Bab 47: What's Going On Here?

~•Aden•~

I continued to stare into her mystical eyes as I waited for her response. I knew I was not going to get one, at least not any time soon. She was too lost to provide me with one, and this was exactly what I wanted. I wanted her to be at a loss of words, too lost in her thoughts to even move her lips.

"What are you thinking?" I mumbled softly. One of my hands trailed up her spine while the other continued to hold her close to me. "Say something, little foxy." I was enjoying her speechless state.

I knew we still had some time left for the first lecture of the day, so I was in no rush to celebrate my short lived victory. I knew that the moment she recovered from her trance, she wouldn't waste a single second to take her revenge.

"I had to accept that you look utterly beautiful like this, but say something, silly." I was starting to worry a little about her as this was the most quiet I had ever seen her. More than her quietness, I was troubled by the lost look on her face. Even though her eyes were locked on my face as she looked up at me, it seemed she was looking past it. She seemed to be lost in her own thoughts instead of being with me.

My fingers reached up to her face as my palm cupped her cheek. Grazing my thumb over her clear skin, I muttered under my breath. "Talk to me."

I wanted to hear her mellow voice once again even if it was to mock me. I would rather have her talking non-stop and eating my ears away with her sarcasm, than being dead quiet.

"Why me?"

After what seemed a decade to me, she finally opened her mouth to utter something.

"What do you mean?" I was utterly confused by her sudden question, but I still didn't let go of her, neither did I move my fingers away from her cheek. My thumb kept gliding back and forth over her cheek as I patiently waited for her answer.

"Why are you trying to get close to me out of nowhere?" She spoke again, this time elaborating her question. She blinked her eyes a couple of times and I could see her orbs regaining their focus. She was now staring right into my eyes.

Wherever her thoughts have trailed off to after my little attempt to tease her, they were coming back on the right track. It wasn't hard to tell as I saw the corners of her lips curling up in a smile, a not so innocent smile.

I didn't know what to reply to her as it was a question which had been bugging me for days now.

"I don't know." I mumbled under my breath as I gave her a smile. I knew there was something she was hiding me from, but I decided to be honest with her. That was the least I could do if I really wanted to get to know her.

"Why is that?" I felt something creeping around my waist which made me shift my eyes to my waist. I was shocked to see that it were her arms which were slowly sneaking around my lower back.

"I-I-I…" I didn't know what to reply to her. She had managed to turn the tables once again, more like she flipped the whole thing instead of turning it around.

"Talk!" She mumbled softly like a siren. A single word from her was enough to lure me in.

"I want to get to know you." I complied like a humble servant and answered her. "There is something which draws me in like an icarus to the Sun. I want to know why. I accept that at first I had some selfish motives for which I invited you to the game. But that's not the case anymore."

I laid out the complete truth before her. That was me trying to get rid of the guilt for hurting something as precious as her. I clearly saw something flashing over her expressions as her mind registered my words. But before I could make out what exactly it was, she was back to being her mischievous self.

"What if I give you a chance?" She added with a smirk. Her words blew me away for they were exactly what I was dying to hear from her. A chance to be close to her just so I could get to know the real her.

"But there's a catch?" She continued. Her words managed to peak my interest.

"What's the catch?" I questioned her.

"You will only get a single chance, and if you mess it up, then let's just say I will give a short glimpse of my version of hell on earth." Her smile widened as she decided on my punishment for betraying her, and I couldn't help but chuckle in response. "And you'll help me with something." She added the later part with a frown which forced me to shut my mouth.

"I know that you have your own reasons for doing this. Wherever you were a little while back may have forced you into this, but I won't question your motives. I will be patient and wait for you to share your reasons with me. Until then, this humble man will be at your service." I gave her the widest of smile I could manage to pull off.

I was really glad that she was at least giving me a chance even after knowing that I wanted to get close to her for my own selfish motives. I was shocked when she didn't question me about it further. Maybe she had a trunk full of her own secrets, and I was in no hurry to force her to open that trunk for me.

What mattered to me at the moment was to find out about visions and why they were linked with the crystal around her neck. I would just wait for her to trust me enough with that trunk of hers.

"That's a deal then?" She gave me a questioning look.

"Yeah!" I bobbed my head up and down. "There's something else I need to share with you." I added as I tried my best to look serious.

"What?" She muttered under her breath, her faint smile from earlier was long gone.

I moved my palm which was still cupping her cheek slightly up so that my fingers could manage to tuck the lock of her precious white hair behind her ear. "This." I mumbled softly as I leaned in and placed a kiss on her tender cheek. As quickly as my lips made contact with her skin, I retracted them back with the same swiftness.

She opened her mouth to say something but closed it right away only to repeat the same process. She looked like one of those cute gold fishes trapped in a fishing bow trying to get their owner's attention.

"You look so cute when you are at loss for words." I couldn't stop the words tumbling out of my mouth as I stared at the cute expressions. The faint pinkish tint which was beginning to spread across her cheeks only added to her beauty.

"You!"

She finally managed to utter something but before she could get to berating me, she was cut off.

"What's going on here?"