"Crap, I'm going to be late!"
When Elsword finds that his sister is waking him up instead of his alarm on his new phone, he knows that he's immediately screwed. Elesis smacks her brother with one of his pillows multiple times, chanting, "Get up!", each time becoming more aggravated in tone.
"Would you stop-oof!"
"Maybe if you haven't stayed up and watched Dimension Witch, you wouldn't have slept through your alarm."
"Stop hitting me! Ow! And shut up! I can stay up for as long as I want!"
Elesis smirks unexpectedly and ceases her attack. Swinging the pillow over her shoulder like she would a sword, the red-haired maiden struts away, basking in her invisible victory. Elsword blinks at the door, his eyes still under a veil of misty weariness.
"It's too early for this," he concludes after several long minutes of silence. Reluctantly leaving the personal toaster that is his pile of blankets, the redhead readies himself for school. The smell of bacon and eggs hits his nose while he's scrubbing his tongue, and with a rather nonexistent spit to dump the toothpaste down the drain, Elsword dashes to the dining room, food in his mouth before he even sits down.
"Hey! I know we're in a rush, but you're going to…!"
The sound of a forced gag and a pathetic plead for help cuts her off.
"Choke...What am I going to do with you?"
When he finally inhales the rest of his breakfast, the two head into Elesis's crimson red car.
"So, I have work today after classes. Are you able to get a ride?" asks the red-haired college student.
"I'll be fine on my own! I'm 16 now, and I certainly don't need a ride home."
"I wouldn't be asking if you have your license already," she retorts.
Elsword only slumps into the passenger seat, mumbling about how parking is needlessly difficult.
…
"Ah, Elsword! I heard you were late today. Stayed up to watch Dimension Witch again?" a tingly, almost melodious voice questions. The redhead doesn't turn to the sound, already knowing who it was coming from.
"No, I wasn't...had a lot of homework," he mumbles out, munching on a sandwich to hide the light pink on his face. His friend raises a perfectly plucked eyebrow, giving him that irritating look.
"Uh huh, sure," she says, accenting that she definitely does not believe him.
"Ugh! Whatever! Why does everyone bring her up every time they talk to me?!"
"Because you make it super obvious that you're one of her 'hopeless' fans."
"I am not her fan! She just happened to have a ton of information on the next patch, and it's better than reading that confusing list that the developers like to post."
"Or...maybe you just like the sound of her voice, or the way she speaks."
"Drop it, Rena, or do I have to bring up how you probably almost stained this entire school with you and your boyfriend's limitless libido?"
The blonde upperclassman, Rena, is ready to scream at his jab, but just as she is about to, a hand swiftly crashes onto the bush of red hair on his head, knocking him to the ground.
"It's rude to use that kind of information as blackmail, you know. I can easily send you to detention for attempting to harass an upperclassman."
Contrary to Rena's peppy voice, this one is robotic, monotone. Almost emotionless if he didn't know her for as long as he does. He can hear the underlying fury in her threat.
"That hurts, Eve," he grunts out, focusing on his head injury. "Stop abusing my head."
"Clearly, you deserve it. Someone needs to break that block of a head that you have."
"Did you just call me a blockhead?!"
Eve merely ignores his indignant screech and turns to Rena. "Raven's at the front of the school again. He asked me to get you." The blonde instantly switches moods as her eyes literally sparkle with happiness.
"He's back already? Oh my El, thank you, Eve!"
They watch as the blonde sprints down the hallway madly. Elsword can feel a bead of sweat rolling down the back of his head, while Eve's facial expression doesn't change from cold and emotionless.
"I would tell them to get a room, but I know that a room isn't enough, and it disgusts me," the redhead comments, slamming his locker shut. Eve merely turns her back to him and walks away. Before she disappears into the sea of students, however, she tilts her head back with something...foreign bordering her eyes.
Is that...amusement?
"Don't think that you can hide your own feelings, Elsword. You're too obvious."
"I-I don't have feelings for anyone, you monotone robot!"
"Umm...excuse me."
Oh, that's-! Elsword swiftly glances to his left to find a purple-haired girl clutching a stack of book close to her chest. Her red glasses serve as a barrier to her hypnotic purple eyes. He notices that she's shifting nervously, glancing up at him from those thick barriers resting on her face.
"Aisha!"
"H-Hey, Elsword. Can you maybe scoot aside so that I can put my books away?"
He blinks but lets her access her locker. As she slowly places her textbooks into the tiny space, Elsword feels the urge to rub his head awkwardly. Looking at her from the corner of his eyes, he notes that nothing about her has changed since when he first met her, but...when did her hair look so...soft? Even though it's in that twin-tail style that he has known her for, he finds that he is fighting the urge to run one strand of hair between his fingers.
He observes more and realizes that her hair reaches down to her chest, framing her lean form in an appealing way. When did that happen?
"Elsword, you're staring. Is there something on my face?"
Instantly looking away, the redhead grumbles out, "I-I was not staring at you. You're just being paranoid, grape head."
To his mild surprise, she laughs nervously and shuts her locker closed. "I'm sorry…" The enigmatic glint in her eyes makes Elsword nervous. Clutching the thick biology textbook abnormally close to her chest, Aisha walks away, not sparing a glance back.
He clenches his fist as he watches her back. This...tension between them is unbearable. It was tolerable when Aisha decided to focus all of her attention on schoolwork once they started high school. But now...why can't he get into an argument with her like back in middle school? Even the annoying nicknames that they give each other do not provoke her anymore. Now, their conversations, if he can even call them that, are short, pointless. They leave a bitter taste in his mouth.
Elsword lets out a groan and heads to class with a deep scowl on his face.
…
"Welcome one and all to my stream! It's me, Dimension Witch, your favorite magical girl on the web! I'm so glad that you guys are able to join me tonight!"
Elsword dazes off as he watches the girl twirl around in her signature white and pink dress. He remembers the first time he tuned in to her stream. Immediately, he was put off by the rather provocative costume she had on. Her cleavage, while small compared to other female streamers that he encountered, is on full view for her audience to indulge in. When she stands up and performs a cheer to motivate her team, he is drawn to the way her skirt clings to her thighs. He definitely thought that she was one of those girls who used their body to help promote their channel (which is fine, they can do whatever they want with their figure, but frankly, Elsword didn't care about that) or hide their awful gaming skills.
She proves him wrong, again and again.
"I have a special announcement for all of my fans before we start. There's going to be a contest next week, and the lucky winner will get to spend the day with me. You just have to enter the raffle with the link down in the description. I've always wanted to meet all of you someday, and I'd figured that it's time to reveal myself to the public! Now, onto our first game…"
In his mind, her voice disappears when the word "contest" echoes in his headset. He feels the indescribable need to enter and win. Before he can register what he is doing, Elsword had entered his name and contact information into the corresponding blanks on the website.
Unbeknownst to him, Dimension Witch is staring straight at the screen, as if she's attempting to pass through the internet into his bedroom.
…
"You won the contest, and now you're going to meet Dimension Witch?!" Chung whines out, eyes bulging at the screenshot of Elsword's winning email. The redhead chuckles awkwardly, the sound trailing off as soon as it left his mouth.
"Y-Yeah…"
"Congratulations!" Rena applauds, eyeing Elsword with that playful and downright sneaky look. Raven, who is aware of his girlfriend's tendencies, gruffly speaks up, "I didn't know you were into her. She doesn't seem like someone you would watch."
"I-I'm not interested in her. She just-!"
"We know, Elsword. You've been using that excuse ever since your sister introduced her to you," another girl, one with fair white skin, streaming black hair that flows behind her, and a somewhat ditzy smile, points out.
"Shut up, Ara," he snaps, turning back to his phone to glance at his victorious ticket again.
Congratulations, LordKnight!
You have been chosen to meet with Dimension Witch this weekend. Please submit the place where you would like to meet her. Don't worry, she'll come to you, her lucky winner!
"That's...odd," says Rena as she peers over his shoulder to get a closer look. The rest of the group soon follows, effectively trapping the boy into a meat cage.
"Isn't Dimension Witch a high schooler? How did she get enough money to be able to host this contest?"
"Forget money, what about time?! They're meeting on a Sunday of all days! We don't know where she lives, but if she's halfway across the world, there's not enough time in the day to do anything!"
While his friends discuss the enigmatic prize, Elsword catches Aisha rushing away from them, seemingly in a hurry. A flash of her eyes as she subtly glances back at them reveals a veil of loneliness that Elsword had failed to notice until now.
"Aisha, wait!"
The girl flinches but otherwise stays put. As he steps closer to her, her posture stiffen. The book in her arms clings closer to her chest. She turns her head away, refusing to make eye contact. Elsword extends a hand out, trying to reach for her hand.
"H-Hi, Elsword. I'm sorry, but I have to get going."
Maybe it was the growing tension between them finally snapping him. Or maybe it was the way Aisha glances back at him from her polished glasses with her lips pursed and a tiny veil of fog over her eyes. Elsword cannot say, but at that moment, his mouth moves before his brain can register his words.
"Do I scare you, Aisha? Why do you always look at me like I've done something wrong?"
Her mouth gaps desperately. She opens her lips to say something, but nothing comes out. Her cheeks darken as her feet slowly digs into the floor.
"Aisha, please! What happened to throwing jabs at each other?! The constant competitions during lunch?! We don't even text each other anymore!"
"Elsword, I'm too busy to do all of those things now."
"You're too busy to even talk to me?! To say hello?! You were my closest friend! Do you remember how everyone would say that we were constantly getting on each other's nerves? I...I…"
Luckily, his brain catches up to his mouth and halts its rampage. The purple-haired girl is staring at him completely stunned, not believing what she is hearing.
"I...I…" he sputters out again, attempting to recreate the wave of words that carries his frustrations. His throat feels dry all of the sudden. His hand shifts between forming a fist and laying flat next to his side. Aisha, for the first time in a long while, steps closer to Elsword, peering at his panicked expression.
"You...what?"
"I…"
No matter what he does, he cannot seem to spill out his true feelings. His heart is pounding painfully against his chest. The way his brain is malfunctioning when she takes another step closer scares him deeply.
Aisha is slowly creeping closer. Her hair slips over her shoulder, and he wants nothing more than to grabs it softly and play with it, instead of seeing if he has the strength to pull out a few strands.
Where are these thoughts coming from? What is she doing to him? He just wants things to go back to normal, with them constantly bickering, tugging each other's hair.
But unfortunately, his sixteen-year-old brain cannot handle the mental overload that the purple-haired bookworm is creating unintentionally. Elsword instinctively shouts the phrase that he constantly said to her back in middle school.
"It's nothing, flat-chest!"
The world freezes. Even the people who do not particularly care cringe at his flustered dismissal. No one dares to speak.
Elsword can feel his friends' disappointed eyes digging into the back of his head. Meanwhile, Aisha has her head bent down, her grip on her textbook deathly tight. She starts to tremble, and the shivers shake the glasses off her face. He comes eye to eye with her teary purple orbs, but the giant pit of dread and regret only forms when she responds in the quietest tone he has ever heard from her lips.
"I-I see...I'm sorry to have wasted your time then." Her breath comes out like a sigh as if she's having trouble talking. Her feet drag against the tiled floor as she weakly shoves her way through the crowd around them.
The next thing Elsword registers is a fist to his face. His vision tilts sideways sharply, suddenly, and he can feel the strain of his neck trying to turn his head back to normal. Another fist collides with his other cheek, bending his head the other way.
"Rena, stop!" yells her boyfriend as he vainly attempts to restrain the blonde.
"YOU COWARD! I DON'T EVER WANT TO TALK TO YOU UNTIL YOU FIX THIS!" Rena screams, her screech rushing down the silent hallways with an anger that is rarely unleashed.
Elsword cannot hear her words. The only thing that is swarming his mind is the gut-wrenching, broken echoes of Aisha's voice.
"I'm sorry…"
Why is she apologizing? Why is she always apologizing around him?
"I'm sorry to have wasted your time…"
All he wants...is to spend some of his time with her. Because...he misses her.
…
The car ride to the giant mall (more like an amusement park, his sister thinks) is choking. He has the urge to break down in front of Elesis. The itch in his throat makes him want to gag.
"Elsword…you should at least look a little bit happy. You're going to finally meet Dimension Witch."
Elsword remains eerily quiet. Elesis continues to stare at the road, but her fiery red eyes are slightly dulled with worry.
The mall, or giant amusement park, is a towering structure. The clear, crystal-like patterns of the outer shell are intricately placed together, reflecting the sun's light with a multitude of angles. This impressive wall is marred by the giant tracks looping in and out of it. They can see a roller coaster cart execute a sharp turn and a tiny loop before heading back inside.
"Call me when you're done. You still need to practice driving later."
"Okay…"
His answer is deflated. After waving goodbye to his sister, he takes out his phone and opens his messages to see if Dimension Witch had sent him anything. Apparently, he does not have to wait too long for his unvoiced question to be answered when he spots a crowd of people hoarding around his favorite restaurant.
Seeing her in real life is so different from watching her on stream. Her purple curls on screen look artificial as if she had dumped a bottle's worth of hair gel just to have them defy gravity. But now, they look naturally curly, almost like silky ribbons. Granted, they do maintain that level of perfection that models would kill to possess, but they sway with each head tilt and bright smile she gives out, tapping against her face before springing back next to her ear.
She doesn't make a habit of rewarding her fans with fanservice, but it is almost impossible to not notice that her dress compliments her figure and enhances her womanly features. Even when she's bending down to give her staff to a younger fan, she has that aura of maturity that does not match her age.
And then her eyes, those swirling purple eyes that sparkle like a galaxy's field of stars, locks onto Elsword's.
"Are you LordKnight?" she asks. Her voice, now not barred behind a microphone, casts a spell over him. There is no other explanation for him as the crowd stares at the redhead. His feet move automatically, almost robotically, to the witch. Her smile soothes him, and he forgets about his worries, his feelings of regret.
"Y-Yes," he manages to stammer out. Dimension Witch grabs his hand and waves everyone else away. "I'm so glad that you can make it," she chirps.
"I-Uhh...yeah, I wouldn't miss this for the world," Elsword responds. His eyes widen in shock at how his words change from a sputtering mess to playboy levels of smooth. The streamer sends a wink in his direction and pulls him into the restaurant.
"Wonderful! Now, let's get to know each other a bit more!"
…
To his embarrassment, it takes Elsword several cringe-worthy moments of stupidity to notice that something is...off about Dimension Witch.
Not in a bad way. She is very interesting, from her hobbies of performing magic tricks to her interest in space and stars. He finds out that she had gone to the same elementary school, the same middle school, like him. She responds to his jokes with words that he has heard before. Even the way she twirls her hair is reminiscent of past memories.
"Are you having fun, LordKnight?"
"Of course! And you can call me Elsword."
"Okay, Elsword! How about a break?"
They sit down next to the line for the giant roller coaster. The floor around them is littered with shopping bags, mostly for Dimension Witch. She sips on those large-sized cups with the winding straws, letting out a huff of air once she finishes quenching her thirst.
"Oh speaking of, this one game I played-!"
"Dimension Witch, can...I ask you something?"
The girl seems prepared for this. "Yes, you can. If there's any way I can help, just say the word."
"If there's any way I can help, Elsword, just say the word. I can bail you out of any situation, after all."
For a split second, Aisha's face replaces Dimension Witch, and Elsword blinks in confusion. His mind must have been too hung up on what happened a few days ago. That's why he's about to ask her for advice, right?
"You...remind me of a friend I used to hang out with, and I think I messed up."
"Well, that's not very specific. Can you give me some background information?"
He scratches his head awkwardly. Should he really go through with this? It's really none of her business. But somewhere in his mind, the walls he had stubbornly built up to hide his true feelings have somewhat disappeared. His mouth moves without his control again.
"Back in middle school, me and my friend, Aisha, would always get on each other's nerves. We made every activity into a competition. I would always have to come up with new insults and nicknames to say to her. I remember those times to be very heated and triggering, but they were fun. I had a lot of fun being with her."
The words continue to come out unabashed. His lips form a melancholic smile as he carries on with his explanation. "That all changed when we entered high school. I think it might have been pressure from her family, but she told me one day that she has to focus more on her schoolwork, and that she won't have the time to hang out with me anymore. My first reaction wasn't so encouraging. I basically told her that I didn't want to stop, that studying is for losers."
Saying that out loud makes him realize just how insensitive his younger self was.
"That was our first actual fight. When our freshman year started, I did the same things I used to do. I pulled pranks on her, gave her pretty petty insults now that I think about it…"
He turns to her to see what her reaction is, but she waves her hand to urge him to go on. "Only except...she didn't respond back. She never yelled at me. At first, it was an indignant frown, but that slowly turned to nervous laughs, to timid huddling. It got to the point where...I might have been bullying her."
"Elsword…"
"My friends had to open my eyes to what I was doing. And when I realized that, I felt guilty for the first time. I wanted to fix things between us. I thought it couldn't be that hard. Just go up to her and tell her that I'm sorry. Well, obviously not. I couldn't even approach the subject the first few times. And now...I've butchered it in the worst way possible."
He recounts his half-hearted attempt to confront Aisha to Dimension Witch. Throughout the story, her frown deepens and her eyes reflect the beginning of a black hole.
"It's been weighing heavy on my mind the past few days, and I don't know what to do."
Dimension Witch plays with her staff as she taps her chin. He hears her hum, a sign that she's trying to find a solution.
"Why can't you say what you want to say to her?"
"Huh?"
"I mean, you must be a huge fan of mine to enter this contest. And you've just told me something very personal, but what is it about her that's different from me, or from your other friends? Why is it difficult to talk to her? Judging from the time you spent with this Aisha, you guys seem to trust each other a lot."
Elsword takes a moment to process her words, especially the last sentence. They obviously had a strong positive connection, otherwise, their rivalry would evolve into hate. Could it be that Aisha chose to trust that he would understand when she told him that she had to focus on school more than their competitions?
He cannot say since he does not know her true thoughts. But he knows that he has a problem approaching her. Drawing upon his memories of his recent encounters with Aisha, Elsword feels his heart beat faster when he envisions her hair bordering her lean arms, the hint of curiosity behind her red-framed glasses.
Dimension Witch smirks. She can see his hand twitch, his cheeks redden. "I think I know what the problem is."
"Y-You do?" Wait, where did his smooth, collected voice go? Come back!
"The thing that's bothering you...is that you secretly don't want things to go back to normal. You want more. It's the first time you have felt this way about her, and it scares you. It triggered a defensive mechanism within you, and that's why you defaulted to that phrase."
The idea, at first, sounds absolutely ridiculous. There is no way that he's attracted to his childhood friend.
"T-That's not true."
She is still smiling ambiguously. "You may not know this, but a lot of people come to me for relationship advice. Reading the signs is as easy as getting a sniper kill."
He dumbly blinks at her, his mouth gaping open. With a bell-like chuckle, Dimension Witch waves her staff several times before tapping it onto his head.
"Anyway, try saying what you truly want now."
He stares at her like she's insane. But eventually, he sighs and fulfills her request. "I want Aisha to talk to me again. I want her to eat lunch with me and help me with my homework. I wish that we can spend the whole weekend playing video games as she tries her best to match my skill level and fail miserably."
Dimension Witch's patient smile gives him the confidence to release his deeper emotions. "I want to touch her hair and see if they're as soft and silky as they look. I want to make her smile. I want to see what's under her textbook when she tucks it close to her chest."
She laughs, a sound so heart-achingly similar to Aisha's.
"B-but most importantly..." His voice has reverted back to normal. The lump in his throat returns, and he curses its very existence viciously in his mind.
"You can do it, Elsword. I know you can," Dimension Witch encourages, just as she does in every live stream she hosts. He looks up to the twisting tracks above him and heaves out a sigh.
"I-I...I miss her."
He does not get a reply for about a minute.
"I'm sure she misses you too."
"What?"
His head turns to question her, and the witch only hands him an enigmatic grin. "Do you feel lighter now, having said that out loud? Do you feel like you can say that to Aisha when you next see her?"
He swears she must be casting a spell on him because his damned mouth talks without his permission again.
"Yes, I can."
…
This is starting to be a bad idea. Maybe he should have been more direct.
His hand struggles to find a place to latch onto. His blood surges through his arms, making him shiver with something akin to anticipation.
"Maybe I should have handed her the note instead of sneaking it into her locker…"
That is also a bad idea though, now that he thinks about it. She would probably reject it in front of people, and that might break his confidence into a million pieces.
It is getting pretty close to spring break as evident by the blooming trees. He looks up to the plum flowers, their pink petals livening the barren branches. Seeing the small blossoms calms his overreacting thoughts.
"E-Elsword?"
When he turns to her this time, he allows himself to take in every feature of his former friend. She is still clutching a textbook to herself. Her back is slightly hunched as if wanting to cower in a corner. Her lips are bruised, plump from her teeth biting into them. And her eyes, the ones that used to sparkle with the fires of their rivalry, that used to exude with arrogant confidence, now look ready to cry.
It must have taken her a tremendous amount of courage to come here.
His heart sinks. Aisha should never look like she does at that moment.
"T-Thank you for coming...Aisha," he starts slowly. The stutter doesn't come from embarrassment but from guilt. The purple-haired girl does not walk closer to him.
"I...I ummm…" The lump in his throat clogs his words again. He wants to curse the sky. Just once, let him fix things!
"Elsword, i-if this is another one of your pranks…"
"It's not a prank!" he manages to shout out, startling the bookworm.
"Then what is it? You said that you have something important to tell me."
"I'm getting to that." His hands scramble to ruffle his hair out of frustration. Where to even start?
"I-I...I want to apologize for treating you the way I did the past few years." Aisha perks up visibly, her back now a tad straighter. A gust of wind swirls a ribbon of fallen petals around the boy. Elsword continues, "I should have respected your decision. I should have seen that it bothered you whenever I dumped water on you and ruined your homework or insulted you every time we talked."
She stares at him incredulously. Her eyes turn to the side as she lifts the textbook up to cover her neck too. "W-Why apologize now? I heard from Rena that it took them weeks to even get you to notice that you've been…"
"Yeah...ever since they snapped me in place, I've had a lot of time to think about why I kept bullying you. At first, I thought that it's because I thought of myself as the victor, and I was shoving it in your face. But as time went by, and we started getting further and further apart, I realized that I was hurt that you didn't want to continue our rivalry. I mean, it's all we ever did-fight and get on each other's nerves. When you take that away...what else is there?"
He doesn't know how he managed to say all that without stopping. The lump from earlier has vanished, the wind is stirring, and she's...giggling…?
"What's so funny? I'm admitting that I'm wrong and this is how you-!"
"N-No, it's just...I'd never imagine that this day would come…"
Elsword flushes, which causes her to laugh even more. He is about to yell at her like he did back in middle school when his eyes align with hers. While the fog is still hiding within the purple abyss, her eyes start to twinkle with the light of a newborn star. Before long, the glow makes him smile, and they devolve into a fit of laughter.
"I-I just...haha...you and thinking do not belong in the same sentence."
"T-That's...pfft...mean…!"
Elsword stops chuckling before Aisha does, but as he waits for her to calm down, he watches the wind, now embroidered with plum blossoms, circle around her, blowing her hair against her textbook. Even after all of the years that he has known her, he has never seen such a happy expression on her face. He lets his heart skip a beat when she glances back at him with a timid but relieved smile. He lets his feet bring him closer to her.
"I miss you, Aisha," he asserts, clearly, strongly, without inhibition. "Can you forgive me? Will you let me make it up to you somehow?"
Aisha gasps again.
"Do you really mean that?"
"Of course I do. You know, it's not that easy admitting these things."
That is sort of a lie. The words are flowing out easily, but that doesn't counteract the slight tingle of fear in his stomach and the rapid thuds of his heart. He reaches his hand out. She stares on hesitantly.
The world is still again, but oddly enough, Elsword wouldn't mind if he is stuck in this moment forever.
"Okay, Elsword. I trust you."
He commends himself for not breaking down in joy. She shakes his hand, the first physical contact he had made with her in years. Both can feel the wind pick up again.
"Actually, I need to confess something to you, too," says Aisha.
"Huh?"
"You see...there is another reason why I couldn't commit to our rivalry." She turns to the tree behind Elsword and takes a deep breath. "Before eighth grade ended, something happened within me that scared me immensely." Elsword's eyes widen in panic.
"W-Wait, what happened? Are you alright?!"
She giggles again. "Of course I'm alright. It's just...well...umm…" Now it is her turn to make him wait for an answer. Her cheeks slowly blush to the same color as the plum blossoms.
"I realized that...I started to see you as more than a friend."
Aisha quickly looks away, her sentences beginning to mix together. "I knew that you would never see me that way though. You were too dense and totally not interested in that sort of thing. I've battled with myself for weeks, trying to decide on whether or not to keep or kill my feelings for you. In the end, my parents gave me the perfect excuse to break our status quo. When I told you that I couldn't do those competitions anymore, I expected you to jump for joy and proclaim yourself as the winner. I thought that I could handle you gloating in my face for a few months before you moved on to other things, and then I could let my feelings die. But that wasn't what happened. You were upset that I couldn't spend time with you or the others anymore, and it confused me, even to this day."
"Aisha…"
"I remember thinking that, with all of the times you have told me how flat my chest is or how I'm too much of a nerd, I probably wasn't the kind of girl you would want to date. I knew that, even conceded to that, but when you didn't react the way I expected you to...it...it gave me hope that maybe...it isn't so farfetched."
She hugs the book in her arms protectively, and Elsword finally understands why she does that around him.
"...Aisha, can you give me your textbook?"
"W-What?" she responds, unconsciously tightening her hold on it. The redhead gently pries the book away from her and places it on the ground next to them. Aisha instinctively crosses her arms over her chest, but instead of prying those off to the side, Elsword cups a heated cheek with one hand and willingly glances into her surprised and frightened eyes. She sees his serious gaze keeping eye contact with her and registers that he's asking for permission. Turning her head away with a somewhat childish pout, Aisha lowers her arms and waits with her breath caught in her throat.
Elsword looks from her eyes to her lips and then slowly to her chest. A puff of air exhales from his mouth as he takes in the sight of her uniform straining against her breasts.
"Well, would you look at that? Seems like I can't call you flat-chested anymore."
Aisha is still blushing madly, but she's sporting a haughty smile that twists his heart. If he thought the short conversations and scared look on her face made him miss her, then he was very, very wrong.
Because his blood boils with that familiar wave of thrill and excitement again, and it sends a rush of adrenaline to his head.
And honestly, he can't blame himself for what happens next.
But Aisha can.
"K-KYAAAA!"
"S-Sorry, Aisha! I couldn't resist and-OW! That textbook hurts! Ow! Ow! I said that I was sorry!"
"Y-You...pervert! You made me lower my guard, didn't you?! Shameless, absolutely shameless!"
"H-Hey, at least they feel nice…"
"I'M GOING TO KILL YOU, CHERRYHEAD!"
…
A week later…
"Hey, Elsword, what's wrong?" His head snaps from his phone as Aisha sits next to him, textbook already open in her lap.
"Well, apparently Dimension Witch dropped off the face of the gaming world. She hasn't been streaming at all, and hackers can't find her IP address or any information about her."
Aisha hums, leaning close to his shoulder as she glances at his phone. An out-of-place smile forms on her face.
"Wait...is Aisha...Dimension Witch?" he starts to think. An illusion of the idol streamer forms over the bookworm, triggering a memory of him seeing Dimension Witch as Aisha.
"Elsword? Elsword? Stop spacing out, will you?"
"You're...Dimension Witch."
"Huh?! What are you talking about?"
"It has to be you! She looks like you, and you guys like the same things!"
Aisha seems appalled. "Are you even listening to yourself?" she exclaims.
"Stop denying it, Aisha. Look, if I can just curl your hair-!"
"Elsword, seriously! With everything that has happened, do you think I have time to stream myself playing video games every single day? You know I'm terrible at the ones that you play!"
"Yeah, but in the time that we haven't talked, you could have gotten better!"
"And get behind on schoolwork? Besides...you wouldn't catch me dead with that outfit on!"
He pouts bitterly. "Well, I think it looks nice. It would really fit you." The moment those words leave his mouth, he immediately feels his cheeks light up.
"You know I don't have the confidence to pull it off," Aisha retorts in a softer voice, also blushing slightly.
"I-It's not like I want people to see you in it. Just to me, really…"
"You pervert."
"It's not that bad, is it?!"
She looks away with a small pout. "Maybe I'll consider it…if you pass the next math test."
…
Dimension Witch grins almost a bittersweet smile as she observes their interactions from a small crystal ball. A glow appears behind her, and she flies towards the grand coffin with a sense of weariness. A boy's body lays there, but it is no ordinary corpse. Only several parts of his body are present: his head, portions of his arms and legs, half of his stomach. Despite him being incomplete, he sleeps in peaceful silence.
Dimension Witch guides the crystal ball towards her. She raises her staff and taps it gently. The purple light surrounding the orb detaches itself and floats over to the coffin. The tiny balls of light gently levitate around his dismantled body before settling on his right arm. They stick together slowly, piling onto each other, and form the base of a hand that's covered by a black and red glove.
"Elsword…" she cries out. Unlike the way she says Elsword's name in that dimension, her voice calls for him longingly, desperately, lovingly. He does not respond.
"Congratulations on yet another dimension, Dimension Witch. Or should I say Aisha?"
Eagerly, she glances behind her. "Ah, Glave. Thank you."
"You've been making good progress recently. At this rate, you probably only need at least thirteen more dimensions."
"Yes, my long and weary journey is almost at an end. I can't thank you enough for what you've done." Aisha bows gratefully. Glave, unreadable as ever, hums thoughtfully.
"Now that your quest is almost over, what will you do once you revive him?"
She lifts her head confusingly. Glave's yellow eye narrows in curiosity, awaiting her answer.
"I-I haven't thought about that, really. My dimension is gone, after all. Maybe we'll roam time and space together."
"I highly advise against that. You know just as well as I do the effects of space time on a mortal being."
Her playful expression disappears, replaced by a worried and troubled frown. "You're right, but I'm sure you know that there is an infinite amount of dimensions. Surely one of them have a world where Elsword and I don't exist. I intend to find it with him, together."
Glave lets out an amused hum. "Your optimism is puzzling, Aisha. You are no ordinary human." She sends a wink his way in response.
"Of course I'm no ordinary human being! I'm magical girl Aisha! I make the impossible possible!"
"Just like what you did in that dimension just now?"
"That's right! We are all well aware on how stubborn Elsword is, after all!"
With her wand, she cuts a portal open to yet another dimension, ready to repeat the cycle all over again.
"See you later, Glave!"
He watches the girl disappear into a new world. Shaking his head, Glave turns to the coffin. The stars around them glimmer brightly with hope, but for someone who has been trapped here against his will, he knows the dangers she will face once she revives Elsword. The universe will find them one day.
But until then, until their inevitable run against fate, Elsword can rest peacefully, and Aisha is free to hope.