Agitation

ms-lumina:

The loosening of his grip didn’t help in the slightest and the fact that he still wouldn’t let her go and remained a grip around her wrist just annoyed Nene even more, almost the point were her boiled up anger would pop. There wasn’t anything else to say about the matter.

“I would never have taken you to be this sensitive about all this Kiriha. What’s the big deal anyway?” Her expression changed from the sad from earlier to a frown. “And if I’m not mistaken I am entitled to do whatever I want.“ She glared daggers at him, taking a step closer to him.

He squeezed her wrist, the next words uttered from his lips making Nene feel annoyed. He had passed over-exaggerating a long time ago, now also bringing in that. “Well who said I had to please you?! I’m sorry to break this to you Kiriha but people change. But for what it’s worth, you really haven’t changed at all. You have instead gone back, back to before you joined Xros Heart.” She sent him multiple glares, almost getting so angry that she wanted to scream it all out.

She didn’t want to say the next words that were paused in her mind that she had kept from everyone, but she did anyway. “Newsflash Kiriha… I can’t believe I was captivated by you.“

Not letting herself look brought down again she instead turned her head away and looked in another direction, her hand that was still held firmly by Kiriha dropping loosely by her side. “At least… let go of me.” She spoke calmly, but very low pitched. “I won’t walk away.“

His gaze seemed to harden as she gave him her retort, and vexation grew more evident on his face. She still didn’t get him, and it was starting to frustrate him more as the moments progressed. Did he really need to spell it out for her…?

"Don’t give me that, I am not getting sensitive,” he snapped back, not even bothering to hold back his tone any longer. “And I’ll tell you what the big deal is; the Nene I know wouldn’t just nod and go along with a stranger’s impulses!” His own exclamation surprised even himself. Quieting for a moment, he pursed his lips swallowed back silently, then slowly exhaled through his nose. “…You say that, Nene, but I get this feeling you didn’t do it out of your own decision. You were forced to do this, weren’t you? That’s the point I’m trying to make here!”

More and more assumptions ran through his mind in those moments, thinking of the possibilities that would’ve made Nene do such a rather uncharacteristic thing for her. Surely she wasn’t the type to break through people’s personal spaces just for her own amusement? …Well, perhaps that may have been true for the old Nene he once knew in the past, but things have changed since then, and he believed Nene had grown to be more mindful and compassionate. So, why–?

His breath hitched briefly at her next words, however, and it took a few seconds for him to let it sink in. Her words were blunt and biting, and he could just feel them pierce at his conscience. Yet… to hear her say that she was captivated by him? And odd feeling seemed to tug at the back of his mind, though it wasn’t anything like the annoyance he felt prior; it was indescribable to him. But as his mind fully processed her words, agitation rose, and his jaw clenched to the point it almost made a grinding noise. That was the last straw.

Kiriha released his grip on her wrist, placed his hands on her shoulders and forced her to look him in the eye.

“No one ever said that you had to!!” He snapped in a voice that almost resembled a low snarl. “I know people change! If you think I’m that dense then you’re sorely mistaken!”

“I believed you changed for the better! I believed in you, can’t you see that!? But…” His voice slowly began to alleviate back into a normal tone. “I never would’ve thought you of all people would become someone who’d let strangers play these stupid demands on you… I told myself, no matter how much you’d change, I’ll still have faith in you and your honorable airs! That’s why…!”

“Do you understand now? This is making me worry about you!” He stressed out almost each word he uttered. “If anything had happened while I was gone… I…”