News from a dead author!
Hey Guys! It's been forever since I've last seen you, in fact it's been over a year. OoPS.
Anyway, since this story seems to have received a good rating I've decided I will continue with it. My other stories are on an indefinite hiatus, but I will be continuing with this one until the bitter end. One of my life goals is to finish a novel, or in this case a fan fiction and even though I'm not doing the Nawirimo thing it still inspires me to write everyday. So I will no longer be dead to the world and the like. I hope people are still apart of the KnB fandom. lol
Anyway the title of this story used to be "Shadow of Humanity" but since then I've changed it.
I've noticed quite a few errors in the first chapter, but since my old laptop dIED with all of my notes and shit in it, I've decided I will try to remember what I can. I do remember a good portion of everything, but all my research is gone. ; v ;
BTW every single character in the GoM was mentioned last chapter. Some where vague, and some where REALLLY REALLY obscure, you had to squint to see it. But it will all make sense in time.
It may be a bit ooc, but I haven't read KnB IN 5EVER.
Art is not a handicraft, it is the transmission of feeling the artist has experienced.
She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips Bidding adieu;
and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
x
x
x
; death of an artist
Her eyelids fluttered open and once more she was brought back to cold reality of the world. Slowly, painfully so, Tetsuna swung herself out of bed and yawned at the sight of dawn peaking over the horizon. She wiped her tired eyes of sleep and mentally groaned at the day to come.
It was after gathering her bearings that she quickly made way over to the window where angrily she shut the blinds closed and huffed in annoyance. The sun's rays weren't harsh, but it was the type of early morning thinking that perhaps if she couldn't see the world, the world wouldn't see her and in return ask for nothing but solitude.
Of course she didn't fully believe in such foolishness, but a person could imagine that life worked so simply.
BARK BARK
Rolling her eyes and exhaling a soft sigh, Tetsuna opened her door to see her Husky puppy smiling with it's tongue lulled out. She clicked her tongue in mock annoyance and walked past him into the kitchen where she kept his dog food in the pantry. His eyes seemed to brighten as she pulled out the bag, but she reasoned with herself that Nigo's eyes always looked sparkly, and he most definitely didn't understand her.
Tetsuna loved her dog, really she did, but it was during early mornings that she would slightly regret her decision of rescuing him. Sure, her kept her company when others could not, but the fact of the matter still stood that no one needed that much noise at the break of dawn.
"Shh, Nigo, I'm getting your food now," it looked at her with confusion, apparently having no idea what she was saying other than his name, "Sit." He complied and a rush of relief passed over her. In her four months of owning him, he at least knew the most basic of commands and for that she was grateful.
She picked his red bowl by the refrigerator, and promptly began pouring two cups of dog food in. Nigo stood up upon hearing the sound of food against metal, but she gave him a stare that said 'be patient.'
When Tetsuna finally finished she set his food down and picked a similar red bow up where she hurriedly ran the tap water underneath before putting it next to Nigo's who began to eat furiously.
A smile appeared on her face as she watched her dog greedily consume his entire bowl in under a minute.
During such bliss however, a horrifying thought occurred to her that perhaps when he grew into an adult dog he would want to eat more, and demand better quality food by being too stubborn to eat anything else.
Her face paled and as if sensing her sudden mood swing Nigo perked up and began to claw at her leg for attention. She could only smile and pet his soft head while telling him everything was fine - even if he didn't understand what she was saying.
It was in silence that she then began to wash the dirty dishes from the previous night's dinner when the calm was disrupted by a loud girlish voice.
"Tetsunnaaa-chan!" A female with long bubblegum colored hair came bawling out and ran into tetsuna, to which she could only catch her friend in her arms. Awkwardly she patted Momoi's back and began to ask prodding for answers.
She couldn't make out what her friend was saying, but between sniffles and hysterical crying Tetsuna got the picture. Her friend, and roommate, had been dumped via text.
And so Tetsuna sat on their couch holding a crying Momoi for twenty minutes, gently stroking her hair all the while whispering soft and comforting words.
{ x . x . x }
Tetsuna felt herself falling asleep before actually doing so. Her eyes grew heavy as if made of lead, and her left arm began to tire from holding her chin up. So it was within a matter of seconds that her head hit the desk with a soft thump, and her mind was filled with nothing but darkness.
She didn't dream so there were no nightmares to be had, but it was such a state of blankness that terrified her.
Her world, though full of varying shades of gray, had never once been thought of as a singular color. To her, happiness came in waves that rolled over into a never ending sea of regret.
Tetsuna didn't think of herself as a pessimist, but rather a realist and it was because of that, that she knew her life wasn't all loneliness and melancholy.
It wasn't optimism, it was pure fact.
"….be due on Monday after the break. I will see you all then on Friday, and I hope by that time you've made some progress on your project."
The sound of scuffling shoes on hard tile awakened her, but it was the gathering around a paper that piqued her interest. She could hear the quiet moans of some, and relived sighs of others, each sound only heightening her curiosity.
Like a ghost she expertly made her way to the front where she read the contents of the paper and finally put two and two together. Apparently there was a combined project where the professor chose their partners.
Her eyes quickly scanned the list with a twinge of anxiousness and soon enough she found her name next to someone she'd never expected to meet again.
"Excuse me, are you Kuroko Tetsuna?" she turned around and wasn't shocked when she came face to face once more with a man that held the color of the world in his hair. Tetsuna didn't smile, but the tiniest trace of relief could be seen as an unfamiliar emotion took place, but not even a second later she schooled it back into perfect passiveness.
"Ah, yes I am, and you are Midorima Shintaro?" she lied through her teeth, but it was with enough conviction that an average person wouldn't notice the strain in her voice from not simply telling the truth.
He nodded his head curtly and then proceeded to stare at her for an uncomfortable amount of time afterward, "Is there something on my face?" She knew there wasn't, but the ever persistent gaze was starting to unnerve her.
"No, I was just thinking you looked familiar…." he trailed off as if he expected her to answer his unsaid question, but when she didn't he took it as a sign of confirmation. "I see I was wrong however."
Tetsuna nodded her head but didn't say anything further.
"If you're free on Wednesday I would like to start on our project," he pushed his glasses up not in nervousness but in a type of seriousness that stated he wanted to get everything over with quickly.
She paused for a moment if only to annoy him, "I am, where would you like to meet Midorima-san?"
"The campus library at one o'clock exactly," he then pulled out a sticky note from his satchel and began to write down the details. It insulted her that he would think so lowly of her as to think she would forget such simple details; and so she made it clear she was upset when she quickly took the sticky note from him and placed it on her textbook without even looking at it.
He gave her a small bow before turning to leave. "Make sure you familiarize yourself with 'An Inquiry into the Good.'" Tetsuna nodded her head in understanding and watched as he strode out of the room without so much of a good-bye.
The note on her textbook lay forgotten, but not missed.
{ x . x . x }
A coffee shop two miles away from her university was where she decided to eat lunch at.
Her knowledge of such an establishment had been one to none, but it was the persistence of Nigo to disregard their trail one morning that she found her favorite place to just sit and soak in the world.
Tetsuna's blue eyes softened at the memory and as she walked uphill to a more secluded area she spotted the eccentric looking building clearly. With a purple exterior and a curb appeal adorned with flowers, it was a wonder she didn't think of it as a flower store even after so many visits.
Quietly she walked in and the scent of freshly baked pastries made salvia pool in her mouth. The shop was less about the coffee and more about the breathtaking pastries that were displayed, despite her always calling it a coffee shop and it was only the convenience that made her label it as such.
There were a few people already inside, but there was only one man in front of her ordering. However, as soon as he was finished the cashier disappeared behind the counter leaving Tetsuna in wonder of what to do.
She rang the bell once, twice, and in a matter of seconds the girl came running back with a plethora of 'I'm sorry.'
After politely ordering her ice coffee and vanilla pastry, she sat herself down in a far off corner where the seats looked a little worn for wear, and the metal table was cold to the touch. A potted plant hung above her precariously, and she made a mental note to be extra careful should it decide to come crashing down.
Tetsuna then set her bag next to her seat and took out her sketch book for she had two hours to waste before going to her next class.
She mindlessly doodled everything and anything. From the store layout to a peony that stood lonely amongst a sea of pink lilies. It seemed as though whoever decided to flourish the shop had no sense how many of what flower should go where, nevertheless Tetsuna found it to be charming in it's own peculiar way.
However, despite the lack of aesthetic she couldn't help but to keep staring at the flower until she was sure it would be ingrained into her brain.
She pulled her hair into a low ponytail before reaching for her pencil once more and began to draw the pointed ends of the lilies with a quick flick of the hand, and wistfully sketched the endless sea of waves from the peony.
Quickly she added the vase and the counter where it stood next to a trash can. A dampener to the perfect image, but nonetheless she added the garbage in and drew each metal intercity with a meticulous eye.
'Would someone misinterpret this?' people had a tendency to see a deeper meaning behind some of her more simple drawings, and to say it didn't amuse her would be a lie. People will see what they want to, and if flowers next to garbage meant something to them Tetsuna wouldn't be one to tell them otherwise.
The light tinker of the door bell brought Testing out of her musings, but it was the man who entered a mere second afterward that caught her attention.
There were times in her life that despite all rational thinking, she felt the sudden urge to pick up her pencil and simply draw. The times were few and far between, but when such an occurrence would happen her mind would go blank before color burst open a new perspective.
Without any cohesive thought she turned the page of her sketch book and began to immortalize a man whom she's never met, let alone seen the face of. The soft curves of his cheeks, the steep angle of his nose, and his eyes, were all things she would only imagine, not having the guts to actually see the man in person.
Her knuckles were white, and the pressure of lead on paper made indents onto the sheet beneath; his presence alone made her feel compelled to draw him, as if he silhouette could speak and it demanded her to notice him.
There was no rhyme or reason to the frantic scribblings of her hand, but Tetsuna felt the need to capture him as quickly as possible, for she feared that if she saw who the man truly was it would ruin the whole scene she created around him.
He was a mystery, and before time ran out she was determined to solve him.
So engrossed with her drawing she didn't notice when he turned around after ordering, only to sit a few seats a way from her. A raised eyebrow and a smirk was lost on her as she kept her focus on trying not to look up before she was done.
Her hand ached and grimace, not a smile, graced her lips as she finished with a smooth stroke to his hair.
"Are you done? I think it's only right for the subject to see what the artist has created."
Question: Who do you think the person is at the coffee shop? And who do you think she'll meet next?
I'm sorry this is going really slowly, but as I said this story is more about characters than a fast paced action drama.
I tried to edit a lot of this, but the ending part was really hard for me because I couldn't quite capture what I personally felt when writing that bit the night before. C'est la vie.
If you don't mind please show your support by reviewing, following or favoriting. Possibly all three. xD
