-1At first, it was nothing serious. They fought alongside each other. Nothing more.
But, oh, the way he greeted her with that miraculous smile and waited for her when she fell behind in dungeons. She saw him in a new, more exquisite light every time he logged in.
She would smile haphazardly when nobody was around when his face popped into her head. School became a very distant blur of day-dreaming. The ride home seemed to drag on forever.
"It's nothing serious," young Akira would often tell herself, agreeing with her conscious that she was in the stage of denial. "You don't like him, and he doesn't like you."
She knew she was wrong, though. So wrong. Her feelings for the older man shone through the lies she told herself. Through the lies anyone could tell her.
"Good afternoon, BlackRose." Oh, she would melt. It was something she needed. Just the voice would keep her high for hours.
She confided in him, went to him for support, and in return, he would trust in her. They would often sit alone, speaking of their problems outside of the game.
"School is hard," he would tell her. "We just have to keep going. It's almost over."
No, there was no eloquent speaking between the two. The winged man would lower his vocabulary around her only. She appreciated it greatly, because she actually knew what he was talking about.
"Balmung!" she would call in battle. Her heart raced as the name came from her mouth.
He would turn his attention to her and aid her when she became overrun with monsters. She would watch in amazement as he easily dropped the revolting creatures to the ground.
They would walk through dungeons together. Just the two of them. She would notice how her hand would brush against his.
"There's no way he could notice that, though. He can't even feel it," she would tell herself in disappointment.
She could feel it, though. Her hand would twitch on the controller every single time.
She wanted more. More than just the occasional hand-brushing or overly-friendly smiles. She wanted hugs and kisses on the cheek and the first "I love you."
"This is a game," she would tell herself. "You can't hug someone or kiss someone. You can't love someone you met over a game."
Wrong. Wrong.
She could love someone she met over a game. Her affection for him proved it.
She would wait for hours for him to come online. Spending that time exploring places she'd already been in the Root Towns. When the message that Player Balmung wished to form a party with Player BlackRose popped onto her screen, the smile flashed on her face and she would rush to meet him.
"Ready?" he would ask. It was routine to meet after Balmung's work hours and go to a dungeon together.
"Yes, of course!"
They would spend hours in the dungeon even after everything was cleared out and finished. Words would be exchanged of family members and co-workers. They would agree to break from the computer to find something to eat at the same time, then hurry back to continue their discussions.
They lived not far from each other, yet the pressure to meet face-to-face was too great for both of them. Every time they spoke of it, they would admit to the butterflies-in-the-stomach feeling and the subject was quickly changed.
Akira would sit next to a man who was three years her senior everyday on the bus ride home. They would not speak. They would not look at one another. Their hands would not even brush, and yet, they knew each other.
They knew each other lives and relationships. Their school life and home life. Their game life.
"BlackRose," he would finally say one day on the bus. She would turn her head and stare into his eyes.
"Balmung."
"I do not love you in the sense that you love me." Her heart would break here. "I like you as friend. Nothing more."
She would look away, down at her hands placed on her lap. The bus would stop and he would stand. Without a good bye, he leaves her in her depression.
BlackRose will not log back into The World for months at a time. On the bus, the two will sit on opposite ends.
She will call his name in her sleep, tears streaming from her closed eyes. She will focus on her schoolwork and receive better grades in those she was failing.
Balmung will watch her from across the hallway. He will slip money into her backpack as they walk past each other, to pay for the game. He does not want BlackRose to leave.
A year will pass, and he will take his familiar seat next to the girl who never looks up anymore. He will ask her how her schoolwork is, and she will answer with a short, "Fine."
He will tell her that he misses her, and she will not reply. His feelings will be momentarily suppressed in his heart and he grabs her hand.
"I love you," he whispers in her ear as the bus stops. He kisses her cheek and wraps his other arm around her, squeezing gently before standing up.
Akira will log back into the world. She will meet Balmung again. They will hold hands on the bus, kiss and hug occasionally at school, and say, "I love you" everyday.