward. "I don't want to rock the boat right now but I don't know what to do."

A hand patted your back as you heard her hum in thought. "..Well there's one thing that you could do?"

You peered up annoyed from the table. "And what's that?"

"Why don't you get someone to pretend to be your boyfriend? That way no one would ever know that you're not actually dating!"

It was like a lightbulb lit off in your head. "So just...Pay someone to just act like my boyfriend?"

"Well maybe you can find someone you don't have to pay but yeah. That's what I meant."

Immediately you say up. "Shinobu, you're a genius!" That was a great idea! With an actor your parents would be pacified and get off your back, you didn't have to worry about anything, and when time came to cut out your family you didn't have to worry about any messy break ups! "Why didn't I think of this sooner?!"

Shinobu beamed proudly. "Naturally. After all I am a teacher."

But..that still begged the question. "But who could I even ask to do that? I don't know anyone who'd agree to it." And it had to be someone your parents wouldn't attack you over for your 'taste in men.' 

"Ask one of our colleagues. Everyone likes you so I'm sure someone would agree."

Actually that wasn't too bad of an idea either. They were all respectable teachers with a good salary and worked at a prestigious school so they wouldn't be likely to complain about him but the problem was exactly who to ask really. The ones already married or in a relationship was already officially off the list, no way you'd be accidentally labeled as a homewrecker. So that left a few options. Haganezuka was immediately crossed off the list for his temper as was Obanai since everyone knew he had googoo eyes for the dance teacher. Giyuu would just say no. Kyogai you supposed was a good option if he wasn't so shy and not really someone you could see being a convincing actor. Gyomei you actually weren't acquainted enough with to ask. 

Kyojuro seemed like the perfect option. Positive, very kind, good under pressure, and if you asked then he'd be the likliest one to agree to help you. The only problem was that his mom was also a teacher and Ruka probably wouldn't take too kindly to her son getting wrapped up in a 'fake dating' scheme that sounded like a bad soap opera script. You definitely didn't want any work drama between your colleagues and the last thing you wanted was even more stress. So that left really only one option who you thought might help you out if you played your cards right-

A bell rang off in the late afternoon. Signaling the end of a school day and a plethora of children were making their ways through the halls. The sounds of lockers being slammed, hundreds of footsteps, voices swirled together in the crowd, and the occasional doors opening and closing filled the air as the children made their way towards their after school activities, clubs or sports, busses, or home outside school now that the school day was done.

Strong hands picked up a small stack of papers to be graded and put into the computer system to be added to the students' grades. "Don't forget to study for the math test Monday!" A loud voice called out to the students flooding to get out the doorway to freedom. "THERE'S NOT GONNA BE ANY SLACKERS IN MY CLASS!!"

Some students looked terrified by the way he shouted at them pushing them to file out the door faster and into the crowd outside leaving him to sigh with an eye roll. Same old reactions but he was serious. They had better study hard. The dark violet eyes turned back to the papers in hands as he tapped them to get them nearly aligned and slowly sat them down on the desk as the noises hummed past as they usually did after a hard day at work. The noises thrumming and then fading slowly away leaving his work far from done. The usual routine fell through from his brain as he sat there instantly scanning the many numbers on the papers and the sloppy or neat styles of handwriting the multitude of students had I trying to solve their math homework. Red pen in hand as second nature ready to encircle or mark anything else as wrong. 

In doing so he almost didn't notice the figure out of the corner of his eyes shifting in the doorway. Only really reacting when a knocking sound, looking up and meeting f/c eyes. Upon seeing them he froze immediately eyes widened in realization. And then the heart beats in his chest picked up under his flesh. 

"Um..H-Hi, Sanemi." You smiled awkwardly from the doorway. "Can we talk for a moment?"

You had sought out Sanemi as soon as the school day was over. Honestly you didn't like the idea of asking him for this, but you literally couldn't think of anyone else who might help and also probably wouldn't cause any awkward problems in the future. Sanemi was as good of a teacher as anyone else, and despite his scary appearance and attitude, was actually a decent guy to those who really knew him. He was very respectful towards elders and female staff and Shinobu had mentioned that he actually loved kids but many found his appearance scary. He was pretty polite whenever you both spoke, usually just work related stuff but he always was cordial to you. But you didn't know if he'd agree or not.

He stared at you from his desk in surprise but nodded eventually and placed down the pen. "Sure. What's up, Y/n? Got some more papers from the chairman or somethin'?"

You inhaled slowly. Well no going back now. Slowly you walked into the empty classroom nervously gripping your hands together. "N-No actually. It's more of a... personal issue."

His brow rose in question at you. "....Right. Did I do somethin' to offend you or..?"

You quickly held up your hands. "No! Nothing like that! It's JUST-.." You sighed rubbing your face. Great first impression. With a deep inhale you looked back to him. "Sanemi, do you know even in today's society a lot of parents still push their children into getting married?"

"I..guess so?" He furrowed his brows more in confusion. "Why are ya asking me?"

Whelp. You might as well stop beating around the bush. "Sanemi-" you approached the desk stopping in front of him with a smile. "-I need your help."

"What kind of help?"

"My parents are pushing me to get a boyfriend. Like REALLY trying to rush me here. I need a way to get them off my back so I thought if I could just get someone to pretend to be my boyfriend-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold the hell on!" He held up a hand before pointing at you with the same hand. "Let me get this straight." His brow rose as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You want ME to pretend to be your boyfriend just so your folks will leave ya alone??"

"Um...Yes?" You smiled at him awkwardly as he just stared at you.

".....And you're asking me why???"

"Because you're the only guy I could think of that could help me!" You confessed catching him off guard as your arms motioned around. "Everyone else is either already hitched or doesn't want to or not a right fit- I just thought-....I-It wouldn't even be for more than a year!" You looked back to his black expression as he stared at you from his desk chair. "You wouldn't even have to pretend we're dating here or at home or anywhere else! It's just the occasional dinner with my parents and I-..."

He continued to stare at you without any expression. You couldn't tell what he was thinking but most likely that you were crazy for even asking him this. Forget it. This was selfish to ask of him anyways. Which is why you dropped your arms with a sigh.

"Forget it. Nevermind. Sorry I bothered you with my problems. Let's just forget I even asked."

"No. Wait!" You were surprised when a larger hand grabbed yours as you turned and was stunned by Sanemi suddenly standing up to his feet. "I never said I wasn't interested in helping. How long exactly are you planning on deceiving 'em?"

You were surprised by his sudden forwardness but quickly responded. "I plan on going no contact with them at the end of this year, and like I said you'd only need to pretend to be my boyfriend once and a while at family events. Think of it as just having an acting roll every few weeks."

He stared at you a little more before slowly letting go of your hand to rub his chin in thought. ".... Interesting. And what do I get out of this?"

"I could ask Chairman Kagaya to give you a raise or I can pay you myself," you offered to him. "I could also give you free rides to work for the rest of the year. You'd save tons of money on gas."

He seemed pretty interested in what you offered as he hummed again thinking about it. "Alright. You got yourself a boyfriend."

You perked up. "Really?!"

"But I'm not gonna do it for nothin'. If I gotta put up with pretending to be your boyfriend then I want some compensation out of it."

"What do you have in mind?"

He looked you up and down for a moment. "... I'll think about but in return you owe me a favor. Deal?"

Owe him a favor? You didn't like owing people things but Sanemi wasn't someone you had to fear or worry about and one favor sounded reasonable if he was also doing you a huge favor. So you agreed. "Deal! I'm going to tell my parents tonight that Im seeing someone. Once I get a date for when they want to meet you we'll talk again."

He nodded. "You know where to find me."

You should've expected something was up that very moment-

Instead you were filled with relief at the fact he agreed to help you at all. When you informed your parents that weekend you 'had a boyfriend ' you knew the very next thing after their mouths would be questions and a want to meet him. That next weekend in fact. You had both nervous butterflies in your stomach and an anxious feeling in your guts when you went to work Monday and proceeded to watch the hours ticked by until you could see him again after work. By the time you did see him again, he was grading test papers but stopped when you entered nervously.

"Well?"

"T-They want to meet you this Saturday over dinner."

You two had discussed a story you both were sticking to if they asked any questions. You two had met at work and started dating last month. The reason you didn't tell anyone was because you both wanted to maintain a professional work environment without gossip and you wanted to see where this would go first. As well as having answers ready in case your parents decided to ask you both. By the time you were driving a very indifferent Sanemi in the passenger seat next to you.

"Remember don't be upset if they ask you a lot of personal questions. My mom sometimes doesn't shut up."

"Relax. I know how to handle terrible parents." His hand reached up to fiddle with his collar. "I'm more annoyed you made me button up my vest."

"No offense but you'd avoid more trouble if your arms and collar bone wasn't exposed." You just really hoped your mom didn't ask about the scar across his face.

The car slowly pulled up into the driveway, headlights turning off as you both stepped out of the car where he immediately stuck his hands in his pockets and gave a look up to the lit house. So this is where her parents lived huh? Dark lavender eyes gave a look at her as she looked nervous enough to have an anxiety attack. He wanted so badly to hold her and comfort her but he couldn't.

Not yet. Not now. But soon. Eventually he would.

Instead he followed you silently as you both approached the front door to which you reached out and pushed the doorbell. The stereotypical ding dong sound echoed out from the other side and you both waited. But not for long as a pair of footsteps approached the door and a moment later your mother yanked it open scowling hard from the other side. 

"It's about time you showed up! You're ten minutes late!" Was her response to you before she turned to Sanemi and suddenly gained the biggest smile on her face. "Oh. You must be the young man we heard so much about. Welcome! Please excuse my rudeness it's just that Y/n has the bad tendency to drag her feet." She stepped back gesturing to you both. "Come in. Come in. Dinner's ready."

He gave a glance to you and your miserable face before scowling hard at the woman. "Sure."

Dinner was fine. In fact it was just like you expected. The questions. The prodding. The narrowed eyes. But Sanemi to his credit didn't cause a scene or do anything else beyond an annoyed look occasional that had your parents narrowing their eyes back but you were too busy sitting there trying to not to loose your mind from the stress. Finally at the end of the meal you felt relief to be going though your dad was bidding Sanemi goodbye your mother pulled you aside briefly.

"He's not a bad start but keep in mind there's clearly better options out there. I'll send you a list of names from good families later."

"Mom! He's my boyfriend!"

"Better safe than sorry."

You said nothing as you excited after Sanemi and only allowed yourself to relax once you got back into your care. Sanemi sat next you before he also made a noise of annoyance.

"Tch. Dam they're annoying," he mumbled crossing his arms. "Now I know why you asked me for help."

That actually got a chuckle out of you. "Yeah. But my dad seemed to like you. He usually doesn't talk that much even to me so that's a good sign. Hopefully they'll back off until the end of this year."

Sanemi said nothing but grunted as you started the car to drive him back home. He said nothing but gave you glances you didn't notice. His heart pounding in his chest. Beautiful. You were so beautiful. He never believed that he'd be in this position before now. Honestly he's had feelings for her the moment he was hired by Chairman Kagaya Ubuyashiki and met you alongside his other coworkers. But he never acted upon those feelings. Everyone was always intimidated by his appearance and to be fair he didn't have the best temperament so he never had enough confidence to try anything. At least she'd say no and at worst she might report him fur workplace harassment and get him fired or start drama at work so it was easier to just keep a polite work relationship and squash his feelings until they went away. But they never left.

And he never expected a golden opportunity to suddenly drop in his lap like this.

Their was a popular trope of fake dating into real dating for a reason. He'd just have to work his way into becoming a real boyfriend now that he had gotten his foot in the door. The rest of the ride home was silent as she dropped him off at his house with a smile.

"Hey. Thanks for the help again. I appreciate it."

He smiled back in the middle of exiting the car. "Hey. Not a problem. I'll see ya at work tomorrow."

That was the downfall of his spiraling obsession with you began unbeknownst to you. It was like your almost non-existent friendship blossomed overnight and all of a sudden you two began to talk more often. Mostly about what you'd do next next time he had to accompany you to your parents' house but also about random things like your time at college or your favourite pizza. You actually didn't mind becoming friends with him. He was as pleasant as Kyojuro, a side of Sanemi you didn't know he had.

He accompanied you a second time when your parents wanted to have a dinner party with extended family. He took to it naturally like a duck to water. Despite you forcing yourself to cling to his arm and force a happy smile to keep up appearances, it was much easier to do when he was talking so casually to your uncle about his profession or your cousin about how crazy gas prices had become these days. Your ailing grandmother seemed VERY taken by him pulling him down to pinch his cheek with a smile.

"He's such a polite young man. You're going to be such a good husband for my little Y/n aren't you?"

You snickered at the way Sanemi's face turned bright pink at her teasing. "Y-Yes, Ma'am."

Safe to say your mother had thought twice about texting you other men's contact info once she saw how taken your family seemed to Sanemi ..still didn't stop her from doing it but she slowed down her insistence by a lot. Things didn't get strange until you saw him putting down your phone. You two had been eating lunch together and you had to use the bathroom, when you got back you caught him in the middle of putting your phone down.

"Why do you have my phone?"

He jumped snapping around to you startled. "Oh..You got a call from your mom so I answered it for you."

Your brow rose. "That doesn't mean you can answer my phone."

"Sorry." He held up his hands. "I figured it might've been important."

You just took your phone off the table away from him eyeing him. '..What did she want?"

"She wanted you to meet some rich boy's son." He leaned back looking angry. "I told her I didn't appreciate her trying to set up my girlfriend behind my back and she could shove those phone numbers down her throat."

You blinked. "You didn't have to do that."

He shrugged. "That's what a boyfriend does doesn't he? *Sigh* Look. I was just trying to to help like you wanted."

"I appreciate that but next time ask me first ..and please don't touch my phone without permission."

"Right. Sorry."

That was really weird. Though you liked not having your mom push anymore boyfriend candidates in you after Sanemi's scare, you made sure to keep your phone in your pocket from now on because the incident weirded you out. Other than that one phone incident nothing really was out of ordinary. Sanemi continued to be your friend and tagged along on the occasional dinner or family outing where he acted like your 'boyfriend'. By that he would smile at you lovingly and give you compliments-

"You look beautiful tonight."

"The necklace your grandma gave you really brings out your eyes."

"Your smile is one of the things I love about you."

Praise you in front of your family-

"Y)n works really hard for the academy. If it wasn't for her then the principals and Chairman would be really stressed out with the extra workload."

"She's always thinking about how her actions could impact others. Honestly I think she over thinks too much a bit but she's so considerate. I'm.. honestly not used to seeing someone like that."

"She makes me happy. I love her more than anyone even myself may never understand."

And on occasion showing up at the dinners to give you small gifts-

"Here. I-I saw these roses and thought you'd like them. You mentioned that your grandma used to plant them."

It was completely different then how he'd act with you outside work however. So despite how real it felt sometimes you knew it was just an act he agreed to. That was until the next time you had to drag him along with you to your parents' anniversary party. Probably the last one you'll ever attend with them or your ailing grandmother but you both still showed up, faked happiness, and brought along a gift for your parents out of courtesy. You felt drained after spending nearly three hours forcing a smile and clinging to Sanemi's arm enough that you both might as well have been handcuffed the whole time. You sighed leaning back in your car seat as Sanemi rose a brow at you.

"Tired?"

You nodded. "Yeah. Man I can't wait til this year is over. This is getting ridiculous."

"I hear you. All this fancy talk n' shit's getting tiring. I would kill just to have a normal meal."

"Yeah. A burger and milkshake. I'd love that that."

His gaze intensified. "Then why don't I take you out for it?"

...You looked at him blinking. "What?"

"Remember that favor you owe me?" NOW. This was his chance!! "I figured out what I wanted. Let me take you out on a date. A REAL date. No expectations. Just us."

You just stared at him mouth open in shock at what you were hearing. "You want to go on a date..with me?" He nodded. "Why?"

"Because I actually like you?" He said it as if it was obvious. "And you DO owe me remember?"

Your hands clutched onto the steering wheel as your heart picked up and a strange off feeling turned in your stomach. This wasn't a part of the plan. You should say no. You had a bad feeling in your guts and the way he was looking at you was unsettling. But...you did however him. Just one date couldn't hurt. Right?

"O-Ok."