Enchanted

Chapter 14

(The hopelessly in love goobers are definitely out of character, so prepare yourself! I love you guys, I hope you guys had a Merry Christmas and will have a Happy New Years!!)

Immediately after the hopelessly in love pair heard the thudding against the door, they broke apart.
Hanako coughed into his hand, averting his gaze as he tried to shield the ruddiness that dusted his cheeks like soaked flower petals. "Shouldn't you go answer your friend? He sounds..eager."
Nene's bottom lip wobbled, wanting to part and scream at him for being so nonchalant, but she settled for shooting him a dangerous glower and trekking over to the door.
Reluctantly, she drew it open, and once again, standing before her, was the new student. He beamed at her. "Ah, there you are, Yashiro-San!" His eyes landed on the familiar sight of a brunet boy hanging off of the cream haired girl, glowering at him, and he raised an eyebrow. "I see your little friend is here too?"
Before she could even part her lips to speak, Hanako was replying for her, all threatening grins and twitching eyes. "Yup. Just can't get enough of her." The arms winded around her shoulders squeezed tighter.
"Well, I'd appreciate if you let her go for a moment so we can talk." He threw another dazzling smile.
Hanako's eyes wandered over to her, like a cat astray. "You really want to talk to him?"
Oh, so now he was acting like they were a couple?! Just a few seconds ago, he was saying their whole..whatever it is--defyed the laws of nature! Where was this energy then?!

"Well, when you ask her like that, she's obviously gonna say no!" The new student laughed as his gaze trailed over to Nene. "Now, I'll ask again, would you be willing to go take a quick chat with me, Yashiro-San?"
His piercing green eyes bore into hers, making her feel woozy. The sight of him wobbled and shook, resembling the similar jiggling her insides were doing. It felt like a mimic of the feeling of getting butterflies, only more grotesque and distorted. The feeling of falling in love, except gnarled and unsightly.
Her feet were moving faster than her brain, and before she even understood where her limbs were, she was very nearly out the door, until something abnormally numbing caught her wrist.
"Yashiro, are you okay?" Hanako's tender smile met her gaze before the noticably not-crinkled
-in-the-corners amber eyes of his did.

He held her stare for a few more minutes, until the outlandish version of romance shifted from broken hearts and throwing up from heartbreak to blushing cheeks and Cupid. He dragged her back inside, and his other palm immediately reached for the door-handle, but not before he glanced up at the new pupil with an aloof grin. "Sorry, but I don't think she's feeling very well. Perhaps you two can chat another time?"
But before he even had a chance to reply, the brunet boy had already slammed the door shut, stiff smirk still set on his face.
He spun around to meet Nene's gaze, and ever so slightly, his honey-soaked eyes softened. He reached for her, and gently tugged at her cheeks until the corners of her lips ultimately pulled up into a smile.
"Are you okay?" He asked, his calloused thumbs carressing her cheekbones. "You were acting strangely." Wordlessly, she nodded, eyes dull and sluggish. She made to speak, but her legs gave out beneath her, and she tumbled right into his arms.

He caught her so desperately you would've thought he assumed she was dying, and if she had felt the slightest bit better, she would've assured him she was perfectly fine.
"Come on. You're obviously not fit to stand right now." Gently, he scooped her up and toyed with her hair as she buried her face into the crook of his neck. "You wanna tell me why you're all of a sudden speechless and sluggish?"
"I don't know.." just by uttering those three words, it made her want to puke all over again.
He didn't respond, apparently too interested in finding the most comfortable spot she could loll around on. Ultimately, he set her down on his windowsill, draping his cape over her shoulders and pressing his lips into her cream tresses. He probably thought she was sleeping.
She dragged him closer, burying her face into his uniform.
When she glanced up from underneath her eyelashes, his cheeks were grazed a roseate, the same hue as pink lobelias or roses.
"You're not gonna be comfortable if you cling to me like this while you're sleeping." He murmured, but still took Nene back up in his arms, took a seat, and laid her head in his lap. He ran his fingers through her hair as he shushed her, eyes tender and sweet as one of the corners of his mouth tilted up. "Go to sleep now." She curled into herself, but not before she reached up for Hanako's hand. She wiggled her fingers expectantly.

A soft chuckle left his mouth. "Did he do something to make you clingy?"
Still, despite his teasing, he dutifully handed her his palm. She furled her fingers around his, giving them a tender squeeze.
He used his free-hand to serenely braid her hair as he assumed she fell into sleep's mollifying arms, until her small voice piped up. "Hanako-Kun?"
"Yeah?"
She fluttered her eyes open, rosewood clashing against butterscotch, "do you remember the feeling of butterflies? Like, getting butterflies in your stomach?"
He furrowed his eyebrows as his cheeks flushed, and his hand shot up to ruffle his mussed shock of brunet tresses. "I've certainly heard of the feeling."
She pursed her lips, averting her gaze. Did that mean she never gave him butterflies?! No, no, Nene! Her monologue chastised, that wasn't the point of the question! We're supposed to ask him if he maybe knew what that weird feeling means! We cannot get side-tracked! "Well, uhm, I felt that when he asked me if I wanted to come with him," before he could even roll his eyes or grit his teeth--though, jealousy was a great look on him, considering how he dared to get bitter when he wouldn't even kiss her--! She shot up from her surprisingly comfortable position. "Not like that, it was like, more...scary. It felt, I don't know.."
"Ominous?" He suggested, folding his arms.

"I guess, yeah," Nene mumbled, fidgeting with her fingers.
"Interesting." For a moment, they sat together silently, fingers so close yet so far, until Hanako spoke up. "You know, I've been hearing some rumors about that new kid that sounded like that."
"What do you mean?"
"I was waiting outside your class, and I heard a couple kids talking about him, and they said they felt that feeling too."
Nene crossed her arms as she glowered at him. "Are you just trying to trick me so I'll stop hanging out with him?"
Hanako raised an eyebrow. "Yashiro, I hate him, sure, but why would I do that?"
"Cause you're very manipulative when you want to be." Nene mumbled, averting her gaze.
He sat up, something sharp adorning his stare. "Yashiro, didn't I tell you I don't care about your guys's relationship? Seriously, I couldn't care less."
Nene grit her teeth. "That's what you want me to think! Do you think I'm stupid or something? I know you're jealous!"
"For the the last time, I'm not jealous." He very nearly spat, but the way he immediately avoided her eyes after he took a glance at her lips certainly begged to differ.
"Hanako-Kun, do you think I didn't see how mean you were being whenever he asked me to walk with him? You held me so tightly I thought you weren't gonna let me go!"
His mouth opened, but instantly snapped shut. Maybe he was resisting the urge to confirm her suspicions?

"Look, all I was trying to was help. You brought up your little boytoy." Hanko seethed, rolling his eyes.
"I don't like him!" Nene insisted, her hands balling up into fists.
"Oh, so all those stupid interactions you had with him were purely platonic? Yeah, sure." Hanako taunted.
She snatched up his collar, dragging him closer as she dug her fingernails into the fabric. "I don't want him to be my boyfriend!"
Probably to throw her off, to get her to let go, he leaned closer. She wasn't gonna let him win though. "Then who? Cause from the way you look at him, this guy is definitely not human."
Well, for once, he was right. Still, she wasn't gonna tell him that, and eventually dropped his collar. She averted her gaze, fiddling with her skirt. "You don't need to know that."
He heaved a long sigh, and tilted up her chin. It was amazing how easily he could shift between being bitter and fuming to delicate and warm. "I'll leave you alone if you just answer this question."
"What is it?"
"You..really don't like him?"
Of course he asked that. Still too bashful to just admit his feelings, yet so protective of the heart that he refused to accept. Nevertheless, the least she could do was give him the truth. "No, I don't."
The bitter look in his eye completely melted, leaving only two pools of amber, overflowing with tenderness and even the slightest specks of adoration. Still, she rejected the idea of indulging in the feeling of his eyes doting on her with thousands of words he refused to say.
Regardless, she pulled him into a hug, choosing to sweep everything under the rug once again.