The Laughing Swordsman

The boy nodded.

"Hehe, thanks, Willow!"

He took on a stance, spreading his legs and raising his wooden sword in the air. It was clear the boy was far from an amateur despite his young age.

Willow sighed, taking on a similar stance.

"Seriously though, Vicar, we are going to be late for bed!"

The sun let out a deep orange glow, its last gift, before disappearing altogether.

Vicar pouted.

"I just have a really good feeling right now! I don\'t want to lose it."

Willow smiled bitterly.

"I\'m blaming it on you when our parents scold us!"

Vicar giggled.

"Of course! I will take full blame!"

The two were standing in Willow\'s backyard. It was small, to say the least. Snow slowly fell from the sky, gently brushing by their faces every so often.

A thin layer of snow covered the ground, almost like a small coat.

Vicar dashed forward, scattering snow in the air behind him. His wooden sword drew an arc in the air, almost like a crescent moon.

Willow\'s wooden sword snapped out, blocking the attack. That was when Vicar\'s wooden sword suddenly shifted trajectories, landing on Willow\'s shoulder.

A light tap echoed throughout the backyard.

Willow raised both eyebrows in shock.

"What? How did you attack twice so fast?"

Vicar retracted his sword with a laugh.

"Hehe, I had a feeling! Now that I\'ve actually tested it out, I can confirm it works!"

The corner of Willow\'s lip twitched.

"You have to teach me!"

Vicar gasped.

"Eh? But we are already late for bed! You said only one more spar."

Willow pointed her wooden sword at Vicar.

"That was then! Things have changed! We aren\'t going back until I learn this as well!"

Vicar blinked a few times.

"...But our parents said no more sparring overnight!"

Willow smirked.

"This is your fault! I won\'t be able to sleep until I learn that technique as well! We will just break the rules one more time!"

She laughed.

"It\'s not like this is the first time!"

Vicar smiled. He raised his sword enthusiastically.

"Hehe, I guess you\'re right! You remind me when the sun comes up, I can never notice!"

Willow rolled her eyes.

"I\'ve never noticed either! Once my mom wakes up, she will yell at us, that will be a good indicator!"

Vicar smirked.

"Hehe, you\'re right!"

With that, their wooden swords clashed from when the sun set, all the way to when it rose.

Willow and Vicar were heavily panting. Their arms trembled like a leaf in the wind. To them, their wooden swords were heavier than mountains.

Yet, they still held them up.

Willow took a few slow steps forward. Her hand traced the side of the wooden sword before snapping out.

As for Vicar, his wooden sword traced a crescent moon before releasing a horizontal slash.

Two clacks rang out in the backyard.

The wooden swords flew out of their hands, flying through the air. As for the both of them, they immediately collapsed onto the floor, desperately trying to catch their breath.

Willow laughed.

"Haha... I finally... did it."

Vicar smiled.

"That is... such a strange way... How did you do it?"

Willow turned to face Vicar. She smirked.

"It was a feeling, like you said."

Vicar gave her a thumbs up, though his arm was trembling violently.

Suddenly, their bodies tensed up.

"WILLOW!..."

Willow\'s mother came out from the backyard. Unlike her daughter, her hair was long. However, they were pretty similar, all things considered.

Their clothes were essentially the same, just different sizes to fit their different statures. Their hair color and eye color were both the exact same, as were their smooth facial features.

Willow\'s mother sighed with frustration. She held her forehead with one hand while she furrowed her brows.

"Why did you force Vicar to spar with you overnight? His parents are going to have a word with me again!"

Vicar smiled awkwardly.

"Hehe... it\'s sorta my fault. I kinda forced her to spar with me."

He proceeded to stick out the tip of his tongue, clearly not regretting his actions.

Willow\'s mother sighed.

"You kids..."

Once they were able to move again, they went back to their respective houses. Then, they were scolded by their respective parents.

...Unfortunately, that was the last time they saw each other.

Their parents used to be close friends, similar to the relationship that their children had. However, one day, things started to change.

For whatever reason, something else suddenly became the most important thing.

As shown by their clothing, Vicar\'s family was of a much higher standing than Willow. In fact, they were nearly as far apart as you could get.

At first, Willow found it strange that Vicar had not visited for multiple days. As such, she wanted to visit him.

One day, Willow walked up to her mother.

"Mom, I\'m going to go visit Vicar!"

Her mother was in the middle of washing dishes. Once she heard what her daughter had said, she froze.

"...Dear. It\'s best that you don\'t go."

Willow furrowed her brows.

"What do you mean mother? It\'s just one visit! We have done this many times in the past!"

Her mother slowly shook her head.

"Things have changed."

She reached out a hand and gently placed it on Willow\'s shoulder.

"I am sorry, my dear. But you must forget about Vicar."

Willow was in a state of shock.

"What? Why are you saying this, mother?"

A bitter smile appeared on her mother\'s face.

"It is complicated... so very complicated. We are no longer associated with Vicar\'s family, ok?"

Although confused, Willow nodded.

"Ok..."

She spent a few more days by herself.

It was boring.

Willow felt lonely...

So incredibly lonely...

Eventually, she just couldn\'t take it. Willow snuck out in an attempt to meet Vicar.

She soon saw Vicar\'s butler, who she was familiar with.

But there was a disdainful expression on his face.

"Stay back, bird filth!"

...

Willow\'s eyes widened. She looked at the wooden sword coming straight for her heart.

"That\'s right, I\'m not a human."