“How Do You Ask a Slime Girl to Prom?” (62.1) (Oka)

After the fairly humiliating showcase against the devils and a snack break to lick our wounds, our next scheduled activity on the camping trip was sports time. After hiking and fighting, I wasn’t sure if I’d have any energy for snacks, but some good grub and sitting time rejuvenated me nicely.

Plus, I didn’t have to rush into anything at the various sporty stations they set up around the lake and campground. I decided it’d be a great time to teach Zeta how to fish.

“Have you ever actually been fishing before?” Zeta asked.

“Suuuure, definitely,” I said. I’ll admit it, I did want to just hold her hands while and guide her through it. I had no idea what I was doing, exactly, but I stood behind her, my arms wrapped around her, my hands overlapping hers. “Now you wanna hold the pole like this…”

“I think this is how you hold a golf club,” Zeta said, tapping the dirt with the pole, the end of it sproinging in a bouncy sort of manner against the ground. “I think this is more upright and then you throw it?”

“Hm,” I said. “Well, still. Gotta make sure you’re in the right spot.”

Any objections Zeta had to my form were stopped when I whispered that in her ear.

Zeta pushed her hips back against me. I wasn’t sure if she meant to do that, but it had an immediate effect on both of us, freezing us in place and forcing a weird laugh out of both of us, a deep chortle that I don’t think I’d ever made before. I could feel a burst of petals coming on (my darn Cani powers and the random petals bursts when I’m around Zeta), so I had her swing the pole, dropping a bobber in the water.

“Wow, I’m glad I’m learning from an expert,” Zeta said.

“How many minutes do you think we have before our regularly scheduled interruptions?” I asked.

“Like zero?” Zeta said.

It was about zero and a half minutes before a group of friends showed up, but I did manage to hold onto her a bit longer before we were spotted doing whatever we were doing.

Kai grabbed a fishing pole from the bucket they had them in, apparently an actual expert on fishing. Iris grabbed one and started swinging it like a sword at Maia until Lillia told her off, and Michi sat down and started sketching.

“Kind of strange they just let us wander,” I remarked.

“The teachers and chaperones are making their rounds, I’m sure they’ll be around soon,” Lillia said.

I was glad it was just our friends who ran into us and not teachers (and that we had time to get out of that fishing pole position before we had to explain that one). I watched as Lillia cast a line, standing a bit away from the others.

“Something the matter?” Lillia asked when she noticed my inquisitive look. I was mainly curious where Ko had gotten off to, usually the two were side by side as of late. 

“Nothing really,” I said. 

"Kalei's asleep, but perhaps we can try talking to her again once she's up," Lillia said.

"We probably could," I said, doubting we'd get any more out of her this time. After her fight, I tried to be subtle figuring out what was going on with her, but she said she was feeling better and brushed us off. I didn't notice anything out of sorts during her match at least, outside of her ice conjuring amount being more than usual. “So are you going to spend this whole weekend with Ko, I assume?”

“We’ll hang out a bit, but I’d really like to catch up on reading,” Lillia said. “We broke up recently, but we still have plans as well.”

“Ha, lots of plans I bet—” What Lillia just said hit me like a giant cruise ship that had ended up on land just long enough to ram into me. “Wait. Lillia. Hold on! What’d you just say?”

Lillia pressed her glasses up. “It’s nothing to worry about.”

My heart raced already. What did she mean nothing to worry about? She and Ko broke up? When did that happen? Why didn’t we know so we could mobilize and help her through it?

“I don’t need to talk about it at the moment,” Lillia said. “I’ve entered myself in a pogo stick tournament with Ko, and it’s staring soon.”

“Oh, cool! So if you’re doing that together, you were just kidding about that breakup stuff?” I said.

“No, we’re broken up,” Lillia said.

“What?” I squeaked.

“Oka, please don’t make a scene,” Lillia said, turning to our friends.

“I’m not making a scene of it, I’m just…” I said. I was already shaking.

I wasn’t sure why breakups always wrecked me. Well, the root of it was they made me immediately afraid I’d break up with Zeta, and that sent me into a massive anxiety spiral or a full-blown panic attack. But that was usually reserved for seeing one in a show or reading about it. In real life? My real life best friend breaking up with her girlfriend and me not knowing about it?

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my voice warbly and pained.

“I wanted to protect you from…” Lillia gestured to my shaking hands.

“I don’t need protection!” I said. “Because! I’m totally fine! I’m not freaking out at all! I just…I should be there for you, and…” I sniffed. Why was I crying already?

“It’s totally fine, Oka,” Lillia said. “It was a mutual decision, we’re still very good friends, the door is open for us to return to it in the future.”

“But…wh-why?” I asked.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lillia said. “I should get going, I’m sure she’s going to do swimmingly at pogo stick jumping, and—"

“Then I’m joining that tournament too!” I said.

Zeta could probably hear my blubbering wails and approached us cautiously.

“Is everything alright?” Zeta asked.

“It’s fine,” Lillia said. “Genuinely, don’t worry about it. We’re going to a pogo stick tournament if you want to join us, but there aren’t many spots left.”

Zeta's a worrywart like me, so I expected that vagueness would probably set her off too, but she just looked back and forth between Lillia and I, reading something on our expressions that I wasn’t even aware we were saying.

“Maybe I should wait here,” Zeta said.

“That may be for the best,” Lillia said. She walked away, casually, perfect posture, just like she always did, not walking with someone having the burden of heartbreak.

“Um…have fun?” Zeta said.

I tried to say something to get Zeta not to worry before I left, but I was still in the middle of processing everything, like I’d been thrown into a washing machine that was spinning around in a larger washing machine.