itbomm

chapter 6: something simple, something new

Athan was sulking.

After they survived from almost drowning, his sister caught a cold. Unfortunately, he wasn't allowed to be in the same room as his sister, as they didn't want him to get sick along with her. So for the time being, he has to remain in another room until she gets better.

He knows that she'll be fine. If she can think of complaints towards Claude that echoes softly in the back of his mind, then she'll be getting up sooner or later.

But it's irritating, knowing that he's not allowed to be in the same room as his own sister.

(He thinks of the aftermath, the way she was shivering from the cold after having emerged from the lake, as they both wept and cling to the other.)

"It's quiet..." he softly states, slumping in his seat in the library, the warm sun shining down on him as he then lays his head against the wooden table.

(Something was missing. Was he forgetting something?)

He was... tired.

——————————

"Hey, [][][][][][][][]," a girl cheerfully greets, smacking him on the back as she greets him with a bright smile.

"[][][][][][]," he flatly greets, sitting up in his seat. A glance around the classroom showed that it was just him and his friend alone, and their teacher sitting at their desk. "What happened?"

"Class is over, sleepy head. Everyone went to their next class or that stupid seniors-only seminar that we're supposed to go to instead," she teased, though there was a look in her eyes betraying her concern. "Class actually ended like... two minutes ago, though. You normally always wake up when the bell rings — something on your mind, dude?"

"No," he shakes his head. "I started reading this dumb web novel I texted you about yesterday and accidentally pulled an all-nighter just to finish reading the dumb thing," he grabbed his backpack, packing up his belongings. "I absolutely hate it. I kept reading and reading, hoping that [][][][][][][][] would get a fucking clue, but no, instead her sister dies! And all she does is go and cry into the arms of her fiancée."

"Oh, that novel. I told you that you'd probably hate it," she laughs. "I used to read it, too. It was god awful — there wasn't any character development for [][][][][][][][] — hell, she doesn't really learn much of anything, she doesn't even help [][][][][][][][][], she doesn't even try to make them all spend time together, too. I heard that the author was publishing it into an actual book with a few changes, so maybe that gets fixed?"

"Not even a few changes would make that dumpster trash better!" he huffed. "I hated the online version, so nothing's gonna make me want to buy the paperback version. [][][][][][][][][] deserved better!"

"Well, there's always fanfiction," she suggests. "I read a lot of it back then."

"Fanfiction? What's that?"

——————————

"Prince! Your presence is requested," Lily urgently spoke, gently waking him up.

"Huh?" he blinked. "Lily, I was having a nice dream..." he paused, seeing Lily's somewhat frantic expression. "Did something happen?"

"Yes, but first, do you know where the Princess is? She wasn't in her bed," Lily asked.

'Chocolate! I can't stop this unshakeable desire for chocolate!' his sister's voice echoed without an ounce of shame.

"Uh... have you tried checking the kitchen?" he asks, wiping the drool off his cheek as he follows Lily out of the room. "Lily? What's going on?"