《Undesired Power》Chapter 2: Smiles, Rivalry, Tears, And More Tears Part 1: Introduction Toroma Asagiri.
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Alex snores in the classroom for a few minutes, there was silence as he was in the class just sitting there. He wasn’t the only one in class though indeed there was someone else in the class. The other person looked as he turned his head to face Alex’s sleeping body. He looked at Alex as he then thought of looking at the clock; it was almost time for class. He touches Alex as he shakes him to wake him up. The man spoke softly to Alex as he opened his eyes and saw the person who woke him up. It was a boy with light brown hair in a bun and pinkish eyes as he looked at him as he woke up. The man had a small and short stature, his healthy skin was clear and nice and was taken care of. The sun hit him from the classroom windows. It wasn't hot but more of a light heat that hit him.
“Uh, A-Alex it’s time for class.”
Alex opened his mouth as a small yawn escaped his mouth, he nodded towards the man tiredly as he brought his head up. He didn’t know the man’s name but he saw him in this class before but due to him not having any friends besides Fuzumi, Daizen, and Hiroto he hadn’t interacted with him before. He scratches the side of his cheek as he smiles and begins to ask him a question. He was a bit shy, due to him not interacting with people outside of his friend group. He looks down at the classroom floor a bit in embarrassment as he asks for the man’s name. He wipes some drool off the right side of his face that he gained from sleeping as he tries to hold a conversation with the man without being too awkward.
“S-sorry, I know we are in the same class, but what was your name again?”
“Uh Asagiri Toroma, y-you can just call me Toroma.”
It would seem that Toroma was shy just like Alex, they were both stuttering in their words almost for the same reason, his voice was light and feminine. Alex laughs out of nervousness, he smiles once more as he tries to play off that he’s not nervous. He is socially awkward though and this was due to him smiling once more. Toroma sat there as he spoke to break the silence quickly. Alex looked at Toroma's face as they kept speaking, he noticed his bright pink eyes and his hair in a bun.
“A-Alex, oh yeah I remember you were the transfer student back in Junior High right?”
“Yeah, I remember you, You came up to me since I was new and it was rare for a transfer student to transfer, especially from America.”
Alex thought to himself as he thought about the first time he came to Japan in public school, he mentally hurt when he thought about his first day of Junior High, he remembered getting ready thinking that Japan was just like how it was in the anime, he smiles awkwardly to himself as he also remembers the first introduction to the class. In his memory, he stands up, he would yell once as he also annoyingly speaks to the class.
“I will become the King of Wizards!”
Alex would stop remembering that situation, still cringing about that past situation, he continues his conversation with Toroma still keeping his awkward smile. No one had brought that up in such a long time that he almost tried to forget but now it was fresh in his mind. He remembers meeting Hiroto, Daizen, and Fuzumi in Junior High. He smiles as he remembers what they used to look like when they were much shorter, he thought to himself.
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”I was a real loser back then I guess I still am.”
Alex said, laughing awkwardly as he closed his eyes and scratched the back of his head simultaneously. Toroma shakes his head as he responds to Alex’s remark, he wants him to feel better.
“Well no I don’t think you are. I think liking anime is cool. I didn’t expect that from a person from America.”
Alex was shocked by this, no one liked him when he came to this school or his last one, he was displayed as a weird kid but someone other than his friends thought he wasn’t and that made him quickly smile, hiding his happiness to not come off as weird.
“Thanks, Toroma.”
The school bell rang once indicating that students should get to their class, Alex was looking out of the window like always as he then felt a shake from behind. He turned his head as he saw Hiroto and Fuzumi waving smiles as he got excited that they were here. They sat to the sides of him, Toroma was in front of him looking at the whiteboard.
Alex smiles, being a bit happy that his friends were here he felt more confident to talk, he had Junior High and his first interactions with Hiroto and Fuzumi. Since these memories were in his head he decided to bring them up to his friends to maybe get a laugh out of all of them.
“Hey Hiroto, Remember when we all first met?”
“Yeah I do, you embarrassed yourself the first day by making an anime reference from White Clover.”
“Yeah yeah I know and hey I’m not the only weeb you two are just as weeb trash like me, You watch that Boutuber Nuxtaku!”
“I guess you're right, But he’s Lord Nuxanor every weeb watches him.”
As the two boys kept talking more about anime since the bell had rung and more students came into the classroom. Alex and Hiroto kept talking about new anime episodes for about five minutes since they weren’t paying attention to their surroundings. They wouldn’t notice that the class was slowly filling up with the students. They were also talking about videos on a platform called Boutube which was a video-sharing website. Once the class was full of students, they didn’t notice and they kept talking until a female entered the room. She then walked up to the front of the board and began to talk loudly to the students. The female was a skinny Japanese teacher going by the name of Mrs.Ito, Her hair was black and long-hitting her waist and she looked like a young woman but she was thirty-four and wasn’t married. She was wearing a student uniform rather than applying because she was rather childish and maybe missed her old high school days. She smiled at all her students and said some familiar words.
“Good Morning Studen-”
She was then interrupted by Alex’s yelling.
“What do you mean White Clover is just a fake Garuto?!”
Alex yelled out in anger as he stood up looking at Hiroto since they were both talking Mrs.Ito was rudely interrupted by these two high schoolers arguing over anime.
Hiroto let out a quick sigh as he pushed up his blue glasses on his face and began to speak in a condescending tone.
Toroma and Fuzumi watched them both argue and were both shy and didn’t want to get involved or embarrass themselves along with Hiroto and Alex.
“I mean the creator even said he did take inspiration, you should stop yelling you’re making a scene. Don’t wanna embarrass yourself, right?”
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“Yeah so?”
The whole class looks at the two arguing over anime. Some students just laughed and some sighed as they would be used to it, believe it or not. Something similar would happen every day when Alex was talking about his favorite passionate subject, his favorite anime White Clover, a Shonen anime that was pretty similar to another more popular anime called Garuto that all otakus have watched. Mrs.Ito turned around and clenched her fist. She was interrupted by these little kids. She quickly picked up a chalk dust board cleaner, her rage was building as she began to clench her face angrily. It was made of wood and she threw it at Alex's head as she yelled at him.
“God damn it, shut up you do this every day in class, sit down and listen and talk about anime later!”
Alex stumbled for a quick second as he felt a bit embarrassed that he had made a fool of himself once again he sat down as he spoke towards the teacher in a quiet and painful voice.
“M-My bad Mrs.Ito.”
Some students laughed including Fuzumi and Toroma, Mrs.Ito would let out a sigh and then scoff a bit as she tapped her chin and had a blank look on her face. Her black eyes would shine off the light of the classroom coming from the window. Her face then stopped tensing up as she then spoke calmer than before.
“The Principal wants to warn the students that a few buildings have been burning down randomly for the past few days. If you have all watched the news these fires have been starting from nowhere, just stay safe and try not to stay out too late. If you see anything, and I mean anything don’t hesitate to call the cops.
Alex sighs as he hears this he thought this was probably just some more problems in Tokyo, Japan he didn’t care he didn’t want to get involved in stuff that didn’t involve him. Because of this he turned his head towards the window and looked outside at the autumn trees. This came naturally to Alex, he always looked out the window when he was in a boring class or if he just wanted to relax and look at the wildlife out the school. He loved looking at the Sakura Trees changing colors because of the seasons changing and the pretty Green Pheasant Birds that were outside.
He would slightly listen; he knew attendance was going to be called soon enough and he didn’t want to miss his name and embarrass himself even more. He listened out for his friend’s names just because it's something he would always do that he could smile at. He heard Toroma say his full name when the teacher called it Toroma said his name with an unconfident voice. Fuzumi would speak out loudly in a happy and sparkled laugh as she said her name with a small hint of a German accent. Hiroto would speak out normally in a loud and direct tone and simply just said his name. Alex looked at all of his friends and turned his head at each of them as they said their names. He then said his name with a loud cough in his voice.
“Toroma A-Asagiri I’m here!”
“Fuzumi Izumi,I’m here!”
“Hiroto Kashikoi, I’m here.”
“Alex Zuki, I’m here.”
More students said their names, Alex turned his head and looked back to the window he was looking out beforehand. He began to think about his experience from today and yesterday, his body shakes as he remembers these events. He wanted to go over all of the unbelievable events that happened yesterday and today. First, time stopping in history class. Second, time stopping after school and the voice in his head when he did so.
Finally, Today when his powers activated and his eye color changed like the previous times and some weird aura around his body. Alex lets out a sigh as he then puts his hands on his hair and shakes his head. Even when he repeated these events in his head it still made no sense. Even if he told someone about this, they would think he is crazy, especially with the voice in his head that just sounded like a manic who has gone wild. Alex thought to himself as he stared out of the window. He had been lost in thought but what next was about to happen was a complete surprise. The teacher was speaking in the background while Alex was thinking to himself and looking out the window.
“Mr.Zuki?”
Alex had a blank face as he turned his head to someone calling his last name. He turned around and saw it was the teacher. He didn't know why she called his name but it seems she was asking a question due to the students also looking at Alex for some particular reason. This was bound to happen since Alex wasn’t a student that listens to lessons, he didn’t want to embarrass himself so he began to ask what the question was embarrassing as he scratched the back of his head simultaneously making a weird smile he had done before.
“Excuse me Mrs.Ito what was the question again?”
Mrs.Ito was holding herself back from getting angry as she tightens her fist and lets out a breath to relax from lashing out once again. The students had a mix of laughter and disappointment. This wasn’t anything new though this happened to Alex in class before after the class would stop laughing Mrs.Ito would repeat the question.
“Do you have a partner for the project?”
Alex was confused. He didn’t know what project she was going on about but he knew Hiroto was extremely smart. He always went with him to do projects and this time was no exception.
“Can I work with Hiroto?”
“He and Fuzumi are already working together, it seems everyone else has already picked a partner.”
Mrs.Ito said as she simultaneously looked around the classroom and almost everyone had their desks next to each other. She would spot Toroma sitting by himself. It seems he was too introverted and shy to ask anyone to work with him. Mrs.Ito then began to rub her chin in almost a comedic way then her face turned into one of shock as she got a wonderful idea.
“Toroma and Alex, you two work together, don't even try arguing either Mr.Zuki there are no other people so it’s final.”
Alex would be a bit shocked by this decision but he couldn’t argue with a teacher, he was more worried about doing a project with Toroma he only just talked to him today after all he barely knew him. He was a bit mad at his friends Fuzumi and Hiroto for working together. Usually Fuzumi would work with one of her friends. He looks toward Toroma and smiles awkwardly, and then begins to speak to him. Hiroto was also on his phone looking at a video document about flies.
“So I guess we are partners huh?”
Toroma looked back at Alex and nodded his head in agreement, he would turn his desk towards Alex he made it so both of their desks fronts were facing each other. His eyes weren’t making eye contact with Alex. He smiles as he tries not to be so shy or introverted but he couldn't. He barely knew Alex but he would try his best to be normal.
Alex noticed these things Toroma was rather shy and a bit nicer; he felt they were similar in the introverted part of things. This made Alex not so shy anymore, and then he looked at Toroma with a big grin as he began to ask him a question. Alex was somewhat embarrassed because he knew he would have to admit he wasn’t listening to the teacher if he asked Toroma this question.
“So uh what is the project about, I wasn’t paying attention?”
“U-uh um, It’s a writing assignment on any J-Japanese island. We can pick one, but we have a week from now to do it. We also have to do our drawing of the island we pick. We both research and then tell the whole class about i-it.”
“Oh so it’s a multiple-day thing, alright I guess we can start now right?”
“I-if you want since it’s a multiple-day thing would you mind coming to the kendo club after school?”
“You do Kendo? So like wooden sword fighting?”
“Yeah, it’s something like that. My family also owns a kendo place in Kamakura City. Anyways, let’s do our best on the project, ok Alex?”
Toroma was smiling and stuttered between his swords as he spoke to his acquaintance Alex. Toroma was a bit shy and never really talked to others that much, he had a smile on his face though it seems that he was maybe warming up to Alex his face was flustered and red due to his anxiety filling him up. Alex noticed all these things by making eye contact with him and looking at his body like his shoulders and the deadest giveaway was his face. Due to all these factors, Alex wasn’t as introverted as Toroma since he was more introverted than himself.
“You don’t have to be a shy man. I’ll try my best not to screw like I do every day”
Alex said to Toromas in an attempt to make him feel better about himself and not to be so shy around him. Toroma looked up and his face suddenly wasn’t red anymore he nodded his head towards Alex and tried to smile as he did. His gaze was somewhat innocent and he looked at Alex in his eyes with his pink eyes. Toroma forced himself to smile so that he could try to be happier.
“O-ok I’ll try not to be shy.”
Alex kept a smile as he felt great making Toroma smile, he related to him he isn’t the most extroverted person but he could feel Toroma’s emotions somehow. He laughed himself in his head as he realized that he and Toroma weren’t all that different. Alex wasn’t shy anymore if anything he wanted to get to know Toroma more.
“Alright good, then I guess we should get started on the project the-”
A sudden loud noise echoes throughout the school, it was a familiar sound that tall students had heard before. It was the school bell indicating that all students must move to their next classes. Alex let out a sigh as he noticed that he couldn’t even get to do his work but instead, he spent it all interacting with a boy he only talked to a few times in the past. He didn’t regret it but he did at least want to get some work done, too bad nothing to do about it now. Alex stood up as he began to pack his bags as he simultaneously looked towards Toroma to reinstate where they were going to meet after school.
“Kendo Club after school right, sorry I was talking too much. We didn't get to work on the project.”
“Y-Yeah, it’s fine I’ll see you after school!”
After Toroma spoke, Alex grabbed his book bag and put it on his back quickly. He was about to leave out the door, most of the students had already left and Alex thought he might as well leave. But, abruptly, Alex heard Toroma’s voice before he left the classroom.
“T-thanks Alex, have a nice day see you later.”
Alex looked back at Toroma and smiled and nodded, a grin on his face as he also saw Toroma smile back. Alex then walked out of the classroom door, he grabbed his phone out of his pockets and included his earphones. Toroma’s smile made Alex smile, he didn’t want to disappoint him so he would try his best on this project no matter what. He thought that Toroma was rather feminine and reminded him of one of those shy tsunderes from anime and that made him blush a bit even though he was a guy.
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Sword System Academia
2/17 NOTICE: I'm putting this on hiatus, possibly permanently. I didn't want to spam with an "update chapter", so hopefully here and in the story blurb will get enough eyeballs. There are a couple reasons for ending SSA for now. 1) I wrote the next chapter but wasn't happy with it. I've been less and less satisfied with SSA's quality the more I thought about it. Part of the reason is... 2) I am seriously thinking about trying to publish some novels to help pay the bills, since I don't have my other source of income anymore. I have never asked for anything from SSA readers, no money, not even a review or rating. SSA is written for fun to amuse myself, primarily, and I would kind of feel bad actually charging someone money for something as unserious as that. I don't think it is good enough to ask anything in return. To use an analogy from music, SSA is more like a jam session with a bunch of friends. You're just chiling and having fun playing some music. I mean, if you are Mozart or even Eminem, your jam session is good enough to sell, but for an amateur beginner like myself, haha, no. If I want to publish something, I feel like I need to go the proper route of practice and rehearsals, which might be more similar to a classical concert performance. With SSA, I work from worldbuilding notes and a loose outline, but what you are essentially getting is the first draft with lots of so-called pantsing. Pushing out a web novel like this also means it is very difficult to go back and improve things without breaking everything else downstream. I wanted to try this "jamming" approach, as it was a good way to teach me about another aspect of writing, but to move forward, I think I need to hone my "classical" techniques, which emphasize rewriting, or at least, revising outlines. 3) While I intend to try to make $$$, my actual current goal is to "get gud". I've spent a lot of time recently trying to understand the self-publishing industry, and I'm pretty sure I can make some money by using short-term strategies with my current amateur skill level. But I've seen too many authors come and go/burnout, and really, the only way that I think I can enjoy writing and still make money on a long-term basis is to become a better writer. And the next step for me, which I haven't done much before, is to spend more time on rewriting and outlines. That is pretty much antithetical to the way SSA is developing. I've always been kind of 20/80 plotting/pantsing, but I want to spend a lot more time outlining before I even start writing. SSA jam sessions don't really fit my goal anymore. If you're curious about what's next, read on... Among other regrets, I regret not finishing SSA. It's the first story I've dropped, but then again, it's the first web novel I've attempted, so I suppose that's not a surprise. I don't think traditional web novel formats suit me that well. The whole SSA story I had loosely planned (beyond a first book or major arc) is way too large as well. Big story = good for neverending webnovel with Patreons, bad for penniless and fickle writer like me. I am currently outlining a complete trilogy to another story in great detail. I want the story to end concisely, and I also want the chance to really spend a lot of time on the full outline to spot pacing problems, character issues, lost themes, and so on. I'll still share this story on RR. What I intend to do is finish book 1, flash-publish the whole thing here for a few weeks, then publish on the big Zon. Repeat for books 2 and 3. The upcoming story will be about crafting heroes. The backdrop is an isekai-like setting, where elves will summon humans to their world as heroes, but the whole hero crafting business is still in its infancy. 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