Paint & Treble: Reverse Side Canvas
	Chapter 3 - First Monster Encounter!
	Written by: CS-Masyet
	Previous version: October 16, 2010 Uploaded on: January 11, 2017

Tear

???   "What's the matter? Why are you sitting over here all alone?"

???   "T-this is my desk. T-there isn't anywhere else to s-sit..."

???   "Then why don't you move your desk over near us? It'll be more fun than being here all by yourself."

???   "I-I don't think they'll want me to... I-I'm not friends with them, so..."

???   "Well, you aren't yet! But if you go over there, that might change, y'know!"

???   "I-I'm never good at talking to people or making friends. A-and I always make any friends I do make sad, because m-my family and I are always moving away..."

???   "So you think it's better if you're alone, then?"

???   "Y-yeah, that's right..."

???   "Well that's too bad, because you aren't alone anymore!"

???   "W-what?! W-what do you mean...?"

???   "Because you and I are friends now, of course!"

???   "R-really? J-just like that?!"

???   "Yep! We'll be friends no matter what! Even if you do move away, I'll find a way to come see you, or write you letters, or something. So you never have to worry about making me sad, okay?"

???   "O-okay. T-thank you..."

 ???   "We'll be friends forever! No matter what... Tear..."

Tear   H-huh?

All of a sudden, I felt something lightly hit me on the head.

Tear   "O-ow..."

???   "Hurry and wake up. You need to get ready or we'll be late."

Tear   "H-huh? Late for what...?"

???   "What do you think?! School, of course!"

Tear   "Hm? Schoo-..."

Tear   "Ah!"

It was then that I became fully awake and aware of my surroundings. I was laying in an unfamiliar bed, one that I had only slept in the night before. Standing next to me was my roommate, Ail, a boy around my age that had transferred to this school like me. I was in my dorm room, in the dorm building next to my new school, Neturus High.

Tear   "That's right! Today is my first day of school!"

Ail   "Uh, it's your second day, actually..."

Tear   "O-oh, right. I meant that it's my first day here after spending the night in the dorm building..."

Ail   "Oh, I see. Well, I guess that's true..."

Now that I was awake, I stretched myself, getting ready to get out of bed and start the new day.

Tear   So I really am here... At Neturus High. Which means what happened yesterday wasn't just a dream...

Ail   "Anyway, since you're awake now, hurry up and eat that sandwich so you can start getting ready."

Tear   "Sandwich?"

I looked down and saw a small, plastic-wrapped, triangle-shaped sandwich sitting on my lap. I realized then that it must've been what hit me on the head earlier.

Ail   "I bought a bunch of those two days ago. They're small, but they're really cheap and make a decent breakfast. I don't mind sharing some, if you want."

Tear   "Oh, thanks..."

I unwrapped the sandwich and started eating it.

Tear   Hm, this is actually pretty good...

Ail   "By the way, you said you were going to change today, right? You should probably take a shower while you're at it."

Tear   "Mmnph!?"

Ail   "Hey, careful; you'll choke on your food! If you barf that out, I'm not giving you another one!"

I nervously gulped down the piece of sandwich I had been eating.

Tear   "U-Uh, shower...? Where? And... why?"

Ail   "Our room's bathroom has a shower we can use. And as for why..."

Ail   "... Because you slept in the clothes you were wearing all day yesterday, obviously! After all that training stuff we did, you must stink!"

Tear   "U-um, I don't smell that bad... I-I think I'll be fine even if I just change my undershirt..."

Ail   "You should change out of that sweatshirt while you're at it. It's getting pretty humid, so you must be feeling sweaty with that on, right? It'll also be better to be dressed lighter in case we have to do more training or something today..."

Tear   "I-I'm fine! I-I don't mind the heat that much, really!"

Ail   "You're really attached to that thing, aren't you? Fine, but you really should at least shower before we head to the school building."

Tear   "U-um, okay. The bathroom door has a lock, right?"

Ail   "No, I don't think so. Our dorm room door has a lock anyways, so it doesn't really need one, does it?"

Tear   "B-but... I mean... Y-you could..."

Ail   "What, are you afraid of me walking in while you're undressing or something? We're both guys; why does it matter?"

Tear   "..."

Ail   "Fine, fine. I get it, okay? You're the type of guy that's uncomfortable changing in front of others. Don't worry; I promise I won't open the door while you're in there, alright?"

Tear   "R-really?"

Ail   "Yes."

Tear   "Y-you promise...?"

Ail   "Yes."

Tear   "W-will you be waiting for me in front of the bathroom door while I'm in there?"

Ail   "Yes..."

Tear   "I-I'm sorry, but could you wait outside the dorm room instead...?"

Ail groaned in annoyance.

Ail   "Are you freaking kidding me!? Fine! Just hurry up in there, okay?!"

Ail walked out of the room, practically slamming the door behind him.

Tear   I-I'm sorry, Ail...

--

Once I was done showering and changing my clothes, I grabbed my bag and headed out the door. Ail, as I expected, was waiting for me nearby. He had a mildly upset expression on his face.

Ail   "You all set?"

Tear   "Uh, yeah..."

Ail   "Still wearing the same sweatshirt, huh..."

Tear   "U-uh, yeah..."

Ail sighed.

Ail   "Whatever; fine. Let's go."

Tear   I knew it... He's mad at me...

Ail and I didn't utter another word to each other on the way there. The classroom we headed to once we reached the school building was room 17, Ms. Reachet's class. It was always going to be the first class we went to at the start of the day, as it was currently our homeroom.

The both of us sat at our desks, which were at the very front of the room. I still wasn't happy about this spot, but I was glad I could sit next to someone I knew, at least.

Tear   "... U-um, Ail?"

Ail   "What is it?"

Before I could say anything, I noticed Ms. Reachet walk into the room.

Tear   "U-uh, it's nothing. Never mind..."

Tear   I really should apologize to him... It was really mean of me to make him leave the room like that. I mean, it's his room just as much as it is mine, after all...

Tear   He was nice enough yesterday to offer to be friends with me, but then I treated him like he was untrustworthy... After what happened, I wouldn't be surprised if he already doesn't want to be friends anymore...

Tear   ... So I really do need to apologize! I can't let our friendship end because of something like this! I'll definitely say I'm sorry before this class ends...!

--

... but I didn't. The class ended before I even uttered a single word of apology to Ail...

Ms. Reachet   "Alright, class dismissed. Make sure to get to your next class right away. No loitering in the halls."

Ail   "Jeez, finally... Okay, my next class is... music. I think."

Tear   Oh no, our next class isn't the same! If I don't apologize right now, I'll miss my chance!

As I thought that, Ail was already getting ready to leave, but Ms. Reachet stopped us before he had a chance to exit the classroom.

Ms. Reachet   "Barry. Tear. Ail. I'd like a word with the three of you, so don't leave just yet. There's something I need to discuss with you all."

The rest of us stayed silent until the other students cleared the room.

Ail   "... So, what do you want?"

Ms. Reachet   "We shouldn't discuss it here. Follow me."

Just as she had done yesterday, Ms. Reachet went over to the whiteboard and opened up the hidden entrance to the big, blue room we were all brought to before.

Ail   "Are we seriously going to walk all the way to that big, weird room again?!"

Ail asked, after we'd already followed her into the passageway and after she'd closed the shutters.

Barry   "Actually, the Master Chef recalls that even this small passageway is soundproof, so having a private conversation where we are all standing should be fine."

Ms. Reachet   "... It's as Barry says."

Ail   "Well, isn't that convenient..."

Ms. Reachet   "Anyway, I'll make this quick. It's very likely you'll all encounter a monster today."

Tear   W-what?!

Ms. Reachet   "It's normally your duty to remain viligant and keep watch of them on your own, but because this is your first time I felt inclined to warn you."

Ail   "Hold on a second! So you have access to something that can pinpoint a monster's location?!"

Ms. Reachet   "... More or less."

Ail   "You have that on top of access to that large room... And yet you don't have anything to take care of the monsters on your own?"

Ms. Reachet   "If we had something like that, do you honestly think we would've asked you three for your assistance?"

Ail   "... Touché."

Barry   "Does it matter? You agreed to help out yesterday, did you not?"

Ail   "Well yeah, I suppose so..."

Ms. Reachet   "The monsters' actions and location that they choose to appear in can be very unpredictable, so be careful."

Ail Tear Barry   "Right..." "U-uh huh..." "The Master Chef will be careful."

Ail   "Would you stop that?!"

Barry   "Stop what?"

Ms. Reachet   "Alright, you are all dismissed. Go to your classes before you're tardy."

--

Barry   "Well, today's the day; for the Master Chef's newly acquired skills to truly shine! This will be interesting!"

Barry said aloud to no one in particular, once we had left the classroom.

Ail   "What's the matter with you?! Are you mental, or what?"

Barry   "What do you mean?"

Ail   "Are you seriously not bothered at all by this?"

Barry   "The key to beco-... e-er, stay a Master Chef, is to never be discouraged by the negative things in life. So naturally, the Master Chef always tries to remain positive."

Ail   "Yeah, as always, I never understand a word that comes out of your mouth, Chef Boy..."

Barry   "Well then, as cooking class is next, the Master Chef must take his leave. The Master Chef still has many preparations to make for tomorrow!"

Ail   "Why? What's going on tomorrow?"

Barry   "Apologies, but as it is an outing meant for just the Master Chef and the ladies, the Master Chef feels no need to divulge anything about it to the two of you."

Ail   "So in other words, it's none of our business. Sorry I asked, then..."

Barry   "And as such, the Master Chef must not be late! So farewell, comrades!"

With that, Barry took his leave.

Tear   A-alright, now's my chance! My chance to apologi-...

Ail   "I'm going too. Later, Tear."

Tear   "Ah! Wai-...!"

Before I could tell him anything, Ail was already gone.

Tear   "... Oog..."

--

My next class I had was art class. Art class has always been my favorite, and I've always looked forward to it whenever it was time for it at school. But this time around, with all the problems I had been worrying about, even this couldn't cheer me up...

Ms. Pensil   "Okay class! Today's art assignment is to draw something you've seen in your dreams! You can see some interesting things when you dream, but they can easily be forgotten over time. But like all other memories, if turned into drawings and paintings, they can last forever! And you even show them to other people, too!"

I sat down around the same time as the other students, somehow managing to not be late for class. I was actually lucky enough to get a window seat this time, but other than Ms. Pensil, there wasn't anyone there that I knew. Focusing on my drawings and paintings would help distract me from the loneliness, so it wasn't that big of an issue. At least, that's how it would be normally...

Tear   I don't know if I have any other classes with Ail today, or if I'll even see him at lunch... If I wait until classes are over, will it be too late to apologize...?

Ms. Pensil   "... What's the matter, sweetie?"

Ms. Pensil seemed to notice that I was feeling sad, so she came over to me to check how I was doing.

Ms. Pensil   "Is it about what happened yesterday? I'm sorry; I know it's a lot to deal with, especially right after you transferred here..."

Tear   "T-that's not it. Well, not completely, anyway..."

Ms. Pensil   "Then what's troubling you, sweetie? If it helps, you can talk to me about it."

Tear   "W-well... Ail said he was willing to be my friend yesterday, but I did something today that I think made him really mad..."

Ms. Pensil   "And you think Ail won't want to be your friend anymore because of it?"

Tear   "Y-yeah, that's right..."

Ms. Pensil   "There's no need to worry, sweetie. As long as you apologize for what happened, everything should be fine. Once he sees how sorry you are, he should forgive you."

Tear   "R-really...?"

Ms. Pensil   "Of course! You're a good boy, Tear. And I'm sure Ail knows this too, since he decided to be your friend!"

Tear   "O-okay... Thank you, Ms. Pensil..."

Ms. Pensil   "Any time, sweetie!"

Tear   T-the next time I see him, I'm definitely going to apologize! I just hope he'll forgive me...

Ms. Pensil   "So, what've you been drawing? It looks lovely!"

I had drawn a large, triangular-shaped tower, overlooking a wide field of grass. Just like in my dreams, I made it glow as it did every night.

Tear   "I see this place a lot in my dreams. I thought it was pretty, so I decided to draw it..."

Ms. Pensil   "Really? I've never seen anything like this before, whether in my dreams or in real life!"

Tear   "I've never seen anything like it before, either. Yet, I dream about this place a lot... I wonder why..."

Ms. Pensil   "Hm... Maybe you saw this place in your past life?"

Tear   "Past life...?"

Ms. Pensil   "You've never heard of such a thing before? An incarnation of someone many, many years ago, whose memories may appear in the dreams of their future selves..."

Tear   "I-is that really true!? A me from a long time ago...?!"

Ms. Pensil   "A professor I used to know told me about it once. He also said there might be other versions of us in other worlds, created by the actions we make every day. In other words, the more decisions we have to make, the more of us that exist, as a result of the choices we didn't make in this world."

Tear   "Wow, I didn't even know that was even possible..."

Ms. Pensil   "There's also the possibility that there are other worlds that are just like the drawings or paintings we create, with other versions of us in those worlds as well..."

Tear   "..."

Ms. Pensil   "Heehee, sorry sweetie, am I confusing you? Don't worry, they're just theories. No one knows if they're actually true or not."

Tear   "Oh, okay... Thinking about all that made my head hurt..."

Ms. Pensil   "Well, I'll leave you to finish your drawing. I can't wait to see it when it's finished; your dream seems really interesting!"

Tear   "Okay! Thank you again, Ms. Pens-..."

???   "EEEEKK!!!"

Tear Ms. Pensil   "W-wha!?" "Oh my!"

All of a sudden, we heard a girl's scream from somewhere outside the classroom. About half of the people in the room (including Ms. Pensil) immediately stepped out to see what was going on out there. Eventually, as the rest of the class began to crowd around near the door, I went over to them as well.

Ms. Pensil   "What's the matter, sweetie? What happened?"

Ms. Pensil asked the girl, somehow able to catch her before she ran off in a frenzy.

Girl   "L-like, um, l-l-like, some weird g-gross scary thing, l-like, appeared in the cooking room!☠</3 A-and it, l-like, gobbled up o-one of my besties!☢☣"

Tear   Wait, isn't she... Wasn't she one of the girls I saw eating lunch with Barry the other day...?

Girl   "W-w-what if it, like, gobbles me up, too?!☢☠ I-I'm too cute and young t-to die, and I-I, like, haven't even discovered my true c-calling in life yet!☣</3"

Ms. Pensil   "Don't worry sweetie, you'll be okay... Tear, do you mind going to get another teacher to see what's going on in the cooking room? I need to stay here and look after this girl..."

Tear   "U-uh, me?"

It was then that I realized...

Ms. Reachet   "Anyway, I'll make this quick. It's very likely you'll all encounter a monster today."

Ms. Reachet   "The monsters' actions and location that they choose to appear in can be very unpredictable, so be careful."

Tear   C-could it be...!?

Tear   "R-right! I'm on my way!"

--

Despite being uneasy about what to expect, I ran as fast as I could down the halls. I made looking for Ail my first priority however, as I figured he had no idea what was going on at the moment.

Tear   H-he said he had music class right now, so he should be in the music room, right? J-jeez, why does it have to be so far away?

Eventually, after what felt like hours of running, I finally made in to the music room.

Tear   "F-forget 100-meter dash, I-I feel like to just ran my f-first ever marathon..."

???   "Hm? Hey, aren't you...?"

Tear   "Whuh?"

I turned to look behind me, and saw none other than...

Tear   C-C-Chelsea!?

Chelsea   "What's up? You playing hooky or something?"

Tear   N-no! T-this is no time to be scared; I have to look for Ail!

Chelsea   "For the record, I'm only out here 'cause I had to go to the bathroom. I'm a good girl, I swear!"

???   "... Figured you'd be here."

I turned to look behind me (uh, again), and saw none other than...

Tear   "A-Ail?!"

Chelsea   "Aww, did you miss me that much, Ailey~? I've only been gone for a few minu-..."

Ail   "I'm not here for you."

Chelsea   "Sheesh, you could've at least waited for me to finish my sentence..."

Ail ignored her, and directed his attention to me.

Ail   "Let me guess, you overheard me saying that I had music class next, so you figured I'd be in the music room, right?"

Tear   "U-uh yeah, that's right..."

Ail   "Well, if instead of just running off by yourself you'd decided to ask Ms. Pensil to contact me or Mr. Musico for you, you'd of known that I was actually in the audiotorium, not the music room..."

Tear   "O-oh really? I'm sorry..."

Ail   "Well, whatever. The music room and audiotorium aren't that far away from each other, and I had the foresight to realize you'd be here, so I guess it doesn't matter at this point."

Chelsea   "Hey, uh, so, like... What're you two talking about, anyways?"

Ail   "It's just transferee-related stuff. It doesn't concern you."

Chelsea   "Fine, don't tell me! Meanie! Hmph!"

Ail   "Ms. Pensil told Mr. Musico, who in turn told me, about what happened already, so now we just have to head over to the cooking room. I'm sure Chef Boy is already there waiting for u-..."

???   "C-COMRADES!!!"

All of a sudden, Barry came running toward us in a panic.

Ail   "Um, never mind... He's here now, apparently..."

Barry   "O-oh, how wonderful it is that you are both here! That saves me a lot of trou-..."

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence, noticing Chelsea standing next to us.

Chelsea   "What's up with you, dude? You feeling oka-..."

Barry   "Oh my... I beg your pardon, milady. If the Master Chef only knew that there was such a beautiful lilac such as yourself in this school, he would've already introduced himself t-..."

Ail   "Uh, hey, Chef Boy!? There are more pressing matters than your need to needlessly flirt with girls, don't you think?!"

Barry   "The Master Chef is not pleased with your choice of words... But you are correct, my comrade."

Ail   "We've pretty much already been informed about what's going on. Let's get going."

Barry   "In that case, we should not be wasting anymore time. The Master Chef shall lead the way, comrades!"

Tear   Oh great, more running...

--

Ail   "So now that we're not in earshot of Chelsea anymore, would you mind giving us some more insight as to what happened, Chef Boy?"

Ail asked Barry, while we were still running to the cooking room.

Barry   "T-the situation is absolutely terrible! My... er, the Master Chef's creation came to life and devoured one of the ladies! M-my poor, precious Betty... I-in a panic, I-I tried to stop it on my own, but nothing I did worked... The Master Chef is at a loss..."

Ail   "Wow, it's so bad that it's making you mess up your 'Master Chef's? I guess things are even worse than I thought..."

Barry   "M-Mr. Kooc has already evacuated the rest of the students and barricaded the room, b-but the Master Chef is not sure how long that'll hold up..."

Ail   "Oh jeez...! We'd better hurry up, then!"

 ???   "RROOAAARR!!!"

Tear   W-was that...?!

???   "O-oh my, thank goodness you dearies are here!"

We had made it to the cooking room, Mr. Kooc waiting for us outside of it. He seemed to have dragged out some cooking equipment to blockade the door.

Mr. Kooc   "O-oh, my poor student! O-oh, my precious cooking equipment! T-that horrible monster is... just downright horrible!"

Tear   "S-so it really is a..."

Ail   "Let's hurry and kick the crap out of that thing!"

Mr. Kooc   "I-I wish you luck, my darling cookies!"

Barry   "We'll have to move everything blocking the door and get inside before it can come out! On the count of three..."

As soon as Barry finished counting down, we all simultaneously pushed the stuff out of the way, and entered the room as soon as possible, finally coming face to face with the monster...

Ail   "W-what the...!?"

Tear   "EEEEKK!!!"

There was a yellowish, slimy thing moving around, coming from inside an oven. It had two holes on its head for eyes, and another, bigger, gaping hole for a mouth. There were strange noises coming from it, and a strange smell as well.

Tear   "W-what is that thing?! I-i-it's all slimy, and creepy, and gross!"

Ail   "I agree, but was the loud, girly scream really necessary...?"

Barry   "Believe it or not, that creature used to be the Master Chef's very own creation! But now it has come to life to attack its own creator!"

Ail   "What, so is this some kind of karmic retribution or something?"

Barry   "What do you mean? Are you saying the Master Chef's creation doesn't want to be eaten?!"

Ail   "T-that's not what I..."

He stopped himself, and sighed.

Ail   "... Never mind. Anyway, this is definitely the monster Ms. Reachet wants us to take care of, right? But why is it a food monster of all things...?"

Barry   "The Master Chef understands. It must not have been able to resist his masterpiece..."

Ail   "Or it was probably so sick of your pompous attitude that it wanted to kill you with your own food..."

Barry   "The Master Chef is flattered that you would try to cheer him up with such a silly joke, but the Master Chef assures you, it is not necessary."

Ail   "..."

 Food Monster   "ROOAAARR!!!"

It roared again, beginning to move slowly toward us.

Tear   O-oh no...!

Ail   "O-okay, I guess it's not just going to let us stand here and yap all we want, huh?!"

Tear   "W-what do we do!?"

Barry   "The Master Chef is not sure, but keep in mind that Betty is still inside that creature, so be careful about what actions you decide to take!"

Ail   "Sheesh, this is going to be a humongous pain, isn't it?!"

Barry   "Ail, do you happen to have any ideas?"

Ail   "No, not really. So I guess we've got no choice but to just wing it! Treble!"

Ail took out his sword and ran toward the monster, without any hesitation in his steps.

Barry   "Wai-...!"

He jumped up and sliced off its head in one clean cut. Thinking his job was done, Ail walked away from the monster, spinning his sword around to clean off the goop that got on it.

Ail   "Heh, that wasn't so bad. It was a piece of cake, actually!"

Tear   "U-um, Ail...?"

Ail   "What?"

Its severed head started to move, and then quickly re-attached itself to its body.

Tear   "... that."

Barry   "The Master Chef already said that he could not do it on his own. Of course it wouldn't be that simple!"

Ail   "Man, what are supposed to do then?!"

 Food Monster   "ROOAAARR!!!"

The monster began to loom over us, opening its gaping mouth even wider in an attempt to swallow us whole.

Barry   "It looks like you just made it angrier!"

Ail   "Tch, no time to think! Just run!"

Ail and Barry quickly got out of its way, but I stood in place. I was so afraid that my body completely froze up.

Tear   C-can't move... S-so scared... S-someone...

 Food Monster   "ROOAAARR!!!"

The monster approached me, its upper body already directly above me, preparing the gobble me up...

Tear   "NOOOOO!!!"

???   "Watch out!"

Just as the monster's mouth was about to clamp down on me, someone leapt toward me and grabbed me out of the way of the monster.

???   "... You okay?"

Tear   W-whuh?! I'm alive?

I opened my eyes and looked up. The person who saved me was Ail, who was still holding me in his arms.

Tear   "A-Ail... I-I..."

Ail   "Everything's going to be fine. I told you I had your back, didn't I?"

Tear   "T-thank you, Ail..."

Ail stood up, helping me get up as well as I was still a bit shaken by what had happened before.

Ail   "Now, calm down and think. Do you have any ideas on how do beat that thing?"

Tear   "W-well, um... If it's able to put itself together if part of it is damaged, maybe we should just try to attack all of it at once?"

Barry   "Of course! That is brilliant, comrade! It should not be able to regenerate if all of it is damaged!"

Ail   "I have a technique I can use that might be able to do the trick, but I'm not sure if I can pull it off while it's moving. Do either of you have anything to stun it while I charge in again?"

Tear   "Y-yeah... Uh, probably..."

Ail   "Well, 'probably' is better than no, I guess..."

Tear   "P-Paint!"

I took out my paintbrush, and pointed it toward the monster.

Tear   Now, concentrate on the brush... Imagine... yellow!

Tear   "I-I'm ready, Ail! Go ahead!"

Ail   "Right! Thanks, Tear!"

Tear   "Yellow Paint!"

While Ail ran toward the monster again, I swung the paint that appeared on my brush forward, into the monster's mouth.

 Food Monster   "ROOAAA... rar?"

The monster swallowed the paint, it sending waves of electricity through its body.

 Food Monster   "BZZTTAAARR!!!"

Ail   "Nice! Now's my chance!"

Ail leapt at the monster again, this time turning his sword to its side, creating a strange sound that vibrated through its body.

Barry   "It's that awful noise again!"

 Food Monster   "RRRRROOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR!!!!!"

Tear   D-did it work?

The monster stopped moving, and then suddenly exploded into bits and pieces. They started flying around the room, and eventually vanished, turning into ordinary soup. A girl fell from where the monster previously was, who Barry managed to catch in time.

Ail   "... Yuck..."

Barry   "Betty! Are you alright?"

Betty   "M-Master Chef...? Did you rescue me from that thing?"

Barry   "Naturally! The Master Chef would never abandon his finest pupil!"

Betty   "T-thank you so much, Master Chef..."

After that, she fell asleep peacefully.

Tear   She's okay... That's good...

I turned my attention to Ail, watching him try to wipe the soup out of his hair.

Tear   "..."

Ail   "Hey, Tear."

Tear   "W-wha!?"

Ail   "Thanks for helping me with the monster. I had no idea you could do something like that!"

Tear   "O-oh. It was nothing..."

Ail   "Hey, what's wrong? Is something bothering you?"

Tear   "Yeah... I-I, uh, wanted to apologize to you..."

Ail   "You mean when I had to save you when it tried gobbling you up? Don't worry about it. I already told you that there's nothing wrong with being afraid in a situation like that..."

Tear   "N-no, that's not what I meant..."

Ail   "What is it, then?"

Tear   "I-it's about what happened this morning... About making you wait outside the dorm room because of me... T-that was really mean of me to treat you like that, so I'm sor-..."

Ail   "For real?! Has this been bugging you this whole time?"

Ail raised one of his arms above my head slowly. I figured he was doing so to hit me, so I closed my eyes to brace myself...

... but he gently patted my head instead.

Ail   "Dummy."

Tear   "W-wha...?"

Ail   "I won't deny that it did upset me a little bit, but it's not like I don't get it. There's nothing wrong with wanting some privacy in that situation, especially when it's from someone you just met."

Tear   "B-but you told me that you'd be my friend... W-we're supposed to be friends. And friends shouldn't treat each other like that..."

Ail   "I told you, it's fine. I know I may seem irritable most of the time, but I really don't think it's that big of a deal."

Tear   "R-really? S-so, I didn't make you sad or anything?"

Ail   "Do you really feel that bad about it? Honestly, I'm kind of flattered... But you don't need to worry. If you ever need me to step out for some privacy again, just let me know, and I'll leave you alone. Alright? It's your room just as much as mine, after all..."

Tear   "N-no! I-I'll never make you do something like that again! I promise!"

Ail   "Really? You sure?"

Tear   "Yeah. You're my friend, so I know I can trust you. I know that I should trust you."

Ail   "W-well... Uh, okay then..."

Mr. Kooc   "My darling cookies!"

Mr. Kooc said, suddenly coming in the room in a panic.

Mr. Kooc   "You defeated the monster! Are you all alright?"

Tear   "U-um, yes."

Ail   "Other than my hair smelling like monster goop, I guess so..."

Barry   "Both Betty and the Master Chef are just fine! He'll be taking her to the nurse's office just in case, though."

Mr. Kooc   "That is stupendous news! I'm sure you all are tired, so feel free to return to your dorm rooms and rest. Don't worry about the rest of your classes today."

Ail   "Seriously?! Sweet! That's music to my ears!"

Mr. Kooc   "I bet Mr. Musico will be impressed with me when I tell him about that, hoho!"

Everyone began to leave the room, but I stopped Ail before he walked out the door.

Tear   "U-um, Ail?"

Ail   "What is it?"

Tear   "U-uh, I... Uh..."

Tear   "... N-no, never mind..."

Ail   "Oookay..."

Tear   "U-um, let's go."

Ail   "Yeah, I'm pooped. And I need to get this smell out of my hair."

Ail and I left the cooking room, heading back to our dorm room.

Tear   Ail... I hope we'll always be friends...

End of Chapter 3

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Writer's Comments:

Oh boy, finally done with this chapter! It's actually been awhile since I legitimately wrote a chapter (since September, I believe). As with both of the previous versions of this chapter, I kind of had a hard time writing this one, and feeling a bit rusty after not writing for a while didn't help either. However, unlike before, I won't say I don't like this one as I added some new, interesting things to this chapter. This chapter being seen through Tear's perspective instead of Ail's gave me some neat ideas.

I want to finish the next chapter this month, too. Considering how long this one took, I feel kinda iffy on that, but let's hope things go well. 2016 was a kind of lazy year for me; let's hope 2017 turns out a lot better!

- CS-Masyet