❛ ZORA IDEALE ❜
I've been thinking 'bout you lately.

REQUESTED BY: excujeemi. Thank you!!

You sat at the ragged couch of the living room inside the Black Bulls' Hideout. With a book in your right hand while the left is currently holding a glass of water, ready to drink, when someone jumped beside you, wrapping his arms on your shoulder but you're quick enough to kick him away.

You momentarily closed your eyes, trying to suppress the anger and embarrassment forming within you.

"Zora," You calmly stated. "Please, stop bugging me."

"Why? I just want to ask if you'll to go to the Capital with me since it's our day—"

"No," You eagerly declined. "I'm finishing this book."

And with that, you pushed him off before standing up, ready to lock yourself inside your room again.

"Why are you so serious, Y/N-chan?"

You're not a socially-inclined person and you prefer staying away from other people. But you're not that aloof as Gray, obviously. It's just that, you can't be lively and noisy like Asra and the others. Thus, jokes aren't your type. For you, they're just crazy things coming out from a person's mouth and there's nothing funny about them.

As much as you wanted to continue living peacefully while fulfilling your job as a Magic Knight, this one co-members of yours kept bugging you. None other than Zora Ideale, the cynical and often disrespectful member of the Black Bulls who uses his versatile Ash Magic in creating various trap spells against his opponents.

These past few days, you noticed him being too clingy with you, but not in a romantic way, yet he's being too...near. He sometimes forgot about personal bubbles. He loves talking to you every day and pulling pranks with you. You can't forget that one time when he mixed something with your shampoo and your hair ended up getting hard and unable to fix for a whole day. He's crazy, living in a crazy world with you.

Zora stopped you in your tracks, appearing in front of you.

"Then, why don't we hunt Magical Beasts—"

"No."

"Let's spar?"

You shook your head.

"Loosen up, you know? I can cook something for you—"

"Zora!" You looked up, finally closing your book. "Can't you see I'm reading? I don't want to be around you, okay?! So shut up."

Leaving him standing dumbfounded inside the living room, you closed the door of your room behind you. Deeply sighing, you put a hand on your chest while cursing under your breath. You definitely messed up. You just shouted at Zora, telling him that you don't want him around you.

But in reality, you're just afraid to fall in love harder with him. No, as much as possible, you're trying to control these feelings.

"Ugh, I fucked up."

[ TIMESKIP ]

The other members are still not going back. They're probably enjoying this day-off and now, you're left alone inside this whole building. Even Captain Yami went out, probably to hunt for beasts in the forest. That's when you realized how lonely it is, especially when it's eerily quiet. Sitting on the same couch again, you facepalmed yourself.

Even Zora is out.

You rolled your eyes. You just finished the book you were reading earlier and now you got nothing to do. You can't even sleep. Should you hunt for Magical Beasts too by yourself? Cook something like pancakes, maybe? Or go to the Capital? Spar with yourself?

"This is getting nowhere," You shook your head.

That's when Zora's image appeared in your head. You guessed that you should've just agreed to any one of his plans. You facepalmed once more. As much as you wanted to spend time with him, sometimes, your mind is opposing your feelings and that's probably the worst thing that could ever happen. You want to hear his jokes no matter how corny they are, you want to hear his laugh, you want to see his funny faces while trying to make you smile.

'Cause I've been thinking 'bout you lately...
Maybe, you could save me from this...

You really don't know what to do with these feelings anymore. Probably, he's out there, mad at you. Are you really that serious? Is this getting out of hand?

"What if I try confessing then?" You whispered.

"Confess at who?" Holy watermelon! 

You immediately stood up from your seat, seeing Zora coming out from the kitchen with waffles in his hands.

"I-I thought you're in the Capital?!" You shrieked.

"Oh? Why would I be?" He smirked. "You're not going with me anyway."

You bit your lip as you feel your cheeks warming up and your heart beating so fast. You're alone with him, right here in the hideout, in this very living room. Just the two of you, no more, no less. It makes you uncomfortable and uneasy, but at some point, something in you wants this to happen.

"I heard you want to confess something to someone," He sat across you. "Care to tell me?"

You looked away. "I-It's nothing."

And I know we could happen.
'Cause you know that I've been feeling you...

"Oya?" His eyebrow shot up. "Something in me tells me you're lying."

"I told you it's nothing, Zora!"

"Oh? Really?"

You growled. "Shut up—"

"So Y/N-chan is finally falling for someone? It makes me curious all of a sudden—"

"FINE! IT'S YOU, OKAY?! I LIKE YOU SO MUCH AND I CAN'T CONFESS PROPERLY! NOW, SHUT UP AND JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!"

You put a hand on your mouth before you could even process what happened and what you just said.

D-Did I just confessed to him?! You mentally slapped yourself, silently praying for the ground to eat you up. You messed up again, Y/N! Curse you!

Things are getting messed up inside your head but all your worries suddenly faded away when you heard his heartily chuckle as Zora put the plate down, now walking towards your position. The first thing that came into your mind is to step back or just run away but your feet seemed to be glued on the floor. You just closed your eyes, calling all the saints in heaven to accept your soul when you die because of a heart attack.

"How surprising, I was about to confess at someone too," He stated, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

Oh how nice. It's probably Noelle or Vanessa. Of course, how bold of me to assume that he likes me too, right? I don't stand a chance with him since I'm serious and he's always outgoing and—

"But she already confessed to me so I don't think I'll do the hard work anymore."

Blinking twice, you tried to process the words that just came out of his mouth. He then fished out something from his pockets. That's when you realized, it was a bookmark.

"For you, Y/N-chan. I made it," He smiled genuinely.

"I-I...thank you," You shyly accepted his small gift, reading the words written on it as you unconsciously smiled.

'I know you want me too.'

"Yes, Zora, I want you so much," you whispered.

"The feeling is mutual."