Parasitus immortalis

❝ Stop man-handling the ice cream! ❞ ❝ Change the channel and I’ll kill you. ❞ ❝ You actual shit, you started without me!? ❞ ❝ Since I’m up, by default I will get your _____. ❞ ❝ Did you just throw a sock ball at me!? ❞ ❝ How about this, how about you fight the rest of the cereal by yourself and I’ll courageously make pancakes for those of us who want a little warmth in our mornings. ❞ ❝ Whiskey is a breakfast staple, anyone who says otherwise is fucking lying. ❞ ❝ My underwear are now bright pink because of you, thank you very much. ❞ ❝ Can you stop kicking me? ❞ ❝ I don’t go shopping I get and retrieve. I have a narrow focus, unlike some people. ❞ ❝ Did you walk the dog? ❞ ❝ Only you could make the idea of beating up already dead meat sound attractive. ❞ ❝ I can feel you staring at me, why don’t you just come in? ❞ ❝ Good news; we have internet again! ❞ ❝ I don’t want to file taxes, why don’t you be the adult? ❞ ❝ I know you’re scared of my mother but contemplating arson isn’t the way to fix this. ❞ ❝ All I was doing was helping the barista learn to spell my name properly. The song and dance should NOT have gotten you that embarrassed. ❞ ❝ How about we just never mention this again? ❞ ❝ Have you seen my earrings/necklace/rings? ❞  ❝ You are literally the child we both want/neither of us want. ❞ ❝ Did you call the doctor about that? ❞ ❝ Let me pop it, just let me pop it, nothing bad will happen, I swear! ❞ ❝ You almost left me at the gas station! ❞ ❝ Alright look! Next time you want to barbecue with the hair dryer, just make sure I’m home! ❞ ❝ I didn’t think the sink had this much water inside of it. ❞ ❝ Don’t be mad, but _____. ❞

“… Når jeg tænker på hvad der er galt med dig, får jeg trist … Er det forkert af mig at prøve og ikke tænke over det?”

For at være ærlig, hver gang hun tænkte på hans “tilstand,” Keiko ønskede at græde. At have sådan en begrænset tid med ham … det var bare ikke fair! 

Så det var nemmere at lave vittigheder og være irriterende, frem for at acceptere det faktum, at han ville forlade hende for evigt snart.

          -- “ ... ”

Ham og hans store mund. Hvorfor skulle han altid gøre tingene værre end de var? Med bare nogle få ord havde han såret Keiko, og han fortrød at han ikke bare havde holdt sin mund lukket.

Men jo mere tiden gik, jo mere irriteret blev han. Alt gjorde ondt efterhånden, og bare det at holde sig i gang var svært for Alex. Han spiste ikke, han sov knapt nok; det eneste han gjorde var at gemme sig bag en skærm i håb om at kunne flygte fra virkeligheden. Det var ikke fair at denne pige, denne unge kvinde, bare var kommet dumpende ind i hans liv uden varsel. Det var ikke fair at han altid havde det sjovt med hende på trods af skænderierne.

“Jeez! Hvorfor er du altid så negativ?! Det er virkelig deprimerende, du ved!”

Keiko sukkede og trak i hendes hår.

          -- “ Du ved hvad der er galt med mig og lader som ingenting? Er du dum eller hvad? ”

“Hmph! Du er så høflig! Jeg er ikke en stalker!”

Keiko’s breath caught in her throat as Alex bolted upright, looking dazed and nauseous…but otherwise fine. And this right after he’d been tossed across the street like was some simple toy! The idol could say nothing, do nothing except stare in blank disbelief at the older boy, mind racing. How the heck could someone as small looking as him survive that without even passing out?! Not even hearing the complaints he leveled at her, Keiko simply shook her head, a stunned and slightly disturbed expression on her face.

“Alex-san…what the hell–?!”

Before she could question him any further, a hard yank on her wrist tore a startled yelp out of the idol’s throat and dragged her harshly back into the present. A present where a huge, raging zombie had them squarely in its sights. She would have screamed again had she not realized how difficult is seemed to be for Alex for try and pull them both to safety. …Maybe that attack was affecting him more than it originally seemed. Glancing behind her, Keiko unconsciously tightened her grip on his hand as she spotted the creature gaining on them fast.

Gritting her teeth, Keiko gripped Alex hand even tighter. (if that was possible) Narrowing her eyes, she suddenly took off, now pulling him behind her, instead of the other way around. If after school basketball and sneaking around nosy gossip magazine reporters had helped her in any way, it was giving her the gift of being able to run quickly from a given situation. With a hurried “follow me, we gotta get to the hospital,” Keiko hauled her ‘friend’ towards the aforementioned hospital, hoping he’d keep up, because she was pretty sure she wouldn’t be able to carry him, small and all as he was.

It didn’t take more than a moment before Keiko took the lead and practically dragged the poor boy after her, with no consideration of whether or not he could actually keep up with her. Most people their age should have been able to, even if Keiko’s stride was a bit faster than average, but to Alexander, it took his all to not faint where he stood.

And not sooner than they had rounded a corner, seemingly enough for their monstrous pursuer to pass by unnoticing, Alex collapsed on the ground, throwing up all the dinner he had previously eaten alongside a great deal of blood. The attack from before had already subsided, his skin starting to close up, not minding if dirt got in the way. If he had any chance of passing it off as a miraculous coincidence, this peculiar sight was most likely killing any of that.

Many times in his life now had he wished to die and let the inevitable wait be over and done with. Now was one of those instances -- it would have been easier if the monster had just snapped his neck with its attack and he never had to open his eyes again, because then he wouldn’t have to explain this same old story over again. He cared for Keiko -- as much as he hated to admit it, he had come to find feelings that could probably best be described as fondness for her, and all he knew was that she was the last person on earth he wanted to discover the truth.

Cramps and nausea slowly subsiding, he was left only with the taste of bile and blood in his mouth, but that was the least of his concerns. Although his consciousness felt faint, he could tell that the girl beside him was growing more and more impatient for answers. This was a world that she should never have been dragged into. She had enough problems with showbusiness. Why couldn’t she just keep her life of worrying about what make-up to wear, how to dress, if her voice was a bit too hoarse during that one interview?

The sounds of her feet pounding off the pavement and her own breathless gasps filled the young idol’s ears and terror consumed her mind. There was only one coherent in Keiko’s mind. ‘Get away, get to safety!’

Zombie apocalypses weren’t supposed to be real! They were supposed to the premise of anime and crappy young adult novels. Yet here she was, seemingly in the midst of one, in what was supposed to be the most peaceful city in Japan! Daring to look behind her, Keiko noted with only a slight amount of relief that the hoard whose attention she had attracted when she got off the train and given up the chase.

Leaning against a wall, the young idol succumbed to the terrified tears she had been fighting the entire time. This was insane! Less than 12 hours ago, she’d been on a whirlwind trip to Tokyo, just about getting to see Chiaki and Sayuri before she had to return to Koi. …And now she might never see either of them again! Sobbing brokenly, Keiko failed to notice the hulking monster approaching her from behind, nor the young man in front of her, not until Alex’s shout pierced the unnatural silence.

“WATCH OUT!”

With that shout as her only warning, Keiko suddenly felt herself shoved aside, heart stopping as she saw the monstrous creature that had been behind and Alex between them both. Before she could say anything, before she could grab his hand and run again, a gut wrenching scream was torn from the idol’s throat as the monster sent him flying across the street as though Alex was little more than a ragdoll.

“ALEX-SAN!”

Keiko tore towards her friend/pest, crashing down on her knees besides him, ignoring the burning pain it caused, and the blood she could feel against her jeans. Shaking hands touched Alex’s shoulder, and Keiko was almost too terrified to call out his name, in case she didn’t get an answer. However, as a huge shadow passed over them, obviously indicating that the creature was far from finished with either of them, Keiko let out another petrified scream, yet moved to shield Alex with her own body, eyes tightly shut, If she was going to die here…at least it was with someone like him.

For a moment all he was aware of was the pain of an impact that should have snapped his neck, and likewise it took him a bit to get his breath back after being slung through the air and skip across the pavement. Damn, that fucking hurt. Certainly he couldn’t die, but his skin wasn’t entirely impenetratable. Honestly it had been a while since he had been injured, and the sudden movement hadn’t been too easy on his worm eaten insides either.

It was no surprise that the Alex who lay by Keiko’s side was a mess. His head was aching in warning that he should pace down or face the consequences, but it was no time for that right now. Hearing the girl’s shrieks, Alex shot open his eyes and darted up sending a rush of nausea to his brain. A head against his forehead and a sour wince present on his face, he looked at the girl.

“Are you an idiot or what? What are you doing outside at a time like this? You should be back home and--” His complaints came to a halt not because of the creature that was striding ever closer to them but because of the look of horror on Keiko’s face. He hesitated.

“Sometimes, I really hate having to go back to Tokyo for recording sessions…it takes up so much time…”

Warily, the blonde looked around her, making a soft ‘hmphing’ noise.

“Oh nothing much. Just the usual sassy sarcasm, sickening sweetness and seasons switching that seems to happen in this place.”

Alliterations? Wasn’t he just being poetic today? But his comment was not without at least a hint of kindness.