Chapter 8: Test Numero Uno

"... I... I still won't give it to you!" I said as I glared at Aries.

He obviously was going to make fun of that photo. That's why he kept it as the first photo to look at in his cabinet!

"Really?" Aries asked as he tilted his head with a devillish grin.

"R-really." I replied a little fazed by that handsome face.

"I guess I'll have to resort to "extreme measures". Aries said with a sigh as he turned towards me and grinned.

"Tsk... You won't get it from me that easily!" I said as I wrapped Aries' jacket tightly against my body.

"Hahaha! You look so cute doing that. Like a little squirrel." Aries laughed as he poked my cheek.

"What?! Why you!" I grumbled as I furrowed my brows.

Just as I was about to kick his shin, Aries' fingers found its way around my stomach.

Ah, shi--

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAH! S-STOP! HAHAHAHA! ARIES! HAHAHAHAH! I'M DYING... Noooo~" I squirmed, trying to escape his fingers. However, he was just that skilled with his fingers.

"I-I'll give it! I'll... HAHAHAHAH! Please... Hahahah... I'll give it to you. Aries..." I said as I held onto his arm.

"..." Aries gave me a weird look before taking a step away from me and combing his finger through his hair. It almost seemed like he was flustered.

"Here... Haah... hahh... I need to calm down a little." I panted, fanning myself with my hand as I handed the photo to Aries.

"This!" Aries exclaimed as he took a glance at the photo I had handed to him.

"It was the only one left. Laugh if you want. I... I need to calm down... I still feel your fingers on me." I said as I headed towards a tree, falling against it as I slumped to the ground.

"This is my favourite photo. That wolf did good. Keeping at least this one intact." Aries said as he followed after me, ruffling my hair with a smile as he sat down beside me.

"Why is it your favourite? I look ridiculous in that!" I pouted as I glanced at Aries, expecting some insight to the photo.

"That's precisely the reason. I crack up everytime I see this photo. Even looking at it now is... mpfh... ... ..." Aries trailed off as he turned to look elsewhere, his hand covering his mouth as his body trembled.

Ah, really. This guy. Here I thought he had some reason behind liking that ridiculous photo...

"O-oi. That should be enough. Give that back here! It's embarrassing!" I said as I stood up to grab the photo.

"No! Hahahahah! This is... hahaha! My perfect stress remedy!" Aries said as he stashed the photo into his jacket's pocket.

"How is that stress remedy?!" I exclaimed, feeling a little furious.

"Are you angry?" Aries asked as he smirked at me.

"... As if. You can keep that idiotic photo then. Hmph!" I turned away, folding my arms.

"Gee~ Thanks. I'll treasure it. I'll even make it a family heirloom." Aries said as he grinned smugly, leaning against his knee.

"Why would you use that as an heirloom?! On second thought, give it back here!" I frowned, turning towards him. My hand stretched out towards his jacket but instead of grabbing it, my hand slipped and I fell into the pile of leaves collected beneath the tree.

"Ah! Sol! Are you alright?!" Aries asked as he helped me up.

"... No, I'm not." I said as I stared at his worried expression.

"What? Did you hurt yourself? Where? Let me see!" Aries replied in a fluster, checking my wrist in case I twisted it.

"My heart hurts from this embarrassment that I will live down... unless you give that photo to me." I said slowly before reaching out to grab the photo he had tucked away in his pocket.

"Ah! Idiot! I'm gonna fall!" Aries gasped as I pounced at the chance to grab the photo.

As I opened my eyes, I found myself on top of Aries with the picture in hand. A wide grin tugged at my lips as I waved the photo in front of him.

"Hehe~ It's my win." I said as I flaunted my victory.

"Like I said, I have backup." Aries said matter of factly as he grinned back at me.

"Ughh~ That's not fair. Please delete them."

"Why? It doesn't hurt anyone."

"It hurts my pride."

"You had one?" Aries asked with a shocked expression that it made my mind go blank for a moment.

"You~~~ What's that supposed to mean?!" I threw light punches on his chest as my face flushed.

"I'm joking! But..." Aries laughed before reaching up to me and patting my head.

"Can't you make an exception? For me?" Aries smiled, a look that seemed a little sad. And as I said before... His face was one that was hard to be angry at.

"T-that face really is unfair." I frowned before falling onto the ground beside him.

"Is that a yes?" Aries asked as he turned to look at me.

"Do whatever. I'll just pretend I knew nothing about it." I said and stared into the distance.

"You're such a nice guy." Aries grinned as he rolled on his side to look at me.

"..."

"Sol?"

"Hmmm... Since we are out here... Why don't we test your ears--- Hmm??? Hmmmm????" I sprang up as I turned to look at Aries.

"Sol? Did something hap--"

"Your ears! And tail! Where did it go?!" I exclaimed, pointing out at the missing additions.

"Hmm? Oh... You're right. Isn't it a good thing then?" Aries asked as he touched around the top of his head, searching for the extra pair of ears.

"But... but... my experiment...." I whined.

I thought it had succeeded but in the end it was destined for failure yet again.

"So you only care for the result of your experiment?" Aries asked, his voice growing a little deeper as his expression darkened.

"H-huh? Aries... It's not what you think. I just... I put your life at stake to test that one gadget. It almost killed you. If it was a failure as well... I'm considering just forgoing the entire project." I said as I held onto his sleeve, maintaining eye contact.

"... Sorry I..." Aries seemed a little flustered as he broke eye contact, turning away as he combed his fingers through his hair and holding his bangs.

"It's okay... Eh... Wait... The... the ears! And tail! It's back!" I gasped as I reached out to touch Aries' pointy ears.

"Seriously? Why?" Aries frowned as he glared at the tail that had begun to wag.

"Hmm? Maybe it's appearance depends on your mood? See... You were calm and happy when we were fooling around earlier. Maybe your sudden change in temperament caused it to appear?" I theorised as I checked the extra additions.

"What a pain. So it means I have to keep my mood in check?" Aries asked as he looked at me with a disatisfied expression.

"I'm sorry. It was my fault. I shouldn't have said that... I didn't think of the risk and put you in danger... It's just as you said... A failure. I know how selfish it is of me to keep you here when you had such a bright future ahead of you..." I looked at my feet, seeing my vision grow blurry.

I heard a sigh before noticing my body being scooped into a warm embrace as Aries patted my head. It feels like he were consoling a child.

I frowned and tightened my grip on his shoulder as I felt the warm tears spill down my cheeks and onto his jacket.

"Don't cry. Sol is a brilliant inventor. You'll come up with a solution." I heard Aries' low voice whisper in my ear as I shut my eyes and breathed in the familiar scent.

We had always been by each other's side ever since the day we first became friends. He consoled me in a similar way when I lost to my junior in a competition before...

"Thanks. I'm feeling better now." I said as I pushed Aries away, sliding off his lap as I searched for my handkerchief I usually kept in my pocket and blew my nose into it.

"Well. What would you like to test?" Aries asked with a soft smile as he looked at me.

"... Test? You want to do the test now?!" I asked a little surprised.

"Well, it's better if we start early right? We don't know if it has failed or succeeded either because we haven't conducted any tests." Aries said as he got up and dusted off his pants before heading towards me.

"Hmm... You're right. Then... this will be test numero uno!" I grinned as I folded my arms with confidence.

"Why numero uno? Isn't it easier to say Test Number One?" Aries asked as he raised an eyebrow at me.

"It sounds better that way! I also know what comes after, so it's fine." I pouted as I glanced at him.

"Oh? What comes after then?" Aries smirked as he folded his arms smugly.

"Wha-- Are you making fun of me?! It's Uno... Dos... Tres... and.... .... .... Cough... Well whatever. Let's head to the area first." I said trying to change the conversation.

However, it was apparent I had messed up as Aries was holding onto his stomach. Darn, he knew I didn't know the numbers that came after...

My face flushed red as I stomped ahead, heading towards the dirt path on the left.

"S-slow down Sol. Don't trip and fall! I'll... be right behind you." Aries called out from behind me as I heard him still breathing heavily from suppressing his laughter.

"I know this mountain well enough! I live here!" I exclaimed as I frowned at Aries.

"... You know, out of context it sounds a little sad right?" Aries said with a concerned look on his face.

"But you know the context behind it!" I furrowed my brows in irritation before pinching his cheeks.

"Heh. That I do. Why? Are you angry?" Aries asked as he tilted his head at me charmingly.

"... Whatever." I replied as I turned around and slid down a small slope.

"Sol? Did you fall?"

"No. It should be here.... Where are they..." I muttered as I glanced around the empty space.

"What should be here?"

"K-Kageyama... Hinata, Yuuki, Yuuri and Akise! They should be here!" I panicked as I dropped to my knees, searching into the small burrows.

"What?" Aries looked at me with confusion.

"My rabbits! They're gone! No matter how timid they are, they usually come out the minute they see me!" I teared up as I fell to the ground to check the burrows again.

"S-Sol... You... named the rabbits? And in Japanese... I thought they were wild ones..."

"They are wild! I named them after my favourite anime characters. But that's not the point, is it? They're missing!" I sobbed as I felt Aries' affectionate head pats.

"You've been crying a lot lately... Maybe I should call you crybaby Sol." Aries said as he sighed and bent down to meet my gaze.

"If you do I'm not talking to you." I frowned as I swatted his hand away.

"Aww~ That would be bad. Anyways... Is that one of them?" Aries pointed to a nearby bush that had begun to shake before a small white rabbit hopped out.

"Yuuki! I was so worried! Thank God you're fine." I sighed in relief as I gently picked the rabbit up and stroked it.

"That is a relief." Aries smiled as he patted my head in time with me stroking the rabbit.

"Indeed it is. I feared that the test had failed before it had begun but we can go through with it in the end." I said as I handed the rabbit to Aries.

Hmm? Somehow it looked like a dangerous image. Aries looked like the big, bad wolf about to eat the fluffy rabbit...

"A-anyways.... Can you hear what it's saying?" I asked as I readied a small notepad and a pen which I always had on me.

"I..."

"I? Alright, what else?" I asked as my eyes sparkled with excitement before jotting down the letter I on my notepad.

"That's not it. I don't hear anything." Aries said as he stared at the rabbit which seemed to be shivering in his hands before small round balls fell onto the ground right in front of Aries.

?!

I turned to look at Aries' expression but he had placed the rabbit back onto the ground and had his back facing me.

"A-Aries... Maybe Yuuki was just terrif--- ah sorry. I meant... Maybe he was about to do that but I lifted him up and handed him to you..." I tried to justify the rabbit's action as I watched Aries release his hands that covered his face and turned to face me.

"Really?"

"R-really! I'm sure the next one will be fine." I smiled to reassure him as I picked up a light brown rabbit that was hopping near the burrow before handing it to Aries.

"This one is Hinata. He isn't timid at all and loves to explore new places. I'm sure there won't be any probl---" Just as I was about to finish my sentence, the same thing as earlier happened and Aries had on a speechless but disappointed expression on his face.

"A-ah... Aries... E-even if they are scared of you... I'm not. Don't be sad." I panicked as I flailed my arms about, unsure of what to do.

"It's alright. Maybe we should find different animals before we try to test them." Aries replied as he placed the rabbit in my arms and turned on his heels.

I stared at his back that receeded to a lone tree which had leaves falling down slowly. Even nature seemed accommodating to his feelings.

I didn't know what to say so I merely placed the rabbit back onto the ground, patted it and headed after Aries. The rabbit gravitated to the small patch of wild leeks and munched on it, oblivious to the chaos it left in its wake.