Excerpt; full story can be found here.

There is something about the dead silence that unsettles the young blond, Xiǎomíng. He can’t decide if he’s thankful for it or if he fears it. To this day, he can still hear the ringing in his ears as gunfire and explosives go off one by one on the field. His creations. He can still hear the agonized screaming of people—not enemies. He has to remind himself to refer to them as such to retain some sense of his humanity for his own sake. Innocent people like him who merely didn’t have a choice but fight to survive.

The air would be polluted with smoke, permeated by the smell of gunpowder, blood, and decaying corpses abandoned on the field to be forgotten. The earth would rumble with heavy vibrations of scrambling feet, both in pursuit and in retreat, and explosives being set off with the usual debris being blown about. And then there was the screaming. The ceaseless screaming. The barking of orders. The pleading of mercy. The crying for loved ones. The cursing of whatever god was out there for forsaking all of them.

Then… There was silence.

To Xiǎomíng, silence was something akin to the sound of victory, but only because he was left alive in the end. A survivor. For the others who fell by his own calloused and bloodied hands, whether directly or indirectly, and those that were associated with the recently departed, silence was the sound of shattered hope. Of innocence lost. Of a future gone from their grasp. Gone, gone, gone. There was nothing left.

And so Xiǎomíng left that hellish place with silence following after him in the shadows, lurking in the corners of his overworked mind, and it was suffocating. It was a reminder of everything that he had taken—stolen, he criticizes himself with a wry laugh—from people who may or may not have deserved to be stolen from in the first place. There are nights in which he’d wake up in a cold sweat, eyes shot wide open to stare at the ceiling above him with his lips parted in a soundless scream that shakes him to his very core.

And he would just lie there in bed, trembling like the child he is before anger and frustration start to take over, both towards himself and the life he’s led so far. To be so young and have so much taken away was something beyond words. Words of hated and guilt and fear and so many other things swirling inside his head like a storm that he has no choice but to clutch at his hair for some relief. And he has to remind himself: he’s alive. He’s alive, and that’s all that matters now.

Excerpt; full story can be found here.

The two students walk along the park, having taken the time off of their weekend to meet up. To outsiders, it might look like they’re out on a date, but it’s far from it. It’s simply to work on their shared assignment and nothing else.

Tomoyuki fiddles with the camera wrapped around his neck, and Kazumi huffs in annoyance as she remembers events from a few days ago. The female student is perfectly aware of Tomoyuki’s talents being well known amongst the school members, but she wasn’t expecting his “fanbase”, so to speak, to actually verbally attack and bitch on her. What a nuisance.

“What is it?”

Kazumi snaps herself back to the present. “What?”

“You have this crease between your brows,” the highschooler responds, flicking her forehead in which she retaliates with a slap on his arm. “Is it because of our last group member flaking out on us?”

“Yeah, I’m pissed about that, but that’s not it. It’s nothing,” she answers with a curt tone. “Just remembering about some dumbasses’ words about how I’m apparently not good enough for you.” She scoffs. “What a bunch of bull.”

“You’re right,” Tomoyuki agrees with a casual nod of his head before shooting her a large and beaming grin. “It is a bunch of bull. You’re more than enough for me.”

Kazumi can feel her face start to heat up, and she ends up sputtering, “Wh–What–What the hell is that supposed to mean?!”

The young man laughs, his eyes crinkling with joy at his companion’s flustered reaction. She might think that he’s just teasing her, but he’s completely and utterly sincere with his words.

“Who knows?” Tomoyuki replies with a singsong voice, refusing to give the woman a straightforward answer. Before she can get too angry at him, he switches the topic at hand. “In any case, if it weren’t for me, you’d probably still have nothing for the assignment done. Aren’t you glad I’m in your group?”

Excerpt; full story can be found here.

Once you start to feel more comfortable and lose the tension in your body, Claude orders his wyvern to fly a bit higher. So far, it’s simply just the two of you hovering and staying in one spot rather than riding around. It isn’t… so bad, you suppose. At the very least, it isn’t as bad as you were expecting.

You both reach a reasonable enough altitude, and Claude breaks the comfortable silence that had settled over. “Are you okay with flying around?”

You pause, taking a moment to think about the idea and how you’re currently feeling. You nod your head. “As long as we take it nice and slow, I think I’d be okay,” you tell him.

“Alright,” he breathes out. He wraps one of his arms tight around your waist, securing you close against him. He leans forward a bit, his chest pressing flush against your back, and you swear you can feel his heartbeat against you.

“Don’t let go,” he whispers into your ear, and you’re fairly certain you felt his lips tug into a smirk at the small shiver that runs down your spine.

You both fly around the area at a leisurely place. As you do so, you end up continuously glancing down at the ground below you, and you’re starting to feel nervous again. Claude seems to sense this, and he squeezes you against him to remind you that everything’s alright.

“Don’t look down,” he says. “Look in front of you instead.”

Although it’s a bit difficult to do so, you comply and tear your gaze away from the ground. The sight that greets you is the wide and open night sky, and suddenly, you’re feeling a bit better than before. It’s breathtaking and liberating, and you can’t help but feel a newfound appreciation for it now that you’re up here in the sky.

Claude nuzzles his cheek against yours, his skin warm in contrast to the cold air. “I’ve wanted to share this sight with you for a long time,” he confesses.

It’s definitely a beautiful sight, but in the end, it still feels awfully lonely if he has no one to share it with. While he did want to help you overcome your fears, he will admit that part of it was just an excuse to simply have you ride with him. He’s extremely glad to finally be able to experience this together with you.

Starved of affectionate touch from another human being for so long, neither Dimitri or I know whether to seek out or shy away from contact. Fingertips tenderly brushing against skin is enough to make us flinch, and it takes a moment for us to realize that these hands do not have the intention to harm like so many before but rather to share in the feelings we hold dear in our heart. Seconds tick by, and Dimitri’s shoulders relax, as do mine, slowly but surely.

It’s a bit embarrassing to admit though how much his touch affects me, making my heart skip a beat, and my stubborn nature forces me to turn my back to him in an attempt to hide my face. Perhaps it was rude of me to do so, but Dimitri doesn’t seem to mind as I feel the warmth of his chest press against my back. I lean against him, carefully allowing myself to ease into this feeling of safety and comfort.

His arms come to wrap around my shoulders, his lips brushing against my ear with a soft sigh of bliss that draws a shiver down my spine. My hand reaches up to find his, becoming an awkward and confused tangle of fingers, but that’s okay. Feeling his skin against my palm is a comfortable feeling all the same. I will cherish this moment.