Full metal dreamer

"What do you think this one does?" Ryu asked Roxy, toying with another beetle.

"Makes you a yandere for life?" She joked.

He crushed it but nothing happened.

"Why did I do that?" He blinked, bewildered.

"Puberty is scary."

He sighed in despair.

Karaza was in despair too, walking toward nowhere in the city till she saw Natasha across the street in her casual clothes.

Natasha waved, but the other's expression got more complicated.

"How's life?" Natasha asked, meeting her.

"...I should turn myself in."

"What? What does that mean?"

"I know it's your time off, but I violated the law. I don't know where to turn myself in..."

"I see, you painted your walls. It's fine newcomers get a first free pass."

The troubled look didn't leave her face.

"It's fine kid, I skipped my practice and nothing happened!" An old lady passing by said, chuckling naughtily and patting her back.

"Please don't skip your practice ma'am!"

'I'm not a fit for a proper citizen after all.'

"Don't fret it! Most newcomers do that. Just get it done professionally next time since not all paint is compatible with all walls and the magnetic field might not work well in your house."

"So that's why it's illegal...Then why is skipping elderly practice illegal?" The old lady asked.

"Well staying active is very important for that age. Also, social isolation is so common among the elderly, so skipping practice makes us know if someone is sick or struggling. And if someone is painting on their own, it alerts us about financial struggles or anxiety around people. So we can take legal actions."

"Legal actions?" Karaza and the woman gulped.

"Yeah, checking on people."

"Why do y'all word things this way?" The newcomer lady commented.

"Cause we're not like other governments! We are openly, proudly corrupt! We have no time to throw people in cells, so we check on them!" Natasha opens her arms, head to the sky with the evil dictator tone minus the loud laugh.

"I'm booking another guiding tour, bye kids." The lady said.

"I'm sorry about that. On your day off too." Karaza said, handing her a Philly cheesesteak sandwich with waffle buns.

"Thank you! I don't mind, really."

They enjoyed the meal on a shaded bench away from the blazing sun.

Natasha glanced at her from time to time, almost asking something. The older gave her an inviting look.

"So Miss Karaza...You used to fight back then, right?" She took a cautious glance, fearing that she had struck a nerve.

"More or less." She answered, genuinely unbothered.

The younger one tapped her foot, unsure how to phrase the words.

"What do wanna know?" She cut to the chase. "I don't mind saying anything, mostly. Doubt it'll be helpful though."

Natasha's hazel eyes looked at the sandwich in her hands, only two bites taken from it.

"How gruesome is it? There are others besides humans too, right?"

"I usually avoid getting involved with people. With..humans, it gets too cruel and personal." She paused to open her cola.

"Other creatures just kill ya, survive and move on. Nothing personal, most of the time at least."

One hand tugged at the uneaten sandwich, the other at the navy midi skirt.

"I'm asking because…in a couple months I'll be twenty.. I'll be able to go on missions at the borders if I choose to, but I'm not sure. My supervisor says that's a tough job."

"And why do you wanna do that?" She asked causally, with no presumptions.

She stared at the sandwich, almost intensely before taking a long breath, looking up at the yellow tree and its falling leaves.

"Things weren't always this good here. And I want to protect that."

"Do you need to fight to protect it?"

"That's what I want to know…"

Karaza looked at the golden leaves falling, eyes following one in particular.

"Some spend a good chunk of their lives to find the answer. I can't tell you much but be careful, regret is easy to gain." She let out a loud exhale before continuing, looking up to the sky.

"And impossible to drop."

The breeze blew leaves away. The silence was prominent yet clear, like a lake of clear cool water.

"Wanna take a detour?" Natasha asked.

"Sure."

They went window shopping, starting from the local bystreet to the touristy area. Karaza's mysterious nerves dissolved with each step and window they passed by. Maybe it was her first hangout ever, if she excluded following Antonio around.

"Mom should be done with work, let's pick her up and continue!"

'One really never knows what life has for you. One day a geezer beats you up the next you go window shopping with her.'

"I applaud your smart plan!" Roxy stated with a cunning smile.

"That's my line."

"So you admit trying to poison the mind of the youth!"

"It's your glittery boots that poison the minds of the youth!"

"Oh please, it's nothing compared to your lacy dresses!"

Roxy coddled Natasha.

"Don't listen to her! Lacy dresses are not the answer!" She planted her propaganda.

"Don't become like your mom, girl."

Natasha just giggled happily at the quipping.

At night Natasha steamed her work clothes with her mushroom shaped steamer.

She hung the simple pants, short sleeves shirt and vest.

"Dinner's ready~" Roxy chirped.

The made from scratch hamburger helper with Ryu's sweet potato pan was the elevated childhood favorite. Roxy added grilled vegetables to the side.

"My toe kinda hurt." She sat down.

"It's because you're on your hexagono all the time." Roxy pulled a classic mom. Natasha had the -I should've seen that coming face.

"Uhh, I eat too fast." Natasha gripped her stomach, face on the table.

"You're getting slower actually." Roxy munched.

"I don't know why I still do this..." She beat herself up.

"Your brain is just trying to protect you. Don't fight against it but work with it!" She told cryptically.

"Glutamine!" She said like a comical villain, making Natasha laugh.

The pats on her back brought good old comfort. And olden times.

--

"What do you want to become in the future, Roxanne?" The teacher asked a tiny seven year old girl.

"Evil!" She stated with excitement.

"...And why is that?~" The teacher tried to hide her bamboozled expression.

"Because evil villains had the best clothes!"

The teacher looked at the patch of land the kid planted with arugula and the volunteering record in her hand.

"Hmm! Why won't you become the first hero with fab clothes?"

"..Meh."

The place isn't a slum anymore, but it's still not a proper neighborhood yet. Roxy walked with vegetables to a building, exiting with a list of people's needs.

The school functioned as a government distribution point, so she went back there. Seeing a little girl with a birthmark lying down on the hot ground under the noon's sun.

The school was empty. The air wobbled.

"Yello!"

Natasha had a slow, lagging response like she was operating under a different, longer clock.

'Zax..? No.' She concluded as she made her sip some water, so weak to process her own thirst and dehydration, but her chipped lips did.

Even though she still clearly recalled getting piggybacked on long stares. Waking up hours later in the cool attic.

Though looking slightly better, the thin, malnourished limbs were still alarming.

"Hehe~ Are you ready to see my glorious treasure?" Roxy teased, a box in her hands.

She put a piece of cookie in her mouth, munching on it to make Natasha imitate her.

The cookies disappeared while tears poured from her eyes. Roxy gave her a mug of Incaparina too.

For the next couple days Roxy walked everywhere with a kid glued to her like she's a giant teddy bear. That was until the weekend when Natasha slept soundly in the attic, Roxy was in a part of the city she never went to. In a shabby private apartment complex.

'The government doesn't know about this place.'

When she reached the second floor, her instincts perked up.

'It should be here, properly…' She questioned the weakened kid's articulation.

Her small hands reached the door's handle, but she headed back before opening it.

'Yup someone's dead inside.' A parasite shall know after all.

"I-see, thanks for coming all this way, kiddo." The government officer said after she reported that, but before she could stroll around the plants brought her the bad news.

She ran.

And ran back again, with a cart and collapsed Natasha in it.

"Adult! Adult! Adult! I need an adult! Babushka!"

In the hut, a doctor from Babushka's group was monitoring the child and hooking her with drip injections.

"What's the situation, doc?"

"Malnourishment caught up to her."

"Are her organs failing??"

"No, well almost."

"Can't we do a surgery?"

"She has no adhesions or deformities, it's all malnourishment. The injections are all that can be done."

"Hope she can pull through…"

Roxy gulped cups of water, sitting on the ground.

"She will. I loaded her with vitamin cookies and Incaparina."

"Vitamin what?" Babushka raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah! The red one with extra vitamins."

"The government is making a food product that has all needed components to combat... this food shortage." The doctor explained.

"The quenchy stuff?"

"Yeah."

She opened her eyes, slow and weak but open nonetheless, seeing the light orange head of hair next to her bed doing homework.

"She's awake!"

The very next thing she remembers is her bed being carried to the emergency station, transferred to the general hospital. More injections and tests to follow.

"I know it's tough kid, but we gonna make sure no malnourishment effects live with you." A nurse patted her head.

Tiny Roxy entered the room with toys and manga."

"Yello, looking better already!"

"Mom!"

"Me?...Okay!"

She got some back rubs.

"Also you're grounded." Roxy joked.

"Why?"

"Hehe! I'm an evil mom!"

--

In the morning Natasha wore her uniform, adjusting it.

No clear answer yet. Old habits die hard. But the determination persists.