The stars were oddly bright out tonight. That's what Ichika noticed as he sat outside the IS dorms. It was way past curfew and normally he wasn't one to break the rules but it seemed that something in the heavens was beckoning him. He wondered why he was sitting out here in the freezing dead of night.
Behind him a rustling sound.
The teen looked back and saw someone stumble out of the brush. The scream that followed the high pitch squeal informed the young man that it was Cecilia. Ichika scratched his cheek as he stood up to help her out.
“Ow...”, Cecilia teared up at the pain in her bottom. That was a very nasty fall she took. Right on her behind if you may. “That was most unpleasant.”, she grumbled to herself.
“You okay Cecilia?”
The english representative looked up to the source of the voice that she knew so well. “I-Ichika-san!”, Cecilia drew back in surprise. “Wh-what are you doing here?”.
Ichika tipped his head to the side, “Huh? I should ask you the same. But...”, the young man reached out a hand, “maybe you would like to get off from that unflattering position first?”.
Cecilia blushed as she took the offered hand with a light touch. She mumbled a quiet “thank you” and heard Ichika chuckle a bit. It just made her blush more. “Wh-what is it?”, she demanded in flustered indignation.
“No, it's nothing.”, Ichika shook his head. “It's just that I find it odd that you would come out here at all. I can only imagine.”, the teen sighed and turned back to the sky.
Sapphire eyes stared at the handsome face of the young man. Cecilia's heart began to thump loudly, the longer she stared the louder it seemed to resound. 'C-c-calm down!', she commanded herself. To her dismay, Ichika didn't seem to mind her and moved to a spot clear of trees. She watched him lie down on soft grass and stare up again, up at the sky.
Cecilia looked around them and confirmed that the place was completely surrounded by trees. How odd that ISA had such a place, a small clearing stuck in the middle of campus. She stepped up beside him and looked down on his face in innocent curiosity. Surprise and embarassment colored her face when she saw Ichika's lips twitch into a smile.
“Can I help you?”
“Ah-ah-ah...”, Cecilia was at a lost for words. In a moment her heart went from pita-pata to bam-bam-bam. “That's mean of you Ichika-san! Really mean!”.
In a second ichika got up and covered Cecilia's mouth with his hand. He shushed her, “Hey! We're both out here past curfew. I don't want to get caught! Especially with Chifuyu-nee being our homeroom teacher.”.
The English IS representative paled at the thought. Even with her extensive training, the very thought of being punished by the devil was a very terrifying thought.
“So calm down okay?”, Ichika whispered to her ear.
The proximity and the brush of breath from the boy she liked was enough to make Cecilia dizzy. With her mouth covered and her breathing turning ragged from nerves, she could only nod jerkily at his request. When he let go, the blonde girl sucked in a deep breath and exhaled just as vehemently. “That was uncalled for!”, she huffed.
Ichika could only offer a strained smile in consolation. “But you have to agree that getting caught right now would be scary.”.
Cecilia crossed her arms over her chest and declared, “I have nothing to be scared about. Ichika-san was out too late and it was tasked to me to look for him.”.
“I figured as much.”, the young man walked past her with a faint smile. “Rules are really a big thing to people aren't they?”
Brows knitted, Cecilia walked up to him. “Well it's with rules that people obtain order.”
“But order can't be achieved with rules alone. People have to follow them right?”
Cecilia watched as Ichika bent down and pulled on the grass at his feet. He grabbed a handful and threw it into the air. “I wonder...”, he said, “I wonder what it would be like to be free of rules.”
The English representative's eyes widened at the question. “Well there would be chaos!”, she immediately rebutted his inquiry, “Imagine if the world did not control the use of IS. Those with personal machines like us would abuse the power we have!”.
“I understand.”, Ichika turned to Cecila, “the IS is a huge threat that's why a lot of rules are imposed on us. But what if the IS wasn't a potential weapon? What then? Where would we be? Do we still have to live like this?”.
Cecilia stood there, rooted to the spot. Her mind was trying to process what he was saying. “What's wrong with the way we live now?”.
Ichika shook his head, “Nothing really.”. He looked back up to the skies. “Sometimes I just wonder. If life was anything else but like this. Would it have been better? Would Houki and Tabane-san be closer? Would nee-san and I live together? If I didn't become an IS pilot. What college would I have gone to? What kind of work would I have wanted?”
“Don't say it...”
A slight waver was in Cecilia's voice as she spoke. The oddity was evident, even to Ichika. “Cecilia?”
“I said don't say it!”, she glared at him. “Don't say such aggravating things!”.
The fire burning in the English woman's blue eyes was alight with righteous anger. She took a step forward which prompted Ichika to step back.
“Don't run away!”, she commanded, “If you're a man... Ichika-san.. don't run away and listen to me...”
A tone of voice reminiscent of begging could be heard in the last part of the statement. The young man stopped, “Cecilia?”. He took slow cautious steps towards the girl. She seemed to be incredibly sad then. Somehow he didn't really think she could look so troubled. Cecilia, to him, had always been confident in herself, sure of every act she did. But now, she seemed small and doubtful of herself.
“Would it have been better if we had never met?”, she asked lowly.
“Huh?”, Ichika responded cluelessly.
“Would it have been better if we never even knew the other had existed? I don't believe so!”, Cecilia shook her head to make a point. “I don't want to believe so!”, she screamed loudly.
“Cecil-”
Ichika was cut off as a soft warmth enveloped him and his lips. He faintly realized that Cecilia had thrown herself at him. Her lips were firmly on his and he was shocked into silence. Shyly, Cecilia pulled away and hid her face in his chest. “I love you.”, she confessed to him. “I love you so much that I'd break the rules for your sake.”.
“Wait... so you mean you weren't sent to look for me?”
Ichika felt, more than saw, Cecilia shake her head. “Yamada-sensei is in a panic and I'm sure she and Orimura-sensei are scouring the grounds for you now. I wanted to warn you before you were found.”
“Ce-Cecilia.”, he wrapped his arms around her. No idea what was happening or why it was happening. She confessed to him and he didn't know how to respond to her feelings. Was he happy? Was he not happy?
“Ichika-san.”, Cecilia's voice sounded against his chest. “Even if you don't love me back. At the very least, please don't say that things would be better if we'd never met.”.
Silence wrapped around the two for a moment and Ichika looked up at the stars. They were falling, 'A meteor shower'. “Hey Cecilia.”, he nudged her.
“Hmm?”, the blonde girl looked at the boy she loved with a pretty blush on her face.
“Look.”, he pointed at the meteor shower.
Cecilia followed the direction and went silent at the view. “Wow.”, she smiled happily.
Ichika watched the expression on Cecilia's face. Against those bright blue eyes that reflected the stars, inside seem to shine a light of their own. The young Japanese teen withdrew his embrace from the English woman and took her hands in his. He squeezed them lightly, “Did you make a wish?”.
Cecilia's face was already too flushed to get any redder but her embarassment showed in the nervous shake of her head. “No. Right now, this moment, my wish is being granted.”.
“Then I'll make a wish.”, Ichika told her.
“And that wish would be?”
A sly smile, “Secret.”
“That's unfair. I told you mine.”, Cecilia pouted.
“Well if I told you it might not come true.”, Ichika chuckled. “Hey.”, he called out to the pouting girl. “I don't regret meeting you. Any of you. Actually I'm glad to have met everyone. That's why, don't cry.”. He reached out and wiped away a tear that threatened to spill from the girl's eyes.
“You noticed?”, Cecilia backed away.
Ichika smiled, “My uniform is wet.”.
“Sorry.”
“Don't be.”
They stood there for a while. Cecilia thankful that she could spend time with the one she loved. Ichika realizing that things weren't so simple anymore. His wish rang in his mind.
'May these girls never lose their light.'