Chapter 79 Stay With Me

Frozen in place, Nix blinked a few times. Scratching his eyes, he had to make sure her presence wasn't just a figment of his imagination.

She sat on the chair laid back, her right leg over the other, with her gaze intently on him.

He hadn't seen her in a while, so he hoped it was just his wishful thinking.

"It is I, Lumina, the one and only person you refer to as pretty!" She said in self absorption, clarifying she was indeed real.

"What are you doing here?" He gave a nervous chuckle, hoping to steer the topic away from him.

With a raised brow, Lumina narrowed her eyes even further.

"Hmmm..."

Looking anywhere but her, he did wonder how long she had been there.

"I just came in not too long. Thinking it might be nice to rest up a little after the strange event of today," she began, almost as if she could read his thoughts, "I had thought I might catch a thief while at it."

"Haha good one." He said with a straight face.

Shrugging, Lumina got up, folding her hands, she simply stared without another word.

'This is getting really awkward.' Nix thought, looking at the table where a piece of paper laid, from the looks of it, it had a seal, one too similar to the academy's insignia.

Lumina traced his line of sight and was instantly thrown into panic as she rushed towards the paper and squeezed it, shoving it into her pocket.

"It's just class projects." She explained.

There was no way he was buying that excuse, even when his mother was still alive, she couldn't even hide the fact something was definitely wrong when she tried hiding the scroll.

Whatever it was, he couldn't care less at the moment. All he had managed to get was an excuse to avoid the discussion steering in his direction again, and that was just about enough for him.

"If that's all, I would like to take a break. I feel like my mind is still foggy." He mumbled to himself. "I'm not sure I can continue any more. It's been quite a stressful day."

He turned to leave, but before he could do so, Lumina walked past him and stood in the doorway. Nix's back stiffened.

"What are you doing?" He questioned.

Lumina looked at him, wondering if he was going to tell her what had just happened.

"Are you going to leave me again? I can't stand it, Nix!" The words came out in a torrent. It was clear that she was in tears. She had to fight back the urge to cry in front of him.

'Again?' He had never seen her like this. He had never seen her cry. It was quite the contrast from his previous encounters with her.

He was about to explain himself, but she quickly interrupted him.

"Can you just stay the night like we used to? I want you to stay with me." She wanted to make sure she had not been too forward, but it was already too late. She had already made her intentions clear.

Nix looked at her as though she was crazy. Taking a sniff of the air, he could smell her breath, there were no traces of alcohol in her breath. She clearly wasn't drunk.

"If this is about the other–"

Lumina pulled on his collar, forcing him into a tight embrace.

He hadn't even had a chance to explain himself before she started kissing him, her lips moving frantically against his own.

Gently, he pulled her out of the embrace. "I'm sorry but I don't think you are in your right senses at the moment." He was trying to be patient to explain himself, but she didn't seem to be listening.

His senses could tell something else was triggering her suddenly being too forward, it almost felt like a trade.

As much as he wanted to go further, he would not allow that to be used as a tool to reel him in, that was his forte.

Commitment was something he also feared, having someone too close to him was something dreadful. The guilt he still felt in memory of his family being killed still haunted him.

Until he could forgive himself, there was no way he would be able to allow anyone to go through something as gruesome as they did.

'I am a walking disaster magnet.' He reminded himself of the thought of being the main protagonist in this world.

The movies had taught him the fates that befell several females that were close to their counterparts.

Lumina was disappointed that he had refused her, and she had to admit that, in all honesty, she had been a bit too forward. But the only thing she could think about was the fact that he had left her. She was in the middle of making up to him, and he had left without a word.

The weird recollection of what Ayanami had said, left a lasting impression on her. Now that he was present, she thought it best to give him a chance to explain himself. "Nix, where were you, yesterday night?"

'Seriously? That's the question?'

Nix looked at her, and in a calm voice, he said, "It's not something I need to say to you."

"Oh!" She looked disappointed.

"By any chance, do you have any special preferences?" She muttered, unsure of why she would ask such a stupid question.

Nix's mood immediately darkened at her question, there was something oddly familiar with the way she spoke.

It almost felt like someone had instigated her to say such nonsense.

A shiver went down her spine as she noticed how her words had affected his mood. Shaking her head, she realized she had merely allowed Ayanami's words to get to her for her to think in such a direction, just because he had rejected her advances.

"Who put you up to this?!" He growled in rage. There was only one person he could think of and this made him more furious at the thought. All he needed was for her to confirm it.

"No one." Lumina sweat dropped, knowing fully well that it had been unwise to go with what Ayanami had proposed in the first place. If she reveals that to him.

Judging from the way Ayanami spoke, they weren't really on good terms, and the mere mention of her name might spark a negative reaction in his current state of mind.

Forcing her up against the wall, he had both hands on the wall and trapping her from moving, closing his eyes, he tried to stay calm as he spoke once more.

"I would only ask one more time, who put you up to this?" His eyes searched hers as he awaited an answer.