Chapter 1: The Missing Book

Red Blood Cell AE-3803 jogged quickly down the artery with her cart of oxygen. She took a left into a capillary, and squeezed her way down to an apartment at the end. She rang the doorbell.

DING-DONG.

A Normal Cell answered the door.

"Good morning! Your oxygen has arrived!" Red Blood Cell said.

"Thanks for coming through such a tight area. I know it's a bit of a squeeze," said the Cell Boy.

"No problem at all! It's all part of the job! Have a nice day!" she replied with a smile.

The Cell Boy laughed. "You're always so happy! I look forward to deliveries from you, they make my day."

AE-3803 almost stepped back in surprise, but the capillary restricted her movement. Instead, she proceeded to attempt an awkward bow in response to the cell's praise.

"Th- Thank you very much!" she said, gratitude flooding her heart.

She collected the Cell Boy's signature and excess carbon dioxide, squeezed her way out of the corridor, and made it out into the more open space of the connecting vein. She briefly took off her red jacket, reversing it so that the dark red side displays on the outside, while the bright red side was inside, indicating that she was now transporting the useless carbon dioxide to the lungs for disposal. With her jacket back on, she began on her way.

Then she stopped.

"Hmm… now which way is it?" she wondered aloud.

Just as she was pulling out her map, she heard a familiar voice.

"Big sister Red Blood Cell! Big sister Red Blood Cell!" a child's voice rang out.

3803 looked around for the source of the noise. She quickly saw the Platelet Leader waving and calling out to her. Leader-chan was being carried with her little friend wearing the backwards cap on the shoulders of a very familiar person.

"Hey, Red Blood Cell. How are you doing?" asked White Blood Cell U-1146. He walked up to 3803 at a leisurely pace.

3803 felt warmth rush into her chest. She and 1146 spent lots of time together, at least when they could spare it. He was very special to her, and she had no idea how to repay him for always helping her.

And, of course, the platelets were adorable. One could never not be overjoyed to see them.

"Platelet-chan! White Blood Cell! Good morning!" 3803 called out while they were approaching.

"Don't forget about me!" called the platelet with the backwards hat.

"Oh… I'm sorry, but I don't know what to call you," said 3803.

"Just call me Backwards Cap-kun. Everyone else does!" the young boy replied cheerfully.

"Okay! Pleased to meet you, Backwards Cap-kun!" said 3803, reaching up to shake his hand.

"Big sister, where are you headed to?" asked the Platelet girl.

"I'm going to deliver this carbon dioxide to the lungs… do you wanna ride?"

AE-3803 thought that White Blood Cell was probably getting tired from carrying the platelets around.

"Yayyy!" shouted the platelets as they scrambled down White Blood Cell and onto the box on Red Blood Cell's cart.

White Blood Cell groaned dramatically and stretched his arms. "I can walk with you all," he said. "You never know if an antigen will-"

He did not finish that thought before the radar on his hat popped up, alerting them to an approaching antigen. White Blood Cell drew his knife in a flash, immediately dropping into an attack stance, his eyes searching for the unseen attacker.

Suddenly, a giggling bacterium rounded the corner of a building.

The bacterium did not even have time to look their way as White Blood Cell shouted "ANTIGEN SIGHTED!" and pounced. Slashing his knife downward, he cleaved the germ in two. It barely got out a scream as cytoplasm spurted everywhere and the two halves fell down, unmoving.

White Blood Cell heaved as he stood over the bacterium. In the calm following his attack, he could hear something.

It sounded like… a woman screaming.

Screeching at the top of her lungs, a young woman wearing an entirely pink uniform, with blonde hair tied into two pigtails rounded the corner, a double-pointed spear pointed right at White Blood Cell.

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" she shouted.

"Whoa, WHOA, EOSINOPHIL, LOOK OUT!" White Blood Cell screeched.

Just in time, the woman lifted her spear so that the points were facing away from White Blood Cell. Unfortunately, she was too late to stop her momentum. Inertia carried her forward, so that she slammed full-force into White Blood Cell, knocking them both to the ground.

The woman quickly rolled off of White Blood Cell. Red Blood Cell ran over to help him stand up. She had met the woman in pink before.

"I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry!" apologized Eosinophil, bowing low.

"It's okay, I'm fine," replied White Blood Cell.

"Eosinophil, what happened? Why were you running after a bacterium?" asked Red Blood Cell.

Eosinophil flushed. "Uh, w-well… um…"

Red Blood Cell cocked her head. Poor Eosinophil's face was now a deeper shade of red than her bright pink uniform. Her bright blonde hair really stood out from her skin like this.

Red Blood Cell had met Eosinophil before, so she knew how flustered Eosinophil could get. She wished that Eosinophil could have more confidence. Red Blood Cell thought that Eosinophil was one of the coolest people she had ever met, and that she was also very adorable.

"I… uh… lost something…" Eosinophil said in a barely audible whisper. "I thought the bacterium t-took it… It was the first thing I saw w-when I noticed it was g-gone."

Now Eosinophil looked like she was on the verge of tears.

"Big sister Eosinophil, what did you lose?" asked the Platelet Leader. She and Backwards Cap-kun had approached the three cells.

Eosinophil seemed to calm down in the platelets' presence. At least, she stopped blushing so much.

Pulling down the bill of her cap to obscure her face, she mumbled, "A… a book…"

"What kind of book?" Leader-chan asked, cocking her head.

Eosinophil blushed harder. "Uh, w-well…"

White blood cell looked at Eosinophil sympathetically. "What does it look like, at least?" he asked kindly.

"It's, uh… pink… with red flowers on it…"

Red Blood Cell put her hands up to her face. "Oh my goodness! That sounds so cute!"

She hadn't expected Eosinophil to be able to blush harder, but somehow she did. With a squeak, Eosinophil united the fluffy ear flaps on her hat and pulled them down to cover the sides of her face.

"Don't worry big sister! We'll help find your book!" Backwards Cap-kun loudly said.

"Yeah! We can help!" Leader-chan chimed in.

"Th- thank you very much," Eosinophil whispered. She was doubled over, still pulling her hat down, unable to hide her embarrassment.

"Big sister, why do you need this book so much?" Backwards Cap-kun asked.

At this, Eosinophil simply plopped down on the ground. Still not meeting anyone's eyes, she said, "It's special to me."

A little hand placed itself on Eosinophil's shoulder. Looking up, her eyes brimming with tears, she saw the determined face of Leader-chan.

"Don't worry big sister, we'll help you!"