A Fruitless Endeavor 1/?

Yooo obviously a major surprise that I'm posting again, I'm not gonna make any excuses I was busy doing stuff and now that I reached a stable point I thought

"its either I continue the story or I decide to take its elements into something else"

so I decided to do what I originally planned before making the genshin fanfic, make a Star rail fanfic, unlike genshin (which I haven't played in 2 years sue me)

I have a good grasp on the plot of star rail considering I've played consistently since launch so expect actual common sense and not just filling stuff in

Thats all, have a fun read and remember comments always help even the funny ones, helps me know people are still reading other than the little viewer count lol

(133 words)

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Josh Barrow

Log entry 1

Well this is my first time writing something like this so uh, hello me or well whoever ends up reading this, a day ago my friend disappeared...my friend kymani disappeared

Heh we rarely even have time to hang out together since school started 3 months ago but of course the day he disappeared we were all together, halarious (haha kill me)

Anyways it was a special day a anniversary of the day we met, or well an anniversary of when kymani just jumped in the middle of us talking, had plans to go to Applebee's and buy an overpriced dinner for 3

We were having another day of us just messing around with each other, making mad decisions and making fun of each other for em

Then kymani started talking about seeing a yellow butterfly and ran off after confessing to taraji, she was stunned for like a solid minute figuring out what the fuck was just said to her

I was teasing her the entire time was halarious, anyways back to the point we have a set of imaginary protocols in case stuff happens, its a dumb set of rules but eh

Anyways they go as follows

1. One of us gets addicted to some type of drug and we need to (forcefully) rehab them as any good friend would

2. One of us gets in some type of issue with a gang, or by extension a close family member and we need support

3. One/most of us gets drunk and we're informing someone quickly about it

4. One of us feels something bad is going to happen and whether it's happening or not we tend to listen just in case (kept us out of tons of problems as we tend to find out)

5. One of us disappears, this applies after a week of just being gone but works in conjunction with rule 10

6. One of us dies by a truck, oddly specific but eh it's for a very specific scenario anyways

7. Someone put their hands on one of us, now this rule in specific applies differently for girlfriends and by extension boyfriends

8. One of us gets a pet...that's it this rule is just pet

9. (Personally suggestsed by me) one of us falls in love with the other and the rest of us can't make it wierd, make no mistake we're allowed to tease them but we can't make it wierd

And finally 10. In this scenario one of us percieves something supernatural, in this case we are ment to start a journal to document what happened if they don't respond by tommorow

Personally I believe kymani is bullshitting but it's whatever, on other news my birthday is tomorrow so he is probably visiting soon

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Josh Barrow

Entry 6

It's officially been a week since kymani disappeared...genuinely thought it was a joke at first but Who knew eh

I tried contacting his mother by calling her but for some reason she isn't answering, I'm genuinely surprised at this but let's hope this is a joke eh?

A bad joke a very bad one, but a joke nonetheless, he didn't come on my party which is surprising considering he comes to every event he can physically visit

Once again here's hoping when I visit his mother tommorow she has an explanation and everything will be fine...right?

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Josh Barrow

Entry 12

Kymani is officially missing... I talked to taraji at school after my 6th entry since brake was over and she also had no luck contacting his mother or any family member really

But the truly odd thing about it was when we walked to his house it was filled, everything looked normal from the outside

when we knocked his mother Bianca

responded but...when we asked about kymani she didn't know who he was

Taraji looked as if the world stopped for her and my breath became a little heavy but I tried staying calm, I asked did she know who we were and was told " of course your mother is a family friend you visit weekly"

But the thing is until I knew kymani she didn't know my mother let alone think of her as a family friend, so after a bit of reservation I steeled my nerves patted taraji on the back to being her to reality and entered the house

The thing is everything looked Normal nothing was out of place other than some trash that was on the floor that she quickly hurried to clean

But something felt fundamentally Wrong as I stepped through the door and by the look on taraji's face she felt it too as we walked through the house we passed through the kitchen

Little messes of gravy stained on the floor still not mopped, the smell of Neckbone and rice on the stove wafting through the air, but we had a goal so we kept going and we saw the Stairs and just like when we entered the house just seeing it something was Wrong every step we took the feeling intensified

Taraji held my hand (non romantically mind you) for support as a feeling of oppression went over us as we reached the top of the stairway as if something was telling us to turn around

I don't know if it was the adrenaline flowing through me or a trick or the light but for a second I saw a Yellow butterfly in front of me, when I blunk though it was gone

With each step forward it felt like a we became heavier until finnally we saw a door Kymani's Room and the previous oppression and weight disappeared and was completed with silence utter silence

Taraji at this point was trembling, we both probably were, the stress flowing through my mind at this point was immense and yet nothing of note was there just a door...yet I couldn't understand why I felt such dread

Our footsteps echoed through the hallway as the silence within felt drowning, it was becoming hard to breath and I was slowly getting more scared, but I tried my best stay strong as taraji at this point looks ready to break down

With a heavy heart and mind my hand reached out and grabbed the doorknob

As I twisted it and gently opened the door there was Nobody, and nothing Naught but silence

We turned around at that point and silently walked down the stairs Bianca looked worried as she looked at us but I just said we were leaving and politely said bye

Nothing was said between us as we walked our separate ways home, nothing needed to be said, we both knew at that point something was wrong with the world and nothing could fix it, I sent her a message on my phone telling her we should visit the house weekly to check for any further changes and after 10 minutes she agreed

Honestly there's nothing left I can do except investigate

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Entry 30

Nothing, nobody remembers him except us, not a random classmate, not the neighbors, even his birth certificate and his online information were gone

Everything and every detail about him was gone until surprisingly I found his phone hidden under some mulch at a park close to his house

I remember when he jokingly told me his phone number was "the funny number" repeated, so it gave me a slight chuckle as I found his number was 6969, gave me one of my first smiles in days

And as I expected everything was wiped, but for some reason a single app was on there called Honkai Impact 3rd I remember him and Taraji always geeked out about that game, but for some reason it's the only detail left on his otherwise wiped phone

So I booted up the game and unsuprisingly the data was wiped, but something was gnawing at my mind, something told me to play through the game so I did

Every day I played slowly through the game, becoming a higher level, going through slightly numb days at school as me and Taraji tried to move on, she was relatively more quiet on what she did at home but who am I to judge

From first playing as Kiana I played through the story, seeing her life and struggled with her friends Bronya and Mei, honestly it seems like the typical high quality gacha game to me

Currently Bronya just got mind controlled by her mother and took Mei, I'll see where this takes me I guess, it's the only lead I have leys hope nothing goes Wrong

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Entry 60

You know I woke up today with that same feeling I had when I visited Kymani's house weekly and started seeing objects in his room slowly disappear until it just seemed like a guest room

But for some reason kymani didn't feel like my main concern Something felt off so I immediately texted Taraji I waited 30 minutes, I waited an Hour, one text, anything I would've been satisfied but She didn't respond

I immediately hopped on my bike and hauled ass to her house, at this point that same dread I felt creeped up on me and I heard something laughing at me

It's rough yet melodic laughter accompanied me as I reached Taraji's house, I didn't hesitate and burst through the door running up the steps and swinging open her room door to be accompanied by silence i slowly walked back down the steps

As I walked down her mother groggily is waking up and I asked if Naomi was visiting someone, and god I was hoping for any type of positive response but the only thing I was told was " who is that" i quietly said sorry for waking her up and and rode back home on my bike

I cried that day

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I place down my journel and stick the pen I have back on it after writing down Entry 120 and chuckle to myself ' today's the day' I say depressingly.

I'd be dumb not to notice Taraji went missing after 2 months, who is to say I'm excluded from that treatment, I stood up and got dressed in some comfy clothes a white shirt and a blue jacket, I put on my pink slippers and off down the stairs I went

I quietly walked past my worried mother 'not like she is gonna remember me anyways' I think depressingly as I walk out the door

I look up to the sky as I walk "heh, why does the sun today look so somber" I dont know if it was just me but despite the sunlight Things looked darker and darker

I walk up to the nearest Taco Bell whistling a little tune " glad I was able to at least beat Kevin before today" I say with a smile as I pull out my wallet and open it " ok 200 dollars, guess its time to stuff myself"

I walk through the door the bells at the top ringing as I order 1 of everything, at the empty store the lady at the register looks st me like im insane " no combos just one of everything, it's a special day" she just sighs as i pass her the 100 she rings up my change but i said it was fine to keep it as a tip

I get my large cup and fill it with every flavor of cold drink they have and sip on it silently as I'm given my order 1 by 1, eating my chicken chalupa by myself

I feel at Peace for the first time in a while, no stress, no fear, no anger, just peace, the bell rings as a girl with a green yellow-striped shirt and Jordans walks through the door and sits in front of me

I finish my food as I notice the world has stopped as the girl looks at me with her head laying in the palm of her hand, with a gentle smile

She says in a melodic voice " I'm here, quite the fine afternoon you set for us" I just smirk at her words putting my hands in pocket as I lay back on my chair

" Yeah, sorry I couldn't prep more for our date but all things come to an end I suppose " I say in a calm voice as the girl puts down her hand and tilts her head

" you know I expected more fear, anger perhaps, dread, never once did I suspect you would be calm " she says as she picks up a taco and unwrapped it

" well I did have 4 months to process things, why sweat the small things you know, despite the fact you spirited away my friends and put me through months of trauma I wanted to end it up on a high note" I say as I stand up stretching as the girl finishes her taco and stands up

I say with a teasing tone as I bow exaggeratedly " so may I know my date for this fine evening " she is caught off guard by that and laughs for a minute her voice gently attacking my ears

After she catches herself she gives me another smile " I've gone by many names over the years, but one always stuck, you can call me chara"

Her hand grasps her chin as she tilts her head repeatedly as if thinking over something before just nodding " you know you can see them again, I'd be willing to give you my blessing, your the most interesting person I've seen in a while"

I froze from her words, I could actually see them again but..." Let me guess there's a catch?" I say bending my knees around as the girl's eyes glow red

" yes there's a choice for you, you can either A just get taken away, after all I have to do my job smoothly. Or I give you my blessing and a chance to interact with them again" her face reforms into a creepy 2 red glowing slits and a lined red smile as she holds out her hand

I chuckle despite my fear and grab her hand " was there really any choice" I say with a smirk on my face

Her face turns back to normal as she wraps her hands around me in a hug as she whispers in my ear " well my champion I wish you the best, enjoy your life and perhaps you will see them again " with that she gives me a peck on the cheek as I blush surprised as suddenly I feel a weightlessness

I hear her gentle laughter one more time as I feel a sense of Drowning

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I honestly believe the quality of my work went up eh?, well obviously by the written work you can guess how this is going, by the time you see this there will be 5 more chapters in the work

Every Monday and Friday I'll be posting 1 chapter

That's all and see you later