Chirp~ chirp~
The morning sun shone brightly, and golden rays passed through the window, falling gently on a sleeping young boy's face. A faint yet refreshing breeze brushed over his handsome features, and his red hair only added to his charm.
The peace didn't last long. Link slowly opened his eyes and lazily sat up.
"Are you awake?" Riya's voice came from beside him.
"Yea,!!!!!!!!"
Link jolted upright. "What!? What are you doing in my bed, Riya!?"
"Oh, I was passing by your dorm room, and then I thought I should wake you up. But after seeing you sleep like a baby, I also felt sleepy. Yawn~" She even did a fake yawn.
Link sighed. "At least make a better and more convincing lie…"
Riya blushed a little, as if embarrassed. "What are you talking about? I didn't lie at all!"
"Okay, now that I'm awake, you can go. I have to get ready…"
Annoyed at being ignored, Riya puffed up her cheeks and tried to look fierce. Link didn't react at all. After glancing at her puffed face, he walked straight into the washroom and locked the door.
Slam~
"Hey! Don't ignore me! Hey!" Riya shouted, her cheeks puffing even more.
"Hmph! I may not be successful today, but just you wait, Link! Once we go on the date this month, I'll force you to buy the ultra-rare candies for me! Hmph!"
Since she had finally gotten the chance to enter Link's room for the first time in years, Riya looked around curiously.
"When we were young, I used to come into his room often to play, but when we grew up, Link stopped me from coming in. I wonder why…"
She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, let's see… Sister used to say that if you want to find a boy's secret, you must look under his bed for forbidden books…"
"But I don't really know what a forbidden book is. How am I supposed to find it then…? Well, let's look anyway. Here we go."
Completely unaware of the dangers of looking under a teenage boy's bed, Riya started searching. Ironically, there were no forbidden books there at all.
While crawling around, she accidentally bumped her head. Coincidentally,very, very coincidentally,a small box fell from some hidden corner under the bed.
"Ouch!… It hurts… What is this box? Where did it fall from? Oh! There's a secret drawer under the bed. But this isn't a book. I wonder what might be inside…"
Just as she was about to open it, Link's voice came from behind her.
"Uh, well, what are you doing crawling under my bed like a worm? Is this your new way of sleeping or something…?"
Startled, Riya tried to get up quickly but hit her head again,this time much harder. Tears immediately welled up in her eyes and started flowing like rivers. Even her crying sounded so cute that anyone might want to protect her.
Seeing her like that, Link shook his head and let out a long sigh before helping her up. She cried in his arms for a few minutes, even rubbing her teary eyes on his shirt, before finally calming down.
"Hey, stop crying now. Aren't you the class healer? You can heal yourself, you know. Here, put your hand on your head and say 'Heal.'"
"Sniff… sob… b-but I don't need to use Heal anymore…"
While speaking, Riya quietly hid the mysterious box behind her back before Link could see it,though she didn't know that a martial artist like Link had already noticed.
"Huh? Why? Don't you want to heal your head? Oh! Sorry! I mean your injury, of course!"
He silently added in his mind that stupidity couldn't be healed by any spell.
Riya narrowed her eyes. "Hmm, why do I have a feeling you're thinking something bad about me, Link? Are you?"
"You're just thinking too much. There's nothing like that…"
"I don't need to use Heal because I can use Greater Heal."
[Greater Heal]
A soft glow covered her head. "See? It's back to normal now. Not even a single scratch left. Aren't I awesome? Aren't I amazing? Go ahead, praise me and worship me, muhahahaha…"
She looked extremely proud, and rightly so. As the younger sister of an SS-rank individual, her talent was outstanding. Her healing had reached a level where she could treat most fatal wounds, and the buffs she could cast were also strong,making her an excellent teammate.
Physically, however, she was still too weak to withstand even a single monster attack.
"Yeah, yeah. Sorry, I forgot you're already a B-rank healer. But why are you laughing like an elementary schooler pretending to be an evil old man?"
Link couldn't help but marvel at how fast her mood changed. Just moments ago, she had been crying; now she was smug and laughing. It was one of the many things he liked about her.
"Anyway, what were you doing under my bed? You know it's not good to jump around in other people's rooms without permission…"
"I can't tell you that~"
She looked suspicious. Link immediately decided to use his special method to get the truth out of her.
He smiled slyly. "Huh, so you don't want to tell me… even though… even though I care about you so much… Well, it's okay if you don't want to tell me… I… I won't ask anymore then…"
"No matter what you say, I won't tell you that I've been looking for a forbidden book,Ah!!!"
Realizing she had spilled everything, Riya panicked.
"Runnnnn!!!!"
She turned to flee, but Link grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. She stumbled and fell right on top of him. Even Link was a bit surprised.
"Wh-what! What are you doing,"
He knew he had gone a bit too far, but there was no turning back now. Acting on impulse, he leaned forward and sealed her lips with his.
For the first time, Link and Riya learned what it felt like to kiss someone they loved.
After a long, stunned moment, they finally separated and sat at opposite ends of the bed.
Blushing furiously, Riya broke the silence. "Huff… huff… y-you are a big pervert, Link!!"
"Eh, don't blame me. You were the one who fell on me, and then you tempted me with your cute face. It's all your fault. How am I supposed to resist when your face is that close to mine?"
He even put on an innocent expression, acting as if he were the victim. His acting was nearly at Rio's level,just slightly below.
Riya was speechless. "N-no, tha-that, I,I… you are a pervert!!! That's it!!"
"You've really angered me now! I'm going to punch your face real hard!"
"Don't do that. Otherwise, your small, weak hands will get injured too. Your brain is already injured…"
"What did you say!?"
"Nothing~"
"Hmph! Idiot Link!"
Sensing things were getting out of hand, Link quickly changed the topic. "So, who told you to look for such books? I'm quite sure you couldn't come up with this idea yourself. Was it your older sister?"
"Eh? How do you know that? And I'm not injured anymore,I healed myself! Hey! Stop ignoring me! Link!…"