I'm sorry. I just can't. I get the most random-est idea at the weirdest places.
Also, I'm horrible with buses. I rode one and it took me all the way to an Institution of Oceanography. Twice. It's a sign that I should take up study as an oceanographer.
Anyways, my lesson here is that I cannot be trusted with buses. Alone.
And that's my story of the day.
Disclaimer: I do not own Elsword.
When she thought about it, their first meeting was kind of odd.
It all started the day when Aisha dedicated the entire day to finish an assignment that her professor given not too long ago.
Aisha would like to say that she prefer doing and finishing her work early but this time, that professor had a few screw loose. He expected the class to get a twenty page report in - along with a presentation - on case studies of environmental pollution in a week. A freaking week.
He completely disregard other classes that she and her classmates have assignments for.
Well, that's college for you. Everything's fast-paced, just how Aisha likes it - but this is an exception. She only took this class because Rena suggested it as an elective.
Let's take it together Rena said. It'll be a fun class Rena said. It would be a refreshing break from all her other major-orientated classes Rena said. But noooo, it was anything but. And said person was not even here with her.
Seconds ticked by as she sat in the library from morning to night time. People came in to work as well but none of them stayed as long as she did, and she's still there when the clock struck twelve-
"Twelve?!" She jolted out of her seat when she got a glance of the clock. The people remaining in the library cast her odd glances and the librarian scowled at her.
She immediately apologized silently and gathered her things hurriedly.
Usually, she commute to school by bus - two buses, one run by the school and the other by public - and the last campus shuttle that will run from her college to her second bus stop was at Twelve. Sharp.
Dammit! She made a beeline for the exit, rapidly calculating the time needed. Twelve minutes if I walk, five if I run. It's currently 12:02pm and the bus only waits five minutes…
She wasn't at all confident about her athletic abilities so she dread the outcome if she wasn't fast enough.
And so, in one of the rarest moments of Aisha's nineteen years of living, she ran as if her life depends on it. I mean, if she doesn't catch the bus, she'll either stuck at school or walking home. And neither option sound pleasing.
For the first option, there were only few places on campus that open 24/7 and she has classes the early next morning so she needed to go home to prepare.
The second option seem better but she lives an hour away. By foot. Just for your information, Aisha's sense of direction is not the best in the world - especially in the middle of the night. She might get get attacked if she walked by herself.
Just thinking about the dangers that lurked in the dark made her shiver.
"Ah!" Her eyes lit up in hope when the familiar blue bus was still at the parking zone. However, just as she was about to thank the lords, the vehicle started wheeling away.
"WAAAAIIIITTTT!" Aisha exclaimed, waving her hands in the air like a mad woman. She would later look back on this, thinking how stupid she was to chase after a bus on the road. "STOP THE BUS!"
As if answering her plea, it did.
Aisha can now freely thank her lucky stars for the person who's in charge of driving at this time of night. They must be heaven-sent!
She caught up in a matter of seconds and hopped up the bus entrance. She held onto the railing to catch her breath and - "Thank you... so much!"
A chuckle chimed in her ears - a mesmerizing one she thought - that caused her to look up. The sight in front of her made her held onto her breath.
Messy crimson hair with eyes of a darker shade, a pale complexion, and the most captivating smile on his lips. He looked to be about her age. Whoa. Didn't think pretty guys existed. I really should take Rena's advice to get out more...
"Never seen someone chasing after a running bus before. On TV sure, but not in actuality."
"Ah haha…" Aisha laughed sheepishly with her eyes closed, her cheeks tinted pink with embarrassment. "W-well… drastic times call for drastic measures right?"
She had no idea what she was saying. She's normally a very wordless person when it comes to strangers. But it seems that this person's an exception.
The young man chuckled again. The sound made Aisha's heart warm - though she blamed all that running.
He gestured with his head. "Take a seat."
Aisha blinked, taking a second to realize that she was still standing at the stairs of the bus. "... oh."
That was lame Aisha… She berated herself mentally and unconsciously fixed her disheveled appearance.
She flopped onto the nearest seat available - the utmost front one. She then gave the interior of the bus a once over.
Empty.
Well, that's just great.
There was silence between the two people on the bus. Aisha didn't know what else to do but to look out the window. Great scenery. Very dark and - was that a cat? Cats are cute.
"So… I know why you were rushing but why so late?"
Aisha broke out from her interesting thoughts she got from the wonderful view and faced the back of the bus driver. "I was working on an assignment."
"Lost track of time huh?" It sounded more like a statement but it wasn't false. She did lose track of time while she was researching. You try searching through the internet and through the library archive for reliable resources and see how long it'll take.
"Yep!" She piped and then mumbled distastefully to herself. "And I still haven't finish that abominable paper."
The red haired bus driver heard - much to Aisha's surprise - and he whistled. "Can't be that bad right?"
"You try to write a twenty-page paper and fit that all into a ten minute presentation." She paused, then added - "In a week."
"... I stand corrected."
Aisha couldn't help but feel proud of her small, trifle victory but then a thought occurred to her. "Are you sure it's safe to talk while driving?"
The person in question laughed again. "What? You can't trust me?"
"Well…" Aisha averted her eyes. "Mom always say to not trust strangers."
He scoffed, almost sounded like he was offended. "I'll have you know that I'm an excellent driver that can even drive with one hand and talk on the phone."
"... please don't."
He only snickered.
Silence reigned over again and Aisha was starting to doze off from working in the morning until now without a break.
She distinctly remembered being asked of something and her mumbling the answer; however, she didn't get a chance to recall what it was before she fell asleep.
.
.
.
.
"..is…"
"Mi...s"
"Miss!"
She felt herself gently shaken awake.
"Whuh…?" She answered with a slur and a rub of her eye. She wanted to sleep some more. "Five more minutes Rena..."
"... I'm not whoever this Rena is."
"Huh?" She was still trying to comprehend what was going on.
"You fell asleep."
"Oh - WHAT?!" Aisha screeched in shock. She's wide awake now. And panicking. "Oh no, I missed my stop!"
The red haired bus driver looked rather amused when Aisha started rambling this and that about being an idiot for sleeping through the ride and now she had to walk home in the dark. Then get lost. Then get mugged by gangsters. Then get kidnapped and shipped to an unknown country to be sold as a slave. Then -
"What's so funny?" Aisha had stopped her drama and glared at the man who was holding onto his stomach in laughter.
"You do know that this is the twenty-first century right?"
"..."
"Smuggling people across the border is neigh impossible since each person would need an identification and unless you're talking about the ones that happens in third-world countries, slavery is illegal." He paused, then added, "Well, there are those debt bondages that the rich exploit..."
"Well, thank you for that most assuring piece of news." Aisha retorted. "It's not like I need a reality check or anything."
"You're quite the drama queen."
"Thank you." Sarcasm was dripping from her voice. "Rena does wonders rubbing it off on people, you should meet her."
"Love to." He replied with a smirk. "But we just met. My mom says to not trust strangers."
Aisha blinked, staring at the man blankly. He did not just copied her.
"Anyways," He moved on from the topic, already amused with Aisha's reaction. "You should get going now."
"Ah… right." Aisha mumbled and took the bag that she left on the seat next to her. "Where are we?"
"123 Sander Avenue."
Aisha stared.
"... what?" The bus driver was a little unnerved - quite a contrary to his relaxed and calm composure just a second again.
"Are you a stalker?" Aisha couldn't help but blurt out, albeit she covered her mouth a second later.
Now it was his turn to stare and Aisha to be unnerved.
"H-how else w-would you know where I live?" She provided nervously as if the man would pounce on her any minute now.
"Miss, I'm just an honest-to-good bus driver." He started, looking rather offended - if not a little angry at the accusation. "I asked you for your address a little while ago, saying I'll just drop you off."
"... you did?" Aisha replied with a question while trying to recall that tad bit of memory.
"You were probably half asleep by then." He provided.
"Ah." Now it made sense. She knew she replied to one of his questions a while ago. So it was that.
She then thought about her false accusation and immediately went red.
"S-sorry! That was all on me!" SHe waved her hands about, trying to explain herself. "Y-you see, my mind often wander off to the extreme…"
At that, he laughed good-naturedly, which only to future Aisha's humiliation. "I can see that when you started talking about being sold off as a slave!"
Despite being in a bad position, she still rolled her eyes. "Ha ha. It's so funny I forgot to laugh."
She couldn't really pinpoint it but she opened up easily in this man's presence. Weird.
"Well," She tugged at the strap of her laptop bag and started down the bus. "Thanks for bring me straight to my place."
"No problem." The man grinned, which Aisha had to look away from if she didn't want to be smitten by that cute - no, brilliant look of his. God, what was wrong with her?
His grin turned into a smirk with his next sentence. "Wouldn't want to let a drama queen such as yourself to get lost while walking home herself now do we?"
Okay, take all of those complaints she had for him and dump them in the trash.
"Jerk."
He made a gentleman's bow. "Glad to be of service."
"Ah, I never got -"
She stormed off before he could even finish.
"- your name." He shook his head with a sigh and drove the bus back to end his shift.
"OH MY GOD!" Rena squealed with utmost excitement when Aisha recounted her tale. Her friend and apartment buddy was worried sick when Aisha came home late and demanded for an explanation. She swear, Rena is just like a mother sometimes.
Of course, she would never say that out loud.
"Why are you screaming?" Aisha asked, giving the blonde a weird look.
"You mean to tell me that he gave you a ride all the way back? That's, like, out of his way - work-wise!" Rena snatched Aisha by her shoulders and her eyes were brimming with tears of happiness.
The hell?
"It must be a sign from the heavens! The cupids are finally working their arrows on my cute little Aisha!"
See? This was why Aisha said she got her theatrical side from Rena.
"No, Rena." Aisha was being rational and she was trying to make Rena think rationally. "Nice guys exists. And he's a nice guy. End of story. Okay?"
Rena rolled her eyes at her friend. "You forgot the happily ever after."
Before Aisha could respond, Rena pried deeper. "One to ten, how cute is he?"
"... six?" That's above average right?
"Hoh~ So he's a nine huh. No bad, not bad."
"Wait, what?"
"Hon, your scale is always off by three."
"..."
"Trust me on this one. Your judgement on these things are horrible!"
"... I'm going to sleep."
She walked towards her room. But before she closed the door, Rena shouted, "Get his name next time - oh, and his number too! I want pics the next time you see him got it?!"
Aisha groaned as she flopped onto the comfy bed. She noted to herself to never mention about a guy to Rena ever again.
Luckily, she has been able to avoid staying till late at night so she didn't have to see that guy and ending up fulfilling her friend's demands.
She stared at the time on her phone as if she could will it to go faster; however, it had the opposite effect. A minute felt like an eternity. Okay, that may be a stretch but when you got nothing to do… well, she could go study the plants around her while waiting on Rena to finish with lab work.
Aisha was confident enough to say that was quite knowledge in that area - thanks to a certain blonde.
Her eyes zoned in on a tree with leaves of five points and dipped in red around the edges.
Acer palmatum. Extremely adaptable with the environment therefore, making it a common specie and have many variants of cultivars for landscape decorations.
The red parents of it signal the change of seasons where it'll go completely red. It reminded her of that one flag with a maple leaf as a symbol…
Aisha stared wondering why some natural variants of maple trees look so different yet have common ancestors… Maybe she should ask Rena.
Staring at the leaves some more, the red color kind of remind her off -
"Huh? Oh hey, it's you! Uh… Grape!"
Wha… She spun her head to the direction to find a familiar red head. Her eyes narrowed.
She was going to sally back because of the nickname but upon seeing that the person had company, she habitually clamped shut. She does not deal well with strangers. Especially when one of them is an intimidating looking guy with jet black hair - does good looking guys hang out with other good looking guys?
That is not what you're supposed to be thinking Aisha. She berated herself mentally. As she glanced over once more, she also noticed two girls. Rather chatty ones but not on par with Rena - yet worst than her.
That meant Aisha had heard the conversation that they had and she counted about an average of four 'like's' per sentence of eight words. Multiply that by the average sentences spoken under a minute - which is 16, then multiple that by three minutes and you get - "About 192 'like's'."
"What?"
Oops. Did she say that out loud?
Aisha shrugged. "Nothing."
Going back to before she started doing mental math, she really didn't expect to see him. Sure they go to the same college - that was proved by the fact that he's about her age and work as a bus driver for the school-orientated bus which hires students as drivers. Work-study and the likes y'know?
The probability of meeting was near zero yet they still saw each other during school.
"Say…" The red haired man gave Aisha a look over, ignoring the two girls who were following him and his companion. "Cat got your tongue?"
AIsha raised a brow as if saying 'no, but do you want me to throw a cat at you so that it'll get your tongue?'
"... guess not." He took a cautious step back as well.
Whoa. He's pretty good at reading faces. That's bad.
"Elsword, who is this?" One of the girls demanded somewhat haughtily. Aisha thanked the stars that she finally said a sentence without that irritating word! This is a cause for celebration!
"Mm…" He thought for quite a while before deciding on an answer. "A friend."
What. Aisha gave the redhead a deadpan.
In response, he nodded as if indicating it was a finality. "Yep. A friend!"
The other man finally let out a chuckle. "She's not how you described her."
Aisha looked rather surprised. He told his friend about her?
"I don't know…" The redhead rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful. "She was quite the drama queen on the bus."
Aisha finally scoffed. "Well, excused me for being theatrical."
He grinned. "There we go. So, what were you doing?"
"... staring at plants."
Both he and his friend blinked, not quite catching that.
"Oh, sorry. I mean studying them." Aisha corrected with a nod to herself. "Quite interesting to examine their origins and find their common ancestries."
"... You mean you were bored out of your mind?"
Aisha just stared at him. How the hell was he able to read her like a book?
"Ai~sha~!" came a familiar, cheerful voice.
Uh oh. Aisha was not prepared for Rena reaction when she was found talking to two 'gorgeous studs- as Rena would describe any cute guys.
"Sorry for the wait, I - OH MY GOD! YOU'RE TALKING TO TWO GORGEOUS STUDS!"
See? She's quite open with it too.
And that's her cue to leave. "Well then, nice seeing ya and a pleasure to meet your friends! Hope we don't run into each other again!"
And she bounded.
"Hold it right there young lady!" Rena promptly hunted Aisha down. "You got some explaining to do!"
"I have nothing to do with this! I was examining Acer palmatums! Acer palmatums!"
Before Rena really started after her friend, she stopped to give Elsword and his friends and greeting.
"Nice to meetcha! Name's Rena and that wallflower just now is Aisha."
"Uh… Elsword. And this is Raven." He pointed to said person.
Rena nodded in acknowledgement, albeit somewhat distracted at the moment. "Love to chat but I gotta bounce!"
She stopped before she could take a full step and took out her phone to snap a picture of both men - the two unknown girls became background props. She winked at the startled two guys who had their pictures taken without permission. "A commemoration for little Ai's get first real step into adulthood! Byyyeeee~!"
Elsword and his companions were left dumbfounded.
"What just happened?"
The corner of Raven's lips quirked upward slightly. "Interesting."
After that run in, Aisha became more careful. She checked her surroundings once or twice every five minutes everyday just to make sure she wasn't running into any red.
"What are you doing?"
"Making sure I don't bump into -" Aisha froze, then robotically wheeled around to face the person she dreaded to meet. Even the library became a landmine.
"H-hey… what are you doing here?" Aisha greeted the redhead while he was staring at her tiny frame suspiciously.
"Project." He answered while pointed with his head towards a table at nearby.
Ah darn. She came to the wrong part of the library to look for books. She unintentionally let a soft 'tch' escape her lips. But due to the quietness of the library and Elsword's apparently super hearing…
"You sound like you didn't want to see me." Elsword raised a brow. There was a hurt tone in his voice but she could have just imagined it.
"Ye - wha - no, I -" Aisha had no idea what she was trying to say. Yes, she didn't want to see him because she felt weird around the man and no, she did want to see him because he was a fun guy to talk to.
…Now she's just contradicting herself. And she still hasn't gotten over Rena's theatrics from last time. The blonde was already planning for her wedding for goodness sake! There's a procedure one needed to go through to get to that point!
Frantic, Aisha glanced over to the table that belong to Elsword's group. She noted the familiar man - looking rather stiff for some reason - and those two girls.
Oh… she could definitely understand why - Raven Was it? Rena talked about him like some heaven-sent angel or something - Raven felt like that.
"By the gods, did you just leave your friend with those two?" No offense to those two girls but they really need to change their talking habits.
Elsword raised a brow, silently waiting for Aisha to continue. "Do you know how many 'like's' they can spout out in a minute?"
"... no?" And he didn't particularly wanted to know.
Aisha was going to inform him anyways. "Sixty-four!"
"... Is that what you were doing the other day?" He asked as if something clicked. He looked rather amused now.
"Ye - no." Aisha denied adamantly.
"Uh huh." He answered skeptically with a nod. "I mean, you were so bored that you would go study on plants."
"Hey, Rena will take offense to that." Aisha pointed out. "She's a good-to-honest plant-lover!"
"I wouldn't be surprised." Elsword admitted. "And she does seem like more of a drama queen than you."
"Thank you!" Aisha put emphasis on those to words as if her point was finally proven after a long, long debate. "Just try spending a good month around her and I'll guarantee that you'll become a diva."
Elsword's lips quirked upward in amusement. "Do you want to -"
There came a soft ringing from Aisha's pocket. "Oh, that's my alarm for the next class." Aisha said, though it was mostly to herself as she rummage for the electronics to turn it off.
"Welp, see ya!" Aisha bid Elsword a goodbye and left before the latter could finish what he wanted to say.
It was another day for Aisha to spend the entirety of it secluded in the library to work. Seriously, her professors has been stacking up work for her for no reason at all!
She had been so occupied that that day that she forgot to set her phone's alarm to tell her to stop and pack up. She has been doing that more of late since that bus incident.
So, when she saw that the clock was a few minutes past midnight, she nearly screamed. Nearly. She scavenged her laptop and papers and stuff them in their respective bags. And sped off again.
This time, the bus was well on its way when she got to the stop.
"STOP STOP STOOOOOPPPP!" This was the only time Aisha wished that magic exists.
Luckily, the bus also heard Aisha's plea this time. She wasted no time in catching up and getting on. "That was close…"
"You should really stop doing that."
Oh, right. She forgot who the driver was for a minute. She looked up, meeting crimson eyes that looked concerned and - was that joy? Was he actually happy that she nearly missed the bus?
"It's not like it happens everyday." Aisha brushed it off and scanned the bus again. This time, there were a few more people than last time.
She then plopped into the nearest seat - the same one as last time.
"But seriously, if it wasn't me, then you would really have to walk home."
Aisha rolled her eyes. "I give my thanks to the savoir of late night college students."
"Why don't you have a car?"
"One. Expensive." Aisha counted with her fingers. "Two. I'm environmentally friendly. And three. No way in hell am I taking the driver's seat."
Elsword couldn't stifle his laughter at Aisha's last reasoning. "And why's that?"
Aisha then recounted her experience with her driving instructors back in high school. It was horrible. Whenever she did something wrong, that guy would yell at her. It was so difficult for Aisha to quell the urge of throttle him on the spot.
"What does that got to do with you driving?"
"Shush. I'm getting there."
Apparently, the reason that the instructor yelled at her was that she drove like a maniac and nearly caused an incident every time just by turning around a curve. She didn't understand that was how bad her driving skills were back then… until her cousin, Speka, showed her what her driving was really like.
Riding in a car with Speka was like going onto an extreme roller coaster.
And now, whenever Aisha got into the driver's seat, she would remember that experience and it would make her stomach queasy.
"I did manage to get my driver's license though." Aisha said proudly, puffing her chest.
"... how bad did you torture your examiner for that?"
Aisha brushed it off again. "She was just so in awe of my skills that she didn't even mark any mistakes on the paper. So I got a perfect score!"
"... Christ, remind me to never let you drive in a car."
Aisha giggled. "It's not like I killed anyone. Yet."
"I heard that." Elsword said, pointing at the last word she murmured.
Aisha hummed a response and looked out the window.
"Oh!" She could barely make out the familiar stop coming up. "I'll get getting off here."
Elsword frowned, though Aisha didn't see it. "Isn't' your place further?"
"I commute through two buses." Aisha explained, preparing to get out.
"I pity you."
She rolled her eyes but said nothing. Once the bus was at the stop, Aisha thanked Elsword saving her again. The young man looked like he wanted to say something but he ended up bidding Aisha a safe trip instead.
Rena has been pestering her about meeting up with Elsword - and call her up if Raven was there as well. Aisha did not like what Rena was trying to scheme.
How can she just walk up to that redhead and ask to hang out? They were barely friends!
Besides, she hasn't seen him recently - which was good. She didn't know what good it'll do for her health if that ever happens.
"Hm... cherries... or grapes..." Aisha mumbled as she stood in front of the grocery section of the super market, pondering what kind of fruits to buy this time. She has been trying to decide which ones to buy for the last ten minutes and she still could come to a decision. This is why Rena should never let her go grocery shopping without a specific enough to-buy list.
She always end up complicating things more than necessary.
"I say grapes."
"Eh... why woul -" Aisha stopped nodding when that voice registered in her head. She inwardly groan.
"'Cause it looks like your hair." Elsword quipped with a smirk.
Aisha half-rolled her eyes and glared. "My hair color is a lighter shade thank you very much. If anything, those cherries matches your hair perfectly."
She thought for a split second before making a selection for the red fruits. "I'm taking the cherries."
Elsword had a look that question her. She smirked as she said, "It looks like your head and I'm sure the pigeons would love to peck on cherries."
"Oi..."
Aisha laughed good-naturedly as she placed a bag of cherries in her basket. "I'm just kidding! I rather not waste food and I kinda like cherries to be honest."
Elsword had a strange look on his face but if disappeared quickly while Aisha looked at what she would have to buy next. "Do you go shopping often?"
"En... when the fridge runs out anyways." Aisha answered distractedly searched the aisle. "You?"
"Yeah, but my friends and I alternate in who goes shopping." Elsword answered, following Aisha while careless picking up a few carrots along the way.
"Hey," Aisha frowned when she saw his deed. "That's not how you should pick your groceries."
"Oh?" The redhead raised a brow, looked at the carrot in his hand, then back at a disapproving shopper.
"You should take care to see if the products are damaged or not. You do know that some vegetables and fruits are rotten when they're put out right?" Aisha started, snatching Elsword's carrot and pointing a finger at the defects on it. "When going grocery shopping, you gotta look at the quality while taking the quantity into account."
"... you quite the expert."
Aisha shrugged and began picking out a few carrots for Elsword. "Rena makes a great mom - too bad she only cooks vegetarian meals. Ara and I had to go through the struggle of learning how to cook while surviving on fast food. Ah, I wonder if Eve's okay studying abroad by herself... she can't cook..."
"Who?"
"Friend that I live with." Aisha bagged the carrots and handed to Elsword before walking towards the section where the lettuces are. "Though she's currently out of the country for a martial arts thing and Eve's, as I've said, studying abroad. "
She paused when she realized something, she turned to Elsword. "How come I'm the only one that's sharing what's around my life?"
Elsword blinked, hen shrugged. "I live with two others, Chung and Raven though Chung's out on a business trip for his father right now. We all know how to cook, Raven's good at fixing things so we never had a problem if something broke, and... what else do you want to know?"
"... I was just asking." Aisha deadpanned. "Wasn't looking for answer."
"It's only fair since you been sharing yours."
"Touche." Aisha replied brusquely and said no more. She had to wonder how it would always end up with them having a conversation when Aisha dreaded to meet him.
Well, at least he's useful in reaching things in higher places. Aisha cursed her genes for giving her a short height.
"Want help with those?" Elsword asked when they made their purchases. Elsword only bought a few things so they fit into two bags while Aisha had a few bags filled to the brim with food and essentials.
"Yes!" Aisha exclaimed, but then shut her mouth. She was a tad bit too grateful for the assistance.
The redhead chuckled and took two-thirds of what Aisha held.
"Oi," Aisha frowned when he took most of what she had to carry. "You don't have to do that much. Just a bag is enough."
"And let you carry three?" Elsword countered. "No offense, but your arms look pretty flimsy."
Aisha promptly smack his head.
"Ow!"
"I do take offense to that!" And she apart from him.
"Hey where are you going?"
Aisha stopped and gave him a look as if to say ' are you stupid?' "The bus station, duh."
Elsword shook his head and jutted towards a car nearby. "I'll take you home."
"... wha..." Aisha did not know what to so. Or rather, she does, she just didn't know how to say it. "I uh... y-you don't have to -"
"I have your grocery under custody." He added gesturing to said bags of food.
Aisha gasped exaggeratedly and pointed an accusing finger at the man. "How could you do that to the poor grocery! They're innocent and you know it!"
Elsword rolled his eyes and walked towards his car while fishing out his car key. "It's more convenient this way than the bus, don't you think? And why are you so against me taking you home?"
"Well..." If Rena sees you, I'll never hear the end of it.
"Get in." Elsword instructed after placing his things in the trunk.
Aisha grumbled as she got into the passenger seats with her bag of food - she adamantly refused to put it in the trunk for some reason. "You just do whatever you like don't you?"
"No, not really." he answered honestly.
"Okay, what the hell!" Aisha looked at him as if he was an alien from outer space. "Do you have super hearing or something?"
The redhead laughed and winked at her. "That's a secret."
It took all of Aisha not to blush at that action. "Stupid Elsword and his good looks."
Elsword cast her a side glance, then looked back onto the road and decided to pretend that Aisha did not just say her thoughts out loud.
...
When they got Aisha's place, the duo found Rena walking back and forth in front of the apartment complex and looking rather distressed.
"Rena? What are you -"
"Aisha!" The blonde perked up immensely when she saw the purplette. "Thank god you came back! It was taking you longer than usual and I thought you got lost and -"
"Please don't overthink this." Aisha interrupted before Rena's while imagination took hold of her. "How could I get lost?"
"True, you're more likely to get lost during the night than during the day. At least you could see clearly at day time - oh, Elsword?" Rena was rather baffled at first, but then looked at Aisha with a sly smile.
"No!" Aisha immediately denied, trying to push away any thoughts that Rena might be having. "There's no strings attached! I just bumped into him while shopping and he's kind enough to offer me a ride. See? He's a nice guy! Nice guys do exist!"
"... thank you?" Elsword did not know if that was supposed to be a compliment. More over... he could not keep up their conversation just now. "Aisha, you want me to carry these groceries in?"
"It's fin -"
"That would be great!" Rena answered before Aisha could reject. "Let's go, let's go!"
Aisha could only groan in response as they went into the apartment and headed for the third floor.
"Place then on the table please." Rena instructed. "And I would love to offer you tea but I need to call the plumber -"
"Did you break the sink again?" Aisha asked exasperatedly.
"No no," Rena answered casually. This happened too often than not for Rena to be offended anymore. "It's the dishwasher this time."
"... and you said you weren't technologically challenged." Aisha muttered.
"Hey! Theses appliances are just not user-friendly!" Rena retorted, half playfully and half irritated. "I really wish Eve would come back. Things would run much more smoothly."
"I called Raven." Elsword suddenly announced. "And he said he'll come over to fix the dishwasher. He's great at fixing things."
"Really?!" Rena's eyes sparkled. "Thank you thank you thank you!"
"N-no problem..." Elsword did not know what the blonde was so happy about.
Aisha groaned again for the umpteenth time today. "You shouldn't have done that..."
...
"Drop by for a visit next time!" Rena waved as the two men left.
Aisha could not believe her friend. Not only was she able to get Raven's number to moment he came in, but also managed to get a date from him. Tomorrow. What sort of magic did she use on the poor guy?
"I can tell you're jealous~" Rena giggled. "Want me to teach you?"
"No." Aisha flatly rejected and shut herself in her room for the rest of the day.
Because Rena has gotten her hands onto Raven's contacts, they were seeing each other more and more - dragging Aisha along against her will. She really, really didn't like what Rena was scheming.
Then again, what exactly did she find bad about Elsword again? The only valid reason she had for not wanting to meet him because of Rena's antics... He's a nice guy. Funny. Easy to talk and get along with, no to mention cute - oh Jesus Christ.
She now know where all these fluttery feelings are coming from. It wasn't from the heat or from the running, she - I have a crush on him.
... Well, that was the bombshell of the century.
Dear lord, she's almost twenty and she still get crushes like a naive high-schooler. She wasn't new to having a crush on someone. She had plenty before during high school but they were just that.
She still remembered those times when she actually believes in fairy tales and that a prince charming would come and sweep her off her feet. Time does wonders to crush those guileless fantasies of hers.
"Hey Aisha!"
"Hm - OH GOD!" Aisha had looked up, only to be frightened out of her wits by the devil in front of her.
"... I'm not that ugly am I?" Elsword joked half-heartedly.
"Wha - no!" Aisha was panicking. That was not good. Because when Aisha panics, she blurts out the most weirdest things. "Of course not! You're the cutest guy out there! I'm sure there are plenty of fishes out there that would want to bite you!"
.
.
.
"Uh... Thanks?"
Aisha really wanted to smack her head against a wall for her idiocy.
Elsword chuckled and decided to take a seat next to her on the bench in front of the Biology building. "So... are you waiting on Rena again?"
"..." Aisha kept mum. She did not want to blurt out something weird again.
"You're being unusually quiet." Elsword started as he looked up at the sky. Silence was a reply, which only caused him to sigh. "Okay, I'm bored. Let me tell you a story. A while ago, I went shopping for bananas..."
What the hell.
Aisha looked at Elsword as if he had some screw loose. But he didn't seem to pay any attention as he rambled on about bananas. She never knew Elsword could be this random as to bring up bananas of all things.
It almost made what she said sound normal. Almost.
Wait, is that what he was trying to do? Ease up the tension?
"... I didn't know which kinds to choose from since the market - for some reason - had a variety of them so I just took a bunch of each. The look on Raven and Chung's faces when I came back with bags full of them told me they were thinking if I needed to be sent to the mental hospital. Aren't they rude? I haven't gone bananas just because I bought a bunch. Anyways, we ended up eating banana related dishes for an entire week and they forbid me from buying anymore from then on."
"Pfft." Aisha tried so hard not to laugh. Really. "Jesus, you really need to learn how to pick between groceries!"
Elsword smirked. "Well, I'm getting better."
Talking to him makes her feel light. She could understand why she likes him.
"... what did you just say?"
"Wha...?" Aisha saw Elsword looking rather surprised. Why is he - oh no... I didn't!
Her face started heat up. It was her habit wasn't it? She was doomed! Dead! Gone with the wind! Buried six feet up!
"Wait - calm down Aisha!"
Apparently, she was speaking her mind still.
"Wah!" Aisha bolted up and ran away. "Shut up stupid brain!"
"Aisha!" Elsword stretched out his arm, as if he was about to grab Aisha, but his hands met with empty air. He sat there, speechless. Well... not for long.
"Hey Elsword!" Rena came bouncing out of lab class. "Where's Aisha?"
"..."
Aisha received a call from Rena.
"Where are you?"
"The bus home."
"I thought we still have that environmental science class!"
"No. I'm going home and buying the first ticket to Antarctica to join one of the research bases and live there for the rest of my life."
"... Antarctica."
"Yeah."
.
.
.
"WHAT?!" Aisha had to pull the phone away from that blaring volume. "NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! DON'T YOU DARE! I FORBID YOU! AND DON'T YOU HANG UP ON ME -"
Beep. Aisha hung up on her. Now... she just need to go online, buy a plane ticket, and pack her things. Yeah. That sounds like a plan.
"... Am I being melodramatic again?" She thought for a moment and waved it off. "Nah."
...
She did not expect him to be in front of the apartment complex waiting for her. "... How..."
Elsword jingled the set of car keys on his fingers to answer her question while looking rather impassive. Aisha cursed the modern advancement in technology.
"So. Antarctica huh."
Oh. He's mad. That's not good.
"Haha..." Aisha laughed nervously and took a few steps back cautiously, which then turned into a full on sprint in the direction she came from.
She stole a glance before her and found Elsword chasing right on her tail. Scary.
It would have been any girl's dream to have a cute looking guy chasing after them, but Aisha thought otherwise. "GAH! STOP FOLLOWING ME! I KNEW IT! YOU'RE A STALKER!"
"I would stop following you if you would stop running!" Elsword hollered back.
Honestly, Rena and Aisha are one of a kind. Elsword sighed when he thought back to what happened earlier. After Rena made that call and said some strange things, the blonde started to throttle him while screaming at the top of her lungs. If Raven haven't came on time to pry her off, he would have suffocated from the lack of oxygen.
"If you don't bring Aisha back before she takes the next plane to Antarctica, you're gonna hear from me and my frying pan that's especially from granite!"
Only God knows why Rena would have a cooking utensil made from rock. This wasn't the stone age. And Aisha was really planning on moving to a place void of human population?
He gathered that the two girls and would really do what they said, which was what made them weird.
"NOOO! I'll rather go to the end of he world by foot than to stop!"
But that's what caught Elsword and Raven's eyes.
"AH CRAP!" Aisha was in such a hurry that she missed a step on the stairs that led out of the apartment complexes. "I'M FALLING, I'M FALLING, I'M FALLING!"
"Geez... why do you always make me worry?" Elsword mumbled before taking a shortcut by sliding down the railings that led out of the apartment complexes. He landed with a perfect ten at the bottom of the stairs just in time to catch Aisha before she broke a bone.
"Gotcha!"
"Oh my god, I thought I was going to die!"
"Now that was not over the top." Elsword commented on her statement.
Aisha stared at him, then did a double stake while her face went red. "L-let go!"
"Nope." Elsword answered frankly and princess-carried her instead. "We're gonna have a nice long talk about you going to Antarctica."
"What - no!" Aisha tried to struggle free but his grip was like that of iron. "I'm not going anymore! Happy?!"
He grinned. "Very."
"... can you put me down now?"
"No."
"..."
"And don't scream for help either." A sly smirk made its way onto his face. "I don't think you'll like my method of keeping you quiet."
"Y-you... pervert!"
"But you're in love it said pervert, aren't you?"
"..."
He chuckled. "Me too."
"... What?"
"Well, Rena did warn me that it would take you a bit longer than the average person to realize..."
"Hey!"
"Want me to tell you another story?"
"..."
"It's about a bus driver who fell in love with a woman who chased after a bus as if her life depends on it."
"That's weird in any angle you look from."
"Right?" The redhead beamed at the woman - that he found adorable since the first time they met - in his arms. "Can I kiss you now?"
Aisha's eyes was as wide as saucers. "Dear lord, you just say whatever you want don't you?"
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Wait - mmfph!"
And they live happily ever after. In due time.