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In an open auditorium, rows of people as much as the eye could see, in front row, a group of children leaned in. Gripping the shoulders of the boy sitting in the center, eyes widen until the screening has ended.
Chatter became white noise, now, as the boy in the center hugged his knees to his chest, a star-gazed smile painted his expression.
“Chrollo! You did amazing!” A girl with a buzz cut hugged him, overjoyed with excitement.
With a click of a tongue, a tanned teenager ruffled his hair from the seats behind, “Man, they should have given you a bigger role!” Hyping him up, much like the girl did.
“Who knew you could cry so realistically on demand.” Nudging a smaller boy with his elbows, trying to get him to add to the teasing. The boy to his side snickered light-heartedly.
Another left his seat, just to lean in close to the star of the screening, “Maybe we have to think twice if you're telling the truth now that we know you're such a great actor.” Despite the teasing tone and sarcasm, his cherub-like face glimmered brightly with that wide grin.
The teenager, previously from before, tapped on Chrollo’s shoulders, grabbing his attention to point towards someplace else. A young girl, with dirty blonde hair tied in low pigtails handed him a handmade bouquet, made out of the scraps found in the junkyard. “Congratulations, Chrollo! We all made this for you!” She grinned widely as she handed him the most thoughtful gift he had ever received.
“Everyone, thank you so much!” The boy shamelessly cried tears of joy. Greatly overwhelmed by the affection his friends were smothering him with.
An achievement in the grand scheme of things, so small that if they were in the big city everyone would have forgotten. However, things are different in Meteor City. Out of sheer luck, this one kid helped to achieve something meaningful.
A director, surprisingly originating from the same city, wanted to create a movie featuring it. Whether he was honest or not, the goal of the movie was to humanize the people here. To allow the outside world to sympathize with them, and hopefully, open their wallets to help fund the resource problem that plagued the city for centuries.
The movie was based on a true story, a tragic event that happened before the young boy Chrollo was even born. But an event that was well-known throughout the city. The story is passed down by adults to children, the horrors of the cruel outside world. A horrific situation, known as the “Bum Incident”, later painted Meteor City in a negative light.
Through word of mouth, as the story goes, a bum with no ID was arrested for a murder that he didn’t commit. Despite professing his innocence, explaining he was from Meteor City, the man was given an unfair trial and found guilty and executed. Three years later, the true culprit was discovered, a drug addict, revealing to the world that indeed, the bum was innocent.
The moment when the news hit Meteor City, a total of 31 people, cops, the judge, prosecutors, his defense, the jury, and witnesses that were involved, were assassinated. Allegedly, leaving a message behind each corpse, "We'll accept anything you leave here, but don't ever take anything away from us."
This bombing event from the outside world has largely been twisted to fit the narrative of Meteor City being a place filled with evil people in the mass media. A tale of bloodthirsty revenge. However, this director wanted to shape it from the perspective of Meteor City inhabitants.
Reframing it as a story about a homeless man who was arrested and framed for murder by corrupt and incompetent authorities. Illustrating how if only the cops and the court had done their job, that man would have easily been found innocent. Displaying the discrimination and the laziness of these cops who only cared about the glory of solving the case, instead of working tooth and nail for the ultimate truth. Even sprinkling some infamous other cases where the incompetence of cops had led to others being falsely framed, as this was a common occurrence.
Painting everyone involved in the court case as ignorant, and inhuman and implying other foul plays, such as accepting bribes. Lastly, portraying the witness as a liar, someone who just wanted to victimize themselves by inserting themselves in the crime. Disregarding the life of an innocent man in the process. A stark contrast to the homeless man, who was characterized as a loving humble man, who had friends and others who cared for him deeply back in Meteor City.
Now, where does Chrollo fit into all of this?
There was a specific scene in the director’s mind. A scene where an adult had to explain to a young child, that the nice man he was excited to see again was no longer on the mortal plain. This scene was crucial to tug on the heartstrings of the audience, as for the past years the homeless man’s character has been abysmal.
The director had an eye for talent, rumor has it, that he saw a bunch of kids performing a live dub of a children's show. While all children did exceptionally well, Chrollo was no doubt the star of the show. And now, he’s one of the stars of the movie, despite how small his role was.
This scene was immaculate.
Chrollo’s child-like charm, the soft glow from his innocent smile, and his gaze, all to capture and steal the audience's heart. Only stomp on it, the moment when the light that glimmered in his eyes faded away. The boy begged the adult to clarify, how this must have been a mistake. The nice man would never do such a thing. Only to crumble with a somber weep.
Many scenes later, it would cut to the people burying an empty grave, with the boy in the background. The director made a point to have the camera pan over his expression, a saturnine blank demeanor, as the boy had no more tears left.
The final scene of the movie had the boy at the man’s tombstone. A soft, bittersweet scene, after the revelation of his innocence has been proven to the world. The boy places a flower on the grave and kneels next to it. He softly talks to the grave, as if the man’s soul could listen. Started with small talk, about how was his day and such, but gradually the subject became heavy as he updated the man on what recently happened.
“Thirty-one people volunteered their lives to send a message today. A reminder to the whole world that justice will always be served. Rest now, we’ll never forget you.”
⛧°。 ⋆༺♱༻⋆。 °⛧
“Chrollo! Chrollo!” Sarasa piped up, jumping to get his attention. “Licorse said we can have a sleepover at the church! Let’s go, Let’s go!”
The entire day was spent celebrating and everyone gushed over their favorite scene over some snacks gifted by the movie director himself. The moment felt timeless as if nothing will ever top this day.
“Chrollo, are you going to become an actor?!” Sarasa exclaimed, noticing the business card in his hands.
“I’m not sure…” Chrollo politely responded, not that he hadn’t thought about it yet, more that, to follow that dream, he feared he had to sacrifice something dear to him. Like a fork in the road, he was stuck, frozen with the two choices that lay in front of him.
“Did you have fun on set?” Paku chimed in, noticing the indecisiveness within his response.
He nodded, “It was interesting how everyone worked together to create something meaningful. Acting is amazing, people use their ability to deceive others to create art and for the greater good. To entertain and bring hope to people who were previously voiceless.”
Franklin thought out loud, “Sounds like you want to be an actor.” Straight to the point, as usual.
Chrollo nodded, “Yeah… sounds like it…”
Sarasa clapped her hands, “If you do leave Meteor City to pursue acting, we’ll support you! You’ll get to see the whole wide world and more!” She paused, but without her grin faltering, she added, “But please remember to visit us! Tell us everything!”
The mood in the air felt a little somber, how she was able to vocalize the thing he was fearing. If he leaves Meteor City, he’ll be leaving his friends behind. Perhaps he assumed it was selfish of him, but no matter what, he wanted his friends by his side, forever and ever…
Shal motioned towards Phinks, “So, Phinks, what was your favorite scene?” Instantly breaking the awkward silence that filled the air before.
“Uhh…” He blinked a few times, now all eyes were on him, “I liked the explosions part. It was really cool.” Feitan nodded, agreeing with Phinks, as usual.
“Hmmm, really?” Shal smiled, with a gaze that read as ‘How predictable’, before turning to Uvo, “What about you? What’s your favorite scene, Uvo?”
“Me, huh…” He brought his hand to his chin, rubbing it as he thought, “I know I probably shouldn’t, but the scene when they revealed the drug addict. What do they call it? The composition of the screen? The way how he acted, how you could tell he was the real bad guy, his unstable demeanor gave me chills. Maybe it’s not my favorite, but it stuck out to me.”
“Oooh, the villain reveal scene? That’s unexpected…” Shal teased.
“Shal, what’s your favorite scene?” Paku, the girl with the buzzcut nudged him into the conversation. Despite being a chatty guy, he’s been mostly reacting to what everyone else had to say rather than putting his input. This was unusual of him.
“Hmm…” He smiled, “I guess every scene with Chrollo in it.” Saying it so casually, one might have mistaken it as a joke. However, to Chrollo, it sounded like he was dodging the question. Something about that didn’t sit right with him.
Paku chuckled, “That much is obvious, but what scene in specific?”
“The crying scene.” He smiled, his facade ever so unchanging.
“Oi, we already got one sadist,” Nobu chuckled, pointing a finger at Feitan, “We don’t need another.” Feitan immediately gets miffed about it and starts attacking him with pressure points. Proving Nobu right, but at what cost…
⛧°。 ⋆༺♱༻⋆。 °⛧
Everyone just laughed it off, before getting sleepy and dozing off.
Outside the church, Chrollo sat on the ground, knees hugged to his chest, staring at what would have been stars if it hadn’t been for the murky environment. The wind rustled through his hair, allowing himself lost in thought. The sound of the door creaking open dragged his mind back to his body. Slowly turning around to see Shalnark, peeping through the cracks with a wide grin.
“There you are! Figured you’d be out here.” He giggled, before walking out to sit right beside him. “What are you doing out here, anyway?”
“Just thinking,” Chrollo responded, looking back at the night sky. There was a moment of silence before Chrollo spoke again, “What was your favorite scene, really?” A strong emphasis on the word ‘really’. Not that this was the main thing bugging him, but it was easier to talk about than the truth.
He softly chuckled, “You know, I wasn’t lying when I said it was all of the scenes with you in it.” He paused, to lean a bit closer, “But I guess while watching the movie, I did discover something more rememberable.”
“And what was that?” Chrollo asked.
“Your expression while watching the movie was my favorite part.” He grinned.
Chrollo turned with a perplexed look on his face, “What?”
“I always saw the skill of acting as just being a good liar. Not in a bad way, it’s certainly a skill, but, to me, it’s a tool to get what you want. The words genuine and acting don’t exactly sit right with me. I think you’re an amazing actor, but that star-gazed look you had while watching that movie still is my favorite moment. Happiness looks good on you, Chrollo.”
What a compliment of the century. Chrollo brushed his hair over his ear, hiding the little hints of pink that emerged from his pale skin. He gets it though, watching people was something both he and Shal had in common. “Why did you…” He paused, struggling to finish that sentence, “Never mind.” Burying his head into his knees.
Shal laughed, “Why didn’t I say it out loud in front of everybody? I wasn’t in the mood for Phinks or Feitan trying to poke fun at me, duh.” After his laughter died down, he looked towards the sky, “Chrollo, do you want to become an actor? What is it that you really want?”
He exhaled, perhaps it would be better for him to finally get it off his chest. “I want to become an actor, but I don’t want to do it alone. I want all of you guys to be there with me, acting alongside me, or even just on set.” Chrollo spends most of his life constantly considering the feelings of others, considering the happiness of all, rarely taking a stance for himself.
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” A rough voice from behind loomed over them, shocking Chrollo as he assumed it was only him and Shal outside.
Turning around to see Uvo and… wait… There was more. Nobu stood next to him, Machi was behind his leg. Phinks and Feitan seemed to have recently stepped out of the door with Paku and Sarasa in between the door crack. Looking around some more, Franklin was sitting on a wooden box against the wall with Sheila. Shal giggled, revealing that he knew this entire time they were listening in. His face completely flustered with embarrassment as he faced his friends.
“I-” Chrollo choked on his words.
Uvo exclaimed, “I’d love to act with you! But I want to be the villain! Just like the good old days when he performed in front of everyone with our dubbing troupe!”
“Good old days? You mean a few weeks ago?” Nobu chuckled at Uvo’s wording.
“Chro, acting looks really fun. But I don’t want to have a sappy role like you did!” Phinks teased. “I think it’d be awesome to be in an action movie, fighting with fists!”
“And swords,” Feitan added with a nod.
Paku walked over to Chrollo, patting him on the head, “You should have told us what you wanted. Trust me, no one here wants to be without you either.”
“But, I want you guys to follow your own dreams, not just mine.” Chrollo croaked.
Shal smiled, patting him on the back, “It’s not just your dream. You inspired many of us in the performing arts. Though… I do prefer to be more of a behind-the-scenes tech guy if anything.” He shrugged while laughing it off.
“You guys…” Immediately wiping the tears that fell, overwhelmed by the happiness he felt. That maybe, after all, he didn’t have to choose between the two paths.
“Chro, you’re such a crybaby.” Phinks teased only to get an earful of Paku reminding him that he needs to learn how to read the room.
The chatter among friends, the sigh of relief that left his body. Nothing will ever top today, indeed.
⛧°。 ⋆༺♱༻⋆。 °⛧
Later, while the majority of the kids slept, two remained awake. Sneaking away, Shal found himself face to face with Sheila, the young girl who for the most part, barely said anything.
“What are you up so early?” Sheila asked, before glancing back at her favorite book.
“I couldn’t sleep, what about you?” He shrugged.
“I slept enough…” She paused, soon turning to him with a smile, “You know, Chrollo is probably going to grow up as a charming young man. Actors are pretty famous for receiving the affection and adoration of many fans.”
“Yeah… and? Do you also want to become an actress, Sheila?” Shal’s smile slowly frowned a little. It was strange for her to bring up Chrollo like this. Well, perhaps not, as yesterday Chrollo was the star of Meteor City.
“No, no. You should know by now that my dream is to become a Hunter. I want to learn and discover new things, and maybe even write something myself.” She giggled before switching the conversation back to her original thought process. Much to Shalnark’s chagrin. “He’s probably going to meet so many other talented actors and actresses his age too, you know?”
A smile so fake, even Phinks would have been able to tell if he had witnessed it, “Sheila, what are you implying? You got something to say?”
“Paku agrees with me too. You should hurry up and say what you want before someone else does.” A smile equally as fake.
For once, he allowed his expression to fully falter, yet he still smiled, something a bit cold with a gaze that could stab, “Mind your own business.” Before walking away to do anything to get his mind off of her words.