"What on earth are these people talking about!? I don't share suppressed romantic feelings towards Larence or Ryan!"
Allen exclaimed as he scrolls through the phone.
"Just where on earth did they get such ideas!? We're all straight, for goodness sake!" he says, almost choking in his own saliva.
For the whole night, Allen wasn't able to sleep—not even a single wink. After he read that oneshot, there were memories that can't be erased. It turns out that yaoi means 'boy's love', a genre that focuses on romance between men. Not only that, the characters in the story weren't just anyone. It is all about Allen being paired with Larence. Honestly, he doesn't see why they will be perfect for each other. After all, Larence hates Allen.
What's worse, he's also being paired with his sadistic traitor friend, Ryan Sullivan. Which is insane, that guy always had the intent to destroy him.
FanfictionNovels. Allen gets it now, he should have known the obvious. But he can't believe that people are shipping him with these bastards. These guys hated him to the core. He wondered if the fans are even right in the head or not. Just what gave them this kind of idea!? It's impossible for them to turn gay, Allen is perfectly sure that they are straight—all of them are. Also, imagining himself having certain relationships with them—no, just no. Seriously, if those two finds out about this, they'll definitely slit Allen's throat.
The horrible fact is, Allen can't stop reading it. These kinds of fanfictions, he read it all, that's why he wasn't able to sleep for the whole night. Why? Simple, it's because of his stupid curiosity. Right now, he wants to hit himself in the head. He's still in full disbelief, hoping to himself that this can't be true and this is just some ridiculous dream.
"Yes, that's right. I should stop. Don't let your curiosity get to you." Allen whispered. He tries to calm himself by taking deep breaths, he really doesn't want to faint right now.
But Allen's thoughts are still fresh, he couldn't stop thinking about it. This is making him feel scared.
"Yo! Mr. Allen!" someone suddenly spoke.
Allen gave out a loud yell.
Out of reflex, he jumped off from his bed and grabbed a victorian style lamp, using it as a weapon. His shoulders slumped in relief when he recognized the people in front of him.
"Oh, Az, Alicia. It's just you." the boy says, finally breathing in ease.
"You okay? You seem mumbling about being straight and stuff." Az chuckled. "Do you mind sharing it with me?"
"I mind." Allen grumbled, trying to hide the phone quickly. Unfortunately, Az's hands were fast, he was able to grab the phone from him. "Hey!" Allen exclaimed.
"Az, that's rude." Alicia stated, but her master just ignored her.
"Oh dear. I could imagine the shock." Az shook his head, definitely disappointed with himself. "I am very sorry, Mr. Allen. I haven't thought how wild your curiosity was. If only I've thought about it sooner, I would've uninstalled it." he gave out an apologetic look.
"Uninstall? What's that?" Allen asked.
"Uninstall means removing an app from a device." Az explained.
Allen tiredly nodded in response. He laid again on the bed, burying his head under the pillows. "You should've warned me about it. Now I'm scarred." he says with a despaired tone. "What am I gonna do with this knowledge? Once I find something new, I tend to dig deeper." he says gloomily, starting to emit an emo aura. "I even read all the fanfics in that app."
"I know, I know, since that's your charac— Wait, what? You read it all!?" the brunet exclaimed. "R-Reading all these f-fanfictions... Did you even sleep? And wait a minute, I didn't know you could read. Aren't you supposed to be a moron?"
"What? Are you insulting me?" Allen glared at the guy. "I read novels, dimwit. But I don't do it often, because I'm a picky type. And yes, I didn't sleep, not even a single wink."
"Gasp. Is that so? I guess you're just a lazy student. If you're determined, you would've—" before Az could even finish his sentence, he was interrupted by a pillow thrown towards his face.
"I'm not lazy! I'm actually trying my best, idiot! It's just for some reason, I don't get high grades. And what the heck? I'm not a moron, I'm average!" Allen tells him.
"Average moron?"
"No. Do you want to die?"
"Sorry. Just chill. I'm just messing around."
"...."
Allen just glared at Az. A moment later, he grabbed the phone, scrolled around and showed it towards Az's face. "Look, read this... it's ridiculous! They don't actually believe this, do they?"
Larence and Allen may not seem like it, but they don't actually hate each other. They just argue a lot in order to hide their 'undying romantic feelings'. If you look closely, there are actually signs.
Poor Allen is having a mental breakdown right now, his mind still finds it hard to grasp about how ridiculous this is.
Az just remained silent. He gulped and looked at Allen with a nervous expression. For some reason, he couldn't shake off the feeling that the room they're in now, is about to be destroyed.
Alicia just stood there, watching Allen. Right now, she's trying her best to maintain her poker-faced expression. She doesn't know how long she could hold her laughter any longer.
"Bullshit! This is bullshit! There are no signs to begin with, you imbeciles!" Allen exclaimed. Then he turned at Az with a horrified expression. "Please tell me they're not serious. Please tell me that this is just some nightmare and then I'll wake up soon in a world where modern people didn't ship us! I refuse to believe this!"
"Look, Allen. How about I get you first some ice cold water—" Az tries to tell Allen, but he gets interrupted.
"I swear, if something more worse was written here, I'll—" Allen says, scrolling again through the phone. A moment later, his panicked expression suddenly turned into horror.
Az became curious at Allen's shock, so he went beside him and read the story.
Ryan continuously convinces himself that he hates Allen — but in truth, he actually doesn't. He actually cannot bring himself to express his feelings for Allen. So just like Larence, Ryan also shows some signs of hidden romantic feelings towards the same person. In fact, both of them would also want a taste of that juicy a—
Allen paused himself from reading, no one could read the expression he's having right now. Az looked at Allen nervously, having an instinct to go into a protective stance for the phone. Good thing Az trusted his instinct, he was luckily able to restrain Allen who was about to throw the phone across the room.
"Calm down, Mr. Allen! You're going to destroy it! You're going to destroy it!" Az cried, holding both Allen's arms with an attempt to stop him. He's already fearing for the phone's safety at this moment.
"Burn it! Just burn the damn phone!" Allen screeched.
"No, don't do it! Please think about this carefully and try to remain calm!" Az grunted, still trying to hold Allen back.
Alicia grabs the phone from the Allen's hold and starts reading the story.
"It is not wise to make contact towards that otherworldly object. It is deadly! It is a mental execution!" Allen glared towards the phone.
Alicia just ignored him and started to mumble about how he's being overdramatic as she continued to scroll. A moment later, she starts reading it orally.
On the other hand, Allen seems to have more feelings towards Larence, which—
Allen squeaked in distress. Honestly, he's quite surprised that he hasn't fainted yet. He finally accepted the fact that this was real, it wasn't a dream, people from other realities really did ship him with those crazy bastards.
"Enough, I don't want to hear any further. I've had enough." he croaked.
Alicia just sighed. "Took you long enough to get through denial. You had been reading these fanfictions for the whole night."
Allen just ignores her, he's now shaking his head in distress.
"There are no such feelings, these damn morons! I feel nothing for that bastard! In fact, I feel nothing for either of them—oh my goodness, I'm going to kill these buffoons!" he cried.
Az sighed, finally letting go of Allen as he sees that he finally calmed down. "As much as it pains your soul, at least you're aware about what's happening around here and there. You're lucky to discover such knowledge."
Allen growled.
Az just chuckled, thinking that it might lighten up the mood a bit. "Okay~ That's enough for now." he cheerfully clapped his hands. "How about we change the topic? I have an important information to tell ya."
Az smiles with a blinding bright aura while Allen looks at him with a blank face.
"Seriously, it's really important." Az tells him. "Mr. Allen, I'm sure you're already aware of this. We need to erase everyone's suspicion on you."
Allen looked at him and spoke, "Wait a minute, you mean..."
"Yes, Mr. Allen. You thought right." Alicia said. "It seems that Will trespassed into the heroine's house last night. We suspect that he's planning to frame you."
"But I thought you guys aren't allowed to interact with the characters!" Allen exclaimed, starting to become more stressed.
"Well, yes." Az nodded. "But as long as we don't talk to them, hurt them, touch them, or let them see our faces—it's fine."
"Darn it." Allen cursed. "So, what am I going to do?"
"Uh, also, we aren't supposed to tell you about this but..."
"Will had been following you for a while." Alicia finished Az's sentence. Allen's eyes widened.
"What!?" the boy exclaimed. "I'm surprised I wasn't attacked."
"You weren't attacked because we're also following you in the shadows." Alicia explained.
"Seriously, why do you guys have a lot of restrictions? If only you the were allowed to interact with the characters, you would've immediately convinced Larence to help you. Then you guys would've head straight to the demon lord's lair and kill him. The end." Allen groaned.
"If we do that, we might get reported as a bug. Since we're not from this world, we'll get erased. Also, the demon lord is stronger than you think. Hypothetically, even if we're allowed, Larence isn't yet strong enough to match the enemy's strength." Alicia explained.
"You guys are strong." the boy pointed out.
"Uh, yeah, but we're not allowed to interfere. Only you can."
"Well, aren't you already interfering by using me?"
"Yes, you have a point. We are interfering, but only in an indirect way."
"So you're saying that indirect interference is allowed for you guys?"
"Yes, Mr. Allen."
Allen sighed. He sat up from his bed, beginning to rub his forehead. He groaned, "Okay, so now what?"
"We don't really know yet. All we could suggest now is to keep your distance from them." Az sighed, shaking his head in stress.
"Then why don't you handle Will instead? Since he's the only one you could touch and talk to." Allen suggested.
"That's impossible." Alicia said. "He's way more strong than us. All we could do is defend. He was locked up in jail because he's dangerous, but due to some accident, he broke free. A lot of us are trying to capture him, but most of our comrades died in the end."
The whole room was quiet. Their faces were more serious than before. In Allen's whole life, he had never been this stressed to the point he would lack sleep everyday. Ever since he discovered that novel, his thoughts were full of fear and worry.
"Ahem. So, how do you feel for being tainted because of the fanfictions?" Alicia asks Allen, trying to break the heavy tension.
.
.
.
.
Az and Allen looked at the girl blankly. The tense aura they're emitting, were suddenly wiped away in a second. Right now, they are giving out weird expressions, causing the girl to sweat.
"Seriously?" Az looked at Alicia. "It is obvious that he's traumatized."
"Psh. Stop being overdramatic." Alicia rolled her eyes.
"Excuse me, but I am not being overdramatic—"
"You are."
"I'm absolutely not—"
As they continued to argue, Allen silently walked towards the door.
A moment later, he turned around to call the attention of the two.
"Hey." he called towards them.
Alicia and Az stopped bickering and looked at Allen. Both of them waited to what the boy wants to say.
Allen stared at them in silence. Then a moment later, he frowned. "Stop calling me Mr. Allen, just Allen would be fine."
Az tilted his head. "Uh, why?" he asked.
"Because I said so." Allen says, rolling his eyes at them as he finally walks out the room.
---------
While Allen was walking through the hallways, he noticed Sean and Kyla staring at him. They had been doing this for a while now.
He stopped and turned around to look at them.
"Do you guys want to say something? Spit it out." he groaned, slightly annoyed right now.
"Nothing, young master. Please continue what you're doing." Sean tells him with his usual poker-faced expression.
Allen didn't move. He eyed them suspiciously.
"Don't worry, young master. We're just doing our jobs as servants in this household." Kyla smiles respectfully.
Allen almost shivered at their weird behavior. He gave out an awkward nod, turning his back on them. 'Seriously, what on earth are they up to?' he thought.
When he joined breakfast with his family, he heard Ron say something that caught his attention. The others started talking about it as well.
"Allen, you better not act around stupid again. We heard some students are being kidnapped in your school recently." Regine tells her son.
Allen was quiet for a while, he narrowed his eyes. 'So, it has begun.' he thought. Three days ago, five students had gone missing. The next day, ten students were taken. The numbers also increased yesterday. Everything was stated just like the novel. Larence and the others are now acting, but it would take five days for them to find Ted's hideout. No one knows about it, except Allen, Az, and Alicia. The two cannot interfere directly, so Allen has to do the job.
"Yeah, I will." Allen replied. Since he was deep in thought, he didn't notice everyone's weird stares. His face looked too serious, it's making them feel uneasy.
"Allen, are you okay? You don't look well." Ron looked at his brother in concern.
"Ron is right, you look... tired. I've been noticing it this week. Do you have school problems? We'll both lend lend you a hand." Louisse says in concern.
"No, don't do that. You shouldn't be spoiling Allen. He needs to work hard for it. How on earth would he learn if you two keep on spoon feeding him?" their mother said.
"Your mother is right. So far, Allen has been a brat ever since he was little. Because of his attitude, people are talking badly about him. You guys should be more strict." says their father, who's now agreeing with his wife. "He's talentless, so the only thing we could do is fix his horrible personality. That way, people would at least have a good impression of him."
Allen sweated a bit, he looked at Sean and Kyla. They were standing near the corner, looking at him with the same stares. Allen have been sleep deprived ever since he became aware. His eyebags aren't visible because he asked for Az's help. There was magic that was casted on his face, causing the eyebags disappear. Because of the magic's help, Allen looked like he slept well. Unfortunately, the way he acts tired made everyone wonder. 'So much for not raising suspicions.' Allen thought. 'Here I thought I'll be able to pull it off.'
"No, it's nothing about that. You know I don't worry about it that much." Allen says. He may be trying his best, but it doesn't reach to the point where it affects his health. "I'm not tired. You're just imagining things. I don't get tired enjoying my life." he smirked.
His family finally sighed, believing Allen's lie. His parents and brother smiled as usual, proud of his confident attitude. While Ron and Louisse, just shook their heads, going back to their own business.
On the other hand, Sean and Kyla's expressions remained the same. Out of everyone in this room, they're the only ones whose expressions didn't change. This made Allen feel uneasy. A thought came into his mind, 'Have they found out that I'm lying?'
After breakfast, Allen noticed that the two are still following him. This time, he avoided them. As he was on his way to the carriage, he was stopped by the butler.
"Young master." Sean spoke to him.
Allen arched a brow, wondering why the man is suddenly speaking. "What?"
The butler looked at the boy with his usual serious expression. "If you need any help, feel free to tell us."
Allen looked at him awkwardly. He felt a bit suspicious of the butler's words, but he just nodded anyway. Honestly, he didn't get what he's saying.
A moment later, Kyla firmly grabs Allen's hands. Because of the maid's sudden actions, the boy was taken by surprise. It took the woman for a while to speak. Then finally, she mustered up the courage.
"Young master, stay strong." she says.
'Stay strong for what?' Allen thought, starting to gulp at the maid's words.
Allen didn't say anything, he just waited for the maid to let go. After that, he left for school.