"...chi."

"...Elichi!"

I wake up with a start upon hearing a familiar voice calling out my nickname. Well, only one person uses that name. That person giggles at me before beginning her usual teasing.

"Elichi, you sleepyhead. If you're really that tired, you could have just slept on my shoulder. Look, there's a mark on your head because you had it on the table for so long!" She points at my forehead. I bring a hand up to rub at it. Indeed, it felt sore right at the place Nozomi pointed at. She hums and puts a finger on her chin as she peers at me with those sea green eyes. "Want to take a break? I'm sure you could use one."

I bring down my hand and glance at the rest of the paperwork. All that remained was a small pile of sheets left to be looked over. I looked back at Nozomi who was still wearing that signature caring smile. "No, I think it's fine. We're almost done anyways."

She brings up a hand to her mouth as she laughs. "If you say so. Just don't go trying to kiss the table again, alright?"

I turn the other way and scratch at my cheek. "Y-yeah, I'll try not to."

We quickly wrap up the remaining paperwork and sling our bags onto our shoulders before heading out. When we exit the school, the sun is already beginning to bury itself under the horizon, bleeding deep orange onto every inch of Otonokizaka. I gaze at the setting sun, suddenly recalling the memories of my best friend approaching me in our first year. I can remember the uncertainty in her eyes and the quiver in her voice. But now, it's much different. As we walk towards the gates, I steal a glance at that best friend's face. Now, her eyes are calm with the slightest twinkle in them. Under that shroud of calmness lies a certain sadness that only I can see. When she speaks to me, she speaks as if she's at home. In three short years, so much change can come.

"What is it, Elichi? You've been staring at my face for a while now. Is there something you like about it?" She jokes.

And of course, there's that special playfulness she speaks with when she wants to see me blush. I turn back to the sun, thinking about how far we've come.

"Nozomi...It's been three years, hasn't it?" I ask, already knowing the answer.

"Yeah...it has," She laughs as she walks up behind me. "It's funny. I feel like our first year was just yesterday. Maybe the gods are just messing with time."

"Maybe..." I laugh along. "Three years, yet I feel we've been friends our whole lives." I spin around to face Nozomi.

"Hey...No matter what happens, no matter what I do or who I am, will you still stay with me?" I ask, peering into those gentle eyes. She looks up at me, seemingly confused at such a random question. But instead of asking why, she just smiles and takes my hand into hers.

"Of course I will."

Something inside my chest begins to go erratic as she speaks those words. "Then tonight, meet me back here after you've finished your homework. I'll wait for you here as long as it takes, okay?" I place my other hand on top of hers, hoping for a positive answer. She raises her brows at me, probably curious as to what could cause my strange behavior today.

"Okay, but it better be good, Elichi. If it's something lame like that time you thought there was a ghost haunting the school and you wanted me to exorcise it, I'll seriously punish you." Nozomi points a finger at me, apparently still miffed about that time during our second year.

"It's not something like that again, promise!" I wave my hands in front of me innocently. "And besides, if you hear suspicious thumping around in the halls after school hours, you don't really suspect the missing rabbit from animal science to be the culprit, do you?"

Nozomi hummed in thought before answering. "Well, maybe not, but just the way that you hid behind me all the time and squealed whenever we heard something was kind of lame even though it was really cu-"

"A-Alright! I get it! P-please stop!" I protested. "Let's just go home already, okay?"

Nozomi grinned at my embarrassment, hiding it terribly behind her hand.

"Alright, whatever you say, Elichi~"

As I browsed through the internet on my phone in front of the school gates, I hear light footsteps padding towards me from my left. I look up and spot familiar amethyst twin-tails.

"Aw, looks like I wasn't sneaky enough." Nozomi chuckles and jogs the rest of the distance up to me. She's wearing a cute pleated skirt and a gray coat along with a scarf wrapped around her neck.

"Nothing escapes the ears of a fox!" I chip, embracing her into my arms.

"So, what are did Elichi want to call me here for?" She says as I let her go. I giggle before responding.

"It's a surprise! For now, let's just go inside. I want to head to the roof."

"Oh, sneaking into school at night, are we? I didn't know Elichi had such a rebellious side~" Nozomi teases and grins at me again.

"Right, right. Let's hurry inside. The longer we stay chatting out here the more suspicious we become." I scurry behind Nozomi and start nudging her forward.

We reach the top of the stairwell where the door to the roof is. I open it and stand to the side, ushering Nozomi outside first. I walk out after her, closing the door behind me as silently as possible. Nozomi looks at me, asking what now, and I point a finger to the ladder leading to the upper level of the roof. She gets the hint and begins climbing up the metal ladder with me trailing right behind. I keep my eyes aimed right in front of me. While we both climb up the ladder, I sense Nozomi stop, causing me to pause along with her. Although the temptation is great to look up and ask why she stopped all of a sudden, I keep my neck muscles in control.

"There's no funny business going on down there, right?" Nozomi calls from above.

"N-Nozomi! W-What are you talking about?" I sputter and without thinking, shoot my head upwards to look Nozomi in the eye, but instead, I see the one thing I was trying not to. "Gah!" I choke out some type of noise and quickly bow my head back down to stare at my feet, almost losing my grip and falling off the ladder. Heat begins to rise to my face despite the cold night air. A giggle of my purple haired companion reaches my ears before metallic clinking ensues. I start climbing up again, still looking down at my feet. After Nozomi reaches the top, she stands to the side of the ladder waiting for me to catch up. I pull myself up from the last step of the ladder and rush over to the opposite ledge. My companion stalks up behind me and wraps her arms around my waist with her head resting on my shoulder.

"Uh-oh, did I make my Elichi mad?"

"O-of course!" I quickly reply. "Whenever you tease me like that, my face feels all warm and I know my cheeks start to get pink and it's really uncomfortable." I keep my eyes down, staring into the web of lights in the city below.

"I'm sorry, Elichi~ I just can't help it, you always look so cute with that look on your face. Please don't get mad at me?" She buries her face into my neck, probably thinking it'll earn her forgiveness points. And she's right.

"Hey...I can't get mad at you if you ask like that..." I mumble.

"Yay!" She releases my waist and jumps to my right, hugging my arm as she gazes down into the city with me. "It's pretty, isn't it? It's like each little light represents someone down their with their own life." We take a moment to admire it. The air around us is chilled and somewhat comforting in a way. Up in the midnight sky is the moon, shining as brightly as ever, blanketing the city in its light.

"Yeah, it really is pretty...but I think it would be better if we had...more of a bird's eye view?" I turn to my right, gazing into Nozomi's turquoise eyes.

"More of a bird's eye view?" She repeats. "But this is the highest point of Otonokizaka that we can access."

I giggle and pull away my arm from Nozomi's grip. She looks confused for a second before I wrap an arm around her shoulders and put an arm behind her knees to pick her up bridal style. She lets out a squeak as I pick her up, and a pink tinge that was certainly not from the chilly night air starts to show on her cheeks. "It seems that the tables have turned now, haven't they?" I joke, receiving only puffed out cheeks from Nozomi. She stares angrily into my eyes before letting out a hearty laugh and burying her face into my shoulder.

"Yeah, looks like they have."

I walk back to the opposite side towards the ladder. Once in front of the ladder I turn back around to face the city.

"Nozomi, do you trust me?" I ask. She takes her head out of my shoulder and peers up me.

"W-what's this all of a sudden, Elichi?"

I let out a small laugh. "Nozomi," I say again. "Do you trust me?" It takes her a minute, but gives a firm nod. "Then, close your eyes."

She does as she's told and shuts her eyes. She buries her head into my shoulder again and mumbles something that I can't quite understand. I bow my head and whisper into her ear.

"Don't be scared."

I take off running to the edge of the platform. At the very last inch of the ledge, I push off with my right foot, and up we go. The school building is now far behind us, and the city is right below. Nozomi still clutches my clothes with a death grip, slightly quivering in my arms. I give her some time to realize that we are actually not plummeting to our death, and instead, floating quite leisurely above the bustling city beneath us.

Nozomi slowly begins to release my clothes and stops quivering. She takes her face out of my shoulder for the second time and peers up at me.

"Look." I gesture downwards with my head. She gradually turns to the left. I hear a gasp as she realizes where we are and snaps her neck back to the right to shout at me.

"Elichi, we're flying! You're flying!"

I nod and give her smile. She looks back down to her left to gawk at the city and its lights. "It's amazing..." She gasps. "Elichi, it's so beautiful! Thank you." Nozomi looks at me with her eyes twinkling brighter than the lights below. Forget the lights, the most beautiful sight here is the girl in my arms. "You know," Nozomi suddenly says. "The lights are great and all, but I think seeing you so handsome like this makes it the best thing I've ever experienced." She smiles at me, knowing exactly what she's doing to me. I turn away, feeling that heat rising to my cheeks and my heart starting to do some kind dance.

"T-The feeling is mutual..." I stammer out. I gather the courage to turn back and smile at my companion. She smiles back. I bow my head down and plant a quick kiss on her forehead.

We continue to appreciate the view below for a few moments until my upper abdomen begins to shoot with pain.

No! Not now, of all times...!

Nozomi notices the sudden change in my carry and begins to wear a worried look on her face. "Elichi, are you alright?" I look into her eyes, and for some reason I can't bring myself to lie and say that I'm fine.

"Sorry, Nozomi," I manage to grunt. "We might be having a rough landing."

I start to lose altitude, and Nozomi grasps at my clothes again.

"E-Elichi!? This isn't funny. Go back up!" She presses herself closer to me, starting to shake a little bit. As much as I would like to go up, fate seems to have other plans in mind. I spot an open grassy meadow quite a ways away from the city and decide that would have to do as a landing area. I will my way towards the meadow while still falling faster and faster to the ground. We're now as low as the treetops, but I've somehow managed make it to the grassy meadow. I try and gain air so that we'd have as much as a gentle landing as possible, but with how my body is treating me right now, it seems that such a thing won't be possible. I push through the pain and will us against gravity as much as possible so the impact wouldn't be bone breaking.

"Hang onto me tight!" I yell. I close my eyes and turn around just as we're about to touch ground so my back took the impact first. My back skids across the grass as I hold Nozomi firm in my arms to ensure that she doesn't get hurt. We stop, and I can finally let out the breath I'd been holding and relax against the grass. It's soft, and thankfully there doesn't seem to be any bugs crawling about. I move around my legs to make sure they still work, and sure enough, they still do. Looks like my poor back will be aching the whole week. I crane my neck up to check on Nozomi. She has her face in my chest this time, her hands balled into fists. "Nozomi, you alright? Does anything hurt?" I ask. She keeps her silence. "...Nozomi?" I try again. She rolls over to my right with her back facing me.

Uh oh...Did I really make her mad this time? I don't blame her...Even I'd be mad at me.

"H-Hey...Nozomi." I turn onto my side despite the sore ache in my back and rest a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, I didn't know something like this would happen again. I promise I won't make you fly with me again if you don't want to, okay?"

Still, nothing but silence. I start to get worried. What if she really got hurt? If she did, I'll never be able to forgive myself. I muster the strength to push myself up from the ground, walk around my companion, and lay myself down in front of her. She refuses to look at me. "Nozomi, are you hurt, or are you angry?" I ask again. Once again, nothing. "Hey, Nozomi! C'mon, say something will you?" I scoot closer to her. "If you don't say anything, I'll get sad you know?" I pout and do some puppy eyes at her. She's looking away, but I know that she can tell what I'm doing. The corners of her mouth start to curl up. Then she snorts, and begins to laugh her heart out. She's laughing so much that a tear starts to trail down the bridge of her nose and she has to hold her sides. My breath catches and I can't help but stare in a mix of awe and surprise at her. There she is, the most important person in my life, laughing away without a care in the world. Her voice is like a mythical Siren's, or perhaps even more melodic.

Nozomi begins to calm down and wipes away a tear. "Sorry, Elichi, I just couldn't help myself. I wanted to see what your reaction would be." I grin and playfully punch at her arm.

"I knew it! Nozomi, that's so mean! You really made me worried there for a minute!"

"I know, I know. I'm really sorry. I'm okay, so don't worry, alright? I'm fine." She reassures me with a gentle smile and takes my hand in hers. "As long as I'm with you, I'll always be alright." Nozomi blushes, but she doesn't look away. She keeps her eyes on mine. "How about you? I know you took all of the crash for me." I move my head just a bit closer so the tips of our noses touch.

"I'm the same here. As long as I have you with me, I can do anything." I whisper. "But–!" I press a finger against Nozomi's lips. "That doesn't mean you'll go unpunished for pulling that very mean trick on me." A grin starts to creeps its way onto my mouth.

"Eh? What kind of punishme–wah! H-Hey!"

I push myself downwards and nuzzle into her stomach.

"Elichi...T-that tickles! What if someone sees us?"

"It's fine, isn't it? There's no one around. No one can see us. Besides, you're warm, and you smell good." I wrap my arms around Nozomi to enforce my determination that I will not budge.

"You're right...there's really no one around, huh? This is pretty far from the city. How will we get back?"

"I'll fly us back. I just need a nap to recover." I mumble.

"I can't hear you. Your face is buried in my stomach."

I remove myself just an inch to repeat my words. "I said I'll fly us back, just need a nap to recover." I stuff my face back into her warm stomach.

"Alright," She replies warily. "but if you fall down again, I'll seriously get mad at you and call you flightless bird for the rest of your life."

I hum as a response, already feeling a heavy drowsiness wash over me. I suddenly remember something, and tear myself away to properly speak.

"Nozomi."

"What is it, Elichi?"

"When I wake up, you'll still be here next to me, right?" There's a silence, and I can feel her sea green eyes staring at me.

"Of course I will." Is her response.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

I'm the one peering up at her this time. Our eyes meet, and she's wearing a warm, gentle smile. It's nothing but silence, until I break it.

"Can you give me a kiss?" I blurt out. I didn't mean to, but it was all that I could think. Nozomi stares at me with surprise at first, but she softens and smiles again.

"I can't really say no to my Elichi, can I? Especially if you have that kind of look on your face." She giggles and pushes herself down so we're at eye level. Her hand is brought up and rests on my cheek while her thumb softly strokes at it. I'm looking away, I don't even know where I'm looking at, but I have to look anywhere but her out of sheer embarrassment. Nozomi brings herself closer to me. I gather the strength to look into her eyes, just before closing my own. Her lips press into mine, and it feels as if my heart is going out of order. After what seemed like forever, but at the same time all too short, we part and take a minute to breathe.

Once we catch our breath, I take Nozomi into my arms and she does the same. Nozomi strokes at my back, as if comforting me for what's about to come. My eyelids turn to lead, and sleep gets the better of me.

"Good night, Elichi."

I wake up with an arm draped off the bed and the other holding a phone. My room is colder than usual, but my bed is just as cold as it always is. I plug in the phone to charge it on the nightstand and bring up my free hand to rub at my eyes with a yawn. The moonlight shines strong through the blinds at my balcony doors. I sit up and swing my legs off the bed. At the floor lies a pair of slippers in the shape of foxes, and I place my feet into them. I stand up and look back at my empty bed. Well, empty except for a blanket and a pillow. I shuffle over to thermostat and adjust the temperature, then shuffle to the balcony doors and open them just wide enough so I can barely fit through so none of the cold night air gets into my room. It's cold enough as it is already.

I shiver as I rest myself on the balcony fence, peering down at the street below. Cars had always buzzed to and fro on this street, no matter the day or the time.

"What a nice dream..." I mutter as I bring down my head to rest on my arms. I close my eyes and try to recall it. I remember nothing about the girl who was so kind to share her warmth with me. Nothing except her amethyst twin-tails.

A/N: This was based on a dream that I had a while ago. I was flipping through my journal entries when I found this one, and decided to adapt it into a Nozoeli. I also posted this on my tumblr account, akihaotaku (You can easily find the original post through the tag 'akiha writes'). I had said that I'd post an addition to this if there were enough comments so I know that people actually payed attention to it, but alas, there wasn't much feedback, so I'm reluctant on writing that addition. Leave a favorite and a review, and if this one gets enough I'll do it. Let me know of any errors, typos, etc so I can fix them. Thanks for reading!