Panic in the Streets [private James Gray]

This was bad. One second Spring had just been walking through the square trying to be as unnoticeable as she could, and the next there was a huge crowd. She didn’t know how or why it had happened, but now she was being pushed around in every direction. By now Spring was trembling. She didn’t know what to do and a panic had already set in. As soon as something solid was in reach she clinged to it. A decently sized cart carrying several bales of hay. A fire began to burn inside of her. A familiar and frightening one. If this didn’t stop soon then something very bad was going to happen.

In an instant Spring’s trembling stopped. She closed her eye and stood up straight. In an uncharacteristically confident motion she turned and pushed her way through the crowd towards a small liquor shop. Using her semblance she walked in and grabbed three bottles of vodka without being noticed. Back outside she pulled the bandages off of her left arm, opened the top of the bottles and stuffed them inside, making proper molotov cocktails

No one noticed as she pulled out her lighter. No one noticed as she lit the bandages. No one noticed when she threw the bottle. People did notice, however when the cart she had been clinging to before was suddenly set ablaze. Immediately there were screams as people ran from the burning cart, the crowd now suddenly a mob. With two more molotovs ready to go things were about to get fun.

It was just supposed to be a normal day in Bellmuse. After that eventful moment in the medical ward, James still greeted the days with a smile and cheer. He had just finished up a surprise visit to his sister while she was in school and enjoyed spending some time with her. He felt guilty about leaving her alone for long periods at a time, but it was needed. At the very least, they talked to each other at everyday and just hearing her talk about her day never failed to lift his spirits. He chuckled at the memory of her classmates wanting to know what life at Syne was like. He was glad she was able to obtain a level of normalcy despite everything that happened.

He was suddenly tossed out of his thoughts when he felt someone bump into him rather quickly and turned to apologize before noticing he was running.

And another..

And another...

By now, he realized that many people were running towards the direction he came from, obviously from something. His ears twitched towards the direction of sounds of crackling and his nose scrunched when the smell of something burning entered into it. He looked up into the air and followed the noticeable trail of smoke and it lead him to the sight of a blazing cart carrying bales of hay, of which, was obviously being used to fuel the flames. He could make out a figure amongst the smoke, the only one not running in fear and most likely the culprit. He ran towards them, determined to get to the bottom of this situation and convince them to stand down.

The closer he got, the clearer the figure became and what he saw caused him to slow down to a standstill as he looked on with sad eyes and a concerned frown. Standing there, with two more explosives in hand, was the girl he had fallen for.

"S-Spring?"

“That’s right, you better f***ing run!” Spring shouted at the panicked crowd as they ran from the fire. Her face was twisted into a wicked grin as she readied the next molotov. Scanning around for a good target she locked into one. A small stand selling fruit, the owner had already fled and it was within throwing distance. Taking aim she pulled her right arm back with the second molotov in it. With a surprisingly good throw she tossed the implement of destruction in a wide arch to the target. Once again the fire started immediately and began to grow. The sight making Spring’s sadistic smile grow wider. This was definitely fun, she would have to get some more bottles and keep this up.

Next target was the crowd itself. Get a few people burning, let ‘em taste a bit of her pain. Scanning once again for the most dense part of the crowd this time her eyes stopped on a familiar figure. James stood there, staring at her. Part of her mind told her to hit him, throw the molotov right at him. But she couldn’t, she just couldn’t bring herself to throw it at him of all people. Instead she kept looking for a good target.

His frown worsened at the words the normally shy and quiet girl was spewing. It was so...uncharacteristic of her that he had trouble truly believing that they were one in the same. He winced as the girl found a new target and threw a molotov at the fruit stand, setting it ablaze. Now she only had one left and was currently searching for a new target. Her eyes shifted over to the mass of people keeping their distance, yet watching the scene unfold before them. He knew exactly what her intents were and when her eyes paused to look at his, he was prepared to take the molotov head on. He would burn if it meant protecting the crowd. When the girl broke eye contact, a small smile grew as his heart slightly swelled, happy that somewhere deep in her, she couldn't bring herself to bring him to harm.

Of course, that meant the crowd was once more in danger of being lit up.

Sighing lightly, he decided on the only course of action that would minimize the control the amount of damage that would happen. Stepping forward, he broke away from the group, despite the amount of protests he received in response. A soft glow emanated from his back and two long stands of chains emerged and reached out to wrap around two of the many light posts, creating a barrier between him and the crowd. At the very least, that would stop them from coming closer. With this done, he slowly walked towards Spring, his eyes glimmering with concern and worry.

"Spring, what happened? What's wrong? Why are you doing this?"

Spring’s attention was taken away from the crowd as a chain flew through her vision. When she traced it back to its source she saw that it was James that had created them. He was a student at Syne so this must be his semblance. Though his chains would do little to stop her attack, and in actuality it might just make it easier when the crowd was contained like that.

Though now her attention was on James. After all he would most likely try to stop her. Her hateful eye looked over him as he approached her. The deep desire to harm all but went away when she looked at him. But it didn’t make her any less angry, she just didn’t feel like hurting him.

“What’s wrong?” Spring asked with a laugh, “Nothing’s wrong, I’m just letting off some steam!” With a grin full of malice she readied the next molotov to toss at the crowd. Aiming for the densest part she threw the bottle, once again with incredibly good aim.

A stab to the heart.

That was the perfect way to describe the pain that pierced his chest when she looked at him with those eyes. Her eyes were filled with so much hate, he felt like he was a child again, back at home, glared at by the villagers. An image of those cursed villagers superimposed themselves on Spring and he flinched, wanting to hide into himself. A tear began to form, but he stood his ground. The image shattered into glass-like fragments and Spring stood there once again. She laughed, and the fox felt that it was so out of place for her to publicly burst out laughing. Then came that sickening grin. It felt so evil, so terrible.

His eyes widened by a margin when the girl reared her arm back and tossed the molotov towards the crowd. He mentally cursed himself for putting up the barrier. By setting up the chain, he may have prevented them from moving up, but it also made attacking them that much easier. He really did not want to waste the aura to make another chain, but it looked like he would need to now. As he readied to make a chain, a black blur flew into the air and knocked the bottle away from the crowd, harmlessly breaking against the side of a building. The blur landed on his chain and revealed itself to be the new cat, Karla, that he had adopted from one of his schoolmates. He had brought her with him to his visit and asked her to keep his sister company for the time being, as he had wanted to go on a walk. Karla looked at him and nodded, and while a bit strange to the faunus, he couldn't help but smile thankfully.

Turning his gaze to the crowd, he saw that their faces were poised in a mixture of awe, fright, and...excitement? He rolled his eyes before they took on a more colder sight. "What are you still doing here?! If you value your lives, leave now!" He roared at the crowd, annoyed that they were risking their lives by staying to watch when they could be running home to be with their families. His piece said, he turned his gaze back to Spring and his eyes immediately softened.

"Just blowing off steam?"

He took a step forward towards her.

"This isn't just blowing off steam, Spring."

He gestured towards the flaming cart and the flaming stand. Another step.

"This is more than just that. What's really wrong? This isn't the sweet, shy girl that I've been getting to know. I refuse to believe that this is who you really are, so what what's wrong?"

He had halved their distance from each other now. His features, stance, and attitude all emanated worry and care for the arsonist in front of him. He wanted to resolve this peacefully, refusing to fight the girl.

Spring watched the bottle arc… and get knocked out of its path by a strange black blur only to hit the side of a building with nothing important or all that flammable near by. The sight made her malice filled grin twist into a frown of sheer disappointment. Oh well, she could always get more from the liquor shop. But for now it looked like James would be a problem. Of course she had no desire to burn him, a more creative solution was in order.

The way James spoke was almost sickening in her rage fueled state. Even seeing her how she was he showed care for her. In a disgusting way it was kind of cute. “I told you, nothing is wrong. This is just who I am! If you don’t like it then go find some other girl!” she shouted at him despite the closer distance. As she spoke she reached into a small compartment in her bag and pulled out a bottle of lighter fluid. “This is who I am! I burn things!” She yelled as she doused her left hand in the flammable substance. “I burn everything around me! I’ll watch it all burn, just like I watched my family burn!” With her third statement she whipped out her lighter again and lit her left hand ablaze.

Holding the burning hand in front of her face she stared through it directly into James’ eyes. “I hope you feel lucky, because if it weren’t for the fact that I love you, I would watch you burn too!” Spring smirked before rapidly shaking her hand to put out the fire then blowing on it. “Ow ow ow ow! Hot!”

James shook his head at her first statement. He absolutely refused to believe that the girl before him was the true Spring. While yes, he understood that people had their breaking points, some people had their triggers, he refused to believe that the Spring he knew was just an act. This was simply her acting out in response to the world, a result of the pain the world gave her in her childhood. That is what he told himself, to better cope and handle this situation. At her second statement, he gasped when she doused her hand in lighter fluid and by the end of her third statement, the crowd had gasped, much to his annoyance, and he ran towards her.

His legs carried him as he dashed towards Spring, his eyes refusing to leave her burning hand. Even with this focus, he heard her following words and only managed a small smile before he slowed down his pace and walked towards Spring. He felt terrible, but he couldn't help but softly chuckle as she attempted to blow out the fire on her hand, exclaiming how hot it was. Reaching the girl, he started at her for a few moments, the only sound heard being the crackling of fire. He slowly raised his right hand and gently held onto her left hand, slightly wincing as the fire began to start burning into his skin. "I don't believe that's true. I don't believe that you would burn everything around you. I don't believe that this is who you are. I believe that you are just hurt, that you feel alone in this world."

Despite the pain, he managed to maneuver his hand to interlock their fingers together. Even in the blazing fire, he gently squeezed her hand. "But you're not. You're not alone. You may be hurting, but I want to help you. I want to heal you, to help you shoulder your burdens. So please, stop this. Please, calm down." His tail wrapped around the two's hands to help put out the fire. The fox bit the inside of his cheek to prevent himself from yelling out in pain as the fire burned into his tail. With his free hand, he raised it and started to lightly cupped her cheek. "You're right, I am lucky. I am lucky that I could have someone like you fall in love with me. I'm lucky that I could have someone like you in my life."

His eyes shined with love and care as he smiled softly at her. Despite the burning feeling in his hand and in his tail, he couldn't help but smile. He wanted to comfort her, he wanted to show her that he wouldn't leave her. He wanted to let her know that...

"I've fallen for you too.."

The fire on her hand was starting to go out as James approached. Her attention was at her hand as the fire had not yet gone out so she didn’t notice James until he was right on her. When he grabbed her still lit hand her right eye looked up at him. “What are you, stupid?” She asked just as he began to speak. His words cut deep, not because of malicious intent, but because they were true. She had felt alone. Ever since the fire she had been alone. Even with Melody and the doctor she had been alone. Her hand continued to Burn as James locked their fingers together. The fire burning his hand.

The next words to come out of James were oddly comforting, though the feeling was offset by the worry she felt about his burning hand. The one person she didn’t want to see burn was him, yet here he was willfully letting himself get set ablaze. And now even his tail, wrapping around her, was being lit. working quickly Spring used her right hand to reach down to her bag and pull out a bottle of water. Her movement stopped as his hand touched her cheek. Looking back up at him again everything seemed to freeze. Nothing else seemed to matter except for James words. A light blush came over her face as he confessed his love for her.

And once again everything else became relevant. Whipping out the bottle and twisting the cap off with incredible speed and dexterity. With the bottle open she poured it over their hands and James’ tail, killing the flames before she yanked her hand from his and took a wide step back. “You’re a f***ing idiot!” She yelled at him as she blew on her left hand while holding in with her right, “Seriously? Just Grabbing my hand like that when its on fire? Do you like pain or something?”

Standing straight again she blew on her hand a few more times before her eye went wide. “Uh oh!” She stated. Spring’s right eye glossed over, as did her left underneath the eye patch. Her entire body went limp and she fell to the ground, unconscious.

She had blushed when he gave his confession. She had doused her own flames so he would stop burning. That caused his heart to swell to immeasurable levels as even in this state, the feelings she had for him were true and they were strong enough to go past this period of arson. When the girl pulled away from him, he couldn't help the feelings of disappointment that arose in his chest before said disappointment were immediately lifted upon her following words. It was almost comical hearing the normally timid girl curse with the best of sailors. He smiled lightly as her tirade continues, ranting about how stupid he was, but he could discern the concern in her meaning, despite the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

Of course, as is the law of the universe, all things must come to an end. Before he knew it, Spring had fallen unconscious and collapsed onto the floor. He immediately dashed towards her, the chains falling apart as he dropped his concentration, only caring apart the girl before him. He checked her pulse, relieved at feeling a pulse and turned to look at the rapidly approaching crowd.  He noticed Karla quickly moving between their legs and ultimately hoping in his shoulder. He only offered her a smile and a quick scratch of her head before he picked up Spring like she was his bride, and dashed away from the crowd.

Once he was a good distance away, he went into an alleyway and leaned against the wall, taking a good few deep breathes.

It wasn’t exactly sleep that she fell into. There were no dreams when she went unconscious like this. Not dreams, but memories. It was always the same, the fire. That night her family died. It was always something she never remembered when she woke up. Spring had been angry that night. She woke up in a state of rage. Quietly she entered the house and looked through her brother’s stuff. She knew he had a knife in his backpack somewhere. As she rummaged she found something. A metal lighter. The kind you can refill with fluid when it runs out. A simple black mate finish on the outside. Quietly opening the lighter and flicking it on she stared at the flame that danced before her.

A new idea came to her mind. Still incredibly angry she grabbed one of her older sister’s stuffed animals. Mr fuzzykins was going to get a little warm tonight. Spring held the lighter up to the toy only for it to ignite much faster than she expected. As the flames crept to her hand she dropped the burning toy in a panic. She stomped on it to put out the flames, while at the same time dropping the lighter. After about a minute of stomping on the toy the fire was out…. Then why did it still smell like something was burning?

Spring turned around only to find that the lighter she had discarded in her panic had landed on the table and now was burning it. Quickly she snatched the lighter up just before the oil lamp on the table exploded. In a panicked rage she ran from the house only to pass out right where she had been sleeping on the porch.

Spring’s eyes snapped open, the memory of what she had done now gone, but the memory of her most recent arson remained. She saw James above her, breathing hard. No no no no no. This was bad. What she just did… oh gods no! In a silent panic Spring started to crawl away, trying not to make any sound so James wouldn’t notice her. She would disappear and never talk to him again, that would be best.

James poked his head out from the alley to see if the coast was clear. On the way to this spot, Bellmuses's police force had been called to apprehend the arsonist, ie Spring. While normally, he would never run from the police, now was a special occasion. He needed to hide Spring away until the search was called off. Afterwards, he would call some of his more...shadier contacts to see if they could get her records scratched. Kitsune brought him to some pretty strange places and sometimes the sketchier parts of town would pay him to do a show in one of their bars.

"She's trying to sneak away."

A soft, feminine voice whispered into his ear as he continued to peek past the corner. Surprised, he whipped his head around to find the owner of the voice, only to find empty space. He looked to the cat on his shoulder and he raised an eyebrow when she noticed her eyes flicker towards where he had laid Spring when they came into the alley. Indeed, there she was trying to crawl away. Walking closer to her, he crotched down and placed a hand on her hand and smiled. "Hey..I'm glad to see that you're awake now.."

Spring got herself turned so that she could crawl away, though trying to do it while not making much noise was a bit tricky. Especially when her hand hurt from what she had done to it earlier. And if her hand was hat bad then… oh no! What happened to James’ hand? The thought terrified her. Of all the people she could have hurt why did it have to be him? She had been too scared to admit it before, too worried about what he would say, but in her state of rage she had been honest not only with him, but with herself. She was in love with James, and in the course of telling him that she had hurt him.

Reflexively Spring curled up into a ball when James’ hand touched hers. Just the sound of his voice was enough to break her at this point. Immediately she began to cry, silently as she often did. Right now all he wanted to do was disappear. That’s really what she should do, after all wasn’t there something about a person’s semblance being tied to who they are. So what did that mean about Spring, a semblance that makes her all but invisible? To her the answer was clear, she just needed to disappear forever.

The moment his hand made contact, the girl curled up into herself and began to weep her silent tears. He flinched at the action but remained in contact with her. He squeezed her hand gently as a way to comfort her. He dusted off the ground beneath him and sat down. He figured it would be best to continue like this, to give his legs a break. He moved to pull Spring onto his lap, if only just her head, and gently stroked that head of hair he loved to see - running his fingers through her locks and breaking any knots. He hated seeing her cry and the worst part was, he believed that he was partly to blame. He looked at the hand he wasn't using to brush her hair, his right hand, and smiled lightly as he saw a little bit of scarring across the back of his hand from his action.

He suppose he would not mind it, it was a sign of his commitment to her.

With said right hand, he pushed his hair behind his ear and held it there when he leaned down and started to plant kisses on her forehead, her cheeks, anywhere on her face excluding the lips. He wanted their first kiss to be something happy, after all. "Hey now, please don't cry. And please, stop all these thoughts of disappearing - yes, you're that easy to read - because I don't want you gone. I want you to be by my side forever.." His voice was soft, holding much love for the girl who thought she should be hated.

Spring weakly fought back against James' efforts to pull her to his lap, though her heart was not in in and so her attempts were all but useless. It didn't make sense. How could he be this nice to her? After what she just did. Not only did she cause a mass panic in a plaza but she also burned his hand. How could James be so nice to her seeing what she had done, knowing what she was capable of. Even as he stroked her hair the only thing Spring wanted to do was disappear into nothingness.

"No no no no, stop," Spring protested while using her arms to block her face from James' kisses. Curling up tighter she activated her semblance. She knew it wouldn't work, but it made her feel better even the slightest amount. Her semblance stopped people from noticing her out of chance, and made it harder to find her when actually looking for her, but it did nothing to stop people form touching her, and being right in James' lap there was no way he would just forget she was there. "The world would be better off without me. People who hurt others, who destroy things, people like me... shouldn't be allowed to exist."

The boy could only smile sadly down at his crush when she used her arms to block his rains of affection. It hurt him to see her reject him, but at the same time, he could understand why she did. She just caused mayhem in the middle of Bellmuse, tried to gravely injure innocent people, and burned her crush; wanting to disappear is natural, considering all of that. Even still, that did not stop him from wanting to be with her. Call him selfish, call him stupid, call him a fool, he would rather be labeled as such if it meant he could spend his life with the girl his heart wants.

He did raise an eyebrow when, for a moment, it seemed like the girl shifted out of his perception before shifting back. He figured this must have been or semblance and he smiled at how fitting it was. The shy girl who stayed away from attention with the power to hide herself in plain sight. She truly was the epitome of a wallflower, but he still noticed her. She still took his heart.

"The world would not be better without you.. The world would lose a bright light, my world would lose its spark. You, Spring, you are my spark. People hurt each other all the time, people break things, they still live on through the pain. Please, let me walk with you as you move.."

He moved his partially scarred hand to the front of her face.

"This right here? Yes, it hurt. It hurt a lot. But I've accepted it. I willingly put myself through that pain, so I could be there for you. To be your support in your time of pain. This scar will be a reminder of my dedication to you, a reminder of the love I have for you." He smiled lovingly down at the girl and cupped her cheek with his scarred hand. "Besides, with this, I'm a little like you now~! You won't be alone anymore.. I'm here for you, always.."

Why? Why was James so nice to her. It hurt to know she had caused him pain, physically and possibly even emotionally. But it hurt more to know that despite what she had just done, he still was so sweet to her. Any normal person would have turned her into the police and then forgotten about her, and rightly they should have. But now he was putting himself in danger to help her after what she did.

And what’s worse, her outburst today could not only cost James his freedom, but his future. If he got caught then he could be kicked out of Syne. Spring was fine if it was just her, after all it would only be natural for her to be kicked out or even just quit the school entirely. No one had any expectations of her.  But if James got kicked out, and it was her fault… she didn’t know if she would be able to live with herself.

Springs eyes went wide as James put his now scared hand in front of her face. A guilt that was already deep within her slammed into her gut. James’ words only made it worse. How could he be so positive about this? His hand… his hand was burnt. “How?...” Spring asked as James put his hand on her face, “How can you be so positive about this? How could you not just leave me back there? How could you possibly want to be even a little bit like me? You can say I’m not broken all you want, but it’s just not true. Normal girls don’t set carts on fire! Normal girls don’t hurt the people they care about! Normal girls don’t try to kill people! You know who does that? Broken people! People who are not right in the head! PEOPLE WHO SHOULD JUST DIE!” As she spoke her voice got louder and louder until, without even realizing it, she was shouting. In realization of what she had just done Spring immediately closed her eyes and held her arms close to herself in fear.

Being so close in vicinity to the girl, her yelling caused pain to shoot through his sensitive ears. Sometimes, having enhanced hearing was such a pain. Of course, being him, he shrugged off the pain and kept up his soft smile as he allowed the girl to release the pent up emotions she kept, to allow her to speak her mind, and to let her question. A soft meow came to to his left and he turned his head to see Karla covering her ears in pain as well. It looked like she was just as affected as he was.

"She's got quite the lungs on her.." Her voice was soft and low, only heard by him. He had to stifle a chuckle at the sight of his cat lightly glaring at the girl on his lap while massaging her ears. By now, he figured out that the one talking to him was Karla, herself, and he did not bother questioning it at the moment. Maybe later, he would.

He had more important business to handle.

Turning his sight back to the girl, he saw that she had closed her eyes and held her arms close to her, shutting herself out from the outside world, probably because she was scared of what could happen next. His hand still on her face, he started to gently rub her cheek. His other hand moved forward to lightly hold onto her arms and he offered a small squeeze to reassure her. "Yes, you're right...normal people don't do any of those things. If you were normal, you would be another face in the crowd, following the flow of the group, and never standing out. That's what it means to be normal. I can be positive because you give me reason to be. I smile for you when you can't. I'm right by your side when you think you're alone. I want to be with you because that's what my heart says."

By now, he managed to slip his hand into her own and he gripped it tightly. Even if she couldn't see, his smile brightened up considerably and a few tears started to fall onto her cheeks. "You can say you're broken. You can say you're damaged, that you're obsolete, but I'll argue back. I'll argue that you're still in working order, that you're just worn, that you're still operable. No matter how broken you say you are, I'll just be the one to hold you together. I'll be the one to help you repair yourself. So please...please...don't say that you should die... Don't say that you should vanish... Because this world, my world, would crumble without you there.."

Spring trembled and waited. Waited to be yelled at, to be struck by the back of a hand or a fist. But it didn’t happen. The hit never came. Maybe James was just too shocked to respond right away and it would come later. So she waited and waited and waited. But still no hit came. What came instead was James rubbing his hand on her cheek and reaching to grab her arms. It seemed like no matter what she did he always stayed positive. Tentatively Spring opened her eye and looked up at James as he spoke.

As his hand gripped her own and his tears fell onto her face Spring began to worry. Something she didn’t realize until now, something she should have seen before but didn’t became clear to her. She was trying to act in his own best interests, to separate him from her no matter how much it hurt her to do it. But now she realized it, that as much as she would be hurt by it, so would he. Spring’s guilt only grew from this revelation. “Please… please don’t cry,” she said, back to her normal tone, “I… I’m sorry. I… I keep hurting you… and you just want to help me.” Tears of her own began to flow. “You help me and all I do is hurt you… yet you keep helping me. I’m sorry.”

Her voice had returned to normal, so that was a plus. Despite the concern he felt upon the girl's eyes tearing up again, he couldn't help the warmth in his chest that built as a result of her words. It seemed that his words finally got through to her and she understood his intentions. Despite her asking him not to cry, he couldn't help but smile and laugh softly as his tears continued to fall, mixing with her own tears when it landed on her face. Leaning forward, he started to, once more, start kissing all around her face. Though he didn't see, he knew that Karla got off his shoulder and stood at the entrance of the alley to act as their watch.

I-I'm sorry..I shouldn't be laughing, but I'm so happy~"

He raised a hand to wipe away his tears and he stared down at the girl with eyes shimmering in glee and love. "I finally got through that thick skull of yours~ You don't have to apologize, Spring. Even if you hurt me, I'll still stay by you because I know this pain would not compare to how I would feel if I lose you. All I ever want to do is help you, to be there for you, to love you." He was so elated, words could not describe how he felt.

This time as James leaned down to kiss her face Spring didn’t try to stop him. She wanted to, she still wanted to run away, but knowing what it would do to him…. She couldn’t hurt him more than she already had. If she did then she would truly be a monster. Still there was a deep worry for what might come of all of this, but she knew what if it came to it she could come up with something to help him get out of it. If James was kicked out of the school because of her… well she would figure something out.

Turning her body so face him Spring wrapped her arm around James’ torso and buried her face into his stomach. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you, James. I… I… I love you….” As she spoke those last words, those powerful three words a long shiver ran down her spine. Even though she had already admitted it to him, it wasn’t when she was in the right state of mind. Now… now it felt like it was actually her that was saying it.

Huh. If he were honest with himself, he half-expected her to cover her face again; the only difference, this time, is that it would have been out of embarrassment. He wouldn't have minded if she did, she looked so cute when her face was flushed red. In his mind, he imagined how their first kiss was going to be like: He would lean in to kiss her, and she would lean in too, albeit hesitantly. The moment their lips touch, she would panic and push him away with a red face. He mentally chuckled at the thought before he was drawn out of them when he felt arms wrapping around him and something pushing into his stomach.

His blindingly bright smile softened considerably as he saw that it was Spring hiding her face in his stomach, which tickled a bit, and gently stroked her hair. Her words brought about a joy that could not be easily described in a single sentence. Now that she wasn't so hysterical, her admission of her feelings held even more impact than before. "I love you too, Spring.." Three words. Three innocuous words were enough to send his heart flying. Sure, he had exchanged the same words with his sister, but that was different; that was familial love. He knew for sure that this love was of the romantic variety.