Someone was combing my hair very gently. It was a very warm and soothing experience. I can continue to sleep, can’t I? No one will be there to complain to me if I just stay asleep, will they?

Dad is gone, mom is gone, and even the orphanage is gone. I’ve been living alone for such a long time, when was the last time I’ve felt this kind of warmth. I can’t remember but I think I’ll just sleep. I want to enjoy this warmth while it lasts.

…...

I slowly opened my eyes and see Lisa looking down at me. Her face seemed tired but a smile appeared on her face as she saw me open my eyes. It was a warm smile.

“Good morning sleepy head.”

My body was still in pain but it doesn’t feel like I’ll die anytime soon. Everything’s aching but I don’t feel the urge to cough blood anymore. I guess defeating all those zombies gave me enough experience to recover.

“Good morning. How long was I asleep?”

“It’s Thursday so you’ve been asleep for an entire day. Do you know how worried I was for you? You started coughing out blood and groaning in pain the whole night and I couldn’t do anything for you. I was scared you were going to die, Jude! You have to take better care of your body.”

Lisa was scolding me but they were kind words. I think it’s starting to become a pattern where I pass out after every battle. This would make it the third time that this has occurred within the past two weeks.

“I’m sorry for worrying you and thank you for protecting me.”

“It’s fine, you’re a lot like my little brothers.”

“Am I?”

“Yep, you act exactly like them. You went and got yourself injured because you were reckless and Big Sister has to take care of your wounds.”

If this is what a big sister is then it’s a very gentle thing.

“Thank you. I don’t have any siblings so I don’t understand your role as a big sister but I’m sure your little brothers love you. You’re such a gentle person after all.”

Lisa laughed and continued to stroke my hair. It was very soothing and different from how Fifi plays with my hair.

“Thanks, I can be your big sister if you want?”

She wants to be my big sister? I don’t think it’s possible unless we go through the legal processes. Her parents would have to adopt me and I don’t know if they’ll be fine with that. I’m not very bright or have any amazing talents, that’s why I was never adopted from the orphanage. I’ll just be a disappointment as Lisa’s little brother.

“Really? I’m not amazing or anything. I’m not sure your family would want to adopt me.”

“Hahaha, I don’t mean it literally. You’ll be my little brother in spirit.”

Oh, that’s what she meant, but how do I become a little brother spiritually. Is there a process for it or something? Well, I shouldn’t think too hard about it. I wouldn’t mind having Lisa as a big sister.

“If you’re fine with a little brother like me then I’ll happily accept you as my big sister.”

“Now that you're my little brother in spirit, I have to come up with a nickname for you.”

“Is it necessary?”

“Yep, all part of the initiation. I even have a cute nickname for my boyfriend. Oh, right, you don’t know about my boyfriend, do you?”

“No, I don’t know much about him.”

“Hehe, you should remember him. He will become your future brother-in-law in spirit.”

Lisa’s face lit up in joy as she declared that her boyfriend was going to be her husband. I guess that’s how close their relationship is. She was 100% confident in their marriage.

“My boyfriend’s name is Tom Ray. He’s a year older than me so he’s 22 years old. He’s currently in Japon trying to fulfill his goal of building a giant robot. He’s such a nerd but that’s what I love about him. I love all the hard work he puts into creating his robots. Oh, yeah, we were talking about nicknames weren’t we? So I call Tom by Rommy. It’s a simple combination of his last name, Ray, and his first name, Tom. You want to know what’s so cute about Tom when he heard that I created a nickname for him, he decided to create a nickname for me too. In a similar vein, he calls me Boa, a combination of my last name, Bowell, and my first name, Lisa. Rommy is actually such a cutie, he nicknamed me Boa because whenever he sees or hears me, I constrict his heart. Do you get it? A Boa Constrictor. It’s such a dumb pun but I love him for it.”

Lisa was enjoying her talk about Tom so I don’t interrupt her. Tom and Lisa seem like a very nice and cute couple.

“Rommy’s such a dummy but I can’t help but love him. I can’t help but miss him.”

I could feel the droplets of Lisa’s tears dropping on my head. She was crying.

“Don’t cry, Lisa. Your little brother will protect you. I want to see the beautiful wedding of my sister and her husband.”

She wipes her tears and continues to stroke my hair. I can tell she was still worried but she didn’t want to show it to me.

“Thank you, Rudy.”

“Rudy?”

“It’s a combination of your name, Jude Craven. I can’t call you Crude because that isn’t cute. So I took out the C and replaced the -e at the end of Jude to a -y. So your nickname is now Rudy. It’s cute, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

“Now you have to make one for me.”

“But I’m not good at making nicknames.”

“Nope, big sister won’t let you leave until you make her a nickname.”

She held onto my cheeks and was pouting. Now I can’t reject her.

What should it be? It obviously can’t be Boa because that’s a special name for her and Tom. Lowell? Liwell? Saell? None of these sound correct. Would she even like any of my names?

“How about Lell? Pronounced le-leel.”

“Lell, Lell, that sounds good to me.”

She smiled and tousled my hair in joy. It was similar to the way Fifi does it when she’s happy.

“I have a question, Rudy.”

“Yeah?”

“Were you using magic when you were fighting against those zombie creatures?”

“Yeah.”

I don’t need to hide magic from Lisa. Fifi never forbade me from teaching anyone but even then, I’ll only tell those I can really trust. These past few days I didn’t know Lisa all that well but now we were spiritual siblings. If I can’t tell it to her then who would I even be able to tell?

I begin retelling the story of everything that has happened since the prison to Lisa. I don’t hold anything back but I still can’t reveal to her about my past. I’m not quite ready to talk about that yet.

“So you have a cute little fairy following you around.”

“Yeah, but she isn’t here with me right now. She should be protecting Mako right now.”

Lisa was clearly excited to learn about all these fantastical things.

“Do you think I can learn magic too?”

“I’m sure you can, Mako and I have already started learning the basics.”

“Can you teach it to me right now?”

I would like to teach it to Lisa but I couldn’t. I don’t trust my ability to teach others and I’m not an expert in magic like Fifi. I just know how to use it, I don’t really understand it.

“I’m sorry but I can’t teach it to you. I’ll ask Fifi to teach it to you when she has the time.”

“Hey, you said you were terrible at nicknames but you made such a cute one for Fifila.”

“Hmm, I guess you’re right.”

“You need to trust yourself more, Rudy.”

The sounds of a door opening could be heard. Our room only had a little light coming through the small windows near the ceiling so more light came in as the door was opening.

I quickly take off my hoodie and tell Lisa to wear it. She still only had her sports bra on and I don’t want anyone else seeing her body. If Tom is going to become my brother-in-law then I won’t let anyone else see her naked body beside him. I was wearing a long-sleeved shirt so my scars shouldn’t be visible.

Two men walked in and they were very familiar people. They were the two suspicious men in black who had injected me with something.

“Put your hands in the air!”

“Don’t try anything funny!”

The two of them were pointing their guns at us. I’m fine if they were just pointing it at me but how dare they point their guns at Lisa.

I stand up and move away from Lisa with my hands in the air. I want both of their attention to me so they don’t point their guns at Lisa. The two men were tense, I feel like they would shoot if I do anything wrong.

“Girl, you too.”

The man with black hair was pointing his gun at Lisa. I could see that she was shaking. She was scared.

“Don’t point your gun at her!”

I block Lisa’s body from them. Was that really my voice? I’ve never heard myself so angry before.

“Ahaha, it’s fine, Jude. They’re just telling me to stand right? Easy Peasy.”

Lisa tried to stay energetic but I could hear her voice quivering. I stare down the two men.

“Follow us, we need to talk.”

The two men slowly walk out as they watch us. They waved their gun signaling us to come out of the room. I grab onto Lisa’s hand and walk out of the room. Her hands were small but they were rough from her countless hours of training but right now it was just the scared hands of my big sister.

We walk out of the room and we were met with a large space filled with shelves of books and countless amounts of boxes. To the left, I could see that a few shelves were broken down, probably from our landing. The door we entered was barred with shelves and boxes. The room was dimly lit with some of the lights flickering.

I could see the eyes of people staring at us. Those were eyes of fear and anger.

“Why did they bring them out? Aren’t those two monsters?”

“They should just kill them already. No human being can just come flying through the air as they did.”

I counted and there were 50 people I could see. There could be more so I have to watch out for them. The state and minds of these people were of crazed people.

“Come here. Both of you sit.”

We were taken into an open area of the storeroom. There were people gathering around and there were chairs set up in the middle. I can see that there were about 100 people in this room. For a college with 25,000 students, 100 people is a very small amount.

Lisa and I sit down on the chairs as the others gather around us in a circle. They were holding a trial for us.

“Now speak, kid. What do you know about this situation and where did you come flying from?”

The two men begin interrogating us. Their guns were put into their holster but their hands were still on it.

I didn’t know what to do. I can’t just explain to them the concept of magic. In their crazed state, they might even burn me at the stake for being a witch.

“Just kill them. They are obviously not human.”

“Yeah, I saw that guy shooting fire out of his body like one of the zombies.”

I guess some of these people saw me fighting the green goo zombie but they aren’t differentiating it from me. I’m the same as that creature in their eyes.

“Wait, isn’t that Lisa? Why is she there?”

“Hey, only that guy is a monster. Lisa’s a normal human being.”

“I’ve known Lisa for two years and she is a normal girl. Get her out of there.”

There were people who seemed to be friends with Lisa. I make sure to recognize their faces because they’ll definitely help Lisa when the time comes.

“Shut up! What if she already turned into one of those zombies?”

“Isn’t she just sitting there normally?”

“Yeah, so what. What if she starts biting us before we realize it? Then we’re all going to die in here.”

There were two sides within this group, one side wanted to kill both of us and the other side wants to save Lisa and kill me. I make sure to recognize the faces of every person voting to kill both of us. The group who wants to save Lisa is better but I still don’t trust them. I can’t trust anyone within this room besides Lisa.

The two men in black just watch and listen as the people were arguing with each other. I could tell that they were somewhat recognized as the leaders of this group but they didn’t have complete control over it.

The conflict between the two groups was heating up. They were just throwing insults at one another without restraint.

“Shut up, you dumb bitch!! All you dumb bimbos are only good for sex.”

“That’s funny coming from the virgin who tried to buy sex from the female janitor.”

“I’ll shut your mouth, you whore.”

“Don’t you fucking touch her.”

It was escalating at an alarming rate. It wouldn’t be long before they start getting physical with one another.

“Everyone SHUT UP!!”

Lisa’s voice roared within the storeroom. She was standing but still holding onto my left hand. The room was silenced. Lisa took a big breath before speaking.

“I don’t know what all you have gone through but that doesn’t mean you’re the only one who lost someone precious to those monsters. Look at the person next to you. Do you know anything about them? Do you know if their best friend was killed, maybe their lover, or maybe their family member? Have you ever tried asking them? Have you ever tried comforting them instead of fighting over this useless dispute? My friend died. His name was Richard Jones and you may know him as the friendly security guy at the gym. He would always greet me whenever I enter or leave the gym. He had a big bright smile that he had on his face even though his wife was suffering from cancer. He stayed as positive as possible but he can’t anymore. His wife and kids at home will never get to see him ever again!”

Lisa was crying again. All I can do is tighten my grip on her hand to comfort her.

“Why are you fighting against each other? Why are you fighting when the person next to you might be suffering just as much as you are?”

“Shut up, Bitch!! You’re just trying to save yourself!!”

Who said that!!! I stand up from my chair ready to silence whoever spoke badly of Lisa.

“It’s fine, sit down Jude.”

She gently spoke and I followed her command. She lets go of my hand before walking forwards.

“You, your name is Gary, isn’t it?”

The crowd separated from him and the path from him to Lisa was cleared.

“W-what about it!?”

“I remember you from the freshman seminar. Didn’t you want to become an artist in the future?”

“Y-yeah?”

“How are things with the girl you like? I remember you asking me for advice and I remember telling you that you should use your skill as an artist to confess to her. How is she?”

“She...She’s…”

“I see.”

That man broke down into tears. Lisa calmly and confidently walked towards him even though there were enemies on all sides. She got on her knees and hugged him. The room was silent as his cries grew louder.

“We’re all suffering right now so why would you inflict this pain on others? You choose to kill Jude but save me, who says I wanted that? If Jude dies then my heart would be broken and I’d rather die with him then live in a world where an innocent person was sacrificed for me. Let me ask you again, why would you inflict such suffering on others? We aren’t your enemies? We aren’t like those monsters out there who viciously kill others!! WE ARE HUMANS!!!!”

Lisa’s words reverberated through the hearts of every single person in the room. It was silent but people were slowly breaking out into tears. Her words moved them.

“M-my sister. She sacrificed herself for me.”

“My boyfriend told me to run. It was all I could do!!”

“My brother was just visiting the university. He was holding my hand when we ran but he was torn away from me.”

There were people crying but there were also people trying to cheer them up. The previously arguing sides were supporting each other now.

“It’s fine, you’re alive right now.”

“We have to think about the future. Bill would want you to live.”

“Just let it all out, man. This is all I can do for you.”

The pent up emotions that have been growing were all released after Lisa’s speech. Everyone was crying and encouraging each other to live but there were some people who were still worried about Lisa and me.

The two men in black looked in shock as to how the situation had changed so quickly. Earlier everyone was ready to riot and fight one another but now everyone was reconciling.

“Please take care of the rest.”

Lisa talks to the two men before coming towards me. She grabs my hand and we head back to our room. The moment she closes the door, she runs into my chest. I could feel my shirt becoming wet.

“I-I can’t do anything for them. They’re all suffering and I can’t do anything about it.”

Lisa is truly a nice person.