Tokyo Love (18 page)

Yuriko leaned back, her hand spreading over Kathleen's stomach, as if to calm the jerking motion. Then Kathleen relaxed back, eyes blinking back into focus. She looked at Yuriko, flushed, wet, and panting.

“Yuriko?” It came out as a question, a mixture of confusion and something unidentifiable. “What … what happened?”

Yuriko's senses suddenly came back to her. Kathleen was drunk.
She
was drunk. They shouldn't have done that.
She
shouldn't have done that. What was she thinking? She hadn't been.

Yuriko quickly stood in the bath, the action causing Kathleen to sway forward, hands trailing down Yuriko's clothed legs. “Yuriko … ” Kathleen whispered and it almost sounded like a plea.

Yuriko quickly stepped from the tub, her heartbeat in her ears and not enough air in her lungs. Her mind was buzzing and everywhere that Kathleen had touched was tingling with heat. “We are probably getting overheated. Too much drinking and hot water can be dangerous. Here, let me get you a towel.”

She knew she wasn't being graceful. She was running from the bathroom like a criminal, dripping water onto the floor. She grabbed a couple towels from her bedroom and an old bathrobe. She stripped herself, quickly putting on a pajama shirt and sweatpants before returning to the bathroom.

Kathleen was just stepping out of the tub, looking around the bathroom like she couldn't quite remember how she got there. Yuriko threw her a towel and hung up the robe. “Here, you can dry off and put this on. I'll take care of your clothes.”

Kathleen stared at her. “Should I … go back to my apartment?”

She looked so lost and confused. She wasn't the only one. Yuriko was feeling more than a little dizzy from the alcohol. She needed to lie down and clear her head. She and Kathleen were very drunk and probably very lightheaded from the bath water. The feel of her lips, the touch of her fingers … it didn't mean anything and they both needed to take a step back.

“I think that's for the best.”

It was barely dawn when a call from Dave started buzzing on Kathleen's wrist. She was awake, unfortunately, and had been checking her email, debating whether to go into the office today. She would have liked to sleep in, considering how late she had gotten back from work last night. But she and Fukusawa were so close to finishing Ai's patch. She was almost desperate to get it done.

It felt like the only thing, in the past week, that was true progress.

“What do you want?” Kathleen answered the phone, but kept the video off. Her head was killing her and she was pretty sure the rings around her eyes had grown with every hour she hadn't slept.

“Always so friendly,” her brother commented. “But at least you answered. What has been keeping you this week? Did you go out of town?”

Kathleen wished she had. All she had seen for the last three days was her apartment or office. She couldn't even remember riding the train in between. “Just busy. We've had to come out with an update on pretty short notice so I've kind of had my nose to the grindstone.”

Kathleen declined to mention that she had lost nearly an entire day after the
nomikai
. First there was the hangover and the overwhelming embarrassment that she'd sat around in Yuriko's bathtub, naked, crying in self-pity. Then forced herself on Yuriko. Well, she thought she had. She remembered there was some kissing and touching. It was honestly something of a blur. She remembered feeling so pathetic, and then Yuriko was in her arms. Or on her lap? Then Yuriko was standing and Kathleen realized just how low she had fallen.

Kathleen hadn't the energy the next day to do anything but try to absorb Fukusawa's many emails. She hadn't seen Yuriko since, nor had she tried to contact her. It was probably for the best. Yuriko already thought Kathleen was pathetic. Well, now she had the proof.

Dave paused. “Are you okay?”

Kathleen quickly checked her cheeks for mortifying tears. She was
not
broken up over a drunken night of bad decisions. She was an adult who could calmly hide away from all her problems. “I'm fine. Why?”

“You just sound … well, your voice sounds a little awful.”

Kathleen rolled her eyes. “Thanks.”

“No, I mean it. Are you getting sick?”

Kathleen's throat did hurt a little and she suddenly remembered getting up in the night to vomit. But she had been so tired and stressed … “I'm fine. How is Juliet?”

“Making dinner. Delicious homemade pizza! Be honest, can Japan do pizza?”

Kathleen snorted and ended up coughing. She could
hear
Dave frowning over the phone. It was just a tickle, probably. “Japan doesn't even know what real cheese is. They do have some good-looking pizza. But half the time it's got a mound of mayo on it.”

They both laughed, but Kathleen quickly degraded into another coughing fit.

“Kathleen? You should probably get that checked out.”

“It's just a tickle, I was fine yesterday.”

“Were you?”

Kathleen didn't remember much of yesterday besides going into work and attempting not to sleep at her desk. “I'm just tired.”

“Well, get some rest! Juliet and I will dine to your good health.”

“I'm not that sick.”

“If you say so. But if you get some infection over there, Mother will throw a fit. Might even book herself a flight just to baby you.”

“Go eat your dinner.”

“Get some sleep.”

Dave hung up and Kathleen sat up in her bed. She was pretty thirsty, but when she tried to stand, she found all the blood rushing from her head. Her vision blacked, and she fell back to the bed. “Well,
shit
,” she moaned. She hadn't been sick in years and now she had gotten some stupid cold.

A light shone in from the doorway and Kathleen looked up to see Ai. “Want some coffee?”

Kathleen rubbed her head. “No.”

“Hey, are you all right?”

Kathleen looked up. “I'm just stressed, that's it. I'm not dying.”

Ai folded her arms. “Well, can I come in and take your temperature?”

“
No
.”

“What about a cup of water?”

“Sure, fine.” Kathleen just wanted to lie back down, but she had to get to the office or at least her computer.

Ai came to stand at her door again. “Can I come in?”

Kathleen was still holding her head in her hands. “Yeah, okay.”

Ai stepped over to her, putting the water on her bedside table. Then she took her hand, pressing it against Kathleen's forehead. Kathleen reared back.

“Hey! I thought I said you couldn't take my temp.”

“Health risks override user protocol.”

“I am not at a health risk!” Kathleen protested, but Ai's eyes were already going vacant as she processed the data.

She looked down to Kathleen, like a stern parent. “You have a fever.”

Kathleen tried to push her away. “Yeah, because the freaking humidity in Tokyo is out of control. Now go away.”

“You should go back to bed.”

“I have to get more work done today.” Kathleen lifted her wrist and Ai put her hand over it. Kathleen could feel a text being sent. “Hey! What did you do?”

“You will not be going into to work today.

“You can't—!”

“Health risks override—”

“Shut up!”

Ai was standing over her, arms folded. “Kathleen, you should lie down and try to get back to sleep. If you don't, I will call the paramedics.”

“You
wouldn't
.”

“I would. You programmed me to be always attentive to my user, with health and safety as my priority. If you will not take the medical advice that was programmed into me by
you
, then I will call someone else to intervene.”

Kathleen glared. “Fine. I'll sleep in today. But I'll need to get my computer by the afternoon. I'm on a deadline, you know!”

Ai smiled, just a little too sweetly. “Sleep well.”

Yuriko stepped off the train, glaring into the sunset. People around her pushed her out of the way as they exited the platform. It was horribly humid and even the slightest touch from a stranger felt stifling. Her back ached, having to travel all the way from Yokohama this afternoon through heavy crowds. She was used to being on her feet for work, but being on her feet for a two-hour train ride was something close to torture. It hadn't helped that the situation in Yokohama wasn't that serious. The supervisor there could have simply vid called her instead of having her trek out there. She might have bitten his head off for that. Of course, she might have bitten the heads off of everyone in her department in the past few days.

Yuriko was in a bad mood and she knew there was no good reason for it. Granted, there was a reason for it, but it wasn't even close to good. It was stupid and irritable and it made Yuriko feel stupid and irritable.

She checked her wrist, finding several apologetic texts from Yokohama and one from her own director, probably berating her for being a little harsh for a stupid mistake. She ignored them all. She wasn't in the office and she wasn't about to pander to anyone now. Or at least until she got off her feet.

She looked up to the apartments, feeling slightly better. Just a few more steps and she would be up the stairs and into her own space. Maybe she would tinker or watch TV or maybe have a bath. Even in this humidity a bath sounded fantastic. Nice warm water on her aching muscles, sinking down to her chin …

Am I really your type?

Yuriko hesitated outside her door, hand half raised to open it. Instead, she pressed her forehead against the cold metal door.

“
Baka
,” she whispered.

Kathleen hadn't contacted her since the night of the
nomikai
. Not that Yuriko could blame her; she had also kept her distance. She couldn't help it; every time she thought about Kathleen it was a weird swirl of excitement and embarrassment and lust. To say that she had thought about what happened was an understatement. She had
dreamed
about it,
fantasized
about it. She could find herself phasing out during work, remembering how soft and moist Kathleen's skin had looked in her bathroom. How curious and oddly bold her hands had been. Her mouth, open and
yearning
. Kathleen against her fingers. Kathleen open and arching and …

Yuriko hit her head against the door a couple times. Not very hard, but hard enough that maybe this time she would forget the memory. Kathleen wasn't … she wasn't interested. She had been drunk. They both had been drunk. Yuriko knew Kathleen had been lonely; she had just confessed it. She was vulnerable. Yuriko probably should have been the responsible one. She should have left the bathroom as soon as Kathleen got undressed. She shouldn't have climbed into the tub next to her. She shouldn't have kissed her. She shouldn't have touched her.

But, Yuriko supposed, she had been vulnerable too.

Maybe it had been seeing Michiko recently and bringing all that drama up again. Maybe it had just been a long time since Yuriko had hung out with anyone who wasn't hopelessly straight. Well, Kathleen said she was only into men, but Yuriko seriously doubted it. That report about the “malfunction” in the cortex scan that caused Ai to be female had yet to show up, despite Kathleen's insistence that one of her subordinates was looking into it.

Did any of that matter? They had both been compromised, emotional and physically. It shouldn't have happened.

At least, it shouldn't have happened like that.

Maybe it would be different if they had talked like that before, without being drunk. Maybe it would be different if Kathleen weren't so adamant that she wasn't attracted to women.

If Kathleen didn't want to talk to her, Yuriko would have to accept that. She would have to keep her distance and not make her any more uncomfortable.

“Just get back from work?”

Yuriko looked over to see Kathleen's door open, but it wasn't Kathleen looking out at her. It was Ai. Yuriko paused. “Are you allowed to open the door?”

Ai laughed. “You and Kathleen always think so highly of me. No, but I have a medical crisis.”

Yuriko stepped over. “What is it? Is Kathleen hurt?”

Ai moved aside so Yuriko could enter. “Not hurt, but I do require your assistance.”

Yuriko wasn't sure if she should enter the apartment. What if it was serious? She couldn't let her own insecurities and awkwardness get in the way if there was an emergency. She knew PLCs were programmed to keep the health of their user a priority. Ai would not break the rules Kathleen ordered her to follow unless something was seriously wrong.

Kathleen was sitting at her table, head down, her computer display up. Yuriko looked at Ai, wondering what was wrong. Ai raised her eyebrows and stepped over to Kathleen, touching her shoulder. “Come on, dear, you need to go back to bed.”

Kathleen moaned, rolling her head to look at Ai. “Shaddup,” she mumbled and waved a hand, making the documents on her display whirl around. “I need to do work.” Then she coughed violently, shuddering and holding her sides.

Ai looked up at Yuriko. “She's been like this all day,” she sighed.

Yuriko came to stand next to Ai, but Kathleen didn't even notice her, moaning into the surface of her table. “Does she have a fever?”

Ai nodded. “It doesn't require hospitalization, but it is persistent.”

“Any other symptoms?”

“She has vomited a couple times. She can keep water down, barely.” Ai hesitated, turning to Kathleen, eyes low. “She has been overworking herself. She knows it. So she thinks she is just tired and stressed.”

Kathleen moaned louder. “Quiet, robot! Some of us are concentrating!” Her eyes were closed and she was rubbing her cheek into the table.