[✔️] 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐬.

Teaser for my (potential?) next work

Kaoru Sakurayashiki was the son of a noble calligrapher. In fact, his father was so famous and rich that he was even acknowledged by the royal family, the Nanjo family. However, Kaoru himself didn't want to follow the family tradition. He surely did love holding brushes, but not to write. No, he had taken a liking to doing something much more refined: painting. Whether it was people or sceneries, portraits or still-lives, he loved every part of painting. What he didn't quite enjoy, however, was his father's reaction when he came to learn that his only son, on whomst shoulders he had placed his family name, his fame and his hopes, in fact didn't wish to do exactly what he wanted him to do. Now, we do have to agree that Kaoru refusing an order was to say the least unusual, so for him to disobey his father's very will was... rebellious? No, that seems too weak... maybe shocking? No, too big. After all, he only disarranged the three most important families in the kingdom... never mind. Him refusing his father's will definitely was and will always be shocking. Although he was unaware of it when he made his choice. Choice that left him alone in the streets with nothing left apart from his cheap brush and his bottles of egg tempera. Now, don't get me wrong. If anything, Kaoru was happy about the change that had entered his life. Yes, it was cold at night, and eating almost exclusively bread, apples, a delicious mix of oxygen and nitrogen on unlucky days, and the occasional carrot here and there was getting sickening, but he could finally be who he wanted to be. He didn't have to obey anyone anymore, he was as free as ever, and he loved it. The only thing that he regretted was Carla. His favorite maid. She would always sing him lullabies to calm him down before he slept, and nights got ever so slightly more haunting without her sweet voice lighting up the dusk as it used to. But Carla wasn't just a servant. No, to Kaoru, she was a friend. Perhaps his only one.

However, two years later, he had found a way to live, and quite a peaceful one at that. He had a small apartment which he shared with a kabuki actress, Hanako Yoshida, and a foreign author (and escaped prisoner) whose name was something along the lines of 'Joruji Sumisu'. Whatever said name happened to be, Kaoru struggled to pronounce it immensely (which is why he and Hanako settled on calling him gaikoku jin). The three artists had fallen into a routine of waking up at dawn, having breakfast together, leaving each other alone for the rest of the day, and spending evenings goofing around. But of course, everything wasn't always perfect, and it wasn't uncommon for Hanako to start screaming out of nowhe-

"SAKURAYASHIKI KAORU, GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE RIGHT THIS INSTANT!" Well, there she goes. Upon hearing his roommate's screeching, Kaoru decided to do just what she had suggested: he got his ass over there.

"What's up?" He asked as he stumbled into the common room, nearly falling because of an agglomeration of shoes which only seemed to grow larger with each passing day.

"You left the fucking ham on the table and a goddamn TANUKI broke in through the window," she pointed at what used to be a transparent fabric foil but was now only a hole, "and ate it all, peeing on the carpet while it was at it, and now he's just peacefully sleeping on MY BED!" Rage deformed her features as she let out all of it on the poor painter.

"Listen Hanako, I'm very sorry for what happened and I promise it won't-"

"Also, there's a letter addressed to you and it has the royal family seal on it." She said as if it was no big deal.

It was a big deal.

"WAIT, WHAT?" The painter screamed so loud that his neighbours felt an urge to call the police, but then remembered that they themselves were on the run and decided that it just wasn't worth their while. "Hand over that letter. Now."

"And what if I don't? The tanuki may be hungry enough to eat paper..." Hanako looked up, as if deep in thought (although in reality she just loved getting on people's nerves, especially Kaoru's). However, she soon felt a pair of hands wrapping themselves around her neck, and fighting back her urge to punch her roommate in the nose, she simply handed him the letter with an annoyed sigh.

Without even a 'thank you' or a 'fuck you', Kaoru simply hurried over to his room, skillfully dodging the shoe runion on his way there.

When he closed the door of the small room in which sat his bed, his desk and most of his painting material, Kaoru only wanted to rip apart the envelope, but instead he decided to slowly unglue the seal. After successfully unsealing the envelope and protecting it from any potential damage, the painter opened it and got out the letter, his hands shaking in the process.

'Esteemed Sakurayashiki Kaoru,

You are invited to the royal castle as the king's guest. After King Kojiro noticed your work, he couldn't help but be impressed by your paintings. For this very reason, he would like you to paint a portrait of him to celebrate his crowning, following the queen's resignation only a few days ago.

Please join the Nanjo Family's castle as soon as you can, preferably before dawn on the seventeenth of august as this is when the crowning ceremony will take place. We will provide you with all the material you need, along with food, clothing, housing as well as anything else which you might find yourself needing. You are also to be paid whatever price you find suited for the work we assign to you.

We look forward to meeting you,
Sincerely,
The Nanjo Family.'

First of all, Kaoru was surprised. Then, overly excited at the thought of offering his services to such a prestigious member of society. Then, he was panicked. Because the seventeenth of august was to be the very next day, because it was already five in the afternoon, and because he had no idea how to get to the castle in such a short time.

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A/n: HEY YALLLLLLLL HOW ARE YOU GUYS <3333 you don't understand how much I enjoyed writing this chapter, I feel like writing something that doesn't need to be a whole story in just a chapter was really refreshing! Anyways, what do you think of this story? Excited to read it? If you're not, that must be the work of the shoe reunion :| ok anyways I'm gonna post a chapter about what's gonna happen to this book tomorrow, so be ready 4 that ･_･ anyways bye, take care <3