#limochi

He said, “We’re no longer kids, Moch.” 

He said this, after breaking the news. Like a crystal ball dropped to the ground, shattering into a million pieces – those pieces being the words laid across the floor – sharp, deadly to the touch, drawing a line between them. She wasn’t quite too sure what to say in reply and as she struggled to find the words, her voice faltered and his expression remained the same. 

The tip of his sneaker toed the ground as his head hung down. He was waiting for a response. And a response, he didn’t receive. After a couple minutes painstakingly passed, he rubbed the back of his neck in frustration and sighed. His frustration was not with her, no – he could never find fault with her. His anger and discontent lay solely with the situation as it was not his ideal. It was not his ideal… but it was his answer. 

She watched as he turned his back to her and walked away. The moment he left her line of sight, he wouldn’t be the same person she knew. The same person she loved. In the worst way, he was off to become someone she could not trust, quite possibly her enemy. In the easiest way, as she told herself to ease her aching heart, he would return to her. It was fine, anyway, because she had decided her own path as well – without telling him in the first place. 

But when she turned her back to his, her heart began to ache. When would they see each other again? The young witch had been sure, very sure, when she returned, he would be there waiting. Time had progressed for her on her own journey, a metamorphosis through magic and growth. And when she returned, he wasn’t there waiting, like she had thought. As she wandered with her eyes glancing around for a glimpse of his orange hair, she found no such thing. 

Perhaps, he could really change too, after all. 

Days began to pass. She worked harder on her spells and her beloved familiar purred with praise and pride. Days turned into months and her mother said she could have more responsibility with the cafe. She spent more time learning about something called ‘FIFO’ for the stock in the back. Months turned into what felt like an eternity and her hair had grown a bit longer, sometimes more puffy depending on the weather. 

And finally, he had come back. 

In truth, really not much time had passed, it was all relative. But to Mochi, without him around, it could have been years and she wouldn’t have known it. A day without seeing him felt like forever. And for Lime, the feeling was quite the same – although, she didn’t know that. For all these years they had known each other, there had always been this thin wall between them. Faint hints and unsure mumblings about the other which barely passed them by – with a singular, clear message: 

I love you.

But with this decision, the wall between them had become stronger, wider and something she was unsure to touch. If she hadn’t been certain of whether to cross that boundary before he left, she had a more conclusive idea now. Lime had always been his own person to her, but looking at him in that getup was more than she could take. It was if they lived in separate worlds–

Funny. Funny how she felt what he had felt for so long. This… untouchability, this uncrossable bridge, of difference in ability and personhood. And in the midst of the difference, they shared the same heart. 

He walked around town with that girl for weeks, running around waving new weapons, and living his life without needing her. She wasn’t sure how to approach him, only he could really do that, so he did just that. And somehow, he found himself standing before her, in the privacy of her home, with no one else around. 

Her eyes looked him up and down, conflicting feelings of desire and heartache boiling inside all at once. And they stood apart, staring at the other not as children, high school friends, or classmates, but as a man and a woman. Yet, yet, yet, flashed in her mind; but, but, but! He’d been initiated as a member of the very organization that stands against her kind. How could she ever dare love this specific mortal? If it hadn’t felt like taboo before, it sank like a pit in her stomach now. 

Now, his eyelids slowly blinked as his gaze soaked every inch of her in. They both had changed so much, but in his belief, she stayed the same Mochi. Beautiful, kind, and a storm of emotion and pondering behind her eyes. But this time, she was hesitating, he could see it. It must be the clothes, he thought, they say they make the man, after all.

And made him they did. 

All this time, he had been running after her. He had been trying to close this gap but somehow instead took one step forward and three steps back. He wasn’t compensating anymore, he knew this, confidently. So, he would now step forward without the distance continuing to grow. When he stepped forward, she tried to step away and he reached out to stop her. For the first time. And he could reach her. 

“Mochi, please stop,” he began, his voice low and earnest. 

The seriousness in his words finally caused her to meet his gaze. Her eyes had been avoiding his face ever since the moment she noticed how handsome he had become. She could barely hear him over the sound of her beating heart. 

“W-What?” She finally managed to reply, a crack in her voice followed by uneasiness. 

He didn’t like this. He liked when Mochi was herself around him, when she was comfortable, laughing, and smiling. But then he thought to himself, how long had it been since he last saw that version of her? How long had it been since they had… been themselves together? He didn’t train this hard for her to push him away again. He loved her more than she could understand, more than the stars could explain, and more than whatever cosmic force might try to keep them apart. He would tear any opposing forces apart and down and inside out to have her. 

Gently, he grasped a few strands of her hair. He felt the ends of it on his thumb, lovingly peering down at the locks. And then, his gaze trailed up to her blushing and adamant face. His eyes ever so steadfast and sincere, he finally responded to her. 

“I’m not running on some baseball field anymore and you’re… you’re not struggling with 3rd period physics anymore. I’m not running anymore, but you – you are… Stop running away from me, stop… hesitating.” 

She swallowed, the resolution in his voice caught her off guard, and somehow, hurt her feelings. Her? Running away? She wasn’t sure if she was ready to face the music, hadn’t that been the case? She was running away? No, she needed to stay strong, feign ignorance. 

“What does some soldier from the M34TH want with me, some witch?” She answered, turning her face away from his. 

He stepped closer, their bodies barely an inch apart. He lowered his face closer to hers, his gaze piercing with sincerity and a fire she had known before behind his eyes. “As far as I’m concerned, I’m not just some soldier and you’re not just some witch, but if you’re stressing that beautiful head of yours out about it, allow me to clarify.” 

His large, calloused hand swiftly found its way to her waist, while the other gently cradled her jaw tilting upwards. Within seconds he closed the distance between their lips and pressed their bodies together. How long had he been waiting for his moment, to claim what he felt was unclaimable? When he pulled away, he brushed his thumb across her lips, which she quickly pushed away and hid her face within his chest. 

What had he just done? He broke the wall, he crossed the line – he had done what she kept herself from doing for so long. He stopped hesitating. Her fingers gripped the sides of his coat and she pushed her face harder into his chest. She felt too many things, too many conflicting thoughts swirling, but above it all it told her this may change everything. 

And, in true Lime fashion, “this won’t change anything,” he said. As if reading her mind, he responded with the words she needed to hear. “But let me have this today, where you’re not some witch and I’m not some officer.”

She pulled back and looked up at him, her cheeks flushed. “And what about tomorrow, when I decide to hesitate again? What about tomorrow, when I have to be who I really am, a witch, and you have to put that uniform on?” 

witches be like *cat collar noises*