Once upon a time, there was a boy. Now, this boy wasn’t what I would call stupid, just a little headstrong. His name was Kento.Kento came from a large, loving family. For his last birthday, he had been given a magical orange orb that could call powerful armor to help him should he ever need it. Kento loved that orb and took it everywhere he went. Early one morning when he found he had nothing to do, he went out for a walk.
“Man, this place is boring…” Kento grumbled, looking around at the familiar path and forest surrounding his family’s home. He sighed and grabbed the armor orb from his coat pocket, rolling it around in his palm, watching the different shades of orange within the sphere. “I wish something would just happen…” He shrugged, closing his eyes for a moment. At that exact same moment, his foot collided with a rock, sending him forward, his armor orb flying right out of his hand. Kento steadied himself quickly, frantically searching for his precious sphere.
“Um…excuse me…” A tiny voice piped up, momentarily shocking Kento. He scowled, straining his ears.
“Hello? Who’s out there?” He asked, stepping forward, wary of any further obstacles on the ground. A cute, little, bright blue frog jumped out and sat on a small, rocky ledge two feet from Kento. Kento blinked and walked closer. The frog blinked back. The pair watched each other in silence a few moments longer before the frog rolled its eyes.
“Something wrong?” The frog asked. Kento’s eyes went wide, but he remained still. He continued to stare dumbfounded at the frog, blinking on occasion. The frog clicked its tongue, annoyed. “Are you gonna say something or just stare at me like that?” Kento shut his eyes and shook his head.
“Okay, I’m losing it! A talking frog…” Kento laughed nervously, inhaling deeply. The frog, insulted, muttered something unintelligible yet angry and hopped down from its ledge, over a few feet to Kento.
“Don’t ignore me!” The frog yelled. Kento, taken aback, fell backwards onto the ground. The frog hopped up onto Kento’s raised knee and glared at him.
“S-sorry.” Kento swallowed. The frog smirked.
“Now, isn’t there something you lost?” The frog asked, hopping down onto Kento’s stomach. Kento inhaled sharply. The frog jumped a little, startled, and looked up curiously at Kento. “Now what?”
“Besides y-you b-being a talking f-frog?” Kento asked, trying to slow his breathing. The frog smirked and nodded. “You’re poisonous.” The frog blinked.
“What in the world makes you think that?” The frog asked, his tone flat. Kento’s eyes roved over the frog, raising an eyebrow.
“You’re a funky color. Everyone knows that if a frog or toad is some color besides green or brown, they’re poisonous.” Kento breathed. The frog rolled his eyes.
“That is just a stupid rumor. I’m not poisonous. Who ever heard of a frog that bites, anyway?” The frog huffed.
Kento didn’t know whether to laugh or throw the freaky talking amphibian and make a run for it. Suddenly, his mind snapped back to the armor orb and Kento momentarily forgot about the frog. He sat up quickly, the frog tumbling down onto Kento’s lap. The frog, shaken, jumped down and glared up at Kento again.
“Back with the program, huh?” The frog asked sarcastically. Kento smirked down at the frog and carefully stood, trying not to squish the little guy.
“Yeah. Hey, you happen to see where I accidentally threw my armor orb? It’s a little orange ball, small enough to fit right in the middle of my palm. I can’t see it anywhere…” Kento muttered, looking around again. The frog sighed and jumped back up on the little rocky ledge.
“I know where your ball went. It’s down there.” The frog motioned behind him. Kento raised an eyebrow and walked closer to the frog. His heart sank when his eyes first set upon the small but rather deep well the frog was sitting by. Noting Kento’s expression, the frog nodded. “It fell down there, almost bonked me on the head.” Kento looked apologetic for a moment at the frog, inching closer to the well.
“Sorry ‘bout that, but…how do I get my ball back? I can’t fit down there.” Kento frowned. The frog tilted its head, glancing from Kento to the well and back again.
“Y’know…I could get it for you, if you want.” Kento’s eyes brightened and he looked pleadingly at the small blue amphibian. The frog almost smiled back, but stopped himself. “Well…I could, but…” Kento’s face fell.
“But what?” He asked, worried. The frog thought a moment, turning to look Kento straight in his eyes.
“If I get your ball for you, will you do something for me?” Kento blinked, curious.
“Uh, sure. Whatever you want, lil’ froggy dude. You get me my ball, I’ll get you whatever it is you want.” Kento promised. The frog allowed himself to smile this time, turning to the well.
“This may take a few moments. Wait here, I won’t be long.” The frog said and jumped, waving to Kento. It was a few seconds before the splash.
Kento wasn’t sure exactly how long he had waited for the little blue frog to come back up from the watery depths that had taken his orb. It felt like hours, sitting there by himself, occasionally looking down into the well but unable to see anything. Before too long, however, Kento could see a hint of orange peering up from the side of the rocky ledge. He leaned over the edge and grinned when he saw the frog clambering up the side of the well with the small orange sphere carefully balanced on top of his head. The poor frog looked about out of breath, but Kento was more interested in the armor orb that was finally returned to him.
“Thanks, lil’ dude!” Kento said happily, careful to put the orb away in one of his zip up coat pockets. He was about to leave when the frog piped up again.
“I…I did w-what you w-wanted…” The frog heaved, out of breath. He pulled himself into a sitting position, evening his breathing. Kento blinked and turned, looking down at the frog. “Now you gotta keep your end of our bargain. You promised you’d do something for me.” The frog said. Kento nodded.
“Yeah, I did, didn’t I?” Kento said, kneeling down next to the frog. The frog nodded, hopping onto Kento’s folded knees.
“Yes, you did. You gonna keep your promise?” The frog asked. Kento smirked and nodded again.
“Of course! Now, what is it that you wanted?” The frog took a deep breath and looked Kento straight in the eye.
“Well…uh, I want…” The frog was having difficulty asking for what he wanted, apparently. Kento tilted his head, laying a hand behind the frog, running his thumb on the top of the frog’s head. The frog blinked, surprised by Kento’s odd action. It seemed the frog would have blushed if it could have. Kento found this amusing.
“Well, little dude? What can I get for you?” Kento asked, tilting his head the other way, watching the frog. The frog looked away and mumbled something. Kento raised an eyebrow. “What was that?”
“Could you…kiss me?” The frog choked out, avoiding Kento’s eyes this time. Kento snorted. The frog shuddered and tried to hop away. Kento, however, had a good enough hold on the amphibian that it wasn’t going anywhere.
“Hold it. You want me to kiss you?” Kento asked, amused. The frog nodded silently. Kento bit his lip, a little confused. “Um, okay, why exactly is that what you want? I mean, wouldn’t you want something a bit more practical? I don’t exactly know what most other frogs would want, but I’m pretty sure a kiss wouldn’t be one of the top five things.” The frog sighed and looked up at Kento.
“Look, I know it’s a weird request. I know kissing a frog sounds like one of the most disgusting things you could possibly do. I won’t hold you to your promise if you think this is too gross, but…that’s all I really want. I can’t explain it right now…” Kento shook his head.
“I didn’t say it would gross me out, lil’ dude. Though, yeah, it is a little weird. I mean, honestly, I thought if you had the choice of asking for anything you’d want, I didn’t think that one thing you really wanted was someone to kiss you. But, hey, if that’s it, and you don’t mind, I’ll oblige ya.” The frog blinked, surprised.
“Y-you mean…? You’ll r-really…?” The frog asked, unbelieving. Kento grinned, picked the frog up in both his hands and kissed the top of the frog’s head. Suddenly, without warning, a bright, iridescent blue light blinded Kento. He dropped the frog to shield his eyes, confused and worried.
“Hey?! Frog dude?! You okay?!” Kento shouted, his eyes still shut tight. He heard a light laugh and something tapped his knee.
“Yeah, I’m fine. You can open your eyes now.” The frog said, at least, Kento thought it was the frog. He slowly opened his eyes, shocked beyond belief as to what he saw before him. Some gorgeous guy with auburn hair and beautiful green eyes was smiling at him. Kento backed up a little, falling over his feet that he had folded beneath himself. The guy chuckled.
“You okay, mate?” He asked, leaning over Kento. Kento was finding it hard to form words.
“Wh-where…wh-what…happened to the f-frog?” He choked out. The guy laughed, reaching out a hand.
“I was the frog. My name’s Cye. You have no idea how much I appreciate that kiss, mate. Best one I’d ever had.” Kento blushed, grabbing Cye’s hand, pulling himself back into a sitting position.
“So…uh, you were…the frog?” Cye nodded, amused at Kento’s dumbfounded expression.
“Yes, that was me. Are you gonna be okay?” Cye asked, standing, holding Kento’s hands, having him stand with him. Kento blinked and nodded, though still a little unsure. Cye grinned and kissed the tip of Kento’s nose. That seemed to have snapped Kento out of his stupor. Cye laughed again. “Back with the program?” Cye asked. Kento smirked and nodded.
“Yeah.” Kento said, kissing Cye’s nose. Cye blinked, surprised, and blushed. Kento laughed this time. “Can I ask you two things?” Cye blinked again and nodded. “Okay, first thing, why…no, how exactly were you a frog?” Cye bit his lip, shrugging.
“Hard to explain. I pissed off some guy with long white hair, who wore a funny looking hat, and he turned me into a frog saying the only way I was going to go back to being me was if I could find someone who would find it in their heart to kiss me with a clear conscience.” Kento nodded, taking in what he could.
“Okay…odd, but okay…” Cye laughed, nodding.
“Yeah,” He said, stepping away from Kento a moment. “So, uh, what was the other question?” Kento grinned, holding out a hand for Cye’s. Cye looked at it a moment.
“Wanna come over to my house for dinner?” Cye looked into Kento’s eyes a moment, unsure. He thought only for a second then grabbed Kento’s hand, wrapping his arm around Kento’s.
“Sure.”
And They Lived Happily Ever After
