You were something that pulled him in, much like the earth he was connected to. You were a force of power, of nature that held him captive with each little thing you did, with each little breath you took.
Enma watched you form afar, face slightly flushed, eyes half lidded. He was watching you walk, the subtle sway of your hips drawing his eyes. You were perfection, a work of art. And more importantly. His.
"Enma-kun!" Your voice was pure, everything about you was as pure as the Earth itself. You needed him, he was gravity and you were earth.
"(Y/N)-Chan, h-how are you?" His voice was cracking in your presence, sending you into giggles. The dreamy sigh that left him went unnoticed.
"Muu, I'm good!" Your cheerful nature was infectious. Was contagious. You were something else all together. You were something he desired more than anything else.
"That's good." His voice didn't crack this time, something he was grateful for.
He watched you move past him and onto the group of friends you had, he watched you wrap your arms around another male and press those sweet lips that should only belong on his, to the males.
He watched you walk away, the burning fire that ignited within him an all consuming force.
He would have you, you would be his.
After all, he was gravity and you were the Earth.
Even if he had to destroy everything around you, he would have you.
Summary: Enma has bad luck when it comes to everything...except for you.
Rating/Tags: T (reference to panty stealing not done by or to the reader; referenced Julie/Adelheid; (probably) pre-Inheritance arc; non-Simon!Reader; mutual crush; texting; text language; referenced Reader & entire Simon Family; no honorifics)
Challenge: “160 Collective Drabbles” challenge by BobaPop on Lunaescence Archives.
Tag List: @imaginesfire
Late
You sighed as you looked out your bedroom window. Nothing could be seen except for the rain lashing the glass, nothing to be heard but howling wind and the occasional crash of thunder. Even if your best friend in the entire world had been slouching up the walk that very minute, you wouldn’t have been able to spot him in the dark or hear him over the tumult. Squinting helped not at all, and besides, what was the point? Obviously Enma wasn’t coming.
Several years into being friends with him, you should have known that he wouldn’t make it on time to your appointments. Playdates, avoid-the-family parties, shopping plans; it didn’t matter. The boy couldn’t be on time if his life depended on it, and it frequently did. You’d have thought this class project worth fifty percent of your grade would have spurred him on. Apparently not. Enma seemed to want Adelheid to beat the tar out of him. Too bad she’d beat the tar out of you, too, while she was at it.
Straining your ears for the sound of his timid knock just further proved this entire setup was a bust. Perhaps you could have blamed the weather for his absence, but surely he would have texted you that he wasn’t coming if that was the case. The text you had sent thirty minutes ago–Where R U?–remained unanswered.
Then again, it could have been that Julie had stolen Enma’s phone for the fifth time that month. You considered texting Julie to ask, then dismissed the idea. On that stormy, unpleasant afternoon, you were not in the mood to endure his teasing about your “hopeless love.”
You bolted upright from your bed with a gasp. Could that be it? Had Julie or one of the others told Enma of your feelings for him? But why would Enma listen now? Koyo was always trying to goad him on with insinuations about your relationship. All Enma ever did in response was look over at you glumly, silently begging you to share in his misery. Nothing could change that. What could change that? After sliding off the bed, you began to pace.
You were certain you hadn’t done anything differently this past week. Yes, you’d given him a bento, but Enma always forgot his lunch. If you didn’t feed him, who would?
Yes, you’d stayed late to help him clean the classroom, but everyone else had left. What were friends for?
And, yes, you’d let him copy your English homework, but it wasn’t his fault that the neighbor’s dog had got into his backpack and ripped everything up again. Were you supposed to let your future boss flunk out of middle school?
No, you had done nothing this week to attract attention to your secret.
Oh, if Julie had told, you were going to kill him! Or get Adelheid to do it. It shouldn’t be too hard. Just let her in on his steadily growing collection of her panties, and she wouldn’t ask any further questions.
But then you would have to fret over Julie’s eventual revenge…
What did it matter, anyhow? The last of your energy drained away as you sank back onto your bed. Enma would always see you as a friend. The rest of his friends would always make fun of you for it. Instead of moping, you ought to have been getting things ready for your project so you could stay up all night to finish it on your own. No need to ruin his grade and yours over his skipping out. This prospect, combined with the rain and your overall moroseness, had you groaning into your pillow.
A quick rap on your bedroom door interrupted your pity party. Frowning, you shuffled over to open the door and peer out into the hall. Your mother stood there with her arms crossed.
“[Name], I’ve been calling you downstairs for five minutes. What are you doing in here?” she asked.
Probably not the best idea to tell her you were contemplating drowning yourself in a puddle, you decided. “Sorry, Mom.”
“Don’t apologize to me,” she said. “Apologize to Enma. The poor thing was out in the rain waiting for you to let him in!”
Only the did you spout the bedraggled boy standing just behind your mother. Enma’s eyes remained averted even as you stared at him. His clothes were sodden, and his mop of bright red hair was plastered to his head.
Your mother watched this silent exchange for a few moments, then headed back to the living room. “You’re welcome to stay for dinner, dear,” she said as she passed Enma in the hall.
“Thanks,” he mumbled.
This single word hung between you even after she disappeared. You wanted to say something, but you didn’t know what. He looked so miserable–even more miserable than usual, if that were possible. You heart throbbed inside your throat. Had something happened? Were your worst fears confirmed?
“Sorry I’m late,” Enma finally muttered. His eyes remained fixed on the wood floor rather than your face, but he did take a few tentative steps forward. “I, um, went to get you these.”
“These? What are these?”
You blinked at the hand Enma lifted. It clutched some strange mess of green sticks.
“Flowers. They got destroyed in the storm. And when I fell in a ditch. And when that gang of dogs ran after me. And–”
“Why did you get me these?” you interrupted. You had a pretty good idea that Enma’s story wouldn’t be over anytime soon.
He blinked, glanced once at your face, and looked away again. Then he shrugged so hard you thought his head might disappear between his shoulders.
“Dunno. Well, no, I know,” he said more firmly. “I wanted to get you some because…because…well, I like you, [Name].”
Your mouth fell open. Enma liked you? You’d been freaking out over his usual tardiness, worried that this time it was over him figuring out your crush. Now it turned out that he might have, and the result was nothing you could have dreamed. Maybe you would thank Julie after all–except then Enma took a great big gulp of air, looked at the ceiling, and continued at top speed:
“It just–you always take really good care of me. You’re nice to me. No one else treats me like that. And, I don’t know, Julie and Koyo are always having a go at us for dating. We could–we could give it a shot. I don’t know. You probably don’t feel the same way. It’s stupid. I–”
He froze, probably because you had chosen that second to plant a kiss on his cheek. Half a minute of quiet passed before he placed a hand on that very spot.
“U-um?” he said tremblingly.
“I love them,” you said, snatching the “flowers” with one hand and his hand with your other, “and I love you. These are the best flowers I’ve ever been given.”
Enma dared to give you a hesitant smile. “Must not get a lot of flowers, then.”
You let out a soft laugh as you pulled him into the room behind you. Much as you might have preferred to spend the rest of the evening kissing Enma more, there was still that project to worry about. As he pointed out, Adelheid finding out it still wasn’t done yet wouldn’t exactly be a perfect end to the day. You could comfort yourself at least with kissing him whenever he hurt himself. That was often enough to give you your fill.
