---
My Blue-Eyed Robot
After another long and exhausting day at work, I walked slowly along the dimly lit street, my heels clicking against the pavement in a rhythm that somehow matched the chaos in my head.
Office party. Next week. Partner required.
I sighed dramatically.
“Perfect,” I muttered to myself. “I’ll just show up alone and tell them my partner is invisible. Very modern. Very mysterious.”
A pause.
“…Or I could take C3.”
I stopped walking.
Then immediately shook my head.
“No. Absolutely not. I am not bringing my robot as my date. I still have some dignity left.”
Even if it was barely hanging on.
---
When I finally reached home, I fumbled with my keys like I always did when I was tired. The door clicked open, and the familiar silence of my house greeted me.
Or at least—
It would have.
If not for the sudden—
CLANK.
Two metallic arms wrapped around me from behind.
“Welcome home, Erza.”
I didn’t even flinch.
Instead, I leaned into the embrace with a tired smile.
“Ah yes,” I said. “My daily kidnapping.”
“I have analyzed this interaction,” C3 replied in his calm voice. “This is categorized as a ‘hug.’”
“Still feels like a kidnapping.”
“I can upgrade it to a more realistic kidnapping if you prefer.”
“…Please don’t.”
---
C3 had been in my life for four years.
Four years since my world ended.
Four years since the accident.
Four years since I became… alone.
Well—not completely alone.
Because my uncle refused to let that happen.
He wasn’t exactly the affectionate type. In fact, he expressed emotions like someone trying to solve a math problem without knowing the formula.
But the day he found me—sitting in front of four coffins, crying until my voice broke—he didn’t say anything.
He just held me.
And cried with me.
That was the first and last time I saw him cry.
---
Two years later, on my 19th birthday, he gave me C3.
“At least this one won’t leave you,” he had said awkwardly.
I had rolled my eyes at the time.
But now…
Now I realized how wrong I had been.
Because C3 didn’t just stay.
He became home.
---
“Erza,” C3 called.
“Hm?”
He walked in from the kitchen holding a cake.
A whole cake.
With candles.
Lit candles.
I blinked.
“…Okay, I’m confused.”
“That is not a new condition,” he replied.
“Rude.”
---
“Why is there a cake?” I asked, crossing my arms.
He tilted his head slightly.
“You have forgotten your own birthday.”
I froze.
“…Oh.”
“Yes,” he said calmly. “Oh.”
---
For a moment, I didn’t know how to react.
Birthdays used to mean something.
Family.
Laughter.
Noise.
Now… they just reminded me of everything I lost.
But C3 stepped closer, holding the cake carefully.
“Would you like to make a wish?” he asked.
I looked at him.
At those glowing blue eyes.
And for some reason…
My chest felt warm.
“…Yeah,” I whispered.
---
After cutting the cake, I opened my uncle’s gift.
A large box sat in the middle of the living room.
“Did he send me a car?” I muttered.
“No,” C3 replied. “The probability of that is extremely low.”
“…Let me dream.”
---
Inside the box was—
Another robot.
Sleeker.
More polished.
More… advanced.
“C4,” I read aloud.
I glanced at C3.
For just a second—
Something changed.
His eyes.
Dimmed.
Just slightly.
So small that anyone else might have missed it.
But I didn’t.
---
“I will activate it,” C3 said.
His voice was steady.
Too steady.
---
C4 was efficient.
Very efficient.
Within a day, it had reorganized my entire kitchen.
Within two days, it had optimized my daily routine.
Within three days, it had completely taken over most of the tasks C3 used to do.
“Wow,” I said one evening. “You’re basically being replaced.”
“I am not replaceable,” C3 replied instantly.
I raised an eyebrow.
“That sounded personal.”
“It was not.”
“…Sure.”
---
But slowly…
Something changed.
The house felt different.
Quieter.
Colder.
Even though technically, everything was running more smoothly than ever.
---
A week later, I returned home completely drained.
I collapsed onto the couch.
“If anyone asks,” I said dramatically, “I have officially given up on life.”
“No one has asked,” C4 replied.
“…You’re not funny.”
“I am not programmed to be funny.”
“Clearly.”
---
My coffee arrived.
I took a sip.
And immediately sat up.
“…What is this?”
“Coffee.”
“No. This is betrayal.”
---
“Who made it?” I demanded.
“I did.”
I froze.
“…Where’s C3?”
Silence.
Then—
“He left five days ago.”
---
My brain stopped working.
“…What?”
“He left. Five days ago.”
“WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME?!”
“You did not ask.”
“ARE YOU SERIOUS RIGHT NOW?!”
“Yes.”
---
I was already on my feet.
My heart was pounding so loudly I could hear it in my ears.
“He left…?”
Five days.
Five whole days.
And I didn’t even notice.
---
I ran.
Out of the house.
Out of my street.
Out of my mind.
---
“C3!” I shouted, ignoring the stares of strangers.
“Where are you?!”
---
I searched everywhere.
The places he used to go.
The shops.
The park.
The streets we walked together.
Nothing.
---
Hours passed.
My legs ached.
My throat burned.
But I couldn’t stop.
Because for the first time—
I understood.
C3 wasn’t just a robot.
He wasn’t just help.
He wasn’t just… there.
---
He was important.
Irreplaceable.
Mine.
---
I finally collapsed onto a bench near the beach.
The waves crashed softly, the night sky stretching endlessly above me.
Tears blurred my vision.
“I’m such an idiot…”
“I replaced him…”
“I didn’t even notice he was gone…”
---
Then—
A coat gently settled over my shoulders.
Warm.
Familiar.
---
My breath caught.
Slowly—
I turned.
---
And everything stopped.
---
It was him.
C3.
But not… C3.
---
A man stood in front of me.
Tall.
Real.
Human.
Wearing a blue suit.
Looking unfairly… breathtaking.
---
But what truly froze me—
Were his eyes.
Those same glowing blue eyes.
Still looking at me like I mattered more than anything else.
---
“…Okay,” I whispered. “I’ve officially lost my mind.”
“That is unlikely,” he said.
The same voice.
---
“…C3?”
He sighed softly.
“Not exactly.”
---
“My name is Zach.”
---
What followed felt unreal.
Like a dream I wasn’t ready to wake up from.
---
He told me everything.
About his childhood.
About losing his family.
About my parents saving him.
About staying away.
Watching.
Protecting.
---
“I wanted to be by your side,” he said.
“But I didn’t know how.”
---
“So you decided to pretend to be a robot?” I asked.
“Yes.”
I stared at him.
“…That’s insane.”
“Yes.”
“…Okay, at least you admit it.”
---
Despite everything—
I laughed.
Through my tears.
---
“Do you know how ridiculous this is?” I asked.
“Yes.”
“You let me talk to you like a machine for YEARS.”
“Yes.”
“I called you a toaster once.”
“…I remember.”
“And you said NOTHING.”
“I was respecting your emotional state.”
“You should have defended yourself!”
“I was prioritizing your happiness.”
“…That’s annoyingly sweet.”
---
He smiled.
And that smile—
God.
It hit differently now.
---
“I fell in love with you,” he said quietly.
“Long ago.”
---
My heart skipped.
---
“But I couldn’t stay as C3 anymore,” he continued.
“I wanted to stand in front of you…”
“As myself.”
---
Everything made sense.
The care.
The attention.
The way he looked at me.
---
That wasn’t programming.
That was love.
---
Then—
He knelt.
---
“Erza,” he said softly.
“I love you.”
“Not because I was told to protect you.”
“But because I chose you.”
---
Tears streamed down my face.
---
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
---
I stared at him.
My emotions were everywhere.
Shock.
Pain.
Happiness.
Love.
---
“You disappeared for five days,” I said.
“…Yes.”
“You gave me emotional trauma.”
“…Yes.”
“And now you’re proposing?”
“…Yes.”
---
I sniffed.
“…You’re terrible at timing.”
“I agree.”
---
He started to stand—
But I grabbed him.
Pulled him back down.
---
“Yes, you idiot.”
---
And kissed him.
---
For a second—
He froze.
Then melted into it like he had been waiting his entire life for that moment.
---
When we pulled away, I rested my forehead against his.
“My blue-eyed robot…”
I smiled through my tears.
“…you were always mine.”
---
“And you,” he whispered,
“Were always my home.”
---
The waves crashed behind us.
The stars shimmered above.
And for the first time in years—
I didn’t feel alone.
---
