Tear

Hello. I'm Tear, 15 years old, and have recently moved to Neturus...

... Also, I'm a girl. But I can't let anyone know that. Absolutely not.

However, it seems as though a boy named Ail ended up finding out about my gender. But that's okay, because Ail is a really good friend of mine. Even though I've still only known him for a few weeks now, I know he's someone I can trust. In fact, I'm enjoying my current school life a lot more than I thought I would, thanks to him.

But I know we'll eventually have to part ways, whether I want to or not...

--

After classes ended for the day, I immediately ran back to my dorm room.

"I wonder what Ail and I are going to do today?" I asked myself happily.

"You going to go see her again, bud?" A familiar voice said from the other side of the V-shaped hallway.

"Yeah."

"Hm?" I hid on the corner of the inner wall, and saw Mac and Tech talking about something.

"But it's raining now, Tech."

"All the more reason for me to go see her today..."

"... I see, bud. In that case, take this." Mac handed him an umbrella with a fireworks pattern.

"T-that's..." Tech started, then took the umbrella. "... Thanks."

Tech waved goodbye, then left without another word.

That's weird; Tech never leaves his room... I wonder who that girl he's going to see is...

"What are you doing, Tear?"

"Wah!" Ail had snuck up behind me, which startled me.

"It's not nice to spy on other people's conversations."

"S-sorry; it just seemed weird to see Tech leave his room to go out somewhere..."

"Wait, really? Why'd he leave?"

"He said he was going to see a girl..."

"A girl? Him? I had no idea he had a girlfriend..."

"It seems Mac knew."

"Well, Mac and Tech are childhood friends, so I guess that makes sense."

"Oh, really? I didn't know that." I wish I had a childhood friend...

"Hey, buds! Whatcha guys talking about?" Mac asked, walking toward us.

"Ah, we were just wondering who Tech was going to see." Ail said. "Does he have a girlfr-..."

"I-I'm sorry, bud, but..." Mac looked uneasy; strange for such a happy-go-lucky guy. "It's really not something Tech wants to tell anyone about, so I'm sure he wouldn't want me telling you either."

"I see... I guess everyone has a secret or two." Ail gave in.

Like me.

"I guess I won't pry any further, then."

"Thanks, bud." Mac said with a weak smile, then went back to his room.

"So Ail, what do you want to d-..."

"You think Tech's left yet?"

"Huh? Why do you ask?"

"I'm just wondering if it's too late to follow him or not..."

"W-what?! But you said you wouldn't pry..."

"I know. That's why I'll find out on my own."

"But you told me you'll be fine being friends with someone even if they're hiding something about them... right?"

"... Yeah, that's true." He admitted. "But still... I just want to make sure Tech isn't getting himself into any trouble."

So he was just concerned about him...

"I'm sorry, I didn't..."

"Don't worry about it. Anyway, do you want to tag along?"

"Um, sure, but let me grab an umbrella first."

"Why?"

"It's raining, isn't it?"

"It is? Oh well, it doesn't matter to me. I kind of like the rain, actually."

"Really?" I asked, finding that a bit strange. "Okay, then hold on a second..."

I went to my room and quickly grabbed an umbrella and came back. I didn't have an extra, unfortunately.

"Okay, let's go!" Ail exclaimed, before we hurried for the school exit.

--

Lucky for us, we were able to catch Tech leaving himself.

It was drizzling only a bit, but still raining enough to need an umbrella. The drops flowing down from my umbrella looked almost like tears...

"Are you sure you're okay, Ail?" I asked, watching him get wet from the rain.

"Sure, I'm fine. But look..." Ail pointed to Tech entering a store. "Let's follow him in there, but let's try to not let him notice us."

"Okay..." I folded my umbrella, and followed him into the store. The store appeared to be...

"... a flower shop?"

"Why did he come he-... eyah!" Before I could finish, Ail dragged me behind a floral display.

"Back again, Mr. Nul?" The cashier lady asked someone.

Tech brought over a small pot of flowers to the register. "Yes." He replied, apparently being the one the clerk was talking to.

"Oh, could that be the girl Tech wanted t-..." I tried to ask again, but Ail "Ssh!"ed at me.

"Is that for her again?" Asked the girl behind the counter. "Or did you finally find some other girl to love?"

"No. I'll never find anyone who I love more than her..."

So it's not the cashier lady. But this means he really does have someone special in his heart...

"This might sound harsh, but isn't it time you moved on?"

"No... I can't. Because I'm afraid I'll forget about our time together..."

"Oh, I'm sorry... Please forget I said anything."

Tech didn't respond.

"Anyway, that'll be $3.00."

Tech paid, took the pot, and left without a word.

"So, it really was for a girl he loves..." I uttered, getting out from hiding behind the display with Ail.

"Yeah. But judging by the conversation he had, the girl doesn't seem to return his feelings..." Ail said, clearly upset. "He shouldn't be wasting his time for someone who doesn't even like him!"

"But I wonder why he bought a pot instead of a bouquet...?"

"I dunno. He's weird like that, I guess..."

"Um, excuse me...?" The cashier lady asked suddenly. "Are you two his friends?"

"Uh, yeah." Ail stated.

"He told me to give this to you." She gave Ail a piece of paper. Ail read the note:

"Ail,
Stop following me.
- Tech"

Ail just stared at the note and sighed. "So he knew we were following him the entire time... He's surprisingly savvy for a guy who only sleeps two hours every day."

"Um, about this girl Tech goes to see..." I started to ask the clerk.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure you're both just worried about his well being, but it's best you leave him alone."

We said nothing and just left the store.

"So, what do we do now?" I asked Ail, pointing at Tech across the street. "He's right there, but should we still follow him?"

"People keep on saying we should leave him alone... but why? I have a feeling there's more to this than just a girl who won't accept a guy's feelings... but what is it?"

All of a sudden, the rain got a lot worse, and started to feel really heavy on my umbrella.

"A-Ail, are you okay?" I exclaimed, remembering Ail didn't have his own umbrella.

"Augh!" Ail said, hiding under my umbrella. "Even I can't handle rain like this!"

"A-Ail...! Y-you're too c-close..." I started to blush.

"A-ah! Sorry about that..." He went closer to the side of the umbrella, to give me space. "It seems holding the umbrella when the rain is pouring down so hard must be difficult... Let me hold it."

"Okay, thanks..." I told him, letting him hold the umbrella.

It seemed Tech was fine though, as he went into another store.

"Let's go, Tear."

"We're still going to spy on him?"

"No, I want to ask him about it directly."

"Oh, okay..." I have a feeling this won't turn out well...

--

We followed him into the store, which turned out to be just an ordinary convenience store.

"What's he doing in here?"

"Hey, Tech!" Ail ignored me and called out to him, who was buying something else at the register.

"You're still following me?" Tech uttered, looking a bit peeved at Ail. "What do you want?"

"Who's this girl you've been seeing this whole time?" Ail asked bluntly. "If she's no-..."

"It's none of your business." Tech cut him off, with an unnaturally harsh tone.

"W-we were just worried about you..." I added, trying to defend Ail.

Tech sighed. "You really are too nosey for your own good, aren't you Ail?" He calmed down, and adjusted his glasses. "Fine, follow me." Tech started heading for the exit of the store.

"U-um, is this really okay, Ail?"

"Well, it's too late to turn back now..."

We decided to follow Tech to his destination. But where we were going wasn't what we were expecting...

--

"A cemetery...?" I stated, confused. "Why are we here?"

Tech said nothing, and continued to walk past a few graves, until stopping at one specific stone.

"Here, I brought your umbrella..." Tech said to the gravestone. "I know how much you hate the rain..."

It couldn't be...

He stuck the umbrella to the ground near the grave, to cover it from the rain. He planted the flowers he bought near it, completely oblivious to the harsh rain hitting his back.

Ail grabbed my arm and moved our umbrella over Tech as well.

"You'll get sick." Ail told him.

"... Thanks." Tech responded emotionlessly.

"So, the girl you wanted to see... She..."

"... passed away."

"I-I'm so sorry." Ail apologized. "If I knew, then I-..."

"You don't need to apologize."

"Do you come here often? I've never seen you go outside on your own before now."

"I used to, but I haven't had much time since school started. And my programming job, as well..."

"Then why not quit programming, then? If it cuts time seeing her, as well as making you sleep deprived..."

"It's not as if I enjoy my programming job."

"You don't?!" Ail said in surprise.

"My parents don't want me to stay in this town anymore, so they won't pay for me to stay in school here. But if I leave, then I won't be able to visit Leia's grave any longer."

"... Oh." Is all Ail could say.

"Um, Leia?" I started to ask. "Is she..."

"Leia was my girlfriend. The girl I loved more than anything in the world."

So Tech really did have a girlfriend...

"Sorry Leia, it looks like I won't be able to set them off today." Tech clutched the bag of the other thing he bought earlier. "With the weather the way it is..."

Tech took out what was in the bag. They appeared to be mini fireworks.

"I'll just leave them here for you, then."

"Um, Tech?" I said. "D-do you mind if I ask you something again?"

"Yes, what is it?"

"How did she die?"

"She drowned. In a lake near here."

"Oh, I see... I'm sorry..."

... wait a second. Lake...?

"H-hold on a second!" Ail exclaimed suddenly. "By 'lake', do you mean?"

"Yeah, that's right. It was... at the Lake of Death."

A-again?!

"T-that's...!" Ail looked just as shocked as me.

It sounded to thunder, and I could see lightning off in the distance.

"I'd better head back. It doesn't look like the weather's going to get any better today."

Tech left under our umbrella, but didn't pick his own back up.

"... Ail."

"Um, yeah? What is it, Tech?"

"Take good care of Tear, alright? Don't let anything bad happen to him."

"Uh, okay?" Ail answered, confused by Tech's statement.

Is he talking about me...?

Tech left without another word, not caring at all about the rain.

--

After that, we decided to go back ourselves. Not knowing what to say, we both stayed silent the whole way there. But that lake...

I knew something wasn't normal about that place, but... T-this is so much worse than what I thought...

End of Chapter 8

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Writer's Comments:

Hooray! It actually didn't take me fourteen months to write it this time! It only took me... five months. Because y'know, that's not that much time at all... Yeah...

... Anyway, this chapter isn't that long compared to the others. There was this (pointless) sub-plot of Tear and Ail needing to buy food that happens in the old version, and I ended not putting it in here (because it was pointless). I don't think this chapter was that long before anyway, though... Oh well.

Aside from that, I only changed a couple small things for... plot reasons. Which I'll explain later (probably).

So yeah, I'll be trying to get these chapters out faster from now on; from this series especially. So hopefully the wait for the next one won't be as long! ... I hope.

- CS-Masyet

P.S. Yeah I know I didn't bother saying 'until next time' this time... It's not like I have to all the time, y'know?!