"𝖧𝖾𝗋 𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗶𝘁 𝗂𝗌 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝘀𝘂𝗻,
𝖻𝗋𝗂𝗇𝗀𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗺𝘁𝗵."

𝗧𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗟 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗝𝗨𝗗𝗚𝗘𝗠𝗘𝗡𝗧
─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ──

Yep,

and as you might have guessed,

she didn't end up getting her drawing back.

"..."

And the issue of solving the misunderstanding was just meh. 

Ah. I don't even wanna think about it.

She just never really got the chance to speak about the misunderstanding. And well,

tick tok.

"zzzzz."

"..."

She made an unspoken promise to never return to that theatre club ever again.

"bzzzz."

tick tok.

"zzzzzzzz."

Let's see how long that promise shall last.

"..."

"Sawri...zzzz."

tick tok.

Ah. Her brow twitched every so often, rhythmically to the snoring and the sleep talk of her sister, the ticking of the clock, the fan and lastly, the silence.

I— can't sleep.

Way to state the obvious.

"..."

You know, if you don't sleep, you'll get sleep paralysis, right?

Eugh— I know already, but I don't know how to fall asleep.

Close your eyes, genius.

I've been doing that for the past— I don't even know how long.

Perhaps not long enough?

"..."

Just— just shut the fuck up.

We wouldn't be in this position if your dumbass hadn't embarrassed yourself like that.

No—! Please don't remind me again!

Hehe.

I don't know why you find it so funny, you're in the same situation as me.

Maribel had to hold back the urge to cry, scream, vomit, (e.t.c, the list just goes on) at the turnout of her day. It was two– two very simple quests that she was supposed to complete and yet she just had to go and fuck that up.

Ah, it's hot. She had turned the fan on at the fastest speed, and faced it in her direction to cool off from the plethora of irritation she felt. Clearly, it wasn't working very well because she had her duvet wrapped around her. This is so jarring— her legs abruptly kicked away the blanket of discomfort, with hopes to both: cool herself off, and release some pent of frustration.

creak.

Shit. She was quick to grimace at the sudden noise from her bed, dammit. And as quickly as she had kicked the blanket away, she pulled it back over her when feeling the cool breeze ghost over body through her night gown. Isn't this... cold sweat? ew.

Why was Maribel in such an agitated state you may ask? Oh, and how did she embarrass herself you ask?

NO! PLEASE! YAMETE KUDUSAI!

im using this ironically,
so pls don't hate. 😈

Another sound was mixed into the batch of white noise. Though, this one seemed more like a silent plea of desperation than just white noise.

Well anyway, since you're so curious, it took place right after kaiser, yes the peacock guy, had a fit of laughter.

"Pfft— heh!"

His sudden chuckles filled the almost silent room, startling everyone and their mothers. Now that he recalls, he did refer to her so-called masterpiece with a similar description. Not only that, but her atrocious pronunciation for certain, more complex words had to be the cherry on top. This is the highlight of my day. no, year even! Maybe in my whole life to be fair...

"..."

What the actual fuck?

Was Kaiser...

laughing?!

The people that had previously listened in on their conversation had their jaws dropped like Marley's. Faces losing their colour as they perspired the whole of niagara falls, their widened eyes and gaped mouths accompanying it further accentuated the oddity of Kaiser's unexpected laughter. Maribel stared at the weirdo in front of her who broke into cackles, and how soon after, a few others joined in with their ugly cackles that hurt her sensitive ear. I guess, my humour is just on another level, heh. She concluded with arrogance, using her forefinger to swipe the bottom of her nose.

"Heh—" it seemed that anytime Kaiser would momentarily collect himself, he only fell deeper into the depths of laughter. Even to the point were he slightly crouched down with his hands wiping away the imaginary tears that fell like diamonds from his waterline, maybe they were real but still—

Damn, he's still going?

"..."

"Aha—!"

"..."

"—baha!"

sigh.

Maribel dramatically exhaled as she turned to the girls from her home-room class. With a shake of her head in either disappointment or expectance, she muttered, "ah. Vellaiyarkal."

"..."

"Pfft— hah—!"

Cue round 2? 3 even of their (the four girls') hyena laughter as maribel apathetically looked off into space, a look of wisdom plastered onto her face as she sighed once again. If being funny was illegal, I'd probably have a life sentence. Perhaps capital punishment would be legalised for my case. Hmm, if I was on death row, would they make me go bald..?

"..."

But wait,
am I funny...

or—!? She snapped out of her reverie when the laughter fell silent. Too silent. It was—

eerily silent. Blergh. To the point it made her sick in the stomach. When she looked at those around her, they looked as if... their soul left their body..? Her gaze followed theirs, which led her to face the self-obsessed weirdo again and oh lord— chills crawled up her spine, the uncomfortable feeling of cold sweat trailed across her arms again, she didn't like the direction of where this conversation was going. The man in front of her hummed as if contemplating the weight of his options, he didn't need to contemplate any options to be completely honest, but he'd seen others do it so why not? You know, appear more of what others said he didn't seem like.

Ehem, a morta—

"Well now that we've got a deceiver on the lose, who claims to be the artisan of that monstrosity, it's about time to—"

"I'm probably the most honest person known to mankind." She interjected with a small voice, her straight face and her hand being held up creating a humorous effect.

Sure.

"—to confirm whether you're a phoney or not." He disregarded her words and carried on.

"..."

A what now?

Phoney? Who?

"..."

me?!

"I'm sure you have no issues with that, am I right?" He smiled. It was a phoney smile.

"...tch." And he calls me a phoney. Take a good look at yourself, you fake bastard.

"am I right?" He repeated with emphasis which shook maribel to the core, she was quick to give a small, composed nod.

"...Whatever, what are you gonna confirm with anyway?" She brushed off her discomfort whilst scrutinising at her bloody-cut, refusing to look into his eyes that gave off a sinister vibe.

Please don't be the stupid signature that I can't, to save my life, recrea—

"The signature."

"....."

Hahah! lolsies. For God's sake— WHY?!

"Can't I just redraw it instead?" What a stupid alternative, if she could just redraw it, why the fuck was she here in the first place when she could be at home, redrawing it? Because I highly doubt i could recreate that spectacular drawing of Mikey on the back.

"Nope." He drawled popping the 'p', this mother-fucker for sure is enjoying every moment of my suffering.

"..alright."

"You have my gratitude for your participation."

yOu HaVe My GrAtItUdE fOr YoUr PaRtIcIpAtIoN. She internally mocked, her face contorting into a passionate frown.

"Not like I had much of a choice." She muttered through gritted teeth.

"Hmm, Fabricio." He called out, this needed to be the grandest spectacle of all time. If it wasn't grande, then it wasn't very Kaiser-like.

"Hic— yes Kaiser?" Fabricio meekly answered putting maribel into a state of stupor. He's well-disciplined?! Where was that attitude when you made me wait eons, bastard?!

"Go and set a few tables, chairs, and a podium. Whilst you're at it, go fetch a pen and a piece of paper."

"Uh— yes Kaiser. Rowan, Natalia, come with me." The stupid theatre director called out, hanging on to the little authority he had left.

"Ehh? But Kaiser told you to get it..." One of them pouted, clearly unwilling to go.

"But—" Fabricio looked over to Kaiser for help, if they didn't listen to him then they surely would listen to Kaiser, that was his reasoning. And Maribel, who obviously caught onto his poor, futile attempt at an SOS signal, couldn't help but faintly grin. I hope he ignores his plea for help. Sufferrr for the sake of my satisfaction!!!!

Kaiser observed her reaction and turned towards the desperate Fabricio, "don't make me wait any longer, do I have to remind you that patience is a virtue I don't have?" He coldly spat, gaze going back to Maribel who seemed much more content after his words. Hmm? What a wicked women.

"Ah—! R-right!" The ratty director was quick to run with his tail between his legs.

What a pushover.

says you.

"Since the design is in my possession, I basically have ownership of it."

defuk—

"And since you came to 'retrieve' it from me, I'd like to make it entertaining for myself."

"..." Maribel pursed her lips, she didn't like the emphasis of his possessive tone when regarding her drawing, as if it wasn't hers in the fucking first place, so she was quick to follow up on him, "what? You developed attachment issues with it or something?"

"No, not exactly. I just do everything with the sole purpose of entertaining myself." He repeated menacingly.

"...okay?" Sooo, he is one of them weirdos, huh.

She didn't know what she had in mind when he mentioned entertaining, but this—

This was not what she had in mind.

Oh Lord— help me please!

All the energy intensive lights of the theatre room were switched off, how scary! But that wasn't it, in the middle of the large stage, there stood a singular podium, the ones that were usually used in a courtroom where the guilty defended itself. The fact that Maribel needed to take a shit after going through so many scares today didn't help with her new bubbling anxiety. Oh, how it was just 2 simple quests that needed to be completed before she could go home and rest. And yet, the world decided to be petty. Like damn, who hurt you today?

Oh, and the 2nd query of the century, how is the podium visible in the dark room you may ask? Well, it was a theatre room after all, and a theatre room usually consisted of spotlights.

Yes,

spotlights.

And all said spotlights were blinding the poor, poor girl who stood behind the podium. That's right, it wasn't clearly mentioned, but Maribel was stood behind the segregated podium. How had things taken a turn for the worse like this? I just wanted my drawing of Mikey back and to go home and to take a shit, but now—

gulp.

So scary! She swallowed the rising bile that desiccated her mouth. Just a bit longer, you can home later and cry. Oh, and take a shit too. Despite her numerous comforting words, Maribel couldn't, to save her life, relax. Her legs trembled, hands and arms in similar condition, perhaps in an even worse state. She had the littlest hope she could somehow make a similar signature but how was she supposed to when her palms were shaking, clammy yet dry from the sanitiser, and don't forget about how much it stung from the cut—

That piece of shit is a cheat, making me defend my life at my worst condition. Her gaze fell below her, to the podium that held a pen and a piece of paper before quickly shifting forward with animosity to where rather than the front row seats would usually be, there stood tables arranged in a 'U' shape. Right in the middle of the arranged tables, sat that ratty Kaiser. All high and mighty reeking with arrogance, eyes glinting with amusement. Ew. Just looking at his dumbass face is so jarring. He was leaning back on his comfortable, velvety, cushioned chair, man-spreading without an ounce of care and head resting on his fist that was supported by the mahogany armrests.

This bitch acting like he owns the fucking place. I hope the legs of his chair breaks and stabs him in the leg. He's a footballer right? then, I hope it puts him outta commission.

Oh my, that was quite... graphic and violent and harsh, don't you think?

Shut up, you twat. Bow's clearly not the fucking time.

Okay~ my bad.

The npcs on either side of him were just there, also acting high and mighty and reeking with arrogance. So stupid, you freaks are just there to fill in the empty spaces. Dumb idiots. Npc rats. I hope the spotlights's screw loosens and ends up falling on your heads whilst smashing your hallow skulls, fucking dumbasses.

This had to be some new form of public humiliation. It had to be. This guy definitely is a weirdo. I mean, who else gets off on seeing someone humiliated?

"Well then, phoney artisan."

"...what?"

"You can always back out now if you wish, or we can proceed with the confirmation trial."

"..."

"An answer."

"...just get on with it."

"Hmm? I didn't quite catch tha—"

"Yes, yes," she slightly raised her wavering voice, before quickly picking up the retractable pen with her shaky hand and muttering "...deaf asshole."

"Alri—"

click.

"..." Irk marks grew on the side of his neck at the familiar interruption.

Her hands moved aggressively fast despite the countless eyes and the faltering of her grip, she already knew that the signature wouldn't be identical, but whatever. She'll release her pent-up frustration through it. The scratching of the pen echoed within the quiet room, and Maribel wondered, how was it so quiet? There was always bound to be someone whispering somewhere, but none? And although she admitted that she preferred it when it wasn't deathly quiet, for once, her subconscious appreciated the silence. Because truly, if there was someone whispering, she'd immediately have thought it was something about herself and lost focus.

So whatever was the reason for the absence of sound, she was eternally grateful for it.

Her lips pursed when she finished drawing the signature, meh. She wasn't particularly confident in it but it was whatever. She'd move on from it sooner or later, she always did. Kaiser raised a brow when she looked up to face them, he couldn't help the crooked grin that adorned his face. Ah~ time for judgement.

"Bring it to me, phoney." He waved a finger over which she was quick to frown upon, she didn't like being told what to do, but she'd do it just today, with a slight twist of course. She'd give him the signature, go home and cry her sorrows away. And take a fat dump, don't forget.

Her legs moved gradually, spasms were quick to grasp the muscles in her legs as her feet were overwhelmed with pins and needles. Yuck. Her half was heavy all of a sudden, all she could then feel were how jelly-like her legs had turned. She then mentally questioned the purpose of the bones in her legs and her imagination ran wild with disgust when processing the fact if it weren't for her bones, she'd really be like jello. Ew, omg. I think my fingers have mild hyperthermia now.

With each agonisingly slow steps, she somehow made her way towards the 'U' shaped table, she handed the paper towards the npc at the end who had his arm stretched out, waiting to collect it. She absolutely refused to hand it to Kaiser like he told her to, she'd never do as he tells her to. Never. She'd much rather eat shit.

"Not to the empty space-fillers," he was quick to dismiss her petty idea, "to me."

Dammit, how irritating. At least we can agree on one thing though. She blankly stared at the space-filler in front of her who lowered his hand in shame after trying to reach for the paper. Quickly snatching it from his line of sight, another tired sigh sounded from her before she made her way towards the middle of the table; towards the anticipating Kaiser.

She was originally planning on placing it on the table meaning that she technically didn't exactly give it to him, but he was quick to follow up on it and before she could let go of it, he had pinched the other end of the sheet, directly taking it away from her. She had basically given him