And then there was Lilith. Maria called her The Bombshell, insisting that she was flawless in every way, from her perfectly proportioned body to the stunning features of her otherworldly face. Lilith didn’t know how much of that was true, though she did know that men found her attractive—it was hard not to with how they acted around her. Still, being called a “Bombshell,” even the person calling her that was female, was embarrass-ing.
As they walked into the store, Lilith moved closer to her friend’s side, and grabbed Maria’s arm in a vice grip. Her friend allowed this—just another reason that Lilith liked Maria so much.
“You know, I sometimes feel like you’re just using me as a shield,” Maria joked.
Lilith flinched. “I’m sorry.”
“Hey now.” Maria patted Lilith’s right hand. “You know I don’t mind. I was just kidding.”
Lilith gave her a weak smile. “Right.”
The men in the cafe hadn’t stopped staring since they’d entered. Only Maria’s “take one step closer and I’ll punch your face in” glare kept them in place. Lilith tried her best to ignore them as she and her friend walked up to the register. Fortunately—and also unfortunately—the person manning the register that day was a girl.
“I’ll have a strawberry banana smoothie with protein powder,” Maria said. Lilith looked at her oddly.
“I thought you wanted a frappuccino?”
“I’ve changed my mind.”
“One strawberry banana smoothie with protein powder, got it,” the young pig-tailed girl behind the register said. She then directed her gaze to Lilith, the smile on her face becoming strained. “And what about you?”
“Um.” Lilith tried to concentrate on the menu, but it was hard. She wasn’t feeling very comfortable, maybe because the patrons were now behind them. She could feel more stares being directed at her backside. “I would like your… Pesto Chicken Panini.”
“All right, one Pesto Chicken Panini. Are you two ordering together or separate?”
“Together,” Maria said before Lilith could say “separate.” She sent her friend a look, but Maria just grinned at her.
“Okay, here’s your number. Just find a seat and we’ll bring your order up once it’s ready.”
“Come on.” Maria turned around, the holder with their number in hand, and began walking away from the cash register. “Do you want to sit inside or outside?”
Lilith followed her friend while turning the question over in her head. As she was trying to determine what she wanted, her eyes strayed across the room, seeking an answer from her surroundings. Halfway through her inspection, she froze. There, seated at one of the tables, a small steaming cup and a pot of coffee sitting before him, was the raven-haired man that she had run into yesterday.
He didn’t look at her, even though his chair was facing her. He didn’t even seem to have noticed her yet, which was odd. No male had ever been able to ignore when she walked into a room, even if they were facing away from her, like all men had some kind of sixth sense that let them know she was near. The tablet that she had seen him with the other day sat on his lap, and his irises skimmed across the screen. What was he reading? she wondered.
“Hey, Lilith. Have you thought of where you want to sit yet? Lilith?”
When Maria noticed that she had stopped moving, she turned back around. Lilith stood frozen like a block of ice. With a concerned look, her friend followed Lilith’s gaze and immediately zeroed in on the young man.
A sly smile crossed her lips. “Oh, my. Oh, my, oh, my. I hadn’t realized that you’ve finally become interested in the opposite sex.”
“What?”
Lilith’s attention snapped away from the man and to her friend. She stared at Maria with an expression of uncertainty, her mind replaying Maria’s words in her mind. When she finally finished analyzing what her friend had said, her eyes widened, while at the same time her cheeks gained a healthy dose of color.
“I-it isn’t like that.” She was careful to keep her voice down so no one would hear her. Too many people were already watching them. No need to add more fuel to the fire. Plus, she didn’t want him to also notice her presence.
“It’s not?” Maria’s eyes were alight with mirth. Her brown orbs twinkled merrily and with more than a bit of mischief. She had the look of someone who’d just been told Christmas had come early.
Lilith didn’t like that look. Not one bit. “No, it’s not.”
“Then what is it like?”
“Ah… well, I just sort of… ran into him… the other day, I mean…” Lilith answered lamely.
The look on Maria’s face demanded a lengthier explanation. “You ran into him?”
“We kind of… crashed into each other… literally, I mean. And I may have… sort of… kinda… overreacted a bit. Just a little.”
“I see, I see.”
Lilith felt an inexplicable urge to hide at the sight of Maria’s widening grin. There was something frightening about that look.
“So basically, you reacted like you do every time a man gets too close, and ran away screaming like a banshee who discovered crack.”
If there hadn’t already been heat surging to her cheeks, there most certainly was now. Her face felt hot enough to cook a panini on it. Did her friend really have to bring that up?
“I don’t do that every time I run into a man.” Lilith tried to defend herself. When Maria gave her a steady stare, her defenses crumbled. Her shoulders slumped, and she gave her friend a pathetic look. “Okay, so maybe I do act like that. I can’t help it, though. You know how men frighten me.”
“Trust me, I am well aware of that,” Maria said dryly. She then glanced sideways at the young man across the room. “That still doesn’t explain why you reacted so strongly when you saw him.”
Lilith glanced at the man as well. Now that she wasn’t quite freaking out, she could see his features more clearly. He was definitely what most girls would describe as handsome. He had slightly pale skin, strong features, and looked like he kept himself in good shape, if the definition in his arms and the way his shirt strained against his pectorals and broad shoulders were any indication. His midnight-black hair was wild and untamed in a devil-may-care sort of way. Lilith imagined many girls would enjoy running their hands through that hair.
Perhaps his most arresting feature were his eyes, which stood out prominently, even from a distance. They practically glowed, outshining even the lights overhead. The left eye reminded her of an emerald, bright and vibrant. Meanwhile, the right eye was a deep scarlet, reminiscent of a ruby. Rather than detract from his looks, the starkly contrasting colors enhanced them. Even Lilith had to admit that his eyes were gorgeous.
Ridding herself of all these strange thoughts, she redirected her attention to Maria, who also eyed the young man with an appreciative gaze.
“I met him twice.” Maria blinked, and then turned her head and looked back at Lilith. “Once when I was leaving this place, and again when I was on my way home.” Her gaze flickered to the young man, who still hadn’t looked up. “He… he apologized for bumping into me when I was on my way home from work, and then he gave me the bag of crepes I had dropped earlier that morning.”
“He gave you the food you had dropped?” Maria raised an eyebrow. “That seems like an odd thing to do. Wouldn’t it have spoiled by then?”
“There was money in the bag,” Lilith informed her. “Enough to cover the cost of the food.”
“Oh, my.” Maria was smiling again. “It seems he is quite the chivalrous young man.”
Chivalry was considered a dead concept in this day and age. From what Lilith understood, most women considered a man who acted chivalrous to be chauvinistic. Having been on the receiving end of every man's unwanted advances for the past several years of her life, Lilith didn't even know what that concept meant anymore.
“He didn't try to assault me.”
Maria paused. She knew what Lilith meant. For whatever reason, Lilith had a stran
ge effect on men. Either they became drooling idiots or attempted to sexually assault her. Neither of them understood why.
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“Well,” Maria started slowly. “It had to happen eventually, right? I mean, there has to be at least one man in this entire planet that doesn’t turn into a drooling mass of flesh or a salacious beast when they’re in your presence.” Slowly, ever so slowly, the smile returned in full bloom. “Perhaps he’s the one you’re destined to be with.”
“D-don’t joke like that,” Lilith stuttered, her face aflame. “There’s no such thing as fate or love at first sight or anything like that. That’s just a bunch of fairy tales made up by Disney to entertain little girls who dream of being swept of their feet and―are you even listening to me?”
No, Maria wasn’t listening. Clasping her hands together and bringing them up to her chin almost as if she were about to pray, Maria did an approximation of a swoon. “I can just picture it now: two lost souls who never thought they could fall in love with a member of the opposite sex meet, and find comfort in each other’s arms. It sounds so romantic!”
“R-romantic?!” Embarrassed did not begin to describe how mortified Lilith felt. In that moment, all she wanted to do was crawl into a hole and die. “I don’t… it’s not… I mean I couldn’t…”
Maria whirled on her, the grin still present. “Regardless of what you could or couldn’t do, you should at least thank him for reimbursing you for the money you lost.”
“Eh?” Lilith blinked at Maria’s sudden change in topic. Slowly, a frown appeared as she contemplated her friend’s words. “That… that does seem to be the right thing to do, doesn’t it?” She worried her lower lip with her teeth. “But…”
“But nothing! Go over there and thank him!”
Maria must have grown tired of her indecision. The next thing Lilian knew, her friend had pushed her toward the table where the young man sat.
Lilith stumbled toward the table where the young man sat. She just barely kept from losing her balance and falling onto the floor in front of the table. Not that this made her feel any better. Why did her friend have to be so pushy sometimes?
Smoothing out the nonexistent wrinkles in her knee-length skirt, Lilith opened her mouth… and promptly froze. It wasn’t fear that kept her from speaking—at least not completely. Her silence was caused by something entirely new.
She had no idea what to say. This would be the first time that she had ever willingly spoken to a man in years, outside of e-mail (some of her teachers were men). What could she say to him? Thank you for giving me enough money to cover the cost of the food you made me drop? Somehow, that didn’t sound appropriate, or polite. It actually sounded kind of rude.
While she was busy thinking about what she should say, the young man in question finally noticed her. He looked up from his KLReader to stare at Lilith. For several long seconds, he said nothing, merely looked at her as if not quite sure what to make of her presence.
After a moment of him staring at her and her staring at nothing, he asked, “Can I help you?”
“Kya!” Startled, Lilith let out a short scream.
The action in the room ground to a halt. Everyone who had not already been staring at her stopped what they were doing and gawked. The men began to drool, the women to glare. Lilith hardly noticed this time. Her wide eyes were fixed upon the person before her.
“Sorry,” he apologized, looking abashed. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
“Oh! Um, no, no!” Lilith squeaked. She shook her head, trying not to give in to the increasing desire she felt to turn around and flee the café. “It’s okay. I was… was… um… thinking?” Lilith had no clue if she was asking a question or making a statement. She didn’t know much of anything at the moment. Her brain was on the fritz.
The young man raised a single dark eyebrow. “Thinking?”
“Y-yes. Thinking.”
“… Okay.” He seemed content accept what she said, or at least not concern himself enough to question her further. Lilith didn’t know how to feel about that.
As his eyes focused on her, Lilith wondered why she was even doing this. She shouldn’t be talking to him. He was a man. She didn’t like men. They were perverted, had no sense of shame, and drooled over her like she was a pinup model who didn’t possess any feelings of her own. They lied and had no qualms about hurting her if it meant getting what they wanted. She couldn’t trust them.
And yet…
“Is there something I can do for you, Ms…”
Lilith stiffened. “No!” she squeaked pitifully.
The young man stared at her some more. “Then why are you here?”
When Lilith flinched, he shook his head and tried again. “I’m sorry, that was extremely rude of me, and I didn’t mean it like that. I meant, why are you here talking to me? I thought you hated men.”
“I did―I mean I do!”
“If you hate men, then why are you…”
“Because I…” Lilith stalled. Her face heated up like a furnace. God, this was so embarrassing! “I wanted to… to… to…”
“Yes?”
“Iwantedtothankyou!”
A blink. For several seconds that was the only answer she received that let her know that he heard her. His face scrunched up for a moment, like he was trying really hard to figure out what she had just said. Not that she blamed him. The speed with which she had spoken caused her words to jumble together like a cat getting tangled in a ball of yarn. His face cleared a few seconds later.
“You’re welcome,” he said simply. “Though I don’t know what you’re thanking me for.”
“For the money you left me.” Lilith spoke more slowly this time. Her voice had also grown
soft, barely more than a whisper. Only the silence blanketing the room allowed him to hear what she said. “It was very kind of you to pay for the meal that I dropped when we ran into each other.”
“Oh, that.” He shook his head. “You don’t have to thank me for that. I was the one who bumped into you, so it’s only right that I make it up to you.”
“But, if I hadn’t been in such a hurry, we wouldn’t have ended up crashing into each other,” Lilith insisted.
“And if I had been paying a little more attention to where I was going, you wouldn’t have bumped into me.”
“You still didn’t have to pay for my food,” she pressed, not at all sure why she was making such a big deal out of this, or why she was even still talking to him.
“Maybe not,” he agreed. “But I would have felt bad if I didn’t do anything.”
“I see.” Lilith looked down at her sandal-clad feet. Her toes wiggled absently as she thought about his words. Seconds later, she was looking at him again. “Even if you say that, I want to thank you anyway. It was a very nice gesture.”
His smile came naturally—this time Lilith was sure of it. Her heart had definitely skipped a beat.
“You’re very welcome.”
Another silence filled the air. Lilith stood there in indecision. Should she continue talking to him? He didn’t seem like a bad person, and he wasn’t acting like an idiot. It could be a trick… but no, she knew what men who were affected by her looked like. This man didn’t look like he was losing his mind to depravity and lust. If anything, he looked like he just wanted to continue reading whatever was on his tablet, which he glanced at every so often.
Lilith swallowed heavily as he stared at her. Her heart pounded against her chest, a war drum threatening to break free. She was afraid, but at the same time, she wasn’t. This fear felt different from her normal “Oh, my god it’s a man” fear. She didn’t understand. Why? Why didn’t she want to run away?
“So… um… what are… what are you reading?” she asked hesitantly.
“It’s called Kaze no Stigma,” he told her. “You probably haven’t heard of―”
“You’re reading Stigma of the Wind?” Lilith asked in shock.
He looked at her in mild surprise. “You’ve heard of it?”
“I have all twelve volumes under my bed,” she said in excitement, right before realizing that she had just admitted to owning several volumes of a Japanese light novel―which only nerds and geeks read. And admitted it loud enough for several dozen people, including her friend Maria, to hear. “I mean… I thought they looked interesting, so…”
“I love reading Japanese light novels.”
Lilith blinked. “R-really?”
“Yes.” He smiled. “I’ve always loved reading. It’s been a hobby of mine since I was little. I’ve read so much that there are very few original stories that I haven’t read. I had been looking for something new to read when I stumbled upon my first light novel in the manga section of a bookstore. I’ve been hooked ever since. Light novels are very different from American novels and novellas.”
Lilith felt a smile creeping onto her face. “That’s what got me into them, too. Plus, most American novels are either those gloomy dystopian series or vampire and werewolf stories.”
“Ugh, don’t remind me.” The young man looked positively ill. “How anyone could possibly enjoy those vampire books are beyond me. Whoever heard of a vampire that sparkles in the sunlight? It’s completely inaccurate. Vampires burst into dust when the sun hits them. They don’t sparkle like a pretty boy who’s been shot in the face with a glitter cannon.”
“I know!” Lilith readily agreed, her head bobbing up and down for emphasis. “And then there are the werewolves whose sole reason for existing in a story seems to be losing their clothes after they transform. It’s like they were made simply to give teenage girls something to drool over.”
“I know!” The young man repeated Lilith’s earlier words, looking positively ecstatic to see someone who agreed with him. “The dystopian stories are okay,” he added after a moment’s pause. “Though I’ll admit, there are far too many of them. Stories like that are only good after the first couple of series. Once you’ve read a couple dozen, you find that they’re all more or less the same story, and the only real difference is the characters involved, and they tend to be carbon copies of other stories’ characters anyway.”
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