Meant To Be

Chapter Sixteen

Waves of pain washed across Hunter as she woke up, her entire body aching with an excruciating agony. She heard a muffled voice beside her, but she couldn't understand what was being said due to the ringing in her ears. It took what felt like hours for her to regain hearing, but was actually only a few minutes. "Hunter, are you awake? Please, answer me." She made a small grunting noise as a reply, unable to speak any proper words at this point. No Significant Harassment seemed satisfied with the reply and she suddenly felt a sharp sensation on her left arm, gasping at the pain. It felt like she had an IV pole hooked up to her and had only just come to her senses enough to even feel it. To distract from the pain of the needle, Hunter tried to remember what had happened before she had passed out, all of her memories of the past few hours, but she could hardly make sense of what had even happened. She recalled coughing up rot and being rushed to her father's lab in a sort of semi-conscious state. She also remembered the pain. Lots of pain. "...What happened...?" As she spoke, Hunter tasted the unmistakable bitterness of rot in her mouth, leading her to believe she had continued to cough up more even once unconscious. "Well, I had to-" He was cut off by the sound of footsteps coming towards them and Hunter managed to open her eyes to see Artificer running to her side. "You're okay! I was so afraid when No Significant Harassment didn't know if you would make it but you're okay!" She stopped herself at the last moment from jumping on Hunter to give her a giant hug, instead holding her hand. The iterator shook his head apologetically, looking like he was about to deliver the news of a terminal illness, which was entirely possible. "Actually, she's nowhere near cured. This operation was just to save her from immediate death. Unfortunately, I made no progress towards actually removing the rot..." When Hunter's father said this, she realised that this would be a very long and painful process that would possibly take dozens of cycles.

"So, you and Artificer seem to be getting along very well. It was kind of her to accompany you on your journey. Say, do you consider her more than a friend?" Hunter blushed, her entire body tensing up at those words. Thankfully, she and her creator were alone at the moment so at least Artificer did not hear it. "She's super nice to me, so of course we're close! I don't like her as more than a friend, though!" No Significant Harassment laughed at Hunter's flustered expression, clearly about to tease her. "Well, last night when I came into your room to deliver your medicine for the morning, I saw the two of you all cuddled up asleep~" "Yeah, well- I... I was cold!" No Significant Harassment snorted in laughter. "The fever you had when you went to sleep was making you overheat. You weren't even under a blanket, so there's no way you were cold. Just admit it already!" Hunter tried to think of another excuse but came up empty. She glared at No Significant Harassment as he laughed, enjoying teasing her. "You'd better not say anything!" "Oh, don't worry, I won't! Well, I won't if you admit you like her~!" Hunter sighed, wondering why her father couldn't just be normal and uninterested in her love life. "Why do you care so much?" "Because you're my daughter! I want you to be happy. Besides, you are going to have to stay here for many cycles, so I want to help you with your relationship while you're here! So, tell me all about your feelings for her!" Hunter looked away in embarrassment, wondering whether she should tell No Significant Harassment or not. For someone named No Significant Harassment, you sure are harassing me on this.

"Alright, alright. I admit it! I think Artificer is really pretty and she's just super nice to me. I know she has killed hundreds of scavengers, but she still seems not all that tough and almost even vulnerable. It just makes me want to protect her! Well, that's not to say she can't stick up for herself. Arti looks so cool when she fights..." She trailed off as she ended the sentence, remembering how gracefully the slugcat moved. No Significant Harassment laughed, clearly trying not to do so but failing miserably. "I- I'm sorry! It's just so cute that you have a nickname for her!" Hunter rolled her eyes and elbowed the iterator in annoyance as he continued to laugh uncontrollably. "It's not even a lovey-dovey nickname! It's just like how I call Spearmaster Spears for short!" "Okay, I guess you're right. It does just sound like a normal nickname. But now, you need a cutesy name for her!" Hunter's face turned more red than it ever had before. She blushed whenever she was close to Artificer, but right now she was being called out. "No! Just a normal nickname is good enough, thanks!"

We all need a friend like No Significant Harassment who will push us to confess to our crushes. At first I thought I would write him as a more serious character, but now he's the comedic relief. Once again, the cover art is not by me. Actually, I'm going to make it my goal to use some of my art as the cover for one of the final chapters! Well, if I remember.