Read Under the Skin for Free Online

was sore, and all he wanted to do was go back to bed, but he already knew that the adrenaline in his system wouldn't allow it. If only his head would stop hurting.
    He brushed his teeth, turning off the lights because they were too bright for him and simply standing for a moment in the darkness. Now he could feel but not see the inputs that were planted in his chest. Placing them on his chest had allowed him to work on them without reaching awkwardly for ports on his neck or in his skull, but there were drawbacks.
    Hesitantly, he brushed his fingers over them. For such new implants, they had healed fairly well, but he knew that if he tried hard enough, he could dig his fingers into the hard plastic edge and tear it out, dragging out the half a yard of connection that was connecting it to his brain. Of course, when the pull got to the cerebral net that was in place, that would be...
    "Fatal,” he whispered.
    Padraic shook his head and stumbled into the bedroom, finding his clothes by feel and practically tripping into them.
    * * * *
    He knew that he was pissing off both Minoru and Jenner, but when push came to shove, he flat-out refused to let either of them handle his tech.
    "I cannot believe that you expect to handle this yourself,” Minoru said with frustration. “If something should go wrong, you'd be dead in a matter of minutes."
    "I can,” Jenner said in exasperation. “Fucking techies, love their toys, love getting their fingers into ‘em, can't wait until they short themselves out."
    Jenner had given up talking any sense into Padraic, and now he just seemed content to stare into space and growl.
    Minoru had taken them to a small hotel in a slightly seedy area of Nagoya. Padraic briefly wondered how Minoru knew the place, but then another sharp pain coursed from his chest to his head and he forgot to ask.
    "I'm sorry,” Padraic said doggedly. “You aren't going to open it up. That's final, and you're going to have to accept it."
    "Of all the fucking things,” Minoru said with disgust. “You come to Japan, you do as you're told, you're meek as a child, and now you simply dig in your heels."
    Padraic found the spirit to smile wanly, peeking up at Minoru through his hair.
    "Sorry,” he said again. “I think it's a tech thing. It's... it's really me, you know?"
    Minoru shoved one hand through his own hair, which actually seemed to be losing some of its rigid discipline. Padraic realized that this was an altogether inappropriate time to enjoy that fact, and managed to turn the small, appreciative smile into something much more appropriate. What was Minoru saying?
    "If I didn't know better, I would actually say that you were enjoying this,” Minoru said accusingly.
    For some reason, that cheered Padraic up even more.
    "Maybe a little,” he said, this time knowing that he was enjoying the look on Minoru's face more than he should.
    "It's a hardware problem,” he hastened to explain when it looked as though Minoru was going to explode. “I'm a hardware guy. This is something I can fix."
    A language barrier that was actually made worse by the software and a crush on the Inoue heir—those were bigger problems.
    Wait... Crush?
    "Anyway, I know this stuff and you don't. Simple as that. I'm going in, you're staying out.” He must have hit home, because something made Minoru sit up and look sharp.
    * * * *
    Padraic supposed it meant something, the way he felt about his tech. It was just metal and plastic fiber, but even without the specter of burnout and corrosion, it was something that felt entirely his. In many respects, it was literally a part of him, and he could no more hand it over to Minoru or another technician than he could cheerfully hand over his arm.
    His heart, on the other hand...
    As he took off his shirt, Padraic glanced at Minoru, who was still staring out the window. The Inoue heir stood ramrod straight, more steel than flesh. Padraic knew firsthand, however, that Minoru was flesh and blood, and he