(Monthly) Short Story Writing Prompts Submission Thread

Discussion in 'Community Creations' started by AliceShiki, Oct 22, 2016.

?

June's Topic!

Poll closed May 21, 2018.
  1. Fictogemino

    6 vote(s)
    60.0%
  2. The Hero Proposed to me, but I'm the Demon King (or queen!)

    1 vote(s)
    10.0%
  3. Lights Out

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  4. Sinners

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. Continue A Story (Feel free to choose any of the 3)

    3 vote(s)
    30.0%
  1. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    I liked it!

    There were a few typos here and there I guess? In particular, here:
    I assume this is a "now"? Or was it purposefully "not"?

    That aside, I think it was a simple, but nice story, showing the life of someone that lost control over their own life, and can do nothing when faced with their own death.

    It was enjoayble to me! \(^^)/
     
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  2. Kudaranai

    Kudaranai                                                   

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    thank you, I did notice the typo after re-reading it but I guess you read it before I could edit but thanks for the remark \o/
     
  3. ChickenBakuba

    ChickenBakuba Well-Known Member

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    Just to be clear, we're supposed to write a story about the current theme for March: Tangled?
     
    Last edited: Feb 28, 2018
  4. Donutmindme

    Donutmindme [dounut][Zodiac:Golden snake][PROcrastinator]

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    Hellu, this my first submission to this thread. I don’t really write much, I’m a completely amateur writer. I do hope you all enjoy this.
    Genre: Romamce.
    Word count:940
    Walking down angrily to the car along with the rhythm of keys. Aisha is frustrated at herself for trusting him. With tears streaming down she quickens her pace, making the keys Jiggle more. Jamming the key in to unlock the doors, she makes an angry face.
    “Why did I ever trust you!”​
    She yells angrily as she starts the car. Holding the steering wheel tight, she slams her head on the wheel, causing the car horn to go off. Venting her frustration on the car horn, she looks up at her phone. Looking at the wallpaper she cries even more. The wallpaper of her and her only love.
    “Why? What did I do to deserve this?? TWO YEARS! AND I KNEW NOTHING! I TRUSTED YOU. So why....”​
    More tears run down along with her nose becoming runny.
    Angrily she starts going through all the photos of them. In the photos she looked so happy, and innocent. Her being the girl with curly light brown hair, and dark brown eyes, and big smile. The boy next to her smiling alongside her. Him and his silky dark brown hair, and hazel eyes, and sweet smile. You wouldn’t really think bad of him, or see him as someone really twisted. Those were the times before she even know what she had gotten herself into. This all began during the Fall of two years ago. _____________________________________________________________________________________
    I look at the time and class is almost over. The bells ring and I began to leave campus. The hallways flow with incoming students. I move along and see my best friends Lam and Cam. I’ve known those two since we were in diapers.
    “Hey Aisha so how how’s finals coming along?”
    “Cam, why are you asking this? Isn’t obvious? It’s going great, right?”​
    Lam turns to for my confirmation, but I look away. Lam gasps at my response.
    “No, it’s not. I… been distracted lately.” Lam now astonished, turns to Cam.
    “See I told you. Now you owe me, cuz I won this bet.” He grins at Lam, and began thinking of what to make her do.
    “Can you guys not use me betting materiel?”​
    “No.” Said Cam who’s still has that big grin.
    “I wouldn’t have lost! Tell me Ashia what got you so distracted?”
    “Uh..” I look away from the four eye that stare at me.
    “C’mon tell me. It’s okay I won’t laugh at you.”
    “Lam, this isn’t something that would be funny.”
    “Huh, why do you say that. Do you know something!?”​
    “Possibly, but I wouldn’t tell you anyways. Why don’t you ask her, and not me?”
    Lam pouts and she turns to me.“I have..uh..”
    “It’s okay just say we won’t judge you.”
    Thanks to Cam’s reassuring words I confessed to why I wasn’t doing so well.
    “I fell in love with someone..”​
    I blushed and turned away in embarrassment. Lam eye’s flashed and she gave me a hug.
    “Congrats on falling in love. I thought it was always weird that you didn’t have a single crush”
    “Lam calm down, stop hugging her so tight. How is she supposed to open the door?”
    Lam stopped hugging, and I open the door to the backlots. As soon we arrive to my car Lam asks me who was the lucky guy. I told them it was haz of the literature department. ____________________________________________________________________________________​
    Haz and I met each other by bumping into each other. At first we just pass by each other in the hallways. We sometimes see each other in some classes, but didn’t really interact much. It was then that we were put into a group project together. My somewhat small love for him grew as I saw him. Thanks to the project my love, and interactions with him grew. Slowly I got know him, I found out that we were more alike than I thought. The two of us had the same tastes and opinions. But of course we had some dislikes as well. But of course we had dislikes as well.
    Soon finals rolled around it was really unlike me to fail. I couldn’t stop thinking about him, I was really hesitant on confessing. My best friends found out I failed, and I ended up telling them why. After I told them they said they would have my back. Because of them I found some courage to confess. I call Haz down to confess.
    “Hey, Aisha perfect timing! Can you grab me the paperwork? I left them with you, so you should have them.”
    “Sure, I got them. So where do you wanna meet?”
    “Come to Pine Lane Park’s lot.”​
    “Kay I’m coming down there.” I walk down with the paperwork in a bag. My hearts begins race. This is the moment, I say to myself. While cheering to myself I see haz not too far. I quicken my pace, as my heart beats faster.
    “Here’s the paperwork you asked for.” Handing over the bag I look at haz’s face. His brown hair, and hazel eyes, and that are so up close.
    “Thanks, you know you’re the right person.” He gives me that sweet smile of his.
    “What? For what?”
    “I mean your the right person I’ve been looking for.”​
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I laugh. “Well, you flirt I think you’re the right person I’ve been looking for as well.”
    Haz raise his brows, “Oh really can you tell me why?” I pause then look over at him, preparing myself. For what was the biggest mistake in my life, that made me trapped in his hands.
    “I love you.” I shouldn’t have said this. I walked into a hell for this.
    ______________________________________________________________________________________
    “Goodbye Haz.” Aisha then deletes all photos of him, and drives home.​
    Imma add some character details about Cam & Lam later.
     
    Last edited: Mar 3, 2018
  5. Donutmindme

    Donutmindme [dounut][Zodiac:Golden snake][PROcrastinator]

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    Yes.
     
  6. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    I think it was a nice short story!

    Hmmmmmm... It feels a bit... Lacking though?

    I liked the protagonist, but I don't know what went wrong on her relationship or what made her say he lied and all that... Feels like it would be good to have some more details on the relationship itself, rather than only on start/end.
     
  7. Donutmindme

    Donutmindme [dounut][Zodiac:Golden snake][PROcrastinator]

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    Thx for your feedback.
    Ik it’s still lacking, but this was jus’ to get the baseline of the plot. I’ll flesh out the story and relationship of them more later on.
     
  8. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Good luck then! I hope you have fun with it! \(^^)/
     
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  9. ducpika

    ducpika Well-Known Member

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    March short story: Tangled in lust and deceit.
    World class pro gamer got trapped in a world similar to his favorite game, got royally screwed because of his insurmountable lust for in game women.
    Prologue:

    The wet and crudely-made binding coiled around Maria’s wrists like it had a will of its own, a real sentient being or a sea serpent, but she knew it was just her imagination. Her head felt light, a drop of sweat rolled down from her square shaped chin and fell on the baking sand, soon, another one followed.

    How many hours has she been forced to kneel like this under this blazing sun and this scorching beach? Maria gulped to wet her parched throat. A strand of Maria’s disheveled golden hair carried by a sudden gust and came into her view. Her once glossy hair, soft and shiny, prize, as beautiful as molten gold, now badly burned and damaged, not by the sun, never the sun. It was that terrible fire. That abominable blazing inferno that devoured everything Maria has tried to build for almost a decade, her greatest creation, her fortress, her only safe haven and treasures. Another scorching wind blew by, this time, carrying with it the occasional painful moans of two thousand men and women who were bounded, gagged and forced to kneel on this sandy beach. Maria could not care less about them, her subordinates and seadogs they were, badly burned and wounded, in a worse shape than she was, she could not care less about them. That hastily erected execution platform and that chopping block at the edge of her sight, she could not help but to keep glancing at it. She felt terribly ill at ease, a gripping fear that she had not tasted for over a decade overwhelmed her entire body.

    Suddenly the sand before Maria kicked up, a sofa has just landed from the sky. Regal red cushion with gilded crest rails and arm-tops adorned the sofa, making it looked like a throne worthy of a foreign king. Ten women in strange looking red and white costume alighted the sandy beach with birdlike gracefulness, descending from the sky with their equally strange looking broom in hands. Witches they were, these devils in white were there when those devils in black apprehended Maria and her seadogs, but they stood from afar, watching with their lord. The witches fixed the sofa’s posture, clamping its four golden legs into the sand utnil it looked neat and even. They lightly nodded their heads in satisfaction the moment they finished their job and quickly formed two rows on both sides of that golden throne.

    And winter came, winter has descended to this scorching southern beach in form of a deceptively delightful flirtatious laughter. If a laughter could bring forth winter and storm to this southern land, it’s this one.

    Maria unconsciously bended her neck, nobody told her to but she just did. Her eyes became transfixed at her own trembling shade and the skin of her entire body crawled whilst the ten women before her stood in attention.

    The sand beneath that ornate throne shifted, that’s how Maria realized that the lord of winter and storm himself has sit on his throne. The laughter suddenly stopped, only to be replaced with wet smacking sounds, reminded Maria of the sounds she heard when her seadogs kissed the whores they captured.

    She dared not look up. She could only wait within that suffocating atmosphere and that sweltering heat. Eventually, those wet smacking sounds came to an end, substituted with playful gigles between loverbirds.

    Maria held her breath, how could such playful giggles could sound so terribly terrifying? But that long silence followed after that made Maria wanted to run out of this strange place. It was as if there was a thousand of million of red ants crawled beneath her skin at the moment. That long silence was suffocating and dreadful.

    “So, you are Maria the Black Storm of Skull Island?”

    Suddenly that suspenseful silence was snapped by a deep and penetrating male voice.

    “Yes, my lord,” Maria replied. She bit into the inner part of her lips as she gave her reply to mask her own clattering teeth. Not like that it would help, her entire body was trembling from her own cold sweats.

    “Oh, it’s my Lord this time and not son of bitch? Why the sudden change of heart?”

    The voice cracked, playfully and innocently, like that of a spoiled child who has just received his favorite gift from his own parents.

    “This lowly person did not know any better back then, please be merciful my lord,” Maria gritted her teeth to conquer her inner fear. Her finger nails dug into her palm to remind her that she should not falter here. As long as she kept her wit, she could survive through this ordeal to turn things around.

    “Okay, I can forgive you for that. I have a soft spot for beautiful women like you,”

    “You are mag…”

    Maria never have the chance to thank that man and used that opportunity to turn this conversation around in the direction she desired. She was cut off, he meant to cut her off, purposely.

    “My dear Maria, why did you insist on picking a fight with me? Was you drunk when you made that statement?”

    Ah, so it’s finally here, Maria thought. She has prepared a fitting answer to this question. And yet, the way this man asked her in his playful and frivolous made his question felt almost bizarre to her.

    “No, my lord, I…”

    “It’s fine. Anyone can make that kind of mistake. In fact, I do all the time. The last time I was drunk, I declared war against the Great temple and when I woke up with a horrible hangover, I was horrified to find that I have burned alive five hundred paladins and another three hundred inquisitors of the Great temple,” he cackled in a cheerful voice just like he was trying to tell a joke.

    Maria could not gave a reply. Her body went stiff. She would not mind if he was talking to her in a condescending manner of a captor to a captive, or threatening or mocking or sarcastic voice. It was this overwhelming playfulness and cheerfulness in his voice that made everything about him so dreadful.

    “…”

    Of course, Maria had heard of that rumor, that this man earned his title the Witch King by setting fire on the very headquarter of the Inquisitors and paladins, the Great temple of Sinintee on Lake Shore Isle. But she had dismissed that as some nonsense.

    “I ask again. Was you drunk when you declare your intention to fight me, or was you sober and awake when you make that statement?” the man readdressed the question, this time less playful and more somber, as if he was genuinely confused.

    What was she thinking when she picked this fight? Why did she even think that she could win? Why did she believe that she would be safe from someone like this? Why did she pick a fight with this man? Why did she declare that she would fight such a terrifying devil? The man seemed to ask and Maria could only agree, only insane people would pick a fight with this great insanity of a man.

    “Forgive me my lord, I was drunk,” Maria replied, not an answer she wanted to give, not a smart answer either given her situation, but what choice did she have? If she replied that she was sober, burned by the stake for sure. Would he tolerate her if she try to change the frame of this question, picking another answer instead of the yes and no she was given? No, he has cut her off twice, showing his unwillingness for her to do that. What choice did she have? None.

    “It’s fine. I understand. I can’t blame you for being drunk. Shit happens when we are drunk. Suddenly, I feel like we can become friends with each other,” that mismatching playfulness returned to his voice.

    “This lowly person would not dare,” Maria inadvertently prostrated.

    “Don’t talk like that. Raise your head, my dear,”

    “My lord, I would not dare,”

    “Raise your head. Show me your face,” his voice carried no cheerfulness and frivolousness this time. A commanding and resolute voice befitting to that of a king compelled Maria to raise her head.

    There sat a man whose appearance was the very darkness itself in this scorch of high noon. His hair was dark and long, tied backward into a pony tail. His hair made Maria wondered if this man was even human, only a dark elf would possess such lustrous black hair, or perhaps he came from a rare union between a man and a dark elf.

    His sharpened wolfy eyes were like the very reflection of a starless night, dark and hypnotic. Those dark orbs made Maria felt like she could lose herself within their hypnotic allure just like when she stared into a moonless night sea. Chiseled jawline on a regal feline face, his face was terrifyingly beautiful for him to be a man, and yet, too handsome to be a woman. Maria had seen a real prince once, charming and allure he was, but completely pale in comparison to this man. This person was a charming prince among even the most charming princes and princesses, and yet Maria was completely terrified. His skewed lips curved into an inviting smile, never Maria has seen a smile so beautiful, something to sigh over and yet equally crawlingly terrifying.

    The man wrapped himself in a strange looking tanned leathery fabric, dark and glossy just like his own hair. Intricate words of unknown language were embroidered on his left chest in golden thread, a strange symbol that resembled five hands place on each other wove just above those strange letter. These detailed embroidery were vivid and seamless like nothing else Maria has seen. His costume added a mysterious alluring substance on this princely man. In his left hand, a contrasting white feathered fan to elegantly fan himself.

    Standing next to him were two beautiful women in red and white costume of the witches. One was as beautiful as a treasured sword of an ancient hero, adorned but sharp and deadly while the other was like a flower on a treacherous mountain top, gentle, elegant and dignified. Even for someone who took great pride in her beauty, Maria felt insecure being in the presence of these women. They were without a doubt the most gorgeous looking women she had ever seen in her entire life. They both had a large canopy in their hand to shield that princely person from the scorch of high noon.

    “You are indeed as beautiful as the rumor said, my dear. Perhaps, even more beautiful than my companions here,” he joked, and all of a sudden, his own treasured sword slapped him soundingly.

    Maria forgot to breathe in that instance. She just stared at the surreal scene before her in suspenseful silence. It’s not like that woman slapped that hard… but… What did that insane woman just do? A bead of sweat rolled down Maria’s cheek.

    The Witch king turned his sight on his treasured sword, his eyes rolled in disbelief, his hand palmed where he was slapped. And suddenly, his just giggled as the rest of his witches in red and white costume broke into an infectious giggle fit. His treasured sword was the only person who could keep a straight face through that. The Witch king pulled his treasure sword close and planted a playful kiss on her rosy lips, prompted a blushing smile on her face. The surreal scene before Maria unfolded as if it was a part of a play that was rehearsed by these actors and actresses over and over again until they were used to it.

    “Now back to you, my dear Maria, I gave you the opportunity to surrender, did I not?” the man held himself back from his own giggle, fanning himself and his two ladies with his white feather fan.

    “My Lord, you did,” Maria admitted.

    “Twice, I had sent my envoys to give you the chance to surrender. Each time, you sent back their heads. Was you really that drunk when my men dropped off your island?” he asked, still smiling and weathering through his own incessant giggle.

    “No, my lord…” Maria tried to reason and immediately, she was cut off again, however this time, the Witch king did not make so much of a noise. The smile on his face vanished without a trace, and so did his giggle, like a handful of sand dissipated within a strong wind. That prompted Maria to rescind her answer, “Yes, my lord.”

    “You are such a bad girl, getting drunk all day long. I can forgive you for being drunk like that. I feel like you would do just fine in my company. However, those two lives that you took were my men. I could not let that crime go unpunished. My dear Maria, there is nothing I want more in this moment than put your pretty head on a stick and make an example out of that. The people of this southern continent would sing my name for a century for doing so. And even the kings and queens who you angered, they would soon send me letters and gifts to praise me for this achievement.” He declared the most dreadful thing with the most charming smile on his face. His voice was soft and sultry just like he was welcoming Maria into his own court, and yet he has just announced his attention to behead her.

    Maria has finally understood what’s so terrifying about this man. It was this mismatching smile and voice he employed in this situation. Maria stared at the man while silently gulping. Her own head and the two thousands heads of her seadogs were resting on her shoulders.

    Maria, the Black Storm. She gained a notoriety for becoming a pirate lord that commanded the Black Mast- a raiding force of over two thousands pirates and regularly leaded them into many large raids across the eastern coastal area of the southern continent. She struck fear into the heart of every man and woman of the seven kingdoms of the southern continents, especially those who live in the coastal area.

    A great many times, the kings and queens of the seven kingdoms have formed a coalition, uniting their navy forces to assault Maria and her Black Mast in their main base at the Black Skull island, not once they were anywhere near achieving it. The geography of Black Skull Island made it so that it was extremely easier to defend than assault and those who weren’t familiar with the water would have their ship sunk by the shallow shoal and natural reef that surround the island. The mist that constantly surrounded the island also played a large role to its natural defensive prowess. The entire island was a natural fortress for Maria and her pirates. The coalition tried to change their approach and decided to ambush Maria on many occasions, but she outsmarted them every time.

    She was invincible. Her Black Mast was undefeatable, that was until this man whose appearance was darkness and whose voice was winter came. He came with his army of witches, flying above the Black Skull Island on their brooms, and turning the island itself into a raging inferno. The shallow shoal and the reef did nothing against things that flew like birds. And the Skull fortress built out wood and stone, it did little to stop things that breathe fire like dragons.

    Maria and her crews abandoned their burning fortress and ran for the beach, hoping that they could reach their boats in time and that was where they were routed. A thousand pike-men and bowmen waited for them at the beach along with a hundred of witches hovering above the sky in their strange looking brooms. Maria and her crew had to make their choice, to die in the flame or die at the pike or surrender, and most of them chose surrender wisely.

    “So this is Fearless…” Maria bitted her lips and swallowed the frustration of her shameful defeat.

    A man who dared to openly challenge the Great temple and fought for the witches. A heretic among heretics, the slayers of paladins and priests and the witch king himself. Fearless was his name, the appointed Pacifying General of Blue Moon kingdom.

    Maria has faced brave knights and nobles in battle before, she had fought against terrifying pirate lords whose faces disfigured with scars before to stand where she stood today, but none terrified her like this man. Even though, she was so sure that he would not kill her like he said. If he wanted to make an example of Maria, he would have done it by now. Maria knew she still had her uses.

    “You would not kill me, wise lord,” Maria spoke adamantly. She could not afford to be dawdled in his mind game.

    “Oh, I would not be so sure about that,” the man smiled innocently and prompted her to continue.

    “Nobody know the water of this entire southern continent better than me. If you allow me to live, you will gain a… “

    “Naval commander? I have already had one. Why and how do you think that I have succeeded in locate your fortress and fell it this morning?” the man interrupted. His hypnotic eyes half closed. His lips curved into a wicked smile for the first time, “I have already had one excellent naval commander. I don’t need another, especially one with the level of infamy as you my dear.”

    “Wise lord, surely you…” Maria shuddered and immediately tried to reason.

    “Maria, my sweet Maria, I will let you know that I am an impatient person. Make it fast so that I can go home and have my afternoon nap,” the man once again interrupted Maria.

    “My Black Mast would only listen to my command. Let me live and you will have two thousands men at your service,” Maria sweated and bit into her lips to stop her teeth from clattering. She did not expect the man to not even considering making her his naval commander. She was the woman who commanded a bunch of lowlife uneducated foolish seadogs to outwit and outfight even the navy coalition of the seven kingdoms and yet he did not even consider adding her to his service.

    "Those seadogs you mean," the man pointed his fan at the 2000 tied pirates, “I don’t need that many untrustworthy men under my belt. In fact, what I am about to do after I’m done with you is culling their numbers. I will make them fight among themselves, killing themselves and cutting their size into a number that I see fit.” The man chuckled in his frosty voice as he waved his fan, “Surely, I can’t expect to control 2000 rowdy and undisciplined seadogs by myself all at once. But, I can easily do that with a three hundred or so, don’t you think? And for the other 1700, I will put their head on a pike to appease the anger of all men and women of whom you people plundered, robbed, raped and killed.” The witch king said, his voice was still as inviting and alluring as ever, and yet, he had declared Maria useless for his cause, sealing her fate.

    A tear inadvertently rolled down her cheek when the realization that her ambition and quest for revenge has come to an end hit her.

    The man sighed unwillingly. He rose from his adorned chair and approached Maria. His witches alarmed and tried to prevent him from doing so but he casually shrugged them off, waving his fan,

    “Maria, oh sweet Maria,” he gently brushed away the tears welled up in her eye corners with his thumb. His whisper gave Maria chill. Her body suddenly felt cold like she has just been tossed into the night sea of the Northern realm despite the scorch of high noon she felt until recently. Her knees went soft like jelly-fishes and she weakly crumbled into the burning sand before her, or so she thought she would but instead found herself in the cold alluring embrace of winter and darkness.

    “This is your last chance,” whispered the man into Maria’s ear as he slowly combed her damaged and burned golden hair with his slim fingers, “Tell me, why else should I keep you alive?” and then he whispered sweet nothing into her ears.

    His two ladies quickly dragged him back to his luxurious chair and sat him down. They admonished him and then stared at Maria with angry eyes. The man broke into a childlike laughter, playfully pulled the witches toward him and sat them down on his laps. He coltishly kissed the witches as they giggled, and flirtatiously planted a kiss on his cheeks in respond.

    And Maria, she knew the answer to save herself, a wind of winter has whispered to her.

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

    Maria, the very Black Storm herself, she was one of the sixty three playable warlords in the tactical roleplaying war game Reign of Chaos. She can be also recruited as a vassal upon defeating her pirate group, at a great cost of raising the ire of all the seven rulers of the Southern continent of whom kingdoms she constantly raided.

    Why would someone go through such trouble of recruiting her? Recruiting her meant going to war with the other six kingdoms of the Southern Continent at the same time. Why should I recruit such a character? One might ask such a question and I can only answer to such question with a question of my own, “Why not?” This is no longer the game, the game has become a reality.

    Surely, recruiting her meant declaring war against roughly half of the kingdoms in the southern continent and her loyalty rating is atrociously low in the 30s which meant she could easily turn against you at any crucial moment. Also, despite Maria being a very capable naval commander, making the top 40 best naval commander in a colossal roster of over 300 naval commanders in the game, there were many other characters with better stats and skills that can be recruited for that position. She was not even that smart, like seriously, what make her think that I would spare her in the first place? Her Majesty the Queen gave me an Imperial decree to publicly execute Maria the Black Storm upon captured.

    But look at her, the gods can be damned, seeing her in real life, she was drop-dead gorgeous, a thousand times prettier than her in-game pixels rendered self. Her tan skin was glossy and soft like honey, stirring the desire to lick and savor every bit of flesh on her body. That cascaded golden hair even when disheveled and damaged by fire and ash did nothing to diminish her beauty if not erecting the perverted desire of a man to own and dominate her.

    My god. It was as if a goddess had descended from the Heaven. This woman possessed a beauty that worth waging war against the world. This woman’s beauty could even contest Her Majesty the Queen’s and my own lovers’ in term of raw power.

    I meant who care if she was a psycho bitch who commanded 2000 pirates that looted, plundered, killed and terrorized an entire seven kingdoms. Who care if she was the psycho bitch that slit the throat of her own husband in their wedding night to steal his troops? Who care if she had a terrible personality? Who care if she would later stab me in the back or slit my throat? I’m sure that she would do that at the first chance she had. But she's worth it. L’oreal should seriously hire this woman to recast their “Because I’m worth it” commercial. Her beauty would make even the Helen of Troy in the Iliad hung her head in shame. Standing in front of such beauty, even the like of DiaoChan of the three kingdoms era would hung herself to dead out of jealousy.

    “My Lord, calm down and put those coins away,” that husky voice came to me in a quiet whisper. I looked at my right hand, it was holding my magic coins since gods knew when. This is bad, my long time habit is resurfacing. I made a fist with the coins inside my right palms and reopened my fist afterward, the coins have disappeared.

    “When I told you put them away, I did not mean for you to do it in that manner, my lord. It looks freaky, I have told you many time. And I have bought you that fan for this purpose,” Louise’s admonishing voice rang inside my ears.

    “My bad, old habit die hard,” I raised my white feathered fan to cover my mouth and whispered right back to Louise. She used the spell “Phantom echo” just in time to remind me to not lose my head over my own crotch. That was dangerous.

    “Recompose yourself my lord. Don’t lose yourself in your desires and make irreversible mistakes.”

    “Thank you Louise, I don’t know if I can do this without you.”

    “Of course you can, my lord, you are my equal. And you can adore me later. Sir Eliot has been very discontented with your recent actions. Please, focus. This is a crucial moment.”

    And Louise ended our short discussion like that.

    Sir Eliot, the queen’s eyes who silently stood in a corner to detail my every action to the queen disapprovingly raised his eye brows when I approached Maria, and my royal guards had to pull me away from Maria to save me from myself. Of course, I noticed his dissatisfaction. It’s just that my mind was full of Maria that I could not care less about anything else.

    Her Majesty the Queen knew my bad habit, that’s why she appointed Sir Eliot to watch me. Sir Eliot would never allow me to let Maria live because that was the queen’s decree. Maria must die.

    Maria, you are most unfortunate. The moment you decided to slit the throats of my messengers, your fate has been sealed. Today, you are going to die.

    “Wise lord, please allow this humble self to live. I will forever be your slave and possession. I will be your woman, your bodyguard, your animal or whatever you desire me to be. Please spare me,” Maria prostrated flatly on the ground as she shamelessly begged for her life, the way I have told her.

    Bang, I inadvertently hit my palm full force against the chair’s arm rest and made the people around me flinched. Even Sir Eliot who stood at the corner of my vision flinched.

    I gritted my teeth, clutching my feathered fan tightly to keep my composure. And it turned out that my composure was crumbling at the blinding speed as I spoke in a burst, “Are you for real? You are supposed to appeal to me, but not for your fucking life, it’s the lives of those two thousands seadogs of yours over there. You are their leader. You are supposed to plea to spare the lives of your people. If you at least that minimal amount of dignity, I could have spare you.”

    “Lord, but you…”

    All the testosterone in my head vanished in this single instance like a popped water balloon only to be replaced by the pure coldness of the mind.

    “Maria Black Storm of Skull Island, you keep disappointing me until the very last minute. For your crime of piracy and the crimes you have committed against the people of all seven kingdoms, I sentence you to a most dishonored death. Witches, strip her and take her away. Executioner, get your blade ready” I coldly waved my fan and a row of witches moved forward to grab Maria.

    The witches immediately tore Maria’s iconic black robe into shreds and dragged her away, “My Lord, please, no…” Maria desperately begged, could do nothing against the witches.

    “General, you can’t kill her here. We have to bring her back to the capital for the queen to arrange her public execution," Sir Eliot ran over and kneeled before me as he advised.

    “Sir Eliot. You good sir, I am sick of this woman. She's cruel, shameless and disgusting. Public execution is too good for the like of her, that way, she would appear in another paragraph or two in the future history books. That is undeserving of her. I refuse to allow that to happen.” I waved my fan and coldly stated.

    “General, Her Majesty the Queen has decreed that the Black Storm is to be escorted and publicly executed in the capital. That is the royal decree.” Sir Eliot respectfully bowed as he looked back and forth between me and Maria, “You can’t do this General. The Queen would have your head this time. Please listen to me.”

    “Sir Eliot. I’m afraid that you will report to Her Majesty the Queen of what transpire today as follow. I, General Fearless has chopped off the Black Storm’s head and put it on a stick despite the order I have received, that's it. I will not argue with you any further about this good sir.”

    “But general…” Sir Eliot groaned and had that torn look as he watched Maria being dragged to her execution platform, knowing that he could do nothing to change my mind. The good Eliot was more afraid of me being killed by the Queen afterward than earning the Queen’s displeasure himself.

    Maria struggled for her dear life as she was dragged away by the witches. She kept begging me, “Lord Fearless, have mercy,” struggled and struggled as the witches dragged her up to the execution platform and at one point, she won, tumbled over the platform and dragging my witches with her.

    “Knock the living out of that shameless woman for me. She keeps getting on my nerve,” I ordered and the witches with their reinforced battle brooms received the order, clubbing the daylight out of Maria Black Storm. The beating went on and on, showed no sign of stopping. Only when Maria became bloody, tattered and completely immobile in a pool of blood, the witches would then resume dragging her naked body and tossing her over the chopping block.

    “I will leave the remaining matters to your able hands, Sir Eliot. I find no stomach in watching how the head of such a shameless woman would roll. As for those 2000 seadogs, do with them as we have been discussed,” I rose from the chair, “You can have this chair and the canopies. It’s better for your health to work in the shade.”

    “I have received my order, general. And I wholeheartedly pray that Her Majesty would not cut your head, general” Sir Eliot respectfully replied and added his concern.

    “Good, I will go back to my mansion now and have my afternoon nap. Once you are done, visit me at my mansion for the report.” I walked away as soon as I finished my order.

    As I walked to my carriage, I looked at the lifeless and bloody figure of Maria the Black Storm on the chopping block of which retained none of her innate unearthly beauty. I sighed languidly and never looked back at her figure again. At the edge of my vision, the executioner aligned the execution platform with a large execution blade hung over his shoulders. As I was about ten steps away from my carriage, I can hear a clear thudding sound of the execution blade hitting against the chopping block.

    XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

    “This lowly self has really thought that she was going to die,” gold was her cascading hair, honey was her skin. She dressed in the adorned white and red of the battle dress of Fearless’ royal guards, adding a mysterious allure to her curving body, turning her into a bundle of flame which men would strive to touch even if they know they would be burned to ashes. A drop of crystal rolled over her cheek and a sultry smile spread thinly on her lip as she snuggled into the unfamiliar chest of Fearless.

    “Maria the shameless died today,” Fearless replied, “From now on, you are Aria, my naval battle advisor and concubine to be,” he said and wrapped his arms around the woman’s thin waist, playfully kissing on her beautiful nape.

    “My lord, you should have killed her, not sparing her like this,” a cold and emotionless voice resounded, making the newborn Aria flinched away with teary eyes, “I can’t believe that you could pull that off.”

    Fearless turned and saw an angry girl sitting next to him. The witch battle dress she wore gave off a different vibe compare to the other woman. She looked pretty, like a doll. Her skin was pale and satin like. Her hair was gold, not the gold of molten gold like the other woman but platinum gold like that of sun light. Her sapphire eyes reflected a flame of anger. And Fearless immediately tried to appease her, gently straddled her cheek with his hand, “It’s alright, Louise. The Queen is the only one person in this world who could guess why I did this. It’s fine. Her Majesty will punish me but I bet that all the kings and queens from the east coast area that this mischievous Aria angered will write letter to ask for my pardon,” Fearless said, stroking both Louise’s and Aria’s head at the same time.

    “We will be fine,” he said, initiating a kiss on his War Doll’s lips.

    “One day, you might be brought down by your lust, my lord,” the girl said her final pieces and resignedly accepted the kiss with all of her lord's affection.

    The words of his War Doll spelled like a prophecy for that Fearless.

    Even though he understood that, he could not help it, such was his nature, and such was the cursed star he was born into. The fault lied with his star, never him. Even though he knew that the newborn Aria was definitely thinking that she has won this gambit and believe that the only thing she must do for the moment was bidding her time and waited for an opportunity.

    Fearless knew that she would stab him when he was most vulnerable. This woman pulled that tricks twice with her fiancée and husband, but Fearless was neither a love-struck noble man nor a stupid pirate. He has made plan to train her properly after this to see just how troublesome she could be. He would be very delighted if she somehow exceed all of his expectation, not that it would happen, Louise would see through her scheme and kill her before that. And Fearless would be very heartbroken if that happened.

    He turned and sealed Aria’s lips, her eyes swimming and accepting, but he was sure that inside that head of her, she’s up to no good. If only she has learned her lesson like a good girl and if only she knew what he has planned for her in the future, Fearless secretly laughed, amused by his thought.

    He knew that keeping this troublemaker Aria would bring the Queen’s sword to his neck. But he got to do what he got to do. He only need two more cards until he can turn his wishes into a reality.
     
    Last edited: Apr 25, 2018
    Silver Snake and Donutmindme like this.
  10. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    Square brackets for spoilers and so on in BBcode.
     
  11. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Hmmmmm... It was interesting, somehow it gave the feeling of a translated WN for some reason, what made me realize it was not, was the reference to Helene of Troy.

    I don't have much to comment on, really, I liked the feel it gave overall though~
     
  12. HikikomoriGirl

    HikikomoriGirl Well-Known Member

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    Hi! This is my first time participating, I thought it looked interesting
    and so I gave it a go. The theme seemed interesting too, and so
    I tried my best.(‐^▽^‐)There might be some errors, so I'll edit it again later. ^^

    Title: Tangled, Untangled
    Word Count: 1750
    Summary: A teenage boy who has his heart broken finds himself standing in front of a vending machine at the park near school and runs into a young man who dresses flashy. Unexpectedly, he starts sharing his troubles with him only to find out that he is...
    Genre: Slice of Life
    Living for 16 years without encountering anything bad, without any regrets or confusion and without any hardships is what some would call ignorant and others a blessing.

    I have a wonderful family with parents and two siblings. We aren’t necessarily wealthy; however, we do not have any troubles. We are what others would label as middle class. My family is rather close to each other and we spend our time together laughing. My younger sister is cute and loves it when I spoil her. My big brother goes to a famous University dedicated to science and technology and when he has time he helps me study.

    At school I have many friends with both girls and boys my own age. I’m in the tennis club so you can say that I’m athletic. But don’t be mistaken, I’m also good with studying and have decent grades. Though I have many friends, there is only three that I’m really close to. We’re childhood friends and even our family is close with each other. And most importantly, I have a girlfriend who I’ve been together with for two years.

    All in all, you can say that my life so far has been uneventful and peaceful, with not complications or confusion…at least, it was until now.

    With my head tilted back, staring in a daze at the bright, bright sun, I found myself sitting on the bench at the park filled with people near my school. For the past week, without my family noticing, I didn’t attend school.

    Strange. Too strange. Shouldn’t my teacher have notified my parents of my absence by now?

    I sighed.

    “Hey Kou, what’s with the sigh on such a beautiful day?”

    Suddenly the voice of a man came from next me. I jumped up, startled only to see that at some point, while I wasn’t paying attention, a young man who was dressed flashy had come to sit next to me on the bench.

    “W-who are you, old man?”

    “Old man?! Do I look old to you?!”

    I blinked my eyes, sat down and sighed again, ignoring him.

    “Say, I’ve been seeing you around here the past week looking all gloomy. Shouldn’t you be in school?”

    I glared at him. “What about you, old man? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

    He kicked my leg angrily. “Don’t worry. I am properly working.”

    “I’m against violence!”

    He kicked me again.

    “Anyways, why the long face? On such a sunny day, where even the birds are singing in joy, why aren’t you enjoying it and instead have an expression that says it’s the end of the world? Come, come and tell me what’s on your mind!”

    I looked him up and down, with doubt on my face.

    “Hey, hey, hey! Just because I’m so good looking and dressed nicely, doesn’t mean I’m suspicious!”

    Good looking? Dressed nicely? I admit that he has a pretty boy appearance, but his clothes obviously look as if he works as either a host or with the mafia.

    He cleared his throat. “I’m older than you so there might be something I can help you out with.”

    Well, why not? Maybe I’d feel better talking about it to someone. “Have you ever been betrayed by people you care for?” With my head hanging down and my hands entwined, I asked him in a low voice, waiting for his answer.

    “Hmm…it depends on what you mean by betray?”

    “Huh? Isn’t that obvious?”

    He smiled. “Betrayal is defined differently for each person depending on where that person draws the line. Betrayal for one person, might be something ridiculous for another.”

    “I don’t really understand but what I experienced, I think anyone would consider it to be a betrayal.”

    “Then lay it on me.”

    “…Two weeks ago, someone sent me a picture of my girlfriend kissing my childhood friend. I couldn’t believe it, so I followed them after school and found out that it’s true! And it seems they have been doing this for a while now.

    After a minute passed and he still didn’t say anything I glanced at him to find that he had covered his mouth and was trying hard to suppress his laughter. When I saw that I blushed and stood up, intending to leave. He quickly grabbed my hand. “S-sorry, it’s just that when I saw your expression that looked as if you wanted to die, I thought it was something serious.”

    “Even though it might seem silly to you, it’s a life or death situation for me! We’ve been together for two years, you know?! I-I really love her…I even thought we might get m-married one day. And out of all people, why with my childhood friend?!” I yelled at the top of my lung.

    The people walking by stopped, startled at my outburst. Embarrassed, I sat down, and they continued walking.

    The young man next to me grinned. “Brat, you’re too early to think about marriage.” When I wanted to yell at him again, he held up his hand and there was three 100-yen coins laying there. “You see that vending machine over there?” He pointed to the area across from where we were sitting.

    I nodded, confused.

    “I want you to take this change and buy something with it. Make sure you use all of it.”

    “What for?” I stared at him dumbfounded. Weren’t we talking about something important? And now he wants me to buy something from the vending machine? Exactly what was he thinking?

    “Just go!” He waved at me.

    I sighed again. I can’t believe I trusted that someone flashy like him would understand me. Whatever. I’ll just do what he says and get it over with.

    Eh?

    I tried putting in the change again, but the vending machine rejected it and gave it back to me. Thinking that maybe something was wrong with it, I tried the two other vending machine only to have it do the same thing.

    “Maybe something is wrong with all three of them?” That’s what I thought until another person next to me successfully bought something. I tried again after that person, but it still didn’t work. Frowning, I went back to the flashy man who was grinning at me and gave his change back. “For some reason, I can’t buy anything.”

    The flashy man smiled and picked up one of the 100-yen and handed it to me. “Look at it closely,” he said.

    I frowned harder. “What are you ta…” I stopped talking when I noticed that there was something weird about the 100-yen. “T-this is fake!”

    “You see, when I handed you the change you didn’t immediately realize that one of the coins was different from the rest.” He handed me the other two 100-yen coins. “But, if you had stopped to look at it for even one second, you would have realized the truth.”

    “Exactly where are you going with this?”

    “Have you talked with your girlfriend? What about with your childhood friend? Instead of sneaking around, maybe you should confront them about it?”

    “Something like that, I already know without you saying it.” I mumbled. “But it’s not that easy!”

    The flashy man stood up and pointed at the change in my hands. “There are things we overlook without realizing it. We then end up later regretting that we didn’t take a closer look and that maybe if we had, things wouldn’t have ended up so complicated. Yes, it’s not that easy…but that depends on if you want to know the answer or not.”

    The flashy man stretched his arms and smiled. “I hope that when we meet next time, you have an answer.”

    After he left, I sat there for another hour and thought about what he said. It took another hour for me to make my decision. I looked at my cell phone to see that it was close to the time of when they would meet at that place.

    I found myself running before I knew it and finally made it to their meeting place. It was at the family restaurant that took about half an hour to get to from school. When I finally made it, I saw them both sitting inside, eating, laughing and holding hands. I clenched my fists and knocked on the window near where they sat.

    After clearing things up on that day, I started going to school again.

    During lunch break, I took my time to go buy something to eat. When on my way there I heard the voice of someone familiar talking to two other students who I didn’t see the face of. When I realized who it was, I couldn’t help but laugh. When they finished talking, I went up to the familiar voice.

    “Is this what you meant by sometimes overlooking things teacher?”

    “I’m not a teacher, but rather the counselor. It’s amazing that you don’t know the face of your school counselor. I guess I should be happy about it since it means you didn’t have any troubles until now.” The flashy man (though he was dressed nicely now) raised his eyebrows. “Do you remember the first thing I said to you when we met?”

    I thought back to it and my mouth twitched I realized something.

    “Hey Kou, what’s with the sigh on such a beautiful day?”

    “Hey Kou…”

    He had called me by my name!

    He grinned. “So, what about it Kou? Do you have an answer for me?”

    “Yeah, but you already knew, right?” I sighed again. Exactly how many times have I sighed since I met this man?

    “That’s right. But it wasn’t something I could reveal since it would mean revealing another student’s privacy.”

    “I see, I understand. And the reason why the school didn’t call my parents have something to do with you, right?”

    He patted my arm. “I told you that I was properly working, didn’t I?” When he moved out the way and left, I found the two students he was talking to still standing there. It was my friend and girlfriend…or rather ex-girlfriend.

    On that day when I confronted them, I scared but glad. Although I knew our relationship couldn’t return to how things were, I was okay with it, because I learned something that I would have regretted not knowing.

    She looked at me with shock and tears in her eyes. And his expression changed to one of guilt. But you see, when I saw this, for some reason, the twist in my heart untangled.
     
  13. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    That was a pretty good read! \(^^)/

    Somehow, just like the MC, I also forgot that the counselor called him by name at first, so I think you did a good job with it!

    Hmmmmmm... I have a hard time thinking of feedback to give... I liked the story, it was really nice, I really liked how the counselor laughed at his face when he said the cheating was a betrayal!

    I also liked knowing that it wasn't just a misunderstanding, but rather, something that shouldn't ruin their relationship... It's nice to see a story in which the world didn't end because something bad happened.

    I liked your style! I hope you keep on participating! *hugs*
     
  14. HikikomoriGirl

    HikikomoriGirl Well-Known Member

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    @AliceShiki If his name was longer it probably wouldn't have worked. Like Kyouichiro. ^^ I was trying to go for something...happy, I guess. I planned on revealing the reason his girlfriend cheated on him...but it would made it a sad story. I'll probably keep participating, since it's a great opportunity for me to write something new. Thank you! *hugs* (≧◡≦)
     
    AliceShiki likes this.
  15. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Teehee, choosing a short name was a good choice then! *hugs*

    *nod nod* I think you did well with not showing it, like... It would show the situation better, but would lose some of the feeling... Like this it is great! \(^^)/

    Please do keep coming! Next theme should come in a few days! ^^)/
     
    Last edited: Mar 14, 2018
  16. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    Hey, what happens if I'm still writing my December story
     
  17. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    Post it whe you're done of course! \(^^)/

    Just leave a note at the start saying it is for december's theme... Will make it easier for me to put stuff on the ToC.
     
  18. NZPIEFACE

    NZPIEFACE Leecher

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    :sweating_profusely:
     
  19. AliceShiki

    AliceShiki 『Ms. Tree』『Magical Girl of Love and Justice』

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    :blobpats::blobpats::blobpats::blobpats::blobpats::blobpats::blobpats::blobpats::blobpats::blobpats:
     
  20. HikikomoriGirl

    HikikomoriGirl Well-Known Member

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    @AliceShiki Thank you! I'll keep an eye out on the next theme. ^_^
    And also, here is my revision of Tangled, Untangled. I'm not really
    good when it comes to editing, though I tried my best. ^^
    And there is some changes, but nothing major.

    Theme: Tangled (March)
    Title: Tangled, Untangled
    Word Count: 1968
    Summary: A teenage boy who has his heart broken finds himself standing in front of a vending machine at the park near school and runs into a young man who dresses flashy. Unexpectedly, he starts sharing his troubles with him only to find out that he is...
    Genre: Slice of Life
    Living for 16 years without encountering anything bad, without any regrets or confusion and without any hardships is what some would call ignorant and others a blessing.

    I have a wonderful family with parents and two siblings. We aren’t necessarily wealthy; however, we don’t have any troubles. We are what others would label as middle class. My family is rather close to each other and we spend our days laughing and sometimes have disputes. Nothing serious though. My younger sister is cute and loves it when I spoil her, though she can be rather stubborn at times. My big brother goes to a famous University dedicated to science and technology and when he has time he helps me study.

    At school I have many friends with both girls and boys my own age. I’m in the tennis club so you can say that I’m athletic. But don’t be mistaken, I’m also good with studying and have decent grades. Though I have many friends, there is only three that I’m really close to. We’re childhood friends and even our family is close with each other. And most importantly, I have a girlfriend who I’ve been together with for two years. My classmates all say we make a good couple, though I don’t really get it. What makes a good or a bad couple? All I know is that she’s someone special to me.

    All in all, you can say that my life so far has been uneventful and peaceful, with not complications or confusion…at least, it was until now.

    With my head tilted back, staring in a daze at the bright, bright sun, I found myself sitting on the bench at the park filled with people near my school. For the past week, without my family noticing, I didn’t attend school. It was my first time skipping.

    Strange. Too strange. Shouldn’t my teacher have notified my parents about my absence by now? I closed my eyes since the sun was making it painful to keep them open and sighed.

    “Hey Kou, what’s with the sigh on such a beautiful day?”

    Suddenly the voice of a man came from next to me. Startled, I jumped up to see that while I wasn’t paying attention, a person had come sit next to me on the bench. He stood out from the crowd, as he was dressed in silky bright red clothes.

    “W-who are you, old man?”

    “Old man?! Do I look old to you?!”

    I blinked my eyes, sat down and sighed again, ignoring him.

    “Say, I’ve been seeing you around here the past few days looking all gloomy. Shouldn’t you be in school?”

    I glared at him. “What about you, old man? Shouldn’t you be at work?”

    He kicked my leg angrily, probably in protest that I called him old again. “Don’t worry, I am properly working.”

    “I’m against violence!”

    He kicked me again.

    “Anyways, why the long face? On such a sunny day, where the birds are singing in joy, and laughter fills the air, why aren’t you enjoying it and instead have an expression that says it’s the end of the world? Come, come, tell me what’s on your mind!”

    I looked him up and down, with doubt on my face.

    “Hey, hey, hey! Just because I’m so good looking and nicely dressed, doesn’t mean I’m suspicious!”

    Good looking? Dressed nicely? I admit that he somewhat has handsome features, but his clothes obviously look as if he works as either a host or with the mafia.

    He cleared his throat. “I have a job, I’m older than you, and have many experiences with girls, therefore, I believe I’m qualified to help a youngster out.”

    Well, why not? Maybe I’d feel better talking about it to someone who doesn’t know me. “Have you ever been betrayed by people you care about?” With my head hanging down and my hands entwined, I asked him in a low voice, waiting for his answer.

    “Hmm…it depends on what you mean by betray?”

    “Huh? Isn’t that obvious?”

    He smiled. “Betrayal is defined differently for each person depending on where that person draws the line. Betrayal for one person, might be something ridiculous for another.”

    “I don’t really understand but what I experienced, I think anyone would consider it to be betrayal.”

    “Lay it on me then.”

    “…Two weeks ago, someone sent me a picture of my girlfriend kissing my childhood friend. I couldn’t believe it, so I followed them after school and found out that it’s true! And it seems they have been doing this for a while now.”

    After a minute passed and he still didn’t say anything I glanced at him to find that he had covered his mouth and was trying hard to suppress his laughter. When I saw that I blushed and stood up, intending to leave. He quickly grabbed my arm. “S-sorry, it’s just that when I saw your expression that looked as if you wanted to die, I thought it was something serious.”

    “Even though it might seem silly to you, it’s a life or death situation for me! We’ve been together for two years, you know?! I really love her…I even thought we might get m-married one day. And out of all people, why with my childhood friend?!” I yelled at the top of my lung.

    The people walking by stopped, startled at my outburst. Embarrassed, I sat down, and they continued walking pretending as if nothing happened.

    The man next to me grinned. “Brat, you’re still too early to think about marriage.” When I wanted to yell at him again, he held up his hand and there was three 100-yen coins on his palm. “You see that vending machine over there?” He pointed to the area across from where we were sitting.

    I nodded, confused.

    “I want you to take this change and buy something with it. Make sure you use all of it.”

    “What for?” I stared at him dumbfounded. Weren’t we talking about something important? And now he wants me to buy something from the vending machine?

    “Just go!” He waved at me.

    I sighed again. I can’t believe I trusted that someone flashy like him would understand me. Whatever. I’ll just do what he says, get it over with and leave.

    Eh?

    I tried putting in the change again, but the vending machine rejected it and gave it back to me. Thinking that maybe something was wrong with it, I tried the two other vending machines only to have it do the same thing.

    “Maybe something is wrong with all three of them?” That’s what I thought until another person next to me successfully bought something. I tried again after that person, but it still didn’t work. Frowning, I went back to the bench. “For some reason, I can’t buy anything.”

    The flashy man smiled and picked up one of the 100-yen and handed it to me. “Look at it closely,” he said.

    I frowned harder. “What are you ta…” I stopped talking when I noticed that there was something weird about the 100-yen. “T-this is fake!”

    “You see, when I handed you the change you didn’t immediately realize that one of the coins is different from the rest.” He handed me the other two 100-yen coins. “But if you had stopped to look at it for even one second, you would have realized the truth.”

    “Exactly where are you going with this?”

    “Have you talked with your girlfriend? What about with your childhood friend? Instead of sneaking around and blaming others, maybe you should confront them?”

    “Something like that, I already know without you saying it.” I mumbled. “But it’s not that easy!”

    The flashy man stood up and pointed at the change in my hands. “There are things we overlook without realizing it. We then end up later regretting that we didn’t take a closer look and that maybe if we had, things wouldn’t have ended up so complicated. Yes, it’s not that easy…but that depends on if you want to know the answer or not.”

    The flashy man stretched his arms and smiled. “I hope that when we meet next time, you have an answer.”

    After he left, I sat there for another hour and thought about what he said. It took another hour for me to make a decision. I looked at my cell phone and realized that not only would they meet today, but they should already be there.

    I found myself running before I knew it and finally made it to their meeting place. It was at the family restaurant that took about half an hour to get to from school. I saw them both sitting inside, eating, laughing and holding hands. I clenched my fists and knocked on the window near where they sat. They raised their heads and looked straight at me.



    After clearing things up on that day, I started going to school again.

    During lunch break, I took my time to go buy something to eat. When on my way there I heard the voice of someone familiar talking to two other students who I didn’t see the face of. When I realized who it was, I couldn’t help but laugh. When they finished talking, I went up to the familiar voice.

    “Is this what you meant by sometimes overlooking things teacher?”

    “I’m not a teacher, but rather the counselor. It’s amazing that you don’t know the face of your school counselor. I guess I should be happy about it since it means you didn’t have anything bothering you until now.” The flashy man (though he was dressed nicely now) raised his eyebrows. “Do you remember the first thing I said to you when we met?”

    I thought back to it and my mouth twitched when I remembered.

    “Hey Kou, what’s with the sigh on such a beautiful day?”

    “Hey Kou…”

    “Hey Kou…”

    He had called me by my name!

    He grinned. “So, what about it Kou? Do you have an answer for me?”

    “Yeah, but you already knew, right?” I sighed again. Exactly how many times have I sighed since I met this person?

    “That’s right. But it’s my responsibility to keep my student’s privacy confidential. I can’t reveal it without their permission even if you know each other.”

    “I see, I understand. And the reason why the school didn’t call my parents is because of you?”

    He patted my arm. “I told you that I was properly working, didn’t I?” When he moved out the way and left, I found that the two students he was talking to earlier was still here. It was my friend and girlfriend…or rather ex-girlfriend.

    On that day when I confronted them, I was scared but felt relieved. When I had found out the truth about their relationship, everything came crashing down. I thought that I would never get rid of that feeling. Although I knew our relationship couldn’t return to how things were, I was okay with it, because I learned something that I would have regretted not knowing. That’s why I’ll wish them the best.

    She had looked up at me with shock and tears in her eyes. And his expression had changed from surprise to guilt. But you see, when I saw this, for some reason the twist in my heart untangled.
     
    Last edited: Mar 18, 2018