For the rest of the day Taka and Kyiondo followed their lesson on how to become princes, Kyiondo was very attentive and took notes on every little thing, so Taka was doing the same, but every now and then he got distracted and lost in his thoughts, luckily it didn't notice very often but Kyiondo notices that he was behaving strangely, so after class he decides to talk to him

Kyiondo: "Hey bro, can I talk to you for a moment?"

Taka: "of course bro! What is it?"

Kyiondo: "I noticed that during the lesson you behaved strangely, is everything okay?"

Taka: "yes I'm fine, don't worry"

Kyiondo: "Taka, I've seen that every now and then you get distracted and don't follow the lesson, and this is not like you"

Taka: "n-no I wasn't distracted, I was just.... reflecting on the topics we were discussing"

Kyiondo: "bro, we both know you're a bad liar, tell me the truth"

Taka: "w-what are you talking about? I-I'm not lying I'm telling the truth"

Kyiondo: "Kyiotaka!" He screams with a serious look

The twin stiffens a bit after hearing his name screamed, he knows that when Kyiondo does this it is because he is serious about a topic and he doesn't want to change the subject until he has all the answers he wants

Taka remains silent while Kyiondo approaches him putting a hand on his shoulder looking at him softly

Kyiondo: "Taka, I'm your brother and you know you can always confide to me if there is something that worries you"

Taka: ".....yeah, I know...."

Kyiondo: "then tell me what's wrong, I want to help you in any way I can"

Taka remained silent for a few minutes, after all he wants to tell him what's wrong with him, but he knows that if he tells him the truth he won't be very happy and he doesn't want to make him angry because of him, so he decides to do something in between

Taka: sighs slightly then looks at his brother "you see.... a few months ago I met.... with a person I have become very good friends with"

Kyiondo: "a new friend huh? So that's why you disappear almost every day for half a day"

Taka: "y-yeah, I didn't tell you anything before because he doesn't really like being around other people, so that's why you've never seen him"

Kyiondo: "I see, I guess it makes sense"

Taka: 'uff, thank goodness he believe it' he thinks a little more calm but already knowing that in the end he is not very convinced

Kyiondo: "and this you friend creates some problems for you? Is it because of him that you behave in a strange way?"

Taka: "well... in a way yes.... b-but it's not really his fault, it's me who starts to feel weird when I'm with him"

Kyiondo: "strange how?" He asks, raising an eyebrow

Taka: "I don't know how to explain it... but... when I'm with him or when he compliments me, I feel my cheeks getting warm, I feel my heart beating hard in my chest, and... I feel something strange in the stomach..."

Kyiondo: "uh... I see..." chuckles slightly

Taka: "why are you laughing?"

Kyiondo: "because what you are experiencing is called "crush" dear brother"

Taka: "cru... 'crush'?... what does it mean?"

Kyiondo: "it means that you are in love with this friend of yours"

Taka: "h-huh !? I-In love!?" He blushes a little

Kyiondo: "yep, and you're blushing even now, so it means I'm right"

Taka: with one hand he covers his face while he blushes even more "....I guess..... yes..." 'this means that .... I love Mondo? ....' he thinks a little confused

Kyiondo: "hey you don't have to do that, it's a good thing to be in love, it means you've found someone who makes you feel heppy"

Taka: "well yes.... when I'm with him he makes me feel better..... but I don't know if this is really a good thing..."

Kyiondo: "what do you mean?"

Taka: "I mean.... I don't know if he feels the same way too... and I don't want to ruin our friendship if I tell him..."

Kyiondo knows that his brother is gay, but he accepts him as well as he wants to support him in every possible way

Kyiondo: "So you're afraid to see his reaction, right?"

Taka: he nods slowly

Kyiondo: "hmm..... do you and this friend of yours see each other almost every day, right?"

Taka: "more or less yes, so?"

Kyiondo: "I advise you to do this, in one of these your outings, you try to tell him how you feel, if he is a good friend he will accept you regardless of whether he reciprocates or not, otherwise I will make him regret having made you suffer"

Taka: "heh, thanks Kyiondo"

Kyiondo: "no problem, as an older brother I have to protect my little brother"

Taka: "You know you're old than me for just a few seconds, right?"

Kyiondo: "I'm always the old one!" he answered laughing, making Taka chuckle too "and then, if this friend of yours reciprocates, maybe one day you could let me meet him. I'd like to meet this person who made my little brother fall in love"

Taka: "y-yeah heheh, maybe I will" he chuckles trying to be as genuine as possible 'if only you knew who I'm in love with...' he thinks

~later~

That evening Taka was in his special place, a giant coral reef with corals and fish of every color, when he was stressed about something he liked to come there and relax or sometimes just to think, how in this case.

Taka: He was sitting on a coral 'so ... I'm in love with a human, huh?' he thinks as he looks at the flower that Mondo gave him a few hours earlier 'but... can it really work? A triton... and a human who love each other?...'

??: "hey Taka"

The triton turns and sees his friend Chihiro coming towards him

Taka: "Oh, hello Chihiro" he says as he hides the flower he was holding

Chihiro: "I knew I found you here" he says sitting next to him "something wrong?"

Taka: "in a way yes.... I think.... I fell in love...."

Chihiro: 'as I suspected, but I have to be sure that's what I think' he thinks "really? It's great Taka! And who is this person?"

Taka: "he's a friend I met a few months ago, he... he saved my life if you can say so... he's very nice to me... he has a strange hairstyle, but I kinda like it hehe, and.... two purple eyes that... I don't know they give me peace of mind when he looks at me..... "

Chihiro: 'strange hairstyle hair and purple eyes.... yep, this is definitely Mondo' chuckles to himself "from how you describe it seems to be very handsome, huh?"

Taka: he blush little "y-yeah, he is ...."

Chihiro: "but if you are to think that there is something that troubles you right? I guess it is for this guy?"

Taka: "yeah kinda, I guess, like Kyiondo said, I have a crush on him, but I'm afraid that if I tell him... he won't return the same feeling..."

Chihiro: "You don't have to worry about it, I'm sure he feels the same way too"

Taka: "how can you be so sure?"

Chihiro: "It's just a premonition, but I just know it will be like this" he winks at him

Taka: smiles slightly "I guess you're right"

Chihiro: "of course I am" he chuckles "let's go now, it's getting late"

Taka: "you right"

The two triton were about to leave when they hear a strange noise, a strange cry from a sea animal

Taka: "hey did you hear it too?"

Chihiro: "yes, what was it?"

Taka: "It sounded like.... a dolphin's sound" he says as he walks towards the source of the noise

Chihiro: "hey Taka wait for me" he swims after him

They go to the bottom of the reef and find a baby dolphin trapped in a net that was wedged on a coral

Chihiro: "oh no!"

Without thinking, Taka goes towards the dolphins followed by the little newt

Taka: "poor thing, what happened to you?" The dolphin emits a frightened sound seeing the boy "hey it's ok I don't want to hurt you, I'm here to help you" brings a hand close to the animal's face

The dolphin looks at him for a few seconds and then approaches his head on his hand, in the meantime Chihiro had seen the little dolphin from closer

Chihiro: "Taka, he's injured in a fin"

Taka looks towards the spot he was pointing to and sees that the dolphin's right fin was bleeding a little.

Taka: "it must have been humans who did this to him" he says while stroking the dolphin's head "but don't worry, now I'll take care of you"

Having said this, Taka manages to disengage the net from the coral and free the dolphin

Taka: "here you go, now let me see the fin" he carefully takes the injured fin and looks at it more closely "hmm... it doesn't seem to be serious, it's a superficial wound, Chihiro think you can find something to bandage the wound"

Chihiro: "I think so, I'll be right back" he says as he swims away

After a few minutes the little triton go back with some medical algae and Taka has that bandages the fin of the dolphin trying not to hurt him too much

Taka: "here you go, it should go" he says while looking at his work, smiling

The dolphin emitting a happy sound when the bandaged fin, then rubs its snout on Taka's cheek

Taka: "hahah, no need to thank me, I made him willing" he says as he pet the dolphin

Chihiro: giggles seeing that cute scene "it seems that now he is fond of you, Taka"

Taka: "it seems so" he giggles too "but now it's better that we go back home, it's getting really late"

They were about to leave when the dolphin grabs Taka by the arm with its mouth

Taka: "what is it?" He asks looking at her

The dolphin looks at him with puppy eyes as he rubs his muzzle on his chest

Chihiro: "I think he wants to come with us, he probably has nowhere to go"

Taka: "I guess so...." he says stroking the dolphin's back "you know, I think it doesn't hurt to have a little company" he says smiling at the dolphin that he understand the message and seems to smile too

The two tritons, together with their new friend dolphin, who have decided to call Sebie, return to their homes

To be continued....