Some time ago, depending on your understanding of time. A word was formed, or rather said, a different meaning of a already existing word.

Even I, who believed myself to be a man of culture, have never even realized what burden and side effects, bearing the title of set word would bring upon.

My negligence is truly commendable, it’s amazing how ignorant I was of the word. It was just so pretty, so simple, yet it struck everyone in their hearts like a arrow.

What word am I talking about?

A ‘Trap’.

What’s a trap, you ask?

I am not one to judge, but I naturally thought that some of you may know, no?

Oh, I see. Some of you do know, well then, let me enlighten the ones who have not yet opened their eyes to true beauty itself.

A trap, depending on the contest can mean several things. The most well known one, the one used by most people, is a device meant for capturing or ‘trapping’ a being, mostly used for wild animals or creatures such as rabbits, bears and many other.

I will excuse you of the other definitions, since we’re here to head straight to the point, are we not?

The word trap, known for most men or women of culture, means a boy, who cross-dresses as a girl.

Why do people use the word trap? Because it mostly catches the viewer off guard, who would’ve thought that such a cute girl would bear such a dreadful weapon between its legs?!

This word, caused many things to happen. It became a trend, a word used by everyone who watched anime and alike.

Whoever, this word also caused war—

It happened on a beautiful community, it was on reddit. R/Animemes…

Ah, I still remember the good old days, where posts would reach more than 10k upvotes, but now, it’s nothing but a barren wasteland with barely any anime related memes!

It’s just overused jokes, and random anime girls saying something cute or a word to offend you, and that reaches trending!

What absurdity!

Ahem…

I apologize for my spite, let’s return where we left off.

This word was one day deemed as a ‘Slang’ and ‘Offensive’ by one of the moderators of the subreddit.

They removed, banned, took down every post that had something to do with traps or crossdressing anime boys.

What heresy?! Am I right?

Over two hundred thousand members left the subreddit, well to be known, the most active ones were the ones who left and migrated to a different subreddit.

All this because of the word ‘trap’.

Nowadays, the memes are still trash. From my memories, half of the memes became shitposts and unfunny jokes that almost all weebs knew about.

Even the subreddit they migrated to, has not been any better. Although, I think it is laughable that it is know as r/goodanimemes, and most of the memes aren’t even about anime itself anymore.

So, do you know what the word means now?

Good, now let us proceed to the main part of the theme.

“Hey, Shiro~. Do you like crossdressing?”, Hollou whispered into my ear.

“Ghh!”

I instinctively dodged whatever my body feared, my cheeks slightly pink.

‘I underestimated traps.’

Even though, I acted as one myself it was for a teasingly act of embarrassing a friend. I learned what traps have to go through, one of them being the act of being confident in your stride, you’d have to act as girly as possible all time.

That in itself is no trivial matter, but when the ‘trap’ is against you, is a different thing altogether.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t.”, I responded to his question straight faced.

Traps in real life are as terrifying as real women!!!

“Eh? You’re a liar!”, Hollou refuted with his finger pointed at me, as if accusing my very being.

“No, I’m not. And even if I was, how the hell would you be able to tell?”

“Because you look hella cute, I’d kill to see you in a maid costume.”

I became flabbergasted at his statement, my body shook in terror.

My mind slipped into a image of me being in a maid costume, at first it seemed enticing. Due to my degeneracy it made me think it would not be so bad.

But the embarrassment would be unbearable.

“Bad luck for you, I don’t like crossdressing.”, I refused his statement, even though it was not a question, I felt like if I didn’t respond I’d be forced to wear another set of 'those' clothes!

“You’re such a liar, I can clearly tell that you at least feel some pleasure from it!”, Hollou muttered another outrageous statement.

“No. I don’t, how do you even know that?”

“Because I know you’re lying.”, he responded as easily as he breathed.

“And how do you know that?”

“Because I can tell when people are lying.”, he soon explained. “I was always good at guessing people’s personalities and intentions, so I can tell you’re lying.”

“I am not lying though…”, I spoke in a low voice, knowing that talking to him any further wouldn’t lead anywhere.

We were waiting outside the forging room, he told us to keep out due to the intense heat inside.

It’s already been like what? Forty minutes? Or more?

‘I miss clocks.’, I realized how valuable they were, I apologize for cursing you because you woke me up every morning and reminded me for how long I would have to be tortured.

“So, how long do you think he’s going to take?”, I asked Hollou, changing the theme of the conversation in order to save myself from further interrogation.

“Hmm, I’d say two more minutes since he began imme—“

“Finished.”

Coming from the other side of the forge, the fire red haired man came walking in a bold stride, his body clearly smeared in sweat. His face clearly elated, maybe from the sense of accomplishment by finishing the product?

“As expected of our highly respected Smith, never cease to amaze me.”, Hollou passed by him, brushed his hand on his bulky shoulder.

“Flattery won’t get ya a discount, but good try. Almost got me dere.”, he said moving towards me.

His sharp sky blue eyes met mine, the sheer pressure of his gaze made my body tensed up in reaction, but I tried my best to conceal it.

‘I’m amazed, this guy…’

Finished a whole set of armor in less than one hour.

“I’ve placed yer armor inside the forge, I went away and made yer sheath for de holy sword yer wealdin’, ye better take good care of it n’ all, aight?”, he finished speaking, and pointed to the back of the of the forge. “It’s inside, I’ll be getting’ a rest.”

He walked away stretching himself, and went up stairs where we had originally come from.

“Is he going to be alright?”, I asked.

He seemed really tired, I had only captured a glimpse of it. But it struck me in my heart that I had forced him to work for me.

“Don’t worry, his life is quite easygoing. He only has to work when he’s requested to, till then he is slowed to do whatever he feels like it.”, Hollou explained.

He entered the really hot room, the open door made the heat overtake my body.

“Oh-ho~, as expected from him. He really does know his stuff doesn’t he~?”, Hollou said inspecting my new armor, not even letting me take deflower it’s pureness.

“Hey, it’s my armor, let me at least have the first touch and loo—“

My eyes widened in awe.

“….”

I held the armor in my hands, there was no way to compare this armor to the ones I had made. The gap was too large, everything was too perfect.

The white chest plate was the size of my chest and back, putting it on would have to make me split this thing in half, but it had a button that released the connectors making it wearable.

The shoes were part of the armor set as well, they appeared to be like dragon claws from the top down except for the sole.

The gloves looked like dragon claws, and were long enough to reach nearly half of my arm.

‘He made all this in just one hour!’

“If you want to know his secret, it’s simple~.”, this time, Hollou’s words caught my attention, he made a smug expression and began explaining.

“He evolved his blacksmithing skill five times, that means it’s practically level 50!”, Hollou said.

“Wow, amazing.”, I was truly amazed, even though my voice clearly sounded otherwise.

Some of my skills too had evolved a couple of times, although I didn’t really understand the difference, I could clearly tell it was an amazing feat.

“He even made a sheath for my sword.”, I moved onto the particular article next to the armor, it was a black scabbard with markings of the kingdom and encroaching flame metal design latched around the base.

“Quite talented isn’t he…”

‘Gotta make it up to him someday.’

“Okay~, now that we’ve got the armor and a plus, the sheath, let’s get you dressed up and we’ll be ready to go!”, Hollou pointed his finger up towards the ceiling and began moving-

“I don’t need your help dressing up, so you stay outside the room.”

Upon my comment, Hollou audibly gasped as if a cat caught his tongue.

 

 

 

From outside the changing room, Hollou waited silently, moving his feet back and forth in boredom.

“How long is he going to take…”, he muttered his face downcast, he gripped his hands.

For those who did not know him, this was a strange action to take, but those who did. Easily understood his pain.

“...”

He waited a little longer, when suddenly a certain thought crossed his mind.

‘He’s sure taking his time… maybe I should take a peep.’

A naughty and exciting thought that's what it was, it easily made him forget all about his perpetual existential crisis.

‘I should be allowed to peep, it’s a mans duty to peep on anything worthwhile if you know what I mean, hehe~’

Hollou approached the door to the room, as cautiously as possible, so cautious that his footsteps made no sound whatsoever.

“Here…. I go….”, he put his hand on the handle of the door, slowly rotated it—

“Kya!”

Hollou fell on his his back.

“Ouch…”, Hollou caressed his buttocks, while looking at the opened door.

“Oh, I’m sorry for that.”, I apologized. “I finished putting on the armor, but it took me longer than expected…”

I ran into some problems, and as in problems I mean the armor itself.

‘I’m not sure if that Smith was either trying to embarrass me, or if he was just confused.’

“You really look like a Knight now!”, exclaimed Hollou with a smug look as if it were his catch phrase.

“Don’t joke with me.”

The armor was far more gender neutral than what I originally imagined.

The chest plate fit me perfectly, the gloves weren’t too uncomfortable, the inner parts of it were made from a soft material like leather or cotton.

The shoes weren’t too shabby either, maybe a little tight but it might just be because of the armor surrounding it.

However the most troubling part that stood in the process of it all were the pants.

There were none included.

However, there was a skirt that at least covered down to my boots.

“Alrighty, as expected of our six star smitih, now let me peep under that skirt!”, Hollou nose dived like an absolute pervert, he went from human trash to ugly bastard attitude in less than a mere second.

I made no effort to dodge.

“Thank you for the meal!”

He raised my skirt—

“Damn it! You were supposed to wear panties or at least tights like me!”, Hollou complained. “What is this?! Pants under skirts! How outrageous!”

Yes, I spent about at least ten minutes crafting thread made pants that would fit well with my armor, I had no other choice. I knew this pervert would see an opportunity and I couldn't risk it.

“I’m never going to let you get a peek at my genitals much less the bulge.”, I told him with a dead expression and cold voice that sounded nearly mechanical.

“Okay okay okay, I apologize! If you want you can see mine if tha—“

“No, what the hell is wrong with you, gross.”, I said, at the prostrating Hollou, with his feet and hands on the ground, executing a perfect dogeza.

“I’m sorry!”, he apologized again.

“Never mind that, what do we have to do now?”, Hollou immediately sprang back up. “Let’s go to the king.”

 

 

 

“Ah, you two are back.”, Levi, also known as the king of Zeltram spoke, the Knight who was next to him surprisingly enough was now awake.

“We’ve got his armor, now he should be all ready for work, I will be leaving now.”, Hollou said, turning around about to leave.

“Wait, where are you going?”, I asked him hesitantly. “I actually just happened to pass by, but I still have some things to do, I’m sorry.”

He put his hands together in an act of forgiveness. “Don’t worry though, if you need any help just ask Levi for me, see you later friend.”

He left, leaving only me, the king and the Knight who was still tired looking.

‘Damn it, now I’m surrounded by people I don’t know!’, my social anxiety began attacking me.

Like I previously told, I didn’t have friends, not because I couldn’t make any, but because I didn’t want any.

I could speak to people if I wanted to, but it did actually take some courage and self-esteem to initiate a conversation.

Albeit in this situation, I was faced with someone whom I wished not to make a bad relationship with, and now that I felt like I relaxed it was easier for me to make mistakes!

Yes I spoke to him before, but that’s because I had a cool mind, but now I got too cozy, meaning that I’m relaxed and being relaxed means it’s easier to make mistakes!

“Shiro, now that you are a Knight, how does it feel like?”, the king made a question, his child like face reflected upon my eyes.

“Uh, I can’t say I feel too different. I’ve only been a Knight for an hour.”, I responded with all honesty.

“Haha, I guess you’re right.”, he laughed happily, fully enjoying himself. “Alright—“

“Yami, your next job is to show Shiro the ropes.”

“WHAAAAAAT?!”

The tired Knight suddenly screamed an out of character shout, his eyes bags darkened or so it looked to me.

“Hey, hold it there. Why should I sacrifice my week off for this guy?! Is this why you told me to wait here?!”, the Knight, Yami complained to Levi.

“Calm down, there’s a reason to this—“

“There’s a reason to this my damn ass! You think you can just tell me what to do?”

He shouted as the king kept the same smile as before, as if ignoring everything.

“Because you can, you there!”

His complaining suddenly turned a 180 degree turn, and now faced me.

“Y-yes?”

“Come with me.”

 

 

 

I followed him like he had ordered, the pressure from his gaze gave me no room to intervene.

“That damn bastard, to think he’s get rid of my holidays just like that…”, he cursed the whole way, his eyes in clear anger and rage.

We passed by the huge cities that if they were to be compared to the ones of Dawnwells, there’s be no contest to begin with. Because Zeltram would win by default.

After we passed by the huge buildings which made you think that they’d extend endlessly, we arrived at some more open area with little buildings or nature.

“…”

‘Where are we going…?’, I was thinking about questioning him, but the guilt from having taken something from him made me shut my mouth.

He didn’t stop, walking or cursing the whole way.

Until eventually we arrived at our destiny.

“Alright, here we are.”, he said.

We were, in no exaggeration to say, in the middle of nowhere.

There were no buildings, no people, not a single living being in sight. Only the endless green plains reaching up to the humongous visible walls and some buildings in the distance.

If you looked closely, maybe you could see some civilization, but we were too far away to even reach it.

This whole trip was around thirty minutes or more, we were quite close to the small area we were before, but it would take a good while to reach it.

“You’re probably asking why I brought you this far away, am I right?”, he said turning towards me, now his tired eyes facing mine.

“Y-yes.”

“No need to tense up so much, I just got a little riled up, that’s all.”, he said both in a apologetic tone and an irritated one as well.

“Are you ready?”

“Huh?”, I looked at him quizzically.

He sighed, stretched himself real quick and smiled.

“Die.”

“‘Barrier’”

I casted a barrier blocking his frontal assault, but it led to no avail.

“Kh—“

My body was thrown back by the immense force generated by his sword that was still in its sheath.

I recalibrated my body and saved myself from landing face flat on the floor.

“What was that for?!”, I demanded for a explanation, as smoke rose from the sheath of his blade.

“You took my week off, and that’s the highest form of crime!”, he leaped off, and came launching from the sky onto me.

“How the hell is that a crime?”

I took out my sword from within the scabbard hanging from my waist, and blocked his attack.

However, his covered blade passed through ‘Morgan’ as if it was nothing, or if it was spirit form.

“Gaah!”, the sheath struck me in the exact same location as before, as if it had intended to.

My body was crushed onto the floor causing the floor to create a crater.

“…guh…”, my vision wavered, although the skill ‘Pain Nullification’ nullified the pain, damage could not be nullified so I could still take ‘Damage’.

“Oi, who told you, that you could take a rest? Stand up, I haven’t plunged enough into you, and if you don’t fight back it won’t be fun.”

“I-I hate you…”, these word escapes my mouth by accident, blood must’ve rushed to my head.

“I don’t care, it’s just another one to the endless list of people who hate me.”, he commented.

“‘Dark Bullet’”, black dots of ‘Dark Attribute Magic’ mana flew towards him at incredible speed.

He quickly retaliated by jumping back, and cutting the things in half, as if they were nothing.

The remains of the spell broke into pitch black particles and exploded in the distance.

“Some weird magic you got there, not that it matters.”, he disappeared soon after finishing his sentence.

‘Where is he?’, I looked around, but no soul was to be found.

Suddenly—

An alarm rang through my ears, telling me to run.

“!!!”

I turned around—

And saw him ready to attack.

“You took my week off, so I’ll take a week off of you!”

His scabbard hit the middle of my head, I bet had it not been my high defense, it would’ve been split in half, literally!

My eyes rolled back and I fell onto my back, my vision blurred and my body weakened.

‘I never want to mess with this guy ever again…’

“Oh crap, I forgot.”, he walked up to me, looking at my half open eyes.

I felt my consciousness leaving me, I was used to this feeling, but I couldn't help but sigh at it.

“My name is Yami, pleased to meet you."

 

Skill Explanation: 'Dual Soul Blade Techique'

This skill has never been acquired by anyone, but Shiro. This skill can only be acquired by having the skills 'Swordsmanship' and 'Soul Form' and an affinity for wielding two blades simultaneously. This skill was meant for people who fight with their souls to deal impact on other peoples souls or spirits, this skill alone would be proof that you'd have the ability to face all beings in a manner of fact.