The Pearls of Our Hearts

“Sir?”

"Huh?" Daichi found himself standing in front of Mabel again, the Guild House’s blonde receptionist. Her small facial features and deep, blue eyes all looked at him, confused, as she held a stack of papers. 

Daichi's eyes were drawn to the golden ring around her finger that'd been granted by Princess Dominion. The strange glimmer beckoned his attention, but it soon released him from his hypnotic entrancement.

"Is everything alright, Sir Daichi?" Mabel asked. A front desk littered with random trinkets and documents indicated a conversation of some sort was occurring. 

Urghhh . . . He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Sorry. I think I was just remembering the dream I had last night. Might've been more of a memory than a dream though.”

“Dream?” she said. "That’s unusual. It’s well-known that Adventurers can’t dream while in Paradise. It’d be like a ‘dream within a dream’, no?”

That was news to him. “It’s not important anyway—just a dream about a girl from back home, haha."

“O-Oh . . . " Mabel's cheeks flushed pink then she twiddled her fingers together. "You don’t have to go into details then."

“Ahhh! It wasn’t that kind of dream!” Daichi blushed rosy pink along with her. It took a few more stammering exchanges before he calmed both himself and his fidgeting receptionist.

But the bustling hall behind him was alight with Adventurers waltzing through the cramped corridors. Today, there were several other receptionists on duty assisting Mabel who looked like their supervisor of sorts. However, she'd seemed eager to help Daichi in particular when she saw him in line, and maybe a bit too enthusiastically waved him over to her counter.

Now that the bashful confusion had cleared up, she once again gazed at him with gleaming, starry eyes, waiting for him to speak.

Daichi coughed into his knuckles. “So, we were talking about my new guild right?”

“Indeed. I only need a name now to finish your registration.” She raised a pencil over paper, ready to write.

Guild name, huh? What could be a good one? Several ideas floated into his head but he couldn’t quite combine them like he wanted.

Mabel leaned in close to him, as if to whisper private information. “By the way, your friend Sanae—where did you find her?”

“Oh, it's a long story, haha. But I trust her completely. She’s not a Dearth or anything.”

“I’m happy to hear that!" she said with an honest smile. "Pure Clerics are rare and high in demand, so you're very lucky. Plus, she’s quite pretty—look."

Daichi turned his head around and followed Mabel’s curious gaze. Sanae was standing in the distance beside mosaic windows as two chads tried flirting with her. One Paladin was asking her to join his guild, and the Brawler was asking her out on a date. Sanae sheepishly smiled but shrank back into the wall, as if unsure how to escape several amorous advances at once. 

Then she spotted Daichi looking over, and a metaphorical lightbulb lit up above her head.

Without any words, she raised her hand towards him for the cutest little, girly wave with lots of cute finger wiggling. The two chads tracked her gesture and stared at Daichi with disgruntled looks.

“Know what, I think I know what guild name I want now,” he told Mabel. She heard his reasoning then completed his registration, winking at Daichi as he walked back over to Sanae.

“Guess we’re a guild now!” he proclaimed to her.

The Paladin and Brawler gawked at him with their mouths wide open, like being shocked the prom queen had chosen the school nerd. Their chagrin became more vivid when Sanae wrapped herself around Daichi’s arm, grinning the grin of a passionate lover as she snuggled into him.

“Let’s go, darling!” she said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"H-H-Huh?" Daichi’s face was more confused than anyone's. The bright white of Sanae's robe combined with her angelic face attracted almost everyone's attention as she tugged her man down the guild hall.

Literally what is happening? Part of him didn't want the experience to end but he had to at least question it. "Ummm, is everything alright?"

"Just play along for now!" she whispered with cute intensity. "We're almost out!"

Sanae and him continued strolling along the colorful corridor together, just like a real couple would, and soon exited the Guild House back onto an active, sunny street.

“What was that all about?” Daichi said, heart still pounding from her closeness.

“Sorry! Couldn’t think of a better way to lose those guys, teehee." She unlatched her arms from around his. “I’m usually around Hiro so I never had to worry about getting hit on.”

First world problems in Paradise! He realized it was a similar situation whenever Hanako was around. No girls ever tried talking to him when she was close by, but he did get plenty of jealous stares from guys. And now with Sanae it wasn't much different.

Curious onlookers around them, ranging from townsfolks to agitated Adventurers, looked towards the apparent scene of a cute Cleric teasing her somewhat shorter boyfriend.

Daichi had to resist grabbing her hand and tugging Sanae away to somewhere less exposed. But at the same time, he didn't really mind the extra attention he received thanks to her. It was almost cathartic, like maybe life had finally tossed him a bone. 

“Well, Hiro nearby or not, guys would still try hitting on you one way or another, haha." He smiled to enjoy himself in the wholesome moment.

“So basically just Makoto juniors then,” she said while trying to hold back a laugh. “Anyway, what did you end up naming our guild?”

Guess I gotta spill the beans sometime. Daichi itched his cheek as he looked up at the House's clocktower towering above him. Metallic gears grinding against one another chimed like the cogs in his own head. “Well, it might be kinda corny, but the new name met three criteria I wanted, so hopefully it'll represent us fine.”

“Hmmm? Now you got me curious.”

"Let's talk as we walk. There's some stuff I wanna see downtown."

"Mm!"

The duo continued strolling down the crowded, medieval street. Old timey buildings that looked plucked straight out of story books still mesmerized Daichi, but there was a discussion to focus on.

He raised his index finger to start explaining. “For our name: first, I wanted something that my sister might interpret as a signal from me. If we can’t find her, the next best thing is she finds us.”

“Oh, that’s pretty smart!” Sanae's eyes glimmered with genuine wonder.

He nodded. “Second, I wanted a name that resonates with us, something we can both feel proud of representing. So I racked my brain coming up with a name that involves you too, even if you said I could name our guild whatever.”

“Well spill it!"

"Urg . . . " It still wasn't a name he felt super comfortable sharing, but exposing it to Sanae was inevitable, and to anyone else who joined up later on.

After some more mild bickering, the wholesome duo had wandered into Outset's town square. Multiple major streets all circled around a roundabout that featured a headless statue of Princess Dominion, stained with food splatters and bird droppings. Otherwise though, the scenic sights of people lounging on benches and merchants hauling wagons full of merch were pleasant vistas.

Taking the initiative! Daichi willed out his Menu then tapped through several prompts. An invite for Sanae to join his new guild was sent out, and he took a deep breath.

“I named our guild ‘Pearl’s Tears’,” he finally said. "We're Pearl's Tears!"