"Heartbreak Loverboy Crybaby"

Dominic: (to himself) The name itself sounds weird because it doesn't really let me know what kind of story I'm about to read just off the cover and title alone. And speaking of the cover... 

There was something extremely unique about it. The cover had a boy at front and center against a plain white backdrop, which made Dominic quickly realized that this was the main character. 

His school uniform is slightly torn and red rose petals were falling all around him. One of the petals flew and covered his left eye, and his right eye glared coldly from the shadow under his hair, and in his left hand, he grips a torn photograph of a girl smiling.

Still, Dominic couldn't tell what kind of story it was and it intrigued him all the more to turn the next page immediately to get into the story.

*****

The story started quite simple. 

The main character Rei Takamura was in love with Lola Markson and after being convinced by his friends, he eventually asks her out and she says yes because it turns out that she had feelings for him too. 

The two of them date for a couple of months and life seemed to be heading in the right direction for both of them until Lola met Karl Erickson a new student who transferred from another school during the middle of the year. He befriends Lola and Rei and after a few weeks, Lola breaks up with Rei and starts dating Karl. 

Rei finds the whole thing fishy as Lola breaking up with him seemed too abrupt and out of nowhere. That's when he notices a tattoo on Karl's hand and Rei does research to find out what that was and he found out that the tattoo represented mind control and concluded that Karl must've mind controlled Lola into breaking up with him so she could fall for him. 

This confuses Rei as he wasn't one to believe in the supernatural so he decides to give up on it because he didn't believe that Karl mind controlled Lola and that Lola broke up with him because he wasn't good enough.

So he spends the next few weeks downplaying himself but then he realizes something. At some point, no one could ever say no to Karl and everyone seemed to do everything that he asked. Even the teachers seemed to be affected by this and then he remembered what he saw about Karl's tattoo and realizes that the supernatural does exist. 

Rei confronts Karl about everything he was doing but then Karl confirmed that he was indeed mine controlling everyone and then mind controls everyone in Rei's class to attack and beat him up as Karl began to wonder why Rei was the only one that wasn't affected by his supernatural abilities. 

Rei is beaten up quite badly but he narrowly escapes and is rushed to the hospital and then when Rei realizes that how Karl was treating everyone like a puppet, it angers him and decides to get his revenge and stop Karl by any means necessary. 

*****

By the time that Dominic reached this point of the draft, he had been fully drawn into the story and felt like he was inside the story itself while reading and watching everything that was happening.

It sent a thrill through his body that he hadn't felt while reading a manga that wasn't Blade Serenade and Two Piece Adventures; the flagship series which had just ended a few months ago in the Weekly Mugen Magazine. 

But then the story was only halfway done and there were still about 15 more pages left to read. 

******

After being discharged from the hospital, Rei isolated himself from the world. He spent days buried in books and forbidden websites, searching for answers about the mysterious tattoo Karl possessed. 

What he uncovered was an entire underground system that held ancient symbols known as Veil Marks, tattoos that granted supernatural abilities at a heavy cost. If Karl used one, then Rei would too.

He marked himself, one tattoo at a time, until both of his arms were covered in black symbols that burned like fire. Each one granted him power, speed, strength, perception, manipulation, but also corrosion of his humanity. 

He trained relentlessly in secret, his emotions numbed, his heart hardened to a single goal: destroy Karl Erickson.

The day finally came. Rei returned to school, not as a student, but as an executioner. His battle with Karl was brutal, tearing apart the building and shaking the ground beneath them. In the end, Rei overpowered him, pinning Karl to the floor with a final strike. 

With blood dripping from his fists and rage in his eyes, Rei stared into the face of the person who had ruined his life. 

But Karl just laughed.

“Kill me, and everyone I’ve ever controlled dies with me. I leave a piece of my soul inside my puppets. Take my life and you take theirs too.”

Rei hesitated only for a moment. Then he tightened his grip.

“I don’t believe you.”

And he killed him which should've solved everything, but... Karl was right. 

The next day came and it was reported that all the students and teachers who went to his school had all suddenly passed away in their sleep leaving Rei as the only survivor. 

A week later, Rei stood alone in a sea of gravestones. The sky was gray, and rows of flowers were already beginning to wilt under the cold wind. He knelt before Lola’s grave, his school uniform still torn, tattoos still burned into his skin, permanent reminders of everything he destroyed.

In his hand was a photograph of Lola smiling. His voice was barely a whisper as he spoke to her tombstone. 

“I’m sorry. I thought I was saving you. I thought…I could fix everything.”

Tears fell, dark and heavy, onto the picture.

“I hope… wherever you are now… you’re happier than I ever could be.”

He placed the photo beside her name, rose to his feet, and walked away, alone, carrying a burden no one would ever know.

Fin. 

*******

Gojo had been watching Dominic read his draft for the past 40 minutes and from the look Dominic had in his eyes, he could tell that he was enjoying the story he was reading. Soon after, Dominic finished reading and placed the sketchbook book down and kept looking at the final page for while.

Gojo: So uh... What do you think? 

Dominic then looked up at Gojo with a smile of his face.

Dominic: This... This is really good.

Gojo: For real?

Dominic: I don't play with my words kid. Though it's your first draft and the art is rough, it really helps for the kind of story you're telling and it felt like I was in the story itself and experiencing everything happen. 

Gojo: That happened to me as well when I was drawing them as well.

There was a moment of silence as Dominic began to think deeply about what he had just read and then...

Dominic: Gojo, how long did it take for you to make this draft? 

Gojo: (adjust his glasses) Uh... About a month I guess? 

Dominic: How fast can you get a final draft ready? 

Gojo: Probably three weeks or less? Although I don't have the necessary materials a manga artist uses. Why are you asking me these questions? 

Dominic: I want you to submit this story for the Mugen Monthly Starline publication.