A collection of memoirs from some of the students at Divine Crown Academy.Which would you like to read first?

Secret Lair

Written by brisquad unit 4402

Uncertain after a fight with his best friend, Luca seeks advice.

Luca Kaneshiro stared up at the leaves and the mottled sunbeams that shone through them. One hand rested behind his head, where his blond hair would tangle into the bark if he wasn't careful, while the other dangled as he laid on a tree branch hidden from the rest of the park.Over the years it had gotten harder to pull himself up onto the tree than when he was a child, which made it all the more satisfying as he grew stronger. He liked to run, but pull-ups kept him in good condition, and before long he didn't need the planks he and his sister nailed into the trunk as a ladder. He can't even remember the last time he thought about using them. Track practice had done him well.Speaking of, Lucy stood on the tire swing, lazily swaying with the wind through her cardigan. College had been kind to her. Most days she had bags under her eyes from studying, but on weekends they weren't as noticeable, and the sunny smile she picked up with her second year took over the rest of her features.Her chunky cardigan was full of holes for the sun to bleed through just like the leaves. When Luca turned his head, he could barely make out her silhouette from the tree's shadow, but he could tell that she raised a hand to her chin while the other held the rope.

Lucy's speaking voice always commanded attention whether she knew it or not, even when she lowered it for occasions like this. "You know Sonny wants the best for you.""Yeah," Luca said."And he wouldn't bring it up unless he thought you would be a good fit.""Yeah," Luca said.Lucy asked, "So why didn't you take the offer to campaign for the student council as president, Luca?"The younger brother shut his eyes. Whenever someone asked him that, he always had a reason, but something about Lucy always made him feel like she could see through him like glass."I don't know," he admitted. A leaf fluttered from the canopy of trees and rested on his chest, slowly rising and falling."You don't know, or you don't want to tell me?""I don't know," Luca insisted. "I don't get why he would ask me that, of all people."The leaf blew away with the wind, and Lucy braced herself to the rope. It picked the tire swing up. Lucy may only be a few inches shorter than Luca, but she was still the elder, and towered over him with or without the breeze on her side. "Sonny thinks you're dependable.""He must be disappointed, then." Luca cracked open his eyes. The sun shifted in the sky, and now he could make out spots of blue through the shade. "And pissed. I blew him off pretty hard.""Because you didn't want it or because you didn't know how to respond?"Luca raised his head to stare at Lucy. "I don't know!"Little did he know she was watching him, too. She smirked once he fell into her trap."You're the worst," he relinquished. He turned to rest on his side, too. Laying on his back made it feel way too much like a shrink's office, especially with his sister reading him like a book."You're your own worst enemy, Luca," Lucy said. She sighed, but didn't seem the slightest bit exhausted. "You're a hard worker, but you really need to get some confidence."Luca protested. "Hey, what the hell! I'm plenty confident!""Go tell Sonny that you'll reconsider it.""But—""Can you come up with a good reason why you wouldn't be a good president?" Lucy asked.Luca promptly shut his mouth."Thought so." She smiled. "How about instead of avoiding it, you go call him and say you'll sleep on it. You don't need to agree or reject it off the bat."Once again, Luca tried to think of something, and once again, Lucy was always one step ahead.Likely for the better. He'd always been a good runner, but he didn't realize just how good he was until now."The worst," he repeated. Luca gripped the branch as he rifled around for his phone. He pulled up his latest contacts and tried to ignore the last text conversation he had with Sonny. "Now close your ears and I'll call him, fine?""Fine." She chirped and plopped down on the tire, letting it take control as she flew.The line picked up on the sixth ring—not that Luca was counting— and the voice on the other end only spoke up after a few distant rustles. "Hello?""I'll think about it," Luca said. Then he kicked himself. "I mean, it's Luca. Hi. Sorry. I was being a dick earlier but I'll think about it.""Oh. Hey. GM." Luca moved the phone away in time for the loudest rustle. Sonny must have been laying in bed, especially since his voice was lower than usual, heavy with sleep. "Yeah. Sorry for being insistent, I guess.""Yeah. You awake right now?"Sonny yawned. "Unfortunately.""Wanna do something?""I guess? The conveyor belt sushi place by the tech store has 25% off during lunch happy hour today.""That starts in thirty minutes?""Yep.""You up for that, Sonny? Even though you just woke up?"Sonny scoffed. "Who do you think I am?""Meet me there in twenty-five.""I'll be up in twenty.""Out of bed or at the sushi place?" Luca asked, to no answer. "Sonny, are you even able to get ready that fast?"Sonny didn't respond. Luca checked his phone. He hung up right after they made plans.Luca looked down at the contact photo incredulously. For as uptight, regimented, and dedicated as the disciplinary officer of the student council was…Sonny was seriously a lazy bum sometimes.A chuckle from below made him look back down. His older sister held a hand to her mouth with a snicker, purple eyes turning to crescents as she squinted. "I've placed pizza orders longer than that conversation."Luca slid his phone back into his pocket, then threw a twig at his sister, trying not to turn beet red. He failed. "Lucy! I said not to listen!"

"You're smiling!" She sang. "Told you he wasn't that mad!""How much of that did you hear?!""You're so noisy I can hear you even if I plug my ears. Boys making up are so funny." Lucy leaned back in the tire swing. "You know it would've been faster if he just met you here instead of the sushi place.""Yeah," Luca said."Poor guy has even less time to get ready because of it.""Uh-huh." Luca didn't want to get out of his tree. "He knows I won't be mad with him. Hopefully.""I hope you know that feeling is mutual," Lucy advised. "And that you're capable of a lot more than you realize."Luca's face flattened. "I hope you know I'm done hearing your two cents today.""You'd be nothing without me," Lucy teased. Her eyes were closed as she rested, the very picture of serenity despite her shit-eating grin.The process of getting down the tree was much simpler than climbing it. She kept that serenity while the wind gusted around Luca as he landed on the ground. Two bikes marked the edge of the clearing that separated it from the rest of the park. He'd always thought of it as the Kaneshiros' secret lair, where no one goes in nor out without their blessing. The brush around it was thick enough that anyone would assume there was nothing but trees there, anyways, and he liked the idea of two siblings going down a mysterious path lost to time.Luca picked up his bike. "Yeah, yeah, I wouldn't."

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A Child's Dream

Written by LucienAngel963

A young boy finds his passion for the performing arts with the help of his father.

A little boy clutches the soft toy in his hands while a gentle hand guided his back as they entered a large building, one he hadn't been in before.There were people busily walking around the hallways, pushing large electronic machinery and racks of clothing towards their next location. There were also people in costumes that were unusual, some outfits from previous time periods, some superhero-esque, and some even in tattered and ripped clothing. Vox couldn't help but look around at the new things that grabbed his attention."Now, Voxxy, be sure to stay close to me so you don't get lost, okay? This is a big busy place." His commanding yet gentle voice had the young boy looking up at the man, his black hair slicked back into a ponytail and his chin growing a bit of stubble. His golden eyes felt hypnotising to Vox, demanding respect as he nodded enthusiastically."Okay, papa!" Holding the monkey plush in his left arm, he held onto his dad's hand as he guided them through the studio, past all the stage hands moving around props and costumes; he even saw an actor wearing a costume of one of his favourite TV characters.They finally got to a quiet and forgotten area in the very corner of the studio, Room 522. Vox squeezed his father's hand, partially out of fear but also out of excitement. His father looked down and smiled at the boy, ruffling his hair with a chuckle as he opened the door."Mr. Akuma!" A voice shouted from within the room upon their entry."Good morning!" Another voice joins in as they take notice of their director and his son stepping in."Nice to see you already on set. We'll be working on scene 15 today." He smiled gently as he patted Vox on the back. "Voxxy, say hello."He looked back at his father, then back at the other people in the room.One was a young blonde-haired woman with blue eyes. She looked to be one of the supporting cast for the movie as she looked through a script. There was also another brown haired man with brown eyes, another of the supporting cast. Then there was a boy, around late teens, with black hair and hazel eyes. He looked the kindest, already smiling and waving at Vox as he held onto his monkey friend tightly."H-hello..."His father only chuckled softly at his son's shyness, ruffling his hair again as he picked up his own script. "Voxxy, these are the people who are going to make your dream come to life. Are you looking forward to seeing Baba come alive?"Vox nodded gently, when he heard that his dad wanted to make a movie about a dream he had with him and Baba. He was really excited, wanting people to know how great Baba is. This was his first time seeing it being filmed, so he was unsure what was going to happen while he was there.The teenage boy walked over to the two with a grin as he crouched down to Vox's height. "It's going to be so fun, Voxxy! I'll be sure to take good care of Baba for you.""What's going to happen to Baba?" Vox frowned slightly, curious on the idea that his favourite plush was going to stand up and move around like a real person."Well, there's going to be some people in green suits that are going to hold Baba and make him move around. When it's getting filmed, it'll look like there's no people holding him and he's walking by himself!""Mmm... okay. But don't throw him around, he'll get upset!" Vox complained as he nervously gave the monkey to him.The boy nodded and gave him a thumbs up, standing up and walking back to the set to place Baba down onto one of the classic wooden chairs that would be part of a dining table set."Voxxy, that's Daniel. He'll be starring as you, so he'll always have his eyes on Baba. You can trust him." His father interjects as he finds the correct page in the script, pulling out his glasses from his pocket and putting them on to read.Vox pouts. "Why can't I be in the movie?""Son, I would love to see you be on set with Baba, but you're just too young right now." Akupapa smiled gently as he picked up the boy and sat him down on a chair that's a bit too high for him, the back of it reading "Director" in big bold letters."When you're older, I would love to see you on the cover of a movie poster, or an advertisement on the side of buses. That's only if you want to, of course. You don't need to be in the entertainment industry if you don't want to." He sat down beside Vox in a similar looking chair as the actors and stage hands finish preparing for scene 15.Although Vox still had his doubts, he looked towards the set, kicking his legs slightly as he saw Daniel sit on a bed with Baba being placed by his side and one of those men in green hiding behind the bed. The cameras were moved over to a 45 degree angle from the bed so both Daniel and Baba were in view of the shot."We're going to start now, do you think you can help me with an important task, Voxxy?" His father turned towards his son, his eyes immediately glowing as he smiled."Leave it to me, papa!"Akupapa nodded to him then passed him the clapperboard for the set, it being a little too big for his hands as he held it up against his legs."When I yell out 'mark', you lift the top half on the clapperboard and push it back down, okay?""O-okay!" Vox was excited, not just for the fact that his dream was being made into a movie but the fact that his father was letting him be a part of the production as well. Even just being in charge of the clapperboard felt important, as he was the one who told the people to record and told them to act. He had a special role, that the movie couldn't start without him."Is everything ready to go?" Akupapa asked around the cast, getting a thumbs up from the cameraman and receiving a 'Ready!' from Daniel with a smile. Seeing this, Vox opened up the clapperboard, knowing that he should get ready too."Okay, Scene 15 alpha, take one. Mark!" Akupapa looked to Vox, his smile glowing as he let go of the clapperboard, making a loud click as the camera whirred to signify it was recording.

Until then, Vox sat quietly and entranced by the movie, watching how his movie came to life. He felt like Daniel understood what he felt completely, as if they were the same person. At first, he didn't see how the green men worked, but once he saw what the editing did later on, it truly looked like Baba was alive.Since that day, he begged his father to let him go to watch the movie being made, even when he might've been missing preschool for it. Akupapa couldn't say no when it was a movie for Vox himself. He wanted his son to see how his movie was made, even if it didn't do well in reviews, he knew that he made one boy very happy.Unfortunately, once the movie was released, Vox quickly realized that his father stayed at home a lot more often than he would before. He was happy to have his company of course, but at first the boy worried that he would get fired if he was missing so many days of work.Akupapa laughed and ruffled his head."Don't worry about that Voxxy, I know what I'm doing. Being with you is my job as well."As time passed, Akupapa did get a new job, but it wasn't the same hours that he had when he worked as a director. He looked stressed, but always smiled around his son. It was only when he grew up that he found out that his father worked an average day job now.Even after the time Akupapa being a director had passed, Vox went to watch every single movie he had produced. It didn't matter if it was a genre he wasn't too fond of, his father just had a way of producing amazing sceneries and atmosphere. That's made him his father's biggest fan from the very day he brought Baba to life on the movie screen.When watching his last movie again, there was something he missed as a child, since he wasn't as patient to wait out the movie credits like he would now. Every name on that list was special to him, but now it was the last few seconds that was very special to him.

"I would like to thank everyone in this theatre for watching my film, whether you were a first time watcher or a fan of my work. Regardless, I thank you for your support. Unfortunately, this will be the last film as I will be retiring as a director."All of my films were made with passion, with the goal of spreading a meaningful message to people. I believe a good movie will make their viewers think, to make them wonder, or to make them empathize with the characters, to be put into their shoes for an hour or two and explore a situation beyond what your life can offer. If I have done that for you in any capacity for my films, then I have succeeded."Regardless of that, one day you do have to wonder, 'is my work complete? Did I achieve my goals?' For me, I believe that I have. But I also have another goal, one that I think is more important than continuing my directing career. So I want to focus on that goal instead.""To my dear son. At this time, you'll probably not read this but I know that one day you may find this message to you. I'm sorry for not telling you that this was the last film I'm making while you were on set with me, but I am glad I at least let your dearest friend help me make this film."I know I said that I would love to see you follow in my own footsteps, but I never want you to be obligated to do so. Fame was never my goal in the first place, but when I saw you growing up, I realized that I didn't want to miss those moments. I never gave up my goals for your own happiness, because supporting your happiness is my job."As long as you stay true to yourself and follow your own happiness, I will be there to support you. Seeing you grow up to be a fine young man is the greatest happiness you could ever give me. Live the life you want to live, and follow your happiness."Director AkumaThe words written felt so simple, and yet they stuck in his mind ever since the first time he read them. He was proud to have a father like him, and his passion for film and theatre grew more and more.Although his father was the start of his passion, Vox knew that he was following his heart, following his happiness, just like his father told him to.

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