#I didn��t put Far From the Madding Crowd on here because it gets a little fraught in the middle there

[kitykat18]

Behind Their Smile

Seven boys who meet each other, help one another, but will that help them to get them out of there misery. are they gonna be okay or is it gonna make it worse? who is able to help them? are they gonna be okay? 

Nethan

 After school I usually have a part time job in a tank station, but today I was free, lucky!! After school today I went to the convenience store and bought some food, when I arrived at my house, which is actually a hut in an abandoned train station. I heard someone behind me ‘’you live here?’’ when I turned around I saw Tobias there with a surprised face. ‘’what the hell are you doing here?! Did you follow me?!’’ I asked ‘’well…yes I did follow, but before you get mad I have a good reason’’ ‘’it better be good’’ ‘’well you see it’s your birthday today’’  ‘’I don’t celebrate my birthday, and you know that’’  ‘’well that’s the whole thing, I found that weird so I wanted to surprise you. But I didn’t know you were hiding something like this. Why did you hide it?’’  ‘’because I don’t someone’s pity because of my situation’’  ‘’but if you told me or showed me I could’ve helped you, even know I can help you. It’s not bad to ask someone for help and you know that because I got that from you. But how did you get in this situation?’’ ‘’first come in.’’ We walked in and I made him some coffee. We sat down, and he went straight to the point. ‘’now tell me what happened’’  ‘’well when I was thirteen my parent died in a car crash, I had no siblings, so I stayed with my uncle. My uncle was a nice guy, he had to work hard for money, so I also started a part time job at a convenience store, to help him with some groceries and stuff. After a few month’s my uncle died of overworking, he already had a weak heart. He did leave some money but it wasn’t enough, so I asked a friend of mine if he had a place for me to stay in,  with a low rent. After asking he showed me this abandoned train station and told me that if I built a house here, I could live here without rent. So I took the deal. I started building, I know it’s not the best, but I like it and I can survive. But the place was too far from my part time job so I quit and found a tank station close by, and now I work there.’’  ‘’I see. So that why you’re grades came down. I thought that was weird, you are the smartest guy I know. I should’ve known by then. I guess I was just that stupid’’ he said, but it wasn’t his fault ‘’it’s not your fault. I didn’t tell you because I was scared of what you would think of me, after you would find out about it.’’  ‘’come on dude we are friends’’ he said why he put his arm around me. I guess this is what I needed it, I should have told him sooner.                                                                            After talking a bit, he started looking around, not that there is a lot to see. ‘’what is this? Did you write these?’’ he asked, I didn´t know what he was talking about until he turned around with a black notebook in his hands. ‘’wait, no don´t read that’’ I said while walking towards him, but he started acting like a child and running out of the house. ‘’if you tell me what it is’’ he said. ‘’fine! I tell you so give it to me’’ ‘’no, tell me first and then I will give it to you’’ honestly he is such a child. ‘’these are lyrics, well rap lyrics’’ I confessed, ‘’I didn’t know you could rap, why didn’t you tell me?’’  ‘’I don’t rap, I just like making them’’  ‘’can you try and rap it for me’’ ‘’I just told you I don’t rap’’ ‘’yes, you said you don’t rap, doesn’t mean you can’t. so let me hear it.’’ After some complaining, I rapped a little part of my rap. ‘’see you can rap. Why aren’t you showing that to anyone else?’’ ‘’well because I can’t get anything from it. If I rap on the street I only hear people complaining, so I stopped’’ ‘’so you want to get some money for the rapping’’ I nodded. ‘’I just know the place, it’s a place I go for some easy money. You down?’’  ‘’is it illegal?’’  he nodded no ‘’I trust you on this, lead the way’’

After I asked him to lead the way, he took me to a restaurant. ‘’weren’t you going to show me where I could rap’’  ‘’be quit not everyone knows about this place. Chef!!’’ I heard him scream, after that I saw a tall man, taller than me, come out of the kitchen. ‘’suga, my man!’’ he said while laughing historical, he had a deep voice. ‘’how are doing, I haven’t seen you for a while. Why didn’t you come?’’ ‘’I was busy, sorry. But I brought someone and he is good’’ the tall man looked at me up and down ‘’well if you say he is good he must be. You know where to go’’ they shaked hands and Tobias walked to the door which was the back door. ‘’is suga your stage name?’’ I asked ‘’yes, you like it. Don’t worry you will get one too after they see you rap’’ ‘’I see, I cant choose my one name?’’ ‘’depends on how good you are, but since you will show a original. I think you can choose you own stage name. so I think its better if you think of one right now’’ I nodded.                                                                                                                                        After walking for a minute there was a stair that was going down, after we went down we could hear some music and someone rap. When we arrived at the door Tobias turned and said ‘’welcome to the MAZE’’ and he opened the door. I heard a loud beat and someone rap and the crowd cheering. After that person was done a man with a microphone ‘’and that was Ethan everyone give him a applause. Now it’s 9 pm and you guys now what that means, well expect for the newbies, yes I said newbies. cause today is audition time’’ everyone cheered. ‘’ calm down everyone, tonight we have not 2 but 4 participants, how about that. This is gonna be one hella of a night you guys. Goodluck to all the newbies’’ after that some music was played my lower than before. I saw Tobias walk to me ‘’well what do you think of it for your first time?’’                                                  ‘’it’s nice, but it’s not only rap is it?’’  ‘’your quick. But yes it’s also singing and dancing.’’ ‘’I see, but how is this going to work?’’  ‘’okey let me explain. There are three categories rap, sing and dance. You will go in group rap with me and some other people, there are different levels. The higher you go up with levels the higher the amount will be. But to go levels up you need to win competition, those are 1 on 1 in the beginning but the higher you go, the more people you need to work with. So  I hope you can work with people and can listen to other people, because if you can’t you wont be able to win the matches. Right now I’m at level 9, it’s a low level but that’s because I haven’t come in a while. There are 70 levels, every 10 levels later 1 person joins your group. Every group has 7 people in it, and when you have your group you still have one match of 10 levels you do with your group and that’s the last contest. Oh and on that day there is a high possibility that agents of some big companies and some small companies, and it’s the choice of the leader to pick the company you want to join. Does that answer your question.’’  ‘’yes it does, just one more question. Can you still choose me even if I am still not higher than level 10?’’                                            ‘’yes it is, I will just put your name on my list, but I can’t compete until you finish you first 10 levels.’’  ‘’I see, do you already have company you want to join?’’ ‘’what are you talking about, you are going to be our leader.’’ ‘’wait! What?! Why, I just started this stuff’’  ‘’yes, but I know from myself that I can’t keep up with people I get angry easy, and you have a way of talking to people that puts them in ease.’’ I know that he can get pretty angry ones he is annoyed, but still this is a lot of pressure. ‘’what if I pick a company the rest of the group don’t want, and what if’’ ‘’okey I’m stopping you there. Look you don’t have to choose the company on the day it self, they will leave there company cards with you and then you can talk to the rest of the group.’’  ‘’I see, can I still pick someone else as the leader later on the contest?’’  he nodded a no.   ‘’okey, bu’’ when I wanted to say something the host came up the stage.  ‘’you guys let get this started!!’’ everyone started cheering. ‘’our first participant is Jonathan and he will be singing for us, let all hear some applause for him!!’’ everyone cheered, whistled and started clapping. I knew i know that name it was Jonathan from our school, but what is he doing here, I thought he was loaded. He started singing and the whole room was in silence. His voice was so nice to listen to he had a high voice and clear, it was beautiful. When he was done it was still quit for a few seconds and then he started clapping and cheering, and me too. I really liked his voice. The judges were talking among them self, when they were done the told him he was accepted. One of the judge asked ‘’do you know what your name will be?’’ ‘’yes I chose the name Jin’’ after saying that he walked of the stage. I walked up to him, ‘’heyy Jonathan!’’ he turned around and was surprised to see me. ‘’wait you are… Nethan right.’’ ‘’yes I am, what are you doing here?’’ ‘’when I heard about this place I thought that I wanted to something new.’’  ‘’I see. You were amazing out there’’ ‘’thanx, when are you up?’’ ‘’I think I’m third’’ ‘’okay well good luck.’’ He waved and left.                                                                                         

After the second participant the host called my name, I went up the stage and it was frighting but I mustered up my courage and started rapping own of my own rap. When I was done one of the judges asked me ‘’I don’t know this rap, who’s is it’’ ‘’it mine sir’’  everyone looked shocked and then the judges started talking among them again, after the were done they told me I was accepted. The judge: ‘’ did you choose a name?’’  ‘’yes sir, I chose RM’’                                                  

The rest of the participants didn’t go through, they were good but most of them forgot there lyrics or there moves.   Now the game started. Let’s hope I can find people who are willing and want to join my group.

~note~

i’m sorry if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes, it’s my first time posting my story. Please leave down your opinion so that i can learn from them, and if you like you can put down your own ideas for books that i should write, mabey a short story. you can also message me :). 

This book is an idea I had from one of BTS their album, which is called; The most beautiful moment in life: young forever. It’s a very nice album, please listen to it and watch it. 

[polaristranslations]

The Third Box

   ■   ■

Kurokami Maguro.

That was the name of the brother two years older than me, Kurokami Medaka, but it would end up being quite a long story for me to speak of him properly. It would be long and dense, going into the minutest of elaborate details. Indeed, Kurokami Maguro was one that was hard to cover in just one or two days—not that I would be able to spend one or two days continuously talking to you in the first place.

I'm sure you don't have that kind of free time, either.

Rather, without even needing to spend a whole day's worth of time trying to explain him—Torai Kudaki, from your standpoint, you should already be aware of his name and several things about him. Even if you don't know about him as a brother to me, you should still know about him as a person.

Because, while he's no longer enrolled now, last year he was still a full-fledged second-year student here at Hakoniwa Academy, back when you joined as a first-year.

And he was one of the "Thirteen Party" involved in the Flask Plan—as the one who attended Hakoniwa Academy while supervising the Flask Plan, he should be pretty well-known to you.

What?

You've heard his name before, but you don't really know the details?

So that means you're not aware of Kurokami Maguro as a student of Hakoniwa Academy, nor are you aware of Kurokami Maguro as the manager of Hakoniwa Academy's old school building, "Ghost Babel", which he became after he dropped out.

Hmm.

That's a little unexpected.

As his sister, I always thought he was a bit of a conspicuous brother, but perhaps he doesn't stand out as much when he mixes in with the crowd—no, that might not be it either. It would simply be a matter of course that I didn't know about the parts of Kurokami Maguro that I didn't know.

That man—who I would define as someone unable to fit in with society and someone who always stood out no matter what they did—could have actually lived out a normal student life, completely beyond my expectations. At the very least, to the point that he was able to slip through your field of vision, Torai Kudaki.

To the point that he could fool people.

He could have actually lived out a decent student life.

What might my brother have been doing without me knowing?

I wasn't aware at all.

That was true for him at Hakoniwa Academy, and perhaps that was true for the Kurokami family—and it was true for Hakobune Middle School as well.

I just hadn't been aware.

Despite being his sister, even though I was his sister, I just didn't know anything.

What my brother did at that school, what he did under President Kumagawa as a member of the 66th Generation Student Council Executive Committee—I had had no clue.

Not an inkling.

I—had known nothing.

Secretary Kurokami Maguro.

My brother.

My older brother.

Before describing the activities of Hakobune Middle School's 66th Generation Student Council Executive Committee, before describing the movements of Hakobune Middle School's 66th Generation Student Council Executive Committee, I must first introduce him.

   ■   ■

Of course, even in the present, it's not like I know enough about Kurokami Maguro to the point of introducing him. And not in the past tense but in the present tense, or even the present progressive tense. If I had to sort everyone into people I knew and people I didn't know, then even now, that man would belong with the people I didn't know—well, of course, that's just a figure of speech, because obviously I know him, being my brother and all, plus the fact that he helped out so much when I was performing my Student Council duties here at Hakoniwa Academy. What I didn't understand would be, well—you would think there would be limits to one's impropriety, right? That's one thing. But beyond that.

He was an enigma.

A bottomless enigma.

To put it more commonly—he just didn't make sense.

I've said before that one or two days wouldn't be enough once I got started discussing him, and for Kurokami Maguro, coming from his sister, I felt these apprehensions that, no matter how many words I used to describe him, they would end up veering away from the truth. In other words, I was apprehensive that it wouldn't just be a huge time sink, but it would also end with me spouting complete nonsense.

It could just end with me slandering him, or at least making meaningless complaints—and I'm sure that you wouldn't want to hear that either, that it would just be a bother for you. What you want to hear, in the end, is about my days in middle school—specifically, the relationship between me and Kumagawa Misogi in our middle school days.

However, on top of that, even if you take into account the halfheartedness of my information, we still won't be able to get through this without me speaking of Kurokami Maguro. That's how much of a key person he is, an important character in this story.

Although, I have to say it seems hard to believe that now—since the current Kurokami Maguro is the kind of person that dislikes taking center stage the way he did in the past.

No, that personality of his, where he loves to devote himself to working behind the scenes, was something he still had back then—that's how he was able to grow the Kurokami Group from one of Japan's top corporations into one of the world's top corporations.

As for his position at the head of supervising the Flask Plan—well, in the first place, the Flask Plan itself could be said to be coming from the underbelly of Hakoniwa Academy. So it's really just his record at Hakobune Middle School, where he worked as a member of the Student Council Executive Committee, that was an exception for Kurokami Maguro.

But why?

Why did my brother, at that time, take center stage? Did he consider it a good thing?

You can consider this important information, and perhaps even foreshadowing, for when I speak of the record of activities of Hakobune Middle School's Student Council Executive Committee up until that summer break—so don't assume it's not important and forget.

The reason I'm telling you this distasteful story—this story where, the more I speak, the more down I feel—is because, Torai Kudaki, I believe that you are fundamentally approaching this sincerely. And you shouldn't forget that.

So at the very least, don't nod off on me—well, I'm only joking about that.

Don't get mad at me for that. You sure are a serious person—well, but actually, I may have been like that as well, back in my first year of middle school. In particular, with a brother that possessed a frivolous behavior and a facetious attitude in front of me, it felt like I was always getting mad.

I figure people like Zenkichi will tell me that I'm still like that—and from his point of view, it may look like the relationship between me and my brother has hardly changed—but, being the very person in question, I would say it's not like that at all.

Putting aside how my personality may have changed—that brother of mine has definitely mellowed out a bit compared to his time in middle school. And I'm sure Zenkichi would agree with me on this—since he had been a victim of my brother's strictness quite a few times in middle school.

As for what could have led to my brother's mellowing out, we can speak of that at another opportunity, but for now, let us discuss my brother from before he mellowed out—Kurokami Maguro, when he was still working hard as an active student, standing out exceptionally at center stage.

If I recall correctly, my brother was far more active as a key figure among the people of the Kurokami Group during this period of his as a third year in middle school—in my case, when using the term "golden age" to define my first year in middle school, it may be possible to object to that idea, but for my brother, it is quite undeniable that his golden age was his third year in middle school.

When he was together with Kumagawa Misogi.

It was surely that time.

Which was why I often got mad at him.

And he was on the receiving end of my anger quite often—but not once did he endure my anger, nor did he respond to it.[?]

Both at school, and at home.

In the end, until everything was over and I left home—and even after I left, and even up to right now—I don't think there's been even one moment where my brother and I properly understood each other, and properly communicated with each other.

Kurokami Maguro.

What exactly could he be thinking?

   ■   ■

By the way, Torai Kudaki.

Do you have any siblings? A brother or a sister, either is fine—so you have an older sister and a younger brother? I see. Your sister is in college while your brother is in elementary school—well, the reason I asked this was because I wanted to hear your understanding of sibling relations.

As I've already mentioned, I couldn't say that I'd been on good terms with my brother—and I probably can't say it even now. It's not exactly that we're unfriendly with each other, but I can't deny that we fail to reach each other in the same way we reach other people.

That's why, Torai Kudaki, if you simply told me that all sibling relations are basically like that, then it would really put my mind at ease—oh, but you get along, do you?

Your sister likes to dote on you, and you find your brother cute?

Splendid.

Then, as I suspected, that would mean my relationship with my brother is not exactly a common one—although it's not exactly shocking to hear that now.

"Wouldn't it be better if you just refused now, Medaka-chan?"

said Zenkichi.

"After all, Medaka-chan, if you'd already known that Maguro-san was enrolled in the Student Council Executive Committee, you woulda refused from the start, right? Seems kinda like a scam, if you ask me."

It wasn't like Zenkichi, my childhood friend, wasn't aware that I was on bad terms with my brother, which is probably how he was able to think it out and say what he did. Rather, the fact that he was my childhood friend more or less meant that he was also my brother's childhood friend—so he himself was well aware of who Kurokami Maguro was.

By the way, my brother had only been strict with us in middle school, and when we were younger we simply played together a lot normally—the three of us, me and my brother and Zenkichi, would often play by climbing the jungle gym.

I wonder if that jungle gym is still there now?

I remember fitting all three of us on a swing set, too. Although we'd never be able to do that now.

Yep, the three of us just played together normally.

If there was something that could have caused a rift between me and my brother, then it would be—

"Y'know, about Maguro-san. He's changed since he got into middle school, don't you think? Like, he got weirdly serious all of a sudden. Well, I guess it would be a bit before he got into middle school? Maybe it was when he started helping out with the family business—"

I thought it was unusual to describe management of the Kurokami Group as the family business, but regardless, what Zenkichi said wasn't that far off the mark. However, entering middle school or helping out with the family business—that is, helping out with operations in the Kurokami Group—those could really just be considered indicators on a timeline, or easy-to-understand checkpoints, or simple landmarks. But they weren't the cause of such a change.

The reason my brother changed—or rather.

The reason my brother became bent out of shape—would be something Zenkichi didn't know about, in other words, family matters. It would be a few more years until Zenkichi learned about those family matters, or basically, it was this year.

Zenkichi's a guy with some pretty bad timing.

"—Well, it could just be that he's gotten busy with lots of things. I guess even if we were childhood friends, once we end up in different school years, it's hard to keep being close, huh. No matter how I see it, it's gotta be more fun with people in the same year."

It seemed Zenkichi had convinced himself with that reasoning.

Of course, that probably wasn't wrong, either. It might feel a bit shallow to reason that he was like that because he was doing business with adults, but if you considered that Kurokami Maguro at the time was working together with a boy named Kumagawa Misogi, then that reasoning could actually be pretty profound.

Or even deep-rooted.

"My brother's in the Student Council... I don't think it fits him."

I gave my impressions in response to the information that Zenkichi told me.

Well, these were just my honest impressions.

My brother's nature fundamentally seemed more suited to being the producer of those with talent. His enjoyment and devotion to behind-the-scenes work stems from that power of his as a producer. So, naturally, when I heard that my brother was a member of the Student Council Executive Committee, I couldn't help but feel a sense of discomfort. A severe sense of discomfort.

To reiterate, the Student Council Executive Committee differs in nature between Hakoniwa Academy and Hakobune Middle School—Hakobune Middle School's Student Council had no mentality of "working behind the scenes" or "supporting the academy from the shadows".

Hence the discomfort.

It felt rather odd, yet it also piqued my curiosity—why did that brother of mine enter the Student Council Executive Committee? I couldn't just stand by without knowing.

"I wonder,"

I said.

"I wonder if my brother also entered the Student Council Executive Committee after being invited by that person—that Student Council President?"

"Hm? Well, I dunno about that... But that's definitely true for that Servant of Destruction-senpai. Turns out, as a matter of fact, that that guy's actually something like one of President Kumagawa's underlings."

But was that the case?

Was it really fine to just go with the explanation that he was simply an underling?—was that all it was, the relationship between Kumagawa Misogi and the Servant of Destruction? Of course, I didn't think that that explanation was necessarily wrong, and it wasn't like I was particularly interested in debating Zenkichi on the matter—but I couldn't help but feel that there was more to the relationship between them than just that.

Was it because of the Servant of Destruction's movements?

Or was it because of Kumagawa Misogi's movements? I didn't know yet.

Not to mention, according to Zenkichi, I had a bad eye for seeing people, so my eyes may as well have been black holes when it came to viewing people's relationships, so if I had voiced my concerns, it could've ended with me being laughed down.

Zenkichi continued.

"I find it hard to believe that Maguro-san shares the same position as the Servant of Destruction as President Kumagawa's underling, though—I don't think I can imagine that guy as working under someone else."

"Indeed. But Zenkichi, if you're going to say that, then I have no intention of simply being a follower of Kumagawa's, either."

"Eh? Really?"

Zenkichi spoke as if this was a surprise.

From Zenkichi's point of view, he must have hated the idea of me working under someone else even more, because somewhere in that expression of surprise of his, I felt that there was a hint of relief as well.

"I thought for sure, Medaka-chan, that you'd ended up surrendering to President Kumagawa."

"Why would I even need to surrender when we weren't even fighting... I just happened to take an interest in what he said. An interest, or perhaps... It piqued my curiosity, you could say."

Hm?

What's the matter, Torai Kudaki?

You're making the same surprised face, almost like Zenkichi's from three years ago.

Ah, is that it—that's what you found surprising.

Indeed, me being interested or curious about something may come as a bit of a surprise to someone who only knows the Kurokami Medaka from Hakoniwa Academy, the Kurokami Medaka that was the Student Council President.

However, at the time, I was simply a student that had newly entered middle school.

Of course, I was still immature in terms of age, but on top of that, I wasn't a person with any sort of position, either—even if I'd already held the doctrine that I was born to be of use to other people, I hadn't yet taken up the responsibility to play that part, to take on that role.

I was someone who simply moved on interest or curiosity.

Yes, that's why, unlike the time when I became a candidate for Student Council President of Hakoniwa Academy—unlike when I decided to become Student Council President after being deeply moved by the former President's actions—the reason I decided to enter Hakobune Middle School's Student Council Executive Committee was, yes, mostly out of those kinds of motives.

That bizarre aura that the boy named Kumagawa Misogi put out.

I wanted to try investigating it.

There was probably no better saying that fit me at that time than the saying, "curiosity killed the cat"—although that's only something I can say right now. At the time, I had had not an ounce of doubt regarding those actions of mine.

In reality, reminiscing like this feels somewhat in vain, too.

Looking back, even if I had made an obvious mistake, at the time I probably would not have considered it one—it's as if I'm looking back at the actions of someone completely different.

It's not that I'm embarrassed of my actions.

That's most definitely not a lie.

However, it surely would be a lie if I said that I had no regrets.

It's better to regret what you have done than what you haven't—that was what I'd discussed with President Kumagawa, but if you would let me move away from that subject for a moment, it seems that humans, no matter what happens, will always regret things.

Because, not regretting your past?

That just means you haven't grown since then.

If you consider your past self to have been a splendid person, then that essentially means you recognize that your current self is beneath that—and it could just be one way of seeing it, just one way of saying it, but if you think about it in that way, having a past that you're proud of might end up not actually being a good thing.

The difference between a proud past and a past glory—perhaps?

Everyone lives regretting their pasts.

And everyone lives consuming their futures.[?]

That sounds like something that Shiranui would say—but I digress.

Well, even if I, as a middle school first-year, moved with the motive of curiosity that was almost like an instinct, that may still have been my golden age—after all, it was then that I moved with nearly no hesitation.

No matter what Zenkichi told me.

Even if I knew that Kurokami Maguro was enrolled in the Student Council Executive Committee.

And this may come as a shock, but even after entering the Student Council, without changing how I thought and instead moving straight ahead, without any particular resistance or conflict. But yes, we'll learn about that soon enough.

Well, it's true that, as Zenkichi had said, if I'd known that my brother was in the Student Council Executive Committee in advance, then it's not hard to imagine that, in all probability, I would have rejected President Kumagawa's invitation—it would be very interesting to think about how things would have played out after that, had I done so.

"Well, since circumstances are what they are—it looks like I'll have to meet with my brother and talk to him,"

I said as I checked the classroom's clock.

It was just about time for the lunch break to end—it was maybe less than a minute until the bell was going to ring.

If I went now, I wouldn't make it back in time for fifth period, so I figured I could only do so after school.

"Zenkichi, what do you think? Do you want to meet with my brother, after all this time?"

"Aah, I'm good. Plus the third-year building is super scary. And I wouldn't want to get in the way of some good old sibling alone time."

Zenkichi rejected my offer with a bitter smile.

The way he gave his excuses seemed so cute that I couldn't find it in me to reproach him.

But he didn't forget to add this one last remark. And that remark was just what I expected from my childhood friend from when I was two years old.

"But if you end up fighting for real, call me over. I'll be sure to get in the way."[?]

   ■   ■

It shouldn't need to be said, but I was rather reluctant to meet with my brother.

This remains true even now, but whenever we met, it would always end up leading to a fight. Of course, from my brother's point of view, calling it a fight was something that I one-sidedly did, and was but one side to the truth.

According to my brother, he was simply doting on his little sister.

And it doesn't seem like the difference in our opinions will reach any sort of resolution for the rest of our lives—not to mention the fact that there are problems in this world that I don't want to resolve. Torai Kudaki, I'm sure this is something you sympathize with, as well.

Well, actually, that was just a random guess.

Putting aside the matter with your siblings, everybody worries about human relations one time or another.

Anyway, it was after school.

After school that day, I immediately headed towards my brother's classroom.

Unlike Zenkichi, my mentality wasn't so delicate that I would freeze up at the sight of the third-year building. However, I realized as I proceeded that I had made a mistake. Surprisingly, or rather, foolishly, I happened to have no idea what class my brother was enrolled in.

Since you have such good relationships with your siblings, I'm sure you might find this hard to believe, but not only was I unaware that my brother was in the Student Council, I didn't even know what class he was in.

Really, I should've known these things.

Even though I'd said that I could speak of my brother at length, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I knew nothing about him—or rather, I didn't try to learn about him. Part of it could have been the usual feelings of unpleasantness that a sister might have towards his brother, but on top of that, it's possible that there was a bit of fear mixed in as well.

That's right.

With you knowing the details of what happened afterwards, you know that my relationship with Kumagawa, where we felt mutual disgust, mutual hatred for each other, eventually reached some sort of resolution—but my feelings towards my brother were a little different from disgust or hatred.

I was frightened of him.

That brother of mine frightened me.

If my eyes for people were bad, like knotholes or black holes, then Kurokami Maguro's eye for people would be too dry, too strict, and above all, correct—there's no way you wouldn't be frightened by that.

Your impression of him is different?

Ah, that may be the case—he's quite sociable, after all, that brother of mine.

For someone like you whose association with him is basically just knowing his name, it's possible he may just seem like a good person to you.

And it's possible he may just be a good person.

He's kind, and he's reliable.

In the end, between liking him and disliking him, it's fine to like him.

But try putting yourself in my shoes.

That is, I wish you could put yourself in my shoes.

For that guy whose occupation is to be a producer for other people—for that guy whose saving grace is being able to see into the talents of people, he was able to continuously look at me from the position of family, the closest position he could get.

That gaze of his, more than anything.

Made me remember that I was a monster.

And—it was beyond the matter of whether or not there was any malice involved.

So, the turning point that Zenkichi mentioned, when Kurokami Maguro's ability as a producer came to light—that may be when the discord between me and my brother began. Indeed, it may have been around that time when the days of playing on jungle gyms or swing sets became mere memories.

However, since I ultimately exceeded the limits of his producing framework, these circumstances may have actually been favorable to my brother after all.

Now then.

My brother did stand out in both appearance and personality, so regardless of whether or not he was a member of the Student Council, it was easy to ascertain his classroom once I described his characteristics to one of the upperclassmen that were around. Though it felt like I had been the last to figure it out.

However, this had taken up some time, so I'd entered that delicate period of time where it wasn't certain whether or not my brother was still at school, but when I peeked into the classroom through the window, I saw that he was still there. He was already making preparations to leave.

Thank goodness, I said to myself in relief.

Incidentally, this window was not the window into the classroom from the hallway, but the window from the courtyard—I saw him from the pathway that led to the third-year building. It was fortunate that my brother was still in the classroom, but having to cross through the pathway, climb the stairs, and run down the hallway to meet my brother before he left would require some fairly precise timing.

Or rather, from my estimate, I could tell I wouldn't make it in time.

I was a bit more impatient back then than I am now.

I wasn't thinking in any easygoing manner like, if I don't make it I can just ask him tomorrow, or I can ask him after I get home—I took three steps back, making just enough space for a running start, and then dashed up the slope of the pathway and jumped, aiming for my brother's classroom.

The sum of the lengths of two sides of a triangle was always larger than the length of the third—but it wasn't even necessary to apply such calculations here. I had confidence that I could jump the distance of the pathway between the two buildings.

The window?

It wasn't open.

Don't worry, I'd already checked before I jumped that there were no students in the vicinity of where I was expected to land—to be exact, I'd confirmed that there were no students other than my brother in the classroom.

There was no way a third party would get hurt by the glass shards.

That is, anyone except me and my brother.

And as I broke through the window with my foot, I used that same foot to dig into my brother's chest, taking the both of us down onto the floor of the classroom and rolling so that both of us were safely outside the range of the falling shards, all before the shards landed.

Although, as a result, my brother ended up hitting his back on the lockers at the back of the classroom, but that wasn't something I could take responsibility for.

That's awful, you say?

Not at all.

What was really awful would be the way my brother cheerfully spoke to me, even after going through all that.

"Hello, my beloved little sister Medaka-chan. And I was thinking that I wanted to go and see you, too. Good afternoon. To go out of your way to break a window to come and see me—you really love your brother by that much, don't you?"

As if the damage he took from his sister wasn't any damage at all, he laughed, cheerfully and refreshingly.

In quite a delightful manner.

And, in reality, in quite an unpleasant manner.

"But here, well... It's dangerous with all this glass scattered around, Medaka-chan. If the skin on your precious body were to get hurt, it would be a disaster. For now—shall we talk in the Student Council office?"

[peterpstuff]

Interview part 2

Pairing: Tom Holland x reader Request: yes Hello! Can you do like a part 2 to the interview where they confess their feelings and confirm a relationship between them on Ellen or Graham Norton! Warnings: none a/n: I wasn´t planning on doing a second part but since you guys asked for it I´ll write it x Also it´s Kristen Bell and William Jackson Harper from the good place. part 1 here

After the interview with Jimmy Fallon and the awkward question about you two dating, Jacob had enough. There was a party a few days later, to celebrate Far From Home premiering in a couple of days. Jacob set you both up, locking you both in a room.

“I won´t let you out until you figure your feelings out” he said before leaving.

You both sat in a bed in awkward silence, neither one of you wanting to be the first one to talk first. You were scared that if you let your guard down then Tom would reject you; and that would be humiliating. Tom was nervous, he had thought about telling you he liked you. Tom thought about taking you to a nice and fancy dinner, then go for a walk under the stars, he´d finally walk you home and when you reached your front door he´d tell you how he felt or he´d kiss you. But now he was forced to do it, he couldn´t prepare any speech. At the end of the night you were both making out on a chair in the garden.

The movie came out and it was doing amazing on the grossing; it was the first Spiderman movie to reach a billion dollars. So Ellen decided it was time to invite Tom and you for an interview.

Your appearance on the Ellen show was four months after you and Tom started your relationship, still no plans on making it public.

“So Far From Home is the first movie to earn a billion dollars, congratulations!” Ellen said as she sat right across from you. You had been talking about the movie for a while now.

“Thank you so much, the support that the movie has is unbelievable. We wanted to thank the fans” Tom said; he was gonna reach for your hand but he stop as he realize too much PDA might look suspicious.

“So I know you two said you´re great friends”

“Nah, I can´t stand him” you said as everyone laughed

“How was it like doing the kissing scene? Was it awkward?” Ellen continued

“Not really, it was actually improvised” Tom began

“What do you mean improvised?” Ellen inquired.

“The script said that MJ was supposed to give Peter a kiss on the cheek” Tom said

“In the last shot I told Jon if I could try something” you continued “so we began the dialogue and I kissed him and we started improvising from that”

“Was there a talk after that? Something like ´hey, sorry I kissed you´ or ´wanna do it again?´” Ellen questioned you.

“Not really, we are both very professional so we knew it was something good for the movie and something that the fans would have wanted to see” You replied.

“Not gonna lie, I did want to kiss her again… or properly” Tom said.

The crowd started cheering, all of them in awe. You looked at Tom as if you were about to kill him, you talked about making it public and you both agreed it was best not to.

“By the looks y/n is giving you right now I´m going to assume you shouldn´t have said that” Ellen said before announcing commercials.

-

“Welcome back! We are now going to play a fun game I call ´You bet your partner´” Ellen said as commercials were over “The rules are simple, y/n and Kristen will be suspended in a harness, while the others bid on how many examples their partner can name in 30 seconds for a given category (e.g., "Taylor Swift songs"). Giving the required number of correct responses earns that team one point, while the opposing teams’ suspended partner gets dropped.”

You were given a blindfold which you put almost immediately, slowly being pulled into the air. You held tight onto the harness as you reached the top.

“Tom?” you spoke.

“Yes, angel?” he replied making the crowd awe

“Make me drop and I´ll end you, okay?” you threatened your boyfriend.

“That´s cute, you´re calling each other pet names. Talking about pet names… William how many pet names for a significant other do you think Kristen can name in 30 seconds?” Ellen asked

“I say Kristen can name 15 pet names” William answered gaining a groan from the woman hanging from the ceiling.

“Well I bet y/n can name 20” Tom said.

“Tom are you-?” you said annoyed.

“I challenge” William said

“It´s okay babe, you got this” Tom tried to give you some confidence and also cheating a little bit.

You started naming pet names but the pressure of being dropped into nothing made your mind go blank at number 16. Tom was cheering for you form ground level, saying you were doing amazing. Unfortunately you said 18 words when the timer came to a stop, you lost. You were dropped to the floor stopping only a few feet from the ground; you screamed cursing Tom for making you do this. The game went on, naming cereal brands and US presidents; luckily you won but it was just because Kristen was terrible under pressure.

When you reached ground level (being dropped since Ellen said there was no other way to do it) you were given some cash prices which you were going to donate since you really didn´t need them. Tom helped you take the blindfold and the harness while Ellen said goodbye to the audience and the people at the studio. Everyone could see you in the background of the shot and that´s when Tom decided to give you a small peck on the lips, trying to calm you down from the adrenaline that rushed through your veins. The shot was cut right after the kiss, everyone saw it; everyone on their houses and studio saw it, even people could see it later on the internet.

“Are you aware you just kissed me on television? On the Ellen DeGeneres Show?” you said as worry started to fill your body.

“Yes, I know” he simply replied, his hands cupping your cheeks, ready to kiss your worry away. “Please, don´t get mad”

“I thought you didn´t want to make it official”

“Well I´m tired of hiding how much I like you and I´d like to kiss you whenever I want to and not worry if we´re going to get caught” he said as he caressed your cheek.

“That´s a relief cause I was getting tired too” you smiled at him.

Tom smiled you back and leaned in to give you another kiss, a proper one this time.

[kurtty-drabbles]

Swan au (spring ball)

N/A: The ball we all wait and need. Piotr here is based on the AoA´s version. Kitty, here, is not a sociopath nor a born, sexy and yesterday, she´s a mix of human and magical animal...understand some things, she cares for others and some she just doesn´t care. Does evil Wizard Kurt want to destroy this kingdom? Sure. It won´t cross with her interested. Speaking like that Kitty could be morally grey to evil here.

@djinmer4 @dannybagpipesarecalling @discordsworld  

Kitty´s dress

Spring arrives and flowers are blooming making the land flourish and reborn. Of course, Spring is also the fertility season, for some, and to others love. The king of Xarxon is ready to marry. Not for a romantic reason as the others believe.

Xarxon is facing a financial and economic crisis and the great 7 kingdoms aren´t not so keen to lead more money to this country, their states and cities are bankrupted. And Piotr Rasputin is not a man people would trust to use the money wisely or trust with anything.

His advisers craft a ball, with magic and sweet words to the right people, to the last minute. The people of Xarxon is not thrilled by this news, much less the fact they aren´t invited to the ball.

And this is hardly something to shock anyone. Monarch being incompetent are a thing too and their end is predictable, however, one Necromancer thinks that Xarxon could use a new direction. ____________________________ "Remember, what we talk?" Kurt asked once Kitty finally put the fancy dress. The dress used to belong to one of the members of his cult, a woman that thought she could manipulate him with sex. She was wrong, however, the dress fits Kitty nicely.

"Yes, yes, be a beautiful swan!" Kitty replied nonchalant rolling her eyes and looking herself in the mirror "you know, just because I´m a swan does not mean you can make swan´s jokes" Her tone is straightforward and piecing her gaze at him, the Necromancer seems not to mind too much "The plan is to seduce him" there´s a certain gross in her tone that does not match her regal features." and drive him crazy, yes, been there, done that"

Adjusting the dress a little more, Kitty now is satisfied with the image the mirror express. Turning to the man, Kitty then ask how she looks?

"You looks far prettier than the others princess, I dare say" Kitty is bemused as Kurt is about to make a pun "you look as beautiful as a swan"

"You do know Nightcrawlers are worms and I know birds that will be glad to eat nightcrawlers" replied drily as Kurt merely chuckles then at this, the man takes out a lipstick and starts to apply on Kitty´s lips.

"In all seriousness, you´re his type and he´ll go nuts for you, once he does fall ...I´ll strike" once the lipstick is applied, Kitty kissed his check"too much red is not a good colour for swans, nightcrawler" she replied and affirms that now she´s ready for her part.

_________________________ Piotr was instructed to talk with the richer princess in all the landing, princess Lorna, for example, is a good case for his need. The green haired princess did not seem interested in the Russian man, per se, she keeping asking about his sister.

Piotr has a younger sister, named Illyana Rasputin, a girl with a talent for magic that even Wanda, her sister, respect and Lorna is intrigued about the mysterious figure of Illyana Rasputin.

"She´s in the convent now!" Piotr replied bitterly"the convent of Saint Marie is the safest place for her, now, if you have any more questions about my sister, please, direct them to my adviser," and stomps away from Lorna.

"Rude!" she speaks and goes away. All the guests are here and none of them catches his fancy. Piotr is in a dilemma, how to get funds? Incest is not seeing fondly unless you´re well-liked and stupidly rich and his sister makes her point across by leaving the country as soon as she can.

The man is stuck in his musing that didn´t notice that his feet lead him to the royal gardens. He saw a woman, so beautiful, wearing something that not even Genosha could afford and singing something with such a voice that the ball is forgotten.

This woman is his.

"Who is singing such a splendid song? " Piotr asked, not even Yana, using her magic and the best tutelage could have ever sung in such way. "Oh, I´m just a woman, who does not like crowded places, and you?"

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" Piotr asked and the woman laughs such a pretty sound, "What´s your name?"

"Kitty" she adds as her eyes are now blue "my name is Kitty and I was looking for you, where were you, silly goose?"

"Let´s get married as soon as possible" Piotr make a gesture to take Kitty to the ball, inside, to show everyone his wife. Kitty disagrees. "I've got a health problem, I can deal with that much people, could you be a dear and explain to them. I´ll be here, waiting for you"

"I´ll be right back"

_________________ Lorna was finishing her martini, the only good thing in this party, when Piotr returns and speaks, with satisfaction in his voice and a madding gleam in his eyes. How did he found a wife and is better everyone get away. Someone make the dumb decision to ask a question to the monarch, the response? Piotr tosses him away telling the others to leave.

"I have the most gorgeous woman as my bride, OUT!" the man hurls and no one dares to defy, Lorna takes her escort and leaves...feeling insulted, she came all the way here to meet Magik and couldn´t even do that.

"That was the most outrageous night of my life" Lorna replied entering in the carriage "at least, the martini was good"

______________________________ One of his advisers, a man with a white streak on the right side of his raven hair, speaks with care this time about the new bride. Piotr deemed the room safe enough to introduced the future Queen of Xarxon goes to the garden screaming like a lunatic "They´re gone, my love, gone...We can be together forever"

The man with the white stream instructed the others to follow the king, after all, this is about their queen.

Arriving in the gardens all they found is Piotr screaming like a loon a swan swing far away from him, in a small lake the garden have(it´s a bit dirty the swan´s beauty is not making miracles to make people forget about this) the advisers look at each, in silence, all agreeing about the mental state of the man.

One of them noticed a small cut on the swan´s neck. This makes the elderly adviser snap and using a paralysing spell. Piotr is stuck in his place.

"Your insanity goes too far, I´ve enough,  you´ll rot in prison for your crimes...hurt a swan is an offence against God" the man speaks "we shouldn´t have been silent as his insanity gets worse and worse"

The man with white streak suggests an option, Yana far too young to inherit the throne, how about Klaus? He could assume the role until Yana has the proper age to rule.

"Excellent suggestion, my friend" one of them pipes in and all are in agreement, even if Klaus is a former student of the Demonic Necromancer, still is a better choice than Piotr.

The man with a white streak, once the crown is taking the paralysed Piotr away, replied that he wants to make sure the swan is alright. The others nod, Swans are a gift from God, the swan approaches the man only when they are alone.

"You did good, he´s pretty crazy too, but...you are magnificent" The man reveals himself as Kurt then asks "and your neck?"

The Swan changes to Kitty. Gingerly touching her neck and not flinching when Kurt does the same. "Serious, how is your neck?"

"It´s still hurting a little but is manageable, I swear"His finger retrieve from the mark of her scar once touches her own delicate fingers. "Oh, thank you, what will happen now?"

"I get my payment, and my silly student get his wish....for a time being, I don´t think he realizes how powerful Illyana Rasputin is..."there´s an evil smile on his face "better not take ideas to hung the throne"

"There´s always this possibility, the other prince was ready to kill half of his family to achieve that, humans are strange sometimes" Kitty replied and then asks "wait, won´t people noticed the absence of the white streak dude?"

Kurt waves her worries away. "I can take care of this little problem, now, do you want to go home?"

"The ball is over? Man, that´s the worst ball ever. Much worse than the prince who wanted to kill half of his family to reach on power" Kitty stand up and Kurt chuckles one last time as the woman is grumbling.

"Now, if you want to dance..."Kurt offers his hand "I know a place"

"Are you a good dancer?"

"For a swan? I think so"

"Careful, I do know a bird who wants to eat nightcrawler"

[snarktheater]

The Chemist — Chapter 28

Last time, we got Kevin kidnapped and Alex planning…something.

She tried to make [her plan] sound well thought out, like she was confident about it.

Our protagonist: still not allowed to do more than pretend to be competent.

Well, anyway. Her plan is to go rescue Kevin, even though that goes against everything established about her character. Val even points out that this is suicidal, but with this book, I'm not sure that's something I'm supposed to agree with.

So what is that plan, you ask? Well, we don't get details, but it involves Carston and hostages. They argue about who's doing which part of the plan, and I have no idea what the fuck they're talking about, so I don't care.

Look, I realize I always say you don't want your characters to explain their plan if you want to keep tension. But if they're going to talk about details like these, you might as well let us in on what they're planning in general. It's just common courtesy.

“And you’d be willing to do Daniel’s part of the plan?” “Sure, that’s easy. No one will be shooting at me.”

Well that's informative, thanks a lot.

Instead, all we get is more "makeup is magic", with Val claiming she can make Daniel look different enough from his twin brother as to not be recognized. Which is not impossible, mind you, but…really? That's our best bet here?

And after all my complaining that we didn't get enough details…we skip straight to the plan anyway. So…thanks for not wasting time thinking I'd be on the edge of my seat to find out, I guess? On the other hand, it makes me wonder why this scene was there at all. It's two pages of people arguing details of a plan the reader knows nothing about, followed by the execution anyway. What even is the point?

The plan is…to go to the zoo and kidnap Carston's granddaughter. But first we have to go through every single stop that Alex makes along the way, and listen to her musings about this book's lack of a clear timeline (which…I hadn't even noticed was an issue, but also I'm pretty sure it's been less than the three -four weeks Alex implies have passed, so maybe the book was trying to confuse me and did a better job than intended).

But finally, we get to the zoo, where Alex plans to dress like Erin (Carston's daughter) and take the granddaughter (Olivia) on a stroller with her. Except…her meticulous plan apparently also involves randomly bumping into them.

Alex scanned the crowds as she moved quickly through them, looking for a woman with a child, ruling out those with friends and spouses and multiple children.

I can see nothing going wrong there.

She does, of course, find Erin within less than a page. She tails her for a while, prepares to intercept her and drug her, pulls it off without a hitch, and leaves with the girl.

You know, there's nothing more boring than spending a few pages reading about someone who just does nothing wrong and faces no obstacle, especially when there are so many holes in her plan. I'm just saying. Fiction thrives on conflict, and this book is cruelly lacking in it.

Anyway, Alex wastes more time musing about her next move, and doing some wishful thinking about how she can totally do everything alone to avoid putting Daniel in danger. I guess it's nice to know Stephenie Meyer just doesn't believe in anyone respecting other people's agency, even if it is disproportionately done by her male characters towards her female characters.

She meets up with Val in their new hiding place, because of course they have a new one already, and we get some more random hate directed at Val for good measure.

Alex noticed Val’s expression for the first time. It was… a little too stimulated. Alex hoped Val wasn’t heading into some kind of power-mad version of a sugar rush.

What has Val done so far that implied she had any propensity to this? No, really, I need to know. You're the torturer here, Alex/Juliana.

Anyway, we're back in the vicinity of a man, so Daniel inevitably gets all the narrative focus as soon as Alex enters their new apartment. He's undergone a complete transformation, because apparently my "makeup is magic" comment was meant to be taken literally.

If she hadn’t been looking specifically for a disguised version of Daniel, she would have walked right past this man on the street. Even if she had been looking for Daniel, only his height would have made this man a suspect.

Of course, Alex is disappointed by this, because now she doesn't have an excuse to ~~keep him from rescuing his brother~~ I mean, to keep him safe, of course. They get Olivia set up for her hostage role, including pictures, and get ready to leave, with Val calling Alex out and being right.

“[The make-up]’s good enough,” Val answered for her. “And she knows it. That’s why she looks so glum. She’d much rather risk my life than yours.”

Meanwhile, Daniel seems to have grown a little too self-aware that he was in a Mary Sue story.

“We can do this together. Your plans always work.”

The book lists all the equipment that Daniel got from Kevin's "Batcave" (and yes, I still hate that they're calling it that even now), because padding, and they finally leave…oh of course I'm kidding we need more tangents. Let's have Val redo Alex's make-up instead. And then let's have that interrupted by Alex and Daniel saying good-bye first, since Daniel's already leaving to get in position. God, this book needs more focus.

The goodbyes in question mostly involve Alex telling Daniel about the escape route out of the country that she planned for him in case she doesn't make it, along with some stupid advice.

“If things get dicey, it will make sense for you to run. This isn’t your problem.”

I mean, it's only his brother, right?

And of course, we get the obligatory schmoopy talk.

“I… I don’t know how to go back to my old life,” she said, trying to explain. “I don’t know how to do that anymore, without you. Having you as my liability is the best thing that ever happened to me.” He smiled just a little bit, though it didn’t reach his eyes. “I love you, too,” he whispered.

How fucking romantic. Yawn.