(Swears)Artificial Malware (Is This Even "Bear Alpha Fanfiction" Anymore?)

wakey wakey

[Author's Note: this contains a bit of romance so yeah you've been warned.]

A bright light blinded Malerie as she slowly opened her eyes. After adjusting her vision, she looked to the side and saw Yuzu sitting next to her. She then saw Alex strolling in with papers before their eyes met and he set the papers down on his desk to come over to the side of the bed.

"Ah, you're awake now. Do you feel alright? You've been in a coma for as long as it took for your arms to heal." Alex told her in a quiet voice as she sat up straight. She held her right arm up and looked at it, clenching and outstretching it twice. Alex had a confused look on his face but Yuzu had something else in mind.

He held her hand tightly and stared into her eyes as she looked at him surprised. Her pupils were larger and her left eye itself looked brighter and greener than before. He let go and turned to Alex as she blushed. "She's changed."

"Huh?"

"When I met up with her a few months ago, she seemed different than how she was when we were classmates."

"And you... Paid attention to that?"

"Yes. I..." Yuzu had second thoughts on finishing that sentence. Malerie closed her eyes and breathed for a few seconds. She thought to herself, it's harder to breathe in this body. Then she gathered the courage and spoke up. "What time is it now?"

"It's about 2 PM," Alex answered, "I suppose you two can go ahead and leave."

~~

"So, what did you dream about? I heard coma dreams are super important." Yuzu asked Malerie as they walked home together.

"Uh... Something... About a fight... Maybe... I might've forgot." Malerie lied to herself. It was one of those dreams that you know about but forget right when you want to remember it. Yuzu hummed in response. "A fight, huh? Do you remember who were fighting?"

"Um... Me and..." She finally remembered the dream, but made an irritated noise to finish the sentence. Yuzu looked at her curiously and she blushed a little. "Uh... I don't wanna talk about it right now."

When they got home, they sat on the couch and turned on the radio for ambience. She leaned her head back into the cushion and continued pacing her breath. Yuzu sat next to her and asked, "Are you okay? I'm starting to think something switched in your head..."

"Well... Yeah, you could put it that way," she answered, sitting back up and letting the fan blow through her hair. "To be frank about it, my mind was... Split in half again in my dream. It was like... Like I was fighting my urges, or something. God, this sounds so stupid..."

"No no, this is interesting to me. When did your mind first split?"

"At... At school, I had my doubts about you but I didn't think I would... Y'know, stab you. That's when I felt something click on and off in my mind. It became final when I ran away from home only a few days after..."

"That," Yuzu held Malerie by the shoulders and looked into her eyes, "That explains a lot." He brought her into a hug and she held her hands on his back.

"Do you.. do you still care about me even if I've changed so much? Even when I'm such a mess..."

"It doesn't matter how much of a mess you are. You're like a painting, even if you drip or fade in color, you're still precious and beautiful to me. No matter what message you may bring, I'll still love you like I have been since we met at school." Yuzu rubbed her back as she hugged him tighter, swaying a little from side to side as they shared each others' warmth.

After a few moments, they let go and he kissed her on the forehead. "We should go find something to eat soon." She nodded and they got up from the couch to go to the grocery store.