Lying Once Again
That is how a few more days passed by in a blink.
"So, did I improve?" Adam asked Uta after he was done singing.
"A little," Uta shook her head, there wasn't that great of an improvement.
Now he was just Bad….
"Too bad, I couldn't become good," Adam sighed but there was nothing more to it that is why he didn't dwell on it.
"You can get better though," Uta tried to awkwardly encourage him because…
'He did train hard,' That is why Uta couldn't even be mad at him, she had seen him actually take her words seriously and improve, it was just it would take him a few months to become a passable singer.
But they didn't have a few months as Adam was about to leave.
"I still have questions," That was Gordon's reaction when he heard about it, this guy had now become a total cooking and exercise freak.
'He has also improved his body's structure quite a bit,' Adam had been examining Gordon's progress and he was impressed.
This guy had real drive which is why he was getting good results after putting in the work.
"You can ask as many as you want before I leave," Adam said and Gordon rushed back to the kitchen to get his book where he wrote the questions.
Uta on the other hand hadn't said a word since she heard that Adam would be leaving today.
"Hmm, why are you so silent today?" That is why Adam decided to poke the topic since normally Uta had started to become more upbeat.
"…Nothing," Uta spoke without even looking at him.
"Oh My, don't tell me that you became attached to me in the past few days," Adam spoke in a teasing voice while nudging her shoulder and…
"Of course not!" Uta flipped out as he expected.
"Then what is the problem?" Adam asked with a smile and Uta looked at him seriously.
"You still haven't become a passable singer yet so how can you leave?" Uta stood up on her chair and pointed at him, "You'll definitely flop!!!"
"…" Adam stared at her with a flat face.
"What?" Uta asked since she didn't understand why he would react that way, she was just being honest here not to mention that, "I don't want my name to be dragged along with you as your teacher." She folded her arms and looked at him seriously. "It will affect my career as well."
"I get it," Adam sighed, "It is not like I wouldn't come and learn more." He said that like he was just going for a bit. "I'll be back soon."
"Are you lying?" It was just that Uta didn't buy into this, it was just her gut feeling but, "I hate Liars." She wouldn't let it slide if it was indeed true.
"So, did you want me to say that I don't know when I'll come back next time?" His words surprised Uta, "Or, Should I have said that we may not even see each other again?" Adam looked at Uta and she couldn't answer back.
'That wouldn't… be good,' Uta could understand as parting ways with such negative words wouldn't do any good other than making both parties concerned.
That's why even if the words were false, there was still that tiny bit of hope present. It was enough to make one believe this lie might become the truth someday.
'No!' Uta shook her head. That tiny hope had tormented her in the past year.
She had thought so many times about it so many times, trying to convince herself that maybe—maybe what they did wasn't true. There must've been circumstances that forced them. It was just what had happened that day didn't make it easy for her to accept it.
But the one in front of her wasn't going to let her latch onto those thoughts again. Since that was the very reason he broke into this topic.
"Lying isn't bad sometimes you see," Adam smiled slightly, "That is why you should be able to forgive a lie that was said with good intentions." He knew that the damage that a lie had done might not go away, but in these cases the person who told the lie with good intentions. Simply wishes to protect the person from something far worse than the scars that can be caused by their lies.
"You…" Uta looked at Adam with a surprised look and, "…Can sometimes be like a proper adult huh." Yeah, she honestly looked surprised by this.
"Oh? It looks like I was expecting too much from a kid," Adam shook his head in dismay, "Of course you won't understand it."
"What do you mean Kid?" Uta stomped her foot angrily, "I'll kick your Ass!!"
"Now you are throwing a tantrum after you get called out," Adam smirked since he caught Uta in the trap, "....Typical childlike behavior."
"If I didn't understand then I wouldn't have kept quiet about how bad your singing was when we started," Uta shouted and Adam tilted his head.
"So, you thought it was really bad but didn't tell me?" Adam asked and Uta nodded at the moment, but as soon as she did that…
'Oh No!' She realized her mistake, 'I shouldn't have said that.' Uta may have told him that he may flop before but that and this were different things.
Uta had been really supportive and did everything to improve Adam's singing ability, but with her words now…
'What I said then will look like a lie,' Uta thought that she may look like a deceiver, even if it was to stop Adam from quitting because of how bad he was.
"I see," But Adam didn't show much reaction to that and it was confusing for Uta.
"You aren't… angry?" She couldn't help but ask that question since his reaction was nothing like what she thought it would be like.
"Why would I be angry?" Adam smiled looking at her, "You did that because you knew that it wouldn't be good to tell me about it." He understood her reason for pushing him so much from the start.
"I…. see," Uta looked around because it didn't feel good, especially after what she said before.
"Well, the only one who would get mad over this is a child," Adam said making her look up again, and he was looking right at her with a smug look on his face.
"Yes, and I also used it properly," Uta nodded proudly since because of this, "As I told you, I am not a child."
"But you did babble about it in a temper tantrum," Adam pointed out, "Like A Child." and emphasized his last words.
"You wanna Go!!" Uta forgot all about the things from before and looked like she was about to bash someone's face in, that someone was of course Adam because…
"Settle it pipsqueak," He was constantly testing her limits and she didn't like that at all.
"That's it!!" A lot of fists flew that night but thankfully no one got hurt.
And just as Adam was about to leave after Uta fell asleep, he found Gordon waiting for him outside.
"You are too late to ask questions now," Adam said since this guy hadn't come back into the dining room, he just waited outside this whole time listening to them.
But Gordon wasn't concerned about his question right now.
"…Thank you," That was all Gordon said, he knew why Adam was telling that Uta; and he was grateful since he could never bring himself to do that.
But thankfully, Adam had helped Uta a lot even if it didn't seem that apparent, Gordon didn't know how she would react after hearing the truth but…
'She'd be able to understand now.... the reason why it all happened,' Gordon was still uncertain about it, he was sure that this would help her in coming to terms with the situation.
"There is no need to thank me," Adam sighed as he walked past Gordon, "After all, it was just something I did to make myself feel better." His thoughts were not to make Uta be able to face her past while forgiving herself for what she did.
Instead what Adam wanted was…
'I just wanted to make myself feel comfortable while comparing my problems with hers,' Adam shook his head, 'Even if the mistake I made was my own doing unlike her.' It was just an excuse in the end. 'I am the one who did the wrong thing that can… no it will definitely hurt them and continue to do so until they are with me.'
"What….?" Gordon was confused by those words, he couldn't understand but...
"Nothing," Adam had no thoughts of explaining it, "Then until next time." and he left the place just the way he arrived.
But even if he left the world the impact he had made with his visit was still reverberating through the world.
His sudden appearance in Cocoyashi Village was spread through the Conomi Islands first, before spreading through the entire East Blue taking it by storm, and then it reached the Grandline in a flash.