Tear

Today was a very strange day. I transferred to a new school, Neturus High, and hoped I would make at least one friend. Unfortunately my wish wasn't granted, but I did meet this one guy. His name is Ail. He looks really scary, but he's actually pretty nice. When I was hungry, he gave me a pear. I like fruit a lot, so it made me happy.

Afterwards I saw this weird light, which brought me to this strange room (along with Ail). There was also this other guy there too, Barry, who calls himself a "Master Chef". Our teacher, Ms. Reachet, said we were chosen by one the Spiritual Guardians to protect Neturus to fight monsters!

It all seemed like a dream, but I'm sure it wasn't. Do you know how when you're dreaming and you're not sure if you're dreaming, but when you're awake you know you're not? It was like that.

I wish it was a dream, though. I really don't want to fight any monsters. It sounds really scary, and I already have enough to worry about as it is...

--

Ail and I went to our new dorm room, room 39. We were both probably assigned the same room because we're both transferees, but it still seemed weird to be grouped up with him for all sorts of things.

Ail sighed. "Jeez, I sure have seen you a lot today. And it looks like I'm going to be seeing you even more often from now on..."

"I-I'm sorry..."

"Don't worry about it, it's fine. At least I'm not sharing a room with chef boy."

"I-I see..." I said, not knowing what else to say.

"So, your name is Tear, right? It's a weird sounding name, but I guess it suits you."

"U-um..." I paused for a moment. "A-and you're... Ail. Right?"

"Yep. I'm Ail Diluvi, and no, my name's not short for anything. So just 'Ail' is fine."

"O-okay..."

"It looks like all our stuff is already here." Ail stated, randomly changing the subject. "And it looks like all of my things were put right next to this bed."

Ail jumped back-first onto the bed. "Finally, I get to lie down. I'm so tired!"

My stuff was placed at one of the corners of the room. While I was checking to make sure all of my belongings were there, I noticed something odd. "W-wait, where's my bed?"

"Hm?" Ail got up. "Hey, you're right! Where the heck is it?!"

This made me feel uncomfortable.

We're not going to have to share, are we?!

"Let's go complain to the staff. C'mon." Ail grabbed my arm, forcibly pulling me up off the ground.

"W-wait...!"

Ail sighed again, and let go. "Sorry about that. I'm not in exactly in the best mood right now."

"Sorry if I'm being a burden to you."

"What am I saying..." Ail hit his forehead with his hand. "... You're probably not too happy about this morning either."

I touched the palette emblem in my pocket, reminded of what I was depressed about earlier. "Yeah, I'm scared of what might happen to us..."

"Since we've both been stuck into this mess, I've got your back. Alright?"

"R-really?"

"Yeah, really. So there's no need for you to worry about it."

"T-thank you... You're the first person who's been this nice to me in a long time."

"Oh, right... You mentioned that you had no friends before." The expression on Ail's face softened. "Seems like your life hasn't been exactly peachy, huh?"

You have no idea...

"I-I'm okay; really. You don't have to be my friend if you don't want to. I promise not to be a bother to you..."

Ail sighed once again. He really does that a lot. "Listen... I'm not the happiest guy around, and I may seem pretty intimidating, but I don't mind being your friend."

This surprised me. "Y-you mean it?"

"Sure I do. I don't many friends either, anyway."

This made me really happy. I never thought I'd ever meet someone so kind at this school.

"Now then. Let's go get you your bed, Tear."

"Okay." We went out into the hall. At the same time, we saw a girl getting out of her dorm room.

"Oh, it's Chelsea." Ail said. "She's a friend of mine. Let's go say hi."

"A-ah! S-she's...!" I backed up into our room.

"What's wrong with you? C'mon!" Ail grabbed my arm again and dragged me towards her.

"I-I don't want to!" I exclaimed, trying to free myself from Ail's grip.

W-why is he doing this?!

"Hey, Ail~ey!" Chelsea said, noticing us. "Who's that guy you're dragging behind you?"

"He's Tear, my roommate. He's a bit quiet, but he's an okay guy." Ail replied, after letting go of my arm.

"Oh, hey. I'm Chelsea, nice to meetcha."

"H-hi..." I uttered quietly.

"You really are quiet, huh? It's a wonder how you get friends like that..."

"I'm actually his only friend at the moment, apparently."

"Oh, is that so? I guess you two make a good pair, since you're both loners! ... Then again, you can't call someone a loner if they aren't alone... Hm..." Chelsea scratched her head.

I nervously looked at the ground and put my arms behind my back. I really wanted to leave. "U-um Ail, can we please..."

Ail noticed what I was doing and said, "Hey, what's the matter? You seem all jittery. Well, moreso than usual..."

"E-er... Uh..."

"You're not scared of girls, are you?"

"U-um..."

Chelsea flipped her hair. "Or maybe he's never seen a girl as beautiful as me before~! He must not know how to react properly."

"Don't worry; I know she looks pretty ferocious, but she doesn't bite." Ail told me, ignoring Chelsea.

"And just what's that supposed to mean, Ail?!" Chelsea said angrily.

"Relax, I'm just kidding." Ail chuckled.

"Hmph... Hey, wait a sec." Chelsea went up closer to me.

"E-eh?"

"Now that I've taken a closer look, you look kinda familiar... Have we met somewhere before?"

"H-huh?! N-no, you must have me confused with someone else..." I answered nervously.

"Oh? Forget I mentioned it then. See ya, Ail~ey!" Chelsea waved him goodbye and walked away.

"Don't worry, she's a lot nicer than you think."

After that, I didn't know what to say.

"Tear? Hello!?" Ail shook me, thinking I wasn't listening to him.

"W-wha! Sorry!"

"Whatever, let's go!" He grabbed my arm once more and walked further down the hall. His grip was even tighter this time, so he must've been angry.

"Stop it! It hurts!"

"I'm afraid you'll space out again if I don't!"

"I-I won't!"

"Fine." Ail stopped moving and let go of my arm. "You know, I shouldn't have to drag you like this. We're going to the office for your bed, after all."

That's right; what's wrong with me?

"I'm really sorry."

"Whatever. You must be as tired as I am, but don't space out again."

"Okay..."

"Who's making all that noise?!" An angry voice coming from one of the dorm rooms said.

"Oh, sorry about that."

The person opened his door. He was a droopy-eyed guy with glasses. Other than that, he was pretty average-looking.

"Oh... it's you, Ail. What are you doing out in the halls at this hour?"

"Ah, Tech. I didn't know your dorm room was next to ours."

"'Ours'? I'd assume the person behind you is your roommate, then?"

"Yep."

"Really. How strange..."

"What's strange about it?"

"Why is a girl sharing a room with you?"

"E-EH?!" I exclaimed in shock.

"Tear's a guy, buddy. I think you're getting brain damage from your lack of sleep. ... How much sleep did you get last night, anyway?"

"Sleep?" Tech thought about it, then answered, "I think I got about 2 hours or so..."

"Go to bed, Tech."

"I'm busy now."

"Sleep!" Ail yelled.

"Ugh... fine." Tech went back in his room.

"Man, he really needs to take a break from that computer of his." Ail said, as we went further down the hall.

"What does he do in there?" I asked, following him.

"Him? He's a programmer."

"What does a programmer do?"

"Um..." Ail scratched his head. "... Programming stuff."

So he doesn't know... "Does it take up a lot of his time?"

"It does for him."

"Why? Does he like it that much?"

"It makes good money apparently. Don't know what he needs the money for, though."

"I see."

Ail started to chuckle for some reason. "Heheh..."

"W-what's so funny?"

"I've never heard you talk so much, Tear."

"I-I was just curious..." I said, blushing out of embarrassment.

"No, it's a good thing." Ail smiled. "I think it's better if you talked more and stopped being so nervous all the time."

"And I've never seen you smile so much either, Ail."

"Really? Didn't even notice I was."

This moment made me happy. I hadn't talked to someone like this for a long time.

--

As we were walking we ended up at the cafeteria, which was close to the office.

"Yo, Ail!" Someone called to us from one of the tables. He was tall and burly looking, but he also looked friendly.

"What're you doing in the cafeteria?"

This must be another one of Ail's friends...

"Just chilling. Who's that guy, bud?"

"He's Tear, my roommate. Our room has one less bed than it should, so we're going to go complain to the staff about it."

"I see. I'm Mac, one of Ail's buds. Nice to meet you, Tear."

"N-nice to meet you, too..."

"You sure are quiet, bud."

"Yeah, he's like that. I guess it's better than him talking too much, though."

"Hahah, it's so like you to say something like that, bud." He said to Ail. "Anyway, since we're all here, let's get some drinks! On me, of course."

W-what; drinks?! He doesn't mean...

Luckily, Ail came to my rescue. "Maybe later. We still have to go to the office before it's too late."

"Ah, alright. Well, see ya then."

--

"What do you mean tomorrow!?" Ail yelled at the secretary lady.

Apparently we got to the office too late. The lady was the only one left in the office, actually.

"Like I already said, everyone else has turned in for the day. So you'll have to wait. I'm sorry."

"Man..." Ail sighed, and calmed down. "Let's go, Tear."

"Okay..."

This isn't good...

We decided to leave the office and passed by the cafeteria again, and noticed that Mac was gone.

Ail sat at one of the tables. "It looks like even Mac isn't here anymore."

"Nope." Was all I had to reply.

"Sit here. I'll be right back."

"Huh?" Ail left me there, all alone. I sat at the table, and waited. I let my mind wander, and then...

--

"Hey, wake up!" Ail yelled. He was sitting across from me, holding two cups.

"D-did I fall asleep?!"

"I don't know! Did you?"

"Sorry, I didn't want to disturb you, bud." Mac was apparently sitting next to me as well, which surprised me a little.

"How long has it been?"

"Like 5 minutes. Sorry I took so long; here." He gave me a cup.

I couldn't recognize what it was. "What is this?"

"A drink." Ail stated unhelpfully.

"Y-you mean..." No, I don't want this!

"Sorry I didn't get you one, Mac."

"No problem, bud. I was away doing... business, so you probably thought I went back to my room."

I pushed the cup towards Mac. "Here. Y-you can have it..."

"Nah, it's okay."

"No, really. I-I don't want it..."

"What's the matter? You not thirsty?" Ail looked a bit peeved.

"It's good, bud. I guarantee it!" Mac reassured me. "When it comes to drinks, Ail has some pretty good taste, hahah!"

"O-okay..." I hesitated, then decided to smell it. I calmed down when I realized what the drink was. "This smells like... pear juice. I-I think..."

"It is pear juice. You don't like it?" Ail drank some of his own juice. "You gobbled down that pear I gave you this morning, didn't you? C'mon, drink up."

"T-that's not it." I started fidgeting. "U-um, I thought it was... Maybe..."

"Thought what? I was going to make you drink liquor or something?

"U-uh..." I didn't want to admit it.

Ail put his hand on his forehead. "... You can't be serious..."

I blushed out of embarrassment.

I should've known better...

Mac started laughing, which made it even more embarrassing for me. "You actually thought we were giving you liquor, bud? That's hilarious!"

"You're not even allowed to drink that kind of stuff in school, stupid!" Ail exclaimed, after finishing his drink.

"S-sorry..." That's all I could say.

Mac stopped laughing. "So anyway, you still doing the pear sharing thing, Ail?"

"Hm? What pear sharing thing?" I asked, happy we changed the subject.

"I-it's nothing, forget it." Ail said, him being the embarrassed one now. "Anyway, finish your juice so we can go get some sleep already."

"But I still don't have a bed..." I reminded him.

"Why don't you just share the bed you have, Ail?" Mac suggested. "The beds are big enough to fit a guy like me in 'em, so I'm sure you buds could fit together! Hahah!"

"N-no!" I shouted, louder than intended. "I-I can't..."

"Mac, we just met today. I'm pretty sure Tear wouldn't be comfortable doing something like that with someone he barely knows."

"U-um... Y-yeah..." I'm surprised he's being so understanding. But I'm also happy...

"What're going to do then, bud?"

"We'll figure something out. Let's go, Tear."

--

We returned to our dorm room, tired and bed-less (at least I was).

"Man, I'm beat..." Ail said, yawning.

"A-are we going to have to share the same bed after all...?" I asked him nervously.

"Nah, you can have my bed. I'll sleep on the floor."

"R-really?!" I said, shocked by his generosity.

"Yep." Ail lied on the floor and closed his eyes. "Night."

Although I was happy that I could sleep in the bed by myself, I was still concerned. "Are you sure you're okay sleeping like that?"

"Yeah, it's fine... Turn off the light, would ya?" He said lazily.

"Okay." I turned off the light and went in Ail's bed. It felt kind of weird, but at least I had somewhere to rest.

Before I thought to close my eyes, I remembered something I was curious about earlier.

"... Ail, can I ask you something?"

"What!?" Ail complained, probably angry that I interrupted his sleep (sorry, Ail).

"About what Mac talked about before. The pear thing."

"Oh, that... It's just something my mom used to do. She always said 'the reason it's called a pear is because it's meant to be shared with others'. It sounds pretty dumb, doesn't it?"

"N-no, I don't think so..."

"Well, whatever. Good night."

"Good night... ... Ail, aren't you cold?"

I got no response, but I heard some snoring.

He must've fallen asleep already...

I got up and put one of my blankets over Ail, then went back in the bed.

Maybe I'll actually be able to enjoy my time at school this year. Thank you, Ail...

End of Chapter 2