A Reader’s Rights
But at this moment, under the same snow, Takaki and Akari kissed.
Rogue didn't look away from the words; to her surprise, she was unable to look away in that moment. Her gloved fingers touched the flickering screen, tracing the words in that line, trembling slightly.
Her heart didn't ache; it felt hollowed out.
"Must be nice…" She muttered as tears that she had been holding back all this time finally dripped down her face.
***
[Anna Marie feels a great longing in her heart +1EP]
[Anna Marie feels a great longing in her heart +1EP]
[Anna Marie feels a great longing in her heart +1EP]
[Anna Marie feels a great longing in her heart +1EP]
[Anna Marie feels a great longing in her heart +1EP]
John was in the library, watching the constant stream of notifications popping in front of him every five or so minutes. He was already used to the frequent notifications, but not from one person like this.
And even though he should've been happy about the rising EP, as he was just a little amount away from the required 1000 EP, he only felt a deep sense of worry.
Just watching the constant notifications alluded to Rogue's current mental state. If a good story can uplift someone if they find it at their lowest point, it can also throw them into the depths of despair if it finds the reader at the wrong time.
'Should I stop writing this?' John almost slapped himself for that thought, but he couldn't exactly ignore the situation at hand. Seemed like the Emotion farming system was a double-edged sword.
Even then he couldn't stop writing the story, not because he had gotten nearly $400 in donations for the art, but because he had no right to stop a fellow reader from feeling what they wanted.
If a thousand people read the same story, they would take away a thousand lessons from it, each being unique to the reader and their circumstances.
'I hope she doesn't take this the wrong way.' John leaned into the chair, looking at the bland ceiling. All he could do was trust his fellow reader and believe that she would take something good from this novel and become stronger.
"It hasn't even been five minutes since we started, and you are already zoning out?" Gwen said in a measured whisper, a deep frown on her brow. "Now I know why you performed like that on the test."
"I am thinking about how different people understand a work differently." He tried to get all philosophical.
Gwen initially looked interested in the topic but soon shook her head.
"The only thing you should be worried about right now is the Henderson-Hasselbalch Equation." She poked at his stomach with her elbow, correctly in laid-back posture.
Their seats were practically connected as she had to whisper to him, and him getting distracted easily only made that harder.
'Maybe I should just drag him to my place.' Gwen almost snapped the pencil in her hand in half.
"Just focus on this, or you'll be in deep trouble." Her voice was a bit loud there, making Gwen look around in panic.
But in doing so, her eyes met with the old woman with kind eyes at the counter, the librarian, who gave her a knowing smile.
It was like she was encouraging her to not mind her and continue.
'So embarrassing.' Her face turned a little rosy as she pinched John's arm for putting her through this.
"That's uncalled for; I'll report you to the faculty." He rubbed his forearm hurriedly.
"Good luck with that." Gwen almost scoffed, but then paused for a moment before continuing. "If you can complete the topics I have prepared for today, I'll treat you to lunch. If not, you treat me to lunch for the week."
"Sure, I'll have a cheeseburger." He nodded.
"You agreed a bit too fast. That confident?" She had made the disproportionate bet considering he would negotiate, resulting in a three-day lunch scenario. But this was not in her mind.
"I mean, it is a win-win for me either way." John shrugged.
Gwen blinked for a moment, looking at his cheeky smile, before shaking her head.
"Let's see if your slick tongue helps you through this." She placed her notes, several of them, on the table with a cute smile that couldn't hide the mischievousness in her eyes.
John closed his eyes with a smile that bordered on resignation; his tongue wouldn't help him get out of this one.
By the end of their two-hour study session, John had only understood half of it. But that alone had almost sent him to a coma.
'Aside from the really hard topics that aren't used until the sophomore year, he worked through the rest properly. And he memorized something after reading it twice?' Gwen took a bite of her cheeseburger, watching John inhale like three of them, as her eyes narrowed.
'Did he flunk the test on purpose?' The test itself wasn't counted towards the final grade, so that could be possible. But why would he do that?
Gwen thought back on how easily he agreed to take her help with studying and then the lunch bet, talking about some ridiculous win-win situation.
'Did he want to… spend more time with me?' Gwen blinked at her own thoughts, taking a long sip of the slurpy as he noticed her staring for too long.
But that wasn't the best idea, as she winced the next moment.
"What happened?" He asked, finally stopping his feast.
"Brain freeze!" That wasn't the best idea indeed.
When they walked out of the diner after finishing their respective food, John ate her leftover fries too; the setting sun painted the street in a vibrant orange.
"Let's do this again tomorrow," John said, sipping on a large Coke.
"Eat like that, and your abs will be gone in no time." Gwen quipped, keeping her books close to her chest.
"How do you know I have abs?" He tilted his head.
"You really do? I was just guessing." She tried to play it off, but his smirk pissed her off.
He definitely thought she sneaked a glance when he was stretching his arms or whatever. Which pissed her off because it was true.
'Getting cocky over some abs; they aren't even that great. Well… maybe a little.' Gwen swiped a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her mind racing to find a new subject. And thankfully she found one in time.
"You read the new novel, right?" The moment her mind went in that direction, all previous conversations were forgotten.
"Yes, it has started strong." John nodded knowingly.
"Hasn't it? I thought there would be more of those painful cliffhangers, but the second chapter was the best. It can only go up from here." The happier Gwen appeared while talking about the story, the more John smiled.
'That's nice, be happier. You will want to break into the writer's house by the last chapter.' Beneath the cherry smile was his devious smirk; however, there was one piece of information he had forgotten because of his glee.
The writer of 5 Centimetre per second in the world of Marvel was him.
And he became aware of that when he returned home and looked at the comments.
AWifeofTwo—That chapter was magical.
DirtyLaundry—My heart was beating faster with each delay. I was sure they wouldn't meet each other, and we'd spend the rest of the story with them trying to reconcile. So glad it didn't turn into that.
Imanahaq—I agree with @DirtyLaundry that would've been cursed. But this is the writer of Your Name.
DammS—I didn't expect a new novel to start so soon after the first one.
NeverSay_Never—We are getting blessed boys!
JohnDoeSimp001—Don't forget the girls, man.
JohnDoe4Life—Only someone handsome can write dialogue that smooth.
TheLordandSaviorJohnDoe—This might be the god of romance gracing us, Hallelujah.
Watching the line of readers agreeing to that comment and kept writing hallelujah tagging him. He was sure it was just internet banter, but to an unsuspecting eye, this might as well be the start of a cult.
'I'll just post a chapter and forget about the rest.' John shook his head.
Today was another mid-length chapter, but the tone would change. Hoping it would prepare that one reader only he could notice on the other side of the screen.
Wishing Anna Marie well, John hit the upload and turned to the drawing tablet, returning to his training for the next work.
...
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Visit p@treon.com/c/Over_The_Moon69 to read 20 chapters ahead.
Change the @ to 'a' first, though.