"Saibou no hanashi" - One Shot Collection

He was walking slowly. This was the first time that he was feeling as though the walls were getting closer the more he was approaching his destination. He was sensing his weapon's coldness penetrate the skin of his hand. For an unexplainable reason, he already had a strange coppery taste in his mouth, even before having carried out the order. A simple and direct order: "Find Ae3803, eliminate her, and return to your other tasks." "As you say." He arranged his cap and started walking, already having an idea where he could find her. Macabre or not, but it wasn't the first and would neither be the last time of him having to obey an order like this. Since the rumor about the anemia, a lot of crimes had been committed, under the pretext that they were for "everyone's sake". Perhaps it wasn't the best kind of job for him, but that didn't matter. Everyone had work to do. He spotted her at a distance. And headed towards her. The metallic taste in his mouth became even more intense. He started salivating, and a slight tingling ran over his cold hand, a necessity to finally make that one precise movement and cut the victim's throat open. It was simple. He had to approach her from behind, wrap his arm around her, cut her throat and phagocytize her. She was now so near he could almost taste it. He raised his hand, grabbed her... No, this time he wanted to have a taste of his prey still being alive. After all, despite being a good soldier, he also possessed a rebellious side, wanting to come out. A stifled scream... no getting back now. A reddened neck with a bite wound. And a white blood cell wiping the blood from his face and reporting that his job was done. *** Work shifts weren't really different from life itself: assigned tasks and a damn routine that was eating away at you... He entered his home and let himself fall on the bed, hoping that his hours of rest would magically or by a miracle start to feel longer than the others, at least once. "I don't want to return to work." Feeling the softness of the cheap mattress, he took off his boots without using his hands, rubbing his foot against the other. And perceived the gentle and loving caress of his beloved red-haired cell on his icy cheek. "Sorry if I looked too scary." "No worries, it had to seem real, after all." Her voice was full of forgiveness, and her eyes full of light. "And sorry if I bit your neck too hard, I didn't want to hurt you, but other cells were nearby. I had to frighten them, so they wouldn't dare to take a closer look at you." "Hey, it's okay. You did all of it for me... it's alright." "We'll be alright." "We'll be alright." Feeling her soft breaths and her thin arm wrapped around him, reminded him that the world wasn't such a terrible place after all. As long as she was part of his.