Mycosis

Part 3

"I've got you!" 4989 repeat loudly over the howling wind.

Shaking, near frozen in fear, AC looked up, seeing him holding on to a still green vine with his other hand. Quickly she clutched the one holding her by the wrist, hoping the already damaged sleeve wouldn't tear. AC 's voice trembled as much as her body, when she managed to speak again. "I think I preferred the wave in the intestine," she tried to joke in an attempt to calm her own nerves.

"Tell me about it," 4989 said, mustering a small smile somehow, before AC turned her head to look at the abyss. There really was nothing, just the outlines of the terminal bronchiole and other alveoli, but the wind would probably simply suck them out. Oh, she shouldn't have looked. "Hey, look at me!" the neutrophil all but snapped at her and startled she lifted her head. "I'm gonna have to climb, so if…oh, no."

"What?" Only now did AC realise that the vine was actually attached to the far away ceiling on both sides, meaning 4989 had managed to grasp the slacking middle part. Problem was it was starting to rip at both ends, unable to support their combined weight.

If she'd had a heart, it probably would have stopped in that moment. Instead time seemed to slow down as her mind raced. The vine would tear, and they both would fall into the bronchiole. They were both going to die. The realisation hit her like a block of ice. If only she hadn't gone into the capillary, if only she hadn't taken that stupid risk.

Then suddenly she felt very, almost unnaturally calm. No. He didn't have to die.

The vine wasn't able to support them both but maybe it could support one.

And she let go.

4989 turned to her, saw that she had relinquished her hold on him and his eyes widened in horror. "AC?"

"Let me go." She had no idea how her voice sounded so composed.

"What?" he breathed shocked, clearly not believing what he'd just heard.

AC smiled sadly at him, but she had made her decision. "The vine will snap any moment. You have to let me go."

Instead his grip tightened, probably bruising her, but that didn't matter anymore. "No!" he exclaimed, sounding heartbreakingly desperate. "No, I won't!"

"Hachikyu," she softly insisted, feeling the first tears in her eyes. "We don't have time to discuss it, and you'll never make it up there in time with me weighing you down." She couldn't let him die, not because of her and not when she could do something about it. She would die either way. If her last action in life ensured that he survived she would be at peace.

But 4989 shook his head. "We'll see about that!" he snarled defiantly, clearly fighting tears himself. "Now hold on!"

"Hachikyu…"

"No!" To her surprise he actually managed to pull her up, until they were almost face to face. "Wrap your arms around my neck; I'm gonna need both my hands!" AC hesitated. "Please," 4989 begged, his voice all of the sudden a lot quieter and finally AC complied, not having the heart to refuse his request; it very nearly broke just seeing him so desperate and full of fear. "Don't let go, don't you dare let go," he told her, whispering with his now shaky voice.

AC merely nodded and he let go of her wrist to grasp the vine with both hands. Now it was up to her; if the vine were to rip any further, she could simply remove her arms from around his neck, push herself away and he'd be saved. He would perhaps never forgive her, but he would live. One move would ensure that.

The erythrocytes swallowed hard. Perhaps it was for the best that she'd never gotten to tell him. Perhaps it was better that certain things between them hadn't been addressed after all; it would make it easier for him. Still, a part of her deeply regretted that they had never gotten to, that she'd taken so long to sort her feelings out, but it was too late now. This was goodbye.

To her surprise however he didn't start climbing, instead he reached for one of his knives. AC watched puzzled as he reached for one of the vines. "Hachikyu?"

"Hang on!"

"What?!"

And his knife cut through with one swift move. AC gasped as they suddenly swung downwards, 4989 now holding on again to their half of the vine with both hands. Looking over her shoulder, she could see that they were headed straight for a lower level of the alveolus they had fallen out of. Then 4989 let go of the vine, sending them both flying.

Instinctively, her previous plan forgotten, AC hugged him tighter. What was he doing?! They were plunging towards a large window, and she braced herself for the impact. Then several things happened in quick succession.

4989 threw the knife he'd somehow managed to keep in his hand and tossed it at the window, the blade piercing the glass and getting stuck all the way to the hilt, causing the entire surface to crack. Without hesitation he then embraced her, wrapping his limbs around her, pressing her head against his chest and his own head on top of hers, until she was all but enclosed.

AC couldn't see anything, only heard glass break, his body shuddering as he went through it back first and she closed her eyes. The shattered window rained down around them just as they too hit the floor. His body cushioned her impact, but she flinched nonetheless, as she tried to make herself as small as possible.

At first AC remained frozen, she didn't even breathe though they'd come to a stop. She could still feel the weight of 4989's arms around her, but there was no pressure anymore, they felt…limp. Finally, she opened her eyes again.

All she saw at first were his white clothes as her head was still on his chest, her hands clutching at the fabric. Carefully AC lifted herself up and his arms simply slid off, landing on the ground with a quiet thump.

Alarmed she quickly got off 4989 and saw that he was covered with lacerations. Those on his lower arms were older and already healing, but there were now several more from the glass all over his body. There countless more shards surrounding hem, but hardly any had so much as touched her. He'd shielded her from the impacts, their crash through the window as well as their touchdown.

Worryingly his eyes were closed, while his head was tilted sideways and his cap had fallen off, now lying close by on the floor. 4989's usually fluffy white hair was a mess with quite a bit of glass in it, glinting or tinted red with cytoplasm.

Frightened AC reached out to pat his cheek. "Hachikyu-kun?" He didn't respond, and her chest tightened as her haemoglobin twisting painfully. "Hachikyu, wake up. Please."

Desperate she continued to gently slap him in an effort not to hurt him. He couldn't die, not now, not because of her. AC's eyes were welling up with new tears. No, no, no.

"Come one," she pleaded. "Wake up." She had meant to prevent this. If it hadn't been for her...

And then, after what felt like an eternity, 4989 groaned softly, his features twitching. AC breathed a sigh of relief, brushing her tears away in a hurry as she composed herself. He shouldn't have to see her all red-eyed and fearful.

4989 moved his head, sluggishly opening his eyes and looked around. It took him a moment to really wake up, but then he realised she was right there. "Are you alright?" 4989 mumbled.

AC stared blankly at him. "What?"

"Did you get hurt?" he asked again, this time more insistently.

"Did I…?" Her eyes narrowed, suddenly she was feeling furious, her fear forgotten. "I should be asking you! You're bleeding! You were unconscious!" AC nearly shouted, wondering just how many more injuries he'd received thanks to his stunt that she couldn't see.

Nonetheless, 4989 smiled, though through gritted teeth, very obviously trying to hide the fact that he was in some pain. "Occupational hazard."

"You could have died," AC claimed distressed; she hated to see him hurt, especially because of her. "The vine was about to snap and if the window hadn't shattered…"

Slowly he sat up, glass trickling to the floor and he brushed more away, when he went with a hand through his messy hair. "Hey, I promised to always try and save you, remember."

"I didn't mean…," she started, before biting down on her lower lip; she never should have asked him that stupid question all those weeks ago. "Not at the cost of your life."

"That's kind of part of my job anyway," he reminded her.

AC shook her head. "If it means saving the body, but not a single cell."

For a moment he just gaped at her. "You honestly think I would have let you go?" he quietly asked, sounding both hurt and incredulous.

"Do you think I want to be responsible for your death?" she retorted, grasping his collar, not so much angry with him, but with herself for putting him in such a dangerous situation, all too aware that it would likely happen again. FP had already died because of her taking an unnecessary and stupid risk; she couldn't lose anyone else because of her foolishness, least of all him.

But her words had hit a nerve. "So I should just stand by and let you die? Without trying everything?" he exclaimed heatedly and shook his head. "I'd never forgive myself. I'd never forgive myself if I let anything happen to you!"

"Neither would I, if you died in my stead!"

Clearly upset, he pointed at his chest, now actually glaring at her. "I risk my life every day for this body! If I can do that for complete strangers than that's the least I should do for someone I love!"

And her ire evaporated into thin air. "…love?"

Deep down AC knew that they both had probably danced around that word for a while now, trying to uphold the status quo, hesitant to take the next step. And now it had been said. Now it was out.

His grey eyes widened, his anger vanishing same as hers had, when he realised what he'd just said. "I mean, I…," he stammered, and quickly buried his face in his hands, slightly muffling his next words. "Ugh, I messed up."

AC let go of his collar and when she spoke her voice was soft. "Hachikyu?"

At first he merely spread his fingers apart to shyly peek at her, before he lowered his hands again and she saw that his cheeks had turned a pale pink.

For a while they looked at each other silently, and AC was sure that her face was just as flushed as his. In fact her entire body suddenly felt warm and tense. So much for being the one to tell him; he'd beaten her to it after all.

For a moment AC wondered what to tell, but she had trouble finding the right words. She wasn't deluding herself about her own feeling any longer, which unfortunately didn't mean she knew what to say, but perhaps words were not going to fix this. Summoning up all her courage she instead leaned closer, cupping his face with her hands and pressed her lips against his.

AC's eyes were closed, so she couldn't see his reaction, but she could feel him wince, hearing him hum in surprise, probably not having expected her to be so bold. However, it only lasted a second or two, before he cradled her head, fingers soon entangled in her hair, the other arm around her waist to pull her close against his chest. And he kissed her back.

For some reason she had expected it to be slow and careful, but she smiled when he proved downright enthusiastic. He was kissing her deeply, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine and AC sighed softly against his lips as she allowed her body to utterly relax in his warm embrace.

She wished they could remain like this forever, but eventually they both needed some air. Still, their heads remained close, noses all but touching, and AC could feel his breath brush across her lips.

4989 was looking at her with his big eyes, a shy smile on his face as far as she could tell. "I...I love you," he mumbled his face even more flushed than before.

Hers cheeks still burning as well, the kiss, these simply three words making her haemoglobin sing. "Love you too," she whispered.

Then he leaned his forehead against hers, still keeping his voice low. "So, um, please don't ask me to abandon you. I could never..."

No, he never would have let her go; asking him to do so had been cruel. She hadn't cared about him not forgiving her, yet had failed to realise that he would have blamed himself just as much, if not more. She hadn't even considered just how hard her death would have hit him, even with their feelings unaddressed. She was an idiot.

AC swallowed hard. "Never again. I'm so sorry," she apologised and pecked his lips softly.

Evidently encouraged by this, 4989 closed the gap fully for another proper kiss, his teeth playfully grazing her bottom lip. "Apology accepted," 4989 told her as he pulled away, looking much more at ease now, though there was still colour in his face. "Can't believe I've waited this long."

"How long is 'long'?" she asked curiously.

Clearly a little embarrassed he looked away, awkwardly scratching his cheek. "Probably since we went to the bone marrow that one time, you know, when we talked and played ball with the erythrocytes."

AC's widened. "That was weeks ago."

"I wanted to do it right," 4989 explained sheepishly. "1146 told AE 3803 at the retina in front of that gorgeous panorama and I wanted to make this just as special. I…I had considered doing it when we were watching the REM-sleep fireworks, but then the call came…"

"That's why you looked so dejected." She remembered that day well and how sad she'd been to see him leave during the fireworks. It had only been the beginning of one of the most trying times in her life.

Meanwhile, the neutrophil nodded. "Yeah. Afterwards, I mean after my recovery, I was looking for a new location, something just as grand. But as more time passed I started to, well, wonder what could happen if I screwed things up, or if you were even interested. So I kinda didn't want you to know until I was sure, or at least until I had found the right place and words."

"Hachikyu," AC said softly. "I already knew."

His jaw literally dropped. "Huh?"

She chuckled and sighed softly, her finger playing with a strand of his fluffy hair. "You are a lot of things, but not subtle."

His eyes turned wide. "So you already knew that I…?"

"I had a pretty good idea."

For a moment he continued to gape at her. "Then why didn't you, I don't know, say something?" he asked confused.

"Honestly? I wasn't sure about myself and if I was ready," AC confessed. "It's a big step." Well, it had been a big step.

He gave her those big puppy eyes she'd come to adore so much. "And now?"

AC laughed a little. "Now I think that I was horribly overthinking everything. I'm sorry I made you doubt," she apologized and at the same time was grateful beyond words that things had finally gotten cleared up between them.

4989 smiled and leaned closer. "Apology accepted," he assured her and pecked her lips.

"If nothing else, this still is a very memorable location," she assured him.

"I guess it is, if not as romantic as I intended," he noted, looking around.

Gently she framed his face with one of her hands, turning his gaze back to her. "I'd consider saving my life pretty chivalrous," AC said, giving him a loving smile. "And despite what we just went through, I like how events turned out."

"Me too," the neutrophil agreed, nudging her nose with his own. "You know, 2626 suggested the waterfalls in the kidney, but given how loud it is there I figured you wouldn't be able to hear anything."

"I don't know; you could have made cute little signs and who knows, with a few real flowers and those puppy-eyes of yours…"

Laughing 4989, pulled his head back and facepalmed. "Damn, why didn't I think of that?"

"There is no reason we can't still do something like that," she reminded him.

"But now you already know."

AC, however, merely shrugged. "I promise to act appropriately surprised, give Dendritic Cell a good show when he makes that photo." That particular immune cell seemed to see everywhere and be everywhere at one. Then again, maybe all dendritic cells of the body constantly shared pictures. Frankly she wouldn't be surprised if one of them had taken one within the last few minutes.

"I don't know," 4989 began, still considering her suggestion, until she kissed his cheek, seeing them turn pink once more in an instant. "I think I can pull it off. It's a bit cheesy though"

Smiling AC wrapped her arms around his neck. "Sounds just like you," she told him, her words earning her a big grin.

"Yep."


Vines died and withered everywhere in the alveolus, falling from the walls and ceiling like leaves in autumn. Soon they covered the ground, waiting to be collected by the macrophages. 1146 could hear his fellow immune cells cutting away at the pathogen everywhere, as he was on his way out, AE securely in his arm.

"It looks a bit like a rash," his girlfriend noted, looking at the red marks on her arm, left behind by one of the vines.

He'd examined her earlier, right after cutting her out of her cocoon, to his relief finding no serious injuries. "Aspergillus fumigatus produces among others a toxin with haemolytic properties," he explained to her, assume that the vines had been covered with a thin film of toxins or that they had secreted a little on contact. Whichever it was, 1146 was glad that the harm caused by them was minimal.

"Good thing I wasn't trapped in it for long," AE noted and shivered. "Do I want to know what else it can make?"

The neutrophil hesitated, but he had promised to be honest with her. "Several more mycotoxins, most design to suppress or outright kill us immune cell, but luckily it isn't quite as effective in production and application as other germs. If our numbers weren't so depleted, it never would have gotten this far."

Her amber eyes widened. "And you were exposed those toxins the entire time! You have to be exhausted; you don't need to carry me!"

"I'm fine." He assured her, his head feeling quite clear again, his self-inflicted wounds hardly hurting anymore. "Are you complaining?"

AE 3803 immediately blushed. "No," she confessed and wrapped her arms around his neck, making him smile.

1146 continued on, searching his way through the ruins of the alveolus. Elevators weren't operational anymore, and staircases were few and far between, not to mention that they too had suffered significant structural damage. Still, slowly but surely the two managed to reach the ground floor.

As he walked through the main corridor, 1146 suddenly felt a strong breeze to his right, coming from another hallway. Had the fungus broken through here as well? Deciding to check it out he took a turn, the sign above informing him that he was headed for the elevators 31 to 60.

"Hakkekkyū?" AE asked puzzle.

"Just a brief look. I'll get you out before dealing with the Aspergillus, should I find any here."

There were large windows to his right, though it was almost completely dark outside, with only other alveoli shimmering in the distance. The hallway took a slight turn, and 1146 stopped dead in his tracks.

Up ahead, just in front of the elevators and surrounded by countless shards of glass were 4989 and AC. They had their arms around each other, sitting there side by side and despite being quite banged up they looked happy. As a matter of fact their foreheads were resting against each other, lips almost touching. 1146 had no doubt that they already had.

"I guess he finally told her," the neutrophil noted, mindful to keep his voice down, relieved the two of them were alright and had finally gotten together.

"And to think just earlier today she claimed that she wasn't sure about her feelings," AE told him, clearly amused.

1146 chuckled. "I guess that got sorted out." He could relate all too well, given his own initial confusion following the first kiss AE had ever given him.

Meanwhile, his girlfriend sighed. "Yeah, but does it always have to take near-death experiences?" She had a point. The parasite plasmodium falciparum had been something of a catalyst; only after its attack and her brush with death had he'd begun to realize how much she truly meant to him, more than just a dear friend, though it had taken him quite a while. And AE's kiss had been just after a particularly dangerous fight, one in which he could have easily died had they not received reinforcements in time.

"Well, falling in love is something most cells never experience. Perhaps we require that extra push to make sense of it when we do. To realise how important that someone truly is to us," he theorized smiling at AE as he did. Her cheeks warmed visibly and she pecked his cheek.

"How about we leave them alone for now?" AE suggested. "I'd hate for us to ruin the moment."

1146 nodded in agreement and turned around again. Those two would be just fine.


"So let me see if I got this right: everyone, except us, already knew we were in love with each other."

"Yeah, probably," AC confirmed. She'd told 4989 about her fellow red blood cells giving her advice, having urged her to confess to him. Funnily enough, 1146 had apparently given him a very similar talk earlier. It was kinda amusing to think that they likely would have confessed to each other today regardless of the near-death experience.

"Dammit," 4989 laughed. "We are just as bad as 1146 and AE."

"Let's say almost."

The fluffy haired neutrophil chuckled and nodded. "Almost." But as he rubbed the back of his head, the he suddenly flinched.

Worriedly AC's eyes glanced at some of the glass shards on the ground, particularly the ones covered with cytoplasm. "How bad is it?"

He looked at his red fingertips, yet he didn't look too concerned. "Not sure, a few cuts I'd say. Feel rather superficial," 4989 said, giving her a comforting smile. "I'm guessing the cap is ruined though."

Despite trusting his judgment, she wasn't entirely at ease, after all he was still wounded. "We should have someone take a look at that. Besides, maybe we shouldn't be sitting around here all day."

"I'm pretty comfortable," 4989 chirped, gently nuzzling her cheek with his nose.

AC chuckled. "Same, but aren't we in a still liable to collapse alveolus?" As if to underline her words there was another gust of cold wind running over their heads and through their hair.

He froze as if he'd suddenly remembered where exactly they were, his mouth opening in slow-motion. "...let's go!"


The day had started out nice and peaceful, deliveries had been finished without incident, but when CT 2980 returned to the lungs she was startled by the presence of countless immune cells. At first glance macrophages and neutrophils seemed to nearly outnumber the erythrocytes, which was never a good sign, but after another second or so CT noticed that pretty much everyone was surprisingly calm.

"What happened here?" AD 5022, who had been with her for most of the day, wondered aloud.

"Probably some invading germs," CT said, which was the only explanation she could come up with at the moment. Why else would leucocytes gather? "Still, looks like they've dealt with it already, whatever it was." What confused however was the fact that there was hardly any cytoplasm on the various uniforms. Most were torn and scratched, but they lacked the typical splatters of blood. Not to mention that instead of pots the alveolar macrophages seemed to be carrying large bags stuffed with some sort of greenery, a few leafs sticking out. It looked more like the white blood cells had been gardening rather than fighting. It was all rather strange.

Her friend, however, didn't seem curious and instead was evidently just happy that they hadn't gotten involved in anything. "Excellent timing then."

"Looks like some alveoli are still off-limits though," she noted, nodding towards one of the nearby elevators guarded by macrophages. "Let's see if we can find another one."

As they walked across the hall, the two saw several erythrocytes sitting by the side, wrapped in blankets, some drinking tea. CT assumed that they had been in the invaded areas, especially once she saw that quite a few showed torn up clothes and that their membranes showed red areas, not cuts or bruises, looking kind of rash-like instead. What had gotten in this time?

Just as she wondered what pathogen could have harmed her fellow red blood cell, AD nudged her with his elbow. "Hey, isn't that AC?"

AC?! Worried CT looked around and soon spotted her auburn haired friend apart from the crowd. And she wasn't alone.

She was sitting aside from pretty much everyone else, not on the ground or a bench, but instead on the lap of the neutrophil she was so often with. AC looked tired but content, a little patch on her cheek, her uncovered hair a mess. The neutrophil meanwhile had his arms, along with their shared blanket, wrapped around her, as she was cradling a steaming cup of tea in her own hands. He looked somewhat worse for wear, given what CT could see of his uniform, mostly the legs, was horrible torn and he had a large bandage covering parts of his head. Said head was resting comfortable on AC's shoulder, until he slowly lifted it to...to kiss her just behind the ear.

CT's eyes widened at the sight, while her friend not only seemed to tolerate the gesture, but evidently enjoyed it judging by her bright smile. Clearly they weren't just friends anymore and the black haired erythrocyte watched as the two spoke briefly before AC pecked his lips in turn.

AD, who had been similarly taken aback by what had transpired, suddenly took a step towards them. Quickly CT jumped in front of him. "No, don't."

He looked at her almost reproachfully. "What?"

"That's none of our business," CT insisted, giving him a pleading look. She didn't want him to cause a scene or start some silly argument that would undoubtedly do nothing with the exception of causing misery for all parties involved. If he hadn't been able to change AC's mind before, he most definitely wouldn't now. "Come; we still have some carbon dioxide to exchange."

AD 5022 hesitated, glowered at the couple one more time, but ultimately turned away without arguing, much to CT's relief. Even if she couldn't understand AC's decision or attraction to an immune cell, it was more than obvious just how happy she was or how much she cared for him. What kind of friend would she be if she messed with that? Still, it made her a little sad how distant she and AC had become.

As she was about to follow AD, CT looked over her shoulder once more, just in time to see the odd couple being joined by three more neutrophils and two other female erythrocytes, a redhead with a few patches of her own and another with long, light brown hair, who seemed completely unharmed.

One of the neutrophils, his eyes covered completely by bangs, handed AC a beret, probably her own, which had likely gotten lost in whatever situation she'd been tangled up in. The small group gathered around the couple and though she couldn't understand what was being said picked up on how cheerful they sounded, heard laughter and saw the smiles on everyone's face.

No, there really was no need to intervene and CT turned around to follow AD.

AC would be just fine.


Author's Note:

Hey, no cliff-hanger for once. Only one more chapter to wrap things up and we're done. For those interested I've started publishing my stories on Wattpad as well, "Hearts & Minds"even including pictures. It's just the prologue so far, but every chapter will have between 2 to 3 drawings.