Tear

Ail found out... He found out my secret. That I'm actually a girl.

I thought he would be mad at me, and that he would tell everyone. But he wasn't, and he even kept it a secret.

Ail really is a nice person, and I feel guilty that I can't tell him my reasons for hiding my gender. But it's because of that I can't tell him...

I don't want anyone I care about to be placed in harm's way...

Never again...

--

After our second fight with a monster, we brought Mac back inside to rest.

"What happened to him?" Tech asked Ail.

"A-ah, nothing much. He was probably spooked by something in the ocean and almost drowned as a result." Ail responded.

"It wasn't nothing!" Chelsea exclaimed. "It must have been her that did this to him!"

"Her?"

"Like, you don't mean..." Betty asked.

"IT WAS A GIANT MOLA MOLA MONSTER!!!" Mac screamed randomly, shocking all of us.

"W-well, looks like you're doing okay..." Ail uttered.

"Mola mola?" Relly asked Mac.

"You know, an ocean sunfish!"

"But, like, why would a mola mola attack you?" Ally asked him.

"Now that you mention it, I have no idea..." Mac scratched his head. "But it's all good! Thanks for saving me, bud!" He said to Ail.

"Well, it was really Tear and chef boy that saved you, but you're welcome."

I'm glad no one is suspicious...

"No, this is too weird!" Chelsea exclaimed again. "Something just isn't right!"

Never mind...

"It had to be her! There's no other possible explanation!"

"Chelsea, just who is this 'her' you keep on mentioning?" Ail asked Chelsea.

"You know, Raena!"

R-Raena?!

"Raena?!" Mac, Ally, Betty, and Relly exclaimed in unison.

"She must have done this for revenge! She's definitely out to get me!" Chelsea added, hugging herself in fear.

"I'm sorry, but who is Raena?" Ail asked her again.

"You don't know who Raena is, bud?"

"That's right, you just transferred. Of course you wouldn't know..." Chelsea looked down, sighing sadly.

"Chelsea, you should tell him. You were there when it happened."

"Yeah, alright..."

--

"When I was in elementary school, I had a friend. Her name was Taffy." Chelsea began to tell Ail. "She was my best friend in the whole wide world; we did everything together. But when I went to middle school, that all changed. After she met Raena, anyway..."

"That name again..." Ail said to himself.

"Taffy started doing things with Raena, and stopped paying attention to me. To be honest, I didn't really like Raena much, but I decided it might be good if we could all be friends. Taffy agreed, but Raena thought otherwise. That's when it happened... the lake incident."

"The lake incident?"

"The next day, Taffy decided to have a picnic at the Lake of Death with Raena and I..."

"Lake of Death?"

"It's a place rumored to be cursed." Tech told Ail, while doing work on his laptop.

"But she didn't believe the rumors... She even decided to look down into the lake to see what was at the bottom. That's when Raena..." Chelsea started to cry, muffling the rest of her words.

"What? What happened?!" Ail asked her.

"S-she pushed her in. Taffy ended up drowning, because she couldn't swim..." She stated, then continued to sob.

"W-what!? S-something like that actually happened...?!"

I-I can't believe it either...

"Didn't you try to save her?"

"Raena tackled her when she tried." Mac said for her. "She couldn't do anything, bud."

"It was on purpose!?"

"Yeah, and before I could tell anyone, she disappeared." Chelsea told him, wiping her face.

N-no way...

"Disappeared? She was never found?"

"No..."

"Some people think Raena might've actually been the spirit of the one who drowned herself in the lake." Mac added.

"The one who cursed the lake..."

After that, I decided to go back to my room.

--

"D-did that really happen...?"

Before I knew it, I started to cry.

"I-I can't believe it..."

"Tear, there you are." Ail said to me, after coming into the room.

"Ail?"

"I came looking for you, since you left suddenly." He softened his expression, after seeing my face. "What's the matter? Does your head hurt that badly?"

"O-oh..." I realized that I had been crying earlier. "I-I'm okay; I feel better now."

"Alright. You should still get some more rest, though."

"D-do I have to?" I asked him, fidgeting. "I'm not used to that bed, so I had a hard time falling asleep last time..."

"Yes, you have to." He answered, glaring at me. "And take off that sweatshirt before you do."

"B-but, what if someone comes in here while I'm asleep?"

"I'll stay here and keep watch." Ail sat on the floor. "So no more excuses."

"O-okay..."

I took my sweatshirt off and hung it on one of the sides of the bed, took my shoes off, and wrapped the covers around me. Like I thought, the bed was a bit uncomfortable.

"Pleasant dreams." Ail told me.

"T-thanks..."

You're too kind to me, Ail...

Knowing that Ail was right there next to me, I managed to sleep peacefully.

--

"...-u've been here a while." I heard someone say, as I was waking up. "Why not leave him be?"

"Can't, Tech. Tear wanted me to stay here." Ail responded.

"I'm surprised you're willing to put up with him. It's doesn't really seem like you."

"I feel like someone has to. Besides, he reminds me of someone I knew a long time ago, so I kind of feel sorry for him."

"Oh, really? That's not something I've heard you mention before."

"... There's a lot of things you don't know about me." Ail uttered, in a lower tone of voice.

"I see. I suppose I've got a few things I prefer to keep to myself, as well."

So the reason Ail's keeping my secret is because he has his own?

"Well, see you later, then. Don't strain your back, Ail." Tech said, then left the room.

"Later..."

"Ail." I said, finally deciding to get up. "What time is it?"

"Oh, Tear." Ail stood up, and stretched his back. "It's almost 7 pm."

"A-already?"

"... Actually, you've been snoozing for a couple of days."

"S-seriously!?" I exclaimed in shock.

"Heheh, of course not." Ail replied, starting to chuckle. "You've only been sleeping for about four hours."

"... Oh, okay."

"IT'S TIME!!!" Barry suddenly shouted, coming in the room.

"Ow!" Ail cried, getting hit by the door Barry swung open. "What's wrong with you, chef boy?!"

"It's time."

"Time for what?!"

"For the Grit Cave tour, of course!"

"Oh, right." Ail groaned, rubbing his nose. "I have to stay here to look after Tear, though..."

"I-I'm alright." I told Ail. "I don't mind going."

"Are you sure? You went outside again when you've shouldn't have..."

"The Master Chef checked the cave earlier; it's nice and cool in there. It should be good for Tear's condition."

"Okay, then. We'll see you there, I guess." Ail said to Barry, before he left. "Let's go, Tear."

"Alright." I responded, happy to finally be out of that bed.

--

Barry brought the other eight of us to a thin path surrounded by the sea. The path eventually led us to a cave.

"This is Grit Cave." Barry told us as soon as we arrived.

"Really? And here I thought it was another cave." Ail uttered.

"The Master Chef does not appreciate your sarcasm."

"Master Chef, t-this cave is spooky." Relly told him, shivering.

"Like, yeah. It sounds like it's moaning." Betty added.

"The Master Chef was about to mention that, actually. You see, this cave actually surrounds Tear Valley. Because of how desolate it is, many echoes get trapped in there for a while, which sounds like moans when they come out of Grit Cave."

"Wait Mr. Chef, I heard the moans came from Mt. Sorrow..."

"That's just a legend. No one knows if the mountain even exists."

"Wow chef boy, you actually did some research..."

"Tear Valley? Why does that sound familiar, bud?" Mac asked Ail.

"I think you'll find your answer right here." Ail pointed at me.

"Oh, right. Hahahah!" Mac started to chuckle. "You're so lucky to have a place named after you, Tear."

"I don't think it got its name from him..."

"Anyway, on to the main event." Barry exclaimed, taking out a bunch of sticks.

"What are those for?" I asked him.

"We're going to split into groups of four to explore the cave." He explained. "The Master Chef's sticks will decide how we're grouped."

"Explore? Wasn't it supposed to be a tour?" Ail asked him.

"The Master Chef thought this would be more exciting."

"B-but isn't it dangerous?" I asked Barry again. "The cave, I mean."

"You don't need to worry, comrade. The Master Chef marked four safe paths we can take, so we should all be fine."

"O-okay..."

"The group you're in and what path you'll take will be determined by what color stick you get. Now everyone choose one."

We all picked our sticks. After looking at everyone else's, I noticed they were marked by color (red, blue, yellow, and green).

Is this... fate?

"W-we both got blue, Ail..."

"So we're grouped together once again, huh?"

"S-sorry..."

"What's with the apology?"

"It must be annoying, being grouped with me for everything..."

"It's not a big deal; I'm used to it, anyway. Besides, I'm kind of happy I got grouped with you."

"R-really?" I said, blushing slightly. "W-why is that, exactly...?"

"To keep an eye out for you, of course. I'm still worried about letting you come here and not resting."

"Ail..." Thank you...

"Okay, the groups have been decided!" Barry exclaimed to everyone. "Ally and Relly will head down the yellow path, Betty; Mac; and Tech will head down the green path, Tear and Ail will head down the blue path, and Chelsea and the Master Chef will head down the red path."

"Hey chef boy, you didn't do something to deliberately make the groups like this, did you?"

"The Master Chef assures you; it was all coincidental."

"Yeah, okay..."

"Anyway, the Master Chef wishes everyone luck!"

What does that mean?

"Let's go, Tear."

"O-okay..."

--

We all entered the cave, and all went to our separate paths. It was cool inside (like Barry mentioned earlier), but also dark. Fortunately, Barry had given Ail a flashlight. It was still hard to see things, so I had no idea what the strange sounds I was hearing were coming from.

"I-is it really okay to be in here? Is it safe?"

"Don't worry, if chef boy could go through these caves by himself, we should be fine." Ail said to me comfortingly. "So don't worry so much, okay?"

"O-okay..."

"Don't grab my arm so tightly, either."

"A-ah!" I yelled out, letting go of his arm. "S-sorry, I didn't even notice..."

"Don't worry about it. See, look." Ail pointed his flashlight straight forward. "There's nothing there for you to worry about."

"I've heard some bad stuff about this cave, though..."

"Like what?"

"Like Tear Valley. Going to that place is supposed to be very dangerous."

"Ah, that explains it..."

"Explains what?"

"The marks on the walls chef boy made, I mean." He explained, pointing his flashlight toward arrows on the walls.

"O-oh, right. I forgot..."

"But still; this is pretty boring. We're just walking in a straight line." Ail sighed. "You want to talk about something to pass the time?"

"A-actually, there's something I wanted to ask you..."

"What is it?"

"When I was waking up earlier, I heard you talking to Tech about something..." I started fidgeting. "... You said I reminded you of someone you used to know. Is that why you decided to be my friend?"

"..." Ail said nothing, and stopped walking.

"A-Ail...?"

"Let's take a break. I'm tired." Ail sat down against one of the walls.

"U-um, okay..." I sat down next to him. "Ail, I..."

"... I became friends with you because I wanted to." Ail said suddenly. "I don't really have a reason for it or anything."

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah. Does hearing that upset you?"

"No... I-it actually makes me kind of happy..."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"... You're weird."

"E-eh?"

"Heheh..." Ail grinning. "Listen Tear, just because we have some things we'd rather keep to ourselves, doesn't mean we can't be friends. Alright?"

"A-alright..." I wonder if that's really true...

Ail pointed the flashlight at the wall in front of us. "Wow, what a coincidence. It looks like the marks stop here."

"Oh." I looked at the wall more closely. "It's very smooth."

"Huh?"

"Ail, can you keep the flashlight pointed at the wall for a bit?"

"Um, sure. Why?"

"You'll see. Paint!" I took out my paintbrush, and started painting on the wall.

"What are you drawing?"

"I'll show you when I'm done."

"'kay. I'll close my eyes, then..."

--

After a few minutes, I had finally finished.

"I'm done! You can open your eyes, now."

"Oh, good. I almost fell asleep..."

Ail looked at my drawing. It was a picture of me, Ail, and Barry that said "Friends" above it.

"Wow, you drew all that in only a few minutes?"

"I had to make it simple, since I didn't want you to wait too long..."

"Simple?! That's pretty good!"

"Y-you really think so?"

"Yeah. Except, why does chef boy have to be there...?"

"A-ah..."

"Well, whatever. I guess now we'll be friends until the end of time... or at least for how long that painting stays there."

"Yeah!"

"Alright, I think that's enough of a break." Ail got up, and stretched his back. "We should get back now. The others are probably waiting for us."

"Okay!"

I really hope we can stay friends forever, Ail. No matter what happens...

End of Chapter 6

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Writer's Comments:

Yay, chapter 6 is finally up! It was more difficult to write because this wasn't a re-write like the others. This is one of two chapters that weren't in the original (the second obviously isn't up yet).

By the way, this series has a total of 18 chapters planned, so it's already 1/3 finished! Gasp.

So anyway, this chapter ended up being a lot longer than I thought it would. Oh well; long is good, right?

Well, until next time...

- CS-Masyet