You don't know exactly how you fell for him. Your friend Erasa thought he was cute the second she saw him, which is how he got to sit pretty close to you from the get-go. You don't feel too bad that you're thinking about pursuing him now; it's not a betrayal because you know Erasa has a taste for eye candies but rarely wants to commit to anything serious.
And you? Do you want to commit to anything serious? You have liked boys since you were ten. Too young to be thinking about boys, some say, but you couldn't help having feelings for boys. But soon after your Dad became famous, and you were suddenly surrounded by a lot of admirers. Flattering at first, until you realized you couldn't tell who wanted you for who you really were and not because you were your Dad's daughter.
You became more selective then, had a couple of boyfriends and only a handful of dates, who were never going to be more than casual hookups but who gave you enough butterflies to be worth the hassle. If you look back, you realize they were all similar; your type, as they say. Him? Not your type.
He's overly formal, wears clothes that are adult-approved instead of what normal teenagers wear. He's way too honest and talks about what his Mom wants too much; at times it's almost as if he's a kid trapped in an adult's body. The best word to describe him is nerdy, definitely not supposed to be someone you feel any kind of attraction for.
Yet you saw how unnaturally high he jumped that day during baseball, and how he just disappeared when you tried to follow him home after school, and you can't forget the similarities between what he and the Golden Warrior were wearing on that fateful day you saw him. After you discovered that he was also the Great Saiyaman—further adding to your suspicion that he's not what he pretends to be—you suddenly find yourself thinking about him a lot.
Maybe not that way at first, but he is still a boy, and boys have always had their ways of stirring strange emotions within you. Maybe you weren't instantly attracted to him, but he isn't unattractive.
You tell yourself you only want him to teach you how to fly, but the truth is you want to see him because he has been missing from his seat in class and you miss his face. You realize now he is kind. He has the option to turn you away, not bother with finding a way for you to better understand ki, or act blasé when you finally learned to barely float off the ground. But he doesn't do any of that.
You hear his Mom suggest that he marry you. You've never really thought about marriage before, but you likedthe idea that it wasn't so farfetched that you could end up with him someday. You find yourself amused at his reaction. This boy has made it clear he cares about what his Mom thinks.
So when he mentions that you should cut your hair, you assume that's his personal preference and he cares about your your appearance. You've kept your hair shoulder-length since forever. It will be a nice change, and short hair is "in"; fashion-forward girls like Erasa had short hair.
You feel humiliated when he clarifies that isn't what he meant, but his rationale makes sense, and you still want the most advantage to win at the tournament. So in the end you decide to cut your hair while telling yourself it isn't for him. There is a method to your madness.
Days later, as you learn more about him and reveal more of yourself to him, you just can't help yourself. You have to know what it will be like to kiss him. Maybe you're hoping you'll find out, in a pleasant surprise, that he's as attracted to you as you are to him. Even a boy so out of touch with the rest of the world will know what a kiss means, right?
You're disappointed that he doesn't respond the way you imagined and you pretend you didn't mean anything by it. As you walk away, you have no idea he will later tell you this is it. This is the moment everything changes for him. This is how he fell for you.
