Chapter Twenty; Part Two

Jinny's P.O.V.

I woke up with a pounding headache, groaning as I opened my eyes. I felt unusually warm and comfortable, looking up to see Sanda's peaceful, sleeping face directly in front of mine. My whole face slowly turned red and I pulled away from him, but only slightly, feeling too warm to let go just yet, and I also didn't want to wake him up. "I must've pulled him into my bed while I was drunk... Dammit Jinny." I scolded myself.

A sudden thought crossed my mind. "He carried me to bed... How sweet." I smiled softly, running my fingers through his hair. I unwrapped my legs from around him slowly, but my eyes widened a bit and I quickly looked at his clothes and then mine as another thought crossed my mind. "Okay thank god..." I sighed with relief as I began to sit up, but I felt Sanda wrap his arms around me and slowly pull me back down, my head against his chest now.

I blushed an even deeper red. I told myself I needed to get up, but then I saw Sanda's face. He looked so peaceful and calm. My gaze softened and I let my body relax, catching myself staring at him. "Just a little bit is fine...right..?" I gently wrapped my arms around him again, burying my face in his chest. He felt so warm I couldn't help myself. I sighed in relaxation, letting my body relax against his, one final thought crossing my mind. "This feels...right..." I closed my eyes, falling asleep faster than I ever had before without the help of sleeping pills or alcohol.

Sanda's P.O.V.

I woke up slowly, remembering everything that happened the previous night instantly. I still felt Jinny hugging me, so I knew none of it was a dream, but I also realized I was hugging her. I blushed as I looked down to see her head buried in my chest, peacefully sleeping. I could also feel her body gently pressed against mine. She felt unbelievably warm and soft. I didn't want to wake her and I didn't want to pull away, so I closed my eyes, hoping that she would think I was asleep when she woke up. In the end, I actually ended up falling back asleep rather quickly.

We both slept until someone woke us up for breakfast. I don't even remember who it was. All I remembered was opening my eyes and looking down at her, watching her slowly open her eyes and look up into mine. I remembered the feeling of her lips and wanted to feel them again, wanting to smack myself at the thought. "She was just drunk! Don't get ahead of yourself..!"

"Sooo, did you guys smooch the night away in your room Jinny?~" Kazane teased as we stepped into the dining room.

Jinny rolled her eyes. "No, we just slept together is all."

Kazane gasped. "How naughty!~"

"Not in that sense you moron!" Jinny blushed heavily and smacked the back of Kazane's head. Meanwhile I was blushing even redder than her. Agni was nudging me with his elbow and Daichi was just chuckling away. I was hoping they'd all be too drunk to remember anything, but even Jinny remembered kissing and lightly making out with me. The teasing continued all throughout breakfast, but they stopped after some threats from Jinny and more hangout suggestions from Kazane. We all continued to hangout like the day before for a little over a week, and Jinny didn't let herself get drunk again during that time, for obvious reasons. I trained here and there, but got closer and hung out with everyone mostly. We had movie nights, karaoke parties, gaming marathons, and more. Each and every day I was laughing my head off. I never thought I could be so happy.

Even though Jinny hadn't gotten drunk again or kissed me, we still closer as the days passed. The kiss was always at the back of my mind, and whenever I remembered it I'd blush heavily and my heart would start pounding like crazy. I was starting to fall for her more and more each day, but didn't have the guts to do or say anything. I was afraid of being rejected, and felt the chances of that happening were high, considering how beautiful she was, not to mention potentially ruining the friendship we had.

Even so, I couldn't help but stare at her at times when she sang and/or danced, and subconsciously get closer to her during movies and video games. I missed her warmth and even had trouble sleeping one night because of it. What she had said to me after I found out who my brother was constantly ringing through my mind whenever our eyes met and/or she smiled at me. "I think you're the most amazing out of all of us..." I told myself she only said that to make me feel better, but I was curious as to how she actually felt. We would all fall asleep on the couches in the lounge on movie nights sometimes. Sleeping with everyone around me was nice, and comforting. Having fun with everyone got my mind off Jinny, but as soon as I was alone or lost in thought she was the first thing I thought off. I was starting to think I had a problem.

On that Saturday, we all came up with a crazy plan. We were gonna spend the whole day outside: swimming, barbequing, and whatever else we could come up with. We were all in swimsuits that Daichi made for us, each one's style matching what our elements were. My trunks were yellow with white lightning bolt designs, Agni's were red with flames around the short legs, and Daichi's were styled in the same fashion as Agni's, but brown and with mountains.

Daichi made swimsuits for each of the girls on their prefered bathing suit types as well. Akari had a one piece, a sun on the stomach region and the rest of the suit being white. Jinny had a two piece with a sun hat and a white button up shirt, her bikini aqua blue with wave designs on both parts. Kazane just wore her two piece and nothing else, designs that looked like wind blowing and tornadoes on both parts, her bikini light green. Hanako also wore a one piece and had a sun hat, but no shirt like Jinny, her suit deep green with several different kinds of flowers designs all around it.

The main thing on my mind was the fact that there were four beautiful girls, all in swimsuits, and they didn't look at me like a creep or pervert. That fact alone made me a bit happy considering whenever I went to the beach with my family and I so much as glanced at a girl, she would glare at me, the girl's friends would, or the girl would cozy up to her boyfriend or something, all the exact opposite of what they would do when Raito even looked in their direction.

That day, we swam, played beach games, and ate a lot of delicious barbecue. We would've built sand castles, but there wasn't any sand. Agni manned the grill of course, but I did my best to help him here and there. When the sun started going down, Kazane suggested we shoot of some fireworks, but we didn't have any. That was when I got an idea.

"Agni, Akari." I waved the two of them over and whispered to them both. Their eyes widened for a moment, but they both grinned approvingly. I readied myself myself and looked over at everyone else. "We'll give ya some fireworks!" I hollered as I fired a lightning bolt into the sky. Kazane and the rest jumped as it exploded like a firework, leaving a couple sparks after. Agni fired a couple balls of fire and Akari fired a few balls of light, each exploding like fireworks. Akari was able to change the colors of the light she used as well, so the sky lit up multiple colors.

We all shot off a bunch of "fireworks", making a show out of it and we prepared one last act. Agni and Akari both fired giant balls of their elements into the sky, and they collided along with a lightning bolt I struck them both with from above. All of our elements exploded in a mixture of color and I made sure to do the best I could to form words out of all of it, with Agni and Akari's help. The letters we made turned out pretty well, spelling out, "THE ELEMENTIA!!!" Each letter had a different elemental look to it, even some of the Dark Elementia's elements. Everyone else smiled and fired their elements into the words as well, adding more of a realistic touch. We all looked at the finishing touches with awe, though the words slowly faded after only a minute.

We all camped outside that night, tents also made by Daichi. We made smores and told ghost stories, all of us in sleep wear at that point. I smiled as I laid in my tent, everyone saying goodnight to each other at once. Although, everyone kept talking to each other after we said goodnight, so we decided to combine all out tents into one giant tent fort of sorts. We all continued to talk after that, but eventually fell asleep. I woke up in the middle of the night however as I heard something shuffling. I looked up and watched as Jinny quietly stepped out of the tent. Confused, I stood up, following her.

I recalled the night I trained by myself when I was learning how to attack with my element. Jinny ran out and saw me all beat up, then let me rest comfortably with my head in her lap. I chuckled at the memory, stopping as I heard Jinny's footsteps stop. I couldn't help but gaze at her in awe when I saw her. She stood at the edge of the plateau, her skin appearing as if it were glowing in the moonlight and her eyes were like sparkling gems. Every one of her beautiful features were highlighted to me in that moment. "An angel..?" That's truly what I thought when I had seen her.

I'm guessing she sensed my presence then because she turned her head and met my gaze. When our eyes locked, I wanted to kneel down before her, like a knight before a queen. She smiled at me and I knew exactly what she was going to say, so I smiled as well and spoke at the exact same time. "Take a picture, it'll last longer."

Her eyes widened a little, but I just smiled at her still. "You know me that well now huh?" She chuckled.

"Just a little." I walked over to her side and we both sat on the edge of the plateau, our legs dangling off the side. We didn't say anything for a few minutes, just staring at the moon's reflection on the water. The view was already amazing in the morning, but it was pretty stunning at night as well.

Without even thinking, I suddenly blurted out a question. "Jinny, what do you think of me?" I paled a bit. My mind was telling me to say more to change the question, but my gut told me I should stay silent, so I did.

She looked at me, confused. "Haven't I already told-" She paused as she saw the look on my face. I'm guessing I must've been making quite the expression. Fear and anxiety welled up inside of me because I was afraid of what her response would be, and I began to overthink. However, all my thoughts came to a stop as I felt her arms wrap around me, her head on my chest. I looked down at her and I can't explain what I was feeling in that moment.

"I think you're the most amazing out of all of us. You're hardworking, kind, and you put your life on the line for us. When I saw the way you looked that day, I couldn't help but feel like I failed as your teacher. But then you told me your story and I realized feeling that way was the exact opposite of what I should've been feeling..." She looked up into my eyes and smiled at me warmly. "I couldn't be prouder, as your teacher and your friend. I'm happy to have someone like you on our...on my side..." Her gaze softened, but she never broke eye contact.

My entire body felt warm at her words. I hugged her back and buried my face in her shoulder quickly, tears falling from my eyes. I knew if I had stayed where I was, I would've kissed her. If I wasn't in love with her yet, then I finally had fallen for her in that moment. She too buried her face in my shoulder, and I don't know why, but I could feel her tears on my shoulder as well.

We returned back to the tent after a few more minutes, getting back into our sleeping bags without saying a word. I laid on my back and stared at the top of the tent, contemplating my new feelings. Jinny, whose sleeping bag was next to mine, rolled over to face me. I looked at her, confused as to whether she was asleep or awake, but I rolled over to face her as well, glancing at the hand resting by her face. I hesitated, but slowly grasped her hand, falling asleep like that.

The next morning I was the first one to wake up. I slowly let go of Jinny's hand, sat up, and stretched, yawning as I did. I got up, walking around everyone slowly and carefully, not wanting to wake anyone. Once I got outside, I saw dark clouds in the distance, and realized the sun hadn't come up much yet. I got worried, hoping it wouldn't rain so Jinny and I could watch the sunrise together.

I felt the strange urge to go inside the mansion, so I did. Once inside, I walked to my room, and once I got there, I saw a note on my bedside drawer. I tilted my head, wondering who it could be from before walking over, picking it up, and reading it aloud to myself quietly. "Sanda, this is Raito..." I immediately paled. "I think it's time we settle this instead of waiting for an order from one of our leaders to attack, right..?" I frowned. "Meet me where our last battle took place. Let's finish this now, unless you're still a quitter and a coward..." I clenched the note in my fist, balling it up slightly.

Everything that had happened before between Raito and I came flooding back, and the peaceful fantasy I was living in was shattered. The only thing keeping me rooted was Jinny's smile, but then I imagined her dead at Raito's and Atiyama's feet, gritting my teeth. "Sorry everyone..." My brother's own smiling face, the one of the past, appeared in my mind as well. "I'll bring you back to your senses... Just you wait Raito..."

I dropped the note and ran back outside. "How did I do it before..?" I encased my body in lightning, able to float by controlling the lightning both inside and outside my body, moving it around and my body moved with it. "So that's how it works..." I thought of my fight with my brother again, thinking of how much he had changed and what he had become. "Only one of us is gonna survive this... That's what your eyes said that day..." I clenched my fists, flying off to the meetup spot. "We'll just have to see about that...Raito!" I flew as fast as I could, flashing like a bolt of lightning in the sky.