Tarutaru has been very lonely since his friends have started going off on magical adventures. When they return to Primp, he can't hold in his sorrow. Requested by a tumblr anon!

Gone Away

After those strange people starting showing up in Primp Town, his classmates started going away. They ventured off to other worlds while he remained in Primp. Each time, they returned with fantastical stories about halting a dimensional merge or stopping a peculiar space-time traveller from burying another girl's world in Puyos.

More likely than not, he was left behind. It kept happening no matter how hard he tried involving himself with their lives. When Ms. Accord held a Puyo tournament, he hadn't been able to attend, and he still kicked himself for being left out. Every other time, he wasn't around to be invited or didn't pop enough Puyos to go to those other worlds with his friends.

He felt like it was his only chance to be recognized if he forced himself into their group. Changing classes, he had once thought, should have brought him closer to Raffina, but she continued on her journey. She, along with the others, kept marching forward while the shadows of obscurity covered him from head to toe.

Tarutaru was a gentle boy, a kindly giant among his peers, but he felt his soul tear in two every time he was forgotten.

The library was quieter than usual without the incessant chatter Klug spat at his tome. Other students were around, but he didn't know them very well. They were all like strangers to him. Left alone in a world he knew very well, he had never felt such incessant loneliness plague him.

"Oh, Tarutaru!"

He flinched and dropped his textbook. Jerking his head over his shoulder, he let his mouth hang open as Amitie raced up to him, Lidelle hot on her heels. Klug mumbled to himself, flipping open his tome with Sig peering at the book as well. Raffina inspected her nails, flashing him a spare glance before going back to tracing her thumb along her cuticles.

Amitie skidded to a stop next to his oak desk. "Hey! It's been a while!"

Yelping, Lidelle bumped into Amitie's back and almost lost her balance. Sig snatched her shoulder and steadied her. Lidelle thanked him, bowing her head and quickly turning her attention to the silent Tarutaru.

"You're studying," Raffina remarked, tilting her head. "That's good. I know your marks were going down, so it's nice seeing you take charge like this."

Tarutaru pursed his lips. They acted as if nothing had changed between them. It was like they had never gone away for long stretches of time and left him. Chatting with him so casually, it left a cruel mark on his heart.

"Where were you guys this time?" he slowly asked, his words chosen carefully.

Amitie beamed. "We were in this new world! We helped a girl called Ally-"

"-and you didn't even think of asking me to come along?"

Her perkiness faded instantly. Raising her hands to her chest, her smile swapped out for a frown. She quickly glanced at the others for help, and Klug cleared his throat.

"Well, it's not like we didn't want to invite you. It happened so suddenly, you see. We were all transported to this world completely without our consent this time." He tapped his tome against his hip. "Honestly, it was sort of troublesome, too. It really cut into my studying time."

"You guys are always going on these awesome adventures. I never get the chance to do any of that stuff!" Tarutaru smacked his hands on the table, his anger starting to blind him. Hearing Klug squeak only made his brow furrow as he narrowed his glaring on the studious boy. "How come you all are going off without telling me these days? It isn't fair. I thought we were all friends."

Amitie uttered a soft whine, her gentle heart cracking. She hadn't meant to upset Tarutaru, not by a long shot. She exchanged a sorrowful glance with Lidelle, who covered her mouth with her long, floppy sleeve.

"Sorry," Sig said, his monotonous voice cutting through everyone's wariness. "Didn't mean to leave you out."

"Yeah! I'm sorry, Tarutaru. I wasn't thinking, and I just jumped into talking about what happened to us without really asking how you've been." Amitie rubbed her neck, a hint of pink coloring her cheeks.

Raffina sighed and crossed her arms. She supposed he had a point. They had all been going off on zany misadventures and experienced things they never would have in Primp. If she had been left behind while her classmates were out exploring new worlds and growing stronger, she would certainly have been irritated.

"I apologize if you haven't felt welcomed. We'll make sure you're included from now on." She flipped her hair over her shoulder. "How does that sound? Satisfactory?"

"R-Raffina!" Tarutaru blushed, his anger washing away as she rolled her eyes.

"Don't take my kindness as any sort of romantic nonsense. I'm not interested as I've said many times before." She curtly waved her hand.

Klug fixed his glasses and bent over. He plucked the textbook Tarutaru dropped, asking, "As glad I am knowing you're feeling better, what are you reading? I haven't seen this one before. Is it a special one Ms. Accord gave you?"

"Well, since you guys are never in class anymore, I skipped a grade. This textbook is what you guys will be reading next year."

Silence dawned on the stunned students. Tarutaru took back the book from Klug, who opened his mouth wide open in a quiet scream. Amitie and Raffina balked, and Sig tilted his head, not entirely surprised.

"W-wow. That's incredible," Lidelle whispered, breaking the awkward shock and fiddling with her collar.

They gathered at Tarutaru's table, and he began filling them on what they missed with a smile spreading into his cheeks. Being surrounded by his friends left him feeling whole, a sensation of togetherness that never quite fully left him. As Klug jabbered on about needing to know everything in his textbook, he spun the book around for them all the read with him and laughed.