Sig’s Secret Chapter 6 - Calling it Quits!?

And by the next day, Sig's back to his usual self. His usual emotionless and unresponsive, flighty-as-always, absent-minded self. On the other hand, he was all silent when he went home the other day. Everyone was all "You're acting really unusual, Sig." or "Are you going to look for bugs?" getting all concerned and stuff, but that's pretty much it. I'm a worrying trainwreck. But when I tried to ask him something...

"It's nothing."

That's all I'm getting out of him. Besides that,  I don't have any more to ask. Hmm... Don't tell me Sig's getting tired with the cafe business. No no no, it can't be that! But still, it might be that. ...I'm throwing myself into a loop just thinking about it.

---

Several days passed to get to this point.

Arle, Carbuncle, Ringo and I met up at the park, right at the site of the cafe setup, seated at the opposite sides of the colorful-clothed table. Today, we're here to sew up the aprons for the cafe, as we promised. I decided that I'm gonna be making my own apron. Arle's is going to be her trademark blue and Ringo's is going to be red like her hair. As for me, I chose yellow. Don'tcha think seeing the color yellow makes you all happy and energetic? Though...

"Ouchies!"

For the upteenth time? I ended up pricking my finger with the sewing needle, sticking my thumb in my mouth with a teary-eyed face. I can't make pretty dotted stitching, but that's because I'm kinda clumsy.

"Sigh...You guys are so good at it~ I'm an absolute disaster..."

Discouraged, I dropped my shoulders. Unsurprisingly, Arle sounded worried.

"Hnn, you're not feeling it today, Amitie?"
"Guguu?" Carbuncle's eyes also rolled over to me.
"I concur. You don't appear to be your usual goofy, brightly smiling and bounding around self. Merely nothing but sighs." Ringo's also got the worried look on her face.

Yeah, I don't think I can talk about it with anyone besides them. I can't explain that I'm all "kinda-somehow hazy daze-y" and stuff. Though, I haven't had the chance to even ask them yet.

"H-Heya. About Sig..." I nervously began to talk. "Don't you think he was spacing way out of this world lately? It's been bothering me..."
"Huh? Sig? Was he acting off at some point?" Arle answered with a blank expression.
"He's surely an easygoing, absent-minded cyan-haired boy. However, I believe that is his behavior from the very beginning of all this." Ringo looks a bit unsure.

Yeah, she's right. I think so too, even before we began setting up the cafe. But something's not right. With a tilt of my head, I braced myself and began talking about it.

"Y-You see...something's not right. Yeah, sure he's all spacey, and lately while's spacing out...There's some sort of eagerness to his spacey-ness."

"Uh wha...?" The two of them cocked their heads this time.
"Well...I'm the Leader and Sig's the Sub-Leader, right? I've been really uneasy since that's been decided. Sig's been really showing a lot of motivation since then. And yet, when we're going all-out together, we're really in sync. Sig doesn't show much on the surface, but I feel the same way he is. When I have so much fun with everyone, I feel like we're going to make a wonderful cafe together!" I poured my heart out on that last part.

After having told all of that...I looked at the two of them, and they both looked rather surprised.

"...I-I see! We don't even go that far to realize it. Right, Carby?"
"Guguuguu!"
"Now that you mention it, I'm sure that has to be it, Amitie!"

I felt the bottom of my heart ease up. They didn't say "You're imagining it Amitie, Sig's always been like that." like I thought they would. Yet, Arle and Ringo seem to have a bit of doubt in trying to believe me. I'm still happy about it though! I stood up, tossing the cloth in my hand aside.

"O~kay! I'm off to go see Sig right now!"
"Eh?"
"Gu?"

Ringo and Arle, and then Carbuncle got a shocked look on their faces. Yep, in the middle of my apron project. Though...

"I'm going to ask him up-front! Even if he's feeling down, something amazing might just happen! Anyhow, you two go and..."
"Ah, hey, Amitie..." With a calm tone, Ringo pointed behind me. "Sig's right behind you."
"Say wha-!?" I quickly turned myself around. When did he show up? I didn't even notice him! Sure enough, Sig's just standing there doing nothing. ...Oh, both of his eyes are red. I definitely wasn't imagining it. I was waiting for him to say something while thinking about it. But...

"..."

Sure enough, Sig only just turned to me. But he's not looking directly at me. Weird way to describe it, but he's not-even-describable. I stared at him a bit. At least he's right here when I need him. I've gotta tell him what's on my mind! I quietly took a deep breath.

"H-Heya, Sig! You've been awfully anxious about stuff lately. Weren't you just cheering everyone on from the fun-looking game of Puyo earlier? And now you're being all weird lately! Hey, what's going on..."
"I quit."
"Eh?"
"I'm quitting the cafe thing." Sig interrupted.
"Wha...?"

I was totally speechless at that moment. Arle and Ringo went "Huh?" all quietly from behind.

"Sig...what do you mean by that? You're quitting on me? Do you hate it now? It's not fun working with everyone?"

That can't be it, can it? Those words just now can't be what he's really feeling. I have so many questions on my mind that I want to ask rapid-fire. C'mon Sig, please be wrong! But then he went totally silent. Gah...I hope this loop is one big joke.

"...that can't be it, Sig." That's all I could say. As for him, he just said "Bye." to me, and turned away. "......"

Wait, don't walk out on me! I may be Leader, but I'm completely worthless if I didn't try to say a thing! We've been in on this together, but dropping this so suddenly is gonna be rough on everyone. And above all that, I'm in this together with you, Sig! I'm happy I got to get along with you, and I absolutely want this to work! I'm making my head spin from all these sentences. I've gotta go after him right now. I've gotta catch him, shake some sense into him, give him a piece of my mind, and tell him we're in this together. But my legs froze up.

"...why..." My voice quivered as I barely uttered a word. My sight clouded up. My eyes trailed to the ground.
"Amitie..." Arle tapped me on the shoulder from behind.
"Well...that is quite the abrupt talk. Quite brief, if I say so myself. Shall we pursue him?" Ringo asked too, calmly but a little bit sadly.

R-Right. I don't feel like chasing him right now. And as I thought about it, someone got in my face.

"Bwah!?"

...A sudden appearance, even! Now Lemres is standing in front of me.

"Oh, he-ll-o there!"
"L- L-L-L-Lemres! Why are you here all of a sudden!?"
"Ahaha, well, I happened to casually pass by."

It was just a coincidence? Lemres cocked his head, even if I could only see in black and white.

"Oh, why~ do you look troubled? Perhaps some swee~t..."
"Pardon the intrusion, but would you please hold off on your sweets distribution!" Ringo quickly interrupted. And since I'm too shaken up to continue, Arle explained it to Lemres for me.
"You see, Sub-Leader Sig came and said ‘I quit’ and ditched cafe work without warning...And Amitie's upset over it..."

Lemres put a hand on his chin, thinking about something for a few moments muttering "Hmm..." Then...

"If that's the case, then perhaps I'll go ask him myself!" Lemres smiled suddenly.
"Uh...but..." I got confused. I did ask Sig directly myself, after all.
"Come on now. You were with him lately, and you were honest about that, aren't you Amitie? If I'm right about that, then don't worry." As he talked about it, my worries began to melt away as he continued.
"Leave it to me. And tomorrow, we'll meet back here."
"S-Sure..." That's all I said, unable to object. I gave a weak nod.

---

And so the next day came by. Sig didn't even come to school.

"Has Sig's condition gone worse?"
"It can't be helped...It's time that we make our aprons."

Raffine and Klug cocked their heads. Guess they weren't told that Sig said "I'm quitting work." yesterday. Still, Lemres is pretty on point when it comes to fishing out info. Anyway, if Sig pulls it together too, I'm sure he'll be brimming with motivation! Just believing it'll happen makes me so hyped up. Once class was over with, I leaped straight out of school. The first thing I've gotta do is hurry up and ask Lemres! Gotta focus on hurrying over to the park. And wouldn't you know, the park's oozing with the festival mood, with the stage and the stands all complete for the most part. As exciting as it is, that's not what I'm here for. Now where's our cafe...Ah, there's Lemres! Seems Arle and Ringo didn't show up today, though. I ran over to Lemres, waving my hand about.

"Lemres! How did it go!? Is Sig-!?"

Lemres eventually noticed me waving for him. His face isn't his usual smile though...It's like something bad happened. Then, is it really...? Right before my eyes, I see a troubled look on his face as he tilted his head.

"Well, Sig ran off to the forest to search for bugs, but now he's no longer pursuing that insect."
"Eeh!?"
"And yet, even after the cafe preparation's completed, he has yet to show up."
"Say WHAAAAAT!?"

That can't be right, I definitely know Sig likes bugs and staring at the sky, but is that why he went and ditched cafe work!? Even Lemres is all dumbfounded, saying "And yet, I can't help but be worried," and let out a nervous laugh.
"I can't look like this. I'll assist you for Sig's well-being."

T-that's cool...but I can't let you!

"The help is nice and all, Lemres, but you see, I have to find Sig... and I've gotta talk with him myself!"

I tried to run off in a hurry, but Lemres grabbed my shoulder to stop me in my tracks.

"Amitie...you'll only lose your way if you say that. I feel that you're in no rush to see him."
"Huh!?"

No rush to see him?

"Sig does seem the slightest bit fatigued. Still, even if you're always this eager, you seem a little forceful."
"O-Oh..."

Good point. I'm way too excited for the cafe stuff, now that he brought it up...Was I being pushy about it with Sig?

"First of all, we should put Sig aside for now! What do you say?"
"Well..."
"Ease up for now. Don't stress over it, Amitie."
"..."

I can't believe what he's saying. Still though, I'm the Leader, Sig's the Sub-Leader, I've been with and done lots of stuff with Sig, saw lots with Sig, it's as if Sig and I were on the same wavelength. But then, what does Lemres mean by what he said...? I'm so confused, and Lemres just happily chuckled.

"Now then, I'll heading towards the Magic School. Raffine and Klug could use some help making those desserts."
"S...sure."
"Be seeing you!"

Lemres waved around his wand. And with a poof, Lemres' tool of choice appeared on the spot, right before my eyes: his broom stick. After he nimbly got on, the broom smoothly took to the sky.

"...Ah."

I only watched Lemres soar the skies on his broom, flying towards the Magic School...And in the blink of an eye, he was outta sight.

......

I was talking to Lemres one moment, I remember Sig giving me a cold stare in another, everything's taking a dark turn. He was working hard with everyone, and his curiosity for bugs is dear to him...oh yeah, huh. I wanted to go ask Sig about something. But how can I show my face and not be a nuisance about it? I'm really scared. I can't cry about it for now, though.

"Amitiiiie!!"

Someone called for me as I stood in horror, the sound of footsteps getting louder and closer. It's Arle and Ringo! I turned to face them.

"Amitie, what are you doing here?"
"In spite of your gloominess, there's choux creme on your head..."
"Yeah, you see, I saw Lemres just...wait, choux creme!?"

I didn't even notice! I reached out to the top of my Red Puyo Hat, and wouldn't you know, there was a pretty big choux creme on it. Obviously, Lemres was the one that left it there. I took a bite out of it, and explained to Arle, Ringo, and Carbuncle what Lemres said to me.

"So I want to go meet up and talk to Sig right away. But then..."

I wasn't even looking straight at them, just hanging my head as I talked, letting the last few words trail off. Oh phooey, I don't have the heart to continue, I'm just hesitating.

"Then what...?"
"Is something the matter, Amitie?"

The two of them spoke up when I finished.

"Well...I want to see Sig. But..."

Sadness, shame, I'm still feeling like a miserable wreck.

"Oh don't be like that, Amitie!" Arle spoke out her thoughts, shaking her head too. "You still want to do it, right? Then let's get going!"
"Indeed. We must push on, but will you face it like that tomorrow? Is that okay with you?"
"W-Wah~!"

I get what they they're saying! But I'm one heck of a coward!

"...okay then, then what do I do if I get on Sig's bad side!"

I'm seriously scared right now. I know I sound like I'm whining in front of them, and I can't help it, but I still kept my eyes on them. Yet, they gave me an incredibly encouraging smile.

"When that happens..."
"Right, when that happens..."
"We'll back you up, just like always!"
"...naturally!"
"Guguguu!"

They gave a thumbs up as they answered in sync. Wh-wha? I didn't think they wouldn't be sick of it by now.

"Arle, Ringo..."

Utterly stunned, I patted Arle right on the shoulder.

"Come on, Amitie. Do you really want to think yourself as clumsy, and maybe annoyingly enthusiastic? You always seem to go at it head-first. That's how you are, Amitie. You might feel down sometimes, but we've got your back!"
"Hwa..."

Seems like nothing is getting past them anytime soon. Still, I definitely can't let that get me down. It makes me really happy, if anything. In fact, I feel more psyched than ever!