Forever Starts Today (Eli x Nozomi)

Chapter 8 - Sweetened (Part 4)

Nozomi and Eli finally went to the arcadex, which is located within the top floor of the mall. At first, Eli wondered why Hazeltine would suggest such a place but as soon as they went to try the crane game and Eli successfully pulled out a stuffed toy, Nozomi squealed in delight as she watched beside her.

The blonde blinked as she handed over the toy and the latter woman grabbed it happily like a child receiving a new toy from her parents.

"You sure love that toy already, huh?" Eli couldn't help but scoff with a playful snicker.

"Of course! It came from you!" Nozomi grinned at her, which made Eli blush brightly.

Her heart took a few palpitating beats at the sudden sugar rush of compliment.

What the.. What's happening to me? Eli thought as she moved her hand over the back of her head to scratch her hair lightly. Although she was embarrassed, she felt proud that she gets to make this woman happy and how lucky she is that Nozomi isn't a girl of high maintenance. However, of what was bothering her all this time is how she is currently feeling. She felt like she is on a cloud nine especially when Nozomi would scoot close to her as she tried her best to hide her blush by occasionally looking away.

Eli doesn't understand. The more she ignores this feeling, the more she gets closer to it without her realizing it. What could she do to get this away? This is keeping her distracted and unable to think.

"Eli? Are you okay?" Nozomi said as she waved a hand in front of the blonde, who snapped back in reality and looked down at her,

"A-Ahh, sorry, you were saying something?"

"Nothing. You just stood there like you just saw a ghost."

"Ahh.. s-sorry about that."

Nozomi giggled at Eli's reaction—how she wants to tease her right now.

"Are you enjoying the view of me?"

"W-What?"

"You know.." Nozomi pulled the toy closer to her chest, making her cleavage look more.. plump.

"Wha—!?" Eli flinched back when she gets the message. What's with her?! I have those, too! But not that big!

"Awww, you're embarrassed seeing this, Elichi, hmm? I thought you might like it, though."

"Th-That's not the problem."

"Then, what is?" Nozomi slowly scooted closer to the blonde, allowing her to fully see her cleavage, which seems to elevate whatever is inside Eli.

"N-Nothing! Uhh.. are you somehow in the mood to sing? I-I mean we can go to the videoke! I'll sing you a song!"

"Hmm? Awww Elichi is embarrassed that she is diverting the topic!" Nozomi laughed as she finally stood erectly.

Teasing Elichi is so fun!~ I should do this more often.

"I-I'm not! I mean, you might get bored right now in here."

"Not really. I am enjoying my time actually! But if it is your suggestion then, I would love to go to videoke with you!" Nozomi winked.

This woman.. Eli cleared her throat, "Then, let's go.."

The blonde immediately led the way towards the videoke. As they paid and went to their room, Eli stilled nervously as Nozomi was looking through the song book.

Sheesh.. Nozomi is pressing the right buttons to make me feel this way. What did she do to me? Because of my reaction, she will definitely tease me more after this. No.. I have to be strong. I did say to myself that I will not allow these feelings to distract me. I have to finish studying first and get a stable job before this. But.. how am I even going to do that, when Nozomi kept rushing in? Eli's mind kept piling up ways to somehow ease up what was going on between them but to no avail. At the end of these streams of thoughts, there's the image of Nozomi and her dating once again like this but with the additional of engagement rings wrapped around their ring fingers.

The blonde's eyes widened and her face reddened at the thought, shaking her head in the process. Just thinking about it is making her feel like her heart is going to burst. She has to stop this and just think about it at home.

No! You said that you won't allow anyone distract you! This is for your future, Eli! She scolded herself.

Nozomi finally went to press the keys to get the song running and grabbed the mic, sitting back down beside Eli. She sooner opened her mouth to sing.

The blonde blinked when she gets to hear that angelic voice for the first time and slowly raised her head up to somehow focus on the song that the purple-haired was singing:

Kimi no Egao by Oku Hanako

Eli sat there, stunned with her eyes stayed widened with her jaw dropped in the process.

Something magical has happened that became a strong tornado swirling inside Eli's heart. The voice, the lyrics, the woman beside her singing it—they are crashing down inside her, trampling every outer walls she has built to protect herself from such an emotion. As much as she wants to ignore such a tornado, she couldn't. The next she knew that happened in her mind is that she felt like she reached heaven.

She could see herself standing in the middle of nowhere, with the clouds serving as the ground and with white feathers falling from above, making a mess everywhere around her. Her attire changed into a white tux, which is common to what men wear in weddings. She could see herself looking around, searching for someone and so she stepped forward, only to find Nozomi, sitting on a black bench, playing a black, grand piano in front of her as she sang the same song. That's not the only thing she noticed but she could see Nozomi wearing a white wedding dress, which perfectly fit her well-endowed body.

Eli could see Nozomi's bare shoulders with the white veil still attached to her head. She could notice that purple hair braided and was placed to one side. The cold wind caressed the two of them and not only that, but there is a large group of feathers surrounding Nozomi in a form of a tornado but instead of swirling around violently, it was gentle.

Eli blinked as she watched through the gaps of these feathers, amazed at how Nozomi presented herself.

Back to reality, the blonde knew from there that there was something about Nozomi that can make her fall from her high ground. That, alone, terrifies her.

Few hours later...

Nozomi was humming the song as she walked through the night streets with the still stunned Eli beside her. She totally enjoyed the date today and didn't notice the blonde's astonishment. As they finally arrived to her apartment, she turned to Eli with a warm smile,

"I enjoyed this day with you. I hope there will be next time! You know I'd gladly accept your invite." Nozomi winked.

Eli snapped out of it and nodded, "A-Ahh, right right."

"Are you okay? You looked really pale ever since we went to the videoke!" The purple-haired laughed.

This is your doing actually.. Eli wanted to say that but she couldn't and just replied with, "Don't worry about me. I was just amazed of your voice."

"Really? I don't have that beautiful of a voice." Nozomi hummed, "But if it is coming from you then alright, thank you! So.. See you tomorrow?"

"Sure." Eli smiled softly at the woman, who turned her smile into a grin.

Nozomi sooner scooted closer to the blonde and leaned up to give her a kiss on the cheek, "Thank you for bringing me home."

The blonde froze in spot at the kiss and ruffled her own hair in embarrassment, but she immediately replied, "You're welcome. See you tomorrow."

Nozomi winked and then turned her heels to get to the door, opening it and entering inside.

Eli sooner walked away to go home as well but with the stampeding thoughts compiling in her mind.

She is confused, she doesn't understand any of this at all.

The blonde heaved a long sigh,

"How did this happen..?" She muttered under her breath as she walked through the darkness of the night.

A/N: Heeey guys! New chapter is up! Hope you guys liked it! Give it a vote and a comment! They are deeply appreciated! AAAAAAAAA I love this chapter omfggggggg fhkdshfkjds