Disclaimer: This is purely fiction
A/N: Companion to 3 Minutes. Expect a string stories with a theme. See have many stories does it take for you to guess the theme. Look forward to your reviews. Thanks for your support!
They are at it again. She gripped her book tightly; the image of her in his arms was vexing. Outwardly, she kept an oblivious façade and waved them away. She can wait.
"They seem to be busy these days for grandpa to call them away so often."
"Then you should ask him why they were assigned to night patrols almost daily." Asuna replied, taking a large mouthful of ice cream.
"I wouldn't want to disturb grandpa for such trivial matters," Konoka waved a hand to gesture her point. "Besides, it doesn't seem to affect them much these days."
"Humph, they sure made us worry for a time there. I thought they might have gotten to an inconsolable fight. Luckily it seemed to blow over soon and now they're almost inseparable."
"Eh, is that a pout I see on your face? Asuna-chan must be jealous!" Konoka clapped her hands in glee as she teased.
"I'M NOT JEALOUS!" that attracted attention from other nearby patrons who were promptly rewarded with a glare from Asuna to mind their own business.
"There, there, I was only teasing. But it's not like they have alienated us, right?"
She was staring at the doorway that they had left until she realized Konoka was talking to her. "Ye...yes, they are still the same." Though she said that, she knew the opposite was true.
It started when what was called the "Ice Age" occurred when both of them had seemed pre-occupied with something and had displayed cold reactions when they crossed paths. There were whispers that they had a fight over something and could barely stand to be in the presence of the other which made everyone concerned. She had to confess a strong infatuation for him, much stronger than a school girl crush, much stronger than the level of concern between friends. It was in this light that she wanted to know what was troubling them and used her gift.
She regretted that decision.
When she summoned her book, she was blissfully unaware of what it held. But upon turning the first page, it seemed as if she opened Pandora's Box. The first thing that caught her eye was the picture for the entry. A small figure of him was pacing around in the foreground while the rest of the picture was dominated with both of the people concerned in a moment of intimate passion. It was quite crudely drawn but the message was clear. Her eyes widened in shock but against her impulse to snap her book shut, she forced herself to read the entry:
"I feel rotten. I have violated her in the worst way possible. I had no intention for THAT to happen but it did. You see, I won't have thought that we will be caught in the rain while training our aerial combat techniques in the mountain range. There wasn't anyone else there and we told no one the details for this trip as it will only raise questions and I know Asuna-san will stubbornly insist on coming with us which means the class rep will somehow find out which in turn mean that we would have the class following us. Inevitably, when the rain started to pour, we had to seek shelter in a cave at the side of the mountain with no supplies for warmth or food. We decided to hang our clothes up to dry and were barely clothed, thinking that would be alright as long as we pretend that the other person wasn't there. The meager fire between us was feeble, unable to sustain warmth even for itself. I don't know when we decided to move closer together but we started rubbing our hands together and before long, we were locked in an embrace when the cold wind blew. There's something about our close proximity that I tried as much as possible to avoid thinking about our situation. My thoughts drifted to our past interactions. I recalled the times we fought together, the times we had our laughs and the times I…was aroused by her. There I admitted it. It's kind of weird for me to think of these kinds of things at such a young age, but whether it was the trainings I have endured in a different time scale or the trials thrown at me, they have somehow changed me mentally: I began to take notice of the girls around me. It was weird, but I don't hate it. For some reason, the moment in that cave made something in me click when our eyes met. I don't know if it was the cold but I sought more of her warmth…"
She read in wide eyed disbelieve as the entry went on to describe the act in the most un-conservative detail: How he would make her gasp as when he found the sensitive spot behind her ears; how he loved the sound of his name from her mouth; how they would battle for the initiative to take control…but like staring into a morbid crash scene, it was so overwhelming that she could barely turn away from the pages, breathlessly reading through each line, each word, gripping the sides of her book tightly, hungrily flipping each page for more. When she came to the end, she found that he had resolved to speak with her to apologize for his acts, though he honestly was not sorry that the event happened.
She was appalled by what she read, feeling a multitude of emotions: Disgust for what they had done. Betrayed for they had kept it a secret from everyone. Vexed by wondering what she should do. Heartbroken for she was not the one he was with. Among them, the most prominent of all was the feeling that was foreign to her: Envy.
She was always known as a bookworm and books had been her friends since she learnt how to read. She had always been attending all girls school and was so into her academic tomes that she had a difficult time to fit in with the rest of her classmates when she entered middle school that even her friends had to take the first step to approach her. As she grew older, her classmates around her began to get attracted to boys. But she was indifferent as she thought they do not concern her as long as she had her books to accompany her. Her friends had once teased her that she would be an old, spinster librarian if she did not open herself up. She never found the need to. That was until she met him.
It was like love on first sight. Cliché as the idea was, she was smitten by his cuteness and seemed harmless. She knew later that he was special, he could do something that was written in the fantasy books that she read: magic. From that point on, her life was changed forever. She learnt how to be more assertive, more self-assured. She made interesting new friends, some who were only thought to belong in fantasy. She had adventures that she once only appreciated in a good book. In short, she was grateful for all the opportunities he had unwittingly opened to her and the chance to be close to him. Wistfully, she had always hoped that he would notice her and, just maybe, come to like her.
But it was not to be so. Unsure what to do, she had kept her discovery a secret, pretending that nothing out of the ordinary was happening between the two. She was envious of how comfortable they acted in front of everyone while freely expressing whatever they had between them behind closed doors. She knew that there would sometimes be half-truths to find time to be alone. But of course she knew what was happening; she had a reliable friend who told her everything, right in the palm of her hands in the most descriptive details.
How she wished she had taken her place in those sessions. She longed to be the one he held as he whispered sweetly into her ears in the throes of passion. She envied her for she had his attention; for she had made that step that she would not dare to initiate; for she had taken one of the most sought after aspects about him: his heart.
He is very much love with her. It was written over and over again in every entry. He loved the way she moved in battle with him. He loved the way she writhed under him. He loved the way she always knew what was in his mind…The list goes on.
She had cried and tired to be in denial, fruitlessly attempting to rip her book apart while bitter tears fell in the showers. It was after shutting herself for a few days that she realized, beneth the anger and sadness, she wanted to be her. She wanted to be skilled in swordsmanship. She wanted to be the one who protects him. She just wanted to hold his hands in moments of tenderness. Sigh. But it was impossible to be her; that much she knew, but that does not mean she couldn't imagine herself as her.
She had her reservations at first, thinking that the words written in her book was dirty. But as the entries got more and more intense, she could help but drink every word as she felt excitement build with in her, causing her to ache for release. She would imagine herself as her in these entries and allowed the natural progression to flow into breathless gasps, flushed face and satisfied body but an empty heart. That was the closest to being her, so it should be alright. It was their secret and now she had hers.
"Hey! You're spacing out again." Asuna prodded her. She snapped out of her day dream and responded with a bashful smile that she had accustomed herself to adopt. She brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear when an idea stuck her:
Maybe he might love her too if she got the looks right, perhaps beginning by brushing her hair back into a side ponytail…just like her.
If all goes well, he will come to love her someday. For now, she will have to make do with today's entry.
She is looking forward to it.