SELFISH [Shirou x Reader]

8. Reading

Author Notes: 

Hello all! Quick chapter b/c I was so inspired by a certain pic that you'll get to see as you read along!

One of my readers, Anime Library (on Quotev),  asked a great question that I answered and realized that maybe it would benefit one of you guys as well! If you notice, every chapter I have this list of acronyms here,

[ph] = preferred honorific

[pn] = preferred noun

[ppr] = preferred pronoun

that appear throughout the chapters! These are here b/c I really want this particular reading experience to be as inclusive as it can be! That being said, here are my crude explanations for what these terms mean...

1. Preferred honorific [ph]: Miss, Mr., Mx, Myr, etc. (Here's a good article on all of the awesome honorifics we have to this date! ) So when you read [ph], replace it with the honorific you'd like to be addressed by! In my case, it would be Miss. Simone!

2. Preferred noun [pn]: This one is kind of new, I haven't seen instances of it. But think of it as what would you want someone to describe you as! So when you read [pn], replace it with the noun that best describes you. In my case, it would be "the girl", "the woman". Other nouns could be boy, person, human, etc. It just gives the story more personalization, if you catch my drift :)

3. Preferred pronoun [ppr]: Her, him, their, ve, xe, ze, per, (f)ae, etc. This one is similar to the honorific, in which it's the pronoun you want to be addressed by. In my case, it would be "Her name is Simone".

Now, let's get on w/ the story!

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You would have never suspected that the hospital would have this.

You looked around you, amazed at all of the arrangements of books on the metal shelves. Each bookcase, which was as tall as the ceiling itself, was categorized by a topic. In one corner was mystery/horror and all the way at the other end was fiction. Some of the shelves even had featured books that were turned face side out so that the covers were easier to see.

Along the walls were motivational posters featuring a lion mascot, encouraging young beastkin and people alike to read. In the middle of the room were tables and chairs for children to sit and play in. The seats were arranged in a pattern that allowed someone to move in between: almost like a movie theater. And at the very far end of the room was a bay view window with a seating area littered with baby blue pillows. The indirect sunlight brought just an ample amount of warmth to the rest of the room. Ironically, as inviting as the place felt, it appeared that it didn't see much use past its initial build.

You wheeled yourself through the soft grey carpet to inspect the room some more. Every so often, you would spot a particular tschotske that would be associated with the corresponding topic it was shelved in. You ran your fingers against the spines of the books as you moved forward. You were amused when you spotted some Begos arranged as a house next to a book titled, 'The 3 Little Pigs'. Was someone waiting for this to be destroyed?