This is going to be a very short story.
It was meant to actually be a one part story but I decided on breaking it down. Each chapter will have at least 600 words.
Please like and comment.
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'Dear world,
The flowers are pretty again.
The skies blue.
The air fresh.
What would I have said if I could? What do people say?'
Pen hovered above wet paper as thoughts eluded the conflicted writer. Overlooking a clearing of hibiscuses, the boy groped for the right emotions.
'Sentience.' he jotted. The tip of his pen lingered on the very last curved symbol as he pondered. He wondered if he had even used it right.
It's been a month since he had taken to learning new words daily and he struggled with remembering what words meant still. Sometimes the irony of it all persuaded him to quit.
Born to the Inumaki clan, Inumaki Toge was 'gifted' with the ability to curse with his speech. There was no off switch to this gift. He couldn't speak without detriments, in some cases, this talent was adverse to him.
To protect himself and everyone around him, the members of the clan gifted with cursed speech and resigned to silence.
Inumaki Toge has not once heard the sound of his voice.
With delicate hands, he pressed against his chest. His fingers met with the bulk of a little diary in the breast of his yukata holding the answer to his enquiry. However, he let his hands drop to his side.
He scribbled the word out, decidedly leaving the top of the page empty. Then he pinned the paper on a shrubbery to dry.
Only then did he look away from his lap, only then did he notice the pair of purple eyes staring down at him.
Ash white hair fell from the strangers face and she grinned. "You're Inumaki Toge."
He opened his mouth, a breath escaped, he remembered, his lips pressed close. This seemed to bring excitement to the stranger.
"You are." Now on all fours, she shuffled into the shrubbery he had himself confined in. There's was barely breathing distance between the two and Inumaki Toge felt heat rise to his marked cheeks.
'Who are you? How do you know who I am?' he would have said.
"The sigils on your face." She said, a pause after. The silence was her expecting another question from him. The silence meant she had understood him the first time without hearing his voice.
The realization that she had answered his unspoken question suffused him with excitement and he found himself letting out his childlike mirth before he could control himself. A smile stretched across his face and he nodded enthusiastically.
In fourteen years, he had never known understanding. In those fourteen years, the fangs of the Inumaki clan burned his cheek as a reminder that a blessing could very much be a curse.
"They say you can't talk but you can, can't you?" He instinctively went to shake his head but he stopped then nodded.
He could talk. He had a voice even if he hadn't heard it.
"I am Ishigami Rize-" Smile wide, eyes beaming, a petite hand stretched out of a harlequin kimono, "-I will be staying with your family for the time being."
Two young hands met in an unspoken agreement of friendship.
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First chapter complete!
I intended for this book to be solemn but I don't think I am delivering it.
Hopefully, the next chapter would be better.
