A.R. Dragonfly Vol. 8: A.R. Dragonfly, #8

By Joshua Piedra

Secrets... everybody has at least one. A secret can range from something that is insignificant to something that can alter everyone's perception of you. Takumi has withheld a secret from everyone that has caused tension and turmoil; especially with Kaito and Lynn. When Takumi's secret is revealed, the way everyone looks at him is changed forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joshua Piedra
• Release date: May 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223681908

Book preview

Preface

Thank you for picking up Volume 8 of A.R. Dragonfly! We are at the next major point in the series! I had decided on these story points back before Volume 1 was written. As I did with Final Hope, I created a list of major bullet points for the overall story and then worked each chapter as a way to connect to those major events.

Jeremiah, the two tournament arcs, a Blaze Auras expansion, Kaiza Shirazou... all of those story points were planned from the very beginning. This volume contained two more major story points. This ended up being one of my most anticipated volumes to write and while it is a bit shorter than the others, that was by design. I wanted this volume to encompass that major plot point and to put the focus directly on it.

The ending of the volume, I will say, was a little rushed because by this point, I had already come up with the ending to the series and had volumes 9-12 plotted out completely. There wasn’t any room for expansion and not enough content to expand Vol. 8’s ending and make a 13th volume without artificially drawing out the series, so I will apologize ahead of time for the quick resolution.

Still, I hope you enjoy this volume. I do have a special message in the Afterword but I kindly ask you read the book first as the Afterword will contain massive spoilers.

Chapter 1

Keeping the Secret

Secrets are a cornucopia of potpourri. Oftentimes, they are meek, insignificant facts about trivial personal indulgences. Sometimes, a secret can be dark and hurtful that could impact a relationship or, perhaps, dismantle a well-layered friendship. Then there are, quite simply, secrets that are too unfathomable to believe. A secret that makes time stand still and gives you a feeling that all of the oxygen has left your body.

Sebastian didn’t let much phase him unless he had a deep, personal connection to it. Most of the time, he was pretty carefree and easy-going. He loved to take life in stride and just floated along with life’s current, not caring where it would take him. For Sebastian to be completely silent, unable to formulate basic words after hearing what Kaito had to say, it was proof that Takumi’s secret was one of the rare ones that could leave a person in total disbelief. After a few moments of silence that felt more like an eternity, Sebastian, with a heavy sigh, closed his eyes and replied to Kaito.

Now I understand why you’ve had so much pressure on yourself. If anyone found out about this, it would change the way they looked at Takumi. I can see why he wouldn’t want that. I’ve only known Takumi through you and not for very long at that but even I can tell that he wouldn’t want to be judged in such a way. No wonder he had a hard time telling Lynn. I’ll do my best to keep the secret safe but I have to ask… what are you planning on doing with Lynn? I just so happened to agree that she needs to know this more than anyone.

Kaito didn’t have an answer. On the one hand, he knew that Lynn, indeed, deserved to know this information about Takumi as well. On the other hand, he finally was able to tell someone and get it off his chest.

I don’t think I can tell Lynn this. This is something that needs to come from Takumi himself. After all, everyone thinks that Takumi is on a business trip with his parents when, in reality, he’s just sitting in a hospital waiting for his knee to get completely rehabbed. It’s been over a month since he’s been in there so I can imagine he shouldn’t be in there for much longer. I guess Takumi can deal with that once he gets out. As for me, I just really needed to get this out in the open. You have no idea how much better this made me feel. Thank you, Sebastian.

No problem, Kiritodoroki.

Ugh... Amber told you, didn’t she?

I would lie but it’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?

Kaito just let out a sigh and ended his phone conversation with Sebastian. Kaito slumped back in his chair as he couldn’t believe that he had finally gotten it off of his chest. Of course, he had to put his trust in Sebastian in hopes that he wouldn’t tell anyone else but that risk was a more attractive option rather than continuing to suffer in silence every day. Getting this off of his mind helped him relax so much that for the first time in a while, Kaito was able to get a full night’s worth of sleep. Kaito woke up feeling refreshed because of it. He almost cursed because he realized that he couldn’t stay in bed and sleep any longer. He needed to get up and get ready for work. Now that the next day had begun, he returned to work looking like his old self once again. The look of emotional strain that he had worn on his face for such a long time was now absent. In addition, Kaito didn’t have any bags under his eyes. Sebastian immediately noticed the difference in him like it was night and day.

Finally found the caffeine to put into your miso soup, I see?

You need to get some new material… and for the record, I had eggs with furikake, grilled fish, natto, pickled vegetable salad, and mixed rice with uni for breakfast.

....aaaaand?

Ugh… and yes, miso soup.

Friggin’ weeaboo.

I DON’T WATCH ANIME!

Well, maybe you should start. That way all of my teasing will have an actual purpose rather than just me keeping up my reputation of being a smartass.

What? Did Amber tell you that, too!?

Huh? Actually, no. Amber didn’t mention anything like that to me but go on….

Ugh, Amber confronted me about why I don’t watch anime. I told her about some NEET that I was friends with back in Japan. Long story short, I didn’t want to be like him so I ended up convincing myself anime sucked. That is until Amber said I should start watching some with her and that I had a jaded and incorrect view on anime and so forth and so forth. You get the picture.

So? What’s the verdict? You going to give in to your stereotypical culture and start watching cartoons in 10 frames per second?

Ugh…………...maybe.

That’s a yes! What’s your first series going to be? Need any recommendations? Want the number to an addiction hotline just in case?

Kaito simply cursed Sebastian under his breath and continued doing his normal opening routine. Sebastian smiled as he realized that things were looking back to normal for Kaito. The one thing that didn’t look like normalcy was the customer traffic in Things N’ Stuff. The store’s traffic continued to decline in the mornings. The typical morning rush had dwindled to no more than just a mere whimper. Sebastian knew that he needed to start marketing the store or else things would continue to fall apart. While Kaito’s mind was refreshed, he decided to talk over strategies with him. The two of them brainstormed all morning until Jessi showed up for her midday shift. Jessi overheard their conversation and came up with a marketing strategy of her own.

Why don’t we get one of those twirly sign guys and stick them out front!? They’re so cool to look at! Sometimes I just stand on the other side of the road and watch them from afar like a statue.

Kaito and Sebastian just kind of looked at each other and shrugged. The sound of the door opening caught all of their attention. Lynn had popped into the store with a smile on her face which drew their curiosity even more.

Hey Triggs, what’s up? asked Kaito.

I had to come by because I did something to surprise Takumi when he comes back from his trip! I went ahead and finished the song I wrote for him! I know he already listened to it but that was an unfinished version. I went back and redid some sections, changed some things up, re-recorded some of the melodies, and just worked on it non-stop over the past month. Takumi has been video chatting with me from his hotel room every week, keeping me updated on how everything has been going! I just felt so inspired each time I talked with him that I couldn’t help but work on this track! Of course, I’m not completely satisfied with it but then again, if it were up to me, I’d probably work on this until I was dead. So, I think it’s good enough. I brought it with me if you all want to listen to it.

Sure! That sounds totally cool! You never said you made music, Mr. Lynn!

Mister Lynn? Lynn asked.

Yeah! I started calling Sebastian and Kaito Mr. Sebastian and Mr. Kaito after I overheard Mr. Sebastian on a phone call one day and he kept saying the word Mister over and over again. So, I decided to call him that, and then Amber was all like… why don’t you call me Miss Amber but I called her Mr. Amber because it just sounded funny! I decided that I’m going to call everyone Mister regardless of gender now!

Lynn hadn’t spent as much time with Jessi as Sebastian, Amber, and Kaito had but now she was beginning to see what the deal was with her first-hand. Still, Lynn felt that Jessi had a certain charm about her… despite being a few nickels shy of making change for a dollar. Despite that, Lynn handed a USB drive over to Sebastian. Sebastian plugged it into the computer underneath the checkout counter and flipped on the store’s speaker system. Jessi then said something that made sense for once.

Hey, Mr. Sebastian? If the store has a speaker system, why haven’t you played any music?

Everyone looked at each other as that was an actual good question. Sebastian simply shrugged as he, himself, had no idea why he never played any music in his store. He had used the speakers before during the Grand Reopening party where he had played Lynn’s music. Despite the one occasion, he never really thought to have music playing at any other time. Sebastian felt that it was a good enough idea to be a part of his new marketing campaign for the store. The fact that the idea came from Jessi was still something he was trying to wrap his head around.

Sebastian shook it off and hit play on the media player. Soon, the store was filled with the song Lynn made for Takumi. It still started with a slow ambient sound but there were some new samples to accompany the piano lead-in. The song revved up with a new set of guitars, some strings, and then went right into the vocals. The song hit its crescendo and started its decline back into a softer ambiance. The song was still titled Waterfall and the way the music was laid out, it reminded you of just that. The slow build-up of going along the river until you went over the falls; the accelerated journey on the way down before hitting that big crash at the bottom and then mellowing out.

As the song played, Lynn, along with Sebastian and Jessi, had closed her eyes so that she could listen to every note. Even though she had heard the song hundreds of times through her headset, she wanted to experience it through the store’s speaker system to see how it would sound in a public setting. Kaito took notice of Lynn’s eyes being closed and used this opportunity to slip out through the back door of the store. Kaito couldn’t stand there and listen to Takumi’s song while seeing Lynn enjoy it. Knowing Takumi’s situation and how Lynn is still believing the lie, it was too much for him to be around. He felt that he could have slipped up and had accidentally said something which would have caused unneeded drama. As Kaito escaped out the back door, he could only wish that Takumi could come back home sooner rather than later.

The song came to an end and everyone opened their eyes. Jessi was the first one to speak up about it.

Holy Torpedo, Mr. Lynn! That was AMAZING! I can’t believe that you made something like this! Who was the person singing in the song? They have a beautiful voice!

That was… me… said Lynn as her face turned beet red with embarrassment.

Both Jessi and Sebastian were floored by the fact that it was Lynn providing the vocals for the track. Up until now, Takumi was the only person who knew that Lynn could sing. Still, despite the two of them heavily complimenting her vocal work, she was incredibly embarrassed by it. There wasn’t much that bothered Lynn but having people hear her sing was like her kryptonite. It was the one thing that made her feel small and insignificant even though it was something she should have been proud of. When all was said and done, Lynn looked to Kaito for his opinion on the song but she didn’t see him there. She looked over her shoulder but Kaito was nowhere to be found. Her looking around also caused Sebastian and Jessi to realize that Kaito had gone missing as well. 

Where did he go? asked Lynn.

Sebastian and Jessi both shrugged although Sebastian had a good idea of what had happened. Still, he promised Kaito that he would help keep his secret safe so he opted to just stand there and not say anything to Lynn. The three of them just agreed that it was rather odd for Kaito to just up and disappear like that. 

Sebastian headed over to his computer and pulled out the USB, handing it back to Lynn. Lynn thanked Sebastian for playing the song for her and expressed her happiness that everyone liked it. Lynn headed out to go back home to her apartment. Once Lynn left, Sebastian pulled out his phone and shot a quick text to Kaito, letting him know that Lynn had left the store. As soon as he had done so, he heard the loading bay door open and close. A moment later and Kaito made his reappearance, emerging from the back room.

Mr. Kaito! Where did you go?

Sorry, there was someone at the door with a delivery. Turns out he came to the wrong address and I was showing him where to go.

Aw, Mr. Kaito! You’re a sweet guy for helping someone out like that!

Heh… thanks, said Kaito with a smile.

Of course, Sebastian knew that was a complete and total lie.