14: Genuine Person

'I didn't get to sleep at all.' I look at the ceiling, laying down the couch as I kept thinking about last night's incident.I toss and turn, the couch not exactly comfortable, the city sounds outside the windows just barely filtering into the room.I had been drifting in and out of sleep for what felt like hours, unable to shake the residual tension from the burglar incident and the weird way I had felt near Raven.'I must be losing my mind. Yeah.'With a sigh, I roll onto my side, trying to get comfortable again, unable to ignore the memory of Raven's worried expression as she leaned close to me."Tch." I feel my cheeks heat up and couldn't help but turn my head to the cushion.However, as I remain there, I start to hear footsteps.'Raven?' I closed my eyes shut and hear the footsteps getting nearer.It stopped for a moment but I could definitely feel her presence.A few seconds passed and the footsteps appears to step away and soon I hear the clanging sounds of metallic objects along with some water running down from the faucet, I slowly open my eyes and look over to where the sound is coming from.'Oh, she's cooking breakfast.' I watch her continue on to cooking, her gaze landing on me, making me shut my eyes as I try to be as quick and smooth as I can.'W-why am I pretending to be asleep all of a sudden? I was just staring..' I mentally tell myself as I feel my heart racing from the suspense of getting caught.However, the sounds of utensils continue and all I could do was lay there in the couch.After a few minutes of lying there, my heart still racing from almost getting caught, the clanging of utensils and quiet sounds of cooking fill the room.I lay frozen there on the couch, pretending to be asleep as I struggle to stay still. I can feel the heat in my cheeks as I lay there, wondering why I suddenly felt the need to play coy like this.Finally, the sounds of the kitchen quiet down, and Raven's footsteps approach the couch."Estelle, I know you're awake."I keep my eyes shut for a few more seconds before deciding it's useless."How did you know?" I ask sheepishly as I slowly open my eyes and turn to her."Heh, your eyes are shaking when I tiptoed my way here. It was obvious you were awake." Raven says with a cheeky smile as she laughs at me.She goes on to pick up two plates with two omelette rice prepared for breakfast."Come on, breakfast is.." As she looks to me and mutters she stops talking."... Hm?" I blink in curiosity as I sit up carefully and prepare get up from the couch."Raven?" I call her name, confused to why she suddenly stopped.She leans with a teasing smile as she talks with a soft voice. "Breakfast is ready, honey."A shiver runs down my spine as Raven calls me 'honey' in a low, sweet tone.I can feel a heat in my cheeks as she grins playfully at me, the use of the pet name both embarrassing and... strangely pleasing."Did you.. just call me honey?" I ask, trying to play it cool even though my heart is racing again."Yes, honey. My sweet daughter." She says cheekily as she smiles at me.'Ah, right. I'm a girl. ' I remind myself as I stopped feeling flustered."Come on, let's eat breakfast together." Raven says as she sits by the dining area.As reality sinks in once again that I'm currently a girl, I get up from the couch and mutter. "Right.. right."I walk over to the dining area, sitting down across from her. "This looks really good." I remark as I look at the omelette rice on my plate."Right? The egg the challenging part. But, I did well, right?" Raven says, with her elbows resting on the table as her chin is on the palm of her hands."Definitely. It's great." I reply as I take a bite, savoring the taste of the omelette rice.As I eat, I can't help but glance at Raven, her chin resting on her hands as she watches me. The way she's looking at me makes my face grow warm again."You're not going to eat?" I ask, trying to draw attention away from my reddening cheeks."You're supposed to compliment me for a hardwork." Raven says as she tilts her head to the side while looking at me with a cheeky grin.I nearly choke on a piece of omelette as Raven grins at me, her head tilted."A-ahem." I clear my throat before speaking again. "It's really good. You really outdid yourself." I say with a small smile.I can feel my cheeks growing hotter as I give the compliment, the playful way she's looking at me only making it worse."Hehe, thank you." Raven says as she digs in and happily smiles, slightly swaying side to side.'I wonder if this is how close Raven was to Estelle. The memories I have of Estelle is just Raven being the same in the heroine.. and something about it, feels incomplete to me somehow.' I think to myself as I continue to eat breakfast with Raven.Once we finished breakfast, I finished dressing up in the school uniform and got out."... Hm?" I looked around, not seeing Raven anywhere.'Maybe she's still changing in her room.' I thinkAfter a few minutes, Raven finally appears, looking radiant in her school uniform. The sight of her looking so good makes my heart skip a beat, and I realize that I've been staring for a moment too long. I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts as I adjust my book bag on my shoulder."Ready to go to school?" I ask, trying to sound casual despite the fluttering in my chest."Yeah." She replies softly before we make our way to the door as she leads the way.We got out her apartment and start walking on our way to the train station."Say.. Raven, what is usually your type?" I asked abruptly as I hold onto my bag."Hm? Why'd you ask?" Raven tilts her head slightly as we continue walking together."Ah.. well.. you know, casual girl talk! Haha.." I say nervously.'Well, I am really curious though. If the heroine herself has an ideal type or not.' I think over as I keep a composed expression on my face."My type huh..? I guess someone who can be openly sweet. " She answers.My eyes widen in surprise. Though I wasn't expecting anything. I didn't expect that sort of answer. "Eh? Wow.. I didn't think you'd be into that.""Haha.. why not? What do you think my type would be?" Raven chuckles before proceeding to ask as she smiles at me.I pause for a moment before responding. "Honestly, I thought you'd be into the mysterious, aloof type.""Hmm, I guess I don't mind if they're boring. As long as they are genuine." Raven says as she and I reached the train station.As we reach the train station, we stop momentarily."So what does genuine mean to you?" I ask curiously, unable to hide my curiosity at Raven's unexpected response.She froze for a moment.Making me tilt my head in confusion."Rave--" Before I could call out to her, she turns to me."Who knows? What do you think?" She says.I blink in surprise for a moment before I answer. "Well...I'd say being genuine just means being honest and sincere. You know, not hiding your true feelings or putting on some act. Like... being yourself.""That's right. But, what about you? What's your ideal type? " Raven returns the question to me as we wait for the train to arrive."Hm... my ideal type?" I pause as I think for a moment, my cheeks growing warm as I contemplate the question."Well, I guess I'd say someone who's kind and caring, but also playful and fun to be around. Someone who isn't afraid to be themselves, and who makes me feel comfortable and happy."I feel my cheeks get even hotter as I realize I'm describing Raven.But as I turn to Raven she mumbles softly as she is looking at the ground."Someone who isn't afraid to be themselves, huh?" She doesn't seem to even think I'm describing her.The train arrives and as we both got in within the crowd, I was bumped into a few people before I got separated with Raven with little distance."Ack!" I was surprised by the amount of people that got in, but then again since Raven lives in the city the train is more full unlike me who just gets in the train myself alone since Estelle herself lives in a much rural area.'Well, at least she's not that far and I can see her. ' I think to myself as she is still deep in thought.However, before I can call out to her, the train lurches forward, and I am forced to grab onto a nearby pole to steady myself.We are carried further away from each other, the distance between us widening as the train moves along. I steal a glance at Raven again and realize that she is still completely lost in her thoughts and hasn't noticed that we've become separated."Nnn.." I hear someone next to me muttering, and when I slightly sensed at the person next to me, I felt my heart dropped.'ROGUE?! WAIT, Why is one of Raven's love interest in the train?!' I gasped and looked down, feeling his arm touching mine as we both hold onto the same pole.'Wait, this is one of the scenarios where Rogue would often follow Raven on her way to school, right?' I remember as I think back to the game scenario.'Even though it was displayed in a romantic setting, it's.. this is definitely stalking, right?' I sigh and turn my gaze to him.But somehow, he's completely still and frozen, not even looking to anyone or anything else but the ground as he's holding onto the pole tightly.'Huh? Is this guy breathing?' I wonder to myself as I try to get a better look at him.But, he looks down even more and is trembling slightly.'Huh.. I have no idea what's going on with him but, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything funny to Raven! I know, he won't but still!' I think to myself as I nod with determination.Rogue's POV'Estelle Zeller.''Ever since that day I decided to be genuine with someone about my feelings, I was moved.'During the time I first conversed with her and asked her if she could tell Raven that I wanna talk to her, she simply chose to turn it down."If she doesn't wanna talk to you, stop forcing her or making her feel obliged to do so. In fact, don't even hope she will one day. If she's avoiding you this much.. don't you think she's uncomfortable?" Estelle says with a serious expression, her genuine feelings on having Raven feel comfortable shining through to her boyish-like voice as she looks at me without being scared.I was momentarily shook to my core as I watched her.'No one ever became this forward with me.'I wasn't sure what had gotten into me but, I found myself feeling relieved that I decided to be genuine."Thank you for being honest with me, Estelle." I said, smiling as I watch her expression change from a frown to a slight surprise."Hehe, you're not a bad person. So .. that's a relief at least." I added in response.I found myself smiling as I think if the idea that if someone this kind and genuine was with Raven, then she's not a bad person.'Estelle Zeller.''I wonder if I can meet her again?'Coincidentally when I was standing in the train station, I found her.Standing next to Raven who appears to be lost in thought."Ack!" Before Estelle could trip to the side, I supported her with my body to get her to stand and hold onto the pole."...!" I felt a strange sensation after our close contact.Perhaps it's because I've never did actions on purpose with the opposite gender.'Why did I do that?' I think to myself after I helped her get her balance.I took a step back, ready to walk away but the crowd closed in and before I could process it, her arm grazed on mine and I froze.I remained still, feeling every part of me screaming.My heart raced.'This is.. bad. I'm too close with her. 'As Estelle leans to me closer, I saw her eyes that meets mine.Subconsciously I hold onto the pole tighter.'Has she ever looked this beautiful before?' I blushes heavily and looked down with my eyes wide open.TO BE CONTINUED