Discoveries and Tears

So there I was, standing there looking at Zoe wearing cute pink pajamas. She clearly just finished taking a bath, she was still drying her hair with the towel around her neck.

“....”

“....”

It was like the other night, we both stood there staring at one another. That’s when Zoe closed her eyes like usual, and gave her angel-like smile.

“Sota…”

“EEP!!!”

Oh no! That’s the bad omen, she always smiles like that when she’s pissed off. What did I even-Oh right, I look like a peeping tom right now…I DON’T WANNA DIE!

“Wait, I can explain!”

“...You said we had a deal, but it appears you forgot.”

Zoe immediately removed the towel from her neck, and I remembered something terrible. I remembered a hot summer when I was a kid. I decided to prank my mother who was working in the garden, and shot her with my squirt gun. The result was my mother giving me the same look, as she removed the towel around her neck the same way. Then she-

*Swish!*

I blinked to see Zoe whipping her towel in the air, it was so hard you could hear the crack. She stopped practicing and looked at me, immediately I was ten again. I still remember Mother’s words to this day.

Ara Ara, looks like someone needs a lesson

Sweat poured out my body, as Zoe said a phrase that was practically the same.

“Looks like someone needs a little reminder!”

“P-Please! This is a misunderstanding!”

Zoe wasn’t hearing it, which left me only one option. I ran, that’s right I ran away. Of course Zoe gave chase, it honestly felt like one of those old cartoons. Eventually she caught up to my tail, and her aim sang true. She unleashed a barrage of blows to my rear, and I cried out in fear.

“OUCH! YEOW! OOF! PLEASE STOP, I’M SORRY!!!!”

“PERVERT, IDIOT, MORON, LECH, DUMMY!”

I ended up squatting down to protect my rump, but that left my head open. Zoe didn’t stop, eventually she started giving me the windmill punch. After four minutes of this, I sat there with numerous bumps on my head. Zoe was breathing heavily after working up all that energy, I kinda feel bad. She then gave me the doom expressive again, oh please no more!

“...Upstairs.”

“Huh?”

“Upstairs, now! We need to have a talk.”

“Eep!”

Miss Fianna, please protect me!

****

So there we were, both me and Zoe, sitting in the guild hall. On the table sat two cups of hot coco, I didn’t think they’d even have this here. I’m too scared to drink it though, what if she-

“Drink the hot coco.”

“GLADLY!”

I immediately picked up the cup and downed the whole glass, seeing that made Zoe sigh and refilled the cup with more. After that she took a sip from her cup, and began to speak.

“We agreed that if you came back after closing hours you’d come in the morning.”

“Sorry Zoe, I wanted to make sure you didn’t wait for me. However, it looks like I didn’t need to worry about that.”

I glanced at Zoe, she began to look down and remembered she was caught.

“You don’t just live close by the guild, you actually live here don’t you.”

“...Yes, please don’t tell anyone.”

“Does the guildmaster know?”

“Of course he does, once again, please don’t tell anyone.”

Zoe covered her face as she turned beet red, I kinda feel bad for her. Back home people had issues with living expenses and places to live too. Speaking of back home, I can't stop looking at those clothes Zoe’s wearing. Their style, including the cute bunny design on the breast pocket, these PJs looked too familiar. That’s it, I gotta ask.

“Zoe, where did you get that sleepwear?”

“You know these are meant for sleep? I’m surprised you knew that, it’s a new experimental design from Roman’s shop. He calls them “Pajamas” or “PJs” for short.”

I KNEW IT! Roman interrogated my clothes and found out how to make PJs. Now I remember, those are Usagi-chan brand! They’re a brand of cute PJs, branded with that adorable bunny symbol. Should I feel offended by this?

“Please don’t tell anyone.”

“Eh?”

“I don’t want people to make fun of my preferences, as you can see I love cute things. So when I was on break the other day and spotted these in Roman’s shop, I couldn’t resist!”

Zoe was as red as a tomato, I can’t believe she’s the same age I am. I told her that her secret was safe with me, that caused her to sigh for relief. I also promised to save my business for tomorrow and promised to keep our promise this time. She seemed pleased, which lead into the main reason for our discussion.

“Hey, why were you in the basement area standing outside the door?”

“Oh, I don’t really know how I ended up there. I just heard some singing and boom I was there.”

Immediately, Zoe looked like a deer in front of headlights. Why does she look so-Oh Yeah, now I remember!

“That’s right! It was your singing! I heard your beautiful voice and couldn’t-”

“SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP! I’m about to die from embarrassment, please stop talking!”

Zoe was so red that she began to steam, however at this point I couldn’t resist. She’s been bullying me this whole time after all.

“Aww, don’t be like that! You have a beautiful voice, I admit I forgot the lyric of your song though.”

“Oh, that’s good then-”

“Oh yeah! I remember it had to do with sirens right!”

“PLEASE STOP TALKING!”

Zoe immediately buried her head in her arms, I was smirking at first but then I noticed something. She was scared, Zoe was trembling in a way I haven’t seen. It reminded me of Ms. Lute’s reaction to me before, I see so Zoe is keeping stuff hidden too.

“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone.”

“Huh?”

She looked up at me, her eyes were teary again. She must really get shaken up when people hear her sing, poor Zoe. She wiped her eyes and responded to me.

“Do you mean it, will you protect my secret?”

“Of course I will! Although, it’s a shame to keep your gift hidden. So promise me when you get the courage that you’ll sing a song for the guild. It can be about anything you want, after all your gift is something that should be shared.”

I should know, I was gifted with bad luck and no one wants that. Zoe was blessed with the ability to sing, something pleasant and sweet like that should be shared. Then again I won’t force her, what kind of friend would I be if I did that.

“Okay.”

Hmm? When I looked back at Zoe she had a slight smile and wiped her teary eyes.

“If you feel so strongly about it, I guess I could do that. I have bad stage fright though, so please give me some time.”

“It’s a deal, if I manage to pull off something crazy, you’re gonna sing for the guild.”

We both smiled and chuckled as we spoke about little things, I even mentioned wanting to see Zoe’s room which resulted in one of her signature slaps. After a while I went on my way, and said goodbye to Zoe. I hope the inn hasn’t locked up yet, the door closes at ten so I better hurry. Otherwise, I’m sleeping outside tonight!

****

“...there he goes, seriously who does this guy think he is.”

I sigh as I watch Sota walk off into the dark, I then lock the guild door and fall to my knees. How could I forget to lock the door! What if Sota wasn’t the one who heard me! What’s gonna happen to me, why did I even sing that song!?!

I couldn’t help but berate myself for getting caught like that, luckily Sota didn’t realize the significance of my song. Still, I feel so exposed right now. Singing was one of the only things that made me feel safe, does this mean I can’t sing anymore.

“What am I-Wait a minute, did I remember to clean up? Oh no!”

I ran back down to the tub, I almost tripped in the process. I slammed the door open and checked the tub, good the water is drained and nothing’s there.

“Looks like I was worried for-”

That’s when I saw it, I grabbed it out of the tub with a trembling hand. It was a beautiful scale, shining and translucent like glass. I clenched my fist around it to hide it, then I looked around to see if anyone saw. When I realized I was safe I began laughing to myself, I’m going crazy now aren’t I? I walked back out to the basement and sat on the floor holding my legs. I pulled up my left pants leg a little bit to make sure I was wearing “it” properly. I remember now, I took it off in order to relax a bit. That’s why my voice lured him in, and of course I was singing that song. I ended up doing the one thing I swore never to do, I almost lost my life today. What if he tells someone? What if they come to capture me? What am I going to do?

I began sobbing softly into my knees, I’m tired of hiding myself. I just wanna be me, even if it’s just once. However, would everyone accept me if they knew what I am? Would Sota accept me?

“No one cares about us fables, do they?”