Willful Beauty Takes the Villain | System | BxB

43: The Administrator

"....." Sen Shuai felt complicated, his feelings must have shown on his face.

"That's right, I'm super old! Do you still love this great ancestor?" Jia said with every bit of smug shamelessness he could muster.

Sen Shuai chuckled. "En." 

"Little Shuai, I'll show you around the human-system coalition multiverse. There are so many amazing things to see and do." 

The excitement in Jia's voice warmed Sen Shaui's heart. "En, I'll look forward to it."

"It'll be even better than when we roamed around in your original world. But before that, what sort of tasks do you need to do in this world?"

"The main tasks are; live a satisfying life independent of the body's family, prove to have more value than a mere tool of war, ruin the nanny. There are a series of small tasks that seem to improve the success of the main missions."

"Should be fun." Jia rubbed his hands together, looking forward to doing tasks with little Shuai.

"Do you have tasks too, Jia?"

"Sort of. I made a deal with the soul of this body. I'll rebuild his families former wealth. Enough to guarantee the family thrives for five generations. In return, he freely abandoned his body to me."

Sen Shuai raised an eyebrow. "So the original doesn't have to die?"

"Mhm, there's a variety of circumstances we can use to gain a body."

"Why do any of this at all?"

"To gain energy, when the natural path of a world is altered, some energy is released. We can harvest it. Humans use it to travel between worlds. The systems live off of it. We send a portion back to the hub world to support our current society. There are more ways to use it than I even know."

~~~

.....the medic and the soldier.....is it fate that it's them?.....consider these memories a memento.....may it cause you both turmoil

~~~

The night before the mission. 

The entire platoon of soldiers is all out drinking, except for the commander. When he arrives, everyone cheers but he just strides straight to me. The stone-faced commander actually looks angry when he stops in front of me. "How much did you drink?" he demands.

"A couple sips of this," I hold up a small glass that is still mostly full. "It's only my first drink. Isn't it fine? You know we never go overboard before a mission, hell you're usually drinking with us."

"Not this time." He pulls me out of the bar walking briskly down the street. He doesn't let go of my hand and I don't mention it, savoring the rare warmth. The walk to the commander's apartment is silent.

I had never seen this apartment look so messy. I'm looking around curiously when I'm pulled against the commander's broad chest, hot lips on my own. 

"Commander!? Are you drunk after all?" I'm to shocked to kiss him back. Our first kiss and I'm too stunned to properly enjoy it.

"Totally sober. And I wanted you to be too." He reaches up touching my chin, ghosting across my lips, my ear. Then he's holding the back of my head, fingers entwined in my hair as he pulls me into another kiss. This time I'm ready, fully matching his passion.  

"Will you be with me tonight? I have a bad feeling about this one. I think.... we won't all return from this mission." He truly looks scared, I've never seen this stoic man so expressive. He's always so calm and collected, to see him afraid is twisting my heart painfully.

He rested his forehead against the other's temple. Their breaths mingled.

Sen Jia awoke from the immersive dream. The long-repressed memories leaving a bitter feeling in his heart and a tear sliding down his face.

~~~

We all called him the musical medic. 

He didn't even seem to notice how often he sang or hummed while he patched us up. It did more to relax me than any of the drugs he packed around to numb the pain. 

I would watch him intently as he worked. His hands so agile and precise, the look of concentration on his face, the humming, it was all so mesmerizing. I watched secretly out of the corner of my eye until I realized he was too focused to notice. After that, I openly stared at him every time. As he completed the procedure, I would look away.

Sen Shuai woke up feeling confused. That dream felt just like a memory, like the other dreams he had been having. It was an entirely different life though. 

A/N Do you think Jia will feel guilty about finding a "new" love and forgetting his commander? Will this cause turmoil like the mystery voice wants? I don't know either, I have ideas for both ways. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯