The Fires Of Love (Loki Laevatein x OC)

Chapter Fourteen: I Love You

Chapter Fourteen: I Love You

As everyone stood gathered on the shore of the river, Apollon was showing them all about his lanterns. He grinned as he held one. 

"See! I captured the perfect art!"He told them excitedly. Takeru, who held his, stared at it with a confused look. 

"What exactly are these called?"He asked. Apollon hummed. 

"Spy patterns?"Apollon suggested. Hiromi snorted. The other girls, except for Ume who wasn't present at the time and Mitsuko who was sick, all giggled at him. He turned, his cheeks tinting red. "Then what are they?!" 

"Sky lanterns,"Ren told him. She smiled, holding it up. "You release them in the sky." 

"Why?"Dionysus asked, holding his. He looked it over. "What's the significance?" Hiromi stared at hers, holding the string gently. She smiled at it in her hands. The others held theirs still. 

"I'm not sure.."Apollon spoke. He looked at it. Hiromi smiled slightly. 

"It's pretty,"She told everyone. They looked at her in surprise. She stared down at her lantern. "When you release a whole bunch of them at once...it fills the sky with floating lights. It's beautiful." Hiromi paused, noticing everyone was staring at her. "What?" 

"You're saying something weird,"Eri told her. Hiromi jolted. 

"Eh?! Really?!"

After a bit, Loki and the others showed up. They went to the boats, sitting in them. Hiromi was a little wobbly at first, but Loki had somehow made sure to sit in the same boat as her. Apollon counted down and released his lantern. Everyone followed suit. Hiromi watched as the lanterns all floated up. She smiled, watching them. Her eyes traced the sky, keeping locked on the pretty lanterns floating up. Everyone was in awe, watching them. One of them slowly floated down, about to touch the water. Hiromi moved, reaching out and stopping it from falling. She pushed it back up so it floated upwards again. She giggled, watching it fly back up. 

"I guess it didn't want to be with the others just yet,"She spoke. Loki's eyes stayed locked on her, his breath slowing a little. For some reason, whenever he was with her, he felt calm. After a little bit, everyone went to paddle their boats towards the shore. Loki did most of the work, since Hiromi wasn't sure how to do it. 

They walked back to the dorms, Loki following her. Hiromi hadn't said anything else to him. She sighed and turned in the middle of the path, stopping in front of him. Loki blinked at her, stopping. Thor, who was walking with them, kept walking, knowing they needed to talk to each other about something. Hiromi sighed. 

"Loki...."

"I don't hate humans,"Loki told her. She blinked, giving him a surprised look. He sighed. "I don't hate humans...that's not it. I was trying to keep Ume away from Balder because...do you remember what I told you? About how Balder..." Hiromi nodded at him. He sighed and closed his eyes, standing still. "If Ume got too close to Balder, and he hurt her...he would never forgive himself. So I was trying to save both of them. But...I guess I really couldn't." Loki walked forward, stopping in front of her. She blinked at him. He reached out, his hand taking hers. Her eyes went wide. He brushed his thumb over her skin. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...I should've just..."

"Yeah..."Hiromi murmured, knowing what he was trying to say. She smiled up at him. "I know...Balder is important to you. You don't want to hurt him...but you do what you have to to keep things like that from happening." Loki gave her a soft look. How does she know what I was trying to tell her? He wondered. He stared down into her green eyes, shining under the starlight and moonlight above them. Loki tangled his fingers with hers gently. "Loki...I'm a dark person. I have a dark past from the human world, and I've had an issue getting it through my head that people care about me. For some reason..." Hiromi looked down, her eyes focusing on their connected hands.