Chapter XXXI: Gratitude
════════ ××× ════════
WITH A HAND SUPPORTING HIS CHEEK, he let out a sigh while he acted like he was listening to Gopal. The molecular manipulator was busy talking about what happened when the dragon was supposed to attack both him and Fang. Gopal got so engrossed with his story that he didn't notice the blank look plastered on Boboiboy's face as his mind drifted off to something else. The elemental hero's other hand was casually grabbing a fry from Gopal's bowl of random food while eating it soon after with an emotionless face.
Fang didn't even care one bit about the story but still listened to him nonetheless. Yaya and Ying were engaging theirselves on a casual conversation while they ate their breakfast. Yesterday was a long day after all, they get to rest now since they've finished their mission on Planet Pyro. Papa Zola was hanging out with his 'disciple', Cosmo. He told everyone that he was going to tell the pegasus guardian about his experiences about prevailing justice. Cosmo was quite excited about that.
Captain Papa Zola's students don't really get what's exciting about that, most especially Gopal, Ying and Fang. Cosmo indeed needs to be exposed more to new things that they think are fun, the pegasus would love to see new things from Earth. Currently, it isn't time for that. Perhaps next time when they finish the whole Glamouran mission they can finally show the two Lluminarians their home planet.
"─and then, Yaya and Ying were going to intervene but, before the dragon could approach me─I accidentally let out a scream," Gopal rambled out with various of hand gestures that was quite hard to understand. "Accidentally? You considered that an accident?" Fang commented with a look of disagreement on his visage. Gopal gave the shadow manipulator a sassy expression before ignoring him to continue his story.
"As I was saying, after I screamed─the dragon thought I was communicating with it. I don't know what I said to it but it seems like the dragon worshipped me after that!" Gopal beamed, yellow sparkles beginning to appear from around him. Fang shook his head before rolling his eyes in disbelief due to Gopal's exaggeration. Boboiboy munched on a piece of french fry before nodding slowly with a light hum.
"I was really sad that we needed to leave it back at Planet Pyro, I wanted to bring it along with us. Wouldn't it be amazing to have a dragon as a pet? Imagine the look on the faces of those cool kids in school when they see the fire dragon with us. Heh, who's cool now?!" Gopal spouted nonsense while brushing the tip of his nose with his thumb. "I don't think Boboiboy needs a cool pet so that everyone in school will think that he's cool. He's already too popular for that, plus, he's not the type of person to value popularity," Ying suddenly joined in.
Gopal was about to shoot a statement but got cutted of by Fang who sounded offended at Ying's comment. "Tch, don't make it sound like Boboiboy is that popular," Fang crossed his arms after clicking his tongue in jealousy. "Hmm, just admit that you're jealous. By the way, I was talking about myself! Everybody will think I'm cool like Fang and Boboiboy if they see my dragon," Gopal shrugged out. "Hm, yeah, yeah," Ying and Fang blankly stated in unison, unamused at his comment.
"Come on, F/n was feeling the same about the Phoenix. He nearly didn't want to leave Planet Pyro because of that," Yaya chuckled at the memory. "Speaking of him, wouldn't it be weird to see him in many accessories? When he finally collects all of the artefacts, I wonder what he will look like," Ying tapped her chin in wonder.
Boboiboy Blaze marveled to himself while he looked at his attire. "Woah! I look awesome," He stated with an excited look on his face. His hand travelled its way towards his collar, as if to make himself look better. His once sleeveless red sweater didn't reach the elbow but still had sleeves on it. He had a sleeveless black jacket that reached down to his shorts. His red turtle neck sweater had a hood now which covered the collar of his black jacket.
His arm bands was replaced with black fingerless gloves. His shorts didn't changed that much but overall he looked cool. His shoes were now black boots that didn't reached his knees. Having a colour palettes of black, red and yellow, with the same fire designs dawning his attire. His hat was replaced with a bandana with his element sign on the side, his hair looked messier than the other elements when they transformed which reflects to his energy-filled character. Of course, he had elf ears as usual.
Y/n walked from beside Blaze, her hand reaching open towards the Gem of Fire. It had a beautiful shade of redish-orange, smooth surface that anyone can see their reflection from it. She watched as the gem made its way towards her hand and soon a glow began appearing from the left of her chest. A small accessory like a pin was attached to her brown cloak. It was a brooch. The brooch had the same colour as the gem and looked rather priceless.
She turned her head to see Boboiboy back to his original form, satisfied that they were able to finish their mission in Planet Pyro.
A couple of minutes later Yaya and Ying didn't know what they were witnessing at the moment. A crying Gopal, a pouting elf, an annoyed alien and a boy who looked lost in thought. Fang was getting annoyed at Gopal's constant whining since the molecular hero wanted to bring the Fire dragon along with them but kept receiving a 'No' as an answer from both Ying and Yaya. Y/n on the other hand seemed like she wouldn't mind staying in Planet Pyro to see more and study the Phoenix.
It was as if she didn't mind chasing after it because of the fact that it flew away to who knows where after she collected the Fire Artefact. If she would be able to tell them what she felt, they could already guess what it is from the pout of disappointment that she was giving them. Boboiboy seemed troubled about something and would always wave it off to them, telling them to not worry about him. Fang was so done with everything that he insisted that they should go back already.
With reluctance, Gopal and Y/n agreed. Soon after, Ying and Yaya contacted Ochobot so that he would summon a portal for them to return back on the ship.
Since the time when they arrived yesterday, they haven't seen Y/n get out from her chamber. They wanted to know if she managed to recover from the spell that she casted yesterday. She did say the recovery of her magic wouldn't take long, it was normal for them to be concerned for the elf. Ochobot suddenly flew inside the room, joining their conversation. Boboiboy turned to power sphera, getting the best of his curiosities. He was remained bothered by his own thoughts which everyone noticed since yesterday.
"Is F/n alright? Did he finally get his magic back?" Boboiboy questioned the power sphera. "Well, I did encounter him just now. He can finally use his magic scroll so there's nothing to worry about, I think he went to search for Cosmo," Ochobot answered the elemental hero who nodded at this information. Yaya and Ying could smile while both Gopal and Fang were relieved to know that the elf finally got his magic back. Boboiboy hummed and went back to wandering off in his thoughts.
"Are you okay, Boboiboy? You don't seem well, is there something bothering you?" Ochobot questioned the teenager, noticing his weird behaviour since the group arrived from Planet Pyro. "Nothing much, just thinking about the next mission even though thinking about it just tires me more," He sighed, his other hand casually tapping the table. "Not much? Clearly there is something inside your mind, you have that same stoic expression since yesterday. It's obvious you're in deep thought," Ying commented with a raised eyebrow.
"Huh-uh, you're quiet than usual. We're worried that something is bothering you, did something happen with your fight against the hellhound? Did it do something that affected you so much?" Yaya wondered out with no lies within her statement. Boboiboy shook his head in disconfirmation. "N-no, it's not that," He answered, shaking his hand in the process. A look of worry replaced his face, avoiding the gazes of his friends. "It's just that, I've been wondering about something..." he trailed off, earning confused looks from everyone.
"What were you wondering about?" Ochobot questioned him. "It's more like a theoretical question, I've been imagining myself in that situation and I don't know how I would handle it," Boboiboy informed them, making everyone more confused than ever. "Why would a situation that only exists in your mind bother you that much? You don't sound like the type of person to worry about the smallest things," Ying shot, slightly bothered at his weird behaviour.
"Usually I'm not..."
"But... theoretically, what if you accidentally found out something that isn't meant to be meddled with? What if─that something will lead to an even bigger situation that is in exchange of the trust of a close friend? What if you're curious to know why, knowing that you have the right to know about it? What would you guys do?" He started to ask, surprising everyone in the room. They didn't expect for Boboiboy to have something in mind that deep. There was no way that question was theoretical, it sounded so realistic and deep to be unreal.
"Boboiboy... did you found out something that you shouldn't have?" Yaya asked him in complete worry. Realising his mistake, he tried his best to shake it off. "Not really, but... what if I get stuck in a situation like that? Maybe in the future?" He denied the thoughts running inside his friends' minds. Everyone looked at each other with worried faces, they have never experienced this side of him. He usually has positive thinking, he usually has hope in everything. So, why was he bothered by something that he says doesn't exist?
"I don't get why you're so bothered by something like that. But, if I were you, I would approach them and tell them about the thing that I've discovered about them. Since I do have the right to know since we're close friends, if they were indeed my friend then they would tell me about it. Friends do trust each other right? That's one of the things keeping the friendship between anyone stronger," Ochobot answered immediately, telling Boboiboy what he would do in that situation.
"Although I wouldn't force them to tell me about it, I respect their decision if it shouldn't be meant to be meddled with anyone. There's a reason why they wouldn't tell us and it could cost us our lives, it's up to them if it's best to tell us about their problem. Although I do think it's best to tell, as their friend, we can help them do something about it. As their friend, it's one of our responsibilities to show them and advice them what's supposed to be done that will not harm anyone," Ochobot finished.
Boboiboy smiled at what he heard, Ochobot was definitely a good friend. His advices always helped him a lot. "Boboiboy, if you are experiencing anything that is troubling you, don't hesitate to tell us next time. We're your friends after all, it's better to solve it together since that makes everything easier to understand," the power sphera added. The elemental hero nodded at this, feeling his chest lighten up after letting everything out. "Wah, Ochobot, you're a good listener. Maybe next time we can ask you a few things," Yaya complimented as Ying nodded.
"I agree, you could help us with a thing or two," Fang pushed his glasses up. "Maybe next time you can help me with my homework, Ochobot!" Gopal beamed out of nowhere. Ochobot sweatdropped at Gopal's statement. "That's not exactly what I meant..." the power sphera blankly responded to Gopal's silly statement. "Yeah, are you saying the tips and extra lessons that we give you aren't enough?" Yaya glared at Gopal. "Hmph, it's like you forgot the fact that we teach you with your homework," Ying crossed her arms.
"N-no, I didn't say that! I was just suggesting you know? Ochobot could be useful since he's quite wise," Gopal waved both of his hands. "Eh? So Ochobot wasn't useful before?" Fang slyly added.
"Hey Fang, stop making the situation worse, help me out!"
"You're on your own boat."
Everyone got distracted by the sudden switch of topic, arguing and competing out of nowhere. Boboiboy didn't join them and felt his eyes linger near the entrance of the room. He listened to his friends' voices but got his attention off to somewhere else. As a few seconds passed, he felt his eyes widened as he saw a confused-looking Y/n pass by. He wasn't able to see her face due to the mask but, her gestures says that she was indeed confused. He watched her pass by, her figure disappearing from the area slowly.
He waited for her to finally pass by before he decided that he would follow her. His friends were too engrossed with their arguing that they've failed to notice the sudden disappearance of the elemental hero. He walked out of the cafeteria and turned to the direction where Y/n went off to. 'Where did she go?' He questioned himself, walking down the small hallway of the ship. As he walked, his feet made noises because of the fact that the floor was made of metal. He trotted for a faster pace so that he could catch up with her.
He could hear noises coming from someone walking. 'That must be F/n,' he thought before getting closer to the noise. Y/n could feel from her feet that someone was there, she didn't need to use her enhanced hearing. Part of her hoped that it was Cosmo since she's been looking for him for quite a while now, who knows where Captain Papa brought the pegasus? But, Y/n had a feeling that the creature making those noises wasn't Cosmo. From what it sounds like the creature had two feet if she has to base on the noise.
She stopped walking and just stood, listening to the footsteps that was getting louder as seconds passed. For some reason, she felt the footsteps stopped also when she did. The elf was confused at this. 'For Eros' sake, show yourself,' she thought out to herself. Y/n didn't want to turn to the figure for some reason and she remained frozen on her spot. Her eyes squinted in suspicion, waiting for the figure to make a move. It's like this certain creature was following her, it was mirroring her actions as if they were making sure to stay unnoticed.
Cautious as she ever was, she just stood for a moment, feeling the figure walk closer from behind her. Due to the growing curiosity that couldn't help but annoy her, she quickly turned to her back but only to feel hands holding both of her shoulders which took her by surprise. 'What in Eros─' she got her thoughts cutted off as her eyes lingered on the figure in front of her.
Face to face with caramel brown orbs, those eyes had something different written within them. He had so much emotions that she couldn't even describe them clearly. One of her friends, Boboiboy, stood before her with his hands on her shoulders while looking up to her. She looked down at the shorter boy in confusion, wondering if Boboiboy needed something from her. Boboiboy looked rather anxious which made Y/n worry. "Boboiboy? What is wrong?" Y/n questioned the boy in confusion.
Boboiboy just stood in silence, not knowing where to start. All he could do was tell himself internally to confront her about it. Y/n didn't want to pressure the elemental hero and let him have his time. She patiently waited as the boy gathered the courage to finally talk. When he was finally ready to talk about it, he let out a sigh of determination. "F/n," he called her with a serious tone laced within his voice. Y/n blinked at this before nodding her head to gesture that all of her attention was directed to him only.
"Please be honest..."
The elf's heart fell once she heard this declarative sentence come out from his mouth, feeling that something bad was going to happen for her. "Pardon? Honest with what?" She questioned using her scroll. Boboiboy's eyes remained lingering upon her, it was so commanding that Y/n didn't once see this behaviour from him. Y/n felt uncomfortable from this situation that Boboiboy placed her in, the atmosphere didn't feel like the usual either. His gaze hardened on her.
"Tell me, why are you hiding your identity?"
'What?' Y/n let out internally. With widened (e/c) eyes, she couldn't believe what she just heard from the other teenager. She couldn't bring herself to say anything as she froze on her spot. Boboiboy didn't expect a response from her, noting the silent treatment that she gave him suddenly. "You're not a boy....right?" He added with uncertainty. Y/n felt her breath hitch at this, she never knew that being confronted like this can be so intimidating. She never thought of this before.
She tried to trace back the reason why Boboiboy knew. She must have done something for him to discover one of her biggest secrets. 'The bind...' she trailed off inside her mind in realisation. Boboiboy still never got a response from the girl, he must've indeed surprised her so much. "I'm not forcing you to tell me the whole information, it's not right if I do. I just want to clear it up," the elemental hero stated in reassurance. Despite that, she remained wordless from his confrontation.
Boboiboy sighed, letting go of her shoulders. He was rather disappointed at the outcome of his confrontation, why did he even expect for Y/n to answer everything? He's hopeless. His caramel brown orbs suddenly gained interest to his own shoes. "I see, nevermind. It's not like you're going to answer me anyway. Sorry for bothering you," he finished with an obvious frown upon his face. Boboiboy turned away from the elf, starting to walk away from her to go back to his friends.
But before he could get further away, he felt a hand wrapped itself around his wrist which prevented him from walking. This earned his attention which made him turn back to the owner of the said hand. His eyes lingered towards the girl whose head was facing towards the ground due to nervousness. Boboiboy blinked at this, confused at her sudden movement. Y/n raised her head, noticing the silence in the atmosphere. Her eyes drifted its way towards her hand where she was holding Boboiboy's wrist.
Startled at what she had done, she retracted her own hand and hid it underneath her brown coat in embarrassment. "My apologies," Y/n immediately apologised non-verbally while bowing down politely. "Uh... no worries, it's fine," Boboiboy scratched his cheek awkwardly. "You wanted to say something?" He changed the topic. "Well, about that, did you get this certain idea back at Planet Pyro?" She started with a question.
"Not entirely, I had some slight clues but..."
"Was it because you pushed me when─" Boboiboy couldn't continue reading Y/n's scroll due to the fact that he already knew what she was talking about. He looked away from her and didn't continue reading the scroll. "Well.... yeah, y-you could say that but please let's not talk about what happened during that time," he silently pleaded in embarrassment without looking at her, his cheeks flaring red at the weird memory. "I will not speak of that event ever again," Y/n nodded her head, trying to hide her uncomfortable state from that topic.
"Look, Boboiboy, I cannot defend myself from that moment anymore. It will only be useless if I do so, although I am not prepared for this moment. I am not ready to pour all of the information that I am keeping away from everyone," She tried her best to explain everything. "It is just too sudden," Y/n added, releasing a soft sigh from behind her mask. "But, indeed you are right. I am hiding my identity for a reason and to answer your last question, I am indeed a female by birth," Y/n confirmed, knowing that she was already caught by him. Hiding and denying everything would be utterly useless.
"I respect your decision but, don't we have the right to know? F/n, we're your friends. We can help you out, if this is about the Lluminarian King or whatever but, don't you trust us?" He questioned her with a frown making its way towards his face. Pursing her lips, she knew he was right. They had the right to know, they could also help with her problem. But, why was she scared to tell them the truth? Was she afraid of telling them that she was lying to them for almost a month? Was she afraid to show them what she was suffering and escaping from for many months?
Or was she just scared to show them who she truly is?
The elf gulped before deciding to answer the boy. "I do, but it is just me who is the problem─not you, please do not think of it that way," Y/n shook her hands together with her head, disconfirming his negative thoughts. "Just you? F/n, when did you get so insecure of yourself? I don't like hearing those words from you, you shouldn't be worried about that. Are you just scared to show us who you truly are?" He commented with furrowed eyebrows, disliking this odd behaviour Y/n showed out of nowhere. The elf froze suddenly, realisation hitting her like a truck.
Indeed, even she knew herself that wasn't like her at all. She didn't know when she developed this unlikable behaviour, she wasn't usually the type to worry about what others think about her. But, why did she suddenly become so insecure about herself? What was she so scared of? The opinions of her friends about her? Perhaps she developed this behaviour once she started to have friends. "F/n, I know you have a lot of things running inside your mind right now that even you yourself, you're acting really odd," He spoke.
"But please, don't ever think of yourself that way in front of me or everyone else ever again. Whoever or whatever you are, we'll accept you. We're your friends and we are supposed to understand your situation."
The elf felt her chest warm up from his words, he felt lest anxious and nervous. He was right, she needs to tell them about everything. Perhaps for a short while they can wait. "If that is the case then, Boboiboy, once we finish our mission in Planet Agua, I will tell you and our friends everything," she finally decided, a smile forming on her face. "I shall use that time to gather the courage to tell you all the truth about myself and my identity," Y/n added. "I respect that, we just have to make our mission there successful," The elemental hero grinned at her.
"Surely, it will be."
"Right, Everyone must be looking for me, I need to─"
Before Boboiboy could walk away the girl grabbed the hem if his orange shirt from behind, earning his attention. "Yeah? Do you need something?" He asked the Lluminarian elf. "Can you please not tell anyone about what you know?" She asked the teenager who blinked at her. "Sure, I wasn't going to anyway. I just thought it would be better if it came out from you," he responded with a shrug. "If that's all then, see you la─" before he could continue his farewell, he was tugged again by the girl from his shirt.
A sigh escaped his mouth as he turned to her, tilting his head to the side in the process. "Yeah? What's bothering you? Do you need help with it?" He asked the female elf, slightly worried at her constant tugging of his shirt. The girl began to fiddle with her cloak in nervousness, many thoughts running inside her head. Despite that problem, she only managed to comment with two words only that gave out such an impact. "Hm? Hey, tell me what's bothering you. If it's about me snitching on you, I wouldn't do─" he stopped himself once his eyes landed upon the scroll in front of him.
"Thank you, Boboiboy."
════════ ××× ════════
•••••••
YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF PLANET PYRO ARC!
STARTING...
YOU ARE NOW APPROACHING THE PLANET AGUA ARC!
A/n: And this is where the fluff moments starts :D
Disclaimer: The illustrations and pictures above aren't mine. They belong to their original owners.