Work Text:
“Good evening, Master!”
When he opens his laptop, Chihiro’s own voice greets him cheerfully.
▶ Hi, Alter Ego.
With current technology, voice cloning is a lot easier than most people assume it to be. Most of what you need is a decently powerful computer. Of course, it requires some fine-tuning, but anything computer-related Chihiro sets his sights upon, he masters with ease.
The Japanese talk-to-speech market is already overcrowded, but – and don’t tell anyone yet – the Ultimate Programmer is working on a program with “cross-lingual capabilities” to allow anyone’s voice to speak over 40 different languages! He’s decided to keep this ambitious project a secret even from his dad – until he can demo it properly, that is.
He begins to type something… but he interrupts himself to let out a long, well-needed sigh.
“Is something wrong?”
Chihiro chuckles to himself. The program “noticed” that he’d interrupted himself in the middle of typing and evaluated that he might be struggling to come up with what to write. He knows that, but even then – this thing actually feels like a friend who can tell when something’s bothering you.
Right…
▶ Something weird happened.
“Oh, no… Would you mind telling me about it?”
Of course, just like any AI, it’s always eager to learn… But that kind of technicality is of no matter to him. Alter Ego is his most trustworthy friend… and his child all alike.
▶ I think I received flowers that were meant for someone else.
“Oh… If that’s the case, isn’t the real recipient’s name written somewhere?”
▶ I already looked. Weirdly, my name and address are what’s written.
“Huh… The flowers must have been for you, then.”
▶ That’s too weird… I can’t think of anyone who’d send me flowers.
“Hmm… What type of flowers are they?”
▶ Asters, I believe.
A weirdly specific kind of flower – all the more reason to believe they were intended for someone who happens to like those. Chihiro feels like he’s stolen flowers from someone who would have loved them…
“I see! Asters can symbolise love, daintiness, love again, trust or cheerfulness in old age.”
“- Huh?”
The Ultimate Programmer reacts without thinking… though he hasn’t bothered to program voice recognition for Alter Ego. It’s too finicky for a result he is not personally interested in. Taking as much time as he wants to pour his heart over his keyboard feels much easier than having to voice his thoughts at a proper speed...
“Do you need me to repeat the list, Master?”
▶ No…
“Oh. Is something wrong?”
▶ It’s not very helpful… Do you truly believe someone would be sending me flowers to send me a message?
“Why not? It’s very common to select flowers based on their meanings. Is there a possibility that one of these symbols corresponds to you, Master?”
▶ How should I know…? That’s way too many options.
Alter Ego doesn’t realise that a human can’t easily memorise lists at such speed and without warning… It might be time for an update. The AI could be instructed to pause after each word for lists that have more than a certain amount of words.
“I see. I could help you narrow it down. Could you tell me what colour the asters are?”
It’s just a program, but Chihiro can’t keep himself from humouring it as if it had feelings.
▶ They’re red.
“Oh! Here’s what I found: red asters express unwavering passion and happiness, so it’s not surprising to find them in numerous romantic arrangements.”
Here’s another aspect of the upcoming update… Select appropriate synonyms so that it doesn’t sound like it’s just reading a webpage. Sort of like a “you can copy my homework, but don’t make it too…” wait.
“- What?”
He grabs his keyboard to convey his question to the program.
▶ What?
“Evidently, the red asters must have been selected to convey a romantic message!”
That’s…
That’s way too embarrassing…! Those flowers aren’t even for him.
▶ If that’s the case, I really wish their recipient could have seen them…
“Hmm… Interesting. I wonder why you’ve reached the conclusion that the flowers weren’t meant for you, Master. With your name and address, it would appear the opposite.”
Chihiro sighs…
It’s obvious to him, and that’s all that matters.
…
The Ultimate Programmer is feeling rather cheerful today. Not only is it the beginning of the week-end, but he and his classmates also had a long lunch break, for which they decided to eat a picnic together. Everyone joined! It was genuinely fun. After that, their afternoon classes felt easier and shorter than usual.
A few days ago, he received flowers that were meant for someone else. He felt bad and lacked the confidence to bring it up to anyone… It’s been weighing on his mind, especially since Alter Ego assured him they carried a romantic message…
Time heals all wounds, though. By now, even the sender and recipient must have realised the mistake and fixed it however they needed to. That’s why as he walks home, humming to himself that slightly obnoxious yet despairingly catchy recent pop song you hear in every store, he makes peace with letting it go.
When he reaches for the door, key in hand, he accidentally kicks a mysterious object with his feet. He looks down…
…
“- Again?!”
Of course… Just his luck! Right when he told himself it was fine… Another bouquet was delivered to his door.
Groaning, he kneels to look at the label tied around it. This is his home address, so this one could be meant for his parents… right? The address is correct, but that’s…
Fine…
RECIPIENT: CHIHIRO FUJISAKI
Ugh…! He knew it!
Biting his tongue, he darts up, takes the flowers and finally opens the door to run in. His parents aren’t home yet, but he has a friend who’s always eager to help…
Alter Ego. He sets the bouquet down on the living room table as delicately as he can and rushes to take his laptop out of his bag.
“Good evening, Master!”
▶ I’m upset. I received another bouquet of flowers.
“Oh… Why are you upset? Do you hate flowers?”
“- Pff…”
▶ My name is written on the label again. I don’t understand who would be sending ME flowers.
“Hmm… Is there no indication as to who the sender could be?”
No…
Not that he can tell. Still, he checks again. He looks at the flowers all around, top to bottom. They’re very small, all bunched up together, surrounded by bright green leaves… But there’s nothing to identify their sender.
He takes on typing again.
▶ No.
“That’s odd… I am under the impression that if someone is to send flowers to another, they would usually want to identify themselves to them.”
Right…? This situation is ripe with misunderstandings! Even if he had a homonym… The first bouquet was sent to his dorm, and this one was sent to his house. The only reasonable assumption at this point is that they’re… for him, right?
“Are they red asters again?”
▶ No, they’re…
…Chihiro doesn’t send that message right away. What are these flowers anyway? He’s seen them before, but not in bouquets. They’re…
They’re pretty common, so he should know…
“Are you struggling to identify them, Master?”
Indeed, but… describing them to Alter Ego would be a hassle. The AI is not equipped with image recognition yet… that’s also finicky to implement. He knows those flowers, so…
Oh… Oh! He erases his initial message.
▶ Can you show me pictures of honeysuckle, please?
“Of course!”
The programmer’s reflection is quickly replaced by a photo of a small, white flower he recognises immediately. That’s what it is.
“Japanese honeysuckle is considered a highly invasive species and a significant pest in parts of North America… Europe… South America… New Zealand… Australia… and Africa. Perhaps the sender is trying to invade your home?”
…Wuh?
“- P-Probably not…!” Chihiro exclaims.
He knows he’s talking to himself, but… that AI needs to get its act together. Though he’s embarrassed, he continues typing with a timid smile, slightly amused.
▶ Come on… if we’re doing flower meanings, isn’t there also a message attached to honeysuckle?
“Oh, right! Let’s see… It looks like honeysuckle has two possible meanings. According to multiple sources, honeysuckle signifies devotion and intimate affection. According to the “Cyclopedia of practical floriculture”, though, it signifies “bonds of love”.”
His heart beats fast inside his chest, but it’s mostly from embarrassment. How could someone be interested enough to send him multiple bouquets with romantic implications…? Do they know what they’re doing? And if they do… If they realised he’s actually a guy, they might…
He lets out a sorrowful sigh. He thought he could hide his weaknesses by presenting as a girl, but if someone becomes interested in him, then… it might only create more issues…
“Are you upset again, Master?”
“- Pff… Don’t put it that way…”
Is it okay to let a program comfort him? He doesn’t want Alter Ego to become completely human because its differences are what make it entertaining to be around.
▶ One way to put it is that I’m feeling self-conscious.
It wouldn’t understand. It couldn’t. To a machine, it doesn’t make sense.
“I’m so sorry to hear it, Master. It’s a shame, too, since I believe the person who sent those flowers did so with positive intentions...”
…That much is obvious, even to the AI.
▶ Do you think I owe it to them to look at it positively?
“Yes! That person would probably be happy knowing you’re happy.”
▶ I guess it is flattering, but I’m feeling too confused to see it that way.
That’s what it ultimately is about. Confusion… Who sent those flowers? Why? How would they react if they knew… and… whatever their reason may be for sending them, why would they try to stay anonymous?
It’s not like he’s made some sort of grand statement that he’s really into flowers. Someone has made an oddly specific choice to send him those… He really wants to understand what’s going on.
…
Monday has come and… nearly gone by. It’s incredibly frustrating. Chihiro has gone through the effort of telling nearly everyone about the mysterious bouquets, but no one has claimed ownership over them… or to know who could have sent them.
“- Chihiro! I’m deeply sorry my assistance wasn’t enough to find the mysterious sender.”
Kiyotaka bows ridiculously deep in front of him.
“- It’s… It’s alright...”
Their last lesson for the day has just ended, and while some students have club activities to attend, Kiyotaka is eagerly getting ready for cleaning duty… when most of his classmates aren’t even done putting away their notebooks yet.
“- Oh? So you couldn’t find them in the end?”
Unsurprisingly, the friendly Aoi overheard his apology. She grabs a duffel bag from underneath her desk before walking closer to the two.
“- Did you ask everyone?
- A-Almost everyone…
- What? Could it be? You have yet to ask some of our classmates?”
Kiyotaka recovers his usual upright position like he’s clicking into place.
“- Leave it to me, then! You can’t give up yet, Chihiro!
- Hang, hang on, it’s just… it’s…
- Hey, you!”
…It’s embarrassing…
Without even noticing his response, the Ultimate Moral Compass has turned around to call out to their nearest classmate, way too eager to help.
It’s not that Chihiro regrets asking him for help… No, really, his eagerness is an asset. The Ultimate Programmer is simply too weak-willed…
“- Byakuya! Are you the mysterious individual who’s sending romantic bouquets to Chihiro?
- B-B-B-Byakuya?”
Argh…! A wave of panic overwhelmed him and made him stutter Byakuya’s name like he’s… like Touko might.
The Ultimate Heir, who had just stood up to leave, snaps his head to stare at them… coldly as usual.
“- …Tch.”
He clicks his tongue. That’s it. He walks past them and away.
“- Woah! He would have outpaced me running!” Aoi exclaims.
Chihiro, on the other hand, lets out a long sigh.
“- Of course… A strong person like Byakuya would never pay attention to someone like me…
- Th-That kind of unmannerly behaviour is unbecoming of an Ultimate like him! Don’t worry, Chihiro, I’ll give him a strong talking-to…!
- Y-Yeah, that’s right! What a jerk…
- No… You shouldn’t call him names like that… he was probably just offended by the implication that someone like him could have sent me flowers.
- What? You’re kidding, right?
- Indeed you must be! Anyone would be honoured to send gifts to a pretty girl such as yourself.”
He sighs again.
Even that… is a problem.
“- Don’t sweat it, Chihiro! I don’t know what went through Byakuya’s mind, but you can bet Taka’s going to set him straight.
- R-Right…”
It feels like he’s causing problems for other people yet again… He needs to be appreciative of his classmates, but he really wishes this weren’t happening to him.
“- Th-Thank you… You don’t have to worry about me, though…
- Preposterous! It is my duty to ensure you come to school with a healthy mind, prepared to learn as much as you can!
- Seriously?! There’s no way that’s the only reason you do anything!”
Ha… If Kiyotaka or Aoi had been the ones to send him those flowers, things might have been a lot easier. He feels bad for hiding his true identity from such good friends… but he truly enjoys spending time with them.
He needs to become someone worthy of their friendship… If he’s not going to find out who the mystery sender is, maybe he should just rework his priorities.
Especially if asking around is only going to hurt his feelings more…
…
Another day, another class to end it. Today, Chihiro’s mind has been elsewhere, and he rushes back to his dorm without even remembering to say goodbye to anyone.
He made great progress on his cross-lingual speaking synthesis software last night and he’s looking forward to continuing to work on it. He couldn’t stop thinking about it, to the point he might as well have skipped school today.
“Good evening, Master!”
“- Good evening, Alter Ego.”
Without bothering to write back to the AI, he opens multiple files and programs.
First, to reorganise his comments. He always makes an effort to comment his code, but a 4AM comment is never very useful…
DING DONG
What did he mean by that one…? “Use JA phn. ref -> ES training OK” He actually has some idea what, but why did he place it where he did?
DING DONG DING DONG
“- AaAaAAAAh…!”
He jumps in his chair. The doorbell? Did someone ring the doorbell? Why did they have to do it like such a brute?
Without wasting any time, he rushes to the door. He opens it to a young-looking delivery person.
“- Helloooo… I have a flower delivery for one Mrs. Chihiro Fujisaki.
- A…Again?”
The delivery person stares at him like he has two heads.
“- Is that not your name?
- N-No, it, it is…
- There you go, then.”
He hands him a surprisingly heavy bouquet of purple orchids.
Chihiro is… astounded.
“- Is it… Is it really okay for you to make a delivery inside the dormitory…?
- Heh… Anything goes here.
- A-Ah?
- Have a nice day.”
They leave…
“- O…kay…?”
There’s no one else around… thankfully. Chihiro rushes back inside to set down yet another bouquet next to his laptop.
How is he going to be able to ignore it if the deliveries continue? On top of that… actually facing the delivery person is super embarrassing…
Alt+tab. He needs to keep his good friend updated.
▶ Hi, Alter Ego. I have received more flowers.
“Oh! Would you like me to look for their associated meanings once again?”
▶ Sure.
It could just be the case that they’re flowers the sender likes, but… aren’t those some specific choices? Red asters, honeysuckle, purple orchids.
Are purple orchids… going to carry a romantic message as well?
“Let’s see… multiple sources indicate that purple orchids can be used to indicate respect and admiration… however, it seems they’re most commonly used to signify royalty and wealth.”
“- What…?”
Wait, that’s… confusing. Is… Is the sender trying to imply that they’re royalty? Has Chihiro caught the sights of a prince looking for their future wife?!
“- No, there’s… pff, there’s no way…”
He needs to calm down. What was the other meaning? Respect and admiration? Yeah, right…
As if anyone feels those things about him. A crush is one thing, but that… is far-fetched.
“You know, Master, while I was sleeping, I thought of an idea.”
“- Oh…?”
▶ What is it?
It’s referring to when his laptop was in sleep mode, but the AI itself never sleeps.
“Although there are many variables I can’t account for, I could use the information you gave me about the people around you to conduct an analysis and evaluate who the sender could be.”
“- Huh…”
Would that be a good thing…?
The AI is objective in its own way. Sure, it’s only fed what little public information is available about some of his acquaintances – mostly his classmates, a little bit of his parents’ work – as well as his own subjective opinion of them… but it can process all of that without as much contextual bias as his brain might. His feelings, his tiredness, what he learned today… all of that is absent for the AI.
He can’t help it; he’s curious.
▶ I guess I can’t say no...
“Haha! I thought so! Please hang on…”
Oh… it’s already going ahead with it. Chihiro doesn’t feel ready, but… after all, this has been going on for multiple days by now.
Doesn’t he want to know the truth?
“Ah! Here’s the conclusion I have reached: according to all the information at my disposal, it would appear the mysterious sender is your classmate Byakuya Togami.”
“- Huh? Seriously?!”
That’s…!
To quote Kiyotaka: that’s preposterous!
▶ Why?!
“According to my knowledge of Byakuya, he’s the most likely candidate to have considered this an appropriate method of courtship. Moreover, the purple orchids are likely to represent his interest to bring you in as a heir to the prestigious Togami family.”
Completely red in the face, Chihiro slaps his hand over his mouth – even though he hasn’t said anything. Not only is that completely, utterly embarrassing to hear… it’s impossible as well!
“Master, have you communicated to Byakuya about the flowers? According to my analysis, the more specific meaning of the purple orchids could indicate partaking in an active conversation with you… using the flowers as a tool, of course.”
Oh God.
Oh God. The worst part of all of this is… it makes sense.
It makes too much sense.
…
He’s feeling so flustered…
It’s a little bit unfair, isn’t it…? Byakuya’s the person who’s been sending those flowers, but Chihiro is the one who feels burdened with the responsibility to talk to him.
At least… he thinks Byakuya is that person. He doesn’t want to give Alter Ego too much credit, but since the AI brought up that possibility, he’s been unable to view it any other way.
It could be wishful thinking…
Yet of all people, that behaviour, those messages… make the most sense if they’re coming from Byakuya. That’s why…
“- B-Byakuya…”
As yet another school day wraps up, Chihiro approaches the Ultimate Heir timidly…
The Ultimate Heir… who doesn’t say anything in response. Is he even looking at him? The programmer is too shy to look in his direction himself.
It could be that Byakuya actually doesn’t care, that this is all a dramatic misunderstanding, and yet…
Chihiro needs to get that off his chest, at least.
“- Byakuya, I… I’ve been wondering if maybe… you’re the person who’s been sending me flowers.”
The Ultimate Programmer pinches his lips. His heart is beating way too fast… If…
If he can’t get his act together, whatever interest Byakuya has in him may actually be washed away…!
“- That’s why…. Uhm… If that is the case, I’d be interested in talking to you about… about why that is.”
He has to do it.
He raises his head to finally look at the Ultimate Heir…
“- Ha…!”
It’s incredible… Byakuya looks at him with an unmistakable blush – an expression never before seen on his face. It can only mean… Yes, it’s obvious now.
He didn’t think it was possible, but Chihiro’s heart beats even harder inside his chest. Ever since he started thinking about the possibility that Byakuya could be the one, he’s been having… hopeful feelings.
It’s flattering to think that someone like him would actually be interested in him… even though he thinks he’s a girl…
When he thinks about that, he’s usually overwhelmed by self-loathing, but thinking about his feelings for Byakuya, he finds himself looking at the future…
At a plausible future for himself.
If somehow the Ultimate Heir was seduced by his appearance as a girl, Chihiro doesn’t mind continuing to dress that way. Even though he’s a boy, he doesn’t really mind dressing up one way or another, so…
He smiles like an idiot.
If Byakuya could like him no matter what he looks like… if he could develop a crush on whichever way he dresses… it would be awesome, wouldn’t it?
He wants to believe in that possibility. He wants to give it a chance. He might be a little too scared to face the world still, but he may be able to build a special bond with the wonderful Byakuya.