Swarm

"pepper..." Kutsuyo said, softly.

"Did you say something?" pepper said, not hearing her very well.

"U-Um, yes, I did." Kutsuyo responded, a little louder.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying?" pepper said, feeling bad he didn't hear her.

"Um... How long... until we get to the place?" Kutsuyo said, trying to keep her voice up.

"Oh, The Platinum Star? Definitely... at least a few more hours..." pepper said, as he heard Kutsuyo's stomach growl. "Hey, you were in there so long, did you eat?" pepper said, changing the subject.

Kutsuyo nodded her head left and right. "I-I think there was a spell... or something to k-keep me fed... Or maybe n-not need food." Kutsuyo said, giving her best guess, and looking at the ground.

"I see, well, let's get some food, there's a place right there, see? Kiss and Smack's delicious snacks, is what it's called, I guess." pepper said, walking up to the building.

"I'd really enjoy that..." Kutsuyo said, softly but gratefully, though pepper didn't hear her. Kutsuyo looked up and rushed to catch up to pepper, though he wasn't far.

"Hey, they do have more than snacks." pepper said, as he saw the digital menu hanging over the counter where you'd order food.

"I-I've never seen any food... such as these..." Kutsuyo said, confused as she looked at the menu.

"Well... I'll just order for you and hope you like it." pepper said, walking up to the counter.

"What you like to order, Sir?" The lady behind the counter said, clearly forcing a smile.

"I'd like a double cheese burger and some fries." pepper said giving the lady his order. "And she'll have..." pepper said, pausing to think. 'What should I get her? Maybe her stomach can't handle some of this stuff... I'm sure she's had chicken...' pepper thought, trying not to make a bad decision.

"Sir...?" The lady said, becoming impatient.

"Oh, sorry. She'll have chicken nuggets, and we'll both just take a water cup." pepper said, finishing their order.

"Right, here are your cups. Your order will be ready soon." The lady said, after taking pepper's money.

"Alright, lets get some water, Kutsuyo." pepper said, taking her hand and walking to the water dispenser. Kutsuyo nodded up and down as started walking.

"So... what are those fast things... that go by while we walk along the path?" Kutsuyo asked, as the walked to a table to wait, curious of what's happened while she was locked away.

"Huh? You mean a car...?" pepper said, confused of how she doesn't know what a car is. "Oh, I guess you didn't have those so long ago, huh?" pepper continued, realizing his confusion is unreasonable.

"Car?" Kutsuyo said, never hearing that word.

"Yeah, it's a type of vehicle, it's what people use to get around faster and easier, cars are on land, but there's boats and ships for the water. There's also planes and helicopters for the sky." pepper said, using his straw wrapper to mimic a car, boat, and plane. "Oh, and there's something even farther above the sky." pepper said, hoping to get her interest.

"A-Above the sky? You mean heaven, right?" Kutsuyo said, thinking she knows what pepper's referring to.

pepper nodded his head left and right. "Nope, it's called Space, it's where the other planets are, and the stars too, that place is fascinating to me. But up there, we have Space Ships and even machines that float around our Earth." pepper explained, becoming interested in his own words.

"pepper, Sir, your order is ready." The lady said, slightly raising her voice.

"Oh, wait here for me, I'll be back." pepper said, getting up and walking to the counter.

Kutsuyo nodded up and down as pepper walked away. 'Why am I sweating so much?' Kutsuyo thought, feeling almost soaked.

"Alright, here we go." pepper said, putting down a tray with their food on it.

"Man, that was actually really good, especially for fast food." pepper said, as both him and Kutsuyo leave Kiss and Smack's delicious snacks. "I wouldn't really call it 'delicious' though." pepper said, looking at the sign behind him as they walked. pepper saw something fly past them in the sky. 'What the hell? That gave me a really bad feeling... And that was quite fast for a normal plane... and it was completely black, normal planes are silver, or gray at most.' pepper thought, questioning what he saw.

"Mm... It was..." Kutsuyo muttered, as her eyes felt heavy, and she sweated even more.

"Kutsuyo?" pepper said, looking at Kutsuyo curiously. Kutsuyo begun to lose her balance and fall, but pepper jumped closer to her and caught her. "Hey, are you okay?" pepper said, with a worried expression.

"She seems to be stable now..." A doctor said, to pepper, looking at a note pad. "But it's almost as if she's never had any type of vaccine, she may not survive even if we give it to her..." The doctor continued.

"There's nothing you can do?" pepper said, growing upset.

"Well, it might work, but it may just kill her faster..." The doctor said, unsure of what to do.

"Well... she might die either way... But at least giving her the vaccines could save her." pepper said, deciding for the doctor.

"Are you her guardian?" The doctor asked, questioning pepper's relation to Kutsuyo.

"I am." pepper responded, wondering why it matters.

"She doesn't seem to have any records... There's no sign of her existence anywhere that I could find." The doctor said, suspiciously. "Using facial recognition... we found a lot of girls that looked strikingly similar, with very odd hair colors, and even sometimes skin colors that are unusual as well..." The doctor said, seeming beginning to question pepper. "You also look similar to them too... I've seen this before, and I decided to do some research. I discovered that the Government has begun to notice this as well, I've heard they've begun doing experiments on the ones with blue hair, they put up bounties on their heads and pay a lot depending on how much they believe the subject could be useful." The doctor said, pacing around pepper. pepper looked at the doctor, ready to fight. "But it's all simply rumors on the internet." The doctor said, shaking his head left and right, as he stopped pacing.

"So, are you gonna continue to be suspicious of us, or are you going to try and help her?" pepper asked, trying to stay calm.

"I will admit, I am rather curious. But I am a doctor, my job is to help people, no matter who they are, I won't just let someone die no matter how suspicious the situation." The doctor said, placing a smile on his own face, and talking calmly.

"Good, I'd rather not have to explain us." pepper said, feeling slightly relieved.

"Well, you should go home, I'll begin the treatment right away, but it'll definitely take at least a day or two." The doctor said, as he left the waiting room.

'I'm not gonna leave, but I want to step outside and look at the stars for a moment.' pepoer thought, as he exited the hospital, and found a bench next to the building. 'Over that way, I can sense a large feeling...' pepper thought, looking up in the sky. 'It must be where that planet is, that Kumo mentioned. Has she been there?' pepper thought, realizing how little he knows about Kumo. pepper continued looking in the sky, and he saw more black things fly past. 'What? More black planes? This time there were three... it's almost like... they're doing laps, or observing...' pepper thought, trying not to think too much about it. 'Well... it's a lot colder than I thought out here, I'm gonna go back inside... Man I hate the cold.' pepper thought, walking back into the hospital.

"Oh, you haven't left?" The doctor said, walking into the waiting room. "I thought I told you to go home?" The doctor said, walking closer to pepper.

"Well, the place we call home isn't very close, and I'm not leaving her anyway." pepper said, feeling tired.

The doctor sat in the chair infront of pepper. "I see. You seem to care a lot for this girl, don't you?" The doctor said, wondering who pepper really is.

"I care for all of them, it's my job..." pepper said, pausing. "No, it's my goal to protect them, I won't just enjoy myself while I know even one is going through something." pepper said, trying to stay awake.

"Hm... Well, I guess I should get back to work then." The doctor said, with a smile.

"Weren't you about to leave?" pepper said, noticing keys sticking out of the doctors pocket.

"I can't just leave after hearing how much you care for a patient of mine, I'll do what I can for her." The doctor said, walking into the hallway with the patient rooms.

"pepper..." The doctor said, trying to wake pepper up.

"What? What's going on?" pepper said, opening his eyes.

"I think you're gonna want to see this." The doctor said, with a worried look. pepper began to worry. "Come on, follow me." The doctor said, as he walked into a room that looked like a closet, with pepper behind him. "Look into that microscope." The doctor said, with a serious face.

"Okay...?" pepper said, not understanding how this has anything to do with Kutsuyo. As pepper looked into the microscope, he saw a black cell that seemed to pulse, or maybe it was moving.

"Do you see it?" The doctor asked, wondering if pepper knew what it was.

"I do..." pepper said, slowly, as he realized the cell gave a familiar feeling.

"This thing... It seems to have absorbed every vaccine I gave the girl, it seems they're all through her blood stream." The doctor said, not knowing what this is.

"That means...!" pepper said, intensely, looking quickly at the doctor.

"Indeed... I cannot give her the vaccines to survive." The doctor said, closing his eyes.

"Then... What's gonna happen?" pepper said, walking closer to the doctor.

"She'll be fine." The doctor said, still closing his eyes.

"Whay do you mean? Earlier you said she'd die without the vaccines!" pepper shouted, becoming confused and angry.

"That black stuff, it absorbed the vaccines, and it's also trying to absorb whatever is attacking her." The doctor said, opening his eyes to look at pepper. "It seems like it's some evolved immune system, but it seems to put the body under a lot of stress, causing it to shut down while it works." The doctor continued.

"So..." pepper said, trying to think.

"So, give her some time to rest, and she should be alright." The doctor said, with a smile. pepper let out a huge sigh of relief as he let himself fall into a chair that was in the room. "Feel better?" The doctor asked.

"I feel very relieved, so yes, I feel better." pepper said, smiling.

Kutsyo walked into the waiting room with the doctor. "Um... pepper." Kutsuyo said, trying to speak loudly.

"Oh, Kutsuyo!" pepper said, as he turned around when he heard her voice. "I'm so glad you're okay." pepper said, as he rushed over and hugged her. 'I guess those black cells must have been from Kutsuyon, if Kutsuyo dies then she dies too, so I guess she did that to protect her.' pepper thought, trying to make an explanation for the strange black cells.

"Well, she seems to be back to normal." The doctor said.

"Yes, she is." pepper said, smiling as he hugged her.

"We should go... r-right?" Kutsuyo said, realizing how much time they've wasted.

"You're right, it's been almost a whole night." pepper said, standing up.

"S-Sorry... for causing trouble..." Kutsuyo said, looking down.

"It's no problem, let's go." pepper said, grabbing Kutsuyo's hand. "Thanks, doctor, there's some money on the desk next to the chairs." pepper said, as both him and Kutsuyo left the hospital.

"Not much longer now, and we'll be home." pepper said, walking with Kutsuyo.

"pepper, what's that?" Kutsuyo said, loud enough for pepper to barely hear, as she pointed in the sky.

"Hm?" pepper muttered, as he looked up to see what she was pointing at, pepper saw the black planes again, but this time there were five. 'This again? What the hell?' pepper thought, as he looked up, feeling very uneasy about the black planes. "Those are planes, I think, though they're unusual and give me a bad feeling." pepper said, trying to answer Kutsuyo's question.

"Oh." Kutsuyo said, never having seen anything like it.

"Well... there isn't anything we can do just watching them, let's continue." pepper said, as he started walking, Kutsuyo followed.

"Here we are, The Platinum Star." pepper said, as stood infront of the hotel.

"Wow... You live here..." Kutsuyo said, getting a little excited.

"I do, but only one room." pepper said, failing as he tried not to disappoint her.

"...Oh..." Kutsuyo said, thinking she'd live in a big house.

"Don't worry, one day we'll have a huge house, maybe even a castle!" pepper said, mostly joking to try and cheer her up.

"Yeah, maybe." Kutsuyo said, smiling.

"Anyway, let's go inside. We should register you as a guest too." pepper said, as they began to walk into The Platinum Star.

"You ready?" pepper asked, about to open the door to their hotel room.

"Uh... y-yeah..." Kutsuyo said, feeling nervous.

"I'm back!" pepper said, as he opened the door.

"Daddy!" Kumo yelled, as she rushed to pepper.

"Hey, Kumo." pepper said, as Kumo hugged pepper.

"Oh, who's this?" Kumo said, as Kutsuyo peaked her interest.

"Um... I-I'm Kutsuyo..." Kutsuyo said, hinding behind pepper.

"Oh, are you shy? Sorry." Kumo said, backing away a little.

"Ugh, jeez... You had us worried y'know?" Niku said, walking out of the kitchen. "Dinner's almost done, gimme, like, five minutes." Niku said, as she walked back into the kitchen.

'I expected Niku to yell at me for bringing another female pepper home... Maybe she's just in a good mood?' pepper thought, as he watched Kutsuyo slowly enter the room.

"Fuhuhu... It's okay, I don't bite... Unless you want me to." Muma said, with a wink and a smile.

"Um... N-No thanks..." Kutsuyo said, softly, confused about why anyone would want to be bitten.

"U-Um... Would y-you like s-some... um... candy?" Utsu said, peaking her head out from the balcony door, holding a bag of candy.

"Oh... sure..." Kutsuyo said, trying to be loud, as she slowly walked over to Utsu and sat on the balcony with her.

"Daddy." Leia said, walking up to pepper.

"What's up?" pepper said, looking at Leia.

"I think that girl is cursed." Leia continued, pointing at Kutsuyo through the glass of the balcony door.

"Oh, yeah. Don't worry, she can control it now." pepper said, assuring Leia that it's okay.

"Oh, alright then, I'll trust your word." Leia said, walking back over to where she sat with Polly and Mae.

"Wait, dinner? It's almost six in the morning! The sun's about to come up!" pepper said, with confusion as he looked into the kitchen.

"We, like, waited on you, dumby, we can feel when you close, or did you forget that?" Niku said, rolling her eyes.

"O-Oh, that makes sense, sorry I made you wait." pepper said, realizing they must be hungry.

"It's fine, if we were mad you'd know." Niku said, getting things out of the refrigerator.

"Well, Kutsuyo and Utsu seem to be getting along pretty good, I'm glad." pepper said, talking to himself, as he looks to the opposite bed, seeing Niku, Utsu, Kutsuyo, and Peki all sleeping. 'This book though... It doesn't really tell me how to beat Zeus, it's more about his history, which I probably should have realized...' pepper thought, realizing he's still clueless about how to fight Zeus. 'Zeus is odd though... He really turned into a swan just to have relation with a woman...? I don't know, but this book said he did.' pepper thought, closing the book and sliding it under his pillow. 'I don't think I'll be able to sleep tonight, I'll probably just lay here a while, it's sunrise anyway.' pepper continued thinking, as he looked out of the balcony glass.