10|04|13

Over The Limit

Right after that day,
when they exchanged presents..
and Ai proposed to her by
giving her a precious ring..

A tragedy occured.

Before it happened..

The two decided to take a
stroll outside and admire
the beautiful winter.

"It's so pretty, isn't it?
  I've come to love snow
  as much as you do now, Ai-kun!~"
Lily smiles as she reaches her
hand out to catch a snow on her palm.

"Yes. I'm glad I came to love
  not only snow but also you."
Ai calmly responds.

"Hihi. I've never been this happy
  in my entireeeee life!"
Lily happily notes.

"Me too. It's the best thing
  that has ever happened to me."
Ai nods as he agrees.

It was already evening time..
there was christmas lights everywhere,
and people singing happy christmas songs.

We sat down on a bench..
and share a scarf together.
We cuddle each other..
as we enjoy the lovely winter.

Meanwhile, back at home,
the professor is just reading
some books while sitting
with his legs crossed and
he's just relaxing in his
laboratory and just
watching Aine Kisaragi.

"Christmas is my favorite season..~
  I like white, it's the color of snow.
  But not as much as I like cyan,
  it's the color of your hair~"
Lily compliments Ai.

"And I love snow, it's the color
  of your hair and your eyes."
Ai smiles and compliments
her in return.

The two laughs together.
But little did they know...

"What comes after happiness?
  Misery and sadness."

At home, in the laboratory,
The professor sits calmly.
But then.. Aine begins
collapsing and the
professor starts to panic.

By the time Aine did,
Ai... feels extremely hot.

"What is this.. *huff*... I.."
Ai clutches on his chest.

"A-Ai-kun! What's wron---"
Lily gets worried immediately
and she cuts off her speech
when she touched Ai.
"--Ouch!!" She exclaims.
"Ai-kun.. you're burning!"

"It hurts.. so badly.. my mind..
  is malfunctioning.. I...."
Ai places his hands over his
head and then his voice
suddenly changed, his tone
of voice, the way he speaks..
"You, woman, you're just ruining
   my life! Go away and let me die!!"

Lily's completely shocked and
has no idea what's going on.
"A-Aine...? Is this... him?
  I gotta contact the professor!"
She grabs her phone but
just in time, the professor's
already dialed her number.
She picks it up right away,
"P-Professor!! H-Help me,
  Ai-kun is..--"

"I know, that's not Mikaze
  right now, that's Ain---"
The professor speaks
but then... 'Ai' snatches
the phone away from Lily's
hands and breaks it.

"N-No..! Stop this!!"
Lily begins to get teary-eyed.

"Heh. This world is such an
  annoying place. Let's make
  it fun, somehow."
'Ai' smirks as he turns around
and walks away.

"No... my Ai... no...
  come back..."
Lily mutters in silence
as she reaches her
hand out to 'Ai' who
was walking away.

But then, 'Ai' stops walking
and eventually drops on
the ground. Lily runs up
to him quickly and embraces
her tightly in her arms.
She cries with the thought
inside her head that
Ai may never be the same again.

She takes him home and
the professor immediately
responds to them.

"He needs to shut down
  for a while."
The professor said.

"What? But.. what will
  happen after then?
  Why did that happen?"
Lily is full of confusions.

"I'm not sure yet, but it
  maybe due to Aine's
  recent actions. He's
  alive and about to
  awaken."
The professor notes
as he glances over
Aine's cell.

"But.. what will happen
  to Ai if Aine wakes up?"
Lily asks him.

"He might.. die."
The professor told her.

"That's... no.... I can't
  accept that..."
Lily covers her mouth
as they fall open and
her tears keep rolling.

"It's all thanks to you as well,
  because of the intense feelings
  you shared with Ai, an object
  that isn't supposed to feel
  anything at all was able to feel
  because of you. And those feelings
  caused a spark that stinged Aine.
  Making him react to it and awaken."
The professor calmly says.

"It's all THANKS to me? That's nothing
  to be thankful for at all! AI-KUN IS
  DYING because of me! How can
  you be so calm like that? Ai is
  not just a robot anymore, he
  can FEEL! He's even more human
  than you are!! Ai deserves to
  live better than Aine!! Aine wants
  to die.. while Ai-kun.. he wants
  to appreciate the simple things
  in this world. He wants to!
  I'm begging you, please..
  Do not kill off Ai-kun..
  I want him to be happy..
  and appreciate this world.."
Lily keeps crying as she
pleads the professor,
begging him not to shut
down Ai forever just for
the sake of Aine's.

The professor stares at her
seriously and sighs.
"I'm sorry, Miss Emily.
  But in order to save
  Aine, I must sacrifice
  Ai. I was given a job
  for that. Also, in order
  to protect Mikaze's life,
  You NEED to let him go.
  Or else, he'll end up
  overheating like this
  and just crash again."

"W-What..? That's..
  too much.. I love Ai-kun
  so much.. how can I
  even let him go.. I can't.."
Devastated and not knowing
what to do anymore, she
continues to break down.

"We have no other choices,
  Miss Emily. If I cut off Ai and
  Aine's link, chances of Ai
  living normally is only 5%.
  Meaning, the chance of
  him dying is 95%. Not only
  that, Aine would also die."
He keeps giving out details.

Lily sniffs and wipes away
her tears but they still keep
flowing. She faces the professor
and asks, "If I leave Ai, would
he be able to live? And be able
to enjoy life? I only want him
to be happy. But even if it's
without me.. I'll be okay..
as long as he is..."

"There is no 100% guarantee,
  Miss Emily. But I can assure you,
  yes, he would live."
He responded in a serious tone.

"Then if that's the case..
  I can no longer show up to him?
  Not even just to take care of him?
  Or anything?"
She calms down a bit.

"No. Mikaze might recognize you
  and once again crash. He will
  only suffer even more."
He informs her.

Lily falls silent and just
glances over Ai who
was lying down on a bed.

She walks up to him and hugs
him very tightly.. and her
tears drops on his skin,
slowly waking him.

"L-Lily..?"
He mutters her name.

As Ai wakes,
the professor felt bad
for the two and decided
to leave them alone.

"Ai-kun.."
Lily wipes her tears
and forces a smile.

"What.. why were you crying?"
Ai slowly sits up. "Ugh...
my head feels heavy.. and it hurts.."
he holds his head as he does.

"No, no no.. please lie down
  and rest. I don't want anything
  else bad happens to you."
Lily gently pushes him to
lie down again, she sniffs
and tries to stop her tears
from falling.

"Lily.. what happened..?
  I can't remember a thing.."
He curiously asks her.

"No, nothing. Haha..."
Lily just embraces him
and fakes a laugh.

"Lily.. you're not your usual self.."
Ai frowns as he notices Lily
acting strange.

"What are you saying? It's me."
Lily cries while she's embracing him,
and he cant see her tears like this.

"......."
Ai feels bad about this
and remains silent.
He glances over
Aine's cell as he
slowly embraces
back Lily.

"I love you so much..
  You're my everything..
  You're my life.
  Don't forget that, okay?"
Lily wipes her tears and
then faces Ai with a smile.
She then caresses his
cheeks and kisses him
gently on the lips.
She thinks in her mind,
"I'm hoping you can..
  Remember me."

Ai's eyes widens by surprise,
for it is not usual for Lily
to be the one who kisses
him first. It makes Ai
become more suspicious.
He's not aware of the
situation yet..
but he's suspecting
that.. he might
be.. finally.. over his limit.

Chapter 21 -
Over The Limit