Chapter 18 – The Third Time on the Roof

Ever felt that sensation of falling and liking it? The wind blowing against your face and it sends your hair up. Well it's not exactly what I was feeling right now. Sure it was windy on the roof of the Academy, but I sure as hell wasn't falling from the roof. It just felt really good here and it really did feel like I was sort of falling endlessly from the sky when the strong wind blew my hair backwards. I felt the scars disappear even just for a short moment.

Elle was with me too, but I didn't mind her much for I was to busy feeling the euphoric feeling that I get when I'm on the roof. I sat down on my usual spot and I set my katana on my side as I just looked at the horizon not feeling the stress. Elle had again sat down beside me on her usual spot, but we did not talk immediately. I looked at her from my peripheral vision and saw a glimpse of her face. She looked calm and somewhat cute. I can never imagine her being a top class summoner with that face of hers.

"Zaix seems to be a pretty nice guy." Elle had said to me in order to break the ice.

"Don't let that act fool you. He's a fierce guy when he's in fights." I replied to her as I looked away from her.

"Oh is that so? You really do pick your friends huh?" she replied to me as she let out a small laugh.

"I didn't pick him. He came to me after I beat him in a fight." I replied to her coldly.

"Well, that figures. You only become friends with people if you had already been in combat with them at least once." Elle had said to me.

"Not with everyone…" I replied to her in a non cold manner and that got her attention.

"Oh yeah? Give me an example then." Elle had asked me.

"Well, you're one of the few." I forcibly said out loud and for the first time ever, I actually rendered her speechless.

"Oh…" Elle had said moments later and didn't speak again afterwards. She just sat down quietly beside me and I could've sworn that I saw her blushing. Or was it just me? Well whatever.

"Being speechless isn't like you." I said to her to break the silence. She still wasn't looking at me and it seems like she was hiding her face from me.

"It makes me happy, that you actually consider me a friend now." She had said out loud.

I guess, I really do consider her a friend now and it actually feels kind of nice to make a friend again. I never did tell her that I trusted her though. Silence again grew between the two of us and it really baffled me on why the quiet atmosphere had bothered me. I usually find my peace when it is quiet, but when I'm around her I feel like I want to talk all the time. In a span of days, she had managed to change me already.

"So I heard some parts of your conversation with Zaix…" she had said to me thus breaking the silence between us.

"Uhh what parts specifically?" I replied to her. Zaix and I had talked about a lot of stuff so I lost track on what she was getting at.

"The Formal. You telling him that he was unlucky because he got a girl that he didn't like as his partner." Elle replied to me.

"Yeah and to be honest, I hate the partner system. I just don't get it at all." I replied to her as wind blew towards my face lightly.

"So do you know who your partner is?" Elle had asked me more.

"I haven't checked the bulletin board in our room. I guess it would be posted there. So who's your partner?" I asked her in return.

"I got Melfice as my partner." She had replied to me. I guess lover boy's feeling so happy right now that he got his dream girl as his partner.

"He must be pretty glad to know that." I said to her. I can't help but get the feeling of uneasiness now that I have learned that Elle was partnered with Melfice in this Sunday's Academy Formal. Wait hold up, me uneasy? I don't usually care about these type of things but with her it's different. Why am I feeling like this? Is it because, I am actually jealous? Nah it can't be.

I was still deep in thought when I actually noticed that Elle had been looking at me for some time now. I saw her smile at me as those blue orbs of hers had captivated my entire being. She was more than cute, for she really was pretty. Elle hadn't worn her head band today so she actually had her bangs fall down. She should let her bangs fall down more often.

"Don't be jealous Seiryu." I had heard her say in a jokingly manner

"Whatever." I replied to her coldly. "If it was up to me, I wouldn't go anyway. It's just a useless event anyway." I added.

"It's not. It helps us develop our socializing skills and etiquette as well." Elle had replied to me.

"Which renders it even more useless in my case" I replied to her.

"You're hopeless you know that?" she said jokingly to me as she had giggled a little.

"Well, that pretty much defines who I am." I replied to her coldly. Formals were not my thing for it had everything that I didn't really feel like doing. Dancing, formal way of eating, socializing and a dress code, it just didn't fit me like jeans with a 64 waistline measurement.

"You're just afraid that you can't dance" she teased.

"No disagreements there." I replied to her coldly again.

She ran over and over in my head, that platinum blonde hair, that fair white skin, those blue eyes and her pleasing personality. It had begun when I first met her in Aldwin, but I never knew that it would escalate up to this. So basically what I have not been admitting to myself is that I really do like her in a way which is more than a friend. Whoa, did I just say that? I've only known her for days and yet, it feels like I've actually known her for a lifetime.

"Thanks…" I suddenly blurted out and she looked at me with a surprised expression on her face. She probably thought of why I thanked her.

"What for?" She had asked me.

"For being the light at the end of the tunnel…" I had replied to her weakly. I was still scared of the dream that I had. It had haunted me up to this day, thankfully though it had not repeated.

She grew silent again and the air between the two of us began to be filled with the quiet feel that you seem to get like in horror movies. The thing was, I really didn't know what I was saying at that time and it was just like I blurted out random words and pieced them together in sentence form or at least that's what I want to think.

"I never knew my dad." Elle had suddenly said and I began to look at her with a surprised expression on my face. "My mom had always taken care of me back in Aldwin city. We were really not that better off you know. She always had to scrape up money just to feed me and care for me while I was a child. Thankfully though, I got a scholarship here at Treyah. At least that lessened her burdens when it comes to financial issues." She had added.

"So how is she now?" I asked her in return.

"She's okay. I visit there every term break and when I feel the need to." She replied.

"Why'd you tell me this now?" I had asked her again.

"Because you told me your story, you entrusted a part of yourself to me and I'm just returning the favor." She had replied to me as she smiled at me afterwards.

"Oh…" I said as I sighed.

"Do you trust me?" Elle had asked me again. I remember not giving a definite answer to her twice when she had asked me that question. I still don't know if I could trust her because, I didn't know if I could push myself to trust anyone. I got caught up in my thoughts and I actually forgot to give her an answer.

"Still no answer huh? That's fine." Elle had said, but something had changed in her expressions. She seemed a little pissed at me and I don't know why.

"What makes it hard for someone to trust another person?" she had asked again.

"I'm not really sure, but I'm sure of one thing though…" I replied to her

"And that is?" she had said to me and she still had that pissed aura on.

"I know that I can trust you." I said to her and without knowing it, I actually had smiled at her. Wow, she really was changing me. That was the second time that I actually rendered her speechless. Elle had faced away from me seemingly hiding her facial expression.

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Elle POV

He said that he trusts me. It made me so happy to hear that from as my cheeks began to heat up. I faced away from him in order to hide my blush. The question was, why was I blushing? He's only a friend right? Why did I feel like he wasn't?

"What's wrong?" I then had heard him ask me. He had rendered me speechless again when he had said that he trusts me. Seiryu was slowly beginning to change his ways and I was actually proud of myself that I was a major part of that change that was occurring to him. I never knew why, but for the first time that I saw him, I've always wanted to be his light. Finally now he sees it that way.

"N-nothing, nothing at all!" I said as I tried to compose myself.

"You're stuttering. That's not like you." He replied to me. Damn, why was he so observant and keen? He never misses out on the minor details of a person's expression which made him very analytical in combat, but he doesn't have to use those skills outside of combat too! I can't compose myself when he's like this.

"Weirdo" I heard him say to me and he looked away again.

"Says the guy who doesn't like socializing with other people" I replied in with a wit.

"Whatever." Seiryu had replied again. I bet that's his favorite word when he's out of replies.

"Anyway, I have my next class in thirty minutes, see ya." I heard Seiryu say as he stood up and grabbed his katana that he always carried on his left hand and started to walk towards the door leading inside the Academy. I followed up to him and just as he was about to open the door, he said something that rendered me speechless again.

"Talking to you makes me feel..happy." He said as he had gone in and closed the door. I just stood there like an idiot staring at the closed door. I snapped out of it and realized that I was still on the roof so I decided to stay here until my class starts.

"Likewise Seiryu, likewise." I had said out loud as I sat back on the spot where I was sitting earlier.