Oh my word guys, longest drabble in the series so far~ =v=

I actually wrote two different drabbles for JiNoel...I'll update the other drabble first thing tomorrow and you guys can judge which is better. xD

This was requested by Miwasaki Yuki! Enjoy! (:

Drabble #10
Theme: Elevator
Pairing: Jin x Noel

~ x x x ~

They say it's usually the moment you go in out of your way to avoid somebody when you find yourself in a situation with no one other than that specific someone. Well, it proved to be true and Noel discovered it with a startled expression, anxiety hitting high when the heavy doors of the elevator slid open to reveal one occupant in the confined space...

Jin.

When the elevator's steady speed upwards slowly decreased, indicating that someone had pressed a button on some floor and he would soon not be alone Jin was not sure why he was surprised to see Miss Vermillion, blonde with bright green eyes, standing on the other side as the doors opened. Perhaps it was because recently he hadn't seen much of her and every time Makoto or Tsubaki had roped him in on something the blonde had been absent.

As discreet as she wished to keep it, she had been avoiding him, and he had come to notice it.

"Which floor are you heading to?" he asked her, finding himself holding his hand to stop the doors from closing automatically. She seemed startled by the gesture. On another level, Jin was surprised he was doing this himself.

He couldn't recall what he had done for her to be so uncomfortable around him, apart from his occasional impatient retorts, but those were so to say normal to everyone.

"U-um, I'm going down, no- I mean up. To the top floor," she said nervously, coming to stand beside him, her unfocused eyes averting his.

He quirked an eyebrow, only making her fumbling condition worse. Saying nothing else, he leaned over to press the button, all while her face heated up privately at the close proximity.

The elevator started up and a discomfited silence settled in. Noel began wondering if she should've taken the stairs...

"So...Miss Vermillion. I've noticed your uneasiness lately, Tsubaki and Makoto were just talking to me about you yesterday, they noticed it too. Is something the matter?" Jin couldn't help but ask, regardless of his decision not to. The idea of Noel avoiding him seemed to bother him and he found it impossible to resist the compulsion to ask for an explanation.

"Wha...?" She blinked, startled, as she tugged her sleeve slightly. "Uneasiness? I'm not uneasy...what gives you guys that idea?"

"Well, more than usual," he said, pointing at her as she twirled the material of her sleeve almost above her elbow. She stopped her fidgeting immediately upon his observation. "Are you okay?"

He was polite, as usual, with a slight air of indifference and an expression inscrutable as ever. His green eyes rendered Noel speechless. If it hadn't been for the Academy girls fawning over Jin's eyes, Noel wouldn't have known that they were indeed very deep and enchanting...

Oh, what was she thinking!

Shaking her thoughts out of her head, she decided to answer, trying to imitate his indifference, and failing at that. "I'm fine...I don't know why Tsubaki and Makoto were worried. I'm sorry that you had to ask!"

She didn't know why she was apologizing, it was a habit, one that both amused and annoyed many, including Jin.

But this time Jin wasn't even fazed by it, he seemed to be watching her intently. "As Student Council President it is my duty to ask and if you're having any trouble with classes, so you should speak up."

Noel was quiet, staring at the floor. At this point, normally Jin would find himself nearing the point where he would lose his patience. She certainly didn't seem willing to explain. Though he only sighed wearily, shaking it off. "Well, I suppose it was just our imaginations then."

Noel blinked, realizing he'd been waiting for her to at least respond. She flustered inwardly, certain that her face was beet red right then. What on Earth was she doing letting her hormones get the best of her!?

"W-well, you see!" Just then the elevator came to another standstill. She looked up. "Hm? ...It's stopping?"

"We haven't reached the floor..." Jin said, glancing at the lever above the doors which showed which floor they were on.

The sound of moving gears slowed down and soon the elevator stalled completely.

A few moments of silence passed as they waited in agitation and mild annoyance for the elevator to continue, but it was stuck and the minutes continued to drag by. Jin recalled that the Academy was performing maintenance today, but usually they'd have put an out of service notice on the elevators they were working on. Apparently someone was forgetful this time, leaving the two students in this particular situation.

Although the situation was not the best and although it was uncharacteristic to say the least to even consider such a thing, Noel, overcome with nerves and indecisiveness, decided that now was as good a time as any to get it out of the way- the one thing that had been plaguing her mind each time she's seen him. And even though this wasn't the place, which was a huge understatement, she decided that it might as well be the time.

"As I was saying..."

"You weren't saying anything remember."

"Er, well," she paused. "What I was about to say is...that you're right."

He crossed his arms, tilting his head slightly, "Of course. They're running maintenance on the elevators today, since they started this morning it should be over soon."

"No, no. Not about the elevator. Well, yes, you're probably right about that too but that's not what I'm talking about. Makoto and Tsubaki weren't imagining anything...you neither. I- I have been a little tense lately, but it doesn't have anything to do with class...It's because of you."

This gauged his interest and Jin raised a curious brow, regarding her from askance.

"...I guess I've always felt this, but I didn't realize it until we started spending more time together. It isn't like me to say this out loud, but for some reason today...and right now...well...well, what I mean to say is-" She smiled, embarrassed. "I really like you Jin!"

Noel didn't know what compelled her to yell that...it must've been a fresh burst of confidence because he actually asked about her, or...it was her nerves going haywire. She was pretty sure it was the latter, but either way, she was relieved to have gotten that out...even though he wasn't doing much to react apart from staring at her as she braced herself for an answer.

Jin acknowledged that it must have taken a lot of courage for this particular blonde to full out say something like that, and he had to commend her on actually having a backbone to go through with it, though he battled to remain silent. He did not want to say anything he might regret later on.

The blonde-haired girl averted her gaze, her uneasiness now tenfold since all Jin was doing now was simply observing her with his calculating gaze, his expression inscrutable, albeit slightly taken aback. Fretting to herself she clamped her lips, clearly regretting her confession.

She said nothing further and neither did Jin.

For Noel it seemed like a miracle that the elevator whirred at that very moment and continued upwards. Though now it felt different standing there beside him, a mutual feeling of awkwardness shared between both students at loss for the right words.

The bell dinged, the light flickered and the heavy doors opened. The floor had been reached.

Noel took a brisk step forward, hoping to get out without having to say anything to him since her face was still as red as can be. "Noel, wait." No sooner had she heard his voice call her name, did his firm grip around her wrist stop her, yanking her back into the elevator.

Noel swiveled around, stumbling over her feet and sending Jin staggering back with the force. Gripping his arms to keep balance, she quickly snapped her head up to see his reaction. Before she could even begin apologizing relentlessly, Noel was beyond surprise when the young man's lips cracked into a grin.

He shook his head with a short laugh, his head bowed and his golden bangs concealing his eyes. "Well that didn't go as planned..." he murmured, looking up at her, his face barely inches away from hers.

"...As planned? Wh-what do you mean by that?"

"I was planning to answer you..." he said, the tenor of his voice cool and calm as ever. She furrowed her brows, puzzled. "With this..." The expression in his eyes softened and he leaned in, his lips gently touching hers.

The bell dinged, the doors closing behind them as the elevator continued on its way with two blonde occupants, one bright red in the face and unable to form a coherent thought and the other with a faint blush, unable to comprehend why he hadn't been the one to tell her first.

~ x x x ~