Chapter Text
*PLOP!*
I drop the bag I was carrying to the ground, and breathed a sigh of relief.
We've finally arrived at our spot.
"We're here!"
Stella runs past me, and excitedly surveys the area.
As she goes farther and farther into the distance, I swear I could hear a distant 'America ya!' coming from her voice.
...As much as I see her as a weirdo, she has her cute moments.
"An-on, could you please set the tent for us, por favor?"
I look to Rosa, who's begun setting up some cookingware for the upcoming blood moon or whatever it was, with a pleading look.
"...Can I do that later?"
"¡De ninguna manera! It's better to do it now than later!"
I sigh tiredly and do as she asks.
I know better than to argue with her.
"Alright...stick this into the soil, and...hold this in...—"
As I'm setting up the tent, I begin to wonder why I joined this trip in the first place.
...Two days ago...
"—nights really important because the moon will be in perfect alignment for my divinations."
As Stella talked about her occult hobby, I busied myself with replanting the flowers and reminiscing.
It's been a while since I came to Volcano High.
In the past, all I wanted was to stay on the down-low and not be on the spotlight.
And despite being the only human student in Volcano High, I was able to do just that.
Well, with a few hiccups here and there(like a certain class president trying to hook me up with some gir-person with issues), but besides that, I was doing fine.
But recently, there's been a few changes in my plan.
Now, instead of just wanting to stay in the background, I wanted to stay in the background along with having a few friends.
Those friends being Rosa and Stella.
To explain how I became friends with them, I needed to go to the very start.
Our first meeting was at the campus beautification. Got caught pirating and was told to attend school on the weekend.
Whilst I was trying to act as hard I could to act as a background character, Rosa suddenly requested me to help her with fixing the flowerbeds which strangely had a flower-free area that looked a lot like someone fell there.
I could've rejected, but I was feeling quite threatened, since right before she asked me to help, she was tearing a couple of other students a new one because they were the ones who ruined the flowerbeds in question.
To me, there really wasn't any other option but to nod my head and to do her bidding.
She proceeded to say 'Gracias' and began teaching me how to properly care for the flowers.
At first, I thought it would be absolute hell and make me actually regret pirating using the school WiFi.
And guess what?
It was absolute hell, and it did make me regret pirating using the school WiFi.
But, fortunately, Rosa was helpful and decided it was worth her time to assist a nobody like me until I finally got the hang of it.
After we finished with replanting and fixing the flowerbeds, I sat at a bench, absolutely exhausted, but felt somewhat satisfied with my hard work.
Rosa, the kind and caring Orwellian supervisor that she was, allowed me to take a rest and left to yell at another group of students who weren't doing their job right.
Suddenly, a green stegosaur sat next to me, and introduced herself as Stella, and tried to start a conversation about Anime with me.
Oddly enough, it seemed like she was familiar with me, since she was talking to me like I was an old friend of hers and was able to pinpoint what animes I liked.
Of course, I tried to keep my responses as short and as noncommittal as possible, since I was trying to hide my power level, and also because I was dealing with the sirens blaring inside me since a girl was actively trying to talk with me.
Eventually, the sound of the principal's shout to call us back to the front of the school made me breathe a sigh of relief.
Going to the front of the school, the principal made a speech about learning a lesson from this and dismisses us, thus putting an end to the grueling work that left everyone tired.
Finally knowing that I can go home, I quickly tried to do so before either principal Spears or Rosa tried to make us do more work.
Keyword; tried.
Unfortunately, Rosa's announcement of bringing free, home cooked food left me stumped in place, physically unable to leave.
The food was absolutely divine, and I fully focused myself on eating everything on my plate.
After I finished eating, the euphoria of eating heavenly food was quickly lost, and I looked up to realize that only me, Stella, and Rosa were the only ones left.
I gulped and looked at Rosa, fearing what she might ask me.
What if she asked me if I could stay for a while longer to help them more?
What if she asked about me where I came from?
What if she asked why I came here?
With so many possible questions she might ask me, sweat trickled down my back, as I became anxious as to what she might say.
But instead, she just thanked me once again for assisting her and told me I was welcome to join them with gardening any time.
Hell, she even complimented me, talking about how I had a 'greenthumb' and all that.
I...didn't really get compliments, so I...kind of fumbled and just said 'you too' before turning my back and running away to the Mous pad like a coward.
That night, I felt better than ever, like I was actually experiencing real happiness for once.
I guess being part of a clique and getting complimented after being a loner for most of your life does that to you.
Of course, I wasn't going to actually go back to work in the garden, hell no.
Nonetheless, it was nice whilst it lasted.
To actually have a few people by your side that you could talk to.
But, I can't allow that.
Not with the plan I had in mind for myself for the rest of the school year.
No, even though chatting with Rosa and Stella felt nice, I had to distance myself from that.
I can't have another Rock Bottom happen to me.
I don't think I could handle facing something like that again right now.
Life was fine before this.
Life will still be fine after this.
They're just people I talked to in passing.
Nothing more than that.
The day after...
I found myself back in the garden once more.
...I honestly don't know why, but my feet just...dragged me here.
Despite that whole monologue I just made in my mind last night, I still came back here.
...Well, since I'm already here, how about I go and help them?
It wouldn't hurt to help just one last time, right?
Rosa and Stella were ecstatic to see me back, and quickly put me to work.
It was tiresome as usual, but at least they were there with me to help out and talk with.
After school ended, I promised to myself that I wasn't going back to the garden.
But the day after, I was once again there.
Still doing garden work, and still talking with Rosa and Stella.
I promised that that day would finally be the end to it all.
I promised to myself that same thing every time I went there, that that would be my last day spending time in that garden as well as spending time with Rosa and Stella.
I kept making that promise the day after, and the day after, and the day after, and the day after...
Until finally, it became natural for me to be at the garden at any chance possible, and I stopped being in denial that I liked being there and talking with Rosa and Stella.
At this point, I realized that I've started to see them as my best friends.
Well, there really isn't any one else that could be my best friends besides them, since they're my only friends.
But that's fine.
I'm fine with them being my only friends.
Anyways, back to present times, I, as per usual, was helping Rosa with the garden, and filtering out Stella's mumbo-jumbo of the occult and/or her favorite animes.
Couldn't really tell, since I wasn't listening.
"—So I was wondering if you could join us on a camping trip to see the blood moon, Anon."
Her calling out my name caught my attention.
"Huh-what?"
"Were you not listening again, Anon?"
Stella looked at me with a pout on her face.
She's really cute when she does that.
Suddenly, her eyes go wide, and she turns her head away from me.
I wondered why she did that, until I realized I probably mumbled about her being cute.
"What Stella was trying to say, An-on, is that we want you to join us in our camping trip to see a blood moon."
"Huh? Yeah, sure. Don't really have anything else to do, anyways. So, where and when are we going?"
"We're going to Rosa's family backyard. 2 days from now."
I nodded at the still slightly blushing Stella's words and continued with working the garden.
If I didn't know Rosa, then I'd have asked how we were supposed to go camping when we're just going to her family's backyard.
But I've heard and seen one too many times just how much land Rosa's family owns.
No matter how many times I see it, it's just breathtaking how enormous their land is.
Good God, you have to wonder why she isn't being chaperoned from her home to school by a limousine by now.
"You're over exaggerating it, An-on. Mi familia isn't that rich. We just own a small area of land we could call nuestra casa."
Fuck my mumb- Eh, whatever.
"Right..."
I narrow my eyes and cast fake suspicion on her, to which she sighs with tired eyes.
"Otra vez esto no..."
She takes a deep breath before talking to me with a spiteful tone.
"No, I am not the daughter of a cartel leader, An-on. You've already seen mi familia, and you know as much as I do that they're wonderful people."
"Or...they could just be paid actors that are told to act like they're your family. Or maybe your real family threatened to take their family away from them unless they act like you're their family."
Rosa groans and rolls her eyes, and proceeds to start ignoring me and tending to her flowers.
"Rosa? Rosa? I was kidding, okay? ...I promise I'll visit your family tomorrow and try to learn how to make that dish you wanted to teach me."
Rosa, who was pretending to ignore me just then, immediately looked back at me with clear excitement and anticipation in her eyes.
"...¿Me prometes?"
"Prometes."
I reply back in Spanish, which I've been trying to learn for a while now since Rosa is, a lot of the times, talking in Spanish.
Even though I still haven't reached the level where I could speak as fast as Rosa and her family without biting my tongue, I think my Spanish is going well.
Rosa nods her head to my reply.
"Estás absuelto de tu pecado. Por ahora."
She goes back to tending the garden and acting cold towards me.
...Though I could tell by the sight of her tail wagging that she was quite happy.
"Anoooon...what about me? Don't tell me you're going to leave me out and have fun with just Rosa again!"
Stella pouts at me again, with her doing her ultimate trick of doing the 'cute eyes' and staring intently at me.
"Didn't you promise you'd tag me along next time? Remember what Luffiosaurus D. Stretch said? 'Never leave your nakama behind!'"
Holy fuck does that sound cringe and cheesy as all hell.
I look at Stella, and realize she's being serious and isn't even slightly shaken by what she said.
"Don't worry, Stella. We aren't going to leave you behind. You're coming with us. Hell, we'll even watch anime when we get to Rosa's place."
"R-really?! ...Wait, what anime? Don't tell me it's—"
"Dragon Ball."
"Nooooooooooo!"
Me and Rosa laughed as Stella goes on another tangent about how she's sick of watching Dragon Ball all the time she's with Rosa.
Right now, life is great.
I can't think of what else I want besides this.
...Present time...
"Finally, got that post sticked in."
I step back to see what I've done so far.
1 down...
19 to go...
Suddenly, I smelled some meat being grilled and my stomach started to grumble.
"An-on! Take a break and come over here to the campfire! Dinner's almost ready!"
I saw Rosa waving her hand at me, with her other hand holding a spatula.
I approached and sat next to Stella, who was busy fiddling with her Tarot cards.
I looked at her with curiosity, as she had an expression of serious contemplation as she looked at the cards.
"Hey. You okay?"
She flinches, and looks at me with a dazed expression.
"Uhm...y-yeah, I'm...fine."
Clearly she wasn't. But I nodded and told her to tell me if there's anything wrong and decided to end it there.
She's my best friend.
If she wants privacy, then I'll give her privacy.
But I want her to know that I'm here if she ever needs me.
She goes back to silent contemplation, and we sat there in silence until Rosa finished cooking.
"¡La cena está lista! I made some Elote! Be careful, it's hot."
Rosa brings a tray of corn on sticks. I grab one and begin to blow some air at it.
After I felt like it was cool enough to actually taste, I took a big bite out of it.
And raptor Jesus.
This tastes good.
After enjoying the Elote, I got up and stretched.
"Thanks for the food, Rosa. I'll go back and finish setting up the tent."
Rosa nodded.
"I'll start the campfire and Stella will set up her telescope."
For a while, I stared at both of them, slightly surprised, and confused.
"Is there something wrong, Anon?"
"No, it's just...I thought you guys would've asked me to start the campfire instead, because..."
"Because we think you're a human and that means you can start a fire on your own?"
"...Yes."
Both of them proceeded to laugh, like they've just heard the biggest joke of their entire lives.
"Ay, An-on. We know you long enough to understand you aren't able to do something like that."
For some reason, I feel annoyed at what Rosa said.
"Going for such low hanging fruit of a tease against you like that wouldn't give that much pleasure to us. And besides, you probably already thought we'd try to do that to you, and already researched about it to shock us with your 'skills', didn't you?"
...Shit, they got me.
I sigh and accept defeat.
"...Well, if you guys need any help, just yell out or something."
But before I could go back to setting the tent, Stella called out to me.
"Wait, Anon."
I turned to look at Stella, who still looks like she's seriously contemplating something.
"As the firmament dons its twilight robe, let us erect our canvas shelter. Post haste, I seek your aid with my star-gazing lens, for the celestial sphere beckons."
I nod and go back to finish setting the tent up.
Knowing Stella, she probably means that after I'm done with the tent, I should help her with her telescope.
After setting the tent, I go to Stella, who's already 90% done setting up her telescope.
"Oh, Anon. You've arrived. Could you assist me with the adjustment of the scope of the search for the evermore?"
"Sure."
"Just a bit more adjustment...There."
And after a bit more of doing some minor things, the telescope was set.
"You have my gratitude, Anon."
"It's no problem."
I proceed to turn my back and head to Rosa to check if she needs any help.
"Wait."
But before I could, Stella puts her hand on my shoulder, gently gripping it, as if not wanting to let go.
I turned my head to look at her.
"Could you...stay...with me, for just a while."
I silently nod, and Stella lets go and goes back to her telescope.
I follow her.
For a while, neither of us spoke.
Stella was too busy looking through the telescope, whilst I was too busy looking at the stars.
Only the sound of nature was heard.
But, finally, Stella finished gazing at the moon with her telescope, took a moment to breathe, and turned her head to look at me with scared eyes.
"...I'm...scared. I'm scared of the future, Anon."
...What?
Stella, the girl who I know is completely fascinated by the future, is scared of it?
"I...I know it sounds absurd...but I...had a realization. When I...try to act like a fortune teller, I'm usually trying to tell the fortune of other people. People who aren't related to me. People who are just...strangers to me. I don't actually talk to them, so try to decipher their future wouldn't be a problem, since it wouldn't change anything about their future."
She looks up at the night sky, her aqua eyes glistening.
...The sight of her right now could leave any man breathless.
And it almost did for me.
She was...just so beautiful.
But I quickly pushed that thought down.
No. She's my friend, and right now, what she needs is a friend to talk to.
Not someone trying to get together with her.
Besides, I'm fine with just being friends.
I don't need anything more.
I don't want to lose what we have.
"But, recently, someo-something happened in my life...that made me wonder...what about MY future?"
She looks down, and clenches her fist.
"If...If I get greedy...if I get desperate to find answers and I try to foretell my own future...what would happen to me? What if I find out I don't like my future? What if I try to stop it? What if trying to stop it only makes it worse? What if I lose everything I have? What if everything I worked hard for is just gone? W-what if...I..."
Stella starts to breathe rapidly, as she tries to get more words out from her lungs.
For a moment, I get confused as to what to do, until I realize something was wrong.
She was hyperventilating.
"Anon, I cant, I, I'm-"
I quickly hug her and try to ease her, whispering to her in a calm voice.
"Stella, it's fine. It's fine. Everything's fine. You don't need to worry. Just deep breaths. Deep breaths..."
After what felt like hours, Stella eventually calms down. Her hands tightly gripping me, like she's afraid to let go.
"Anon...I..."
"You don't need to say anything, Stella. Just calm down."
"No!"
Her sudden shout takes me by surprise.
"I...I want to...no, I NEED to tell you this..."
She looks up at me, with tears falling from her eyes.
"I'm...I'm scared of losing you! I'm scared of losing Rosa! I'm scared of losing everything I love! I'm scared that...if I divine my future, and I find out I'd be losing one of you guys. I'd be willing to lose my mind just trying to make any of it stay in my life, even just for one more moment!"
Her grip on me tightens, so much so that it's actually starting to hurt.
But I power through it for her.
"I just...I just want things to stay the way they are. I just want time to be perfectly still. I...I don't want this...any of this to end."
She stops talking and quietly sobs on my shirt.
Once more, silence between us reigned.
Yet this time, deep breathing and sniffling was heard.
I wait until I felt like Stella was stabilized to speak.
"...I don't know how to comfort people, Stella. But I do know one thing."
Stella looks at me, her eyes still fresh with signs of crying.
"Everything is going to be fine."
Stella looks at me, her eyes showing how badly she wants my words to be true.
How desperate she is to trust my words.
To hope that everything will be fine, and that nothing will go wrong.
She hides her face from me and presses it into my shirt.
"...Promise?"
"Promise."
I pull her closer towards me, making sure she knows full well that I'm here for her.
No matter what, everything is going to be fine.
I promise you that, Stella.
...
For a long time, Stella and I stayed locked in an embrace with each other.
Until eventually, Stella fell asleep. Probably due to exhaustion.
I carried her all the way back to the camp, where I told Rosa what happened to her.
We decided to just let her rest in for the night and put her inside the tent.
...Now, it's just the two of us.
...
...
...
Fuck you Bill Withers.
The campfire crackled as both of us stayed silent, thus causing this awkward atmosphere to take shape.
My mind is currently trying to find a way to either get rid of this awkwardness or to eject myself from it.
Finally, I decide on going with the latter.
"Hey, Ros-"
"Thank you."
Before I could even say her name, she cuts me off by thanking me.
Thanking me?
For what?
"For being here for us."
...My mumbling.
"Stella...I already knew she was...having trouble but...every time I tried to get her to open up about it, she'd just...try to avoid it."
Rosa looked on at the fire as she began to, a sad look on her face.
"It isn't your fault, Rosa."
"I know it isn't. It's just..."
She takes a deep breath.
"I...I just want to know why she doesn't want to talk to me about things like this. Does she think we aren't close enough for it?"
She lays her head on her knees, a sad look in her face.
"Anon, I need you to be honest with me..."
She looks earnestly at me.
"Am I...a bad friend?"
"No, you aren't."
I look at her with a firm expression, my voice serious.
"Then why didn't she say anything to me?"
"Because she was afraid."
She looked at me, confused and shocked.
"W-why would she be..."
"She's afraid of what might happen if she had told you. She's become scared of the future, Rosa. She's scared that if she were to do anything that might cause something to change, that she'd lose everything she holds dear. That includes you."
Rosa grows silent.
"Rosa, I know you're feeling down about what happened. But trust me, you are not a bad friend. Hell, you're a better friend than the majority of anyone in this world. You're supportive, kind, brave, sincere, and most of all, caring. You're the greatest friend anyone could have, and me and Stella are thankful you're in our lives."
After my whole speech about her, she looks down and doesn't talk for a while.
That's fine with me.
I can wait until she's done processing it.
Hell, I can use this time to question myself.
First of all, what the fuck is going on?
Right, Stella exhausted herself to sleep to confess to me what she's been fearing for a while now.
Now that that's answered, let's go on to the next question;
If she couldn't talk about it with Rosa, then how come she could talk about it with me?
No matter how hard I thought about it, I didn't know.
I just don't.
Finally, Rosa takes a deep breath and looks at me, smiling and looking relieved.
"Thank you, Anon. Really. I really can't thank you enough for reassuring me."
"It's fine. Rosa. This is what friends are for, didn't you say so yourself?"
After I said 'friends', Rosa flinches and avoids looking at me with downcast eyes, her arm grabbing hold of her other arm.
"...Is there something wrong?"
Rosa shakes her head.
"No, it's just..."
Rosa sighs
"Could you...please wait for me? I just...need time to ready myself."
I nod, and patiently waited for Rosa.
After some time, Rosa looked at me with determined eyes, and if my eyes aren't deceiving me, a blush on her cheeks.
"I think it's time I...told you the actual reason why me and Stella invited you to go camping with us."
Wait, it wasn't because of the red moon?
"We..."
Rosa gulped.
"We wanted to tell you that...we're in love with you."
...
...
...
...Huh?
Is she...serious?
"Yes. She's serious. We're serious."
Suddenly, Stella came out of the tent and spoke.
Me and Rosa tried to get up to check on her, but she gestured for us to stop.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
Slowly, she made her way to the log opposite to me, and sat right next to Rosa.
"Me and Rosa fell in love with you, Anon."
I tried to search through their eyes if there was any hint of this being a life.
Of all of this being just a big prank.
I mean, weren't they talking about not wanting the low hanging fruit of teasing me?
So this must mean this is that high hanging fruit of teasing me, right?
Except, no.
They were being sincere.
I reeled from the shock that my two best and only friends were in love with me.
I gathered my bearings, and asked some serious questions.
"...H-how long...?"
"For Rosa, two months. And for me...a lot longer."
"Longer...?"
Stella flashes a smile at me.
"Ever heard of Stegostar321?"
Wait.
No way.
No fucking way.
I look on whilst flabbergasted as Stella slowly nods her head.
"It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"...Why?"
Now it was their turn to grow silent.
After a short, yet what seemed to be long pause, Rosa was the first to speak, her eyes closed but her smile radiant.
"Because you didn't give me any chances to not love you, An-on. From the moment we met in the garden, I knew there was something special. Your passion for the earth, the way you tend to every plant with such amor, it drew me in. The attraction was instant, and with each day we've spent together, my affection for you has grown like the flowers we nurtured."
I got stumped by what Rosa said, but before I could say or do anything, she continued talking.
"You've become more than just a part of my daily routine; you are the reason I look forward to each día. It's not just the gardening that has bonded us, it's the laughter, the conversations, and the silent moments we share. I've fallen for you, for all that you are, and all that we've built together."
She then opened her eyes, and stared straight at me.
"So here I am, corazón abierto, hoping you feel the same way. Because a life without you would be like a garden without water—possible, but never truly thriving."
Completely shook, I completely forgot that there was another confession about to come straight my way.
"I don't have as much of a romantic speech as Rosa, but I just wanted you to know Anon, that you're important to me. Really important. You've become a part of my day that I look forward to, every day. Our friendship, it's one of the only ones I've ever had in my entire life, and I value it more than you can imagine. I know it's pathetic of me to fall in love with the first ever guy friend I get, but I just can't help it. I couldn't stop myself from falling for you, Anon."
Feeling overwhelmed from all the adoration I received just now, I hide my face underneath my hands as realization dawns on me.
I'm so fucking retarded.
How come I didn't realize it any sooner?
How come I didn't see the signs they were giving to me?
Meet Rosa's family?
Stay the night at Stella's for an Anime watchalong?
Eating together at Dino-moe's?
Are those things really just what friends do?
Fuck.
The question is,
Who do I love?
I put my hands down and looked at both of them sincerely.
Rosa was the complete opposite of how she acted during her confession, instead avoiding eye contact and acting fidgety, she's clearly nervous.
Stella, with her false bravado, tried to look tough, but I knew she was as, if not more nervous than Rosa was.
...Even though I've been trying to suppress my thoughts about seeing them as people of the other sex, I just can't help but find them beautiful.
I just can't help but...love them.
...
...
I love them.
Both of them.
Despite all my hesitation and anxiety before, the moment I thought about me loving them, I just couldn't find anything wrong about it.
Neither my body nor my mind disagreed with the thought.
The thought that I'd want to spend the rest of my lives with not just one of them, but both of these beautiful women and to try to do everything I could to make them happy.
...There's no going back now.
"I...I need to be honest with both of you...I care about you both, deeply. More than I've ever cared about anyone or anything else in my life. The time I spent with both of you were the best moments of my life, and I wouldn't trade it for anything else. I don't think I have the heart to choose between both of you, but I also don't want to this to fuck our relationship up..."
I gulp and prepare myself for saying either the deal-breaker between the three of us, or the one that will solve everything.
"Can we...Can we make this work together? I...want us all to be happy. I know that, if both of you could accept my dumbass request, I know that we can find a way to make this work. Just, please."
I close my eyes and prepare for the worst.
Nice job, Anon. You ruined the only relationships that you had in all your life all because you were too fucking greedy.
What are you gonna do now? Run off to the military?
I sat there patiently and silently, waiting for the best things to ever happen in my life disappear.
All because of my stupid mouth.
But, for some unkown reason, I wasn't hearing the expected screams of hate and rejection that were going to rain on me.
Instead I...felt something warm envelop me.
I slightly open my eyes to see...
Stella and Rosa hugging me, with tears in their eyes and a smile on their face.
...It's fine.
It's going to work out.
I hug them back with everything I had. Tears also falling from my eyes.
Everything is going to be fine.
Thank God.
-END-