Chapter 72: Saying Goodbyes

[Get Up Your Ass and Go Say Your Goodbyes, White.]

"For real?"

[Go now!]

It said, and White groaned.

"I’ll just do it tomorrow at 5:00?"

[She’ll be asleep then. Do it now!]

It shot back.

Seeing it wouldn’t stop nagging him until he did that; White was forced to his feet and wore his uniform.

Since she was in the Top 5, she was just below him on the tower, leaving no need for an elevator.

He jumped up the railings, hands reaching out when he reached her floor, and he threw himself into her corridor, landing as quietly as an assassin, but simply not quite enough.

"Didn’t know you were a thief now."

The voice echoed to him from the side, and there he found Nova resting on the railings, with her eyes looking right at him.

She had been standing there all the while.

"I’m not a thief. I’m just..."

He said, trying to find an excuse, but all of this felt so dumb that he just stood there with no words coming from him.

He shook his head, shooing that off.

"I just wanted to say..."

He was saying, but then froze again

[Don’t just say your goodbye outright. That’s cold...and dumb.]

The system panel flashed, and White could swear that if this system was anything physical, he would have yanked it by the throat and strangled it half to death.

"You...want to say?"

Nova asked, and he exhaled quietly before saying,

"Can we go out?"

He asked, and she froze.

"I mean, go out...like right now."

"Oh...Sure."

She said, and together they reached for the elevator.

______

"I thought you would have found your own place by now."

Nova said as they arrived at the place.

It was the same green valley that she had brought him the last time.

"I wanted to say sorry, for that, last time."

He said, continuing,

"I shouldn’t have spoken like that."

"It’s fine. It was true."

She said, taking a seat too by the hill edge.

"Truth or not, there are better ways I could have said that."

"I’m truly sorry, Novaelia."

He said, looking down at the valley beneath him.

She remained quiet for a while before she smiled, dragging his line of sight to her.

"It’s fine."

"And I also shouldn’t have doubted why you were protecting me, nor should I be asking sensitive questions as trust issues, without checking to see if you felt comfortable enough to discuss them with me."

She said it all in one line, and it was a bit surprising to White, as that had not crossed his mind once.

"I’m sorry too."

Simple and as short as those words were, in a way, they got rid of the heavy feeling that was in the air.

"So...what you drag me out here for?"

She asked after a while.

"Not much. The school wants me on some mission, or something, so I might not be around for a while."

He tried to drop the news casually, but she completely froze at that,

"You...You mean like, you’re going to be leaving?"

"For a little while."

He admitted.

"Hmmm, how long will you be gone for?"

She asked him, and he shook his head slightly.

"I’m not sure how long exactly, but I’m sure they won’t want me missing too many classes so, it’s surely not forever."

He said, and she nodded, turning to the valley.

Her brows creased softly in a realization, and she turned back, asking.

"Are you worried about it being just me?"

She asked, and this time he actually shook his head.

"I’m not."

"Why is that so funny?"

She could see him smiling broadly.

"I saw your challenge with Rukun the last time."

"So, no, I’m not worried anyone would hurt you."

"I guess I can thank that wing of yours, though I also have to mention, the pummeling was a bit too...hard."

He said, and she shrugged.

"It was a necessary evil."

She said, copying him, and he rolled his eyes.

"Besides, Wing did that. It has nothing to do with me."

"So, you named her Wing."

White noticed.

"What? It’s a good name for what she is."

She replied.

’If I hadn’t seen that thing in action before now, I would have thought she was half-mad.’

White thought quietly, laughing in his heart, only for him to wince slightly as he felt a thud on his head.

"Ow. What was that for?"

He asked Nova who took her fingers back.

"I had a feeling you were thinking something bad."

’Tsk, what are you now, some evil witch?’

"OW!"

Another wince as her finger slammed into his forehead once more.

"Another feeling."

Nova said.

"Tsk,"

He tried to shift away, but she dragged him back, keeping him in his same position.

"You’re not leaving."

She said with an evil grin, but then paused.

"Or you have to leave, because you’ll be gone...tomorrow?"

She asked.

"It may be tomorrow. But, I’m not in a rush to leave."

He said, allowing himself to be dragged back to his seat.

The silence that stretched next was a long one, with the breeze blowing quite hard, sending their hair flying around.

Nova’s fingers wouldn’t stop clicking again and again, her eyes roaming around in her eyeballs.

It was a clear sign of nervousness, but he didn’t interrupt it this time.

Eventually, it settled, and once more she retreated into that position of hers:

Sticking her knees closer and wrapping her arms tightly around them, withdrawing in further and further.

White didn’t know exactly how he knew at all, but it was like she was a book, and every action of hers just communicated something to him.

And now, her action, withdrawing further and further, was doing the same thing; though the message of it was one he found hard to reply to.

Still, he did, after enough argument with his mind, and his reply was quite a surprise to Nova.