Ail

A few days ago, chef boy invited me, Tear, and some of my friends to the beach for a barbeque. I didn't think much of it, but the trip was more of a big deal than I thought it would be. But it wasn't because of the location, the food, volleyball, the Grit Cave "tour", or even our second monster encounter. If anything, it definitely had to be...

... finding out Tear is a girl.

B-but it's not like her being a girl matters much to me or anything... It's why she's hiding her gender in the first place.

"I-I don't want you to get involved... You might get put in danger..." Tear had told me before.

Just what does that mean? What is she hiding?

... And why does it concern me so much?

To be honest, I don't trust others that much. Even with the friends I have now, I like spending time with them, but I'm not sure I'll be friends with them for long... That being said, finding out Tear was keeping a secret like that should've made me more wary, right?

But no. With Tear, it's different. Even when I found out about her gender and that she's hiding something more, my friendship with her has become unchanged. Why is that? What makes her special compared to the others? Will I find out when I finally know the truth about her?

I'm kind of afraid of what will happen to me if I become too involved...

--

All the thinking I've done for the past few days has started to bother me, so I did what I always do when I feel troubled: play some music.

Mr. Musico had told me that I could use the music room and its equipment whenever I wanted, as long as no one else was using it.

I decided to play the piano again, playing a more difficult piece than before. I felt challenging myself would be a good distraction.

"Beautiful..." I barely heard someone say, after I had finished playing.

I turned around, and saw who was watching me.

"Tear? How long have you been standing there?"

"O-oh, I'm sorry..." She apologized for some reason. "I was wondering where you'd gone, and Mac told me you were here, so..."

"It's okay, but why were you looking for me?"

"Well, I finished my homework and had nothing to do..." Tear looked down at the ground. "A-and I was feeling really lonely in that room by myself..."

I sighed. "Have a seat."

"Um, alright..." I moved to the left side of the piano chair, so she had space to sit.

"Have any requests?"

"N-not really... Um..."

"In that case, how about I play a 'special' song this time."

I played the piano for her.

"W-wow..." She uttered in amazement. "What was that song?"

"I don't remember what it's called, or even where I heard it from. But it seems to be etched into my memory for some reason..."

"Oh, really? ... But anyway, you're good. Really good!"

"Thanks. I like to play a lot of musical instruments, but the piano is one of my favorites."

Tear looked down at the keys, and touched one of them. "I wonder if I could learn how to play..."

"It's not as easy as you think. It takes a lot of practice."

"Oh, I see..."

"I could give you a few lessons if you want, if you show me what you were hiding in your drawing pad the other day."

"W-what?!" She was taken aback, and almost fell out of the seat. "N-no way!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding!" I said, chuckling.

"... And then we'll do something like that, and then..."

"Nah man, that's not gonna cut it."

Three guys walked into the room suddenly. It took them a while to realize we were sitting near the piano.

"Oh, sorry guys. Didn't realize anyone was here." One of them said to us.

"Hey wait, you're Ail Diluvi, right?" Another one of them exclaimed. "I'm Ian; I'm in your homeroom class!"

"Yeah, I've seen you before." I responded. "But Tear here is also in our class..."

"U-um... Hello..." Tear added.

"Oh right, you transferred here on the same day as Ail, didn't you? I'm sorry; you don't stick out too much, so I didn't notice."

Considering Tear's situation, that's probably a good thing...

"So, what brings you three here, anyway?" I decided to ask them.

"We're in a school band. It's called 'GRIS'." Ian replied. "We came here to practice for our final performance."

"Final?"

"We lost a band member recently. It'll never be the same without him, but we at least want to do something to honor his memory."

"What happened to him?"

"He drowned... in the Lake of Death."

Tear gasped.

That place again?!

"It was strange... Sete was a good swimmer, and the water flow there isn't that strong..."

"It must've been Raena's doing!" One of Ian's band members interrupted suddenly. "That chick that haunts that lake!"

"R-Raena?!" Tear exclaimed, with a frightened look.

"Yeah. Y'know, the murderer that killed that girl. What was her name...?"

"Don't be ridiculous, Rud." Ian told him.

"Yeah, Chelsea told me about that." I added. "But isn't it a bit harsh to call her a murderer? What if it was an accident?"

"Are you calling Chelsea a liar?!"

"Um no, but..."

"Raena definitely killed him." Rud exclaimed sharply. "Just like she murdered that girl!"

"S-stop it..." Tear said suddenly. "Stop it!" She started to cry.

"What's wrong?" I asked her, wondering what happened. "Why are you crying, Tear?"

"U-um... I-it's just that..." Tear wiped her face. "You all shouldn't be talking about the ones that have passed so lightly..."

"Y-yeah, you're right." Rud said, more calm than before. "Sorry; I got too carried away..."

"Sorry 'bout Rud making your girlfriend cry, Ail." The other band member of Ian's group said to me.

"E-eh?!" Tear said in shock.

"Um, girlfriend?" I added questioningly.

"What? She's not your girlfriend?" He asked us.

"Don't be stupid, Gui!" Ian interjected. "Tear's a boy!"

"W-what?!" Gui said in surprise, realizing his mistake. "Oh, whoops!"

"You're such an idiot!" Rud started to laugh at him.

What's funny is that he's actually partially correct...

"By the way." Ian decided to change the subject. "We heard from Chelsea that you're pretty talented with musical instruments."

"Um, I guess that's true..." I admitted.

"Can you play the guitar, by any chance?"

"Sure, I've played it before. Why do you ask?"

"We're looking for a second guitarist for our show. We were hoping you'd like to volunteer?"

"W-what? Me? But I'm sure I can't play as well as the three of you, and it would feel like I'm replacing your friend..."

"It's alright! I'm sure you'll be fine, and I'm sure Sete wouldn't mind." Ian said kindly.

"Hm... But still..."

"What do ya think, Tear?" Gui asked her opinion.

"Um, I think it would be interesting! I'd really like to see Ail on stage." She responded, with a big smile on her face.

If Tear's going to be that happy about it, then I can't really say no, can I?

"Alright, sure. I'll do it."

"Awesome, thanks!" Ian said happily. "About a month from now, there's going to be a day off school on a Friday. We're going to do our show then."

"I'll show ya what we need ta do." Gui added. "Whenever you're free, I can go over it with you."

"I'm free right now, actually. Would you mind if we got in some practice right away?"

"Sure thing! That's fine by me."

"We'll leave it to you then, Gui. See you later." Ian told him, before leaving with Rud.

"So, where do ya want to practice, Ail?"

"Do you mind if we do it in here?" I asked.

"That's fine, but I'll need ta go back to my room to grab an extra guitar first..."

"Mr. Musico said I could borrow any instruments to play in here if I wanted, as long as the music room's not being used." I told him. "And I'm pretty sure there's a guitar somewhere in the storage room, so..."

"Got ya. Okay, go an' get it. I'll wait here for ya."

--

I went to the storage room to look for the guitar.

"Where is it? Chelsea told me she found a guitar in here..." I mumbled, digging through the boxes and other instruments. "Jeez, this stuff should be better organized!"

"Wow, there's a lot of stuff in here!" Someone behind me exclaimed.

"Tear? What're you doing in here?"

"I was just wondering if I could do anything to help you."

"Really? Thanks a lot, Tear." I told her. "But that's okay; this shouldn't take too long."

"B-but... Y'know..."

"Hm?"

"You've done so much for me, Ail. W-while I've been such a burden to you..."

"I think you've exaggerating things a bit..."

"I feel like I owe you, Ail. So I..."

"Just hold on a second, there." I exclaimed, more forcefully than before.

"W-what?!" Tear uttered, surprised by my change of tone. "D-did I say something wrong? I'm sorry..."

"Tear, if I do anything to help you, it's as your friend. Not because I want you to owe me any favors." I said to her, with a gradual calmer tone. "I don't do things because I expect anything in return, so don't force yourself to help me when you don't want to. Understand?"

"Um, y-yes. Thank you, Ail." She responded, her face reddening a bit. "But I really do want to help you... as your friend. Is that okay?"

"Alright, alright." I gave in. "Just be careful where you step. You might trip and hurt yourself... or the instruments."

"Okay, I'll be carefu-..."

All of a sudden, the ground started to shake.

"Uwahhh!" Tear ended up losing her balance and started to fall. Lucky for her, I managed to catch her in time.

"Are you okay, Tear?" I asked, with her still in my arms.

"Y-yes, I-I'm fine..." She answered, her face more red then before. "I'm sorry, I wasn't being careful..."

"It's not your fault, it was that tremor just now."

"Oh, so that wasn't just me imagining it?"

"No. I wonder what caused it, though?"

"ROOAAAR!!!" A loud, familiar roar echoed into our ears.

"I-it's..."

"A monster!" We both rushed out of the room.

--

We didn't have to run very far apparently, since the monster was in the auditorium. Which means...

"O-oh no! It captured Gui!"

"Darn it! Don't tell me this thing purposefully waited for both of us to leave before capturing him!?" I said angrily.

"What'll we do, Ail? Barry isn't here..."

"There's no point waiting for him. We'll have to beat this thing by ourselves! ... Treble!" I took out my sword.

"P-Paint..." Tear took out her paintbrush.

The monster was made of the stage's drapes, and Gui was floating in the middle of its hollow body.

"It doesn't look so tough! Take this!" I charged toward the monster.

The monster flung a drape at me, but I used my sword to block it.

"Nice try..." For some reason, I had a hard time moving my sword. "... Wait, what?"

"A-Ail! It's trying to..."

The monster used the drape to attach to my sword, and used it to throw my sword to another side of the room.

"N-no!"

"ROOAAAR!!!"

Drat, this monster's surprisingly savvy...

It launched another drape at me. With no sword, I couldn't do anything...

"Red Paint!"

Before the monster could hit me, Tear used her paint to burn the drape.

"ROAAAAAR!!!"

"Ail, are you okay?"

"Yeah, thanks." I watched the monster wince in pain. Its drapes were still burning. "It seems to be really weak to fire..."

"But if we burn it too much, we might hurt Gui..."

"We'll need my sword, then. Cover me while I go get it."

"Um, a-alright..."

I immediately sprinted for my sword.

Of course, this had to happen in a room this big...

"Cyan Paint!" Tear froze its legs, so it couldn't chase after me.

Nice going, Tear!

Unfortunately, rather than try to free its legs, the monster instead flung another drape at me.

"Cra-..."

"AIL!!!"

"Art of the Master Chef..." A familiar voice was heard from the room's entrance. "Jalapeño Cannon!"

A huge ball of fire was shot at the drape that was about to hit me.

"Jeez, that was close..." I grabbed my sword, which had temporarily turned back to emblem form, while avoiding the falling flames.

"ROOAAARR!!!" The monster started to lose its balance from its frozen legs, and began to tip over toward the audience chairs.

"Time to finish you..." I ran toward its head, which was low enough for me to get close to. "Take this!" I slashed its head in two.

"R-ROOOAAAARR!!!!!" The impact caused it to explode, releasing Gui.

I sighed. "Phew, did it..." I said, then put my sword away.

"What excellent teamwork that was! Yes, it was like a beautiful work of art, if the Master Chef says so himself."

"Took you long enough, chef boy."

"A simple gesture of gratitude would be nice." Chef boy uttered, putting his spatula away while walking toward us.

"Thank you so much, Barry!" Tear exclaimed, after putting away her paintbrush.

"See? Like that."

"Hmph... Well, better later than not at all, I guess."

"The Master Chef shall take that as a compliment." He stated. "Still, the Master Chef wonders why fate decided to have him battle alongside someone like you..."

"Fate? More like coincidence..."

"Oh? The Master Chef thinks having the only three transferees of this year, of all people, have to battle monsters on their own is more than a simple 'coincidence'."

"Ah, I guess that's tru-... wait, what?! Three?"

"You're a transferee too, Barry?"

"Indeed. Did the Master Chef not mention it before? His transfer was a few months prior to yours, however."

"Why did you have to transfer? Did you not do well in your last school, chef boy?"

"The Master Chef will have you know that he used to belong to a prestigious culinary school, fit for a Master Chef like myself." Chef boy explained. "And he was, of course, at the top of his class!"

"Oh, really now?" But if he's telling the truth, then why would he transfer...?

"Ugh..." Gui said suddenly, waking up.

"You alright, Gui?" I asked him.

"Yeah... What happened?"

"It seems like you tripped off the stage while we were gone. You hit your head pretty hard and fainted because of it."

"Really? It's one humiliating thing after another with me, huh?" He said, grabbing his head in shame. "And I don't even remember it!"

"Heheh..."

--

We ended up sending Gui to the nurse (apparently his head really was hurting him a bit), so we had to postpone our practice.

Also, it seems like I'm better at lying at the last minute than I thought I was. Which is good, because I'm probably going to be doing that a lot from now on...

End of Chapter 7

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Writer's Comments:

Argh! I really wanted to get this one up yesterday! Unfortunately, I was kind of strapped for time...

In case you're wondering why, it's because June 5, 2013 is Paint & Treble's 5th anniversary! Wow, I can't believe this series is already five years old... I still remember the day when it became so much more than I had planned for it, and...

... Ahem. Anyway, this chapter didn't really change that much from its original counterpart, except that its placed earlier in the story than before. The upcoming chapter was actually originally before this one.

Which hopefully doesn't take fourteen freaking months to write. Anyway, until next time...

- CS-Masyet

P.S. Happy 5th birthday, Tear and Ail (and all the other characters)!