Voiceless

Aftermath

Aftermath

"-And the end." I smile as I look at the crowd. Some are yawning. Others are doing something else, obvious that they didn't pay attention. But most... Most of them are tearing up.

"I... I'd like to ask you two questions, Dawn-sensei." The same girl who asked me to tell a story earlier asks. I'm glad this girl is slowly getting rid of her shyness. She didn't stutter and trail off that much.

"Ok." I say, beckoning her to ask what's on her mind.

"First, where are her friends and Ian right now?" she asks. Many people in the crowd nod in agreement.

"Well, they're still friends. Clara is now a famous chemical engineer and artist. Max found his passion in advancing technology and is now one of the owners of a famous company specializing in developing software. Karl is a successful businessman in Nepal. And Ian is now a well-known civil engineer in the Philippines. Oh and he is now in good terms with my friend. They were able to talk it out, admit they were childish back then, and parted ways peacefully." I say, my smile widening as I narrate what happened to each of them.

"Thank you Dawn-sensei. Here is my second question. You revealed the name of the girl's best friend/love, ex, and friends. But you never revealed the name of your friend." She points out.

I just smile mysteriously. I knew someone's going to ask about that.

"That, my dear, will be answered at a later time."

The whole crowd groans and I just continued smiling in amusement.

Later, I took out my laptop and logged in to that familiar site and game. 

I'm now transported to South Konoha and decided to walk around - like I always do when I arrive here. I see the ramen shop, Redemption Merchant, Black Market Merchant, Kakashi-sensei's clone, Anko-sensei and Fukurokumaru...

Everything is still the same. There are more players right now but I'm glad to say that I know most of them now.

Everything is still the same... except for one thing.

Immediately, a white-haired, dark-clothed man appears in my mind, still wearing a bored expression.

I smile sadly and my eyes find its way to the slightly tattered and old yellow orange ribbon on my left wrist. Before I knew it, I'm already untying it. Even though I have a short pale blue hair now, I still tie it out of habit.

"Yosh! Let's do this!" I exclaim cheerfully and stand at my usual spot near the gates.

I'm honestly expecting that today will be the same as the previous ones. I'll stay in this place almost all day when work isn't that hectic, doing my daily missions and/or chatting with my friends. And then, when the clock will read 10 PM, I have no choice but to go offline. I'll take one last long and sorrowful look at the gates, sigh, and finally go back to the real world... The usual.

But today... Today is different.

Around 7:41 PM, just when I am planning to go off in order to sleep early, a flash of white hair catches my eye. My heart starts swelling up again. Swelling up with hope that maybe it's him. Darn it. This always happen. Get a grip of yourself! Not every white-haired guy is him.

I just sigh and is about to click the "Close" button when I hear a voice called my name.

I turn my back and my eyes widen. And before I knew it, tears start cascading down my face as I cover my mouth in shock.

There are a lot of things I want to tell him. Things that I have practiced countless of times in my mind in case it happen. But when it did, no words come out. I just stood there, gaping in shock. I just... I can't believe it.

A young man stands in front of me but instead of boredom, a hint of a smile is shown on his face. He is still wearing dark clothes, a sword still strapped on his back. And he's taller than before. In contrast to his clothes is his hair that grew a little bit longer now. But it was still as white as snow.

One thing is running in my mind right now. Welcome back.

"The smile upon my lips,

It will surely never die.

As I'm waiting here for you,

until you're back by my side."

- Freida Martinez

I hope you had a blast reading this story. ^^