"BLUE APPLE" 

It is a short story that has been published in a book.

Anthology AllKara

at the event

Matsuno Festival

Last year

Currently writing a long novel.

But I felt bored, so I went back and rewrote old novels until I thought of this story.

In the blink of an eye, a year has passed.

The days have passed so quickly.

I'm an Ichimatsu main. Anything with Ichimatsu

When my friend was working on a project, Antho quickly asked to join (even though I was Olkara, haha).

At that time I had also just written my first serious short story, so I was very excited.

I wanted everyone to read something good, so I wrote it and left it a million times until it was close to the deadline...

Hurry up and spin. Right now, I'm a little drunk.

Going back and reading it myself, I'm still embarrassed. I apologize for the mistake.

TT

In this story, I intend to write something that will help heal the hearts of the readers.

But after it was finished until now, I still can't figure out what kind of tone the story is.

Warm, sweet, and a little dramatic.

I would like to limit this term.

There is no synopsis. Because just the story itself is short, haha.

Have fun.

If you like it, stop by and follow our stories.

Get it at

BOY NEXT DOOR

Love story next door

Thank you for coming to read, love.

Once upon a time, there was a little princess who lived with her stepmother who was the queen. Unfortunately, she was very unpopular with the queen. It is unknown when the princess was under her control.

The poor princess eventually escapes from the queen and is rescued by the dwarfs. ...But the cruel queen doesn't give in easily. She searched for the princess until she found it. Then he tricked her into eating a poisoned apple.

Since then the princess has never woken up again.

The princess was completely engulfed by darkness...hoping that one day the prince would find her and give her a kiss.

To awaken Snow White from eternal darkness...

The sound of someone reading a story could be heard. There were six boys huddled together under a thick blanket... They're twin brothers...the kind that look exactly alike, no different than when you look in the mirror to brush your teeth in the morning and see yourself standing there holding a tube of toothpaste, looking silly.

Greetings from the other side of the reflection

...The only difference is that they have their own thoughts and their own lives. and have different personalities

Of the six people, only one had not yet fallen asleep. The little story book in his hand was closed after the Prince and Snow White were happily in love. He glanced at the other siblings. To make sure that everyone was asleep, they lay down on the pillows.

From time immemorial, that madman has always been like this... always gentle like this. Pretending to be a crazy idiot But actually he is worried. Keep taking care of everyone and keep your distance.

Of the six siblings, if Osomatsu is like their father

...Karamatsu is no different from your mother.

'Can't sleep?'

Even if you are a mother who likes to be very fussy.

The other person's soft whispers echoed in the silent room. I didn't answer his question. Instead, he chose to pretend to be asleep. that I know is not necessary But it seemed like that wasn't enough to make the guy shut up and close his eyes and sleep quietly.

'If you want to hear the story again, I won't mind you, Brother.'

'shut your mouth'

In the stillness of the night, the only sound was the breathing of the other siblings. loud in the ear Our conversation became so clear that it sounded like shouting, and the word 'shut up' said without thinking made the silence begin to consume me again...

Until that man's sleepy voice rang out.

'Kept by a cruel queen with a poisoned apple...'

'Ichimatsu... Just like Snow White'

Fortunately, the conversation between two young children one night ten years ago ended there, because if it continued, I probably feel uncomfortable from some feelings that are stuck in my heart to the point that I can't stand it.

I can't tell you what it was like...but it was probably similar to Snow White's feeling of being locked away in her own subconscious by the evil queen.

...Let's just say that one day the storybook Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs that everyone liked disappeared...no one knew where it had gone. Or how can it disappear? But small children who are attached to simple things They tend to forget everything easily as well. Even though I'm crying But it wasn't long before they forgot almost everything about their childhood.

Except for people like me who still keep it...

That's right...it was me who secretly stole it. I selfishly kept it in a hidden place where no one would ever find it, even though I pretended not to care. But it turned out to be the storybook I secretly took out and read the most...read it every day until it was almost torn in my hand.

...as if deep inside was screaming out that it should belong. I'm the only one

'Hey Boyyyyy!!'

There was a loud rushing sound from outside. The owner of the voice was that same idiot who had jumped into the room with an excited expression.

'My acting club is going to perform Snow White!!' I didn't say anything, but the guy still took some books. They stuffed it into the hands of all the brothers and sisters with enthusiasm. 'That's the script I wrote myself, the Snow White Karamatsu version! Don't forget to come and watch!!'

'Sorry Tina... I probably can't go. I just have a little work to do at the club, how about Totty?'

"Ah... I have a date with Mimi-chan."

“Mi-chan!?”

“Calling you affectionately!?”

“Tottie!!!!”

The noise in the room was chaotic. Everyone seemed to have forgotten all about their previous concerns. I looked up and saw that person was looking at me, expecting me to say yes.

Feeling like this again...

The other person opened his mouth as if to say something, but I cut him off by walking out of the room dryly. Leaving the chaos behind, but the feelings I had always hated grew stronger and almost crushed me to death.

hate...

I really hate it.

I really hate myself for being like this.

'Hey Boyyyyy!!'

Suddenly, the image in front of me began to distort. Before I found myself sitting back in my room He had just walked away and heard the sound of running outside again, along with the familiar cries and shouts.

'My acting club is going to perform Snow White!!'

The same sentence that I felt like I had heard a thousand times echoed in my brain.

'That's the script I wrote myself, the Snow White Karamatsu version! Don't forget to come and watch!!'

And it was the same voice that used to read me stories every night.

'Mie-chan!!?'

'Calling you affectionately!!?'

'Tottie!!!!'

Can't move...

When Karamatsu was giving me an expectant look, I opened my mouth to say something. But his body stubbornly refused to follow orders, so what I did was walk past him out of the room.

Just like before...

Everything began to distort again.

I sat back in the same position. Listen to the original conversation

...And that doctor's painful expression made me feel the same pain. without being able to fix anything

Third round, fifth round, seventh round, round...

That's enough...what the hell is this?

Stop it!!!

“Ichimatsu!!”

As I was stuck in an unreadable situation, I was about to step out of the garden room with Karamatsu standing in front of the door countless times. The sound of someone calling made me conscious and I turned around to look at the other person who had grabbed my wrist.

“Damn it Matsu?”

Very strange...

It's him. It's just that this time he wasn't Karamatsu in that high school uniform and he wasn't wearing the expression that I hate. Didn't let me just walk away. But he gave me a concerned look.

When I tried to move my hands, I found that my ability to control my own limbs had returned to me.

“Where is this place...?”

The murmur of the other party made me turn around and look around. What appeared in front of us now was a picture of a house that matched every detail in our memories, no different from the house I had always known and was familiar with. There shouldn't be anything that surprised us in the slightest.

Of course it should be like that. ...If the other siblings who had been shouting and shouting weren't still standing still like statues in a museum.

Karamatsu glanced at me as if asking for an explanation for the bizarre situation in front of him, but in reality, the situation inside the house was still at the level of common sense. Because it wasn't as bad as when that guy and I decided to open the door and come face to face with everything outside...

It's as if we are now Alice, lost in Wonderland.

...or maybe Neverland, okay? I don't know. If so, then it's probably Neverland without Peter Pan or Tinkerbell. But if you look up, you will see that in the purple sky with apples hanging everywhere, there is a big cat flying. Not far from our house was a playground filled with many different breeds of kittens. A car parked on the side of the road looked like a baseball. But the driver inside was a cat wearing dark glasses and a shiny leather suit.

...At that time, a gentle wind blew. It was the smell of chocolate that felt both sweet and bitter at the same time. A cat rode a bicycle in front of us. It's funny that he wears a turban over his head and carries a large backpack. and kept shouting 'Nia-chan, Nia-chan, Nia-chan' all the way until the sound gradually became distant.

It's only me and that idiot Matsu who are still...

Holding hands?

I immediately shook off the other person's hand. It seemed as if the doctor had just regained consciousness and raised his hand to scratch his head once to correct his embarrassment as he turned his eyes in another direction.

Secretly smiling at that gesture...before I changed into grabbing that guy's hand and holding it myself.

Karamatsu looked shocked at my actions as he looked at me with a wide-eyed expression. I don't know why I am more amused when I see the other person's shy expression.

It was the same feeling as when I accidentally stole that story and kept it for myself.

I want to pretend to make that kind of expression. I want to keep it in a place where others can't reach it. A place that only I can enter...

I don't know if it was because of the smell of chocolate floating in the air of the kittens at the playground. Or whatever it is that makes me feel like here I can say whatever I'm thinking without fighting with myself.

And it's... really, really good.

“Is there a problem with looking like that?”

“Oh...eh? No, I just feel like you've been acting strange since just now.”

Actually, it was unusual since I was conscious again in this crazy dream. Just being able to look at this guy's face without looking away and not showing any disgust was considered strange enough. There's no need to talk about holding hands.

...but it sounds funny because right now I'm doing all of those things.

“Ah… this is probably just a dream anyway. I think this place is a little too weird, so it's best we hurry and find a way out…” Karamatsu who was talking suddenly fell silent and stopped his gaze on something before the doctor. That would slowly raise his other hand and point his finger in a certain direction, “...

For example, try going to the castle over there.”

When looking in that direction You will see a very tall castle standing so high that you feel like its sharp peaks are almost poking at the apples that are hanging in the sky, amidst the images of the city that I have been familiar with for twenty years. Its identity in the center was completely at odds with its surroundings.

If you cut out the picture of the apple in the sky and those cats, Isn't that castle something extremely suspicious?

I didn't say yes or no, I just held his hand tightly and walked forward instead of answering. I heard him cry out once he couldn't keep his balance. But after that, Karamatsu I didn't say anything else. I glanced at the person following me silently for just a moment, but it was long enough to see a slightly reddish face. He quickly looked away and pretended to cough softly.

Looks strange?

This might really just be a dream like that guy said... Things like castles and apples in the sky, otaku cats, or baseball cars are not things that should exist in the real world. It's been true from the beginning...so... If it was just a dream...

It's probably a good dream that I have to quickly recapture before returning to the real world that isn't as sweet as the ending of the story I once liked.

The ending where Snow White and the prince will be happily married to each other...

Because the prince may actually discover that his Snow White is really just the Wicked Queen in disguise.

“Your hands are shaking.”

The sound from behind made me conscious, the warm touch on my palm made me unintentionally tighten my grip on that hand even more than before, as if I was afraid it would disappear...

Karamatsu gave me the same smile as usual... as if to say there was nothing to be afraid of, but actually all along it made me even more afraid that under that smile he might be crying, afraid of getting a tattoo. One day the prince will be afraid of the cruel queen...

Afraid that he would be disappointed that I wasn't the Snow White he knew, he turned and walked away...

Suddenly, Karamatsu's smile began to distort...I mean, it really distorted, like a whirlpool in a small teacup. that were stirred around And after I blinked just once In that split second, the vision in front of him immediately changed.

It turned out that I was now sitting on a large throne that was above ground level by dozens of steps, and it was exactly like the Evil Queen's throne I had imagined... In front of me was a deep hallway. It wasn't as dark as Count Dracula's castle, but it was pierced with windows that allowed me to see the apple-filled landscape outside.

Karamatsu is gone...

Just a fraction of a second when you close your eyes. A castle that seemed very far away was right in front of us...

When I was stuck in a loop of events that I hated, I just hoped that someone would stop it. And Karamatsu appeared.

When I wanted to hold his hand, my body moved without my command. No need to wait for your brain to ponder.

Since I was conscious in this world, everything was as my consciousness intended. There was no shield I had created to separate myself from the outside world.

And I'm still stuck here.

...Maybe it's because I myself don't want to leave.

In fact, I once named this story. Snow White and the Foolish Queen...

In the world of fairy tales I knew when I was ten years old, why would the queen keep asking the mirror who was the most beautiful on earth? Snow White is tricked by an evil queen into eating a poisoned apple. And that girl was stupid to believe...

That's why I, as a child, disliked Snow White and the Queen who always did unreasonable things.

...I only recently realized that when I grew up...I was just as ignorant as Snow White and the Queen.

This is my world...it is my subconscious that is hidden deep in my heart.

And the owner of the evil queen's throne is me.

Suddenly, the far door in front of him was slammed open. Asshole Matsu was standing there panting when the other person saw me and rushed towards me with an excited expression as he shouted, “Finally found it. !”

But the closer he ran, the more his speed decreased. The joyful expression slowly faded from the face I had always been familiar with, probably because the doctor had just noticed my changed expression.

“Let's go back.”

But despite that, the other person still walked in with determination, stepping on the second step with one foot before keeping his distance and extending his hand to me as he issued an invitation.

“Brother?”

"I'll have to fix it..."

I stared at that hand before speaking in a cold voice that made me feel uncomfortable.

"correct? What are you going to fix?”

“Erase the mean queen in me. I will stop hating myself!”

“Ichimatsu...”

The other person's expression was filled with utter confusion, even his snooty expression changed. He slowly walked towards me.

“Some idiot once said that I looked like Snow White…”

“Maybe that guy just misunderstood all along. Because of me... Not Snow White...never was.”

I don't know what kind of face I'm making. But now that older brother was giving me the same pained expression I had always tried to avoid.

The story of Snow White and the prince happily in love is probably only me who can imagine it and I'm still stuck with it like a naughty child who won't let his mother take away his rotten pillow. Memories as sweet as chocolate leave a faint bitter taste. after we swallow it down

“Snow White will never hurt the prince...but because I am a mean queen. That's why I cause you pain all the time.”

...The bitter taste is me, who keeps my mouth shut and refuses to say anything. I turn the days spent with my important person into nights filled with discomfort and feelings of self-loathing. But even if it's like that...

I still like it...

“Whether it's Snow White or the Wicked Queen, it doesn't matter. Being my brother is enough, isn't it?!”

I looked down at Karamatsu who was standing far away from me. But I couldn't reach it. ...That sounds funny.

It's like my relationship with that doctor...

“Once upon a time, a man and a woman gave birth to six boys. They were twins who looked so similar they could not be separated.”

“I said you're like Snow White because it's true. And you are gentle, kind, and full of love..."

“But the queen on the other side of your heart is blocking that love.”

“Then a boy who looked just like us kept making an unhappy expression in a corner of the house, secretly looking at the other siblings with a sad smile.”

“That's why I have to fix this... delete that cruel queen that you all hate! Give back Ichimatsu that won't make you cry! Ichimatsu, who won't speak coldly! My brother, who won't make you have a painful expression!!”

My shouting startled Karamatsu, but his expression didn't change in the slightest. It still has a warm, gentle expression...

And it hurts as usual.

“Why do you keep acting like that!?”

Because the more you act like that, the more I hate myself. Don't you understand? The feeling I've hated since then is the awkwardness of not saying anything directly. Always hurting others with his own coldness.

But enough to speak directly I can't speak...

Having to fall under the domination of the cruel queen who has always been another side of me...

“You are wrong… I never hated the cruel queen.”

“...What I hate is Snow White who always blames herself...The Evil Queen is Snow White. Snow White is the mean queen... Because of that, sir... Ichimatsu is Ichimatsu.”

Before he knew it, the distance of the dozens of steps had decreased. The voice came closer and closer. before it stopped in front of me. Then a warm touch touched me.

"I'm sorry I made that face when I knew it would upset you, but I was just worried."

“Stop hating yourself, there's no need to erase the mean queen inside of you. There's no need to change anything because you're Ichimatsu. ...Ichimatsu is stubborn. Talking hurtful things And it's dark like that, in a way that makes other people worry all the time.”

"...Karamatsu-nii-san."

“Because you're like this, I'm worried...but I still really like it.”

“...I don't want to make you a little uncomfortable, but brother, I don't know how to approach you.”

The more he spoke, the more Karamatsu's voice trembled, as if confirming that the prince would definitely never turn his back on Snow White. I looked at the other person who was hugging me so tightly that I was trembling, and then I let out a sigh. come

...like this

“This guy is…”

Without thinking, my hand placed the paste on the man's soft hair and Karamatsu's previously trembling body suddenly stopped. But he didn't leave.

“Sorry about your acting club, it was a long time ago but I wanted to talk.”

Because I like it a lot, because I'm worried and I want to protect it, so I'm afraid...

I was afraid that I couldn't keep it up, so I turned away from myself. Build a wall to always keep at least one step away from everyone and that means…

If you are very jealous...

My expression will be especially opposite.

“That matter is fine.”

Karamatsu smiled at me...

It was a smile brighter than any summer sun I had ever seen, and it secretly shone a little light into the cold boundary that I had cheated away from the outside world.

Actually, that day, I secretly chose the farthest seat, thinking that the guy wouldn't be able to see me from the stage. What was even funnier was that I found Jyushimatsu already sitting there waiting. Soon everyone arrived, including Totty and Joromatsu-nii-san who said they were busy, neither Osomatsu-nii-san nor me pretended to be interested.

In the end, we were standing there...right there.

“The story about them being six twins isn't a lie, right, Brother?”

"um"

“That boy who stole everyone's storybooks as well.”

“Are you a stalker?”

Karamatsu loosened his embrace and laughed. I looked at that smiling face with the same calm eyes as usual. It was the kind of eyes I had always used to view the world. ...It's not that I don't feel anything, but I just don't want anyone to know what I'm thinking.

I just realized today that I really am Ichimatsu like this guy said. Maybe Karamatsu knows me better than I know myself.

“Huh…”

But even then, that guy had no way of knowing that Snow White was actually a spoiled child...

...And then you're crafty.

“My things must be mine alone, don't you think so?”

“Eh?”

“At the end of the story, doesn't the prince have to kiss Snow White?”

I did not expand on the previously vague statement. Instead, he pretended to say that as he moved his face closer to him. Karamatsu didn't understand for a moment, then his face turned a bright red, matching the apples scattered all over the sky. This

“I don't know if this is a dream, another dimension, or something, but when I wake up, I'll turn into a tight-lipped Ichimatsu who won't let me get close to him again if I don't act quickly... ”

            Chuu~

My eyes widened, I didn't expect that the guy would actually rush in and kiss the right cheek that I had purposely extended to him. When I turned my eyes again I saw Karamatsu who was helplessly pursed his lips.

I saw it and I...

            Chuu~Y

I accidentally kissed that guy back once.

“Let's go home.”

"um"

An invitation came from those small lips, and I probably stared at it for so long that I forgot what I was doing. As I nodded in agreement, the image of the other's face was obscured by a bright light, replaced by the yellow sleeve of his shirt waving at my line of sight.

…And then I returned to being the dark Ichimatsu in this chaotic house.

“Ichimatsu-san~ Apple~”

“Ichimatsu-nii-san? Karamatsu-nii-san?? What's wrong with you guys?"

A house where everyone sits and lies on the floor, occupying their own territory. There was the sound of Osomatsu-nii-san scratching his back or whatever, just as it should have always been.

“Oh! Anyway~ This one is the biggest. I already asked for it!!”

“Osomatsu-nii-san!! That... Oh no!! Even though I'm the real peeler...my goodness I divided it into six equal pieces!!”

I'm back...opened my eyes from a long dream.

I glanced at the asshole, Matsu, who was sitting looking in the mirror not far away, and I picked up the cat, Esper, and hugged him tightly. I secretly saw some traces in that guy's eyes. The mirror fell from my hand when our eyes met.

I stood up and turned around and walked out of the room.

Maybe it was the touch of his lips and cheeks that were starting to turn red that made me think that maybe this incident wasn't just a dream and...

My prince is very annoying.