sparse flash 2

Natsume: You’ve endured many hardships in your life, Akehoshi Subaru-kun.

I understand you. As children, we don’t have the luxury of ignoring our parents. For some, they are equivalent to gods.

The gods in my family are quite mischievous, but they are nonetheless harmless. As such, my world has been rather peaceful.

But yours is a god of destruction. The world he laid waste to must have been filled with constant loneliness.

...H̤̠o̬͓̝w̮̾͞ p̓͋a͋iͩ̅nf͎̗ul̗ tͩ͂͜ha̡t̯̻ mù̵̽sṫ̥ͭ b̈́͞e̴̠.̛̻͎^[1]

Subaru: ......

Natsume: Ahaha, forgive me. I didn’t mean to steamroll over you so suddenly...

It’s another bad habit of mine. Mommy raised me to strike at people’s weak points with killing intent on the first meeting.

Subaru: Fufu. I don’t get the half of what you’re saying. You’re a pretty weird guy, huh?

Natsume: I just act that way. At our age, our sense of self is unstable...

If you can’t build a strong, distinctive character, you’ll fall in with the rest of the crowd and disappear.

I don’t want to sell myself short.

I intend to fetch the highest price possible for the unique, one-in-a-million work of art titled Sakasaki Natsume.

It’s a horrible thing to wear the same mass-produced face as everyone else, used up as quickly as a roll of toilet paper.

I will be the protagonist of my own story. It’s what I was born for.

Subaru: ......

Natsume: ...I’m talking too much. I am still inexperienced, and I haven’t read through the whole script.

But I digress. Let me help you with day duty. It’s why I approached you in the first place.

I have yet another bad habit of rambling on and on.

Subaru: Ahaha. You keep calling out your “bad habits” whenever you notice them...

It’s like you’re trying to create your character, or maybe set parameters for yourself?

You get to notice your faults so you can try to fix them, but then you also get to tell other people what kind of person you are. Two birds, one stone ♪

Natsume: (Hmm... He isn’t stupid after all. I can see right through him.)

(I thought that he would think of me more favorably if I offered my help or my friendship.)

(But he doesn’t care about that at all. He’s interested only in plumbing our depths with his sparkling eyes...)

(It must be unbearable for one of the sheep.)

(Scorched by the inexhaustible sun, everywhere you go will be reduced to wasteland, where not even grass can grow.)

(The sun has no malicious intent, but nevertheless it transforms all it touches into a blazing inferno.)

(Well, he doesn’t seem to be aware of it, and I can control and manage it. And if I mishandle him, he’ll die instantly. So that’s interesting ♪)

Subaru: Hey, what’s up? You got quiet all of a sudden.

Sorry! Did I say something weird? Sooometimes I’ll just be talking and then everyone just goes quiet all at once, yanno?

Natsume: You don’t say. But that just shows the strength of power in your words.

If you can use that power meaningfully, you will be able to make the whole world smile.

Subaru: Ahaha~ Well right now, your smile is more important to me than the rest of the world’s.

Y’know, Natsume, even when you’re smiling, it doesn’t actually feel like you are. It doesn’t reach your eyes—but I could be imagining things.

Natsume: Haha. They do say your eyes are windows to the soul, but the muscles around your eyes actually move involuntarily.

They can’t reflect the range of emotions within one’s heart.

On the other hand, it is difficult to distinguish someone’s character just with the eyes. Within them lies nothing but the essence of human nature: truth.

But mankind does not yet have the ability to discern the shades of it.

Subaru: Oh, so now you’re trying to fool me with all that suggestive talk! Your parameters are really easy to pick up on—it makes you fun to talk to!

Hokuto: ......

Subaru: Whoa, where’d you come from?!

Natsume: Nice timing. ...Hello, Hidaka-kun. Did you forget something?

Hokuto: Yeah, my club registration form... I shoved it deep into my desk because it was so important, but then I forgot it.

...Sakasaki. Are you trying to stake a claim on this guy? Going around from person to person—you have no sense of fidelity.

In the end, the only one you can rely on is yourself. If you get too bogged down with other people, it’ll trap you there with them.

Natsume: Ṱ̦͆͆̍h̨ͬą͖͐́n̼͔k y͜ṍ̠͕u̺͍ͥ̾ f̜o̔̚r̹̦͖̄͝ you̜̗̣̇ͣ͟r̼ â̰̝͖̇ͮ̀d̙̔͛̂͐vi͆͆cͤ͒͡e̸̷̱͂̏.͗̚ ♪^[2]

Hokuto: Hmm... You’re Akehoshi, right? You should stay away Sakasaki.

He just wants to use us—or rather, the reputations your parents and mine have—for his evil schemes.

If you get involved with him, he’ll just drag you down. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors about him: he’s dangerous.

Natsume: Thank you for the introduction. I’ve moved on to Akehoshi-kun because you weren’t as useful to me as I believed.

Hokuto: Really? I told you from the start not to expect too much from me, though.

Oh, well. Anyway, you guys should go on home. Don’t stay out too late.

Our homeroom teacher doesn’t like to rock the boat, but if you step out of line too much, I’ll have to say something as the class president.

Subaru: Hang on, I’m not doing anything wrong! I’m just on day duty ♪

Hokuto: You were on day duty? Did you trade with someone?

...Do you need help?

Subaru: Nah, I got it. Natsume’s helping me out, too. We’ve already finished most of it.

Hokuto: I see. Good work, then. ...I’ll see you tomorrow.

Subaru: Sure, see ya tomorrow~ ♪

Ehehe, I actually got to talk to lots of my classmates today!