CHAPTER 113: REVEALED HEARTS

Sapphire fixed her glasses, pushing them up her nose, a faint blush on her own cheeks, embarrassed by her own sudden bluntness and the implied greed. "I’m just curious... that’s all—oh! Then may I ask, what type of man do you like, Eirin?" She immediately bounced back, her previous embarrassment forgotten, and brought out her small notebook and pen, as if interviewing the teenage girl for a feature piece. Her eagerness was almost manic.

"What?" Eirin chuckled, taken aback by the sudden and random, her mouth slightly agape.

Coleen turned to Eirin, a new, equally intense curiosity in her eyes. "I’m kind of curious about that too, Ei." Her eyes twinkled with genuine interest, and even the others, including Pierre and Calixta, were waiting for Eirin’s answer, the conversation taking an unexpected turn from strategy to romance. Shade, as always, remained silent.

Trixtan raised his hand, a habit he had picked up from Coleen, mimicking her earlier gesture. "I’ll start."

Calixta raised an eyebrow, a skeptical look on her face. "Why would you?" she asked, a hint of dry amusement in her voice.

"To lessen the pressure on Eirin—hmm, well, I like girls shorter than me, they’re supposed to be cute even when they’re angry," Trixtan said, smiling from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling.

Coleen shook her head, dismissing his answer with a wave of her hand. "Okay, it’s your turn, Ei," she said, quickly changing the subject.

"Isn’t that too mean, Coco? You didn’t even let anyone react with what I said," Trixtan complained, his pout comical, but Coleen ignored him, her attention fixed on Eirin.

Eirin saw this as an opportunity to know Coleen better, to perhaps draw her out. Although she was unsure about who Coleen liked, she suspected it might be a certain eccentric lightning user. "You first, Coco."

Coleen’s face turned bright red, a deep crimson that spread to her ears. "W-Well, I like manly guys," she stammered, avoiding eye contact, "and they’re supposed to be serious about helping people, they must have great sense of justice, and I like quiet men a lot."

"Like Shade?" Sapphire, blunt, and pointed a finger at the young man sitting silently behind Coleen, who had been listening to the conversation with an unreadable expression.

"Yuck! No! Not like him!" Coleen exclaimed, recoiling as if Sapphire had suggested something repulsive. Her immediate, vehement denial was almost comical.

What Coleen described was the exact opposite of what Trixtan was—loud, chaotic, playful, anything but serious or quiet. This caused Eirin to wonder if she was just mistaken with her assumptions, if the obvious attraction between Coleen and Trixtan was not as clear-cut as she had thought.

"What about you, Ei?" Coleen pressed, eager to shift the spotlight.

Eirin scratched her chin, thinking. "Uhm, I like people who are naturally kind." She glanced around the table, her gaze pausing for a moment on Link, then Pierre.

Coleen giggled, nudging Eirin playfully. "So the opposite of Shade." The young man heard that, but decided not to react.

"Do you also want them to be only kind to you? That kind of romance?" Sapphire asked.

Eirin slowly nodded. "I guess so? They could be kind to everyone, but I think I would also love some special treatment." Hearing that made Sapphire’s smile widen.

"What about their appearance?" Sapphire insisted, her pen poised, eager for more details for her mysterious notebook.

Eirin’s mind wandered, picturing ideal traits. "I do like a handsome face. But as long as they love me, I’m fine even if they’re not conventionally attractive." She gave a non-committal shrug, trying to sound casual, but felt a strange pull towards certain type of faces.

Sapphire kept writing everything Eirin said on her notebook, her hand moving swiftly across the page. "What type of handsome face you like? Do you like Shade’s type of handsome, or do you like my brother’s type of handsome?" she didn’t even look at Eirin as she asked that.

Eirin blinked lots of time. "What’s that supposed to mean?" laughing awkwardly.

Coleen crossed her arms. "You could have put Link and Trix in the choices too," she said, adding confusion to Eirin.

"I don’t get it," Eirin said, trying to get back to eating.

Coleen smiled. "Link is the cute type, Trix is the playful type, Pierre is the prince, and Shade is the good-looking bad guy." She rolled her eyes after mentioning Shade’s name.

’Why does it even matter?’ Eirin thought as she looked at the four choices.

Sapphire fixed her glasses. "Personally, I think Shade fits best with Eirin." Those words captured Shade’s attention.

"What are you saying?" Coleen frowned.

"Go on," Shade intervened

Sapphire cleared her throat. "If you look at Eirin, she’s the gorgeous and kind type. She also kind of give the pushover vibes, while Shade is someone head strong. He can teach her how to be straightforward with people." Coleen’s forehead creased after hearing that.

Coleen shook her head. "For me, Eirin fits to be with someone like Pierre. Someone who’ll treasure her like a princess. That’s what she needs, not someone violent and rude."

Eirin kept exchanging glances between the two. "W-What about the others. What’s your type?" She turned to Shade, waiting for him to answer.

Shade smirked. "Why you wanna know? Are you going to try to be her?" His words caused Sapphire to stand in amusement while Coleen frowned.

"W-What about you, Link?" Eirin ignored Shade and turned to Link instead. Trying to divert the attention from her to another person, feeling the weight of Sapphire and Coleen’s intense interest.

Link, taken aback by the sudden shift, flinched. "What I like?" He questioned back, his eyes meeting Coleen’s for a fleeting moment. A quick, almost imperceptible exchanged passed between them, a shared secret, a burden Link had kept for a long time. He took a deep breath, then spoke, his voice quiet but steady.

"I like... masculine men, I guess?"

Silence surrounded the whole gazebo, thick and sudden, after hearing that. Eirin, surprised by the sudden, unexpected coming out, found herself frozen from where she was sitting, her mouth slightly agape. Before she could open her mouth, before anyone could truly process the declaration, Trixtan, oblivious as ever, got ahead of her.

"You’re into men? HAHAHA! They have a word for that back in Infirmus. What is it? Ah! Are you gay?" Trixtan jokingly said, his voice filled with his usual teasing playfulness, but the sheer, stunned silence that followed chilled everyone.

The only sound was Trixtan’s fading laughter, which quickly died as he realized the profound quiet he had created.

Link balled his fists under the table, his knuckles turning white, his face draining of all color, turning visibly pale. Eirin noticed it, the subtle trembling of his hands, the sudden tension in his shoulders.

However, she was frozen from where she was sitting, unable to move, unable to speak, caught in the sudden, heavy atmosphere that had descended upon their lunch. The lighthearted conversation had taken an unexpected, deeply personal turn.

Coleen stood. "That’s not funny, Trixtan Laxford," she said, her voice laced with wrath. "Apologize, right now." The usual adorable Coleen was nowhere to be seen, instead, she was replaced by a visible pissed off Coleen.

"I was just joking," Trixtan tried to excuse himself.

Coleen slammed her hands on the table, almost spilling their food. "A joke is something that would people laugh! It is not something you use to make fun of people. That’s just bullying." Her words filled the space, her eyes welling with tears. "You were out of the line, Trixtan Laxford."

The way Coleen kept calling him with his full name made Trixtan feel awfully bad. "I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make fun of you, Link. I was just trying to lighten up the mood." He turned to Link, but the young man couldn’t lift up his head.

Shade smacked Trixtan on the back of his head. "Get on your knees and beg him to accept your apology," he said, causing Trixtan to start crying crocodile tears as he was already kneeling on the ground. Trixtan rubbed his palms together, begging for Link’s forgiveness.

Link forced a smile. "I-It’s fine," he let out an awkward laughter.

"No! It’s not fine!" Coleen screamed, tears running down her cheeks. "How could you joke around like that, Trixtan? You’ve changed. And Link? What’s wrong with liking men? I like men! Does that make me weird? No!"

Coleen’s feelings gushing out of her mouth, leaving everyone speechless. Eirin couldn’t even muster the courage to walk to her and comfort her, thinking she doesn’t have the right to do so.

"Yeah, what’s the big deal?" Calixta said, causing Coleen to flinch. "I like girls, would that make me less than who people thought me to be? I’m still Calixta Winters."

It felt like that was the longest sentence Eirin heard out of Calixta’s mouth.

Pierre stood up. "Guys, let’s stop this, you’re all making me cry," he said, rubbing his eyes. "I like all of you, so we should just keep liking everyone."

"I hate that idea," Shade commented, causing Eirin to chuckle, making everyone look at her.

Eirin’s eyes widened, realizing what she did. "I-I didn’t mean to laugh about the situation. I was just—"

Link started laughing too. "What’s with all of you," he said, wiping the tears out of his eyes. "We should really start eating now before the bell rings."

Suddenly, the awkward atmosphere vanished, as if nothing happened... or so what Eirin thought.