The Literature of the Silent One

Papers everywhere, ball pens and pencils scattered like twigs in a forest, books cluttered
untidily, electrical wirings tangled in each other, and trash lying all over the room. Whoever was in the
room left it like a typhoon’s wake.
The two boys were quite surprised.

“What the!? Those guys!! I thought I said clean-up before they leave. I’m so sorry
about…..the…..mess…”

The boy felt a sudden chill on his spine. The new recruit emitted such serious aura, like a
switch flipped on his mind.

He then wrote something on the sketchbook.

“Can I clean this up?”

Seeing the almost violent shaking of the recruit’s hand, and the fire of seriousness
burning in his eyes, the boy just nodded.

As soon as he gave the permission, the silent one suddenly disappeared from his sight
and closed the door. Clattering, dusting and sounds of things being pushed could then be heard from
inside the room, starting the transformation.

TYPE 2: WELCOME TO THE LIGHT NOVEL CLUB!!

Three hours earlier…

“So, what is it that you want?”

Em Gonzales has gone to a tight spot. Even though apparently this boy has not read
anything from his notes, he made him spill out one of his secrets, giving him the leverage for blackmail.

“First thing first. My name is Miyakawa Jan, and I want you to join my club.”

Hearing this, Em’s eyes squinted a little.

“A recruitment, eh. What club is this?”

“The Light Novel Club,” Jan said with confidence.

He thought for a while, then wrote.

Why me?

Jan smiled at him.

“Because I see a good writer in you, having read your works at the front pages of that
notebook.”

Em’s eyes suddenly widened.

“So you did read that!!!”

“Now now, I only read the story, not what’s after.”

The Literature of the Silent One

“Really?”

“Yes, I swear. I’m not that kind of person who read’s someone secret…..not without
their permission, that is.”

Em sighed in relief.

“Your crush at Sara really true, though?”

Jan’s question came out of nowhere, and so abrupt that Em froze still, his face reddened
with his blushing. Instinctively, he gently nodded, confirming Jan’s suspicion.

Silence filled the room, then Jan gave him a smirk.

What!? An annoyed Em wrote.

He giggled, then replied, “Nothing at all. I just kind of expected it.”

The flustered boy could only take a deep breath.

“So,” Jan changed topics, “You’ll join, right? You don’t have to answer now, just tell me
before the end of the day.”

“No time needed. I’ll join alright”, Em decided.

Jan was very happy with the boy’s answer. He then proceeded to shake his hand.

“Welcome to the Light Novel Club, then.”

Going back to the present…

“Hey, Editor, why is the room closed?”

Three people arrived at the front of the Light Novel Club room’s door, two boys and one
girl. One of the males was tall, maybe the tallest of the four, and also mature-looking with his dark
brown hair cleanly combed, and his overall appearance just appropriate for a late teenager’s. The other
two were twins, almost looking exactly alike, except for some details, with the girl having a normal girl’s
body frame, and the boy one vice versa.

“Club…dissolved…” the girl said with gloom. It could be seen from her that she views the
world in a negative way, her silky black hair tied into a messed up twin tails, eyes droopy, and her voice
sounded very unenthusiastic.

“What!? No, no,” Jan confuted her.

“In fact, we got a new memb----“

The door opened loudly, surprising them. The person inside, Em, was panting heavily
while he looked at them. Jan tried to talk, but seeing the fire of rage burning from the newcomer’s eyes,
he and the three others could only just gasp at him, and whatever it was behind him. It was a trash bag
full of their garbage. Em then proceeded to pull the bag outside, but it so full it almost did not fit the
space between the doors. Managing to get it out, he then pulled it across the corridor to the garbage
chute.
The Literature of the Silent One

Jan and the others looked inside the room, and they could not believe their eyes. The
room was pristine, cleaned to the inch. The books were arranged very neatly, all of the furniture dusted
and wiped thoroughly. It was nothing like they always see every day.

“Wow,” the other boy gasped. “He’s good at cleaning.”

Jan stared at them with mad eyes.

“Errr…..We forgot.”

He could only sigh in embarrassment and disappointment, thinking on how to explain

the situation to the newcomer.

Fifteen minutes has passed, and no one has talked inside the room. They all sat around
the table, the three staring at Em, and him staring at them back. Feeling the tension in the air, he could
do nothing about it but sigh.

This will be tough, he thought.

“So everyone, meet our new member for our club, Em Gonzales. He just transferred to
this school yesterday, so he is kind of new to the norm. It might seem not like it, but he has the potential
to be a great writer. He will be with us starting today, so be nice to him, okay?” Jan tried to diffuse the
tension by introducing him, but it just made the atmosphere worse.

The Light Novel Club’s room was, you can say, modest. The size of half a classroom, it
may look like it was crowded with all the furniture, books, and appliances, but the space was more than
enough for them to move around freely. It has a computer set, a TV with a console, and a refrigerator,
just like a normal household. The circular Monobloc table was on the far side of the room, covered with
a large white cloth, currently occupied by five people sitting around it.

The other three members of the club set their gazes upon the newcomer. They checked
everything about him, his untidy locks, his brown skin, and his unnerving eyes that was pointed back at
them.

Likewise, Em stared at them with curiosity. At his front sat three people, two boys and
one girl. One boy was mature looking, and the other two looked almost alike, glasses and all.

He started to write something on his sketchbook, finally breaking the tension. The three
wondered what he was writing, and then was surprised at what they saw.

“Hello”.

They were wonderstruck for a while. It was the first time that they encountered a mute,
so they have no idea what to say at the moment. This made Em feel a bit shy, and he started to avert his
gaze to them, in turn making them feel like they have done something wrong.

“Just talk to me like you normally do, no need to treat me specially,” Em showed this
sentence with a smile on his face.

Seeing that the atmosphere around the table somewhat changed for the better, Jan
resumed his introductions, starting with the mature one.
The Literature of the Silent One

“So, Em, this is Namikawa Ran. He’s a third year student, so it’s his last year here at
Hinamori. He is our typesetter, and he is good at computers. Very good.”

He looked at the boy named Ran and smiled at him as greeting, him smiling back at Em.

“These two here are Misaki Heidi and Hikaru, our artists. As you can see, they’re twins.
But they are not just a normal twin, they’re the polar opposites of each other. Hikaru, the older of the
two, is very positive, while Heidi has a very negative outlook in life,” Jan continued his introduction.

Em could see that it was true. Hikaru always has his smile on his face, while Heidi,
although her eyes were quite hidden by the glare of her spectacles, emitted such depressing aura, that if
he sat near her, he might have been depressed, too.

“Well then,” the editor Jan concluded, “Now that we’re all here, let’s make a light novel,
shall we?”

“Eeh, so you managed….to find….another member…..good….for…..you.”

Two boys were panting heavily in front of a teacher, arriving just in time before the
deadline of the submission for the club members’ list. Em and Jan tried to catch their breath after
running almost three floors from the club room to the faculty room. Have they been a bit later, the Light
Novel Club would have been no more.

“She looks like she’s been not having sleep “

“Just ignore it, she always look like that,” Jan whispered to him.

“Who is she, anyways?” Em asked.

“The club’s advisor, Aikawa Mayu. Don’t worry, she’s a good teacher.”

Em just looked at Aikawa Mayu as she skimmed through the piece of paper. She was a
woman with a normal look, except for her black unkempt hair that still has bed hair sticking around, and
her eyelids drooping very low. Before long, they already saw her dozing off.

“Aikawa-sensei!!” Jan said as he poked her hand, waking her up.

“Eh---what-----where are we again?”

“Submitting the club members list?”

Aikawa’s eyes widened.

“Ah, yes. Alright, I’m on it. Why don’t you go home for now? It’s getting late.”

“Okay, thanks.”

“By the way, nice meeting you, Em. I hope you enjoy our club,” she added, addressing
the newcomer, in which Em replied by smiling at her.

As they exited the room, Jan whispered to him, “She’s nice, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is. Plus her sleepyheadness makes her cuter.” Em agreed to him.
The Literature of the Silent One

“Hahaha,” Jan laughed lightly.

“What does that even mean?”

They exited the faculty room, but they were stopped on their tracks by someone, or to
be accurate, a group of someone.

Three boys were blocking their path, and they mean business to them. Two of them
could be just ignored, but the one in front, most likely their leader, was different. He stood tall,
centimeters taller than the both of them, and the way he looked at Em was very intimidating, as if an
alpha wolf has found its prey.

“Oh, no,” Jan suddenly remarked the situation that they were in at the moment.

“Not this again.”

Em felt something strange, and as he switched his sights to Jan, that feeling spiked
more.

This guy……he’s dangerous!

The two stood still, frozen by the sudden turn of events.

“Now, now, guys. Let us not be tense to one another, shall we?” the one in the front
suddenly spoke, his voice resounding all over the hallways.

“Let us welcome our transferee here, okay, Jan?”

A hand landed softly on Em’s shoulder, taking his attention to the boy. It was Jan,
signaling him to leave the premises. But a much heavier hand pulled him, making him rotate back to the
boy’s direction. Then, the same hand held his collar, the boy displaying dominance over the situation.

“Hey, it’s rude to turn your back on someone when they are still talking, you know,” he
talked down to Em, trying to intimidate him. He instead saw something else.

Soulless irises stared at him, as if he was non-existent. He could not tell if he was being
brave, or trying to be brave, or even trying to be sarcastic. But the way Em looked at him made him
more irritated, and so he raised the collar a bit more.

“What? You want to say something? Oh, wait, you can’t!!”

The two boys at the back burst into laughter upon hearing the statement, thinking that
it was enough to break the newcomer, but the leader saw that nothing has changed in Em’s stare, if not
his eyes became more soulless than before.

“Trying to be strong, eh? You are jus----“

His speech was stopped by Em’s hand getting hold of his own. At that moment, he saw
the real emotions behind the boy’s soulless irises. There was the flame of anger and resentment well
hidden behind the eyes of Em, it was obvious at that moment that he was repressing his rage. He also
felt his right wrist that was holding the boy’s collar, the source being the grip of Em’s hand tightening
more as second passed.
The Literature of the Silent One

“Tsk,” the boy slithered, “Let’s get out of here.”

He violently let loose of Em’s collar, then started to walk towards the exit, leaving him
and Jan standing at the corridor, still unmoved by the sudden turn of events.
The Literature of the Silent One

TYPE 3: CALM BEFORE THE STORM

As they walked on the streets of Kyoto, Em and Jan reminisced the events that unfolded
so far. Three boys “welcomed” the latter, and they were lucky that it did not escalate into a fight, but
they still could not remove the scene from their minds, especially Em. And so they walked, no one talked
while they treaded their way home.

“So, who is that boy again?” he finally broke the silence.

Jan sighed.

“He is Nobunaga Kazehaya, one of our classmates. He is your typical bully, so don’t
worry about him a lot, though you be extra careful from now on, yeah?”

The explanation did not satisfy Em’s curiosity.

“But why me? I mean, I haven’t done anything to him, right?”

Jan gave a sad sigh again, for he could not hold himself from telling Em everything.

And so, he revealed everything to him, Em shocked at every word he said.

“I see,” he could only say.

“Right? I know it’s hard, but you must stay away from her.”

At that moment, Jan saw something odd in Em’s eyes. It seemed unnerving, but deep
inside it had the flame of rage burning, encapsulated in a thick crust of ignorance. He knew at that
instant that Em was suppressing his anger.

It was just a normal afternoon. A soft breeze of the monsoon blew from time to time.
The grass that grew on the fields, and the leaves of the trees rustled along the winds. The afternoon sun
painted the sky in a reddish orange hue…..

Just like the blood that dripped in his makeshift weapon.

He stood there, apparently victorious from a brutal fight, with all the bodies of his foes
lied down in front of him.

But as he looked behind him, he felt frightened.

All that he saw was these eyes that looked at him with fear.

They were scared of him.

The longer the eyes stared at him, the stronger the feeling of fear grew in him. It was not
long before the feeling was too strong for him, making him yell very loud.

“Aaaaaaahhh!!!”

Em violently woke up from his sleep. He panted heavily, as if he ran to a faraway place.
His vision was blurry at first, then it adjusted to the darkness of his room. Sweat trickled in his face, and
The Literature of the Silent One

his heartbeat was fast. He looked at his hands, and they shook in fear. Em tried to touch his face with his
hands, but they just froze in place.

Then, he felt something trickle down his cheeks.

They were…..tears.

A week has passed since the incident, and fortunately for Em, nothing has happened to
him. It seemed that Nobunaga was not interested in him at least. But there was just one thing that
always bugged him as the days passed.

Sara has been avoiding him since that day.

He arrived at the clubroom early. The place was quiet, as usual. Em sat down on one of
the chairs around the table, got his notebook, and started to write a plot for their project.

But….

Nothing. There was nothing that goes in his mind. Usually, when he touches his ball
pen, the idea just flowed to him like a river, but now, there was nothing. Not even a single word.

What’s wrong with me? Why can’t I write anything?

Heidi entered the room a while later, seeing him in this state.

“You down, too? Great,” she greeted him, her voice as gloomy as ever.

“Oh, hey. I didn’t notice you entering,” Em replied, forcing a smile.

She sat with Em at the table, staring at him as he tried to write something. Heidi felt
something wrong with him, and inquired him about the matter.

“Anything wrong?”

Em sighed, then told her everything.

It was about Kitakami Sara, and her current “relationship” with Nobunaga Kazehaya,
the one who “welcomed” him.

“I see, so that’s how it is,” she said. Then the room went quiet again for some time.

“Quite unfortunate, isn’t it?” Heidi suddenly broke the silence.

He did not answer, but in his mind, he realized that she was right. Although he just met
Sara, his first impression at her was very good. A simple and nice girl, with a pretty face to boot. Her
radiance captured his eyes, and her hands were soft and smooth like silk. Her hair and irises glittered
with rays of light, as if they were diamonds.

It was a real disappointment for him, for such a girl to be with someone like Nobunaga
Kazehaya.

“Was there really no one who opposed him?” Em asked.

The Literature of the Silent One

“Lots of them, actually. And all of them ended up with broken bones.”

Heidi expected a shrug of fear in Em, but there was nothing.

“You seemed uninterested,” she remarked.

“Not uninterested, just disappointed,” he rebuked her.

“Hmmm.”

The room fell silent once more, with Em still struggling to write, and Heidi played with
her pencil, doodling in her notebook.

The scenario went on the next week, with Sara still avoiding Em. As much as he could
not stand it, he could not just do anything about the matter. Also, he felt that he was starting to get
used to the situation, frustrating him further.

Then, one afternoon….

He was on his way home after buying some dinner. His older sister only goes home at
weekends, so he live with himself most of the week. He usually cooks his own dinner, but that day, he
just ordered some fast food.

And then, he saw a familiar figure.

A girl, walking with two boys. He decided to follow them, since they were walking the
same way as he was going. They stopped at a comic book store, seemingly browsing at the comics in
display there. Before long, Em heard shouts, the two boys threatening the girl about something. Seeing
one of them raising his hand, Em rushed there to stop him from doing what he was about to do.

“Hey, what the hell!?” the boy shouted at him at the top of his voice. But Em was
relentless, instead tightening his grip even more.

“Let go!!!” the other one tried to force him to release the hold by punching him, but he
received a foot to the guts instead. He writhed in pain as his companion also feeling the pain of Em’s
hold.

Shrugging the hand violently, the two boys started to walk away, leaving behind a
warning.

“Remember this, mute. You will regret this!!”

Em watched them go away, sighed, and looked back at the girl, who was none other
than Sara herself.

“They tried to make me pay for those comics, but I have no money left in me, so I had
to say no. Then…”

Sara could not finish her story. She tried to stop the tears that welled up her eyes from
falling, but she finally gave in and cried. If not for Em, she would have assaulted by Nobunaga’s two pals.

“For the record, I am NOT his girl, okay?” she clarified to Em, in which he nodded.
The Literature of the Silent One

They were at the park’s swing set, sitting on each swing. Em noticed that Sara’s
swinging felt heavier and slower every minute that they stay there. They fell into silence for a long while,
Sara sighing from time to time. Em just could not find the words to say to her.

“Then why don’t you say that you don’t want him directly?” he suddenly asked.

Sara sighed again.

“If I can, I would have done it a long time ago,” she answered.

“In fact, I said it to him since the start. But he was a stubborn and greedy person. He
threatened every boy that I talk to to stop talking to me, or else they would be receiving a beating from
him. Eventually, even the girls stopped making conversations with me, leaving only Miyuki, Mara and
Heidi left.”

Em was surprised when he heard the name Heidi.

“Heidi, as in the Misaki Heidi from the Light Novel Club?”

“Yes, yes. That one. How did you know her?”

“I recently joined the club, you see,” he answered.

“Oh! I haven’t noticed. She’s kind of strange, isn’t she?”

“Yeah, she’s gloomy all the time.”

They giggled softly at Em’s comment. There, he saw again the radiance of Sara’s beauty
as she smiled, and it made him feel quite better.

But it quickly faded away.

“Thanks for listening to me the last time,” she said in a sad tone.

The last time. This phrase made him feel frustrated more than ever.

“No, it will not be the last time,” he said with seriousness in his eyes.

Reading Em’s thoughts, she smiled a bit, but it was quickly turned into sadness again.

“I wish, Em, I really do.”

Nobunaga Kazehaya was furious as he listened to his two henchmen’s story.

“What!? He was alone but you can’t even beat him!?”

“But,” one boy tried to reason.

“But what!?”

“He seemed scary.”

“What are you, some wimpy kids!? Weaklings!!!”

They bowed at his feet, their faces almost touching the floor.
The Literature of the Silent One

“We’re sorry! We’re going to fix this!!”

Nobunaga thought for a while.

“No, we’ll do it together. I have an idea in mind,” he said to them as they stood up.
They saw Nobunaga’s smirk, and they knew that he indeed has plans in store for the boy named Em
Gonzales. Getting a bokuto, or a hard wooden sword that is used for training, he signaled the other two
to follow him. Someone would definitely get a beating at that night, and it will be the spark of
something that will reveal one of Em’s real self.