Start of Change

In a small room, a teenage boy sat hunched over his desk while reading a certain manga. The last page of the manga was currently in sight.

His hair was a striking midnight blue, the strands falling just above his ears in soft waves. He had soft features on his face, making him quite on the handsome side. 

The teenager, Riku Nifuruji, sighed, a peaceful smile spreading across his face as tears welled up in his eyes. "This shit is so ass."

Clearly, happiness was not on his face.

'I spent my time reading this? That ending... Ah, that ending...!' He gripped the manga so hard his fingers dug into the paper. 'Damn author. You just turned the main character into a literal brain-dead vegetable by the end, you know that, right? Also, what was the point of the red-haired girl, huh?! Why did she even exist? She didn't do SHIT. And don't get me started on that poor blue-haired girl. Give her some damn justice, you cowards! And WHERE is the incest I was promised? Where's my MILF action, huh?'

He was one step away from hurling himself onto his bed and punching the hell out of it for crimes it hadn't even committed, simply because he had nothing else to use as an emotional punching bag. Right now, though, he could only curse. 

'I hope you get stabbed like the mother of the main character and die in a damn ditch, never to be seen again. Piece of trash. Hell, even trash still had their uses.'

He stood up from his desk, clicking his tongue as he looked around at his immaculate room. 

There were several manga collections, light novels, regular novels, anime DVDs, and all sorts of other things. With a heavy sigh, he trudged toward the door, trying to get a drink to distract himself from the abomination he'd just read. 'No need to wear myself further thinking about it…'

Just as he opened the door, however—

"...huh?"

He widened his eyes slightly. His hand twitched, it was still close to the now-open door. 

Riku instinctively looked back at his room with a frown. He thought "something" had changed, though he couldn't tell what that might be. The feeling made his brows furrowed in discomfort. 'Man, what a weird world I'm living in.'

Brushing off the feeling, he stepped out of his room, shutting the door behind him. He headed to the kitchen, briefly glancing at his younger sister in the living room, who is currently glued to her phone. Riiku was immediately intrigued by what he saw on her phone. 'Isn't that worth money?'

"Reina—"

"—eek?!"

His younger sister jumped in surprise and hid her phone screen from him, spinning around to face him in a panic. Riku was a little surprised by the intensity of her reaction. 'It's not she's drawing porn or something, right? Well, I would never let other people see my drawings too, though, even if my drawings weren't actually bad.'

"W-What?" Reina asked, sounding a bit flustered.

Riku grinned. "I saw you drawing on your phone. I didn't expect you to be into digital art too, Reina."

His sister's expression froze. 

Now, Riku knew Reina liked to draw, but he suspected it was because she was following in his footsteps—or at least, that's what he liked to believe. Riku had been into drawing too, you know, back in the day when he wasn't busy having an existential crisis over whether his art was even worth anything. But—uh-oh—Reina was way better at it than he was. Like, way better. It hurt. His pride? Yeah, it was a little bruised. 'I feel like every time she compliments my drawings, she's lowkey roasting me… I know she's not a bad girl, but man.'

And don't even get him started on their older brother, Raiki. He was a calligraphy god, a drawing prodigy who could probably sketch the Mona Lisa with his eyes closed while juggling flaming swords. Man, being the middle child was a special kind of misery.

Riku ignored all that and continued enthusiastically, "Open up commissions, Reina! That way, you can make money. I saw your outlines and they look great! I've seen people make good income from it. You can do it! Help us get rich…!"

"I-I don't wanna!" Reina squeaked, clearly flustered and turning a nice shade of crimson.

Riku immediately shot her down with a shake of his head. "Don't be shy. Since you're still underage, I can lend you my account for payments, okay?"

"You'd probably steal it."

"What? Me? Steal it?" Riku gave her the most ridiculous look, but that smug smile on his face indicated that he would 100% steal her money if she gave him the chance.

Riku chuckled, this time more seriously. "No need to feel inferior, you know? You're still young. You still have so much to experience. Just be open minded with critics and you'll have success!"

"..."

She didn't answer, and simply turned her back on him to go to her room. 

Riku shrugged and headed to the kitchen. 

Riku opened the fridge, grabbed a cold bottle of water, and took a satisfying gulp. 'Ah, refreshing.' The moment the liquid hit his throat, he felt an instant sense of relief, like his body had been deprived of the simple joy of hydration for a thousand years. And just like that—poof—the trauma of the manga's ending evaporated from his mind. Gone. Who even needed closure when you had water?

He glanced at the clock on the wall. It wasn't even noon yet. 'Right, it's my day off. What should I do today?'

He thought about any interesting movies in theaters he hadn't seen. Nothing. 

He thought about places he hadn't visited yet. Nada. 

He even thought about his paycheck. Zilch.

Riku pursed his lips as he realized he'd probably just be stuck at home.

He could try working on his original novel or fanfic and maybe make some money from them, but he just wasn't in the mood. Well, he barely ever was.

Riku wasn't exactly an extrovert, but he wouldn't mind tagging along for most events—if he got invited. Otherwise, he was perfectly content flying solo. It gave him a sense of freedom, like he was a lone wolf. Group outings had their appeal too, though. They were like a chaotic circus: fun, loud, unpredictable, and just the right amount of mess.

His phone buzzed, dragging him out of his brooding.

***

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