《Glimpse of Eternity》Chapter 1.1 - All Was Well... Until It Wasn't (1)
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The bright rays of the sun illuminate a certain private ward at a certain hospital in Japan. A casual glance would immediately make one wonder if a King was confined there.
Who could blame them? One didn't need a trained eye to tell that the various couches in the room were high quality, whose comfort could melt even the most diligent of workers into a blob of goop within a few seconds of sitting. The carpet on the ground and the crystal chandelier on the ceiling gave the room an additional air of luxury. The walls, if not lined with elegant paintings would be lined with fully stocked bookshelves instead. To top it all off, the supposed hospital bed did not have the plain white sheets characteristic of hospital beds, and instead had a purple base color and the logo of a popular anime on it. The pillows had the same logo as the bedsheets on them as well.
You would think that the sheets and pillows would reduce the grandeur of the room... however this was not the case.
In the first place, the current state of the bedding was not privy to the eyes of most people who would enter the room, as curtains built into the bed would shield it from view.
That's right! The supposed hospital bed in the supposed hospital room was a canopy bed!!!
Rather than a hospital ward where a patient is supposed to stay for treatment, it looked more like a room where an affluent (and quite "cultured") person lived.
In this room resided a young man in his twenties, named Kagami Ken. He was the patient of this overly luxurious hospital ward and naturally also the owner of its bed. And as any bed-owner would, was currently making very good use of it to sleep peacefully.
Until he turned over to face the left side of the bed and got a faceful of sunlight.
"Ugh..."
'Fuck, why is the sun so bright...?'
Ken groggily opened his eyes, while contemplating just why he had to be woken up by the blasted sun even considering his double-layered defense system consisting of the window's blinds and his bed's curtains.
While not moving his head or his body, he examined everything in his peripheral vision, and immediately solved the mystery of why his defense systems against the sun had failed.
It was simply because the blinds and the curtains were open.
Which is to say that his full-proof double-layered defense system was currently in a disabled state.
'What the... who was the crazy bastard that did this to me? Was it one of the maids? Nah. Even if I'm not some monster boss who makes a fuss over small things, they're aware of how difficult falling asleep for me is. I would definitely get them fired for this... they're both capable workers so they wouldn't make such a rookie mistake. Did I just forget to close them? I sent them out so I could get some privacy so they naturally couldn't have closed it for me after I fell asleep...fuck.'
While inwardly cursing himself and closing his eyes again, he tried to capitalize on the minuscule amount of sleepiness he still had to try to get back to sleep. He felt around for the remote which controlled both the window's blinds and the bed's curtains. However, after a few seconds, he still couldn't find it where he usually kept it.
"...fuck, where is it?..."
"Here you go."
Just when he was beginning to think that he had to open his eyes just to find the remote someone handily placed it on the backside of his hand. Ken grabbed at it immediately, like how someone who had been stuck in a desert for days would grab at a nicely chilled bottle of water.
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"Thank you so much."
"You're very welcome."
After giving his savior his brief but heartfelt gratitude, Ken quickly pressed the two buttons to finally reactivate his beloved defense systems. The stars were once again aligned, and he thought he could finally get that sweet sweet sleep when he had a thought.
'Eh...? Who gave me the remote just now...? The maids don't talk to me that casually. They always add 'sir' to the end of their sentences...'
Ken felt somewhat curious about the identity of his benefactor but didn't really think it was worth it to forgo sleep just to investigate.
'Well, they can't be a bad person or anything, right? I mean they even gave me the remote and stuff.'
It was of course a bit of a stretch to decide whether someone was a good or bad person, on whether they would help you out with such a small task, but Kagami Ken was the kind of person who wouldn't sweat the small stuff. At least, the Kagami Ken that really really wanted to get some more sleep was that kind of person. With that out of the way, Ken shifted over to face the right side of his bed. Even when the curtains and the blinds were slowly closing shut, he didn't want to waste a single second being awake at the moment, so he turned over to avoid the Sun who seemed to be trying its best to annoy him. He was just about to let the small traces of drowsiness take him to dreamland when he suddenly started.
'Wait a minute. That voice. That annoyingly pretty voice... ugh. Now I know who my 'benefactor' is. Well, there goes my drowsiness too.'
Feeling regret over solving the mystery of his benefactor's identity, Ken once again pressed the button that would open up the bed's curtains and opened his eyes, resigned to his misfortune.
"Oh. You're awake."
When Ken opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of an absurdly beautiful young woman with long black hair tied in a ponytail, standing beside his bed. The young woman had milky white skin, luscious pink lips, and her bright blue eyes seemed to shine like stars. She was dressed rather simply, just a plain white shirt loosely tucked in a pair of black skinny jeans. The only accessories she had were a few bracelets on her left wrist and a simple necklace with some sort of circular symbol hanging off of it. The relatively simple outfit did not shame the young woman's beauty in any way but seemed to make her naturally good looks stand out even more.
The young woman was currently looking at Ken with a smile that would have had most men's heart rate increase by a few times. Waking up with such a pretty young lady next to you would have been a situation envied by many, however, Ken's response to the beauty's smile was a scowl.
The young woman seemed to find Ken's reaction amusing, her smile growing bigger.
"Good morning, my dear brother."
"...yes, Good morning to you as well, my dear sister," Ken answered grumpily as he glanced at the clock on the wall right behind the young woman.
'Oh god, it's eleven o'clock in the morning?! that means I only slept for, like, four hours!?!' Thinking about that, Ken got even more irritated.
Seemingly satisfied by her brother's reaction, she turned to sit on the comfy armchair that was placed close to Ken's bed. This was her special spot. No one else was allowed to sit here but her.
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The beautiful young woman was actually Kagami Kyouka, Ken's biological little sister who had just turned nineteen years old a few months ago.
"Aren't you a student? Shouldn't you be at school or something? Why are you here?" Ken asked a rapid-fire series of questions, not having fully dispersed his grumpiness from getting woken up.
"Did you forget I'm a university student now? University students have loads of free time." Kyouka answered nonchalantly. "We mainly just bum around."
'Apologize to all the university students you just offended!' Ken retorted inwardly as he glared at his little sister.
"Don't look at me like that. It was all just orientations and welcome parties and stuff. There are club recruitments too, but I'm not planning on joining any since It'll take away time for my hobbies." Kyouka explained.
'She's saying it's for her hobbies, but I know she also doesn't want to reduce her visits to me...' Ken thought inwardly. It upset him to be holding her back, but also made him happy that she cared. The conflicting emotions made him wallow in self-hate. 'And that's why you're terminally ill, Kagami Ken. You're a bastard that feels good about troubling his loved ones.'
A complicated look appeared on Ken's face as he had these thoughts, and Kyouka didn't miss it.
"What's wrong with your face? don't start thinking that I'm holding myself back for you, okay? I'm just not interested in any of the clubs and I really am busy enough as it is. I feel like I don't have enough time for my hobbies. Stop looking like an apologetic puppy. You look disgusting." Kyouka harrumphed. She then turned her face to check something on her phone and stopped talking, but Ken didn't miss the slight redness of her ears.
'This tsundere little...' Ken couldn't stop a smirk from showing on his face. Kyouka seemed to sense this, so she didn't look up from her phone for a while.
'She's obviously not doing anything on her phone, there's no light coming off of it. Is she checking if her blush is gone? Cute. Well, I won't say that though,' Ken thought in amusement as he sat up and silently watched Kyouka.
Seemingly having had enough of the silence (as well as to find a change of subject), Kyouka pointed at a few gift-wrapped boxes in the corner.
"What are those? Offerings?"
"Yep. A few people came by yesterday." Ken answered, his energy gradually depleting just from remembering yesterday's visitors.
"Hmm~ anything good?" Kyouka asked with her best attempt at an evil smile while rubbing her hands theatrically.
"Meh, it's just a bunch of bottles of wine. Although one of them gave me a Golf set, saying that he wished to play a game with me when I get better."
"Oh? How old is the wine? one hundred years? two?" Seemingly very curious about it Kyouka asked eagerly.
"He gave me a bunch so I'm not sure. And what's it to you? My dear sister, you're underage, so even if it was a thousand-year-old wine or something you're not getting a drop." Ken crossed his arms on his chest, doing his best to look imposing.
"Stingy bastard. Shouldn't this be the perfect time to try some then? What if my first time drinking ends up being with a bunch of university seniors, and they end up getting me drunk and wasted? They obviously won't be able to resist doing something to this me, who's basically the incarnation of Aphrodite. Then they'll take pictures and videos of the things they do to me, then blackmail me into being their slave. Are you gonna let that happen?! Are you just gonna let that happen to your beloved little sister!?!?" Kyouka exclaimed theatrically.
"..."
"Of course you won't, right?! Then this is the perfect opportunity to start training my alcohol tolerance, that way I won't be taken advantage of!" Seeming to think that she made an amazing argument, Kyouka looked at her big brother triumphantly.
'Well, now I know the sort of stuff she reads in private... although I never really wanted to find out.'
"Kyouka, first of all, if someone really planned to do that kind of stuff to you, they would've at least prepared some drugs specialized for that kinda thing. Second..."
Ken pointed towards the door leading out of his private ward. The doors had a square portion in the upper half of it that was made of stained glass, where you could see two hulking silhouettes seemingly standing guard outside the door. "We have bodyguards assigned to us. Like, a ton of them. We don't even know how many there are exactly, since most of them guard us in secret."
Kyouka shrugged her shoulders, seemingly giving up on convincing her stubborn big brother.
'In the first place, I already secretly tried drinking when I was seventeen. I drank so much and barely felt anything.' Kyouka secretly thought.
Inwardly relieved that he had stopped her sister from treading down the wrong path, Ken decided to turn her attention away from the 'offerings'.
"So I read that web novel you recommended to me, and I really liked it."
"Really?!" Kyouka excitedly exclaimed. She had already completely forgotten about the wine.
Kyouka may not have looked like someone who would be interested in otaku culture and whatnot, but it couldn't be farther from the truth.
'I mean... she was the one who got me into it this stuff after all. I still can't forget that evil look on her face when she introduced me to 'Ainz's Gate', 'Your Lie in May', and 'Two Piece'. I was halfway down the swamp that was Anime by then and I had no intention of getting out. I was diving into that cesspool.'
"Hmhm. It was somewhat cliché, but it was done really well, like that one time where..." Ken proceeded to list various events that happened in the novel while praising it, and Kyouka just nodded along while looking at him with bright eyes. Her mood rose with every compliment he gave.
"I just knew you would get it!!! All those haters just keep spouting crap about it, when they couldn't even understand the novel's appeal! I just knew you would understand though! As expected of my brother!" Kyouka exclaimed in excitement.
'It feels like if I compliment it some more she'd start dancing around or something.' Ken mused.
Kyouka heaped some more praise on Ken, about how he was this and that and whatnot. Ken was actually starting to get embarrassed about it, seeing as Kyouka didn't look like she was just messing with him.
"Okay, okay. I know I'm great. You don't have to remind me too much." Ken decided to put a stop to the praise train before his ears started getting red or something.
"Alright. Now I'm sure you get the appeal, I have another question to ask you..." As if all the previous excitement didn't even happen, the atmosphere seemed to turn serious all of a sudden.
'Eh? what's wrong with her? She's suddenly so serious...' Ken couldn't help but sit up more straightly from the pressure Kyouka was giving off.
Kyouka then brought her face closer to her brother, watching it closely like a hawk. Ken gulped.
"Who's your ship?" Kyouka asked with all the seriousness of a man shaving his own balls.
"...huh?"
"I said... Who's your ship? like, who do you want the MC to get together with!!" Kyouka clarified, with the same level of seriousness when she asked her previous question.
"..."
'I feel like an idiot for taking her so seriously!'
After inwardly sighing about how much his sister was making a big deal out of this, Ken started pondering about what to answer. After all, he was not the type of person that supported a ship lightly. He would either set sail or sink with his ship. So he had to think about it carefully.
"I ship MC with Anita." Ken decided.
"..."
Hearing his response, Kyouka's expression of anticipation turned into a blank one.
"It's because she has big tits isn't it," Kyouka questioned in monotone.
"It's because of the big tits, yes." Ken nodded seriously.
"You disgust me..." she looked upon her brother like he was filth.
'Wow, some people would pay top dollar for her to look at them like that. lol'
"Hey, don't start hating on me just yet. The tits were a major reason why I decided to get on her ship, but that's not the only reason, okay?" Ken said, trying to defend his stance.
"..."
'Well, I guess he's not THAT shallow a person... I knew I could have faith in you, Onii-chan!' Kyouka thought. Her expression eased up a bit.
"I mean, she had a nice butt too!" he thoughtlessly said.
"..."
'I was wrong to trust you!' Kyouka screamed inwardly.
Ken sensed that he might actually get strangled by Kyouka, so he decided to quickly change the subject.
"So who do you ship then?" Ken asked her pointedly.
"Miriam!" Kyouka answered automatically, as if none of the other female characters were up for consideration.
Ken and Kyouka having been aware of each other's tendencies for a long time now, naturally already had hunches as to who the other would ship with the MC.
As such Ken was immediately able to discern the reason why his sister would choose Miriam.
"It's cuz of the Glasses, huh?" Ken asked in monotone.
"It's cuz of the Glasses, yes." Kyouka nodded seriously.
Ken shook his head and shrugged theatrically in exasperation. If he had more mainstream likes about women, his sister absolutely went bananas over female characters with glasses.
"What's with that reaction? I'm not shipping the MC with Miriam just cuz of the glasses, okay? Miriam is super cute, plus she's really an earnest and hard-working person. She doesn't let her weakness get her down, and works super hard to not get left behind by the others! And then all her hard work eventually bears fruit, she actually resolves one of the most dangerous events in the Gardos Empire Arc! The fact she wears glasses and is a bit of a nerd is just the icing on the cake!" Kyouka, who said all of this in just a few breaths, took deep breaths to calm down.
"...but, my dear sister..." Ken paused for dramatic effect.
"She's twelve," Ken said with finality.
"..."
Kyouka looked absolutely devastated by my argument, but then recovered quickly. Although Ken could tell that she was still reeling from that.
"Th-th-that doesn't matter!" Kyouka said failing to prevent a stutter.
"That's not what the police would say."
"Their relationship is pure!"
"Also, the MC is twenty-six."
"So What!?!"
"Meaning, by the time Miriam is eighteen, MC's gonna be thirty-two."
"Like I said, so what?!?!"
"C'mon Kyouka, Miriam was just put in there to be the little sister character. I don't think even she's even included in the list of potential heroines. Wasn't she supposed to get together with that snooty wizard guy from her class? Y'know, the other twelve-year-old in the team?" Ken tried to get his point across calmly.
But Kyouka was just not having it.
"What? You mean Desmond? That lil' prick? No way am I letting him have Miriam!" Kyouka was pitching a fit.
'Hey, Desmond doesn't deserve that much hate... isn't he the tsundere? Maybe she hates him cuz they're alike?' Ken wisely decided to keep his thoughts to himself.
'Well, in the first place, I'm somewhat at fault for trying to diss her ship. Most people will spill blood for that stuff so I should steer the conversation away from this topic. But how...?'
Ken thought on this for a bit, but it didn't take long for inspiration to strike. He remembered that thing he got the other day.
"Speaking of glasses... look inside that fridge." Ken pointed to one of the many fridges in the room.
Kyouka, who was previously preparing to argue some more, stopped and looked at the fridge. She couldn't really let her brother stand up and get whatever was inside, so she obediently stood up and walked across the carpet to get to it. She opened the fridge door and peeked inside to see that there was just one box small-ish box inside.
"This?" She pointed at the box.
"Yep. That's the one. Take it out."
Kyouka took it out and placed it on the table near the armchair she was sitting on. She opened it to find six cupcakes.
"There're cupcakes inside." Kyouka tilted the box a bit, showing its contents to Ken who was still sitting up on the bed.
"Yep. Cupcakes." Ken nodded sagely.
Watching her brother's reaction, Kyouka couldn't help but tilt her head.
"Where are the glasses?"
'Did she think she'd find a pair of glasses in the fridge?' Ken couldn't help but feel inwardly exasperated. 'But I guess she's cute even when she's being a dumbass.'
"The glasses are on the one who made these cupcakes." Ken decided to throw out some bait.
"Oh?" Kyouka looked at her brother curiously. Just like a while ago, she had already completely forgotten about the mini Ship wars she had with him.
"You know that newbie sexy nurse with the glasses the other week?"
"Ohhh~?" Kyouka repeatedly nodded.
"She gave me these cupcakes as a get-to-know-you better present since she'll be assigned to me soon."
"Oooohh!!" Kyouka looked at the cupcakes with bright eyes. She then proceeded to stuff her face with one of them.
"Delish~! I can practically taste the glasses in these!"
As Ken watched his sister inhale those cupcakes he suddenly thought about how unfortunate their parents were. After all...
'Their only son is me, and their only daughter is a lesbian...' Ken thought with a hint of pity.
Yes. Kagami Kyouka was into other women.
This was a fact that only Ken and the women Kyouka was involved with knew. Not even her bodyguards knew, since they don't really follow her into rooms and stuff (This can actually be exploited by people with malicious intentions, however, it was a necessary evil if Kyouka was to have a somewhat normal life).
'Well, I'm just glad that she doesn't want to change what's between her legs and change her name to Kyouya, or something.'
Ken didn't really have anything against people that did want those kinds of things, but he loved his Kyouka just the way she was, so he preferred for her not to change too much.
Kyouka seemed to have finished polishing off all six cupcakes and was now taking out two bottles of water from a different fridge. She handed over one of them to Ken and proceeded to pour the other one's contents into her mouth.
'I didn't really eat anything so I'm not thirsty though. Well, whatever I guess. Can't hurt to stay hydrated.'
"So about that nurse..." After she finished drinking, Kyouka then started to needle her brother for some info.
"She's married," Ken interjected dryly.
"FUCK!" Kyouka unconsciously cussed loudly.
"Hey, watch your language, young lady." Ken jokingly scolded.
"I had my eye on her though..." Kyouka sadly muttered as she deflated into her chair.
The siblings then started talking about this and that while also eating lunch. Kyouka told her brother about what happened in her school life, while Ken would give Kyouka some inside info on any nurses she was interested in. The conversations would also move towards their shared hobbies, like web novels, light novels, anime, and manga they were interested in. The two never ran out of things to talk about. The hours flew by, and before they knew it, it was 5 pm.
"Ah! Brother don't forget about your meds!" Kyouka reminded. She had set an alarm on her phone so they wouldn't forget. She stood up from her seat and started preparing the various pills that Ken had to take with practiced hands. Her speed and precision would put veteran nurses to shame. It was as if she had done this hundreds of times. She placed a new bottle of water she had taken from the fridge, as well as the small cup containing various pills on a tray and placed it on Ken's bed.
Ken looked at the cup with thirteen pills of colors and differing sizes. He proceeded to take three at a time, drinking a bit of water to help it go down easier. If he had tried to take all the pills at once he would have choked on them.
'I actually tried taking six pills at a time, and thought I could do it, but almost choked instead. That was really dumb. lol'
When the ten-year-old Ken collapsed from his disease in the past, the best doctors money could hire had been tasked with his treatment. They had even told him that he wouldn't live past thirteen years old. And yet here he was at twenty-three years old. He'd endured for thirteen years, so If he'd ended up dying from choking on his meds, he would've really lived in vain.
Kyouka watched her beloved brother take his meds silently. She had always tried her best to keep her anguish from showing on her face whenever she had to watch her brother take such a large amount of medication. It was actually worse in the past, as he had previously had to take more than twenty pills at a time.
Ken could feel Kyouka's pain, but he pretended not to notice. If he brought it to light, she would probably start crying.
'She used to cry so much when we were little. The first few years of my confinement were especially bad. when she turned eight she started crying less and less. She finally eased up when she was ten. She started being more cheerful from that point on. I haven't seen her cry for so long, and I'm not planning on breaking the streak today.'
After Ken finished taking his last pill, he placed the empty bottle of water on the tray. He tried to lift the tray and hand it over to Kyouka, however, his sister was faster than him. She scooped up the tray before Ken could try to lift it. With her back towards Ken, Kyouka started putting things back to where they were supposed to be kept. She didn't want him to see her face right now.
Even after she had put everything away she just stood at the same spot in silence.
Ken simply sat there in silence as well.
Eventually, Ken found the silence a bit stifling, so he looked for something to do. He noticed that the room was a bit dim, and remembered that he'd closed the blinds.
He used his handy remote to open up the blinds again. As it was five in the afternoon, the sky outside was starting to get dimmer.
Ken stared outside the window longingly. The last time he left the room was thirteen years ago. In other words, he hasn't left this place even once, since he was confined here.
'Well, everything I need is here, and if I ever wanted anything I could easily just send someone to get it for me but...'
Ken had never felt the need to go outside after his confinement. As a child, he understood that this room was where he was safest. The adults even told him that he could die anytime even when he was here, where all the tools and equipment that could help him stay alive were kept, so the dangers of going out were even greater since if he had another one of his fits the response would be much slower. He didn't want to die, so staying in the hospital was essential.
But even so, Ken had been a very athletic and outdoorsy kid before he got sick. In his heart, he understood that he should stay in this room, but even then, the desire to go outside was always there, gnawing at the back of his head. The urge had been buried, but not erased. Sometimes, it would resurface.
Just like today.
"Hey, Kyouka..."
"...? What is it?" Kyouka, who still had her back turned away, asked.
"I wanna go outside," Ken stated with a serious expression.
Kyouka was so surprised by her brother's request that she, again, forgot all about the anguish from a while ago and raced up to Ken's bed. She had a look on her face like she was going to beat someone.
"Are you being serious right now?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Have you forgotten just how absolutely horrible your condition is?"
"I'm in constant pain, so it's pretty hard to forget it." Ken smiled wryly.
"Then, what's this nonsense about going outside? hm?" Kyouka questioned angrily.
"No, but... look at the sky outside." Ken pointed at the sky that could be seen out of the window.
"What about the fucking sky?"
'Oh god, she's REALLY mad, huh?'
"The Sun's not tryharding anymore."
"..."
"The weather looks nice."
"..."
"It feels like the wind blowing on your face would be really pleasant, right?"
"..."
There was palpable anger in Kyouka's eyes as she stared silently at her brother.
'It kinda feels like she's waiting for me to run out of bullshit to say before she blows up on me..."
Ken knew that she was just angry for his sake, so he was in a bit of a tough spot right now. His mind started thinking about what tricks he could use to coax his little sister into indulging him, but then decided against it. He decided to speak from the heart instead.
"Kyouka, I've been in this room for thirteen years. I've never left even once in that time." Ken stated calmly.
"...!" Kyouka was surprised, but quickly hardened her expression once again.
"Back when we were little, before I got sick, I used to take you out to play all the time. Do you remember?" Ken asked with a smile, letting nostalgia seep into his voice.
"...Of course I remember. How could I ever forget?" Kyouka answered. Her hardened expression seemed to show cracks as she briefly recalled her childhood memories with her beloved brother. She bit her lips to prevent the nostalgic smile that threatened to slip out.
"Hehe. I'd never forget it either! I would sneak you out of the mansion, and we'd play all sorts of games together in the garden."
"..."
"You'd climb up on my shoulder, then I'd try to run as fast as I can while being careful that you didn't fall off. It was really troubling for me. You wouldn't grab onto me properly so sometimes when you thought you were gonna fall off, you'd grab my hair instead. It seriously hurt like hell."
"..."
"And there were those times when our parent's colleagues would bring their kids to play with us. Then we'd play soccer or baseball or something in the garden. You were shy back then so you didn't wanna join in, but you would cheer for me really loudly. You have no idea how motivated that made me feel, although the pressure got higher, haha."
"..."
"Kyouka, I..."
"..."
Ken turned his head, and once again looked longingly at the sky.
"Really really want to go outside."
"..."
"Just this once. Please?"
"..."
"I won't ever ask for it again. We'll just go out this one time."
"..."
Kyouka was still silent, so Ken turned to face her again. What he saw wasn't her hardened expression. What Ken saw when he looked back at Kyouka was her watery eyes staring right back at him, the tears threatening to spill out.
'Oh no. the ten-year streak...' Ken couldn't help but have such a stupid thought. It made him really feel like he should have his brain checked out.
"Please, Kyouka." Ken pleaded.
"..."
'Is it no good? If she refuses, I guess I'll give up. But...'
Ken stared outside longingly. He really couldn't understand himself either. He just suddenly felt an overwhelming urge to go. To feel the breeze on his skin, and breathe in the fresh air that he'd missed for over a decade. For some reason, he just felt like he would regret it if he didn't go on this particular day.
'Sigh... I guess it's no good. Geez, I'm a twenty-three-year-old man, throwing a tantrum cuz they wouldn't let him play outside. This is actually so embarrassing...'
Just as Ken was about to apologize to Kyouka for being selfish...
"Fine." Kyouka finally answered.
"...hm?" Ken just sat there, dumbfounded that his sister actually agreed. "Really?"
"Yes." Kyouka nodded with a look of resolve.
"Wow..." Ken was a bit moved by his sister humoring his selfishness.
"But you have to go in a wheelchair," Kyouka demanded.
"Okay!"
"And you have to do everything I tell you to do."
"Yes ma'am!"
"And naturally you can't do stuff that I tell you not to do!"
'Did you really have to separate the two? Whatever, I guess.'
"Yes!"
"And you can't do this to me again! No more bringing up mushy stuff to cajole me into going along with your selfishness!"
"Ahaha... busted, huh? I mean-- Yes!!"
"...Alright, I'll go have some people take care of everything. Don't get up yet!" Kyouka warned. She made sure to glare at me for a bit longer before turning around and heading for the door.
Right before Kyouka's hand reached the doorknob, Ken called out to her.
"Kyouka."
"...What?
"Thank you." Ken gave her his most heartfelt thanks.
"..."
"In this world, you're really the one that treats me the best."
"...Of course. If this little sister here didn't treat a sack of shit like you well, then who would? Hmph!" with that final harrumph, Kyouka quickly left the room as if she were escaping.
'She really is cute when she's being a tsundere.'
Ken chuckled a bit at his beloved little sister's actions, before leaning on the back of his bed and closing his eyes.
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- In Serial26 Chapters
Aurora: Apocalypse
Currently participating in the April 2022 Royal Road Writeathon. This fiction will resume in May 2022 When Methuselah’s star explodes, the world burns under the impact of an extinction level event. Emmett Carter just wants one thing - to gather his family at the farm and keep them safe. Rated [M] for Mature Audiences. Contains Alcohol use, Drug use, Gore, Profanity, Smoking, Violence.Rated [D] for Drama. Contains emotional themes, interpersonal relationships, and character development. Author's note: You are reading a first draft, written mostly while drinking cheap whiskey. Expect it to read like hot garbage and I guarantee that it’ll meet your expectations. I’m a storyteller, not a writer - there’s a huge difference between the two professions. IMPORTANT! This story is told in a first-person limited, conversational style, with Emmett occasionally breaking the 4th wall and addressing the reader directly. This means that YOU and Emmett may have absolutely no idea why stuff is happening, because there will be little or no exposition or other POV's. Read the comments for spoilers, ask questions if you want to know something.This work incorporates blended aspects of Xianxia, Wuxia, Super powers, and Western Magic into a post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure. It is none of those things and all those things, mashed together. The MC is Over Powered, but so are many, many others. He just hasn't met them yet. Dear Student, What follows is an adaption of the diary of Emmett Carter before his Ascension. While the decades during and after the Aurora Apocalypse are lost to us, the Ascended himself has allowed us to publish this work so long as we warn the reader that it may not be entirely accurate or present an unbiased viewpoint of the events. One should also note that the Aurora was in flux during that time and some things that were possible in the early days are no longer possible, especially with the advent of the Akashic record. Editors have included footnotes when possible to explain pre-aurora technologies or concepts and how they relate to current magical technologies. The contents of this work may upset readers. If you’ve ever been in a natural disaster, had a house fire, witnessed a murder, lost a loved one to violence, or have a strong opinion on the sanctity of life, please do not read this. It contains dramatic scenes of a world in the throes of an apocalyptic event. There are no rainbows and unicorns, only loss, uncertainty, and death while the survivors struggle to rebuild their lives. Updates Thursdays and Sundays for now. Word count is about 2000 ~ 4000ish per chappie.
8 187 - In Serial12 Chapters
Spirit Cultivation
Liu Xuefeng was a normal boy who had it all planned: get to the same university as his best friend Tianshi and win her love, spending the rest of his life with her.Too bad, even though she liked him too, her rich parents opposed their relationship.The school trip to the mountains was supposed to deepen their relationship, but...An accident broke them apart.He saved her from falling down the cliff but ended up falling to his death himself and ended up reincarnating into a Cultivation World, full of dangers and mysteries.He didn't know though that Tianshi died as well and followed after him, entering the same world.Will the two meet again and share their love without any restrictions?Or will he succumb to the world's temptations, thinking he will never meet her again? Uploaded by Piokilek - Original Author of Spirit Cultivation
8 145 - In Serial8 Chapters
Midnight Rose ( The Rose Series: Book 1)
At the age of 10, KJ woke up with no memory of who she is or where she is from. She lived the next 9 years as a rogue trying to regain her memories. However when she stumbled into a pack's territory, everything took a complete 180 turn in her life. Strange things begin to happen to her Blade is the Alpha of one of the largest and strongest packs. He lost his mate when he was only 20 years old. He is known for killing any rouge that enters his territory however he could not bring himself to kill a certain rouge and he can’t figure out why. He is determined to find out who this rogue is. Niklaus, Blade’s gamma, is not too thrilled about him allowing the rogue to live. “Inveniam eam… I will find her even if I have to destroy all of Europe. *Update every Wednesday and acasionaly sunday if I have to much back log of chapters*
8 88 - In Serial22 Chapters
Jack Mercury: Battle Academy
Candidate Jacob Mercury, You are deemed qualified to enter the final rounds of the 3020 Eaton invitational. As an applicant, your intellectual ability and the versatility of your Gift stood out to the admission committee. Among the twenty thousand applicants who have participated, you are in the final hundred qualified to take part in the last round. Wishing you the best in all your future endeavors. We look forward to your performance in the finals. All hail the Emperor. All hail Britannia. -- Director of Admissions
8 139 - In Serial31 Chapters
The Tears of Kas̆dael
It was just supposed to be a game. A really, really great game, yes - but a game. Instead, Jasper got his heart ripped out by a brooding goddess and awoke to find himself in another world. No weapons, no skills. Naked. Trapped in a world full of ancient horrors, where gods and monsters still roam the earth, Jasper is forced to adapt quickly or die - and he's not ready to die. Good thing he's a mage. This is a high-fantasy novel with light LitRPG elements. It's not super-crunchy, but the system is an important part of the story. There is some light cursing and gore, but this is not a Grimdark novel. There will also be no harem. The current schedule is chapters on M-W-F of around 2000-2500 words, as well as occasional bonus chapters that provide background or insights into side characters. This is my first real attempt at writing a full novel, but the story is based on a world that I've been creating and re-creating since I was a child. I have an extensive "history" and religion, and even a semi-cohesive language system worked out, which will hopefully slowly shine through as the story progresses. I want to avoid having too many info-dumps, so I may from time to time post a bonus lore chapter that will explain some of the background for any who are interested.
8 195 - In Serial9 Chapters
graveyard girl, the addams family.
"we're both pretty strange, aren't we?"𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲,m! wednesday addams + f! readerdiscontinued.
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