[one-shot] The Tokyo Dollhouse
Title: The Tokyo Dollhouse
Pairings/Characters: NiSen and a hint MiyaTama, but all members appear
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: A little dark.
Summary: Programmable people. These dolls (or ‘actives’) can be whatever the client needs or desires during their ‘engagements’ and when they come back to the Dollhouse, they’re returned to their blank, doll-like state... but Yuta isn’t like the other dolls. He sees that something is not right. Kento comes back from some of his engagements sad, so Yuta takes the problem to the Dollhouse’s programmer, Miyata, trusting that he’ll be able to fix it.
Notes: This was written for myxstorie for the Kis-My-Ft2
FIC2 Exchange. Original post and comments over here. Also, thank you to my two betas, kira_shadow and bangbang55. Based off of Joss Whedon’s TV series “Dollhouse”.
Also, beltenebra wrote me fic for the exchange and you should all go read about Kisumai's Host Club. ♡
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Takashi watches Kento paint. Finally, he sets aside his own paintbrush and leans over. "I like your turtle. It's pretty," he says, because it is. A pretty mixture of green and turquoise. Takashi pauses before pointing at the dark blob Kento's currently creating with wide strokes. "This part isn't pretty like your turtle."
Kento stops and looks at Takashi. "I don't like this color."
Takashi frowns, confused. "Then why do you use it?"
"Because it's always here," Kento says with a heavy shrug.
Next to them, Yuta watches the exchange. He stays longer than his two companions and when they leave, reaches for Kento's painting. He stares at the dark blob next to the pretty turtle and decides that he doesn't like this color either. It's just wrong.
Painting in hand, Yuta starts up the stairs to Miyata's work space. Miyata will know what to do and fix it.
But Miyata doesn't know what's wrong. He looks from the painting to where they can see Kento and Takashi sitting next to each other down in the relaxation area. "Kento painted this?"
"It's the bad man," Yuta tells him. "Kento is sad."
Miyata looks at the painting again. "The bad man," he ponders softly to himself. "Yuta…"
"Something's not right," Yuta murmurs, but he's not sure what. Miyata will fix it, he assures himself as he heads back out.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Miyata watches Yuta go. He flips through his memory to Yuta's last engagement. About 99% of their engagements are with high-end clients, those wealthy enough to pay for programmable people. But if he recalls correctly, Yuta's last engagement had been pro bono. Miyata remembers imprinting him with the exact skill set he'd need to counsel a little boy at an orphanage who'd just lost his parents in a car accident.
Yuta stayed by that boy's side for nearly three days, longer than the normal time allowance for engagements... not that this should have anything to do with that. Kitayama, Yuta's handler, had brought him back from the orphanage on schedule and like all dolls being brought back from engagements, Yuta had been put through the programming chair, mind wiped clean.
You wiped him yourself, Miyata reminds himself. But he can't deny that for a doll, Yuta is definitely exhibiting unusual behavior, and this isn't the first time. He briefly wonders how much longer he'll be allowed to turn the other cheek. In a doll-like state, Yuta shouldn't be able to perform any complex thoughts so he sure as hell shouldn't be able to think this far into Kento's painting or lack of happiness.
The bad man, Miyata remembers, attention back to why Yuta had come to him in the first place. Swiveling to his computer, he brings up Kento's last engagement imprint.
It had been a romance engagement. He reads through the file, but there is nothing that indicates stress for Kento at all, neither physical or mental. True love. That was what the engagement had been about. “Suezawa Takumi,” Miyata notes to himself. The name sounds familiar, but he can't quite put his finger on it. He doesn't have anything more about the client other than the name, but Fujigaya up in his big, shiny office does.
He pauses for a moment, chewing his lips at that thought. If he goes to Fujigaya with this, there is little to no way of keeping Yuta's part out of it and he isn't sure how the big boss would react to one of their actives being able to think for themselves in their doll-state. He pushes away from his desk. No. He can't put Yuta at risk. He stares up at the ceiling. "What do I do~?" he wails to himself.
"Talking to yourself?"
Miyata spins around to find Yokoo in the doorway. "Yokoo-san!" he greets the in-house doctor while trying to smile through the guilt he’s sure is written all over his face. "What brings you up here?"
Instead of answering, Yokoo peers around him to look at the computer screen. Kento's imprint file is still up. "Did something happen to Kento on his last engagement? Nothing abnormal showed up in his post-engagement examination."
"Nope. Noth--" but Miyata pulls up short. Leaning in, he asks, "Hey… you wouldn't by chance have access to the clients' files, would you?"
Yokoo's eyes narrow. "I take that you meant 'yes' to my previous question. Why do you need access to the clients' files?"
"There's this thing," Miyata begins, picking up the painting again. "Well. It's Yuta's thing. He thinks that this last engagement made Kento sad."
"'Yuta thinks'?" Yokoo repeats, eyebrow raised. "Since when does Yuta think?"
Miyata winces, knowing how bad it must sound. "You're not going to get him in trouble are you, Watta?" he asks, hoping that he’ll let this slide.
Yokoo considers him carefully and shakes his head. "No. But tell me what Yuta’s thinking has to do with Kento and this painting."
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Takashi picks up another pot of black paint and stuffs it into his pocket. Looking around, he zeroes in on another and does the same. This is a bad color, he repeats to himself. Kento doesn't like this color.
"What are you doing?"
Takashi jerks back at the sudden noise. Yuta moves closer and repeats the question.
"I'm getting rid of this color. Kento doesn't like this color," he says, quietly. He stares at the pot still in his hand. "Is what I'm doing wrong?"
Yuta picks up a pot of black paint from a nearby table and puts it into his own pocket. He puts the next into Takashi's free hand. "No. I think it's a good thing. Let me help you."
Get rid of this color, Takashi repeats. This color makes Kento sad.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
"Google" Miyata murmurs to himself. He plugs in 'Suezawa Takumi' into the search engine. Who needs access to the client files in Fujigaya's big, important office? "I am a genius."
As it turns out, Yokoo has no more access to the clients' files than Miyata does. Tricky that one, Miyata reminds himself as Google brings up the results. "Let's see… Here we are. Suezawa Takumi…" he trails off, eyes widening as he reads on. "Well crap."
He'd been expecting this guy to be important because, well, all the clients of the Dollhouse needed to be extremely rich to even be able to begin to afford an engagement, much less multiple times, but this… Dr. Suezawa Takumi, was a lead researcher in the neural sciences field and top supporter of Rossom… the corporation that runs all of the Dollhouses.
He searches to find the connection between Suezawa Takumi and Kento before the Dollhouse, but the further he looks, the tighter his chest gets.
"God, this is more than just a little over my head." He looks out his window to where the dolls are going about their daily lives until he finds the one he was looking for. As if feeling Miyata looking at him, Yuta turns to meet his gaze. Fully aware that Yuta can't hear him, Miyata asks, "Why did you bring this to me?"
"I didn't bring you anything."
Jumping, Miyata whips around to find Kitayama standing behind him this time. "Geez, you scared me~ Why don't any of you knock?"
A smile tugs at Kitayama lips. "Because your door's never closed."
"True," Miyata admits.
"So… are you going to tell me what my active brought you? That wasn't your usual love-struck puppy look you were just giving Yuta."
Miyata gives Kitayama a mournful look. “Must you remind me?”
“Yes. If you don't get reminded, you might forget the part where you're not supposed to fall in love with one of the dolls."
"As if I could forget," Miyata mutters with a sigh.
Kitayama walks further into the room. "Now what did Yuta bring you?"
He frowns while listening to Miyata explain about Yuta's worries about Kento. "Yuta shouldn't be able to think," Kitayama interrupts.
Miyata winces. "Technically no, but he does have a point. Something is wrong with Kento. Yuta says that the 'bad man' makes Kento sad and I thought he was talking crazy, but look at these." He pulls out more of Kento's distorted paintings. "These were all painted after Kento's engagements with this Suezawa Takumi and this dark blob is always here."
"It could just be a coincidence," Kitayama says, but Miyata can hear in his voice that he doesn't think so either.
"When Kento came here, he was mentally unstable," Miyata begins. "He wasn't always so, but a few years ago, it was decided that he couldn't live by himself, so he was sent to a mental institute… When I met him, he was having problems remembering to do things… He couldn't speak properly and a lot of the time, things he said sounded like nonsense. After I met him at the institute, he was sent here to become one of our actives."
Kitayama leans closer to the computer screen, studying Suezawa Takumi's picture. "He wasn't always mentally unstable… Who treated Kento at the institute?" he asks. Miyata just stares back into his face because they both know the answer to that.
Miyata looks out to watch Kento sitting with Takashi next to him. Takashi says something and Kento smiles in response. "All the other actives in the Dollhouse more or less chose to be here because there's something they need to get away from. Kento didn't choose to be here. He doesn't belong here."
"Do you think Fujigaya knows?" Kitayama asks.
"He does now."
They both turn to see Fujigaya standing in the doorway, arms crossed. Kitayama slides Miyata a look. "That is why you should learn to close your door."
"Well, it's not like you guys really would knock or anything even if I did," Miyata mutters back.
"Which is what the lock would be for."
Fujigaya quietly studies the information on the monitors. "You're absolutely sure?" he asks Miyata.
A little resigned, Miyata clicks a few commands into the computer. "This is Kento's brain mapping when he was brought here. It's overloaded with drugs. At the time, I thought they were just drugs meant to help him with his mental illness, but it's not looking that way now."
Fujigaya sighs heavily. "Who else knows about this?"
"Oh, uh… Yokoo-san," Miyata says in surprise. He'd been expecting Fujigaya's temper to whip out at him for nosing his way into this whole mess.
"Good." Fujigaya straightens, looking at him, then Kitayama. "No one else is to know about this. I will take care of Dr. Suezawa personally."
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
"Dr. Suezawa, it's very nice of you to come all the way here," Fujigaya says with a calm that he doesn't feel. He keeps his hands steady as he pours two cups. "Would you like some tea?"
Suezawa accepts the cup, but doesn't drink. "I must admit that I was surprised to receive your phone call. It was unusual."
"Yes, well, I thought you and I should have a little talk. You seem to have taken an interest in one of our actives, Kento."
"What can I say? He's special," Suezawa says with a smile, making the anger Fujigaya feels boil. "You'll remember that I knew him before he came to the Dollhouse?"
"I do. And what exactly was your relation to him before he was admitted into your mental institute? From what I gather, he was a street dancer and artist." Your face, Fujigaya… he reminds himself. Control your face. Not yet.
Suezawa draws back a little at that. "What makes you think I knew him from before?"
Fujigaya takes another sip of tea. "One year before he was brought to the Dollhouse, you enlisted our help for an event performance that featured Senga Kento… an event that you had organized. We sent a few of our actives to help with the atmosphere and to, as I understand it, encourage Senga to sleep with you.
"But he turned you down, didn't he? And when I looked further into the matter, Senga instead showed an interest in one of our other dolls. That must have pissed you off." Fujigaya lays down his tea cup and casually crosses his legs. "How dare he deny you what you want after you've put so much money and effort into trying to seduce him."
"He's mine," Suezawa whispers, voice harsh.
"Really? Is that why you poisoned his mind? Drugged him so that you could have power over him? You set him up for the Dollhouse so that you could have what shouldn't be yours."
"Now he does exactly what I want him to do. He comes to me, excited to be with me. When it's time for him to return here, he doesn't want to go!" Suezawa shouts out indignantly.
"Well," Fujigaya says, voice low, letting his anger and disgust lash out. "That ends here. You will never again come anywhere near that boy. What you've done is despicable and I will not let you use us to aid you any longer."
Suezawa balks at him. "Do you have any idea who I am? You think that you can tell me what I can and can not do?"
"Yes, I do. And doubtless you'll probably go to my superiors to complain about my decision.” Fujigaya sits back with a mocking smile on his face and retorts, “However, I'll have you know that I've already briefed them on this matter and have received their full support."
Still smiling but with an icy tone of disgust he adds, "You will resign from your position within 24 hours. You will not be allowed anywhere near this office again or have access to any of our actives or those of any other Dollhouse. And in the next 30 seconds, you will get your sorry ass out of my office."
Watching Suezawa storm out of his office, Fujigaya comments, "And you didn't drink your tea, asshole."
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Miyata's eyes are wide when Fujigaya tells them that Suezawa will no longer be a problem for Kento, and to Yokoo's amusement, even Kitayama looks a little impressed.
"Wow… You can do all that?" Miyata says, and Yokoo let's out a soft chuckle at the awe in the programmer's voice.
Fujigaya can't quite keep the smirk off his face.
"Okay, but now that Suezawa Takumi is no longer a client, there's still the matter of Kento," Yokoo reminds them. "He didn't choose to be here and continuing on like this is like slavery."
They fall silent at that. It's true. Had Suezawa not set it all up, Kento would never have even encountered the Dollhouse.
"What if we ask him?" Kitayama suggests. He turns to Miyata. "Make Kento -Kento- again, explain the situation and ask what he wants to do from here. You can do that right?"
"Technically, yes." Miyata sends Fujigaya a hesitant look. "I can do that if Fujigaya gives the okay."
They all turn to Fujigaya who purses his lips, clearly weighing out the pros and cons. Finally he says, "Let's do it. Everybody deserves the right to choose."
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Senga listens carefully while Miyata explains everything. When he's done, Senga stands up carefully and looks out to where all the dolls are going about their daily lives.
"It's a lot to take in at once," Senga admits, not entirely sure he can really wrap his head around all of it. "I remember you coming to the mental institute. You said you were going to help me."
Miyata looks down and remorsefully replies, "I really thought I was."
"The last thing I remember is being brought here… the pain as all those probes and needles were stuck into me," Senga murmurs shivering at the memory. "Then a second later I'm here. No pain and I don't feel that fire running through my veins anymore. But you're telling me that it’s been over a year? And that during the time I was here, I was sent out on 'engagements' with Suezawa? That I enjoyed being with him?"
"Yeah… It wasn't brought to our attention until last week that something wasn't right."
"And now? I really never have to worry about him ever again?"
Miyata smiles reassuringly. "No. If Fujigaya says that Suezawa will never come anywhere near you again, you're safe."
Senga’s legs feel weak as the wave of relief washes through his body. "Thank you."
"So now the question is what you do from here."
"You mean I get a choice? Stay here, continue to be a doll and get sent out on engagements to do who knows what… or go back out into the world and face reality." Senga looks out at the dolls again. Some are eating, some are doing yoga, some are painting… He stops. "Who is that?"
Miyata comes to stand next to him and looks over to where he's pointing, but from the chuckle that escapes his lips, it doesn't sound like he's surprised by Senga's question. "That would be Takashi."
"I… know him," Senga murmurs, trying to figure out just what he's trying to say. "At least, I think I know him."
"Do you?" Senga can hear the smile in Miyata's voice.
"It sounds crazy, but I think I'm in love with him." He can't explain it at all, but his heart… Senga clutches at his chest. "Is this real? Is what I'm feeling real?"
Miyata claps him on the shoulder. "That’s for you to decide.”
Senga's silent as he thinks things over, watching Takashi in what seems to be the art area. Then Takashi looks up at him, smiles, and suddenly, Senga can’t breathe.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Quietly clicking away at his computer, Miyata senses more than hears Yuta come in and smiles instead of his usual complaint about no one knocking. They watch Kento and Takashi sitting on the couch, looking through a picture book together.
Finally, Yuta comments on the obvious. "Kento's back."
Miyata nods. "He chose to stay."
Pairings/Characters: NiSen and a hint MiyaTama, but all members appear
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: A little dark.
Summary: Programmable people. These dolls (or ‘actives’) can be whatever the client needs or desires during their ‘engagements’ and when they come back to the Dollhouse, they’re returned to their blank, doll-like state... but Yuta isn’t like the other dolls. He sees that something is not right. Kento comes back from some of his engagements sad, so Yuta takes the problem to the Dollhouse’s programmer, Miyata, trusting that he’ll be able to fix it.
Notes: This was written for myxstorie for the Kis-My-Ft2
FIC2 Exchange. Original post and comments over here. Also, thank you to my two betas, kira_shadow and bangbang55. Based off of Joss Whedon’s TV series “Dollhouse”.
Also, beltenebra wrote me fic for the exchange and you should all go read about Kisumai's Host Club. ♡
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Takashi watches Kento paint. Finally, he sets aside his own paintbrush and leans over. "I like your turtle. It's pretty," he says, because it is. A pretty mixture of green and turquoise. Takashi pauses before pointing at the dark blob Kento's currently creating with wide strokes. "This part isn't pretty like your turtle."
Kento stops and looks at Takashi. "I don't like this color."
Takashi frowns, confused. "Then why do you use it?"
"Because it's always here," Kento says with a heavy shrug.
Next to them, Yuta watches the exchange. He stays longer than his two companions and when they leave, reaches for Kento's painting. He stares at the dark blob next to the pretty turtle and decides that he doesn't like this color either. It's just wrong.
Painting in hand, Yuta starts up the stairs to Miyata's work space. Miyata will know what to do and fix it.
But Miyata doesn't know what's wrong. He looks from the painting to where they can see Kento and Takashi sitting next to each other down in the relaxation area. "Kento painted this?"
"It's the bad man," Yuta tells him. "Kento is sad."
Miyata looks at the painting again. "The bad man," he ponders softly to himself. "Yuta…"
"Something's not right," Yuta murmurs, but he's not sure what. Miyata will fix it, he assures himself as he heads back out.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Miyata watches Yuta go. He flips through his memory to Yuta's last engagement. About 99% of their engagements are with high-end clients, those wealthy enough to pay for programmable people. But if he recalls correctly, Yuta's last engagement had been pro bono. Miyata remembers imprinting him with the exact skill set he'd need to counsel a little boy at an orphanage who'd just lost his parents in a car accident.
Yuta stayed by that boy's side for nearly three days, longer than the normal time allowance for engagements... not that this should have anything to do with that. Kitayama, Yuta's handler, had brought him back from the orphanage on schedule and like all dolls being brought back from engagements, Yuta had been put through the programming chair, mind wiped clean.
You wiped him yourself, Miyata reminds himself. But he can't deny that for a doll, Yuta is definitely exhibiting unusual behavior, and this isn't the first time. He briefly wonders how much longer he'll be allowed to turn the other cheek. In a doll-like state, Yuta shouldn't be able to perform any complex thoughts so he sure as hell shouldn't be able to think this far into Kento's painting or lack of happiness.
The bad man, Miyata remembers, attention back to why Yuta had come to him in the first place. Swiveling to his computer, he brings up Kento's last engagement imprint.
It had been a romance engagement. He reads through the file, but there is nothing that indicates stress for Kento at all, neither physical or mental. True love. That was what the engagement had been about. “Suezawa Takumi,” Miyata notes to himself. The name sounds familiar, but he can't quite put his finger on it. He doesn't have anything more about the client other than the name, but Fujigaya up in his big, shiny office does.
He pauses for a moment, chewing his lips at that thought. If he goes to Fujigaya with this, there is little to no way of keeping Yuta's part out of it and he isn't sure how the big boss would react to one of their actives being able to think for themselves in their doll-state. He pushes away from his desk. No. He can't put Yuta at risk. He stares up at the ceiling. "What do I do~?" he wails to himself.
"Talking to yourself?"
Miyata spins around to find Yokoo in the doorway. "Yokoo-san!" he greets the in-house doctor while trying to smile through the guilt he’s sure is written all over his face. "What brings you up here?"
Instead of answering, Yokoo peers around him to look at the computer screen. Kento's imprint file is still up. "Did something happen to Kento on his last engagement? Nothing abnormal showed up in his post-engagement examination."
"Nope. Noth--" but Miyata pulls up short. Leaning in, he asks, "Hey… you wouldn't by chance have access to the clients' files, would you?"
Yokoo's eyes narrow. "I take that you meant 'yes' to my previous question. Why do you need access to the clients' files?"
"There's this thing," Miyata begins, picking up the painting again. "Well. It's Yuta's thing. He thinks that this last engagement made Kento sad."
"'Yuta thinks'?" Yokoo repeats, eyebrow raised. "Since when does Yuta think?"
Miyata winces, knowing how bad it must sound. "You're not going to get him in trouble are you, Watta?" he asks, hoping that he’ll let this slide.
Yokoo considers him carefully and shakes his head. "No. But tell me what Yuta’s thinking has to do with Kento and this painting."
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Takashi picks up another pot of black paint and stuffs it into his pocket. Looking around, he zeroes in on another and does the same. This is a bad color, he repeats to himself. Kento doesn't like this color.
"What are you doing?"
Takashi jerks back at the sudden noise. Yuta moves closer and repeats the question.
"I'm getting rid of this color. Kento doesn't like this color," he says, quietly. He stares at the pot still in his hand. "Is what I'm doing wrong?"
Yuta picks up a pot of black paint from a nearby table and puts it into his own pocket. He puts the next into Takashi's free hand. "No. I think it's a good thing. Let me help you."
Get rid of this color, Takashi repeats. This color makes Kento sad.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
"Google" Miyata murmurs to himself. He plugs in 'Suezawa Takumi' into the search engine. Who needs access to the client files in Fujigaya's big, important office? "I am a genius."
As it turns out, Yokoo has no more access to the clients' files than Miyata does. Tricky that one, Miyata reminds himself as Google brings up the results. "Let's see… Here we are. Suezawa Takumi…" he trails off, eyes widening as he reads on. "Well crap."
He'd been expecting this guy to be important because, well, all the clients of the Dollhouse needed to be extremely rich to even be able to begin to afford an engagement, much less multiple times, but this… Dr. Suezawa Takumi, was a lead researcher in the neural sciences field and top supporter of Rossom… the corporation that runs all of the Dollhouses.
He searches to find the connection between Suezawa Takumi and Kento before the Dollhouse, but the further he looks, the tighter his chest gets.
"God, this is more than just a little over my head." He looks out his window to where the dolls are going about their daily lives until he finds the one he was looking for. As if feeling Miyata looking at him, Yuta turns to meet his gaze. Fully aware that Yuta can't hear him, Miyata asks, "Why did you bring this to me?"
"I didn't bring you anything."
Jumping, Miyata whips around to find Kitayama standing behind him this time. "Geez, you scared me~ Why don't any of you knock?"
A smile tugs at Kitayama lips. "Because your door's never closed."
"True," Miyata admits.
"So… are you going to tell me what my active brought you? That wasn't your usual love-struck puppy look you were just giving Yuta."
Miyata gives Kitayama a mournful look. “Must you remind me?”
“Yes. If you don't get reminded, you might forget the part where you're not supposed to fall in love with one of the dolls."
"As if I could forget," Miyata mutters with a sigh.
Kitayama walks further into the room. "Now what did Yuta bring you?"
He frowns while listening to Miyata explain about Yuta's worries about Kento. "Yuta shouldn't be able to think," Kitayama interrupts.
Miyata winces. "Technically no, but he does have a point. Something is wrong with Kento. Yuta says that the 'bad man' makes Kento sad and I thought he was talking crazy, but look at these." He pulls out more of Kento's distorted paintings. "These were all painted after Kento's engagements with this Suezawa Takumi and this dark blob is always here."
"It could just be a coincidence," Kitayama says, but Miyata can hear in his voice that he doesn't think so either.
"When Kento came here, he was mentally unstable," Miyata begins. "He wasn't always so, but a few years ago, it was decided that he couldn't live by himself, so he was sent to a mental institute… When I met him, he was having problems remembering to do things… He couldn't speak properly and a lot of the time, things he said sounded like nonsense. After I met him at the institute, he was sent here to become one of our actives."
Kitayama leans closer to the computer screen, studying Suezawa Takumi's picture. "He wasn't always mentally unstable… Who treated Kento at the institute?" he asks. Miyata just stares back into his face because they both know the answer to that.
Miyata looks out to watch Kento sitting with Takashi next to him. Takashi says something and Kento smiles in response. "All the other actives in the Dollhouse more or less chose to be here because there's something they need to get away from. Kento didn't choose to be here. He doesn't belong here."
"Do you think Fujigaya knows?" Kitayama asks.
"He does now."
They both turn to see Fujigaya standing in the doorway, arms crossed. Kitayama slides Miyata a look. "That is why you should learn to close your door."
"Well, it's not like you guys really would knock or anything even if I did," Miyata mutters back.
"Which is what the lock would be for."
Fujigaya quietly studies the information on the monitors. "You're absolutely sure?" he asks Miyata.
A little resigned, Miyata clicks a few commands into the computer. "This is Kento's brain mapping when he was brought here. It's overloaded with drugs. At the time, I thought they were just drugs meant to help him with his mental illness, but it's not looking that way now."
Fujigaya sighs heavily. "Who else knows about this?"
"Oh, uh… Yokoo-san," Miyata says in surprise. He'd been expecting Fujigaya's temper to whip out at him for nosing his way into this whole mess.
"Good." Fujigaya straightens, looking at him, then Kitayama. "No one else is to know about this. I will take care of Dr. Suezawa personally."
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
"Dr. Suezawa, it's very nice of you to come all the way here," Fujigaya says with a calm that he doesn't feel. He keeps his hands steady as he pours two cups. "Would you like some tea?"
Suezawa accepts the cup, but doesn't drink. "I must admit that I was surprised to receive your phone call. It was unusual."
"Yes, well, I thought you and I should have a little talk. You seem to have taken an interest in one of our actives, Kento."
"What can I say? He's special," Suezawa says with a smile, making the anger Fujigaya feels boil. "You'll remember that I knew him before he came to the Dollhouse?"
"I do. And what exactly was your relation to him before he was admitted into your mental institute? From what I gather, he was a street dancer and artist." Your face, Fujigaya… he reminds himself. Control your face. Not yet.
Suezawa draws back a little at that. "What makes you think I knew him from before?"
Fujigaya takes another sip of tea. "One year before he was brought to the Dollhouse, you enlisted our help for an event performance that featured Senga Kento… an event that you had organized. We sent a few of our actives to help with the atmosphere and to, as I understand it, encourage Senga to sleep with you.
"But he turned you down, didn't he? And when I looked further into the matter, Senga instead showed an interest in one of our other dolls. That must have pissed you off." Fujigaya lays down his tea cup and casually crosses his legs. "How dare he deny you what you want after you've put so much money and effort into trying to seduce him."
"He's mine," Suezawa whispers, voice harsh.
"Really? Is that why you poisoned his mind? Drugged him so that you could have power over him? You set him up for the Dollhouse so that you could have what shouldn't be yours."
"Now he does exactly what I want him to do. He comes to me, excited to be with me. When it's time for him to return here, he doesn't want to go!" Suezawa shouts out indignantly.
"Well," Fujigaya says, voice low, letting his anger and disgust lash out. "That ends here. You will never again come anywhere near that boy. What you've done is despicable and I will not let you use us to aid you any longer."
Suezawa balks at him. "Do you have any idea who I am? You think that you can tell me what I can and can not do?"
"Yes, I do. And doubtless you'll probably go to my superiors to complain about my decision.” Fujigaya sits back with a mocking smile on his face and retorts, “However, I'll have you know that I've already briefed them on this matter and have received their full support."
Still smiling but with an icy tone of disgust he adds, "You will resign from your position within 24 hours. You will not be allowed anywhere near this office again or have access to any of our actives or those of any other Dollhouse. And in the next 30 seconds, you will get your sorry ass out of my office."
Watching Suezawa storm out of his office, Fujigaya comments, "And you didn't drink your tea, asshole."
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Miyata's eyes are wide when Fujigaya tells them that Suezawa will no longer be a problem for Kento, and to Yokoo's amusement, even Kitayama looks a little impressed.
"Wow… You can do all that?" Miyata says, and Yokoo let's out a soft chuckle at the awe in the programmer's voice.
Fujigaya can't quite keep the smirk off his face.
"Okay, but now that Suezawa Takumi is no longer a client, there's still the matter of Kento," Yokoo reminds them. "He didn't choose to be here and continuing on like this is like slavery."
They fall silent at that. It's true. Had Suezawa not set it all up, Kento would never have even encountered the Dollhouse.
"What if we ask him?" Kitayama suggests. He turns to Miyata. "Make Kento -Kento- again, explain the situation and ask what he wants to do from here. You can do that right?"
"Technically, yes." Miyata sends Fujigaya a hesitant look. "I can do that if Fujigaya gives the okay."
They all turn to Fujigaya who purses his lips, clearly weighing out the pros and cons. Finally he says, "Let's do it. Everybody deserves the right to choose."
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Senga listens carefully while Miyata explains everything. When he's done, Senga stands up carefully and looks out to where all the dolls are going about their daily lives.
"It's a lot to take in at once," Senga admits, not entirely sure he can really wrap his head around all of it. "I remember you coming to the mental institute. You said you were going to help me."
Miyata looks down and remorsefully replies, "I really thought I was."
"The last thing I remember is being brought here… the pain as all those probes and needles were stuck into me," Senga murmurs shivering at the memory. "Then a second later I'm here. No pain and I don't feel that fire running through my veins anymore. But you're telling me that it’s been over a year? And that during the time I was here, I was sent out on 'engagements' with Suezawa? That I enjoyed being with him?"
"Yeah… It wasn't brought to our attention until last week that something wasn't right."
"And now? I really never have to worry about him ever again?"
Miyata smiles reassuringly. "No. If Fujigaya says that Suezawa will never come anywhere near you again, you're safe."
Senga’s legs feel weak as the wave of relief washes through his body. "Thank you."
"So now the question is what you do from here."
"You mean I get a choice? Stay here, continue to be a doll and get sent out on engagements to do who knows what… or go back out into the world and face reality." Senga looks out at the dolls again. Some are eating, some are doing yoga, some are painting… He stops. "Who is that?"
Miyata comes to stand next to him and looks over to where he's pointing, but from the chuckle that escapes his lips, it doesn't sound like he's surprised by Senga's question. "That would be Takashi."
"I… know him," Senga murmurs, trying to figure out just what he's trying to say. "At least, I think I know him."
"Do you?" Senga can hear the smile in Miyata's voice.
"It sounds crazy, but I think I'm in love with him." He can't explain it at all, but his heart… Senga clutches at his chest. "Is this real? Is what I'm feeling real?"
Miyata claps him on the shoulder. "That’s for you to decide.”
Senga's silent as he thinks things over, watching Takashi in what seems to be the art area. Then Takashi looks up at him, smiles, and suddenly, Senga can’t breathe.
*･゜ﾟ･*:.｡..｡.:*･'☆'･*:.｡. .｡.:*･゜ﾟ･*
Quietly clicking away at his computer, Miyata senses more than hears Yuta come in and smiles instead of his usual complaint about no one knocking. They watch Kento and Takashi sitting on the couch, looking through a picture book together.
Finally, Yuta comments on the obvious. "Kento's back."
Miyata nods. "He chose to stay."