Animal Adventure

Chapter 18: Together We Dream & Love

At the end of breakfast, they all decided to just stay home and relax. Although Aka didn't say it out loud, Teresa knows that her sister is still exhausted from her job. Plus, Natsuki wanted everyone to help with his little garden. So, Teresa thought it would be a good idea to grant Natsuki's wish and have everyone help him. She also thought that it would nice to have lunch outside. Luckily, the backyard is big enough to have everyone there.

As of right now, they were split into three groups of two people with Aka and Teresa to observe if anything goes wrong or a group needs help. The first pair is Ren and Masato. The next is Syo and Tokiya. And the last pair is Otoya and Natsuki. With each pair, they get their own plant beds. Ren and Masato are taking care of the lettuce, Syo and Tokiya are working on the carrots, and Natsuki and Otoya are working on cucumbers. Since Natsuki knows how to take care of a garden, he was the one to show and explain what to do with each vegetable. Aka and Teresa were off tending the flowers that they also planted since the boys haven't ask for their help yet.

After an hour of planting and harvesting, Teresa decided it is time to take a break.

"Okay, everyone." Teresa called, grabbing everyone's attention. "I think we can take a little break. Who wants lemonade?"

Almost immediately, the boys raise their hands up. Teresa chuckles when she also sees Aka raising her hand.

"Alright. Please wait while I prepare it." Teresa said before walking back into the house.

Aka gets up from her spot and stretches her arms up.

"Let's sit in the shade while we wait." Aka said as she walks to the patio.

Like little ducklings, the boys follow her and collapse on the chairs. Sweat drip down their face. Otoya looks over to Aka and sees that she isn't sweating. Otoya also sees that Aka is wearing a jacket.

In the middle of summer.

"How are you not hot?" Ren asked as he also notices Aka's jacket.

"This is normal." Aka said. "If anything, the heat is warming me up."

"Aka's body temperature is lower than normal people." Teresa explained. "The reason is her attribute."

Teresa walks out with a tray with a pitcher of lemonade and glass cups on it. Teresa sets the tray down and begins to pour the lemonade. Once she finish handing the cups out, she sits next to Aka.

"Attribute?" Tokiya repeated. "Like water attribute? But I thought you have fire attribute."

"I do." Aka said while sipping her drinking. "It is how I use it."

"Use?" Masato asked.

"It is like this. When you control water, the air around you become chilly, right?"

Masato nods.

"The reason is because you are actually cooling the air which forms the water. The same is with fire. When you create fire, you are using the heat around you. But for me, I use the heat from my body instead of the air. Which means that I draw out the heat from my body and leaving my body cold and the air hot."

Aka looks at the boys and realizes that they have no clue what she was ranting about. You can see the question marks above their heads. Teresa struggles to keep the smile from showing from her face but failed. Aka pouts at Teresa.

"Maybe you should wait for them to get older where they will understand." Teresa suggested. "Plus, you could have said that you use your power like a sponge. Like sponges, most people soak up the heat into their bodies, but your body is already soak up. So, instead, you squeeze out the heat from your body, just like a sponge."

But this explanation just confused the boys even more. Aka chuckles at their faces and pets the nearest boy's head, which was Natsuki.

"Teresa is right." Aka said. "I should wait for you all to grow up a little. For now, just know that the way I use my powers different from other fire manipulators."

"Can you show us?" Otoya asked. "Can you create a fire right now?"

Aka looks at him with a sad face.

"Sorry, Sunflower." Aka said. "Maybe next time."

Before any of the boys can say anything, Teresa gets up.

"I think we rested long enough. Let's get back to work." Teresa said.

The twins can see that the boys want to ask more question but lets it go. The boys get up from their seats and move back to the garden beds. TN follows them, but Aka stops her.

"Why don't you get your guitar?" Aka whispered to Teresa, making sure the boys didn't hear her.

"Why?" Teresa asked.

"I learn from somewhere that music can help plants grow. I just thought that maybe you can play something and show the boys your little project that you have been working on for a while now."

Teresa looks at Aka for a minute, thinking about what her twin just said. It was true that Teresa had been working on a piece from when Tokiya started to live with them, but Teresa is sure about revealing it just yet. To be honest, Teresa isn't confident about it. But the look on Aka's face tells her that makes Teresa nods and goes back inside the house. Aka watches her disappears before going to check on the boys.

"Where did Teresa go?" Otoya asked when he noticed that Teresa isn't with them.

"She just going to grab something." Aka answered.

Aka kneels next to Natsuki and Otoya and helps them. It didn't take Teresa long to get back to them. Now with an acoustic guitar, Teresa walks up to them.

"A guitar?" Tokiya pointed out.

"I heard that plants will grow better when music playing." Aka said. "Plus, we are pretty much done, so why don't spend some time together listening to Teresa play?"

Everyone turns to Teresa. Teresa blushes from the attention. She ignores it and gestures everyone to move under the tree that is in the corner of the backyard. They all are sitting in a circle. Both Aka and Teresa are leaning against the tree with Otoya sitting in Aka's lap. Tokiya sits next to Aka with Masato on his other side. On Teresa's side is Natsuki, followed by Ren, and then Syo. Once everyone is settled down, Teresa starts strumming the guitar. After randomly plucking the strings, Teresa starts playing a soft melody. It was like the music quiet down the noise around them. It is like the animals stilled to just hear Teresa playing. The music just flows through everyone and make them relax. Some of the boys almost fell asleep.

Suddenly, Teresa hits a wrong note, disrupting the flow. This startles everyone. They all look at Teresa to see what is wrong. Teresa puts her guitar to the side and looks down into her lap. In her lap is some kind of small black thing. Whatever the thing was is alive as Teresa sees it moving. The thing squirms around like it is trying to correct itself. Teresa flinches back when she sees a head popping up. Ears also pop out. The thing looks up at Teresa and green eyes stare into Teresa's.

Note: Going to be honest, I lost motivation writing this chapter. With the previous chapters, I wrote those about a few weeks in advance. But with this chapter, I couldn't think of anything. And if you are wondering why this chapter seems a little rushed, it is because it was rushed. So sorry for the lack of motivation in this chapter. Hopefully I can write a better chapter next week.