Total pages in book: 72
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71595 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 286(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
“No.” Yuki catches me even before I can make it past several feet, and a choked sob escapes me as he pulls me close and my back slams against his chest. “Listen to me, senpai. When my dad and I first came back to Japan, I promised myself that I’d only follow your career and nothing else. I didn’t want to...risk finding out anything that could make me go back and ruin your life again. So I waited for your work to come out. I waited a long time until I realized...I had taken that away from you.”
His voice becomes strained. “I never wanted that to happen. I would never want that for you—-” Yuki’s words come to a rough stop, and if not for his arms holding me, I’d have fallen to my knees.
Oh, Yuki.
It wasn’t his hand that refused to draw; it was mine. It wasn’t his heart that stopped beating for what it used to love; it was mine. And most of all, it wasn’t his choice to fuck up. That was all mine, and for him to blame himself for it all these years—-
It sickens me, realizing just how weak I was all those years ago, that I don’t even know if I have the right to ask a second chance with him.
I feel his lips touch my hair, and my eyes squeeze shut. “I don’t know,” I confess brokenly, “if I can be the old KC again.”
He spins me around to face him, saying fiercely, “No one’s asking you to be. Who you are now is better and stronger.” He cups my face. “Didn’t you tell me that yourself?”
“You make it sound so effortlessly easy,” I choke out.
“Because it is.” His gaze captures mine. “You keep telling me I didn’t ruin your life—-”
“And you didn’t!”
“Then prove it,” Yuki says simply. “Prove it now. Show the world what I’ve always known. Remind them what they’re missing. And most of all—-” He steps away and opens the door for me. “Prove to yourself that even if I disappear from your life again, you’ll still be able to draw.”
Word of the Day: Purikura
A shortened version of the words ‘print club,’ although the term is also derived from Purinto Kurabu, which is a registered trademark in Japan.
It refers to photo booths not different from the regular ones seen elsewhere in the world but instead of simply producing printed photos, a purikura produces printed sticker photos with customizable designs.
Blog #739
Remember the professor who asked me why I couldn’t draw shoujo anymore? She gave me a couple of titles to read (or in some cases re-read).
Bambi to Dhole
Haou Airen
Hana to Akuma
(P.S. Spoiler alert if you haven’t read any of the titles above. You have been warned! Seriously!)
And for my assignment, she wants me to write about any similarities or lessons I’ve learned from reading the titles. I’m thinking she probably wants an essay, but unfortunately for the professor, her assignment had struck all kinds of chords in me that bullet points are all I can manage.
So, similarities—-
Shite happens.
Shite happens.
Shite happens.
And as for the lessons these manga have taught me:
Happy-ever-afters come in all shapes and sizes.
Death doesn’t spare shoujo.
And I...might be able to draw shoujo again.
RAIN’S STARTED TO FALL by the time the session ends, and the sound draws people out of their shells as they’re given a reason to linger and words to replace the silence. A smile curves on my lips as I watch them from the half-open second-floor window, huddling by the steps while the conversation starts to flow among them like a budding crescendo. It starts with the low, faint notes of his and hellos, and as the shyness fades, the melody becomes just a little faster, its tone rising just a little higher on the scale as words and laughter blend. It’s like watching a person fall in love with himself. It’s a beautiful sight – one I know I’d never have noticed if someone hadn’t broken me out of my own shell.
“Time to go, senpai.” Yuki comes up behind me like a thief in the night, and he lets out a low chuckle when I jump in surprise.
“Stop sneaking up on me,” I grumble even as I turn around to face him, my heart beating hard. It’s only been ten minutes since he left my side, but it’s enough to make me miss him. I try not to stare, but it’s impossible. He’s always been beautiful in my eyes, but it’s more than that now. The pain of losing Yuki makes me not want to take anything for granted, and I find myself cherishing every second I have to just see his face.
“How was it?” he asks quietly.
I pretend to frown, asking, “What do you think?”
Yuki retaliates by pinching my nose, and as I yelp in surprise, he says, “I’m being serious here.” But his baby blues are bright. I know I should be fine if it’s just affection in his gaze, but I’ve come to accept I’m a terribly selfish and ridiculously impatient person. I want to think that it’s love I see in those eyes of his, even if it’s love he’s still blind to.