Chapter 2: The Liar Butterfly
Chapter 2 starts with Yuuji in his room, staring at a piece of paper. He pauses, lets out a sigh, then chucks the paper in the garbage. Or at least he tries. The crumpled paper bounces off the trashcan and rolls on the floor, like fuck you buddy, you get your sweet cheeks over here and send me off gently. Yuuji must be a man that can’t stand a mess because he actually does get up and put the offending paper in the trash receptacle as intended. Returning to his desk, the jar holding Masaki’s cigarette catches his eye.
Touching the glass gently, Yuuji muses: “I wonder what he’s writing about…”
We jump to earlier in the day and we see Masaki, letting out a molar exposing yawn, a little spit flying out in the process.
Yuuji: =___= *wipes a bit of the spit away*
It’s club time. All the members have assembled – Yuuji, Masaki, Ayumi, some chick, and an angry little man in glasses. “Probably going to go bald in ten years if he doesn’t cool it” is I guess the leader of the club. He tells the members they need to write pieces for their club magazine.
Ayumi pokes Masaki and tells him he better write something.
Masaki: Ha! If I can’t even bother to show up at class, what makes you think I’ll put any effort into this club?
“All the Ulcers” howls at Masaki. Bitch, I don’t care if I have to sever your digits and replace all eleven with pens (Masaki: but I only have 10 fingers, what else did you sever? OMG, you’re not talking about my pe-), you will write and lurer in members. Papa needs the club membership fees to embezzle!
Masaki: still a little concerned about the danger to my manhood but anyway, how is this my problem?
Receding hairline: your penis is the problem
Masaki: excuse? Do we need to take my penis out for a test ride because it is majestic and still has that new car smell :/
Exactly, says Ayumi. No one wants to join the club because of Masaki. Apparently, it’s rumored Masaki likes to stick his dick into every hole he can find and no one wants to be in a room with a guy wearing a block of swiss cheese on his wang.
Masaki: THAT WAS FRESHMAN YEAR AND I WAS DRUNK
Anger Management begins talking again: with the goal of attracting potential members, each current member will write a piece that’s 50 pages long. Anyone who doesn’t finish their assignment will have to stare at his misshapen balls for 5 minutes.
Everyone: welp if that ain’t motivation, I don’t know what is.
Grumpy: I’m happy you’re all grabbing your pens and writing but the fact my balls were more of a motivator than a gun to the head is a bit depressing.
Back to the present. Yuuji is still staring at his blank papers. “I mean, it’s not like I want to be a writer or anything. All I have to do is fake something up but easier said than done…”
Yuuji: But not seeing those balls is a good motivator. If Twilight can do it, so can I.
The phone rings, cutting in to his thoughts. It’s his sister.
Yuuji: FUCK I mean, hey sis
It’s Yuuji’s b-day coming up. The family wants to celebrate it with dinner. Yuuji tries to worm his way out of it but like in chapter 1 when his sister left her shit at his place, Yuuji rolls over and agrees. Also, no college student can ever truly say no to free food.
The next day, Yuuji goes to class and sees a face he’d never thought he’d see in a class, awake: Masaki. What, were they fumigating the club room? And even then, Masaki would still refuse to leave.
Masaki: you heard the man. Exposed, wrinkled genitals. No looking away. Pulsating in front of my eyes. No. Plus, it’s too noisy at my place.
As Masaki’s pencil flies, Yuuji watches him. Behind them, girls gawk at the both of them. Yuuji is hot but then there’s something about Masaki and his chlamydia infested penis that’s got a girl interested.
Not sure why the girls are shown. Maybe to show how popular both are?
Because they are literally never shown again after these two panels lol
Yuuji tries to look like he’s busy reading, but he can’t concentrate. He asks Masaki why he joined the club in the first place.
Masaki: little late to be asking that. How long have we known each other? =___=;
Masaki explains that the prior club leader had came to him and begged for his help. The club was in danger of being abolished. Masaki agreed to help if in exchange he can use the club room to crash.
Masaki is about to say more but his pencil runs out of lead. Rather than think, shit I’m out of lead, he instead keeps pressing down on the top of the pencil, hoping lead will magically come out.
Yuuji, face =___=, hands over some lead to Masaki.
Masaki: :D yaya!
His fingers brush against Yuuji’s, who almost cums at the contact. Masaki is unaware of the affect his touch has, and asks Yuuji why he joined the dumpster fire they call a club? Yuuji doesn’t give a straight answer, though we readers can tell what his motivator was.
[I’m growing to hate myself, for taking pleasure in just touching him…]
Later that day, we meet the rest of the family members in Yuuji’s family. Mom is pretty much a foodie and made a career out of that. Dad produces movies. And sis who we met earlier rides on dad’s coattails and works in the film industry as well. Yuuji tells us, as his dad gives him some nice coin for his birthday, that he feels uneasy with his family. There’s never been anything for him to complain about or left for want but, with them, he doesn’t feel like he belongs.
After dinner, Yuuji parts with his family, lying that he has plans to meet up with friends. They leave and Yuuji tap dances in his head about surviving the night. Then, as we all do when we get older, he reflects on his added year to his age. This means he’ll grow a beard, and get buff/fat, depending on life choices. The exact opposite of what he’d like to be when he’s older (he thinks this as he watches a lady walk by). Head in thought, a window display catches his eye.
[ knew I shouldn’t. I knew jumping in would only end with pain. But even still…]
Yuuji enters the store – pretty much Japanese Zara. The sales lady welcomes him and looks around expectantly for a woman with him. Yuuji explains he’s here to find a dress for his girlfriend.
Sales lady: *suspicious but doesn’t get paid enough to care*
She helps him with selections, until Yuuji settles on a dress, blowing all his b-day money, which makes me think either 1.) how much is that fucking dress or 2.) did your rich dad literally give you $25 because how did you blow it all on one piece of clothing??
At home, Yuuji reflects on his purchase (not sure why he’s lying on his bed, hands on his belly, face concderned, like he wants to take a shit but can’t). That dress was hellah expensive. He could have bought a video game, actual food, clean underwear, and instead he threw everything on a dress…and some dope ass pearls.
The sudden fear of having to suffer the stare down with his club leader’s wrinkled prunes he calls balls spurs Yuuji out of his thoughts and back to his desk. He begins to write again and this time is making good progress. Every now and then, he stops to look at the dress and smiles.
[Clothes I want to wear. Just having that dress near me…makes me feel like I’ve found a place where I belong]
After an all nighter, Yuuji finishes his short story. We look over his shoulder to see the title of his work: The Liar Butterfly.
Chapter 2 end!
Told you chapter 2 was pretty tame. But now we have paved the road for our insane journey ahead. I’m talking blood will be shed, that’s how cray things are going to get (but that’s not until later on).
Spoils 
I don’t know why but this is reminding me of Kuzu no Honkai.
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Oh, I’ve been meaning to try Scum’s Wish! Heard it was interesting :J Very dramatic
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(being unable to fall in love with a guy)
+10 tragedy
(being unable to be who he wants to be+butterfly burning metaphor)
+25 tragedy
(titling his story “The Liar Butterfly”)
+100 therapy
Yuuji don’t die. Pls.
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He does have all the signs going to dying doesn’t he…
Especially that butterfly on fire thing
Like, butterflies don’t do that – moths do that. Moth’s don’t give two rat asses.
But not butterflies…
They have no value in the flame…
I’m going to pretend Yuuji’s just going through his emo high school phase now…and it’ll all end well and he’ll be happy and no funerals… *takes a shaky sip of whisky*
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It was a knee jerk reaction because this type of self-loathing/identity sadness usually leads to death. I re-read the post and Yuuji probably isn’t going to die. But someone is. Or a bond will be lost. Something tragic.
lol It had to be butterflies because butterflies are beautiful and people want to look at them. You see a moth and you’re like “WTF NO not my short shorts and inappropriate Christmas sweaters!”
I’d like to imagine a character saying what you said:
Random reader: So your butterfly just flew into the flame…
Yuuji: Yup.
R: But butterflies don’t do that, moths do that–
Yuuji: BUT IT LIED ABOUT WHO IT WAS.
Masaki: Even if the butterfly lied, it just wanted to be happy. (lights up a cigarette)
Yuuji: (imagines himself being the cigarette)
R: (looks at Masaki then Yuuji) Oh…OH! But still, the ending takes me out of the story. Makes no sense.
I think back on high school and it’s really “your brain hasn’t developed enough to cope with your problems—here are some problems”.
Then you’re an adult and it’s “you are an adult; you might still have some problems…here are more problems.”
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THAT’S WHAT MAKES THIS MANGA SO PAINFUL BUT SO ADDICTING TO READ
WILL THINGS TURN OUT OK
WILL THERE BE GROSS SOBBING IN THE RAIN
DRAMATIC PUSHES DOWNSTAIRS
COMAS
AMNESIA
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
THEN A KICK IN THE NUTS
AND ME ON THE FLOOR WONDERING WHY I DID THIS TO MYSELF
Haha, very true. Poor moths. Just bc they don’t mind setting themselves on fire to get what they want, they’ve got a bad reputation.
Sure if flowers were spewing electricity, then butterflies would be doing the same thing – BOOM SHAKA LACKA NECTA!
—
Teen years are weird
Like, your body and mind are going through changes, and you’re in an environment where everyone is like that
And since everyone is unstable
We do some crazy shit
To ourselves and each other
So much social insanity
I look back and think, damn, how did I survive that time
I was so young…so innocent…*leans back on wall to slowly fall to floor and then curl into a ball from remembering*
BUT WHEN YOU’RE AN ADULT
YOU’RE SO MESSED UP FROM SURVIVING YOUR YOUNGER YEARS
THAT IT FOLLOWS YOU
HAUNTS YOU
AND SINCE YOU’RE OLDER AND GOT MONEY MAYBE
YOU DO CRAZIER SHIT THAN WHEN YOU WERE YOUNGER
TO FORGET
LIKE HAPPY HOUR AND RECREATIONAL DRUGS ALL THE WAY
(or if you’re a loser like me, video games and manga!)
THERE’S NO ESCAPING THE CARNIVAL D:
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Lol A+ reaction and the summary of 50 different manga.
I almost went down the path of imagining an entire world based on flowers spewing electricity then thought “No, too much would change; entire industries would be different; I don’t know enough to make sense of such a world”. You can create writing prompts if you’re not writing stories.
Damn, high school. I pulled so much crap. I was not innocent but so very ignorant. Yeah, the problems you have when you’re younger don’t disappear when you hit legal adulthood. You have to develop healthy habits to cope with that shit.
Video games and manga are cool as long as you enjoy doing them. Even mainstream media has adapted some video games and anime into live action movies. We recently had that Ghost in the Shell one and now Death Note’s coming out on Netflix.
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The thing about shojo – it’s literally a genre of cliches. And you’d think I’d be tired of it but nope. Give me all the fiancees, love rivals, shojo stairs, parents getting run over, heroine getting run over, male lead getting run over, random person getting run over for plot reasons, wall slams, chin lifts, crying in the rain, random weather shifts to fit the mood, all the roses, dramatic wind, etc :p
If flowers shot out electricity, I can only imagine how bees would adapt to get that nectar. And then, would we still be like, save the bees?, as they electrocute our young? Is their honey worth it? Can we even eat that honey, or would it be used as some sort of power source. Electronic died? Grab a bee and recharge.
*strokes chin in deep thought*
Middle school and high school – what happens there affects you for life. What pushes us all into different categories is how well we coped with that shit as adults.
Sometimes I wake up, roll over, and, when remembering something random from my school days, scream “fuck!”
Whoever said high school was great obvious never went to high school (or can’t remember what high school was like/purposely represses the memories so they can lie to future generations and sit back to watch said future generations dreams get dashed one school day at a time) .
I was super surprised by the Ghost in the Shell one! Also Assassins Creed!
I’m scared to see what Death Note is going to look like. Has DBZ not taught us to stop playing god…
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If you ever want to switch to a real life equivalent, there’s Korean drama.
Bees do help pollinate the flowers and fruit trees. So they’d be our mascots. Google would celebrate the discovery of bees. We’d have electricity harvests. We’d evolve into the bees.
Ahhhh I used to get dreams that I was still in middle/high school! Like I forgot to turn in a school project or I wake up thinking I have an exam. *Re-reads your comment* Oh, that shit. Yeah it sucks. There are a few things that trigger a memory and I just don’t want to remember it anymore. Like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. When does it end.
People who think their high school days were the best days of their lives might not be having a good time. So it might not be a lie, just a sad truth for them.
His name is Light Turner. LIGHT TURNER. It’s gonna be great.
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Lol, Asian dramas – shojo cliches, with 3-D people :p
In this world, would flowers be of any use to us?
They electrocute us. Their pollinators electrocute us.
Maybe we would fight the flowers – they are our enemy. Literally going into a meadow equivalent biting through a telephone pole wire.
We can never forgot about our youth because it is those experiences that have turned us into the varying damaged adults we are today… *adds vodka to tea cup with a shaky hand*
Light TURNER?
Wait, is Light Japanese still or did he get whitewashed?
Haha, that name. Is it for foreshadowing? :p
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Yup, amnesia and incest/false alarm incest abound. Hm…actually, some of the dramas are adapted from manga. (Lightbulb moment there.)
We’d figure out how to use the flowers. We’ve shot bears to keep them as trophies, injected dead viruses/bacteria for vaccines, and figured out how to fling ourselves in a hunk of metal into outer space. Some asshole will always see something dangerous and risk trying to understand it to the benefit or detriment of humanity.
Though it’s easy to imagine people just taking a flamethrower to the field.
Just once, I’d like to watch a movie and see a character put tea into a vodka bottle. “Gotta get my antioxidants!”
Yup, Light TURNER, American high schooler. Writers love naming characters based on foreshadowing/character traits. That damn tumblr post about Victor Nikiforov; Nikiforov coming from the Greek word “Nikephoros”—> Nike, the goddess of victory; phero: to carry or to bear. “to carry victory”. Lost track of the post in the tumblr void so I’m not sure if this reference is legitimate but it seems like it.
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