Chapter 15:

Lovers Activities - 1st Part

Little green apocalypse

Happiness.

When I told my family that I had a child, they were a little surprised.

I can understand them, I had never spoken to them about it.

I have seen how other people look at me.

Not for the good, of course. But the observation is there.

How can a girl, a lab rat like me, have a baby?

Surely the fruit of strange experiences to get births off the ground again, they will say.

Yes, I’m not married. Neither as a couple.

Anyone would have done like them, right?

I’m not the example to follow.

But the moment I had her with me, nothing weighed on my conscience.

Raised her on my own, while I work. It’s true, it’s not easy but… It’s indescribable.

It’s like we’ve known each other forever.

Of course, things are never easy at first, but time sweeps away everything.

One day, she will be a grown girl, have friends and live her childhood dreams.

I hope she doesn’t make the mistakes I did though…

However, I will not oppose her choices.

I would only wish her the best.

You are my happiness.

…

As my world gets bigger, I feel like other things are getting narrower.

It’s a feeling I find it hard to explain, maybe it’s my imagination.

My relationship with Hiko is romantic, but it can’t be the same with other people.

He’s special…

And his words still run though my head…

I thought about it and came to understand some things.

I have accepted the fact that Harp exists.

And so, I understood what the function of this organ was.

But two questions torment me…

The first is the most obvious: How do we do it?

Hiko looked confident, saying it was absolutely impossible.

I have to accept that my body doesn’t work like the others…

Would sleeping with him be the trigger…

…

I slept three times with Hiko.

…

Three children?!

No! Impossible! I only feel one…

In this case, is it related to something else?

The moon? The planets? The sun?

Maybe even the temperature…

…

Ah! I don’t know!

There’s no book that talks about this.

And if there was, mom must have hidden them.

Mom…

I now know what you wanted to protect me from.

The second question…

…

When will he be born?

… Or she?

Besides, where will she… or he come out?

How does that work?

In my earliest memories, I remember the sun, caressing my face, as something moved away…

Move away…

…

In my hands?

Yes. But I don’t think this is the time to talk to you about it.

When will it be the right time? It worries me…

“Hiko? Are you awake?”

… He left.

But where did he go again?

He wasn’t supposed to be like: ‘Lyre, wake up. Now is the time to work out’.”

Something like that.

… I’ll find him.

…

Ah but I might just call him in my thoughts.

Hiko, Hiko, Hiko, Hiko, Hiko…

“Ah! Stop it, I’m begging you.”

“I found you!”

“What did you want from me, in this early morning?”

“What do you do?”

“I was finishing digging. I found quite a few things about you, but…”

“…”

“But?”

“… There is absolutely nothing of interest about your birth or your power.”

“All i found were pamphlets all over the place, talking about you.”

“’This is Lyre’s favorite book to date’ – ‘My beloved Lyre’s favorite food~’.”

“There are all over the house. This is your sanctuary.”

“Ah…”

“As for the diary, it doesn’t say anything concrete. Or rather, it seems to use a language of innuendo. That’s why I don’t want to give it to you.3

“… And I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, so I won’t give it to you.”

“You’re a hothead, who knows what you would be capable of if you understood what is written.”

“No problem.”

I’m curious!

“… Maybe I should bury it.”

“NO! DON’T DO THAT!”

“Promise me you won’t touch it.”

“I swear to you.”

“…”

“Did you find anything else besides that?”

“Nothing in particular. Papers on experiments, astrology, open books on mythology, others about the reproduction of plants and their regeneration system.”

“I even found an old comic in all of this…”

“It’s quite worrying, especially if you…”

“… If you have to take care of a child.”

Not sure to follow on this point…

…

“I’ll just have to do like my mother, right?”

“Do you realize that your mother is a gift from heaven? Parents are not going to create artificial blood for their child, the best they can do is entrust them to health specialists. She’s amazing, so is her research.”

“All these papers talk about lengthening life. She wants to transmit part of the plant genes to the human genome. It seems crazy to me but I don’t really know myself in all of this…”

“What is certain is that she believes it.”

“…”

“Don’t you have something to do with this?”

“Hmmm…”

“No, you’re something else.”

“Our blood allows us to cicatrize. I saw your heart wound…”

“But your special blood certainly got you over it in no time.”

“It’s incredible.”

“The mark has almost disappeared since time…”

“Some people are scarred for life by accidents of lesser magnitude.”

“I’m not even talking about the broken ribs that must have caused you.”

“Haha…”

It still took more than two days to repair…

“For a normal human, it’s months that it unfolds.”

“And it’s for all these reasons that I don’t want to show you these papers. Out of the question.”

“I don’t want you to do like the last time.”

“You have to consolidate yourself mentally.”

“Eh? But I don’t have a problem with that, do i?”

“… Are you serious?”

“…”

“Imagine for two seconds someone killing me, in front of your eyes.”

…

“Hey! Stop that!”

Ah!

“You can be really scary when you do…”

“You have to learn to control your flow of emotions. You have to keep your cool.”

“It’s all well and good to say it, but how am I supposed to do it?”

“… Train yourself to stay calm, under all circumstances.”

“If you don’t have a mind of steel, this fight will be lost and we will die.”

“…”

“I noticed it since yesterday, I didn’t want to tell you about It but…”

“You know who we’re going to face, don’t you?”

“…”

“… Do you have dissociative dreams, Lyre?”

“You told me you remembered your dreams, right?”

“Yes! Last night, I dreamed that I was looking at the Earth from space, surely on the Moon.”

“And the last time, when you slept in the cart?”

“…”

“I… Do I really have to say this?”

“I… I dreamed of you and…”

“Ok. I don’t want to em-embarrass you anymore.”

“You seem to be the embarrassing one!”

“So, you don’t remember that one either…”

“I told you about a sister yesterday.”

“I think she was trying to communicate with you.3

“… I never heard of it.”

“What did she want?!”

“…”

“From what I heard… She would be the cause of all this.”

… Eh?

The cause?

… It’s impossible.

Mom wouldn’t have abandoner her. Is she older? Would she have arrived before me?

“Calm down.”

“But, it’s so sudden… And why?”

“Are you sure what you’re saying?”

“… I have to go save her!”

“Keeps a cool head!”

“Let me go!”

“Look at me.”

“Your sister most certainly caused all of this.”

“And she seems to be giving off something pretty unhealthy…”

“If that’s really her, take a look at what she did.”

“The gap is colossal. You don’t even have a thousandth of its power, Lyre.”

“This is what you want? Do you want to abandon us all?”

“… But I want to save my sister!”

“You’ll save her if you get stronger!”

“Don’t you know what we said ‘Law of the Fittest’?”

“If you are able to impose your strength, you can save her. You can save us all. There’s still hope, they are not dead. People are just in a temporary trans state.”

“You’re lying… I know that. Some are already dead. You don’t have to hide it…”

“… Are you ready to accept the world as it is?”

“I have no choice, do i?”

“We always have a choice, don’t we?”

“You know I would respect it, no matter what.”

“You can still run away, it still time.”

“…Never!”

“Well…”

“Come outside. Let’s practice.”

“Yes Master!”

“You can call me what you always have…”

…

“My mother had learned in her youth, by the way, after my father had seduced her, Kung fu techniques.”

“It’s one of the most famous martial arts among many. The first formed knew their cradle almost twenty centuries ago. The first forms of learning in institutions, fifteen centuries ago.”

“This style is based on self-defense.”

“So, I’ll try to teach you everything I’ve learned.”

“But first…”

“Your breathing.”

“Breathe in as much as possible.”

“*Inhale*”

“Hold it back.”

“During a fight, your breathing increases, putting your system on alert.”

“Slow breathing, on the other hand, will make you calmer and more lucid.”

“Expire.”

“Ah…”

“The more you can control her, the better. It will allow you to heal your anxiety in times of doubt.”

“There are three different breaths. Abdominal, thoracic and apical breathing.”

“I’m going to tell you about the first one, because that’s where part of your strength come from.”

“The second thing is going to be physical training. You will have to strengthen your body.”

“Obviously, in three weeks it won’t be great, but it will give you a better foundation.”

“The power of martial arts is based on movement, body position and rotation. Knowing their techniques allows you to better manage a fight. They will serve you to protect you as well as to attack and counter attack.”

“Physical training is execution. You will also need it if you run into someone physically powerful.”

“Well, with your powers, I shouldn’t really be saying that…”

“But if you can master it, you won’t have to use your powers as frequently.”

“…”

“We’re going to have a fight, to see how you’re doing.”

“… Do I have to hit you?”

“…”

“You can think about it if you can touch me.”

“I find you very sure of yourself.”

“I have faith in what my parents left me.”

“Copy me on the first gestures, these are the greetings.”

“Understood.”

…

“No, it’s the other hand.”

“Ah. Sorry.”

…

“Well…”

“Let’s go.”

…

Do you take this weird position to fight?

I have to attack you, right?

…

Don’t think.

“I’m coming!”

You can read my thoughts.

I will take advantage of this.

To the left!

I got you. It was on the right…!

… Eh?

“Parry.”

“Punishment.”

“…”

… What strength.

It was so fast. I didn’t even have time to recover from the amazement of being so easily countered.

“Why did you deflect your hit?”

“This training is not meant to hurt you.”

“… And how did you know?”

“Your eyes.”

“Do not care about this. Act accordingly.”

“If I beat you…”

“We will go and save the others immediately.”

“…”

“I’ll never let you win, but If you want to…”

“Try! I accept.”

If I’m more powerful than you, this training doesn’t matter, right?

I will use the extent of my strength!

… But Hiko counter my power.

To break his defense…

I should…

“You think too much.”

He attacks!

Defense!

“Bar him the road!”

…

You can drain my plants by touching them with your hands. If I put them on just to disrupt your run, that will be enough.

“You haven’t got it yet…”

“In a fight, anything goes…”

“Which means that everything is also possible.”

“You underestimate my talents.”

…

He jumped very high!

No! You won’t get me this time.

…

“Running to dodge. It’s running away from combat, but smart.”

“Do you stop underestimating me now?”

“… You’ve kept you true abilities hidden from me all this time.”

“It takes concentration. When the physical or mental shape is not there, it’s not worth it.”

“Are you ready to admit defeat?”

“I will only be defeated when I can no longer fight!”

“It might be long… And it’s pretty low, do you realize?”

“From the beginning, I shouldn’t even hit a pregnant woman…”

“And most of all, if she’s my girlfriend.”

“Stop underestimating me!”

“Oh! Nice kick.”

“With practice, it would have definitely hit me.”

“However…”

“When you offer yourself in such a way to your enemy…”

“You’re full of openings.”

Ah...-

“A single blow to the back of the head and I block your movements. I hope I didn’t hit you too hard…”

…

“Gro…-“

“Sorry but I have to make you admit defeat or else we’ll never move forward.”

“…”

Lift me up!

“…!”

“It’s true that you can do it without speaking now.”

“*Halts*”

“You’re reaching your physically limits. You must have understood the difference.”

“My technique takes precedence over your disorderly movements.”

“You still want to continue?”

“…”

“Hehe.”

“I found a breach in your defense.”

“…”

“You do not…”

“…”

“All In all, you have strength to spare.”

“And you analyze quite well.”

Sorry, but I can’t waste any more time in this fight.”

“You fought well. You have the qualities to be much stronger.”

“Decide on your next move.”

… Breathing.

I need to calm down.

I mustn’t take my eyes off him.

“…”

What do I do?

I don’t see how to hit him.

Aim for his feet?

I will never be fast enough.

If I can break through his defense, I can…

…

I must try!

“I’m coming!”

That’s what we call a low blow, right?

It’ll work on you, you’re way too sensitive.

“…”

“Hiko!”

“…?”

“Harp…”

“…? What are you implying?”

Now!

… He blocked me?!

“You really use all means to disturb me…”

“The end of your sentence?”

Hand to hand…

“It’s…”

“…”

“Harp is a girl!”

The feet!

…

Why doesn’t he move an inch?!

“…”

“You lost.”

…

Ouch…

It hurts.

“Do you know that it won’t work with other, this?”

“It’s a psychological fight. If I had managed to break through your defense…”

“…”

“I really believe something happened.”

“I almost stopped.”

“I wouldn’t have continued if you hadn’t finished your sentence.”

“But your frankness always takes precedence, doesn’t it?”

“…”

“I lied to you. I don’t know.”

“…”

“Ouch! Why are you biting me?! Ah! Especially in this place, it hurts already…”

“Remember that pain the next time you lie about your child.”

“Come on, get up.”

“Besides, I’m a bad teacher. I forgot to show you the warm-ups…”

“I hadn’t planned on doing this, I just thought I would show you the basic moves to start.”

“But you were staring at me so seriously that I wanted to do too much…”

“You may have muscle soreness. We’re going to do some exercises to avoid this as much as possible.”

“Do like me.”

…

I’m ashamed to tell him I had fun.

Another memory that I will not forget.

“…”

“And it would definitely be more romantic if I didn’t hear you in your head, right?”

“Should I pretend, I can’t hear anything at that kind of moment?”

“Couldn’t you have a more normal power…?”

“I don’t know. Creating typhoons?”

“Why the only thing you can do is read my thoughts and be able to absorb the vitality of my plants!”

“Hahaha!”

“But thanks to that, I was able to get closer to you.”

“Fortunately, you save me then…”

“Ah… I’m so annoyed to have lost.”

“When you beat me, I guess that’ll be the time to leave.”

“We won’t have more than four weeks. If you can get there before that…”

“But you’re going to have to train your power as well.”

“You have to know how to use it more effectively in fight.”

“Your use of it was pretty defensive. You will tell me that you didn’t want to go on offense because I drain their energy, but while my hands are taken, my defense is more open.”

“You restricted yourself unwittingly. You hadn’t seen that as one of my weaknesses.”

“…”

“Are you going to shower first?”

“… Go ahead, I’ll go when you’re done.”

“You won, you deserved it.”

“Don’t get depressed about it.”

“I just want to think about how I improved…”

“… Alright, then I’ll go first. Take care.”

…

I got it. I can use my power differently.

But how?

It’s easier than before, but I still have to face some constraints.