Chapter 6: Still Looking for Love

     “Amitie! Where did you go? We were so worried!”

Just as I heard my name from the girl in blue armor, my legs gave way and I slid to the ground. It was like they had stopped working. 

     “We lost track of you while fleeing from the onion pixies. What happened?” Ringo held her hand out to me. 

Finally out of the forest. And finally, finally, we’d all met up again…! 

     “Yeah…sorry about that. I ran into Ecolo, and then Ouroboros showed up and…”

     “!!” A nervous jolt ran through the others when they heard that name.

     “Ah!” I hurried to reassure them, “But it went okay-ish! Ecolo said that after the four of us got back together, they’d bring Ouroboros over.”

     “In that case, we must focus all our efforts into our quest to find love!” Ally concluded, her hands tightly balled into fists. 

…Oh, right!

     “Speaking of that, I tried asking Ecolo about love too,” I mentioned.

     “Hm? Now I wonder what they had to say on that topic. I have no frame of reference,” Ringo said. 

I tried my hardest to remember the conversation we’d had…

     “Love is…an… opinion? Or wait, maybe it was an ‘open onion’!”

THUD. Everyone besides me fell over at once.

     “Eh…eheheheh…” I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head.

What Ecolo told me had been really complicated, and all that stuff with Ouroboros happened right after, so I guess I just came out of the talk not getting a single word they said…

     “Oh, but, they also said that the way Ally believes in love is awesome!” I added, flustered.

That was about all I managed to say in my panic. That was what they meant, right? 

     “Really?” Ally said, cheeks turning red, “I’m so happy!” And she went right on. “So where shall we travel to next?” She turned, looking at us one by one.

     “Uhmmm…” 

We all fell silent. Sure, we could just keep going around asking people what love is, but coming up with the right kind of person to ask was actually pretty hard.

     “We could try somebody who’s always going on about love anyway…” I casually thought out loud, “You know, the kind of person who makes you think ‘Yeah, THEY know their love for sure!’ …Anybody come to mind, guys?” 

Yeah right, as if there’d actually be anyone that super-perfect for what we’re trying to do around here! …Is what I thought, but—

     “AH!” Ringo suddenly let out with a loud voice. 

Surprised, me and Arle stopped thinking to ourselves and looked at Ringo instead. 

     She was trembling as she spoke, “I… I know someone…!” 

     “You do?!”

     “Now that I think about it, I actually do, yes! Someone 1:1 equivalent to Amitie’s description, in fact! A man who spends day in day out talking about love, love and yet more love…”

     Arle’s eyes rounded. “That man…sure must be something,” she mumbled.

     Ringo turned her eyes away, a hand to her chin. “Well, maybe calling him a ‘man’ is a bit of a misnomer. He’s more of a walking mystery….” 

     “EHHH?!”

Is she saying that the guy might not be even human in the first place?! What does that even mean?! This is frying my brain!

     “A-anyway. Let’s go look for him. Everybody, follow me.”

We followed after Ringo, who had hurried into a march, with a big load of question marks floating above our heads.

After walking a bit into the forest, we finally found the person Ringo had been talking about in a little clearing.

     “Ris located!” Ringo declared, whipping out a finger to point at the person.

…There stood…a man? Does this count as a man? …Yeah, guess Ringo was right: He’s a mystery. 

     “Oh my… Ringo, as well as her ever-energetic young lady-friends. Greetings to all of you.” 

With those words, he turned to face us—a tall, two-legged, lab-coat wearing…bear? No, maybe a squirrel? It was an animal that made you feel like you might be looking at either. This guy was called “Risukuma.” According to Ringo, he was an upperclassman at her and Maguro’s school.  

     “Hrm? There appears to be an unfamiliar face among you today,” Risukuma said, noticing Ally.

Ally, shocked by the white lab-coated, squirrel-ish, bear-like figure, froze up for a moment. Then she seemed to remember that she still had to introduce herself. She bowed her head quickly.

     “Nice to meet you, my name is Ally!” 

     “Uhm, you see,” I piped in, “Ally is a new friend we just made!” 

     “Ah, friendship… One of the many forms of…love.” 

Wow, Risukuma really did just start talking about love, totally unprompted! Ally and I exchanged glances and looked at Ringo. She was snickering with her arms folded.

     “‘Love’ is basically Risukuma’s middle name! How in the world did I not think of that earlier…? You say ‘Ris,’ I say ‘love’! You say ‘love,’ I say ‘Ris’!  Love is so integral to his DNA that he can’t help but shout about it during Puyo battles!!” 

     “Oh, that makes sense—!” I exclaimed. 

That’s right! I do think I’ve heard Risukuma chant stuff like “Tenderness” and “Devotion” while chaining! …But I never really put much thought into that until now. 

     “How wonderful!” Ally said, turning to Risukuma with a big smile. “Risu…kuma? Dear… Sir?” She threw her arms open wide. “I must ask you to fall in love with me at once!”  

…AAAH! She’s getting all carried away again! She was acting timid a second ago… I thought we were in the clear…!

     “I see… Fascinating. This young lady here seems to be downright overflowing with the miraculous energy of love…”

Oh, wow! Risukuma took in the situation without missing a beat! 

     “You’re really calm about this!”

     “Gu-gugu?!” 

Looks like Arle and Carbuncle were also surprised. 

     “Dandy and one step ahead, that’s our Ris’ charm!” Ringo agreed, nodding confidently. 

That’s Ringo and her friends for you! They all have this super-calm side to them, the whole lot of them!

     “Well, when he gets heated, he starts swinging around his flasks and causing spontaneous combustions, though.”

…And, just like Ringo, they’ve all got their little quirks.

     “B-but, hey, he’s totally what we need right now, right?!” I chimed in.

     Risukuma tilted his head. “Hrm. What exactly is it that you need?”

     “Well, uhm, uhm, so, right now, we’re asking around about love.”

     “Love… Is that so…?”

     “Do you know anything about love, like, have you fallen in love before, and could you tell us what that was like, or something…?”

Even I knew how confused and air-headed all the questions I was shooting at him sounded. 

     “Hoho… So you have been contemplating the nature of love… What a magnificent pursuit…” Risukuma said slowly, in a low, vibrating voice.

     “Uhm… Is that what we’ve been doing?”

     “Indeed. And this intellectual strife itself can be seen as…a form of love…”

     “Huh?”

Thinking about ‘love’ is also ‘love’? Is that really how it works?

     Without paying any mind to my confusion, Risukuma continued, “That yellow creature that always nestles close to the girl in the blue cape over there serves too as a demonstration…of love…” 

     “Eh? Carby is love?” 

     “Gu-gugu?!”

Arle, who’d suddenly become the topic of the conversation, was staring at Carbuncle with wide eyes. Carbuncle was bobbing from side to side, as if saying, “Really?!”

    “And…Ringo’s winding, looping curls that make you want to thrust your hand through each time you see them…they express naught but…love…”

     “What kind of utterly, astonishingly nonchalant confession is that?! Ris, don’t tell me you’ve always been thinking about doing that?”

     “Love…is…an explosion…!”

Risukuma nodded up and down, as if giving his own conclusion the seal of approval. 

     “Ev-everything seems to be love…” Ally commented.

Right…? If love can be so many different things, then we’re never gonna figure out what it really is at the core. What do we do…? Was what I was thinking, when—

     “Just whatever is the meaning of this dreadful commotion?” 

From the shadows of the trees behind Risukuma, a girl stepped out.

     “Raffina!” I shouted, surprised.

This is Raffina, a girl with pink curls, who looks like she’s a tiny bit angry. She’s another one of my friends! She looks like a real fancy lady, with the laugh and all, but she’s also got a side that’s the polar opposite of ‘graceful,’ and can get really aggressive when she wants to be. …So aggressive that I often see her fighting with Klug, actually.  

     “Wh-why are you here?” I asked, “Were you hanging out with the squirrel-guy?” 

     “This is a rather unusual combination,” Ringo said.

Ringo and I looked back and forth between Raffina and Risukuma. With a hand on her hip, Raffina breathed out a “hmph.”

     “We were not ‘hanging out.’ He is merely my training partner for the day. Just the usual routine: Ten sets of a hundred tree kicks…”

     “Hard at work as always, I see…” 

Raffina’s one of the most diligent people I know! Sometimes all the extra training she does really makes it super hard to keep up with her.

     “But…what do you mean by ‘training partner’? Did you need someone else to kick the trees with you?” I asked. 

     “I shall explain this part myself.” Risukuma swiftly raised a hand to my question. “I was touched by her love for training…and thus offered some advice to increase her efficiency.” 

     Raffina swept her own hair aside. “Exactly, and when somebody volunteers their advice so freely, I am not one to turn it down. ” 

     “All physical training relies, of course, on physical principles… Taking classical mechanics as well as state-of-the-art findings in the field of motion-dynamics into account, it is quite possible to refine even Raffina’s already splendid training regimen. As I am more or less enlisted in the Physics Club, there was no way I could simply remain silent.”  

     “I don’t really understand what he means by ‘physics,’ but I am always interested in more efficient training methods.”

     “Fufufufufu… That stoic demeanor of yours…such an expression of love…”

Huuuh… I was happy that our friends had somehow totally hit it off between themselves while we weren’t looking, but it was also kind of a shock. But wait, does that mean Raffina’s training is also love? Even something like that? …Really? Okay, now the list of stuff you can call “love” is really getting way too long!  The more we hear, the less I feel like I get it… 

     “Uhmm… Hey, R-Raffina, do you have someone you’re in love with or something?”

Yeah, let’s leave Risukuma be and try asking Raffina for now! 

     Raffina made an exasperated face at my question. “What? Whyever would you ask me that out of the blue?” 

     “We’re going around asking people about love…” 

     Watching me fumble over my words, Raffina huffed. “Amitie, as accustomed as I am to your odd behaviors, this is bizarre, even by your standards.” 

      “It’s— It’s for Ally, though…!”

     “Well, I have no interest in your affairs, so that is none of my business.”

Ugh… Raffina’s always like that. 

     “‘Love,’ you say…” Raffina curled a finger over her mouth as she began to think. Then, after a short pause, she nodded and said, “…Yes, of course. I do have a person I love!” 

     “EHH?!”

I’d never thought of Raffina as someone who’d have a lot to say on the topic of “love,” so that was a surprise! A-and, on top of that, she didn’t even see a problem with announcing her love out loud! Could you really just do that?! This was making my heart race, like, Ba-dump ba-dump!

     “The person I love…is…”

     “I-is…?” I gulped loudly.

     A hand on her hip, Raffina boldly declared, “Myself!” 

THUD.

     Ignoring that we all were all knocked out in our disbelief, Raffina continued with utter confidence, “I am unbelievably adorable, incredibly powerful, and my heart is noble. Is there anyone who could avoid falling in love with me, when I am so marvelous?” 

     “Y-yeah… That sounds like you alright.”

     “O~hohoho!” Raffina laughed, proud and pleased.

While I was still wondering what else I was even supposed to say to that, Risukuma began to murmur absent-mindedly again.

     “Accepting your own self and treasuring it…ah, what a grand display…of love.”  

WHAAAT, there’s no way that that also counts! Oh no, the love-list just keeps growing bigger!! That much is going to throw even Ally for a loop, right?! Or, at least that’s what I thought would happen, but then I looked at Ally…

     “I see! This Raffina lady is full of love toward her very own self!”

…She said that so cheerfully. Th-then, I guess it’s fine?

     “Uhm… Who exactly are you?” Raffina asked, puzzled.

Ally faced her and threw her arms open wide. Which meant that she was about to…

     “Oh, lady with pink hair, who is so filled with love, you have moved me deeply! So! There! Fore! I, Ally, ask of you… Share this love of yours with me—!” 

     “HAH?!” Raffina’s eyes widened and her mouth fell open. 

     But Ally paid it no mind. “Please grant me the same love you grant yourself! And I, too, will love you in turn!” 

     “Halt, just a minute, what is this girl trying to…”

     “Now! Here! At once! Let us fall in love—!!!”

     “AMITIE!” Raffina yelled sharply. “I assume you were the one who brought this weird girl here?! DO something about her, right this instant!”

     “A-ahahaha…”

…Yep, I had a feeling this would happen. Including the part where Raffina, driven back by the full force of Ally’s sparkling eyes, would find a way to blame me for this somehow… 

Soon after giving another, formal introduction for Ally, we grabbed our overexcited friend and dragged her away, deciding to leave this place for now. Uhhh, well, if there’s anything we learned from all this, it’s that there really are a lot of different kinds of love..  

“Falling in love” is way more complicated than I thought… Is there even a way to understand what Ally means when she talks about ‘love’? 

I felt just a bit uneasy.