Chapter: Zero

Name: Day Zero

Pairing: Yukina Kou X Kisa Shouta

Disclaimer: Sekai Ichi Hatsukoi belongs to Nakamura Shungiku and their affiliates.

Notes: I have no idea where this came from (read ending notes). It might have something to do with me getting impatient about Hybrid Child. This, however, does not follow the concept behind the Hybrid Child, but is another one entirely. That will come in details in the next chapter. P_ P Oh dear god.

Heehee.

Are you tired of waiting for 'the one'?

Tired of coming home to an empty apartment? Do you want to come home to someone who'll love you? Take care of you? Be there for you?

Well, look no further. The 'Life Doll' Prototype #1 is on the market. For a measly sum of 290,000 Yen, you can have a prototype made especially for you and delivered to your house.

Conditions apply.

Kisa Shouta wasn't entirely sure what he was looking at.

He looked from the flier he was holding to the man who had handed him the flier and back at the flier. Was this a joke? He eyed the picture on the side of the paper. It was a pretty woman in a very suggestive pose. He didn't even like girls.

But the stares this man was giving him unnerved him, "What is it?" he asked cautiously. Wasn't he supposed to hand out the flier and leave?

"How'd you like to pay?" The man had brown messy hair, deep set eyes and a manipulative feel about him. He was dressed fashionably, much like how he'd expect a television star to be dressed. So what was a man like this doing leafing out obviously suspicious fliers in front of the Subway Station? Did they even have a permit?

"Pay?" Kisa looked slightly stunned at the comment, "Pay what?"

The man's smile turned into a smirk, "Cash or card?"

"Huh?" Kisa's brows wrinkled. Was this man crazy? He turned his head away from the man. A few people were giving him strange looks, the flier in their hands. Some were even smiling at him, a few girls giggled as they walked by.

Kisa felt his mouth open and shut. What was happening to him?

"Sir?" The man interceded again, "I don't have all day you know."

'Apparently you do.' He shoved the flier back into the man's hands, "Here you go."

He adjusted the strap of the bag on his shoulder and took a step back, "Are you sure Sir?" A new voice from behind him drew his attention.

Kisa slowly turned his head to see who was standing behind him. This time it was a tall brunette. He was carrying the same stack of fliers in his hand, and Kisa could only assume that the two men were working together. Was he getting scammed? Crap. Kisa desperately looked left and right for any way out of this mess. But the men drew closer to him, ever so slowly, "Wouldn't you like to order Sir? If you decide to help us, we could adjust the price…"

"He-help you?" Kisa felt his voice crack. He looked at the flier, at the strange writing, at the strange picture of the woman. These people had obviously grown up spending one too many hour in front of the TV. He looked from one man to the other. The closer they came, the faster his heart started beating. This was insane!

He closed his eyes and threw his hands out, preventing them from drawing any closer to him, "I'm not interested, alright?" He saw the brown haired man open his mouth to speak and gave him a dirty look, "How do I put it? Your 'prototype' can't get me excited. Now leave me alone."

"Ah." The brunette looked slightly stunned, "So you're…."

Kisa was alarmed. He didn't want people to know anything about his private life, and that part of his life was something no one ever needed to know about.

"We can arrange that for you." The brunette smiled, "That's actually slightly easier than a girl."

Kisa was sure he looked like a giant beet root. These men. He felt like killing them. He inhaled deeply, and smirked, "Unless you have a male prototype that's exactly 186cm tall, weighs 66 kg, with a shoe size of twenty seven, has dark brown eyes and light brown hair…" Kisa kept thinking, he needed to come up with something improbable to throw these people off, "Who looks like a prince every girl would fall for, has a deep voice that turns slightly soft only when he's near the person he loves" What was he doing? This was stupid, "Enjoys artistic activities, doesn't bother me at work and most importantly, feels like he's human. Then feel free to send him to me." His smirk turned into a cocky grin when he saw that both of his assailants had their mouths open wide in shock.

"That was quite specific." The brown haired man finally spoke.

Kisa grinned, suddenly feeling happy with himself. Take that! Though if only someone like that existed. Well, even if they did, he was sure they wouldn't fall for someone plain like him. He looked at both of the men. Neither of them were paying him any attention at all. They were staring at each other, faces scrunched in deep thought.

'This is my chance.'

And with that, Kisa Shouta started sprinting down the street, not paying any attention to the people staring at him. People on the road be damned. He needed to get away from those strange men.

Slam

He closed the door to his apartment and fell down to the floor, breathing fast. What was that? He vaguely considered reporting them to the police, but would they still be there? That, and who in today's age chooses to publicize their products through fliers? That was what the internet was for! But then again, given just how messed up the entire concept was, he chose to believe that their though processes didn't work normally. Either way, at least that was over and done with.

Kisa Shouta liked to believe that he was an ordinary man.

He had a normal job as an editor at an esteemed publishing house; he had normal friends, a normal apartment, a normal face. The only thing that made him stand out from the masses was his sexuality. He knew he was in the minority, but he'd grown to accept his preferences over the years. He still didn't like to talk about it in public though, years of experience had taught him that some people had a tendency of becoming prejudiced, and that he was too just sensitive to handle that.

So yes, Kisa Shouta was an absolutely ordinary man, living an ordinary life. So maybe he got lonely at times, it wasn't as if he had the pick of the tree. But he managed with what he got. He'd long since learnt that falling in love was harsh, especially for him. His feelings were hardly ever returned, and at the end of the day, all he had left was a bucketful of tears, tissue papers and bowls of chocolate. To think people had the audacity to tell him he was becoming chubby! Who cared?

It was specifically because he was such an ordinary man, that the extra-ordinariness of the situation stood out even more to him. He cautiously surveyed the situation.

There, right next to his apartment door sat a tall man. He had light brown hair, gorgeous eyes, silky hair and a gentle scent.

"She must be lucky." He thought to himself, as he looked at the man. He was looking at something in his hands. Was that a letter? The man looked like he was anticipating something, waiting for someone.

'He's perfect.' Kisa started to unlock the door to his apartment, still eyeing the man from the corner of his eyes. He felt his heart beat fast and his mind reel. This man was looking at him. At him. He tried to steady his heartbeat, 'Calm down! He probably just wants to ask for directions, or if someone or the other lives here. What would he want with me?'

But he couldn't control the way his heart was beating. It thumped so loudly, he was surprised that the man sitting on the floor couldn't hear it. It was slightly embarrassing.

"Kisa Shouta-san?" The man finally spoke. He was looking at the paper he held in his hands carefully and back at Kisa.

That was it. Kisa was going to have a heart attack. He'd just had a hallucination that the man out of his dreams who would never be his had called out his name. Or not. The man was standing and smiling at him, "You're Kisa Shouta, right?" He bowed slightly and smiled. He reached his hands out towards Kisa and waited.

What was this? Was someone trying to scam him again? But this man was just so perfect. Kisa felt his hands automatically reach out to touch the man's hand; it was slightly firm, "Hah."

"Thank god. I thought I'd got the address wrong. I've been waiting all day." The man was smiling, and talking freely. Kisa tried to focus on what he was saying, but his mind was distracted. Who was this? Someone he'd slept with and neglected to call back? No… He'd remember someone this gorgeous. He found himself focusing more on the shape of the man's lips than what he was saying.

"I didn't want to go all the way back to the lab."

Huh? Lab? Kisa blinked.

"Unless you have a male prototype that's exactly 186cm tall, weighs 66 kg, with a shoe size of twenty seven, has dark brown eyes and light brown hair…Who looks like a prince every girl would fall for, has a deep voice that turns slightly soft only when he's near the person he loves. Enjoys artistic activities, doesn't bother me at work and most importantly, feels like he's human. Then feel free to send him to me."

Oh Crap.

It couldn't be. It couldn't possibly be. How would they know his address? His vision suddenly came back into focus.

"A-are you a…" Kisa tried to think back to the name on the flier he had seen a week ago, "Life Doll?"

The man nodded and smiled, "Thank you for special ordering me! I look forward to working my hardest for you."

Kisa was sure he was going to faint right then and there. Or hurt someone. Or both. Fate had played a cruel joke on him, a very cruel joke indeed. He started to laugh. It started off slowly and then started to sound more sarcastic.

The man looked slightly confused at the outburst, but he continued, "My name is Yukina Kou." Oh, so even his name sounded like a Prince's name. Perfect. At least those people had a sense of humor, "I'll be in your care from today."

Oh no you won't.

Kisa quickly opened the door to his apartment and entered, closing it before Yukina had the chance to follow in after him, "Kisa –san?" He heard the voice call out from outside.

Kisa felt weak in his knees. That voice… it was so perfect. He would definitely hurt whoever was responsible for this.

"Kisa-san?" The voice called out again.

Kisa closed his eyes, he couldn't help it. He had to see that face again. He put the lock chain on the door, and opened it slightly, staring at the man on the other side, "Ah… Listen here…"

"Yukina." The man smiled.

"Yes, Yukina. There has been some sort of mistake, I'm afraid I don't know what you're doing here." It killed Kisa to say that, to think that he might never see this man again. But he couldn't possibly think of falling in love with a … Life Doll… whatever that was. He closed the door and sank to the floor. This was terrible. Wait. Who was falling in love with who? Kisa felt Yukina knock on the door behind him, "Kisa- san?"

"Like I said," He clenched his hands and tried his hardest not to open the door again, "There's been some mistake."

"Mistake?" The voice on the other side of the door sounded disturbed, "So you're not Kisa Shouta?"

"No. Wait, I mean, yes, I am! But like I said, I didn't order a … you." That sounded wrong on so many levels. Kisa felt himself turn red as he quickly crawled away from the door. He would take a bath. Anything to get his mind off of what was happening.

Kisa cautiously tip toed towards the apartment door, a towel draped over his shoulders. Was he still here? A part of him hoped that he was, but another part of him rejected the concept outright. He paused near the door. There was an envelope there. Had Yukina slipped it in through the mail slot?

Kisa Shouta-san

Thank you for the purchase! I hope he is to your liking. We are giving you a one week free sample of our product. Should you desire to keep him after the week gives out, you will have to make an official purchase.

We have modified him to the specifications that you had previously provided for us. Enclosed here is also your driver's license which you had dropped when you met us.

Should you desire to return him, you may bring him to our lab. Please note that it is quite difficult to reach, so we have programmed the directions into the product.

Finally, please note that we do not take back damaged products.

Enjoy the week.

LD Inc.

'Don't just go making up names of non-existent companies!And stop calling him 'a product'.' It was hard to think of the man outside as not human. Kisa was beginning to feel very nervous. What do you do with something like this?

So that meant Yukina was still sitting outside? He took out his driver's license from the envelope. He normally used the subway; he didn't really have any need for the card, so he hadn't noticed its disappearance till now. It wasn't even the first time he'd lost it.

Kisa looked at the door in front of him. The world outside suddenly felt so different from the world he had been inhabiting since then. He had read manga's about things like this. 'Life Doll'. What was it? How did they even make something like that? Yukina had felt like a human. What was he really?
It had already been two hours since he'd closed the door on the man. He couldn't still be sitting there. Kisa felt his hands tremble as he reached for the door. He slowly opened it, peeking outside. Yukina Kou was sitting in the same place Kisa had first found him. His eyes were closed; he looked like he was sleeping. This was a Life Doll?

Kisa felt himself reaching out towards the sleeping figure. He gently touched Yukina's hair. It was so silky. Kisa felt his head spin; this person was everything he'd ever wanted.

"Kisa-san?" Kisa froze where he was standing. Yukina opened his eyes. Had he been awake the entire time?

"One week." Kisa whispered, thinking back to the letter.

"Huh?" Yukina started to stand up. Kisa noticed that he was carrying a small duffel bag with him. What was inside that?

"You can stay with me for one week. After that…" Kisa dreaded the thought of what was about to happen. He was a private person and didn't like the idea of sharing his apartment with anybody. But he couldn't leave Yukina out there could he? What if he decided to sit there waiting all week until someone came to pick him up? The neighbors would get suspicious; rumors would start to spread… Kisa shuddered at the thought.

At least Yukina looked happy. For some strange reason, that smile on his face made Kisa want to smile too. He opened the door wider, looking down at the ground as Yukina walked inside.

One week? Screw that. He was going to return him tomorrow.

Author's Note: This is going to sound so weird... So last night I was umm... acting crazy? I vaguely remember writing something down on the computer in the mess. This morning when I woke up, I found I was sitting in front of this. O_O Yes, that really happened.

So, this chapter is more of a prologue than a real chapter. Hence, its smaller than my usual chapter sizes. I'm more like... testing the water? Either way, suggestions welcome. R&R (insert Life Doll flier)

Hope you enjoyed!