Chapter 13 - Not Now, Not Ever!
It was quiet. Peaceful. My hair gently blew in the wind. There were no movements, and no reason to move. It was just me, and the view. Something about it just seemed to calm me. It reminded me of a feeling that I hadn't felt in a while. Then, faster than I could blink. It changed. Suddenly, I saw Yui. I felt calmer. I felt warm. I felt safe.
BZZT!! BZZT!!
My ringing alarm kicked me out of the soft piece that I was a part of. With a soft sigh, I realised that there wasn't much that I could do now, I was already awake, and even if I fell asleep again, I'd be late for school. And besides, there's no guarantee that I would go back to the same dream.
'I should probably get ready,' I thought to myself.
I sat up straight in bed, and gave myself a few seconds to wake up fully. After a while, all the memories from yesterday fled back into my mind. I let out a small, soft smile thinking of Yui. It was strange, I'd only just met her, and already she was impacting my life more than most. I held up my hand, and let it gently caress my lips, remembering the feeling of Yui's upon mine.
"That really was yesterday." I muttered.
'There's no time to think about that right now, I need to get ready for school before I'm late.' I climbed out of bed, managing to somehow trip and stumble towards my closet. I swiftly opened the door, and grabbed the closest uniform that I could find. This morning didn't seem particularly exciting, however, it felt special somehow. I was fixing up my tie when I looked at my phone to check the time.
'I should probably get going about now.'
I threw my blazer in and strode towards my door, only stopping for a second to fix my hair in the mirror. Just like every morning, I swung open the door and headed downstairs. On my way down however, I noticed that one particular photo stood out. A photo of my mom after saving people from an attacker.
"Yeah, I'll be a hero, just like you are mom."
My legs kept moving on autopilot, taking me into the kitchen.
"Are you excited or something Amon? There's this weird thing on your face. Hold on, is that a smile. Jeez, you're acting like you finally kissed a girl or something."
My face flushed slightly, but quickly changed the conversation back to the original topic, "Well, it is the second day of me having stronger magic, so I'd say, yeah, I am excited."
"Here," My mom [assed me my lunch as I picked up my bag. My magic automatically becoming stronger the moment I touched it. I quickly put my lunch into my bag, and began turning to head to school.
With my newfound confidence and pride, I spun around on my heel, my body becoming wrapped in blue flames as I did so. "Get ready mom. One day, I'm going to beat you, overtake you, and finally step out of your shadow."
Laughter erupted from the side of the kitchen, where my mother was leaning against the sink.
"Amon, don't make me laugh. I was only half assing it the last time we fought, and you couldn't even beat me then."
A cocky smirk appeared on my face as I turned around once more towards the door, "Yeah right. Next time won't be so easy." I held up my right hand dramatically, before clicking my fingers, the blue flames disappearing from my body as I did so. I pulled open the front door and headed outside, shouting my last goodbyes to my mom as I left.
'Just great,' I sighed. I realised that I was alone walking to school again.
I walked upon the narrow, gravel path that connected my house to the open streets. A cold wind blew by me, my face beginning to sting from the sheer coldness, as a shiver ran up my spine. I looked up, only expecting to see the gate that guarded our house. Instead, there was also a person, standing just beyond the property line. I was slightly cautious, my body tense, as I approached, ready to activate my magic at a moment's notice.
I realised as I walked closer, that it was someone wearing the Tejinashi High school uniform. 'Is it Gale?' I pondered.
The person had obviously noticed me, as they quickly spun around and shouted my name.
"Amon!"
It was Yui. Flashbacks of our previous encounter, of our previous kiss, broke into my mind. My face becoming a subtle shade of red, however I quickly put on a wide and confident smile.
I walked closer, taking a deep breath of the cold, bitter air, as I swiped my card next to the gate. A small beeping noise was heard, as the gate slowly began to open, allowing both me and Yui to see each other face to face. Gods, she was so beautiful.
"Good morning Yui," I happily exclaimed out to her.
"Good morning to you too Amon, lets start heading to school. We don't want to end up being late." She replied back to me.
We started walking, our pace even and synchronised as we walked next to each other on our way.
Something felt different. It was difficult to explain. It was like being around Yui made me so incredibly happy. I didn't want it to stop. I wanted to let her know how I felt. How she made me feel…
The breeze from earlier had come back, stronger than before, blowing both mine, and Yui's hair in the wind. In that moment, everything became still. I made my choice. I decided that I would just tell her. Just how I feel.
I didn;t think twice, I gave myself no time to look back, to change my mind. I moved my hand towards Yui's hand and held it tightly, the gentle warmth contrasting greatly with the bitter cold of the wind. My mouth opened, ready to speak but Yui managed to beat me to it.
"Amon?..." She muttered out, her cheeks slightly red, and her eyes portraying confusion.
"Yui, I want to protect you. I want to see you happy, to see your smile. To see the liveliness, and joy in your eyes. I don't want to let you go. Not now, not ever."
I didn't know what to do next as my mind finally caught up to my mouth. So i decided to just see what Yui's next reaction would be.
Her face turned beet red, "Amon… I,"
My head instinctively lowered itself. My earlier bravado gone. I had ruined it. That was the only thought going through my head. However, I had come too far already. I refused to be deterred, no matter what, Yui needs to know how I feel about her. ANd If she feels differently, then I guess that I'll just have to live with it.
My head raised, and I was about to speak again, when Yui placed a soft, gantly kiss on my cheek. Her slightly wet lips leaving a small mark.
"Yui, I…"
"It's okay Amon. I feel the same way."
My body moved, I didn't even have to command it. My happiness overwhelming all my other emotions. I pulled Yui into a tight embrace, and buried my face into her soft hair. Inhaling her scent asif it was the best thing in the world. My mind once again caught up, and I stepped out of the embrace.
"Sorry…" I muttered, slightly embarrassed.
"Amon, you don't have to be sorry. It's normal to hug your girlfriend, right…?"
My cheeks flushed as I heard her finish her sentence
Yui kept my hand in hers as she dragged me forward, "Hurry up Amon, we can't afford to be late."
We quickly hurried to school, somehow managing to arrive a few minutes early. I looked around the front gates for Gale, but he was nowhere to be seen. 'Maybe he has something to do this morning.'
After realising that there was no one we knew at the front gate, we decided to go straight to class. We just wanted to be in a safe place.
As we arrived at class, I opened the door as Yui followed closely behind. I looked around the classroom to see the odd few students turn to face me, their faces automatically draining of colour. 'Did I scare them?'
I felt a slap on the back, I quickly spun around to see our teacher stood behind me, a big, proud smile on his face.
"I don't know what exactly you did yesterday, but good job kid. I'm proud of you."
The face split into a huge grin at his words. Praise. Finally, it felt so good to be recognised.
"Well, Mr. Ignis, and the rest of the class. Please get ready to head to the school's assembly hall. It's finally time to see the top five students at the school."