Since the beginning of my journey, only two people in my life were aware of my strange childhood mission. Both were longtime friends of mine. One, was a girl with a gothic style and love of the macabre and ghoulish. The other, an amateur detective who wanted to understand the mystery behind the ghoulishness of the former.
I showed Kyoko my most recent entry in my newest project. Hopefully, someone of her tastes could appreciate it.
“Hmm, so Kenta Yamamoto is a new subject of interest for you,” Kyoko said, her eyes noting the title on the journal’s cover that read Kenta’s Experience Journal.
“Turn to the first page, if you please,” I asked.
She turned to the first page that included a color-pencil sketch and the journal’s subtitle. The bold letters read as The Super Ranger Ravager Actors. She gasped as she traced her finger over the page, attempting to fully appreciate the work with all of her senses.
“Sometimes I feel you show me these journals sometimes to show off. You don’t really need to convince me at this point, Fumi,” she said, jabbing with as much fake outrage as she could muster.
“Oh, come on, Kyoko. I really value your input. You’re one of the only two people who really appreciate my weirdness.”
I smile while gently parting my silver-blue bangs, briefly looking back at the circumstances that brought us together. I always lit up whenever my first fan would eat up my work. Or should I say, my vibrant fan fiction of the life around me.
“Well, I suppose all I need to do now is read the first entry. I already have an idea of how your process works, Miss Kotonoha,” Kyoko said, flipping the page to the first piece of official prose.
***
The Tyrant Prince isn’t dead, only in hiding. I saw proof of it just the other day. In the mundane confines of a school classroom, I found a familiar piece of my childhood.
The original Tyrant Prince was an alien from the Amelioran Empire, a hostile galactic superpower that was finally toppled by the will of several brave teenagers that inherited extraterrestrial powers that should have been the ruin of humanity.
For reasons only known to perhaps his old teammates and his family, he adopted the title for a personal purpose.
And for whatever other reason, he discarded the title. There hasn’t been an iteration of the Super Ranger Ravagers with an Amelioran in it. That tells me that there’s something that can be taught by a member from the opposite side of the struggle, and I intended to find it.
“I wasn’t expecting a reference to one of your biggest influences. I imagine you’re planning to include a bombastic fantasy element at some point,” Kyoko said, smiling in between the reading of the entry.
“That’s where you’re wrong, Kyoko,” I said, chortling through closed lips.
“Oh, really,” She continued, her eyes widening, her surprise further accentuated with the drawn black lines around her eyelids. “What brought on such a change, Fumi? Did you see something interesting in Kenta, perhaps?”
Kyoko smugly grinned as she continued reading. She was right, but I didn’t want to give her the satisfaction that’d come with my answer.
“I want to keep the answer a surprise until Kenta agrees to a date with me. I’d hate to throw myself into another project and discover that it’s dead-on-arrival because I didn’t get any meaningful data from him.”
“Hmm? I see, I see. I understand you completely, Fumi,” she said, giggling between the tips of her fingers.
“Kyoko, I guarantee it’s not what you’re thinking of,” I said, intentionally summoning my icy aura to the surface.
My demeanor failed fantastically to ward off any of her suspicions. Maybe it was what she was thinking of, but I didn’t want to get my hopes up. I wanted to make absolutely sure that he was someone I could possibly fall in love with.
If all else fails, well, I suppose I have another friend after all is said and done. That is—if he wanted to keep seeing me after the first date is over.
“For once, maybe it should be,” Kyoko said,” standing up from her seat to sling her backpack on.
“I suppose I’ll see him real soon. That is—if he keeps his promise.”
“Remember, you’re not on some deadline. Love can be found at any time,” she said, embracing me as we both locked arms into a hug.
I want to trust you, Kyoko.
“Yeah, maybe you’re right.”
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