Author's Note: Uh… Hey? ^^' Sorry for not updating for quite awhile now. A typhoon came and well, it didn't end well. We didn't have electricity, water, and Wi-Fi too. We almost ran out of food, good thing the electricity came back and the Wi-Fi too. Water, no luck. Good thing I managed to take a bath earlier using the water that we drink (It was really cold. _)
Anyway, hope you enjoy this fic! It's my first time writing RomCom Fic so, I apologized if it sucked, 'kay? :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the God Eater franchise.
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'Why is this so freaking hard?'
Nov crumples the piece of paper and throws it somewhere in his room for the umpteenth time of the day. The numerous crumpled papers are all scattered in his room.
He takes a deep breath and sighs, "Come on. It shouldn't be this hard."
Nov thinks it's time to confess his feelings. Every time he wants to say it to her, he would always chicken out. So, he decided to write it in a letter. But, that ended in a hopeless way seeing how he's struggling to come up something.
He came to several guys for advice when it comes to this. But, all of them doesn't know either how to confess.
Suddenly, he thought of a guy who knows about ladies: Haruomi Makabe.
'He's a womanizer. That means he's got experience with women.'
Nov thinks it carefully. He could ask Lindow about this, but he's probably busy taking care of Ren. He thought of Sakuya too, 'She and Alisa are close. She could give me a tip or two. Wait, maybe I shouldn't disturb her. She's probably asleep at this hour.' He sighs, 'Guess I got no choice, huh.'
"Alright, I'm gonna ask Haru. Hmm… Where is he again? Oh yeah, he's always at the bar. I hope he's still there."
He stands up and leaves his room. He heads to the elevator to look for the green-haired womanizer.
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Bar and Diner
"Eh? How to confess your love?"
"Yeah. Do you know how?"
Haru's eyes sparkles like he saw the most beautiful woman on earth and drapes his arm on Nov's shoulder, "Hehehe! You came to the right guy! So, who's the lucky gal, eh? Is it the lovely idol Ms. Yuno? The trigger-happy Kanon-chan? Or perhaps, the tsundere imouto Erina-chan? Maybe the BLOOD beauty Ciel-chan? Wait, could it be the food lover Nana-chan?"
Nov's eyes widened at Haru's guesses, "What?! No! It's not them! Especially Erina and Ciel!"
'And since when Erina has a silly title like that?"
"Eeehh? Then who?"
A certain silver-haired girl came to his mind. Nov blushes at the thought and covers his face with his hand. Haru noticed this and cheekily grinned, "So… Are you gonna spill the beans or not?"
Nov faces Haru, face still red. "I-it's… Alisa."
Haru's eyes widened, not expecting who it is. He grins, "Ooohh.. So, the Russian beauty's the gal, eh? How long have you guys know each other?"
"What the heck's up with the titles?"
Haru grins like a cat, "Nothing. I just like naming them."
Nov blinks for awhile then answers Haru's question, "Okay.. Well, we met when we were kids. I was 9 years old and she was 8. I saw her getting bullied, saying that she's old 'cause of her hair. I chased the bullies away and comforted her. After that, we became friends."
Haru nods, "Hmm… I see. All this time, you were keeping your feelings to yourself?"
Nov nods and looks down, "Yeah.. 'cause I thought that she doesn't feel the same way and it might break our friendship. As we got older, I saw many guys drooling at her. Heck, I even remembered a guy confessed to her."
"Did she say yes?"
Nov shakes his head, "Nah, she immediately rejected him. Not only him that got rejected, many other guys too."
Haru winces, "Damn, that's hard. I feel kinda sorry for them."
Nov chuckles at Haru's reaction, "That's why they dubbed her as 'The Ice-Cold Beauty' in our old school."
"Hahaha! Is that so? Is that also why you're scared to confess? Scared that you might end up like those guys?"
"Yeah.."
Haru tells Nov how he fell in love with Kate, "Me and Kate were best friends too. I fell in love to her 'cause of her personality. I got rejected at the first time but, that didn't stop me. I do stupid and silly things for Kate to notice and fall for me. Eventually, she did fall for me. We loved each other but, because of the Rufus Caligula…"
Nov knows where this is going and interrupts Haru, "Yeah.. I know. No need to say it.."
Haru smiles at Nov, "Thanks.. Anyway, my point is, don't give up if she rejected you. Besides, I even doubt she'll reject you."
Nov raised his eyebrow in curiousity, "Why?"
'If only you knew, Nov.' Haru grins again, "Think about it, you guys know each other for a long time now and she cares for you, am I right?"
Nov nods and listens attentively to Haru, "Yeah. And…?"
"And there's your proof! Plus, you sing to her!"
Nov nods but, his eyes widened at what he said at the end, "Wait, how do you know about that?"
Haru realizes his mistake, 'Crap! I slipped! What am I gonna do?! Come on, Haru! Think!'
"Uh… Um.. Kanon-chan told me. 'cause you know, Alisa-chan and Kanon-chan are friends, right? A-and you know girls, they share what they kn-know. Hahahaha…"
"Okay…?" Nov said. Though, he's still suspicious of him 'cause he's sweating profusely.
Haru silently thanked that he bought the excuse, 'If not, Alisa-chan will surely have my head!'
He clears his throat, "So, when and how are you gonna confess?"
"I was thinking writing it on a letter. How 'bout that?"
Haru closed his eyes as Nov looks at him expectantly, "Can't you say it to her in person?"
Nov fiddles with his shirt's collar. He always do this whenever he's not sure of something or he's nervous, "I can't. I'm too nervous to do that."
Haru crosses his arms, "Because on my opinion, it'd be more romantic if you say it upfront."
Nov sighs, "I guess you're right."
Haru thinks a way for his friend to confess without chickening out. After thinking it carefully, Haru smiles and snaps his fingers. "I know! You can practice with me! I'll act as Alisa-chan while you say what you want to say. That way, you won't be nervous when you're gonna say it to her upfront. You up for it?"
Nov closes his eyes as he thinks this this through, 'He has a point. Though, it'd be awkward 'cause this is my first time doing this.'
He nods, "Yeah, I'm in."
Haru fist-pumps in the air, "Alright! Let's get ready then."
They turned around from each other. Haru took several deep breaths and checks his voice as Nov clears his throat and fixes his hair, "I'm ready. How 'bout you?"
"Yeah, I'm ready!" They face each other again and starts to get in character.
Nov takes a deep breath and said, "Alisa-"
Haru smiles in a very weird way. He plays with his hair while his other hand is on his chest as Alisa would do by habit. "Yes, Nov?" He said as he imitates Alisa's voice.
Nov struggles not to laugh at his friend's imitation. He clears his throat again and looks directly at Haru's eyes while holding his hand, "Alisa, we've know each other for a long time now.. And something has been bothering for quite awhile. I don't know what I'm feeling but, when I'm with you, I feel… warm inside. Like, my life is complete just by being at your side. It makes me feel like I can do anything. What I'm trying to say is that…"
Haru continues to listen and stares at Nov expectantly, waiting for those 3 words.
"I love you. Will you go out with me?" Nov looks directly at Haru's eyes, waiting for an answer.
Haru's eyes widened in shock and removes his hand from Nov, "Hell no!"
"What?!"
Haru forgot that he's imitating Alisa. He mentally slapped himself, 'Crap! I forgot!'
"I-I mean. Yes, Nov! Of course!"
Then, they both laugh hysterically at their drama 'cause they can't control their laughter anymore. Nov looks at Haru, "Y-you forgot th-that you were imitating A-Alisa!" Nov said while laughing.
"Tha-that was such a-an epic fa-fail!" Haru said while laughing too.
After few minutes of laughter, they calmed down. Haru faces Nov, "I guess you're good to go, Nov."
Nov stands up and faces Haru, "You guess?"
He merely shrugs and smiles, "Well, you don't need to practice in what you're gonna say to her. You just let your feelings go, say what you feel. It's much more romantic that way than those cheap, scripted lines, you know?"
Nov smiles at Haru and pats his shoulder, "Yeah, I agree. I'll keep that in mind. Thanks for helping me, Haru."
Haru gives Nov a 'Bro Hug', "Sure thing and good luck, Nov. Come to me if you ever have girl problems or if you want a new girlfriend! I could hook you up with some hot babes!"
Nov laughs lightly, "Sure whatever, Haru. See ya." Then, he left to find the silver-haired girl.
As Nov left the bar, Haru looks up and smiles sadly. "They reminded me of us. Don't you agree, Kate? *sigh* I miss you.."
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Entrance
As Nov arrives in the main entrance, he saw Alisa with some other girls chatting and laughing at the table in the middle of the entrance. 'Alright, here goes. No need to be nervous, Nov.'
He takes a deep breath and strides across the room towards Alisa. He timidly said, "Uh… Alisa?"
Alisa stops laughing and turns to Nov, giving him a smile that made Nov's heart melt. "Yes, Nov?"
Nov suddenly remembered Haru when he was imitating Alisa. He looks away and covers his face with his hand to prevent the laugh from escaping. 'Dammit! Stop remembering your little act with Haru!'
"Nov? Is there something you want to say?"
He took few deep breaths before facing Alisa again. 'Don't laugh. Focus. You can do it.'
He faces Alisa, only to find her eyeing him curiously. The other girls are also staring at him, like they're waiting for something. He slightly blush and looks elsewhere besides Alisa and the girls, 'For the love of all good, stop staring at me… It's making me even more nervous.'
He clears his throat and starts to fiddle with the collar of his red dress shirt, but he's still looking away from Alisa. "C-come to my room in the afternoon, 'kay? There's something important I wanna say to you."
He finally has the courage to look at Alisa without looking away. As he looks at her, he is greeted by an unexpected reaction.
Alisa is blushing and her hand is on her chest while her lips are slightly agape, 'She's so cute, it makes me want to kiss her right now. I don't care if there are people here."
Nov's eyes slightly widened at his thoughts, 'Wait, did I seriously thought of that? Man, I gotta control myself.'
He closed his eyes in attempt to erase that silly thought. He saw Alisa is still quite shocked, 'Wow. Did I really surprised her? She comes in to my room whenever she likes and not once I see her blush whenever I invite her.'
He snaps his fingers in front of her, "Alisa? Are you still with me?"
Alisa blinks and shakes her head, "Ah. Y-yeah, sure I-I'll come to your room later." She looks down to hide her red face.
Nov silently praised himself for not chickening out, 'Hell yeah! Ah, man. That feels so good..'
He smiles at her, "Great! I'll be heading back to my room. I need to go freshen up. See you later."
He ruffles her hair and, as expected, Alisa punches Nov's shoulder before leaving.
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Nov's Room
After showering, Nov wears a plain black v-neck t-shirt with dark blue pants. He decided to walk barefoot since he's on vacation. He lays his towel on the chair and stepped on a crumpled paper. He sighs, 'I forgot about these papers.'
He looks at the clock. It's only 11:00 in the morning, "I got plenty of time before Alisa gets here."
Nov walks to the cabinet above his sink and takes out a garbage bag. Then, he proceeds to pick up the crumpled papers that scattered everywhere in his room. 'Man, I wasted a lot of papers today. I hope Tsubaki won't be mad.'
[Later…]
"Whew! I'm glad that's finished!"
Nov decided to also clean his room so it'll be fresh and clean when Alisa comes. He looks around to see if there are any papers he missed. Seeing none, he plops down the couch. 'I wonder what time it is..'
He takes a look at the clock and it said 2:00 in the afternoon, "Whoa, I've been cleaning for 3 hours? That's a new record. Hmm.. Maybe I should sleep for awhile since Alisa's still not here." He lays his back on the couch as he closed his eyes.
*THUD*
He immediately opened his eyes in shock and looks behind at the source of the sound.
A picture frame fell down from its stand.
He sighs in relief, seeing that only a picture frame fell. 'I wonder what picture fell down.' He grabs and examines it. As he saw the picture, Nov chuckled.
It's a picture of him and Alisa when they were children. They're seating on the grass with the clear blue sky as their background. Nov was wearing a long-sleeve gray shirt with cargo shorts and dark blue sneakers complete with a yellow-gold handkerchief that hangs around his neck with a black symbol of a lion on the side. He closed his eyes while smiling, clearly shy about something.
Alisa was wearing a long-sleeve white blouse with a big red ribbon. She's wearing a red skirt that reaches above her knees and brown loafers with knee-high socks. She's clinging to his arm while smiling. If you look closely, you can see a red tinge on her cheeks.
'I remember this, her parents invited us on a picnic. It was a sunny day when we were on a park with lots of people that time. Good thing they found a good spot with less people around.'
Nov chuckles as another memory came to his mind, 'I also remember that time Alisa was eating her favorite cake, the Japanese-style strawberry shortcake, and stuffed her cheeks with it. I was laughing at how adorable she looked with crumbs on the side of her mouth. She misunderstood it and punched my shoulder while blushing in embarrassment.'
Nov sighs while slightly smiling, 'She has a thing for punching my shoulder whenever I tease her or when I did something wrong or just for fun. Don't know why though. Maybe she's used to it?'
"What're you smiling for?"
Nov looks up and saw Alisa standing in front of him. "Wha?! How long have you been standing there?"
Alisa puts her finger near her mouth, "Hmm… Not too long." She said as she smiles at him.
'Why didn't I heard her? Damn, I must've been so distracted or she's really quiet.'
"So, care to answer my question?"
Nov blinks, unsure which she's referring to. Him being distracted or him smiling, "Hm? What question?"
She laughs lightly, "Seriously, Nov? You didn't hear me? You must be busy thinking about something, huh?"
'Yeah, I'm busy thinking about you.'
He scoffed at his thoughts and looks away, "Hm."
Alisa seats next to Nov and noticed a picture frame in his hand, "What are you holding?"
Nov showed her the picture, "This? This was taken when we were kids, remember?"
She leans closely to him to look at the picture better. Nov was surprised at the physical contact, 'Crap, she's too close..'
Alisa snaps her fingers as she remembered picture, "Yeah, I remember this. We were on a picnic that day, right?"
Nov nods and smiles mischievously, "Yeah. And do you remember when you were eating the strawberry shortcake?"
Alisa looks questionably at Nov. 'It looks like she doesn't remember.' Nov continues to smile mischievously at her, hoping she'll remember it.
She closed her eyes to see if she'll remember what Nov is talking about, 'About the strawberry shortcake? It's my favorite cake, that's all. What about it? Hmm…'
Then, she remembered. Alisa blushed at the memory and punches Nov on the shoulder. Nov merely laughs at her reaction. "You idiot! Do you really have to mention that?!"
Nov continues to laugh, "What? You were so cute with your cheeks stuffed like that!"
'He thinks I'm cute?' She looks away and pouts while still blushing. "W-whatever! I'm not talking to you!"
Despite what Alisa said, Nov only grins. 'Whoops. Looks like I made her angry.'
He moves closer to Alisa, being careful not to make a sound. He left a few centimeters from her and moves his face near her, "Hey, Alisa."
She looks to her side, "What is it now, No—"
Only to find nearly kissing Nov. Alisa blushes even more at how close they are. Nov continues to smile, feeling satisfied at their position. He stares at Alisa's sapphire blue eyes while she does the same to his turquoise eyes, not backing away from each other. 'Just looking at her eyes makes me feel like I've been hypnotized and makes my heart beat fast..'
Nov closes his eyes and leans towards Alisa, aiming for her lips. Alisa sees this and closed her eyes instead of backing away. As Nov is close in kissing Alisa, he stops and opens his eyes. He saw Alisa waiting for him to kiss her. He smiles, 'She really expected me to kiss her... I want to kiss her too but, let me say what I have to say first.'
So, Nov kissed her forehead instead and backs away. Alisa opens her eyes, surprised that he didn't kissed her on the lips. She looks at Nov, who is lovingly smiling at her. 'The look on her face means she wants an explanation on what just happened.'
"Alright, before you get mad at me, let me say something fi—"
Nov didn't get to finish his sentence. Why?
Because Alisa punched him. Right on the face. Nov was pushed back and puts his hand on his nose, 'Okay, maybe I deserved that. Good thing her punch is not too strong to break my nose.'
After Nov inspects his nose, he looks at Alisa again. 'This is not good.'
Tears are slowly falling from Alisa's eyes. Her fist looks ready to punch him again if he makes a wrong move. Nov approaches her slowly, "Alisa, look I'm so—"
"Are you playing with me, Nov?! Did you think it's a joke to play with a girl's feelings?!"
Nov shakes his head, "No, that's not the reason why I didn't kiss you."
"Then what?!"
Nov holds both of her hands to calm her despite she's trying to remove it. But, his hold is strong, though not strong enough to break her hands. Eventually, she calmed down but, tears are still falling. Nov brings a hand to her face and wipes her tears with his thumb. After wiping her tears, his hand holds her other hand again. He lovingly stares at her eyes as he smiles, "Do you wanna know the reason?"
Alisa nods.
"Because I wanna say something first before kissing you. I love you, Alisa."
Alisa's eyes widened in shock, 'He… loves me?' Joy started to fill her heart. She resisted the urge to hug him as Nov continues.
"At first, I thought love is only a hindrance, a distraction. But, when I feel it whenever I'm with you, I feel like I'll never be alone again. Whenever I see your eyes and your smile, I feel happy despite the world we live in. I know people make promises all the time then, they turn around and break them. But don't worry, 'cause I won't fill your heart with broken promises or wasted time. And if you fall, I'll be there to catch you. I'll comfort you if you ever feel alone and I'll let you know that you're always lovely if you ever feel insecure. I may be reckless sometimes but I assure you, I'll take good care of you."
Nov continues to stares at her eyes as he saw her tears are starting to fall, "I never had love like this and…"
He rests his forehead against her, not breaking eye contact. "I'm glad I felt it from you, Alisa."
Then he kissed her gently to show his love and Alisa returned the favor. She wraps her arms around his neck as he wraps his arms around her waist. Alisa holds some of Nov's hair and caressed it while Nov tenderly rubs her back. As the kiss is starting to get passionate, they ran out of air and broke their kiss, both of them gasping for air. Though, they didn't break their tender embrace. "Wow." Nov said while smiling.
"Yeah, wow." Alisa said while smiling too. Then, they laughed lightly. Alisa pecked Nov's lips and asked, "So, how is your opinion on love? Did it changed?"
Nov pressed his face into the crook of her neck and smiled, "Yeah, it's not such a bad thing after all."
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So, that's Not Such A Bad Thing. :) Did you guys like it? Hate it? Lemme know on your reviews! :D
Constructive reviews are always appreciated. :)
Pls. see my profile for a better mental image of my protagonist, Noverus. :) (Too lazy to put it here. xD)
I'm planning to write Alisa's side in this story so, expect to see a 2nd chap of this! I'm busy with school and such so I don't know when I'm gonna write the 2nd chap! But you guys will see it one day. xD
Until then, see ya and have a good day peeps! God Bless!
