Darkening sky

    "That tree's gonna bend that way and it'll break in half."
    A man was sitting on that bench, talking to himself.  A boy behind him, swinging on a swing while looking up at the sky with his face full of wonders and crumpled to figure out something on his mind.  The boy push his arms forward to gain momentum and height while all the he concetrated on that piece of thinking, shown on his face.  The skies were darkened on one side of the park, starting from the north, it was coming here and rain was invetable.  There was no seasons here like the west and the weather was either hot, damp or raining.  The weather girl got it right for once.
    The man was looking at the field of trees at the other side of the park, statues that bend this way and that, impaled by the wind's feelings and commands.  It blew until the man closed into him, the cold temperature making everything numbed starting from his legs because he was only wearing sneakers without socks.  His face, a set of oval eyes and a quirked mouth, makes lemon look sweet.  His day was only beginning when the mood started to shape the events of his day ahead.  He has a growing beard on his chin.
    "Hey mister," a small voice came from behind.
    The man looked back without turning his body and saw the boy, out off his swing.  He was wearing shorts and a shirt, too big for his size.
    "I've never seen you before.  Who are you?" the boy asked.
    "Didn't your mother ever thought you not to speak with strangers, kid?"
    The boy swiped a hand across his nose.  He looked undisturbed by the comment.  They stared at each other for some while before the wind blew a hard one and leaves waved into being from the side.
    "Go back home, kid.  There's gonna be a storm," the man said.
    "What's your name, mister?"
    "Do I have to tell you?"
    "Well..."
    "Fine, fine.  Name's Howard.  Just Howard,"
    "My name's Randy.  Nice to meet you, Just Howard,"
    "No.  Not Just Howard.  Howard, that's it,"
    "Oh..."
    Howard spun his head back in position and looked upward.  His eyes, two holes of worried mirrors, trying to seek out answers within the swirling clouds up ahead.  The wind was blowing hard and the clouds were all but covered the area.  The park was abandoned but with both of them.  The place was reserved at a back field of a quite a city, a growing city at least.  It was seldom used by the residents except the ones that frequent the place.  Howard doesn't even know what's the name of place.  He was just passing through. A man with a goal that was just going through the city.
    "It's cold," Randy said.
    "Yes, it is."
    Randy jumped forward, in front of the man.  His face was still filled with puzzlement as he looked at the man's clothes, from top to bottom.  His own feet were covered by nothing but slippers.  He doesn't look clean at all.
    "Got a problem?" Howard asked.
    "No,"
    "Then stop staring,"
    "Where are you from, mister?"
    "A very far place,"
    "You come here to find jobs like my dad?"
    "No.  I just came here because I want to go to the next place,"
    "Why don't you use a car?"
    "Because I don't know how to use one, alright?  Now, stop asking things and go home."
    The boy just stood there, refusing to budge.
    Howard had had enough, though.
    "I'll shout if you touch me," the boy took a step back when Howard stood up.
    "I'm not going to do anything to you.  Just step back.  Someone's coming and he's not happy," Howard looked into the trees ahead of him.  The wind was blowing very hard by now.  As if it was blowing with fury and it was directed to Howard.  His clothes flapped from the winds violently.  There was a tinge in the air that felt like sparks.  Howard's face is a jungle of frown and in his guts, he knew this would happen someday or soon enough.  It was a matter of time and place, though.
    "Howard, you're not going home?" the boy said, looking up.
    "I ain't got no place to go home, kid.  It was destroyed long ago,"
    "Why?"
    "Because someone said to the sky and cursed it.  Lightning splashed and death came from above.  The man was the only one who survived but with a curse and a gift.  He would remain young forever and immortal but as long as he lives, he would be hunted down by storms, rains and typhoons,"
    "I don't understand,"
    "Simply said.  I cursed the sky and the sky is very mad at me.  So, if you could please stay behind me."
    The boy did that because by now, lightning was flashing up there, striking each other like spirits would fight like legends from a long time before.  Roaring like wild animals, the mists above made the the city below a battlefield and once or twice, the world was seen through negative lenses.  Somewhere in the distance, a wolf howled from the mountain ranges in the west.  Wind scarred the trees, doubling themselves on their trunks and they themselves make screeching noises as they rubbed against each other, straining to hold on with their roots in the hard ground.  A man appeared beneath the scalps.
    "Rilzen.  I finally caught up with you," the man whispered and the wind did the same.
    "There's a boy here, and a city down there.  Can we do this some place else?"
    Howard's face was a mask.  His voice shook a little but he held the ground.  The boy was holding onto his legs, his feelings letched from the man.  He felt afraid.  Now all he wanted was to be somewhere else.  His hair stood on end and sparks were clearly seen now, between the hairs on his head and the brows of his eyes.
    "Hmm?  You never told me you have a son, Zen," the man walked forward, seemingly to glide.  His eyes went to the boy at the other man's legs and swiftly came back up.  His smile was murderous.
    "He's not mine.  We don't need a misunderstanding here,"
    "Of course we don't.  I'm here to kill you and that far is clear right?"
    "Yes, I know.  But can we do it somewhere else, please?"
    "For these mortals?  Well, fine by me.  I have a memory here too, don't want to spoil it with your image of defeat,"
    "Right."
    The wind blew hard once again and the man was gone.  But the sky was still furious, perhaps a missed battle made it more frustated.  More so to make things worse, it began to trickle, little pebbles of water formed out of nowhere and splashed towards dirt and leaves, making weird noises against the wind.  The city heaved once as thousands of people sighed and ran for cover.  The boy was still looking at the place where the other man had vanished with the winds.  His eyes were focused there, two bowls of wonder and a glint of fear.  But stood beside it was a glint of excitement.
    "Go home, kid.  It's raining," Howard reached down and patted the boy's head.
    "Who are you, really?" the boy looked up, shoving away the hand.
    "My real name is Rilzen but people call me Howard.  I lived here once, and it was my home.  That was thousands of years ago,"
    "Rilzen...,"  the boy squinted his eyes and tried to remember something.  A sense of familiarity came from the name.  He heard it before in a story told by his grandfather about gods that fought each other and spirits were living with men.  A legend about a snake and a river.
    The boy gasped loudly.
    "You're Rilzen, the Snake of the Yellow River!"
    Howard looked down and smiled.
    "Call me Howard."
    The rain hardened and the man was no longer there.
   

Rising mountain

Oh God, its been months since I have written anything here and I think NO ONE read this shit but still...

It's a place where I can write anything at all.

So, today we yet continue or journey into this head of mine.  See if the kicks are still there.

 And start.

    Rilzen wasn't the best man nor the best archer in the world, but he still wants to be as gentlemanly to others as much as he can and he can shoot about a whole lot of distance from the target.  His eyes weren't the prettiest but sometimes there was that glint inside his eyes that say, "I'm going to be the greatest!" even for a moment before the arrow hit the target and after he released the rock-pointed slick wood.  In this, he didn't really trust because he was just a village boy, aged 18, considered matured by most and childish but those to the ones that have raised him single-handedly from the times when he was still a babe.  It didn't came to him either that became one of those guys that looks at each other and could say rude things about each other and laugh out like it was nothing.  It didn't occur to him that he would've stayed in this village beneath a mountain's shadow, Huang's Grit it's name was and still, because he used to think about what's on the other side of the mountain and beyond

    A hunter, someone said he's going to be someday.  And yes, a hunter he had become for some while.  Hunting small snacks was usual for him and easy targets, his eyes could take up anything from the reflection of the sun on the sands that covered his village and surrounding to the eagle, seemingly a dotted speck in the sky.  A lot commended him on that but he still wasn't satisfied.  Part of him says that these are only small feats and the other just sits around and look at him expectingly.  He didn't really mind the other's praise but the other guy in his head that just gives him looks really bugged the hell out of him.

    His hair isn't blonde like the merchant's that sometimes pass through his home, and his eyes are brown, deep brown almost black, keeps him distanced from the merchants and other guys in the village, who have green or blue eyes.  It made him a little uncomfortable whenever the merchants would point out to him and ask about his origins.  And the girls weren't any better there.  Sure, they looked at him, and they giggled like mad hyenas, then they just walk away whenever he looks at them back.  He doesn't like that sometimes because they put him off balanced like an egg sitting on the surface of the lake.

    There was a lake near Huang's Grit, and it was simply named Likui's Mouth because of its deep-looking surface but rather shallow depth.  Time didn't keep away the Likui's Mouth surface, though because when they're droughts, and those are often here, the lake would just empty out.  But it never flooded here, so it was safe for the village to make homes that root themselves right into the earth like spikes.

    So it was considered a blessed place for most and paradise for some.  Rilzen never believed that.

    It was two weeks ago.  When news of danger came from the merchants that were passing their village.  There wasn't much of them that passes through the forest, Depeng's Forest it was called by the locals but it was considered Depeng's Wall by a lot of strangers because of it's thickness and there was no track there.  This particular merchant, his name was Tulj, was either mad or a really good person with maps to cross that forest.

    "Fever.  They call 'em Yellow Fever, over at the cities and whatnot.  These yellow spots came out of your skin everywhere but they don't itch.  Rather, everytime you touch 'em, it's like your skin just burns up.  And worse, you can't even move when it gotcha.  Take my advice, and move away from here.  This disease is spreading like wild fire," 

    "But where would we go?  The Spines are over to the west, Huang's just up front and you know it's impossible to hike that, and it'll take days to circle it and hunts are scarce,"

    "Figure it out! I'm just giving good words here! I don't really care about you small people but I don't want to see another village full of dead people," the merchant, all blond and blue eyes and silk around his body with a rapier at his side, says.  His voice wasn't soothing but there was something in his eyes that what he's saying is probably true.

    There was a lot of commotion after that.  The ones that lead the village, Ju Zin, Jing, and Koros, with the healer at their back and the women's own leaders, Wang, Kiuti and Nam Ling, they all just looked at each other and went off into Ju Zin's house.  Rilzen saw them just before he set off to one of his hunts that take him close to the mountain but never too far.  His bow and arrows, a broad sword and leather water-case were at their usual spots.

    Likui's Mouth wasn't dry and the weather was good and sunny.  The sun was looking at him from the northwest, evening was descending upon the land.  He could hear horses neigh when he set off.  Tulj, the merchant was really true to his words of not being a bother to the village.  His voice was a little giddy when the carriage finally went out of his sight.  

   Rilzen didn't really understand.  Diseases were never an enemy to him, just merely annoyances and Krak, the village's healer, would make him as good as any in perhaps just hours after she gave him one of those bitter things.  He never liked being in bed and sick at the same time but he couldn't really control what he couldn't see.

     "Hey, Zen!  Where are you going?" a voice called out to him from behind.

     His name was Kirin but everyone just calls him Rin.  He wasn't particularly clever but he could handle a sword as well as anyone in the village.  Rin was also a hunter but he belongs with his father's batch of hunters, the ones that set off to find big animals or pelts off some dangerous predator to make clothes.  Rin was especially good with the Kilik, his own crafted broad sword that have an upward curing edge and very sharp.  He's wearing it on even now.

    "To the mountains.  I need to get some fresh air," Zen was already stepping away.  Rin was clingy.

    "Hey, didn't you hear?  This disease thingy could be anywhere.  I think you better stay for tonight, right?" Rin said, still coming up at him.

  

And Pause.

God, I'm becoming really bad at this.  I need to get myself fixed up.  READ, DUDE, READ.

Gotta get back into reading.

Terry Pratchett FTW!

Faith

The key to want something and get it, is Faith.

Similarly to the so called Law of Attraction that science somehow explained, I have been mastering the same tactics and strategy that they have revealed and put into words since way before it came to be a book.

I have called it many names too.

I discovered it since I was 12, when I started to think and realized my environments.

This is how I put it:

To want something, is to believe that you already have it.  It's just not in your hand yet.

I have experimented with it a few times, and contrary to popular beliefs, I have made it possible to make myself to think about it positively and always. We need to focus.

You want an apple.  And that apple is not with you now.

By applying belief in the notion that you ALREADY HAVE the apple, you just made your wish came true.  It will eventually come to you in time, depending on your belief.

The stronger that feeling of 'wanting' it and the more belief that you put into this theory, the better the chances are that you are gonna get it.  Here's my way of doing exactly this:

I trust myself to be truthful to myself.  Get it?  Possibly, no.
You've gotta trust yourself to tell yourself the truth.
If you say you want an apple, but inside you really do not trust your mouth. "I want an apple... 'but seriously, how do i get it?'"
Boom, you can end your dreams right there and then.
Is it a lie?  Depends on what you would call a lie.  A lie is the untruthful which means you're not telling the truth but something else.  Is believing a lie, then?  No.  It's what you envision yourself to get.

Mind you.  It's not about the PERIOD OF TIME that you are going to get it.  YOU ALREADY GET IT WHEN YOU BELIEVE THAT YOU HAVE GOTTEN IT.

It's about how does it come to you.

The apple, when you say that you want it and you believe that you already have it, may come in forms of, say, an apple pie, an apple candy, an apple core, a sign depicting an apple, a book about apple, an iphone, a macbook, or even something gotta do with Isaac Newton.

This is where vision comes in.

You have gotta make it CLEAR that the apple you want is truly the real fruit.  Not anything else.  Get a picture of an apple, or imagine it, then state clearly that you already have the fruit and it is coming to you in a form of a fruit.

"An apple.  I want an apple, and I want it in the form of the fruit and something that I can eat."

Done.

Here's a tip that I usually do when I want to envision something.
Get a song.
It has to be motivational or happy.
Imagine the apple is in your hands and you eating it.
At the same time, play the song.
Rinse and repeat.

Seriously people, the only thing that's blocking you from getting anything you want is actually how you think about the thing you want.

I have wanted a friend that I could share anything with.

"I want a friend that I can tell my secrets and not be shy with.  I don't care what he looks like but I want to talk to him and tell everything that I want to him."

Indeed, I got a friend.

You might call me crazy but... he's an imaginary friend.

Go on.  Laugh.

But he helped a lot.  Not just one friend, though.  About 8 of them.

I don't see them in the real world or through my eyes, but rather I talk to them in my head and they will answer me back but not in words but a guts feeling.

I usually talk to Dante.  Yes, he's the demon hunter of that game.
I usually ask him which way should I go, which items should I buy, how am I going to take this exam?  And so on and so forth.

It was perhaps... the first thing that I have wished since I was awakened.

I value all of them.

Faith is something very powerful.  Mind your words, because they are the words that you put yourself to trust in.  Say that you are a genius, you will be someday.  Say that you going to hate this job, oh you will.

This... I will come to say as the power of prayer.  In my religion, it is called Doa.

Ask.  Go on, ask.  He'll give it to you, but you have gotta believe that He WILL give it to you.

People usually ask for something in their prayers.  Health, long life, a family, money, an answer, a solution, a place in Heaven, forgiveness.

But do you believe that He will give it to you?

Is Facebook my undoing?

I am not so sure anymore if I should use the Social Network for social things.

There are several reasons that I would like to point out and they are reasonable enough that I trust my instincts to reveal them.

    First up, I do not see the point of having like 200 friends but none of them are even close to me.  Sure, they are like 5 to 10 people that I personally like and talk all the time with but that is far as it gets.  Talking in the chat seems a lot of fun, because for me personally for a loner, I do not like to speak face to face or eye to eye.  I have a disability to talk eye to eye for one, I do not know why but I just could not see their eyes without seeing all the lies they are saying right in front of my face and I have to hold on to my consciousness not to slap the other person.  I do not hate lies but when they tell them in such a direct manner, my belly will convulse and my limbs will try to run away from that conversation.  So, first reason would be is because why use such an indirect manner of revealing your thoughts and reasons when you can simply talk in them upfront.

    Secondly, people compare themselves.  Whenever I open that website and looked at all the cool things that others had done, I thought I was the only one not in the happening and it seemed that I am wasting my life away on studying and taking care of my family.  They have such interesting life and I am the only one trying to make head or tail with it, but seeing that as a personal trait of mine, I leave it a second rate reason.  The first rate would be that whenever people look at other people, they usually thought up the weakness upon themselves and became totally obsessed in making it as quiet as possible.  Leaving my own experiences aside, doesn't people always say that you are you and what people think are nothing but illusions that will just slow us down?  Then this social network is indeed that cloudy grey screen in my eyes and perhaps others.  They are those who deny this, but no one can truly know your own weaknesses but rather of their own makings.

    Thirdly, it is not a waste of our time to display a conscious part of ourselves but it may be relevant to point out that the side you may be pointing at is not what you decide to show, but the traits that you so called have no intention with and none other than you could understand.  It's a futile attempt to explain it in simple words.  Here's an idea.  What if you write down in your status update, "I love Bumblebee in the Transformers!"  For people like myself who are observant of what people are saying and how they say it, I would call you an avid attention whore.  Excuse my French.  Instead, what you really are trying to say is actually what you are trying to say which is you like a certain robotic alien with a dis-functional voice box and could transform into a sports car with black stripes.  Or you could say that you really are an avid transformers fan.  People look at you differently when they read your statutes.  And more if that person knows you in real life.

    I wouldn't say this is like a declaration that I do not like Facebook or other social sites but people are missing what we are truly trying to say.  There's a huge percentage of what we are actually trying to say comes from our body language and for other people to understand truly what is trying to be transferred from you to themselves, body language plays a huge part in it.  Social networks teach us to talk efficiently and reveal our feelings verbally, but that counts up only to certain part of the information that we truly want to access.

    It seemed hard to reveal what you are tying to say for years, but this is truly what I see in Facebook.  It is good in receiving data and statuses of other strangers but in order to truly know someone and to truly perceive information, one must be in direct contact of the other person and not just through a virtual medium.  I made relationships, not THAT kind but a lot of kind, and until now, I have made countless break outs of other people's true feelings through words alone.  But in reality, they are not what I perceive they are.  They feel safe behind an IP address and thus, their mental defense goes down.  I can break through quite easily but what's behind those walls are not everything.

    This is not an essay or a declaration.  It is what it is, just another post.  It may be stupid or clever, I don't know but these are what I want to say.

    I just want to make sure that I am good at something.  A lot of people in my life are good or special in some way.  A girl have the ability to see pureness in almost everything while a boy have won countless football matches.  I cannot play sports because of my asthma and I cannot feel what other feel because I always ask 'why?'  Others cannot write stories that I wrote, and others cannot find out what others are truly saying just by looking at their hands and the way they talk.  But I cannot reveal these to others while others can just write them down in their statuses and shits and people cheer them.  I feel like shit when I see that.

     I cannot show what I have in my mind.

     So what if my specialty is exactly there?

    Nobody reads this because it's too long.

    Therefore, I need to do this spacing shit.

    So people will actually READ something at all.

    I want to show my strengths but what if my strengths are actually destroying people's minds and smashing out other's thoughts?

    I can't do shit when it's like that.

    Shit.

Koiwai's a good guy.  I want to be like him someday.

Small figurines

    It had been, what, 21 years?
    He had left the only home and property that he had been given down to by his parents and ancestors since he was a child.  He was only about 2 at the time.  It was a complicated story that no one that he knew as family or relating seemed want to hear it out or even speak of it.  Their memories seemed to deteriorate even further when those relatives become distanced and the families that he had seemed to reveal the adoption as a part of a long aged friendship that has died away with the other person.  The only memories of said person became what had given this man, now alone in the whole world, 21 years to live as a normal human being, given a place to sleep, food on a plate, and education that had lasted until college.
    The adopted family that he got wasn't as bad as what others had said it would.  When he was 6, his so-called father revealed the secret himself, but part of the little kid knew inside him that he didn't belong there, with different hair colour, different kind of toes, different kind of thoughts.  He wasn't surprised neither was he was filled with anguish.  Didn't think much then. he continued on, nodding all the while, thinking it was a no biggie.
    At 18 years of age, he came to realize he had owed his whole life to that "father."  He thanked him for what he had done.  Again, he was not surprised when the man revealed another so-called secret.  The teenage boy knew that his father was an engineer and his mother, a doctor.  What he didn't know was they were working together on a project.  A project that had cost themselves and the man's own life, much.  Excluding the only boy they had, their whole property were hidden away from the eyes of the public, said to be necessary for the project, at the time half-done, so as to preserve it's secrecy.
    He didn't care for any of those things.
    Now, 23 years old after the parents that had given birth to him were gone, he had come back to where he used to live for 2 years of his earliest life.
    The old house was made of stone and the roof were tiles, but the surrounding were forests within forests.  It was abandoned since who knows when. even before he was born.  He took a step inside the gate.
    The wind didn't blew but he felt a chill inside him.  He had walked these same steps long ago.  No, of course he can't remember the exact same scene but something inside him was telling him, urging him, to go inside the house.  It wasn't an eerie nor it was a random feeling.
    Inside the house...
   

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Continue this... I DARE YA.

I was writing this in the middle of the night with the lights off... so.... yeah......

Now i cant sleep.

~_____~

Shit.
   

I'll get it

Dear diary,

    Today wasn't bad.

    Today wasn't good either.

    Normally, I would've called it quite a contradiction, whatever it is, from the moment I set my foot into the lecture hall that something was wrong.  I know because, as you know too, that I have quite an instinct or guts feeling.  At first, yeah I thought that it was some kind of nervousness, I should've known that transferring from a university to another was kinda like the same for schools.  I used to switch schools, as you know, so I didn't think that much about universities.

    It was like, half an hour still for the lecture to begin, so I took a step in, took some looks around (the place was empty except for some girls at a corner and a couple talking conspicuously over one side), and I decided if I'm founded out being the only single here, attention will be concentrated on me.  And so, I take back my leg and walked away.

    So I spent the next 20 minutes walking around, trying to find out where everything is.  The campus here is larger than the last one.  I had to redouble back to see where everything is.  What interested me was, there was only two vending machines in this huge building and the drinks suck.  But I don't drink those much, so I don't really care.  But whatever it is, 20 minutes passed quite fast.

    I take a step in.

    And stopped dead.

    The whole hall was filled from one end to the other.  Not quite a scene for a university but I was taken aback for some while.

    So, I chose a seat, not that far to the front nor too on the back.

    And I had to choose one sit away from a person I used to know.

    You would've been surprised at how surprised I was.

    Her hair, especially her hair, has changed a lot.

    It used to be long and silky, but most of all, it used to be black.

    Now, it was blond.  And short.  It made her look like a little like a guy but her skirt confirms her gender.

    I didn't say anything at first because I thought it was best to not let know anyone who used to know me that I was there.  It didn't take long before the other person just swings her head a little and everything just seemed to break down.

    If I would've remembered the whole dialogue, it was something like this:

    "..." this was me.

    "...Eh?" this was her.

    "..."

    "...Eh?"

    "..."

    "...What are you doing here, Ma-kun?"

    SHE REMEMBERED. God, that name stung.  All the memories, most of them bad, came back like a rush.  Realizing that I have no choice, I gave up.

    "Studying,"

    "SO YOU ARE MA-KUN!"

    Oh God, the whole hall would've heard that if not for the commotion they are making themselves.

    "Keep it down..."

    "BUT.  I mean, but what are you doing here?  I thought you dropped out of school,"

    "Yes, I did.  Then, I continued my last 5 months somewhere else."

    At this time, I was looking at her.  She was inches away from my face, as usual.  And she looks like she wants to meet my forehead and hit it straight on.  Of course, as a guy, I would've stared down.  You know, the chest area, but at that time I was too panicked to do anything.  So, I looked at her the same way she looked at me, as usual.  Her face was... as usual.

    Oh the dialogue didn't end there.

    "You look different, Ma-kun,"

    "You too, Ma-chan,"

    "...Ouch,"

    "Indeed."

    So she remembered things the same way I did, not surprising.  But as she said, I changed.  People do in time, especially when the person realized he's not good enough.

    "You know, Ma-kun?"

    "What, Ma-chan?"

    "I was sad when you left,"

    GOD, THAT STUNG.

    "Yes, I was too,"

    "You think I'm different too?"

    "It seems so."

    At this time, I was quite content to see her back.  If not for all the bad memories, I would've been happy.  So, she changed her appearance a bit but she still wear that skirt, not too long nor too short.  Just right.

    "Ma-kun?"

    "Yes, Ma-chan?"

    "You want to get back to the way we were?"

    That question was compelling. 

    And then I thought.  What was so different of me than back then?  I was the same person, with the same name, with the same insane thoughts always scurrying around, the same voice, the same pattern of life, the same Ma-kun.

    "You changed your hair colour,"

    "...It's not permanent.  Ma-kun, do you hate me?'

    God, that stung the most.

    "No, I don't, Ma-chan,"

    "Then, why are you looking away?"

    "Because I can see your cleavage, Ma-chan."

    It was obvious as shit.  And she was leaning towards me.

    "I don't mind if it's you, Ma-kun,"

    "But I do."

    And that damn lecturer would HAVE to get in at that moment.  Everyone hushed up and quieted down after some while.  The same monotone lecture drooled on like water through my head.  Meanwhile, all the thoughts of her previous question was flooding it.  I knew I was an existentialist, always prodding on why I was there and what my life was for. And now another question rose up.  Can a man really change from what he used to be?  In my eyes, Ma-chan was the same long-haired, beautiful-faced, great-bodied, and cheerful as she used to be.  Probably, in her eyes, I was the spiked-hair, grinning-faced, lean-bodied, and crazy as I used to be.

    But now, only my appearance was different.  My hair is sleek and combed, I had a serious face on, I was exercising and I was fitter, and my thoughts are controlled and civilized.  It was the same with her, probably.

    Like I said before, the day wasn't bad nor good.  It was a fork in the road I thought I wasn't ever given again.

    At the end of the lesson, we walked out together.  It was never hand-in-hand because we never did got ahold of the 'romantic' type of relationship.  Besides, we thought it was too boring for us.

    "You know, Ma-chan,"

    "...Yeah?"

    I ruffled my hair and wore my used grin.  It was nostalgic.

    "In university, Ma-chan, they have these things called club, right, Ma-chan?"

    She looked at me like I was a ghost.

    "Hmm?  What's the matter, Ma-chan?  Are you sick?  Hungry?  Come on, let's have lunch, Ma-chan!"

    She was back.

    "But Ma-kun!"

    "Yes, Ma-chan?!"

    "They don't have a canteen here, Ma-kun!"

    "Oh my!  What kind of place is this?!  What shall we do?!"

    "What shall we do?!"

    "Hmm..."

    "Hmm..."

    "That's it! Ma-chan, I have a car!"

    "GASP!  YOU DO?  DO YOU HAVE A LICENSE TO DRIVE IT?"

    Yes, she was shouting.  People are looking at us.  Then again, people used to look at us with those strange looks.

    "...OF COURSE, I DO, MA-CHAN!"

    "Wow, you're cool, MA-KUN!"

    "Yes, yes, I am.  Now, to the CAR!"

    "Where's the key, Ma-kun?"

    "...I left it in my room,"

    "Oh. You mean, you left someone else's key to someone else's car, in someone else's room, don't you, MA-KUN?"

    I love it when she knows what I'm thinking.

    "...YES, EXACTLY!  TO THE ROOM!"

    "TO THE ROOM!"

    Things happen after that.  A lot of things.  Much of them I don't remember doing, but they were there, in my brain. 

    And here I am, writing this down.

   I don't knowasjodbijasbdfbfijbfbabsdaasd

    "Ma-kun.  What are you doing?"

    "My diary, Ma-chan!  I plan to publish it to the public when I finish,"

    "But Ma-kun... Can you even publish diaries?"

    "Of course, Ma-chan!  Isn't that how that diary of some Anne whatever was published too?"

    "Oh, you're right, Ma-kun!"

    "Of  course, I am, Ma-chan!"

    "But, you know, Ma-kun... Don't you publish books before you die?"

    "Of course, Ma-chan!  What are you saying?!"

    "But Anne whatever died before her diary was published,"

    "...."

    I didn't know that.

    So entry number 0048 needs some adjustments.

    But whatever.

    People don't change.  At least, not in other people's eyes.

    As for the fork in the road, I took the sidewalk, with no relation to any road whatsoever.  It was my choice.

Sincerely,

Marui Ma-kun.

    "That's a sweet story, Ma-kun," she looked down at what I'm writing.  Her face was back with the smile and her eyes were the brightest thing I have ever seen.  And she was making it obvious with her cleavage.

    "Of course, it is, Ma-chan!" I replied.  

    "You know, Ma-kun?"

    "Yes, Ma-chan?"

    "I wasn't shouting.  You were,"

    "We both were shouting, Ma-chan!  Now, what are you saying?"

    I saw a single tear drop at the edge of those bright eyes.  But then, it disappeared with a blink.

    "Ma-chan!  Hurry up!  We gotta get this done before tomorrow!"

    "Eh?  What for, Ma-kun?"

    "You forgot, Ma-chan?!  For our club!"

    "Oh yeah, Ma-kun!  We were going to make up a club, right?!"

    "Yes, Ma-chan!"

    "But what's the name of the club, Ma-kun?!"

    "..."

    I'll think one up later.  With the now short-haired, semi-blonde, beautiful-faced, great-bodied, and cheerful girl here beside me, I can do everything and anything.   

Whichever

Yo.

I'm sure there aren't a lot of people reading this but nonetheless, I will post.

As you all know or not know, I am the one who has been posting since... since the start.

The short stories are my own my idea, coming from where, don't ask me, it just pops up when I feel, do, see, investigate, or even fantasize about something.

As anyone would know or not know too, these are merely stories that sparked up somewhere, therefore I won't look at them much and they are categorised into what I would call, "Short Destinies."

Or I just should call them, "Snippets."

Oh well, whatever they are called, I would like to just say, that if anyone, anyone at all, would want any of the "Short Destinies", SD for short, to be well... a full fledged "Destiny" then please, tell me so.

Of course, I would come up with the whole idea about the story and the main theme is whatnot.  But if you want to add things like plot, or another character, or even a special trait on any character, then please by any means, tell me.

That is... if anyone is reading this... at all.

It's hard to do things when no one is pushing you from behind.

It's harder to do it when you know you don't get much from it.

I'm just passing my time with what I would say I am best at.  Writing.

Ja.

Shall I tell you more?

    "That guy has been staring at us for some time.  Don't look! Maybe he's some kind of pervert,"
    "Eeek! Let's get out of here,"
    "No, wait. He's been following us since school, remember? We should lost him in the mall of something,"
    "Yeah, you're right. Besides, I need a new pair of shoes for next week,"
    "Oh? Fair's birthday party, right? Come, he's catching up... I don't want him to get close..."
    The two girls, still in their school uniforms hasten their steps.  They send short and piercing glances behind their backs, occasionally with a worried frown on their foreheads.  The uniform they had was that of the nearby high school, Juilin's High School.  Quite a prestigious school, privately funded, of course, with almost all the students came from families with high status in community and positions in politics.  Their children, they send them here to educate.  But as they say, education don't just stop at the school, it needs to continue at the home level.  Some of the students in that school wasn't as lucky as them, though.  They are the ones who had entered the school with their aces and hard work, starting back from their Middle school, they picked up the idea of those who does not work, will eventually die in a ditch somewhere.  Especially in these times and days.  Especially when their daily lives consists of the thoughts of them and the ones that can brought the fate upon them.
    That guy isn't a pervert nor any kind of criminal.  His name was Trafial.  No family name.  Twice he had been removed of such title, and twice again he was given that name, only to be resulted in total exile from his old family tree.  The family that had played the game that costs lives and money in glances and tweaks of the eyes.  To think he had been adopted long ago made him squirm somewhat in delight.  What kind of strings pull him now, he wondered.  Since the ones that his own adopted family had attached to him had already been severed, for what he lives now?  The reason he was following those two girls was because he knew that those girls will think him as some common rapist, and in that, if they are clever enough, they will lead him directly to the mall.  To think he had lived under a roof for such a long time, the outside world became an almost alien aspect he nearly forgotten.  Yet, he managed his way with as much money he had dug up in that old mansion and using the knowledge to read maps would be a start to his re-entering of the world.
    Yes, the new world.  Trafial knew the new world like the back of his mind.  The new world, my ass.  All that was added was this glossy feeling inside him telling tales of of unbelievable through his eyes.  He did wonder how did the maglev work, and how did that piece of board float, he thought someone called it "Hover Board" or some kind, and why are the women's clothings resemble that of shapes distorted as in dreams and the height of their shoes.  He thought that maybe the issue between a man and woman was because of their each own height.  Thus, by becoming taller, women will close that gap up.  That's what he thought anyway.
    The two girls were very aware of him following them.  He was wearing a long coat, made of brown leather,  with as many pockets he can pick out from.  Very effective in storing things that requires very delicate limited view of the public, like the hidden daggers he kept with himself as long as he can remember.  The man that adopted him taught him that.  Always arm yourself.  Even when unarmed, the sole of your foot and the palms of your hands can be weapons.  But Trafial was somewhat low in terms of stamina.  True, he mastered some 2 or 3 forms of Kung Fu and some other martial arts, if he can remember them.  Yet, he put his trusts in the hidden knives more.  The hat he had on was wide brimmed and covered half of his face when he tilt the his face the right way, an effective hiding tool when you are following someone but you need to get a view of the followed as well, so had to glance up once in a while.
    For some time now, since he had been stripped of the family name and any kind of possessions, although he is quite fast with his hands most of the time, he had wonder what he will do next.  To become a commoner would be the best form of any kind of idea he can managed, since he will be safe within the walls of the city and it's citizenship and at the same time, he will not be involved in the chess board of the higher ups that rule half the city.  However he think, that way was the best for his safety.  Yet...
    "Uh!  Those two... where did they go?" Trafial snapped from his thoughts.  He looked around, there were no girls in Juilin's uniform anywhere.  The people around him gave him looks.  He noticed  and lowering his head, he made his way to a bench.  "Tch.  I lost those two.  Maybe there's a map that I can use around here."
    When he sat down, though, he realize where he really is all this time.  Those two girls are either taking some long way route or really clever.  The people around him consisted nearly of couples or families, lounging around the grassy floor or in the shadows of trees.  In the park, some people basked in the sunlight and almost all of them had caps to hide their frown. Although the place was quite small, it's placement right in the middle of the city was really quite clever.  Whoever had invented the idea of park in the city may claim the nobel prize whenever he wanted.  There were also some vendors there, with stalls and huge parasol, shadowing their wares and whatnot.  One of them were being squirmed by children and ladies alike, the ice-cream stand.  It hold a small space beside a tree, and the sign on it's stall, one would call it somewhat idiotic, three lolipops sticks together.  But call it foolish, the attendant's hands were full with the ice-creams and other sweet stuffs.  He was smiling, though.  Having quite some time, that man.  Trafial wondered why.  Working seemed quite an alien term for him too since he got fed all this while.  He understood doing physical or mental labor for the sake of money but that man was smiling at the same time.  Perhaps he was having fun?  In work, one is not supposed to have fun, though.  Well, as far as his job concerned, that is.  He decided to look away before his mind wonders again.
    "Looks like I have to find my way around, myself," he said.  His hand automatically slipped into one of his coat pockets and fingered a knife.  The edges and the point.  The hilt that was leather.  It was the length of his hand that one, with delicate precision, that knife can pierce a target 100m if he concentrates.  He had done it once.  That one was for an object, though, not a living man.
    After 5 minutes twirling the knife in his hidden pocket, he stood up and went away.  Finding a map in this city wasn't quite an easy job before.  He wondered if anyone would need a map here.  Someone must've got lost here before, like him.  No, not like him.  His situation was that of a nestling, trying to flap it's wings to gain lift and failing rapidly.  He had to flap harder before the ground reaches him.
    He had money.  He could've bought a map.  But then, he doesn't know what shop sells what.  He knows of the common shops that sell almost everything, from nail clippers to knives for kitchen.  He wondered whether those kinds of shops need a weapon license to sell those dangerous things.  He shook his hand to stop his thinking.  He never quite got a grip of his train-speed thoughts.
    Wondering about whether he could really live on his own, he decided not to say about that before he get a chance at it.  This is his first chance and he wasn't going to waste this one.  He thought he could do this in one shot.  He usually can with his knives.  What could be harder than throwing knives?  Life couldn't be that hard.  Except the part where you must communicate with other people.  It's not like he hated other people but he couldn't bring himself to trust someone that much.  He trusts solely himself, never another human being, be it his friends or allies or family.  Then again, maybe some of the last bit.  He could've trusted an old man and a butler.  They listened when he had something to talk about.  Whether they really took it into their minds were unknown to him.  He figured that deciding they did not was the better idea.  Even after purging your heart of troubles by speaking them out loud, one can never solve those troubles without one's own hands.  That is partially why he cannot seek help from them.
    He had plans, of course.  He even had all his strategies laid out in front of him.  The trouble was finding those places, that's all.  When he researched a map before this, he found out that the place he was looking for was at the other end of the city, the west side.  Of course, he never went there.  He figured that the place must be quite the same here, with all the riches being the city of the east side.  The place would be his home and that of an apartment too.  He was living on his own, so there was no need for large spaces.  He wouldn't be buying other furnitures too for the time being before he settled down with a job or two.  He would buy a computer though.  He needed information in this place and time, and the internet was one too many place there was too many free information for the looking.  He wondered if the internet came with the computer or indeed it is already in the computer.  He never got quite chance to discover that part of the world, yet.  There was so many things he never quite the hang of yet, in all his years.  Maybe, that's why, this feeling inside of him wouldn't quite sit down still.  He thinks every single time, he could think and grab information like a child would grab a candy.
    He finally found a board at one corner.  Adjusting his hat, he looked at the map.  There were some lines connecting to west side, he figured that they was the maglev trains line.  But how he would get on one was lost to him.  No, he could walk there.  But first he had to find a mall, where there's a lot of stores and stalls, and he had business there.  Money, he had, quite a lot too, most of them in a piece of card.  That money alone would last him some years here.
    "Ehh?  Why am I here?  I need to go there.  Hmm..." a voice sounded beside him.
    He looked that way.
    And gasped.
    There standing beside him was a woman.  No, a lady.  No, a girl.  No, a student with that Juilin's uniform.  No, a pretty girl in that Juilin's uniform.  No, a girl.  But not just a girl.
    "Where are you going?" his mouth worked without his trains of thought.  He wondered why he said that.
    "Oh?  Who are you?" she said.
    "I'm the one who wants to help,"
    "Playing words, eh?  Isn't it stuffy wearing that?"
    "Not quite, since I have the hat,"
    "Oh! Nice hat,"
    "Where are you going?"
    "You're not going to follow me, are you?"
    "Why would I do such a thing?"
    "I don't know.  I just have that kind of feeling,"
    "Just tell me.  I just want to help,"
    "Hmm... Well, I was going to the mall, but I don't know how I ended up here.  I thought I took the right turn over here but then, where was that corner, anyway?  I'm bad at reading maps,"
    "The mall?  Then, let me accompany you,"
    "See?  You do want to follow me!  Then, you would lead me to a dark corner... and then... you would do... things,"
    "I would not.  Cross my Friihl's name on it,"
    "Friihl?"
    Tch.  Why did that come out?  I am no more of them!
    "Freel.  It is spelled as Free with an L at the end.  Not the honourable Friihl.  They sound alike but we are just another commoner's house," he recovered.  He thought he saw the blood drained from the other person's face.  But it came back. She was full of smiles and cheerfulness again.
    "Oh.  I thought somehow you would be... Well, no matter.  Are you going to rob or do dirty things to me or not?"
    "No, cross my heart on it,"
    "Then, promise me,"
    Crossing my heart means I am promising it...
    "I promise you,"
    "Pinky promise,"
    "Eh?"
    She was holding a hand with her pinky finger out.  She was gesturing it.
    "What am I supposed to do?" he asked, looking at her hand.  The fingers were long and thin.  Not bony but for once, he felt like he wanted to touch it.
    "Do the same with your hand.  No, the other hand.  Now..."
    She grabbed his pinky finger and shook it vigorously.
    "You promised me, and if you lie to me, you will eat a thousand needles,"
    She broke it with a thug.
    "A thousand needles?  No one would do that!"
    "But you promised.  Now, let's go to the mall!"
    "Wait!  I haven't pinpoint it yet!"
    She was jumping and walking here and there.  He looked at her with awe.  How could you be like that?  He wondered what her name was.  He could figure it out on the way.  He was great with those.
    For once, he felt happy with something he did.
    "Nevertheless, I need to place my heart on a table if this would ruin my plans yet."
    He continued to find the way on the map.
    No, he would not fail this plan.
    For a lot of time, he had thought of this..
    He would place his own liver on a spit before it would be failed.
    His name was Trafial Friihl.  Had been.  For the 8 year of his starting life, had been a commoner, then at the age of 8 and a half, he lost his parents and was reduced to an orphan.  Then at the age of 9, he became a son of Friihl, the highest power on the eastern side of the city and expanding more and more.  At the age of 12, he was thrown out, only to be taken back later at the same year.  Then after the next two years, the same thing happened.  At the age of 17, he had had enough of the game.  He threw out his Friihl's name.  Forgotten what was his old family's name, he would as well be named Trafial for the rest of his life.
    At the age of 17 and a quarter, he became Trafial Freel.
    He smiled.
    This is so not going according to plan.
    But none of his organs are out for someone to eat yet.
   

About Smoking Shells

I have finally decided to make Smoking Shells, a full-fledged story based on a large theme.

The story will differ a little from the previous two posts but not much.

Yes, there will be the 8 characters and all, about that Project Multiply and all...

But now, it will turn into one huge settings and back drop and... well everything that a story would have.

I've already created the Project page, with Smoking Shells as the title.

It is decided that Tjukim Fenrir will be the main character, but there will be other 7 major characters that will fit into the story to create that one main theme.

This is the second project since Shot in the Dark.

I'm following Randy Ingermason's Snowflake method. Here: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/snowflake.php

It's a huge work and may take up a lot of time... with me being a student also too....

I'm not that diverse in terms of narration but I dare say I have a knack at writing dialogs.

Support me, okay?

 (^～^)

Smoking Shells part II

    Fenrir woke up.
    His eyes darted sideways, looking at his surroundings.  His brain tried to process the thoughts in his brain one by one.  His head aches because of that.  He could feel his legs and arms, but he doubt he can move them now.  His memories was a bit blur.  Although his breathing was shallow and forceful, he was sure the organs inside him somehow got the least bit damaged.  Damaged?  From what?  He looked up at the sky.  There was no sky.  Trees.  A lot of them.  High up and all green.  They were covering the skies as if they gulped it down.  Fenrir closed his eyes and waited some more.
    Half an hour later, he could feel his hands, his fingers.  He can moved them.  His lungs were probably back, as he can breath better now.  The left side of his head still aches though.  Moving his toes, he realized he was stripped to the waist.  Where was his shirt?
    Trying to sit up was a pain.  He could practically feel every muscle in his body protesting against his wishes and wishing it could get better, he crossed his legs.  Yes, everything was back now.  Every bit of his body was already regenerated including those inside of him.  What hit him was that the memory before the regeneration was still a blur.  Everytime he died, the memories was always a bit blur.  How many days or weeks did he take to generate now, he wondered.
    Standing up, he tested every moving parts of his body, from his eyes to the diaphragm.  Everything was back now.  Including the memory from before but he felt that there was more to it.
    "This place is... the forest," he mumbled.  "Ah.  That's right."
    He looked around and finally found a small mound.  He dug it up and found all his equipments there.  He thought he could remember why he buried them there.  The water bottle, his weapons and some bits of plasters were there but not much anything else.  He had to take care of food by himself.  Well, this is a forest, right?  Must've some kind of fruits here or some rabbits.
    "First of all though," he strapped the sword belt onto his waist, "gotta find the others."
    His memory came to him in a trickling bit but he can remember almost of what happened before though.  He remembered the mission he had come here with, the guys from Ju Squad, the days and weeks he and the others had endured.  The war that ravaged this place.  And, of course, the reality that something was happening here that shouldn't have happen.
    "Frames.  Where the hell did they get those from?" he asked himself.
    He decided to move.  Probably find a river or a source of water.  If he's lucky he could find a village or some kind of human population along the river.  He was sure he read about rivers somewhere, saying if you follow a river, you're bound to come into some sort of human encampment.  Hoping it wasn't one of those bogus magazine he always read, he moved without a direction.  Looking up was completely gone.  The trees were too bloody big.  There was no road or signs of them.  This place was too deep.
    "Bloody forest and bloody trees.  Damn, this freaking head ache won't go away," he said.
    He smacked his head.
    Everything came back in a flash.
    He drew his guns and pointed them towards everywhere.  He remembered the attack that came at the middle of the night.  The guys were watching.  Haff was going for his shift, after his own.  There was some sort of rubble somewhere, a lot of bullets were fired.  Haff was hurt, he could be sure that he saw a bullet went right through his chest.  Then, everyone was shouting and shooting at the darkness.  The fire in the middle of the camp was too small to lighten up the darkness of the forest.  The guys brought up their Frames, and he remembered Oppis requesting for Berserk mode.  He was shouting something then.  Damn.  That's right, he had been shot a lot too, bullets tearing muscle and muscle.  He could remember and felt that his left arm came right off.  His neck was bloodied.  He couldn't see that clearly.  Must've been one of the eyes gotten shot.
    Firing only a gun with his right hand, he remembered the words vividly.
    "Get away from here!  Take Haff!  Inso, get them away from here, hurry!  Leave me behind, I'll hold them off!" he remembered shouting them.
    Then, there was a lot of protesting but a rough voice broke through them all and they were gone in a flash.  Ling came in front of him and took Haff.  Haff wasn't moving.  He cursed then.
    "We'll be waiting at Yourell.  Once you generated, try to remember," Ling had said before he was off in his blue sky Frame armor.  Wings already deployed, he took off too with Haff in his hands.
    "I won't guarentee how long you gotta wait, though," he had said then.
    He shot and shot and shot.  All at the darkness.  Then, one Frame suddenly appeared in front of him.
    "A Frame?  Who the hell are you?" he had asked.
    No reply came.
    He shot at it only once before one huge sword was brought up.  Then he was dead.
    Fenrir breathed in deeply.
    "Yourell," he said to himself.
    Fastening his guns back onto their straps, he walked forward.  Well, no use sitting here and regretting.  They got ambushed while carrying out a risky mission.  Somehow, the radar didn't pick them up.  Those guys must've known.  Somehow, he didn't see through them either.  He was sure that bloody Frame was the problem.  Who the hell was that?
    Orbital Frames.  Those words rang out to him.  He used to had one himself, riding out to war and Jobs with it.  He can't remember much of those days now, though.  Mostly because of the damn Regeneration Node inside of him.
   He was one of the Immortals.  Not that he can't die, but he can regenerate all of his body parts, right down to the brain, if he got at least one cell left behind.  He didn't know exactly what they had done with his body but he knew then that if he got this inside of him, he would go out to battle more and that he can save people more.  Right then, there was only 9 Immortals.  He knew that 5 of them were on the Other's side.  They were Ellerian and all 5 of them weren't humans to begin with.  3 were elves and 2 were Mullies.  Mullies are another form of humanoid but they were bigger, stronger and more capable then the average human.  They have these scales on their arms that differentiate them from humans.  4 were on Dissidia.  One of them, he himself.  The other 3 were on other Factions, most probably.  He knew that 1 of them were Mullies and another one was a Jingard.  Jingard are not considered humanoid since they resemble nothing like humans and instead they were in the same category with espers, them being all shifty and can shape sometimes.  The other one was a human like him.  Although, he only met him once.  He was a cyborg.  Part of his body was machine and he was sure that the other part was only supported by the machine one.  He was old then.  Old-looking.  Green eyes, very sharp.  They met only once and he said only these words.
    "Don't forget that you will die someday.  But not from a bullet but by Death himself."
   He will remember those words for all eternity.
    He smelled something.  A river was nearby.  He walked, his nose leading him.
    Some minutes later, he drank from a clean-looking river, bedded with rocks on either side.  It was quite shallow, considering the position it was in.  Not at flat ground yet but not that far from a mountain too.  He was sure that it was a mountain.  The huge piece of earth sticking out right of him.  He kept that as a beacon.  If there's going to be people, they would be at the foot of the mountain.  Keeping his sight at the end of the river's bend, he kept going.  The water was cool to the throat and very refreshing but they taste something like salt and sugar all blended together.  He didn't like it that much but nevertheless the water bottle was filled up with it.  He didn't know when he would reach human population.
    "Damn," he said.
    Dusk was showing when he reached a steep edge of a hill.  Trees were growing but not that thick as before here.  The undergrowth was full of brown leaves.  He looked down and saw a neat little village, not a village but a farmer's land, most probably.  He decided that he would go to it.  Shirtless as he was, he was sure the man would probably help him.  He had to hide the weapons, though.  And he had to make up some sort of story.
    "Bloody Frame," he went down, leaning on trees while doing so, to keep him from rolling downhill with his head between his legs.
    "Those 2000 credits gotta be worth all of this!"
                                                                                                                                                                        


And there we go!

Watch out for the next part!  Oh yeah, if you're still puzzled: No. The story isn't arranged chronologically.

Oh and as for what happened before?  We'll see if it comes out next part, eh?

See ya!

I was wondering if... maybe I could draw Fenrir?

Then again.. I'm not that good at drawing.....
   

Smoking Shells

    Project Multiply

    Title : Multiply
    Code : 40956
    Participants : -First Commander Inso
                        -Lieutenant Ling
                        -Second Lieutenant Fari
                        -Third Lieutenant Oppis
                        -Corporal Jarn
                        -Colonel Tik
                        -Private Haff
                        -Knight Fenrir
    Objective : Search and Destroy
    Reward : 2000 credit

    "That's it?" Tjukim Fenrir said.  He was holding the project paper in his hands.  It was a single piece of paper with those details and a long signature at the bottom.  The ink on the signature was deep red, like it was written in blood.  Fenrir slumped back in his high backed moving chair and spun it round.  The meeting room's occupants looked at him with a sense of uncertainty.  They were all waiting for his response.  After that, the project would be signed off officially.
    "And why am I the only Knight in here anyway?  I can't say I share that much of anything, short of some years in the Artillery Academy, with the Ju Squad," Fenrir twirled the spinning chair again, still holding the document in his hands.
    "Knight Fenrir, I- we would appreciate it if you agree with the mission.  It's already stated there we need to work with you in this mission," someone on the far right side of Fenrir said.  His face was a scar of past veterans and a constant reminder why he had been taken in as second lieutenant.  He was wearing a a jacket, made of leather, like the rest of the occupants except Fenrir and a single man at the head of the meeting table.  That one had his face hidden in the semi darkness of the room, the only light coming from the screen of white behind him.
    "You cannot avoid that the Locker System had indeed chosen these people, all of them except you, is within my close circle and in the Ju Squad.  There is something that needs to be done there that only we can do," Hlafir Oppis said.  He was beside the second lieutanant.  When the man beside him bears scar on his face, Oppis' reminder was the single symbol on his chest.  Beside the obvious Node on his left side chest, right above his heart, was another smaller Node.  It was the Berserk Node, more commonly known as an advanced technology originated from overdrive.  With a push of a button, the third lieutenant can do things far more impressive than his body would always do and him without it, a single troll would be a piece of cake.
    "Correct.  I know that much after reading this thing.  Commander Inso, what would you say is that 'only thing' that we can do?" Fenrir stopped the moving chair and faced all of them.  He was wearing his usual gear, consisting of two energum-loaded hand guns, and a sword blade.  All of them strapped on his waist like they belong there.
    Silence filled the room for the incoming answer.
    A voice originated from the right side of table, at the end, sounded.  It was rough and holds a commanding tone.
    "It would be no more than to participate in a war that needs stopping," he said.
    Silence filled the room again.  This time, though, it held a very pressing mood on all of them.
    "I would guess so too.  Since all of us are mercenaries, I would not imagine any other than that.  But-" Fenrir never finished that sentence.
    "But the paper said we need to search and destroy.  Search and destroy what?" Oppis said.  "In a war, we just kill the opposite side, in which we are assigned and take the place to stop the war.  Eventually a trigger will be pulled and the war stops.  But this one is different.  What can we search for in a war?"
    "A war consists mainly of troops, and a battlefield," Fari continued.  "If I am given a guess, I would say we need to search for a person or persons, that holds Destinies in his hands and-"
    "Kill him?" Fenrir finished.
    "That is only a guess,"
    "A far-fetched one.  Destinies are meant to be protected, not killed off,"
    "So if you're so smart, what can you make of this?"
    "Ah, gotta love that accent.  What is it?  Frigger?"
    "Koorur.  What say ye in this matter, Knight Fenrir?"
    "I would say," he stood up, the blade in his waist straightened and the two guns somehow clicked on something, "that we just need to go there and find out."
    The man at the front end of the meeting room stirred.  He turned a little bit and a face like snake's and a piercing eyes made the face respectful and meant to be taken seriously.  He was wearing the same black robe since a long time ago.  He smelled of magic and power.
    "Then it is agreed.  Anyone would want to object?" he said.  His voice carried off until to the end of the meeting room, and it only seemed that he just whispered.
    "Well, I guess there is no timeline for this Job.  The credit would employ 2  to 4 years, according to the usual rate.  But this Job is quite different.  Be ready tomorrow morning at Station 506.  I will see to it that you get your gears and protectives.  I will assign 5 transporters and 2 spies in this Job," he stops and holds out a hand to Fenrir, who was still standing.  Fenrir gave the document to him.
    "If nobody objects, that is."
    Nobody stood up.  Fenrir sat down and began to play with his gun.
    "And somebody wake up Private Haff.  Make sure he is with you tomorrow morning, at 9 sharp."
    He walked off to the exit and disappeared before the doors were closed.  Everyone stared at the double doors, expecting a single burst of flame would suddenly burn the door.  Nothing happened 10 seconds later.
    "He's in a cheerful mood," Fenrir stood up and began to walk off too.  "See ya."
    He was gone too.
    "Bring your usual gears.  Tik, I would say you need the Grunt Device for this one.  Just in case," Lieutenant Ling said.  "And Jarn, don't forget your inhaler this time.  Or your other arm."
    "Yeah, yeah," a slick voice sounded from a tall man.
    "Haff.  Haff.  Haff!"
    "GAH! Wha- Who- Whe- How-" his voice a mumble.  His eyes were burning red.  On his back, he has a very huge rifle.
    "Station 506, 9 a.m. sharp, tomorrow.  Bring your usual gears and that Lightning Gun," Ling told him, with a cold stare that can freeze a river.  "Be sure you get enough rest until then."
    "Err.  Yeah, sure," he scratched his head.
    "This meeting is postponed until another one is called.  Commander Inso," Ling stood up and bowed to the First Commander.
    Inso got up and bowed to the others.  On his face, he had a rough expression.  He was still like that when he got out of the room.
    Haff was the last one to get out of the room.
    His eyes were red from lack of sleep.
    He wondered who would pound at his doorstep this time.
    Oh boy.

Box of grief

    "Hey, you're going?"
    Fin snapped from his daydream.  He slurped back the drool, inching away from the edge of his mouth and realized his neck was burning with pain.  He straightened himself up on the chair.  Heads on the desk, he looked sideways at his friend.
    "Go where?" he asked.  His eyes hurt and his head aches.  When was the last time he had a proper night?
    "Where?  Home.  Or have you gone senile already?  Haha, dude, you're still in secondary school and there's like 5 months left here you know, so you better don't go forgetting things," the other one said.  His eyes contracted to small lines when he smile and laugh.  His hair was bright red and people often thought it was dyed.  But truthfully, a friend from some country he won't ever get a chance to go would be one likely-to-cool friend.  At least that's he thought.
    A year ago, in the middle of June, a transfer student, no, more like a new student getting forced to go to school here had been brought in by the teacher.  His hair was flaming red, his face was a oblong, and all but perfected his outwordly physiques was a pair of hazelnut eyes the colour of the sky.  A very dark sky.  People swarmed all over him then, all the school found out that same hour, most likely, that a new student had enrolled and he looks really cool.  The student though thought that this was all an ordeal he had to deal with.  Particularly the part where he had to suit his own lifestyle to this place.  He came from a cold country and this place was hot as the bottom of a burning pot.  He didn't like it that much but he likes it when he can wear lighter clothes.
    Of course, Fin at that time was going through one of those emotional phases after a certain accident happened.  After all he's a ripe man, going through a very delicate process called puberty.  He started to realize there were far more girls in his class and all of them seemed to have very attractive properties.  It was all that he expected but they didn't explain the part where you feel lonely and sad for no reason at all.  He had friends, yes, and they were all probably going through the same thing.  Still, he thought that he's the only case where you look up at the sky at started to ask yourself some very hard questions.  For example: Who am I?
    Then this guy suddenly butted in.  Red hair and pretty eyes aside, he's a guy you don't want to mess with.  He has bigger body and taller than most guys here.  And he's athletic but never joined a club even until now. This guy saw him staring at nothing.  All of a sudden, he's there poking him in the face.  It all seemed like a blur after that.
    "Ahh!  Why do we have to go back?  It's too early, anyway," Fin said, refusing to move from his position. He had his face down straight on the desk and it was hard to breath.  So, he moved his head to look out the window.  It was evening, not quite late yet.  And it was hot.  Burning hot.
    "Oh come on.  So, you wanna go somewhere else?  The mall maybe?  Play some games or watch a movie?"  the other guy said.
    "Look at that outside.  Unless you have a car you can drive to the mall, I ain't going back until it's too late to stay here,"
    "Well, I could call up my driver."
    Silence.
    "Oi, Laz, you have driver?" Fin asked.  His face still facing away.
    "Yeah.  My parents thought it was too troublesome to wait for a bus or ride a bike, so they gave me a driver.  Although, I don't really use him that much except when I'm too lazy or I just want to give him something to do,"
    "Your parents hired you a driver?"
    "No.  More like, gave me a driver."
    Silence.
    "You know, Laz.  I still don't know what your parents do or how rich you are,"
    "Eh?  Why do you care, anyway?  Come on, I'll call up my driver and we can go hang out,"
    "Well, if it's on a car, I'll go."
    30 minutes later, the driver opened the back door to give the two boys entrance to the black shiny Mercedes Benz. There wasn't much student left at the time, but the few still waiting for their buses stared at the car and the two students going in and gaped like a fish out of water.  The driver slammed the door and got into the driver's seat.  Laz told him to drive to the mall and 5 minutes later, they were into heavy traffic in the middle of the city.
    It took quite a while before Fin realized that it was too quiet inside the car.  Still gaping, he desperately searched for a topic to converse with his friend.
    "Well, I heard you got a girlfriend."
    That was Laz.
    "Huh?  What girl?  No, more importantly, who said that?" Fin slide to the left and looked outside.  Buildings made out glass scratched the skies like claws.  All of them seemed too dominant and quiet but inside, he was sure a lot of people were still working.  It was a city made out of buildings like these and most of them are probably offices.  Fin looked down and saw a stall, selling what seemed to be candies.  The shopkeeper was sitting on a bench, looking tired.  He was wearing a hat, symbolized like a lolipop.  It wasn't ridiculous but he thought it wasn't funny either.
    "Everybody," Laz's voice seemed distances away.
    "Well, I don't, okay?  Still, if we're gonna talk about girls and such, might as well say we're gossiping,"
    "Gossips seemed to start everything, though.  I saw you with Hill the other day.  What were you guys talking about?"
    "Her?  Oh, she's just asking about the Archery Club.  You know, the one I ditched?  I wasn't good at it but she seemed desperate to pull me back into it.  Well, I'd say I humbly decline,"
    "That club?  I heard it was going down because there wasn't that much member to begin with,"
    "Yeah, that's probably why,"
    "Why'd you join it in the first place?"
    "Because I thought that there's not gonna be that much people in it.  Seemed it was famous once because of a pretty girl, but now that she's graduated, the club's finished,"
    "Oh."
    Quite settled in after that.  The whole thing was like a little spark, trying to ignite something bigger.  Well, it was worth the shot anyway.  Fin tried to searched for a topic again.  The car was moving slickly along the road, quiet and yet seemed to be fast.  The driver was good to drive with this speed with this much traffic around.  Maybe he was trained or something.  Or maybe he's just used to it.  Fin thought the latter was probably it.
    "I'm going back after 5 months."
    That was Laz too.
    "Back?  To your country?"
    "Yeah.  My family's here for just a year but my parents thought I better finished graduating here and then we go back and apply for a university, back home,"
    "Oh.  Good for you, then."
    So, that's why.  He's been like this for quite a while.  So, he's going back after finishing school, right?  Well, everybody will be forced into their own paths one way or the other.  No one can't really stay at one place forever and expects it to be the same.  Something's gotta change after a while.  The buildings seemed shorter now.  There were more restaurants and shops.  A couple was hand in hand, walking along the pavement.  They were smiling and seemed happy.  Fin watched them until they were out of sight.
    "Well, we have 5 months more, right?  After the exam, we'll go to the beach or something.  We can go hang out with the others.  Invite everybody,"
    "I don't know,"
    "Eh, don't worry.  It's not gonna be just you going away.  Everybody's going their ways after this.  So, it's not that big of a deal,"
    "Please don't say that."
    Man, this guy can really be emo sometimes.
    "Well, look.  We'll be in touch.  I got your number, your FB, twitter, everything.  We can Skype if you want,"
   "Yeah, probably."
   Like I said.  It's not like I like it this way but hey, I knew this would be coming.  Man....
   "Don't sweat it," Fin said.  He didn't want to see the other guy's face.  Probably at the edge of tears or something.
    They arrived at the mall after some time.  The driver let them off at the entrance and Laz said to be back after 2 hours.  What the hell are going to do for 2 hours?
    "Fun.  Come on, this time I'll beat you at Mars Invaders!" Laz exclaimed when the car was out of sight.  He was smiling then, happy as ever.
    "Oh really?  We'll see about that.  Oh and you're on everything,"
    "Eh??? I don't have that much money on me right now,"
    "Well, we have this machine called the ATM,"
    "Tch.  Pay for yourself,"
    "Hey, you dragged me here and you expect me to pay dinner?  I don't think so,"
    "Shut up."
    5 months.
    Not long.
    Too fast.
    Minus the exam and everything's gotta do with school, we're left with a couple of weeks, only.
    Man...
    And this guy had to remind me.

Fill the sky

    It was night, about 11 o'clock.  The park at the outskirts of Altair was filled with homeless men as they struggle to keep themselves warm and cozy in their dirty clothes and jackets, with torn gloves that show their fingers.  Many of them are men while some are old women, dressed similarly that you can't nearly tell which is which.  Food was scarce that day and begging for the whole day had turned to the worse since cops patrols had been operational since start of the month.  Begging was the only thing they could do in these cases but not all of them wanted to live like this forever.

    Amongst those, a man stood inside the darkest patch of the park, where a single big tree made a big shadow on the ground, blocking the moon's view and the stars' glitter.  He wasn't one of those homeless and yet in mere couple of minutes, he will be worse than the worst of those men.  He was wearing simple office clothes, complete with jacket and a glove, since it was too cold for anything else that night.  Clutching a bottle of alcohol in his right hand, he have a gun in another.  A Glock .40 bullets.  He had a license for that, but he being as is right now, he had all but forgotten where that piece of paper is.  He looked up to that big tree, standing there with his eyes unfocused, then took a great drink from the bottle, spilling some onto his clothes.

    There was another man, a man with a special ability.  He had sensed the strong sense of danger from this part of his territory and he had eventually found it.  He was watching the one with the gun, away from his sight of view and well in cover.  He had nothing on except a t-shirt and a pair of jeans, tightened around his waist with a buckled belt.  Now, he stood at the far right back of the one with the gun, watching him from behind a smaller tree, well within the shadows.  His eyes were focused but he didn't to be so since his special ability enabled him to see what other humans can't see.  In his eyes, he sees but a man, ready to kill himself.  But in his mind, he sees something entirely different.  He clenched his fists, cursing the cruel fate in which humans cannot simply ignore.  He was so cold outside on his skin, but inside he was burning with anger.

    "Why do humans neglect themselves so much?" he thought.

    The one with the gun took another long haul from the bottle, until all the content vanished inside his mouth. He took a despairing look at the bottle and smashed it on the tree, making the surrounding glitter for a while with glasses flying.  Then he looked up and point the gun barrel at his head.  He removed the safety with a click and pulled the trigger.

    A brief loud bang and an explosion.  Pieces of brain flew and settled on the grass.  Then, silence.

    The other man looked at the whole scene with a familiarity in his eyes yet he was shocked to his core.  He began to shiver for a moment but then stood firm as something beyond his eyes slither away from the body.  That was it.  He moved with grace and certainty, following the slithering shadow, originated from the body and now making it's way to the deeper parts of the park where the trees are big and the paths hidden by weeds.  He knew the area like the back of his hand, and yet a sense of danger rang through his head like a siren.  He needed to go forward and faced this.  Just like he did so a lot of time before this.

    Every man and woman and children have spirits in their body.  These spirits are what would surface as emotions and thinking.  These spirits are unstable in children and sometimes in women.  But these spirits are the only barrier that differs the sane and the insane.  These spirits are a form in which humans had manifested all their wills and their dreams.  These spirits linger inside the human body, separate from the soul or the body, yet one with them.  The man was chasing a Wild Will, a spirit of a human being, set free before the hos died and now, with lost of the body and soul, it roams the earth, with no destination or goal.

    Wild Wills are yet another form of spirits.  When humans have the spirit to live and love, his spirit would be strong and controlled.  But when a human gone berserk, sometimes lost his sanity or a prolonged moment of anger or even the break of a relationship.  These can lead to Wild Wills, where the intention to live or love are gone from the human.  In this case, Wild Wills are what the man would call an abomination that had used to be human.

    His job is to get rid of the abomination using his own special ability to call forth his own Wills into action.

    The slithering shadow stopped under the shadow of an oak tree, young still to be called big.  It stood up and formed the shape of a human being, with no sense of skin or face.  It turned around to face the incoming man.  It grew eyes, white holes on the head and slumped.

    "You.  Don't move," the man gasped for breath.  "This could end the easy way or the hard way."

    The figurative shadow moved it's hands.  He formed a mouth, yet another white hole on it's head.  The mouth moved but only whispers of it's words were heard.  "...fill me... hurts... done with... fill..."

    The man almost pitied the creature in front of him.  But if he let it grow any larger than this... "Don't move. I'll be done with you in a minute."  He touched his chest and a single glow of light, briefly glowed around his body and disappeared.  From the spot he touched, a visible shape of a rectangle slowly protruded.  Then, the man pulled it out.  It formed itself into a card, drawn.  It was decorated with the faces of a child, a woman and a man, facing up to a pair of wings that glowed.  He set it on the ground.  Instantly the whole area vibrated for a while.

    "I'll end this for you.  Mistral," he said.  A figure appeared beside him, clad within iron armor and holding a long halberd in it's left hand.  It moved forward towards the Wild Will.

    "...job ...done..." the shadow in front mumbled with his mouth moving only fractions.  It seemed a bit larger than seconds before.  Standing there, it looked up.  For a while, a human face, similar to the one the shadow originated from, formed on it's head.  It vanished.

    Mistral, the Will summoned from the man, lifted the halberd below it's shoulder and brought it down in a flash, slashing the shadow across the torso.  The remains of a spirit closed it's eyes and disappeared.  Not even ashes were seen floating or flying away.

    The man let escape a breath he wasn't aware holding.  He looked at Mistral.  The Will had done his job and it disappeared too, just like the Wild Will.  The card that was placed on the ground had vanished at the same time.

    "At least, this one had decency to stay still," he said as he walked away from the scene.  Now aware of the cold biting his fingers, he hugged himself and walked fast to his apartment, two blocks away from the park.  The thought of the Wild Will, gone from his head when he reached the door and opened the lock.

    That night, Jake Freelance, Agent Card, slept well.

Chikusho

Why am I the only one like this?

Read or Die -Rehabilitation-

Hideyuki Kurata.

I SALUTE YOU AND I LOVE YOU TO THE END OF THE EARTH.

YOU BRING BACK READ OR DIE.

OH. MY. GODDDDDD.

XDDDD

Seriously, I LOVE THE NEW LOOK of "Yomiko".

If you know what i mean....

I see a massive reduction of boob size, glasses size, and oh wow, a wardrobe change.

Then again, I expected nothing less from an alternate Read or Die, no?

Yep, Read or Die -Rehabilitation- is a SIDE-STORY which means it has NOTHING to do with the original R.O.D.

Look at it like this.

There are... 3 Yomiko's as far as I know.

1) The manga version
2) The OVA / TV version
3) THE NEW YOMIKO

So, the OVA / TV versions follow the manga version, (coat, tie, big glasses, breast size, wardrobe).

But you, KURATA, YOU made an alternate version a.k.a. A new Dimension in the R.O.D. Universe.

Yes.  Read or Die is a universe.

The new dimension, Rehab version, will represent a darker side of R.O.D. With like you said, Kurata, "...the  dark side of bibliophile, a total polar opposite..."

I totally FUCKING agree with you Kurata.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS KURATA.  I AM SALUTING YOU AND GANBATTE YO!!!