(Big announcement at the end :)

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"What are you doing here?" Impa asks Kiroh without the slightest idea that he is a Boar. Or maybe she does know and decided to hide that fact from me...

"I should be asking you the same!" The Boar lets out a small chuckle, his shy smile giving an impression of innocence, yet I can't help the thoughts that creep into my mind. He's a Boar after all. "I thought you told me you were gonna have dinner with your friend tonight."

"I did! And then we decided to come here," Impa laughs. "The band invited us."

"Oh, that's cool," Kiroh nods and gives a quick look at Pik, then he returns his eyes to us and raises his hand, barely, to wave at Revali and me. "Nice to meet you guys by the way."
"Super nice," Revali remarks sarcastically, still salty about his shoes smelling like beer.

I take in Kiroh's appearance, trying to find the slightest hint at danger. He has a slender physique, a defined bicep and veins coursing up his arms. His hair is intentionally messy; a layered fringe with a faint undercut. Standing just a few inches taller than Impa, he looks like he could handle himself, like he could easily hurt somebody if he wanted to. Yet, there's something about the way he carries himself that sets him apart from the rest of them. He doesn't seem threatening or dangerous at all. It's almost as if he's wearing a mask, like he's not truly part of that group, but rather trapped within it.

I can't shake off the stereotypes and prejudices that have been etched into my mind from their past actions, or deny my initial bias, but as I observe him more closely, my assumptions begin to crumble. Boars can't all be bad.

Impa's eyes scan me suspiciously. "What's wrong?" she asks me, having noticed my sudden retreat.

I'm fighting every instinct to pull her away from the guy. Maybe, just maybe, he said the truth back then and he really is different from the rest. But... if I'm wrong, and he turns out to be one of Ganondorf's pawns, then I would be risking the life of my best friend by keeping a fatal secret. If so, I would rather err on the side of caution and look like a bad friend to Impa by reavealing his true identity.

"This is the guy you've been seeing?" I ask Impa and she nods, reading my face like a big, flashing warning sign.

"Why? What's up?" She asks. "You look... shocked."

I wish I had the option of staying quiet and avoiding this whole situation, but if this guy is associated with Karusa and Ganon, it might be dangerous to be around him.

"Impa," I take a deep breath. "He's a Boar," I tell her and watch both their smiles disappear at once. If I must choose whether to keep his secret, I would rather hurt her now and apologize later than not have a friend to apologize to because somebody else hurt her even worse than me.

"What?" Impa looks confused, which tells me that Kiroh did indeed hide this from her.

"He's a Boar," I repeat.

"A Boar?" she asks. Her head quickly turns to look at him. "You're a student at Lorule?"

He looks disarmed and a bit startled by my accusation, almost as if he's trying to act innocent.

"Impa–" he shakes his head sideways. He better not deny it!

"I met him at that Lorule frat party in March. He wanted me to drink with him but you pulled me away before I could go through with it. Do you remember that?"

"Wait, hold on a sec–" he begs but I disregard his request.

"He told me he was a baseball player. He was part of that fight in February."

"I wasn't!" he tries to lie his way out of it.

"Don't deny it!" I warn him, "You were trying to apologize for what you guys did to Link!"

"I was apologizing for my team! Doesn't mean I was part of the fight!" he defends.

"Okay okay! Calm down! Both of you!" Impa shouts at us. She takes a good look at the guy she just kissed. "You're a Boar? For reals?"

"I'm not like them!" he says.

"Looks like you guys have stuff to figure out," Revali leaves his remark with us and returns to the booth to resume his date. I wish I could tag along but unlike me I can't just walk away from this.

"Kiroh? Are you fucking serious right now?" Impa snaps at the poor guy. He's looking pale now and fumbles for the words.

"I'm nothing like them!" He says but Impa seems to doubt his every word. A feeling of uneasiness zaps through me when he suddenly fixates his eyes on me. "I've never hurt anyone!" He tells me, as if my opinion mattered to him. "I've never even been in a fight!"

"Then where were you when Ganon hit Link in the head that day?" I challenge.

"I was holding back people from joining the fight," he tells us. "I tried to prevent people from getting hurt. I literally pulled you away from Link when he tried to hit you!"

"You're the one who restrained me that day?" A shiver runs down my spine as I come to a startling realization. The air around us seems to thin, leaving me momentarily paralyzed.

My gaze involuntarily drifts to his hand—the very same hand that had covered my mouth on the day of the fight. The hand that suffocated me and stifled my warning scream when Ganon approached Link from behind! The hand I clenched my teeth into when biting was my last resort!

But now, that same hand, once offering me Jägermeister with Coke, is intertwined with my best friend's hand. The conflicting emotions within me swirl like a tempest.

Not leaving Impa's side, I decide to withdraw myself from their fight by keeping my thoughts to myself until I have my own opinions sorted out. I need to process that Kiroh is the reason I couldn't protect Link on that fateful day. But I must consider the possibility that by holding me back, Kiroh may have protected me from an uglier fate. There is no way of knowing for certain. But I will try to determine whether his intentions were good or bad.

"Listen you guys, I'm just trying to play baseball and score some points! I didn't hurt anyone that day! Or any other day! I don't even care about the name of the school!"

"Well you should!" Impa snaps. "Lorule has a horrible reputation for a reason!"

He begs her to give him a chance but she crosses her arms, refusing to listen to another excuse.

"So what? Just because I'm a Boar you want nothing to do with me?"

"You being a Boar is not the issue here! I'm fucking hurt Kiroh! You lied to me about your life!"

"When did I lie?" he provokes her.

"You said you work at the Songs of Time Music Store!"

"I do!" he stomps his foot in frustration. "We literally met during one of my shifts there! I wrote my number on your receipt!"

"You made it sound like you work there full time! You never mentioned you were in college!"

"I told you I was taking some classes, I just didn't tell you where!"

Though he is raising his voice at her, there's an absence of anger in his tone. It becomes evident that he shouts out of necessity rather than rage, for the music drowns out any possibility of a normal conversation, and he's desperate for us to believe him.

I can't believe I'm saying this, but maybe we should...

Never did I imagine defending a Boar, but he appears to have a good heart. Impa seems to truly care about him and I trust her judgment.

"When you told me you're at Hyrule," he says, "I didn't judge you!"

"Judge me?" she exclaims. "What's there to judge?"

"Fuck, I knew you'd react like this!"

"Like what?" she snaps.

"Like this! All prejudice!"

That word, although aimed at Impa, hits me straight in the heart. I've been called prejudiced a lot throughout my life, for good reasons, but I've worked hard in the past year to rid myself of that title. Now I feel conflicted... I want to give Kiroh a chance, I really do, but would I be a fool to trust a Boar?

"Maybe if you had told me sooner I wouldn't be judging you!" she flings at him.

"Why can't you see that my school doesn't define me? I'm nothing like Ganon, I swear!"

Trying to mask her pain with anger, Impa asks him, "What else have you been lying about?"

"I swear, I haven't lied to you about anything! I just didn't want you to know I'm a Boar because I knew you wouldn't have looked twice."

"Sure I would! I've looked at Boars plenty of times! I looked when Ganon punched me in the gut. I looked when his girlfriend, who was on the bathroom floor begging him not to touch her, was dragged down the stairs against her will. And I looked when Karusa–" her finger is already pointed at me when she stops herself from revealing a secret of my own. She lowers her hand– back to crossing her arms. "I looked when Karusa and Ganon ended Link's career, nearly killing him in front of the whole school. So, yeah... I would've looked twice at you if you had told me that you're one of them. But you didn't... All this time, you knew that I was close to Link and Zelda and you didn't say a word!"

"Yes I knew you were close to them!" He steps daringly close to her. "Wanna know what else I know? I know that you've been friends with Zelda since before college and that you met Link while running away from a loose dog. I also know you're into Sheikah music and mixed martial arts. And tattoos. You want to get a Sheikah tattoo one day, a blue one. I also know that you like the pier even though the claw machine is a scam! You hate rules but you want to study law because people get treated unfair and you want justice for them!"

I'm speechless by his knowledge about her. And so is she.

"I know that you send your friend postcards when you have a fight," he goes on. "And I know that your favorite color is red and that your sister, Purah, is older but everyone thinks she's younger and that you secretly hate that because it makes you feel like you have to take more responsibility even though you'd rather act like a child! And you know what? I never minded your childish side because when you act all goofy and carefree you bring out the innocent child in me too. But right now I need you to grow up and accept that just because I'm at Lorule doesn't mean I'm a convict, or a rapist, or whatever the fuck you think we are! There are some good guys on the team who don't agree with Ganon's methods."

When Impa remains silent, still unsure whether to believe him, I make that decision for her and step in, even if that means putting my trust into a Boar.

"Maybe he has a point," I say. "Has he ever hurt you in the past?"

"I haven't hurt either of you," he answers my question before she gets the chance. "And for the record, I wasn't trying to get you wasted at that party. I don't know what you thought I was trying to do but all I did was hand you my drink to be nice and offer my condolences."

"Offering alcohol to a minor is not nice," I say. "It's illegal and wrong."

"Come on, don't act like you've never seen a minor drink! You're literally drinking right now," he points at the Piña Colada in my hand. "And besides, it's not like you have your birthday tattooed on your forehead. You look like you're in your twenties, so don't blame a guy at goddamn college party for offering a drink."

"Hey watch your fucking tone!" Impa defends me. "That's my best friend you're talking to!"

"And what am I?" he asks her with a bold expression. "Am I not a friend to you?"

"I don't know, are you?"

He huffs and shakes his head, slightly amused by the ridicule of the situation. "I wouldn't know. I'm just a corrupt Boar, Impa, I'm too busy slaughtering innocent people to think about what we are!" I don't even blame him for drowning his patience in sarcasm after the way she handled the situation. "Since you're such a saint, please tell me: what are we? Hm? Just a one night stand?" His eyes lower, searching his chest for a stab wound. Suddenly the tone of his voice shifts, cowering beneath the gravity of his own words and no longer seeking to defend himself. "I thought we were more than that but I guess I was wrong."

He steps back, surrendering to us with one final look at our guilt-ridden faces.

"You guys judge an entire school and everyone in it based on the actions of three evil people. Lorule is not perfect, but at least we're able to admit that..."

His words hunt me even after his departure. Is Hyrule pretentious? Am I what everyone thinks I am? I tried to defend him, but ultimately it was up to Impa whether to give him a chance.

After he is gone and the situation calms, I put my hand on Impa's shoulder to offer my comfort.

"Impa, are you okay?"

She's still staring at the exit sign, possibly hoping he'll come back. Or perhaps she is making sure that he doesn't. She shakes her head. "How stupid am I?"

"You're not stupid at all," I say. "You couldn't have known. It was his choice not to tell you."

"Bitch move," she spits.

"Maybe. But he had a good reason..."

"What?" She aims her eyes at me, daring me to say another word in his defense.

"Maybe we should take a look at ourselves before we throw rocks at the mirror... Hyrule isn't perfect, far from it. And even though he is from Lorule, he hasn't harmed anyone. Maybe he really is who he says he is."

"I've known him for months, Zelda. He's an asshole for lying to me."

"I agree that hiding it wasn't the nicest thing to do, but he clearly likes you a lot and didn't want you to think of him as a monster. Maybe you can try to understand how he feels and why he did what he did?"

"I never thought of him as a monster. Even now. All I'm saying is that he's a pussy and he can go fuck himself..."

"Oh shut up," I dare say and add a roll of the eyes. I'm surprised by my own word-choice but I play it cool and place my drink on the counter to face her head-on. "You can act angry all you want but I know you well enough to see how hurt you are from all of this. The fact that he knows you as well as he says he does means you've spent a lot of time with him in the past months. And the way you smiled and kissed him when you noticed him in the bar tells me that you might actually have feelings for the guy. Boar or not, he makes you happy and losing him just because you're too proud to forgive him is dumb."

"The fuck? Say that again, I dare you!"

"It's dumb," I shrug. "It's dumb and you know it. You like him, and he likes you."

"So?"

"So?" I gasp. "Don't let him walk away! Go after him!"

"What? Why? He should be the one going after me!"

"He just did! He tried his best to convince you that he's not a bad person but somehow you ended up convincing him that he is. He probably thought he was doing you a favor by walking out those doors, but the truth is you care about having him in your life. Am I wrong?" I don't wait for her to reply because I know I'm not wrong. "Neither of us believes that he's a bad person... I'm sorry for blurting out that he's a Boar. That's on me and you can be angry at me if you want but don't be angry at him right now."
"Why not? He still lied about it..."

"Is that the worst thing he has ever done?" I ask. "Because if so, then that makes him a better person than us." She stays quiet, having run out of arguments. "You can either stay here, dance to the music and drink until the memories of him go away only to wake up hungover and realize they're still there, or you can put your pride away for once and go after him before he realizes that Hyrule might be just as bad as Lorule."

"I like dancing," she mutters but I counter with a scowl. "Okay fine! But what am I supposed to say to him?"

"The only thing there is to say."

"Which is?"

I pat her shoulder and offer her a confident smirk. "Hey Sexy, nice ass."

It gets a laugh out of her, finally ridding her face from the anger. Which means that now the sadness is showing. "I'll try that," she says, lips pressed together to hide her smile. "He does have a nice ass..."

"Impa!" I gasp.

"What? It's true!"

"I didn't need to know that!" I laugh. "Now please go and make up with him!"

"You're not gonna be mad if I dip? We came here together, to have fun..."

"I did have fun. Besides, it gives me a chance to catch up with Pik." I give her a nod and a gentle push into the right direction and she thanks me.

"I'm sorry for all this drama," she says right before she turns toward the exit. "You're the best, for real! I'll let you know how it goes."

"Stay safe!"

---

Hey guys :) I have a couple of exciting announcements!

🎉 THINKING ABOUT YOU HIT ONE MILLION READS! 🎉

On the previous chapter and on my Instagram story I asked how we should celebrate, and you guys gave some really awesome ideas!! I wrote down the most requested ones :)

So here's how we'll celebrate 👀🥳

Two chapters today!
Art! (Any requests?)
Merch (Gimme ideas plzzz!!!)
Face Reveal (you wish!)

Something else that's been highly requested was a TOTK live stream. I want to so badly but i can't do that quite yet. HOWEVER... I'm thinking of doing a live Q&A? It's been in high demand and I thought it could be chill to hang out with you guys and just chat :) Let me know what you think of that idea.

Oh also, send me your questions for the Q&A! 👉

That's it for now :D thank you so much for your continuous support! I love you guys so freakin much! Let's get NWY to 1M reads next hehee 😎 xx - Ace