Warning: Mentions of self harm.
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You were walking back home from a long day at work. You lived in a small apartment not too far from the cafe you worked at. It was raining, you had a umbrella as you walked down the sidewalk.

You had a bounce in your steps. Your life was actually going pretty good. Your job payed well, you could afford rent, and you even had extra money to spend.

You walked past an alleyway and suddenly stopped in your tracks. Was that sobbing? You looked down the alleyway and saw what looked to be feet behind a dumpster.

Cautiously, you lightly stepped into the alleyway and to the person crying behind the dumpster.

The boy didn't seem to notice you as you took a step in front of him. He had his head buried in his knees and his arms wrapped around his legs. His long purple hair was soaked along with his purple jacket and scarf. His body was shacking, either from being cold or crying, and a sob would leave his mouth every few seconds.

Not even thinking, you took your umbrella and held it over the boy.

The boy, taking notice that the rain had stopped falling on him, lifted his head up and looked at you. His left, red eye stared up at you, confusion and sadness filled them. His right eye was covered by a bandage, you wondered what had happened to it.

"Why are you crying?" You asked the boy.

At those words, the boy's face scrunched up and he began to sob again.

You panicked. "Oh no! Please don't cry!"

You kneeled down in front of him and dug into your bag, keeping the umbrella over him. You pulled out a few napkins from the cafe you worked at and held them out to the boy.

"Here." You said kindly, urging him to take them.

The boy looked at you again and said with a shaky voice "t-thank you".

The boys voice was high pitched and sounded very robotic. He took the napkins from you and blew his nose.

You watched him clean himself up for a few seconds before asking him for his name.

The boy sniffled and said. "Taito. My name is Taito."

"Taito..." You said, wanting to hear yourself say it.

"What's yours?" He asked.

"(Y/n)" you answered."

Taito nodded.

"If you don't mind me asking..." you began. "Why are you out here?"

Taito's eye widened, he looked like he was about to start crying all over again.

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it!" You reassured him, not wanting him to cry anymore.

"No. It's fine." Taito took a deep breath. "I was kicked out of my home."

Your face saddened. "What! Why?!"

"My master, he kicked me out, he said I was too weird and couldn't handle me anymore."

Taito's bottom lip quivered and few more tears fell down his cheek.

"Ssssshhhh" you reassured him, grabbing more napkins. "It's okay. No more crying."

Taito took the napkins and blew his nose again.

"Why do you call this person master?" You asked him.

"I'm a vocaloid." Taito explained. "A musical servant. He would write me music and I would sing them. I was his servant and he was my master."

You had heard of vocaloids before, but they were very hard to get a hold of. You never thought you would actually meet one.

"He would always say if I didn't stop, he would get rid of me." Taito continued. "I never thought he would actually do it."

"Stop doing what?" You asked.

Taito hesitated. "I... I hurt myself... a lot."

When he said this, you finally took notice to all the bandages on his body. Taito wasn't wearing a shirt, he had enough bandages on his torso to not need one. He had them on his hands and also his neck.

You put two and two together about his bandaged eye. You pointed at it and asked. "Did you...did you do that to yourself?"

Taito sadly nodded his head.

You couldn't handle it anymore. You dropped your umbrella and gave Taito the biggest hug. Taito returned your embrace and cried into your shoulder.

"I-I don't like that I do this to myself." He confessed. "But I can't help it! My creator, they designed and programmed me to be this way!"

Just hearing Taito say those words broke your heart. You rubbed his back and said "don't worry Taito, I'll help you."

Taito sniffled. "H-How?"

Honestly, you had no idea how you were going to help him. Taito was technically a robot, but in a way, not a robot. If his brain was programmed to do this, maybe it was impossible to make him stop. But on the other hand, he had human emotions, so maybe those could help him stop. He just needed a little more help from someone else.

You let go of Taito and stood up, grabbing the umbrella.

"(Y-Y/n)...?" Taito stuttered, he sounded scared, like as if he thought you were going to leave him.

You held your hand out to him and smiled.

"W-What-"

"Why don't you come home with me."

Taito's eyes brightened and a smile spread across his face. His smile was probably one of the most beautiful things you had ever seen.

"R-Really?!" He asked, he sounded so happy.

You nodded. "Really."

Taito let out a laugh before taking your hand and you helping him up.

Taito gave you another hug and whispered a thank you into your ear. Hand and hand, you and Taito walked out of the alleyway.

Taito, excited, asked you. "Does this mean your my new master?!"

You thought for a second before shaking your head. "No."

Taito face fell, but your weren't finished.

"I don't want to think of you as a servant, that's terrible. I want to think of you as a friend. So if you're not going to be a servant, I'm not going to be your master. I'm going to be your friend."

"Wow..." Taito gasped, giving you a loving look. "You're amazing, (y/n)."

"Why thank you Taito!" You giggled "I think you're pretty amazing too!"

With those words, Taito bright eye got even brighter. He was happy. And that's all that mattered.