Artificialhime

“It’s a beautiful day, all right. That’s why I came out here to read under this tree. It’s a nice tree. It’s got bark… leaves. Good branches, too. I think it’s an oak.” He looked up at the tree they were both under, staring blankly at the branches for a few moments. He looked back down to the weird girl and continued. “Besides, I saved this book to read it on a day like this. Don’t you think it’d be a waste to prepare all that just to not do it?”

He turned back down to finish reading the page he was on. “Just… go and do what you were planning on doing before bumping into me…” He didn’t understand why he was so quickly attempting to brush her off. A sense of familiarity came from their interactions, and with it came a longing. Whether it was for another person or another place in time, he couldn’t recall. Even so, the fact that he couldn’t remember made him feel strange. “I think there were some preschoolers in the playground, they might play with y–”

He couldn’t finish the sentence, as a drop of water fell on the page he was on. At first, he thought it may have been a dew drop that hadn’t yet evaporated finally falling off a leaf, and also of the fear of getting the book waterlogged when more started to fall. He paused, however, when he confirmed the true source.

Out of nowhere, tears had formed on the edges of his eyes, and had begun to fall, dripping on his lap. “H-Huh? …What’s this?” He started crying, and he couldn’t for the life of him think of why. “Ahh… why am I… right now? Jeez…” Mercutio slammed the book shut, an overwhelmingly odd sense of deja vu sparked a feeling of emptiness within him. “Who was it…? I…”

;—{ ♛ } "Yes, yes! It IS a beautiful day, so why not do something you can’t do on a day like this!” Her voice raised a little more, still trying to be playful in a rather pushy manor. After spending two years trapped inside a computer, Ene always wanted to do something. Not only did she always want to do things, but she wanted to be around people. The bluette shut her eyes, puffed her cheeks out and waved her sleeves around again. Before Ene even had so much as the chance to retort, he stopped speaking. She opened one eye to look at the other, “Huh..? What’s wrong--..” Ene stopped herself once she noticed the tears that trailed down his cheeks. Her stubborn expression suddenly turned to that of immense concern. Oh god. Did I say something wrong? Maybe I went a little too far! Ene fretted she was the one at fault. She just wanted to have a little fun yet...

;—{ ♛ } Ene remembered when she was still a computer virus on a close friends computer. She promised another friend she’d take care of him, at least she promised herself she would. He needs someone that's even more selfish than him, someone energetic to pull him along... Ayano’s voice echoed at the back of her head. After turning into a virus, Ene decided to live on Shintarou’s computer. After Ayano passed away, well... Things weren’t good. Ene was devastated, but Shintarou fell into a dark, dark place. Despite being the only one there, she could only ever watch. Ene couldn’t never touch him and tell him it was alright. She could never do anything. She was just some nuisance behind the screen of his computer. Her perky attitude only made things worse. Useless, she was useless. Even after promising herself, she couldn’t do anything. Things got better, but that didn’t erase that feeling.

Wow, what a good thing that he thREW AWAY HIS PHONE.

artificialhime

     Felix frowned. The tiny plaza filled with applause, a crowd had gathered consisting of people around their teens to young(ish) adulthood and they were cheering. Beneath the yells, he heard the pew pew’s of imitation gunshots, the child-friendly ‘hero’ noises of people who want the thrill of violence without the bloodshed. The applause persisted and he looked on from his spot behind the mob, hands folded behind his head in a casual display. Alright. Strolling forward, Felix threaded through the gaps between the crowd.

     Two kids stood in the center of the crowd, some new game system holding their attention. The two held dual guns, the source of the fake noises, and were shooting at some cutesy monsters displayed on the two screens. Their concentrated faces and the competitive air about them was almost enough to make him laugh. Were they serious? This whole crowd was in awe at these two kids just because they could shoot some plush animals straight out of some toddler’s sugar-induced nightmares. How adorable. He stood, arms crossed, watching the “battle” until suddenly it was over.

     “And the winner is…” He couldn’t help but chuckle. The girl seemed so proud and the other player so defeated. If any of them were on a battlefield, his battlefield, they wouldn’t stand a chance. “Would anyone else want to do battle…” Felix stopped listening to the announcer, whoever it was advertising the new game, and considered his choices. He probably wouldn’t be used to the system. He probably wouldn’t know the tricks of the ‘trade’. But he was experienced in other ways. Felix looked again at the child and shrugged. 

The arcade was full of life, and Ene was in the middle of a rather heated competition. Recently, the arcade introduced a new shooter that was incredibly popular with people of all ages. Today, the arcade decided a little competition wouldn’t hurt. Gaming had become something huge all around the world now, arena’s larger than football fields weren’t uncommon for gaming.  The gaming culture that was once looked at as a waste of time was now used in jobs, hobbies and storytelling. Knowing that, the arcade figured a little competition may do well for business. Of course, first in line for said competition was none other than Ene.

Once the competition began, Ene versed various people, never skipping or losing a single challenge. After well over an hour a crowd of people had surrounded the console and her. Applauds eventually morphed into white noise to her ear, pretending like it was only she and her opponent allowed her to focus. Although she had been playing for what felt like ages, after each victory the bluette leapt in the air cheering before shaking the others hand. Hearing the announcer utter her name as the winner once again Ene leapt in the air once again, incredibly pleased with her performance. “Heh! That was a close one~.” Turning to her opponent she offered a bright smile and shook his hand energetically.

The announcer then asked one final time if anyone wanted to face her. A few moments without reaction. Ene was just about ready to take a break. Part of her was hoping no one would come forward... While the other half was looking for more of a challenge after that last one. Before Ene was declared as the final winner, someone stepped forward. A man with dyed orange hair and black streaks in it. Ene was a little excited to face off with this guy. He didn’t have the typical gamer “look”, but something about him just screamed competition. Despite his calm demeanour, he looked ready for a little competition. To Ene, a girl who looks like she literally came straight out of a game, that was something to look forward to. “Alright!” She cheered once again waving her arms in an exaggerated motion. “I was gonna take a break but one last round couldn’t hurt~. Besides, I’ve got a good feeling about this one!” 

The novel compared the metamorphosis of the protagonist in the insane city that bound him as a cocoon. A child, he was only capable of consuming everything around him, yet throughout the events was able to escape the madness of the city, emerging from the cocoon as a butterfly. The prose was delicate, each word carefully selected and placed in an intricate way that it seemed it could fall apart at any second. Despite this, the narrative structure and the voice that came off the text was booming in its magnificence. A solidly average book, in his eyes.

“…I’m reading a book.” He pulled the book down to his lap, trying to keep the girl from damaging it. A wave of an unfounded nostalgia passed through his being. A sense of familiarity from the way she energetically bothered him. Somehow, he wasn’t mad. “It sounds like a bore to you, but to me it sounds like a good way to spend a day.”

;—{ ♛ } The blue haired girl let out a soft laugh when the boy jumped back. She stood before the male who was looking at her curiously. Not only did he seem surprised by the sudden blur of blue hair to block his line of sight, but he seemed overwrought by her appearance as a whole. Was it her strange attire or was it the strange ornaments on her cheeks? Nonetheless, she looked like a girl who came straight out of a video game. Often mistaken for cosplaying, or just your average nut-case. However, this person looked more intrigued by her appearance than anything else. He didn’t narrow his eyes, he didn’t scoff. He simply, watched her. Which was far more acceptable than how other people may react.

;—{ ♛ } Finally, when the boy spoke Ene was less than impressed with his response. The girls eyebrows knit together while her cheeks puffed out and her lips pursed together. “As if I couldn’t tell it was a book!” The girl complained and waved her arms in the air in distress. What a boring answer! This guy clearly needed something a little more interesting in his day. Someone like her, was perfect for the job. Before becoming Ene, chances are Takane would have simply ignored the boy completely. As of now she was absolutely determined to take this stick out of the hardened mud. Whether she had to do it by force, or not was completely up to him. Despite her small stature, she could be a very... very convincing person.