Cells at Work: Realisations

Bacillus Subtilis | Part 1

U-1146 wandered through the blood vessels alone and though it was peaceful, he felt on edge. It had been days since the Yersinia-invasion, days since AE 3803 had given him that peck only to flee the wash station.

They hadn't spoken since that incident and now whenever he saw her, she smiled shyly only to quickly excuse herself and run off yet again or his receptor would go off at the worst possible moment, with her long gone when the fighting was over. Sometimes she even seemed to purposefully avoid looking his direction, hurrying along her way before he could even say something. It was starting to wear him out.

He had thought much about their relationship since that peck and now desperately wished to speak to her, something she denied him time and time again.

1146 didn't want to 'ambush' her, but it seemed like she wasn't giving him much of a choice. She needed to know, even if he wasn't sure how to tell her. If only he had followed her that day. If only he'd stopped her from leaving altogether.

He continued to walk, always looking around, but not just for bacteria or viruses. His eyes examined every erythrocyte and though he spotted a few redheads, none quite matched her shade or haircut.

Honestly he was missing her, how she would sometimes run up to him with a fresh tea, before excitedly telling him all about her day, wishing to know about his in turn. Or after battles, when she would come to offer her little tissues, unperturbed by his appearance like no other none-immune cell he'd ever met. But most of all perhaps, he missed her smile, her cheeriness, and her ability to appreciate pretty much everything in life, no matter how small.

In a disturbing way, this all was too much like the days after the Plasmodium-invasion only that this time it was by her choice. He wasn't sure if that in some respects made it worse. How had this all gone so wrong so fast?

1146 was suddenly torn from his thoughts when his eyes noticed something up ahead.

There! That hair curl!

His mitochondria throbbed, when he spotted 3803, a box of oxygen in her arms. Don't turn your head, please not just yet, don't turn your head.

1146 tried to make his way towards her, but there were too many erythrocytes in his way in this busy artery. He tried anyway and some cells actually made a bit of room for him. Still, somehow he didn't appear to be getting closer to her. Had she seen him after all and was hurrying off yet again? His chest tightened at the thought.

Eventually he lost sight of AE 3803. She disappeared in the crowd, maybe she'd even taken one of the diverging streets. Crestfallen he lowered his gaze, readjusting his cap, as if to hide his face.

Had he misinterpreted her gestures and words after all? Had that peck really meant nothing?

His mitochondria sank, his body feeling bereft of warmth. Now he felt even more desperate to talk with her, if only to have certainty one way or the other. Honestly he didn't know how long he would be able to stand this.

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AE 3803 was sitting in the shadow of a tree, hidden from her fellow erythrocytes passing by in the blood vessel. Face concealed behind her arms, both leaning again her pulled up knees, she was quietly sobbing, almost curled into a ball.

These last few days had perhaps been the hardest of her life. She felt horrible.

She'd finally realized that she had feelings for Hakkekkyū, feelings she was certain he did not return and thus had heavy-heartedly planned to keep to herself. She hadn't wanted to complicate matters.

And then she just had to give him a peck on his cheek. So much for keeping her feelings a secret and act unobtrusively. That certainly had not been the unnoticeable gesture she'd had in mind.