Plum sat beside him, legs folded, leaning close.
He felt it before he understood it, a gentle pull, like warmth being siphoned from his chest. His Abi. Being drawn out of him in slow, steady breaths.
Plum spoke casually, distracted, like someone talking while eating.
"We've killed nearly all the parasites."
Burajiru stirs, his eyes fluttering open. "The people of Dragon Hive are safe now" he murmurs, his voice thick with sleep.
Plum nods, her expression serious. "Yes, sun bear but it's a lot more complicated than that."
She gently placed her hands on his bruised face.
Burajiru shrugs, lays on her lap, a hint of a smile on his lips. "That sounds too complicated. I'm just chilling, bro."
Plum's eyes flash with frustration. "I have a rule, never ever call me bro again," she says, her voice firm.
Burajiru's eyes widen, and he quickly corrects himself. "My bad, Plum."
Plum takes a deep breath, her hands moving to the hem of her shirt. With a swift motion, she pulls it off, revealing her naked form. She lies down beside him, her body pressing against his. Burajiru's eyes snap open, and he jumps up, his heart racing. He touches the ground, and a massive wall grows between them, a barrier of solid earth.
Plum summons her scythe and with a single strike the wall splits in half.
Burajiru reaches out reimagining. The wall renews just as it was before she sliced it.
Plum watches, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Wow, so I'm curious, is this how you fixed the damaged wall during our fight against the parasite at school?"
Burajiru blushes, his voice a mix of embarrassment and panic. "Umm, yes, I have two visionary abilities, the power of imagine and the power of reimagine."
Plum moves around the wall, her steps graceful. Burajiru focuses, his mind racing. "Imagine," he whispers, and a spacesuit appears on Plum, encasing her in a sleek, futuristic design.
Plum rips it off, her eyes gleaming with a playful challenge. Burajiru, not wasting a moment, transforms into a fly, his small form darting into the vent.
Plum looks around, confusion etched on her face. "Strange, where did he go?"
Burajiru "That was close."
He said to hinmself.
Also, wow, she's beautiful, not the standard of beauty in Dragon Hive, she looks so much better in my humble opinion.
But no. We can't just"
Marriage first. Minimum.
Plum's voice drifts up to him, laced with a hint of sadness. "I really don't get you, don't you like me?" she said teasingly.
Burajiru flies out of the vent, landing softly on the bed. "Yes, I do, but honestly, umm, I don't want us to be built on ya know, naughty things. I want to actually get to know you and you get to know me."
Plum picks up her high school buttong shirt, slipping it on. "I understand, Burajiru, and I am sorry. I didn't mean to overstep. I should have asked you first."
Burajiru flies around her, his form small but his presence comforting. "It's okay."
He lands on her head, his voice soft. "Thank you for understanding."
The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.
Plum sighed "Besides, even if we did decide to have a little fun it would have been short lived."
Burajiru "What does that mean?"
Plum's eyes meet his, her voice barely a whisper. "There's a parasite on the roof."
Burajiru's eyes widen. "What, how do you know that?"
Plum's eyes glow with an otherworldly light. "My scytherian eyes can see through objects. It's here to eat me4."
Burajiru's mind races. "No, I wont let that happen!"
Plum's voice is casual, almost nonchalant. "It's okay love you made me 10 times stronger, I shall use your abi and honor our bond."
Burajiru nods, his expression determined. "We should get it far away from the house. It took me a lot of thought to build this house."
Plum smiles, her eyes twinkling. "You imagined this house."
Burajiru's voice is soft, filled with a mix of love and longing. "Yes, it was the home my sister always wanted."
He nodded.
She stepped toward the window.
"You have a sister?"
Burajiru "Yeah but she..."
Plum registered his unspoken pain "Lets go."
She leaped out the window, shattering the glass.
Burajiru followed as a fly.
The parasite chased them across the rooftops.
Its body slammed through railings and antennae, tearing chunks of concrete loose with every step. Each time it landed, the roof beneath it cracked and sagged.
Plum didn't slow.
She sprinted forward, boots hammering the tiles, then vaulted sideways at the last second as a blade-tentacle smashed down where she'd been. She twisted mid-air, scythe flashing in a wide arc.
The blade bit.
Black ichor sprayed as the parasite shrieked, reeling backward.
Plum landed, pivoted, and was already moving again.
She slid beneath another strike, came up behind it, and carved straight through one of its limbs. The severed piece hit the rooftop with a wet thud.
The parasite convulsed.
And grew.
Its body swelled, muscle knotting and folding over itself as new blades formed where she'd struck it.
Plum grinned, teeth bared.
"Good," she muttered. "Now you're worth killing."
She surged forward.
The rooftop became a blur of motion, Plum weaving, spinning, leaping. Her scythe sang through the air, each strike deliberate, brutal, stripping the creature apart faster than it could adapt.
The parasite tried to retaliate.
Plum didn't let it.
She drove the scythe straight through its core and wrenched upward.
The creature split open, screeching once before collapsing inward on itself, its mass imploding into a heap of dissolving flesh.
Plum straightened, breathing hard.
One down.
Then Burajiru felt it.
He turned.
Another parasite had crawled up from the far side of the block, taller, broader, its body already shifting as it assessed the scene.
Burajiru didn't think.
He moved.
He shifted mid-stride, hit the ground running, and leapt.
"Imagine."
He slammed his fist forward.
The impact cracked the air.
The parasite was launched backward, crashing through the front of an abandoned house. Walls collapsed inward as it tore through floors and beams, disappearing into a cloud of dust.
Silence.
For half a second, nothing moved.
Then the house bulged.
The parasite forced itself back out, dragging debris with it as its body expanded grotesquely. It was twice the size now. Then three times. Blades unfolded like scaffolding, scraping against brick and steel.
Burajiru stared.
His breath hitched.
That thing...
If I hit it again...
If it keeps growing...
His mind spiraled.
Angles. Distance. Civilians. Collateral. How long it would take. How much it would cost.
Too much.
The parasite lunged.
Plum saw Burajiru hesitate.
She didn't shout.
She moved.
She threw herself between them, scythe raised just in time.
The impact slammed into her guard like a freight train.
She blocked it, but the force still sent her skidding across the rooftop, boots carving sparks as she crashed into a low wall.
She groaned, blood streaking her arm. She grinned. Her lion fangs grew.
Burajiru froze.
Her body on the ground.
The parasite looming.
And then—
A voice.
Crying.
"You didn't protect me, Burajiru."
He looked down at his hands.
They were shaking.
The parasite raised another blade.
"Burajiru!" Plum shouted, struggling to rise.
He couldn't move.
Something inside him locked.
Plum's eyes widened, not in fear.
In confusion.
Then anger.
Her Abi detonated.
Power tore outward as she surged to her feet, bones reshaping violently as the skull-grizzly form erupted around her.
She charged.
The parasite struck. Plum froze time and the creature could no longer move.
Her scythe came down in a single, devastating arc.
The creature split apart, its massive body collapsing in on itself, dissolving into steaming residue that slid off the rooftop and vanished into the dark.
Silence.
Plum stood there breathing hard, blood dripping from her side.
She turned.
Burajiru was already backing away.
His eyes were wet.
Plum's voice rings out, filled with pride and love. "Look, my sun bear, I have defeated the evil parasites. Now I shall reward you with naughtiness."
He turned and ran.
No explanation.
No apology.
Just gone.
Plum stared after him, scythe lowering slowly.
"...Huh," she muttered.
After a moment, she frowned.
"Sun Bear."
The wind carried her words away.