FireCacodemon: Welcome to Day 5 of the Cells at Work Appreciation Week, Day 5: Crossover. So I did it with Cells at Work and Ib.

Sacrificial Rose

A Cells at Work & Ib Cross-over Fan-Fiction

Written by FireCacodemon

Disclaimer: Cells at Work belongs to Akane Shimizu

Ib belongs to kouri

Disclaimer: Shiro = U-1146, Ai = AE-3083, Gansaibou = Cancer Cell

Summary: The rose is a symbol of their life, if the rose withers…so does the one connected to it. Ai and Shiro have worked together as they wander through the strange art gallery they've ended up in. But now things have taken a turn with Gansaibou holding Ai's life in his hands. Human names used.

Sacrificial Rose

"Ooh~? What's this? A present for me~?" Ai and Shiro's blood ran cold hearing that voice once more. No, it couldn't be? How could he still be chasing them? The pair turned their attention towards the sound of his voice and looked in horror as one of the blue dolls held out Ai's red rose…the very symbol of her life in this art world. They watched as Gansaibou roughly grabbed the rose and took a sniff from the delicate flower. "Yaaay, it's so preeetty! Thank you!" He squealed with excitement. The doll, rather pleased to have pleased its master jumped for joy. Ai looked up at Shiro…fear was present on her face.

"Gansaibou…he has…" She started before Shiro placed his finger on her lips, silencing her.

"Let me handle this…okay?" He asked her. She nodded in return yet still petrified if any of the petals were going to be plucked from the rose. They had both worked hard into keeping that rose alive (and Ai herself) and neither of them were determined to let the rose die now. Gansaibou admired the rose before he noticed the other two and a wicked smile formed on his face.

"Oh…~?" He spoke in a sinister voice as the two approached him.

"Gansaibou!" Shiro caught his attention.

"Ai and Shiro! Did you find what you were looking for?" Gansaibou asked in the childish voice he had while he was disguised, playing off the idea that he was just another visitor to the museum instead of being a painting himself. Ai hid behind Shiro as she watched the creepy blue doll turn around and smiled at the pair of them. The button eyes stared at Shiro but he paid no notice to doll itself. "But anyway, look at what I've got~" He flashed the red rose to the pair of them and watched their reactions. "I just got this! Pretty, isn't it?" He purred as he stroked the silky-smooth petals with his fingers. Ai shivered at the touch, feeling uncomfortable with the way her rose was being treated.

"Gansaibou…that…that rose…" Shiro started, unable to form the sentence he wanted to say. He couldn't imagine how Ai was feeling at this current time…her life was in the hands of a painting.

"Huh~?" Gansaibou couldn't let this opportunity pass anytime soon. His fingers moved to a petal and gripped it and tugged gently. "Ah! You mean this is Ai's? No wonder I recognised it~" He tugged once more at the rose, not enough to pull off the petal but he could see the red-haired girl starting to panic as Shiro took a step forward to confront the painting.

"Gansaibou, please…give that back to Ai," Shiro pleaded with Gansaibou.

"Huh…? I wonder…" He started before turning his attention towards Ai. "Ai…you want this back?"

"Yes!" Ai squeaked without hesitation…the rose was connected to her and she felt safer with it in her hands.

"Well…Hmm…Wanna trade Shiro's rose?" Gansaibou asked.

Silence fell between the three of them. How could Gansaibou even ask for that?! He knew how the roses were part of them! They were the most precious part of themselves and he was willing to trade life for life?! Ai shakily looked at Shiro but she saw that this was something that he suspected. Tears formed in her eyes at the thought of the life exchange. She couldn't bring herself to make the decision herself.

"Shiro's rose is white, right? I like red and all, but I love white even mooore!" Gansaibou cried out excitedly.

"If you like white so much, why is the doll blue?" Shiro asks.

"I went through a phase of liking blue, anyway, wanna trade~?"

"…" Shiro didn't respond right away. He knew it was going to be right to trade but he couldn't bring himself to trading. Ai tugged on his uniform with tear filled eyes.

"Shiro…" She whispered. That seemed to have made the deal in Shiro's mind. He gently stroked her head and smiled.

"It'll be okay," he said before turning his attention towards Gansaibou. "Understood. Please, give me Ai's rose in exchange for mine." The white rose was brought out from his pocket and was offered to Gansaibou. The painting's eyes lit up with excitement as Ai's eyes widened with horror. This was her fault…she lost her rose and now Shiro was giving up his to save hers.

"Really? You sure?" He asked as he started to reach for the flower.

"Yes…" Shiro responded as he took the red rose from Gansaibou as his white rose was taken.

"Heehee…Yaaay! Such a pretty, pretty flower~" After unleashing a cackle, Gansaibou took off and left the two behind. Shiro walked back to Ai and handed her the red rose.

"Please…be careful with it."

"A-are you mad?" Ai asked as she took the rose, tears starting to fall down her face as her mind wandered to what Gansaibou was going to do with the rose. She couldn't look at Shiro…the guilt was too much. Slowly, she felt Shiro's fingers under her chin and forced her to look up at him.

"Why would I be mad at you?"

"Because of me…you had to give your rose up…" She sniffed, unable to control her feelings.

"It's not your fault, Ai…Don't worry about it, alright?" He smiled softly, trying to bring the younger girl's mood up.

"What…about your rose?" She wiped the tears away.

"We'll just catch Gansaibou and get it back. Come on, let's do our best! I know we're almost there!"

Crossover: Cells at Work/Ib – Sacrificial Rose

Shiro was growing weaker and weaker as they found more petals on the ground. His body showing more and more injuries on his body. Ai noticed the blood leaking out from the sides of his mouth too on a few occasions. She grew more and more guilty as she watched Shiro suffer more and more…the more determined she was to catch up to Gansaibou before he plucked all the petals off. Shiro collapsed behind her.

"Shiro!" Ai screamed with horror as Shiro weakly looked up at her, a small smile on his face before Ai ran back over to him. "Shiro…please…let's keep going!" She begged him as she crouched down to be on his level.

"No…you…keep…going…" Shiro spoke weakly, panting heavily on the ground.

"Shiro…please…"

"Go…please…escape…"

"I'll…come back with your rose, I promise!" Ai gently stroked Shiro's face in a comforting way before getting up and following where Gansaibou must have ran to. She continued following the trail of petals before running up the stairs to a new section of the building.

"Loves me…~ Loves me not~ Wonder what this petal will be~?" Ai heard Gansaibou play his game and watched in horror as he plucked another petal off the white rose. "Come on then rose, what will you give me~" He plucked the last petal off the rose and smiled. "Love me~" Gansaibou threw the stem of the rose onto the ground before running off further into the building.

Ai wasn't sure what to say. She ran to the rose stem and picked it up and looked around quickly to see the small vase of water. Running towards the vase, Ai dunked the stem into the vase and waited…but nothing happened. She tried a couple of times yet nothing happened. Tears formed in her eyes and fell…she couldn't save Shiro…he died because of her…She knew what she had to do though…he gave his life to help her escape. That was the least she could do. Ai left the rose in the vase and ran, she was going to escape now…she had the pink key to hopefully get out of here.

"Shiro…thank you…" Ai whispered as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

FireCacodemon: Thanks for reading~