Rain; oh how she had longed for the soothing mood that the rain brought. Drops of cold water hitting the surface of her skin as she walked through a deserted street, cherry-colored tresses drenched to the ends. Bianca had been in the holy capital Crocus for exactly a week now, and today was the first day she decided to leave the comforts of the small inn room she had rented for her stay, flooded with books she had purchased from various stores. It was her second visit and the reason for it was simply just to visit. She had no family, no relatives, no one who cared about her ― not that she had any in the first place. Sadly, unlike everyone else, this was a more preferable (and safe) condition for Bianca, although entering Crocus had made her feel as though she was trespassing a restricted area after all that she had done.

Booted feet met the tar road with a mini splash every step she took in the heavy rain, her range of sight reduced to barely a few meters ahead. Something told her she was not alone, but it was just her crazy instincts, and they always told her she was not alone.

Footfalls ceased as the sorceress came to a sudden stop, an eerie silence falling upon the empty road. The dark clouds above deluged a myriad of raindrops, the endless fall of rain only increasing in strength. Her instincts had told her she had company, a thought she had pushed into the back of her clouded mind, but it was clear to her that there was another human in her presence, catching the strong scent that clung to his being with her powerful senses. ‘Was he there a while ago?’ thought the slayer, stealing a glance at the faded silhouette. ‘What’s he doing there?’ Bianca remained standing still in the middle of the junction, curiously watching the figure from the corner of narrowed optics. She had no business with this man, but it was a bit odd how he was the only other person to be standing in the rain, letting his clothes get soaked and not giving a fuck.

Tucking a lock of wet hair behind her ear, the excited wizard decided to add her own essence to the weather. At the base of the rain clouds above, a strange reaction would occur as Bianca’s magic fought to dominate the rain. Anyone watching through their windows would be able to view the ‘black rain’ as the previously clear raindrops were laced with sparkling black water. It doesn’t stain, it doesn’t sting, but it might have caught the stranger’s attention. Usually this would have been a sort of ill omen, something to ascertain the predicted death of someone, or bad luck. Her magic wasn’t tied to any of these superficial beliefs, but she was the Flower of Death, and it was purely coincidental how every time she used her magic, someone had to die.

The sickening vibe that her magic brought died down suddenly as the male was dragged(?) into the building behind him. Thick brows furrowed in annoyance at his act of ignorance to her display of what some would call advanced sorcery (even though there were far more advanced magics than her). Did he not see that the rain had turned black? Or was he distracted by something else? Bianca strided across the street to the stranger’s previous location and peered through the entrance of what seemed to be an inn. Soaking from head to toe, but not really caring that the carpet would get wet, she stepped warily into the establishment, the cold of the air conditioner hitting her drenched clothes, sending shivers down her spine.

Gathering her damp tresses into a loose ponytail, she went further in until narrowed ocean-blue optics fixed themselves on the familiar stranger seated at a table alone, possibly waiting for food. From where he was sitting, he wouldn’t be able to spot Bianca, unless he had a very sharp eyesight or great ears to catch the sound of dripping water from her body. The puzzled gazes (probably because she looked like she had jumped into a river) that came from people nearby didn’t faze her in the slightest as she kept watching in the most subtle way possible. A very tense waiter came walking along the corridor she was standing in and in one raised hand was a tray that held a single dish. Whether it was his or not, Bianca strode in front of the waiter and took the dish from the tray, giving him a ‘Leave and don’t ask’ look before turning in the direction of the dining hall, aquamarine hues locked on the blonde stranger. ‘This is for ignoring me,’ she thought, taking widely spaced steps towards his table, and without much warning or hesitation, bashed the meal into his face and leapt backwards. She evidently didn’t mind causing such a scene in the middle of a dining hall.

“Apologize to me.”

A very entertained smirk crept onto her lips as unblinking eyes stared at the man’s reaction. She could watch it for days and still be equally amused. The expression of shock and anger combined on his food stained face made him appear hilarious. If she was not fueled by rage as well, she would have burst out in a fit of hysterics. With enough self-control and pride, Bianca refrained from acting in any way that might make her seem vulnerable or frivolous. “You should know exactly what,” said the pinkette, her look returning to the cold and annoyed one as he said the words ‘What the fuck’. The other people in the dining hall stood up one after another, ready to leave their tables and flee if anything dangerous commenced, which had a high chance.

Grabbing his table with her grip on the underside, the slightly livid mage hurled it sideways into another table to her right. One would have thought it was a display of strength, but in reality, she was simply clearing the space between the man and herself so she could confront him properly. A grim expression plastered onto her face, Bianca lowered her crown to meet him eye-to-eye as she now stood exactly in front of him. Just then, a very unacceptable sentence slipped through the blonde man's mouth, provoking her even further to which she responded by screaming, “HOW DARE YOU!?” in his face, each and every syllable resounding throughout the dining hall, followed by an immediate slap to his right cheek. It would rest on the male’s reflexes, whether or not her hand connected to his cheek, or simply swung crosswise if he managed to dodge it. Either way she would continue to speak, a sort of explanation between her words as she would raise a single hand to tell him to listen to what she had to say first. If he didn’t allow her to speak, they would begin fighting immediately. But if not, the following events would unfold:

“How dare you . . . you ignorant bastard! How dare you act greater than me, when you are just like the rest! I will not let this pass without a duel to teach you a lesson. Fight me, or have me curse you and your family!” Bianca bellowed with rage. At this point, people had begun to escape from the dining hall. The commotion seemed to have alarmed the entire inn’s staff as a horde of uniformed men and women watched in fear of what might happen to their little dining hall as the dark skies roared with earsplitting thunder outside.

A sharp gasp escaped her parted mouth as the man didn’t dodge her slap, but instead caught her hand. She immediately yanked it out of his grip, letting it fall to her side. “Don’t touch me,” she hissed, the words were barely audible unless you had sharp ears. It seemed that he also noticed the distraught staff and told Bianca that they should sort out whatever bullshit they had outside. With an irked expression plastered on her face, the sorceress did not let her eyes wander anywhere but the man’s face while she said the words, “Fine then.” Somehow she felt the grip on her hand once again and before she had time to realize it, was dragged through the double doors that were held ajar by the relieved waiters, eager to have the disruptive woman out of their previously peaceful inn.

Once they were outside again in the heavy rain, Bianca’s slender form curved around so she was released from his hold and stood facing the blondie. “You have no right,” she began, stringing the most appropriate words in her own mind before speaking them out loud. “You are an ignorant man, and I feel the need to fix that . . .” Clearly she wasn’t very good at getting her point across and the sound of the rain drowning out half of her words didn’t help at all. Bianca took a few steps back, giving them a gap of about one and a half meters between them before she questioned him. “Do you want know why I called you ignorant?” If he said no, she would show him, and if he said yes, she would still show him. The only difference was whether or not her display involved anger or not.

This was evidently one of the most awkward occurrences in her life, now that she thought about it. It was not only her very first time having a complete stranger ignore her display of a skill she was proud of, but it was also the first time she hadn’t removed this person’s bowels yet. His blunt response made her flinch a little, mostly because of how valid his reasons were. Most of the times Bianca lost her mind, there was never someone to even attempt speaking sense to her, and make her understand the dire situation that had been created by her hidden half. He was speaking in no placating nature, at least not purposely, but the violence she had thought to unleash seemed to have subsided with every syllable he pronounced. The longer he spoke, the lower her fighting spirits got, and he ended it by saying that he didn’t give a damn about why she thought he was ignorant.

For the first time in a long while, she felt blatantly offended, but she felt like doing nothing about it. Huffing slightly as she folded her arms once again, the agitated slayer opened her mouth to speak. “Stop speaking like a sailor!” she began, a bit loudly, before she paused for a brief moment. In the distance a sudden crack of thunder seemed to deafen everyone for a while. She took a wary step backwards, speaking mostly to herself. “Your words aren’t half true,” she spoke in a hushed tone. “The world doesn’t revolve around me, of course I know that.” Azure pools cast downwards, Bianca would appear to look like the world’s most clueless person currently.

Out of all the things he could have done to make things more awkward, he had to laugh. As it was quite hard to see through the heavy rain, he wouldn’t be able to notice how pink her face turned on hearing his chuckle. She almost felt like slapping him again. It appeared that he had decided to leave what had happened behind to make some kind of truce, which seemed to be the most suitable thing to do at the moment. Tucking a stray lock of hair behind her pointed ear, Bianca let out a small, uneasy cough. ‘Should I give in to him? Is it right to let him go?’ she thought for a few seconds, a tense pause between the two. Her mind told her that she should put it to rest and go on with her day, but something else told her she wasn’t done.

In the end, her mind took reign and with a defeated sigh, the slayer raised her large baby-blue eyes to face the man. “I know what I did back there was a mistake.” She held her slender hand out as raindrops rebounded off her soft, milky skin, for him to shake. “My name is Bianca, by the way,” she told him, slightly embarrassed about the turn of events. Wait, what? A dinner offer from him, the one who was offended? “You are one strange man,” she said with a slight giggle. “I’m not accepting your offer, because I have a more reasonable offer. I’ll cook you dinner at my place since I’m the one who slapped you . . . we need to clean up, too.” Bianca pointed at her damp clothes and hair as if to tell him what she meant by ‘clean up’. If he decided to accept her offer, the following events would occur. Plus, if he did, now would probably be a good time for him to think of ways to get clothes for himself since Bianca did not own anything he could fit in.

The inn was called ‘Martha’s Inn’, the large lighted sign illuminating the doorway that led inside. Bianca brought out her card key, placing it over the sensor, and then pushed the glass door gently, waiting for Konstantin to enter as well. Their dripping-wet clothes invited a lot of unwanted stares, which Bianca ignored effectively and marched towards the lift hurriedly. Her room was on the sixth floor, in the far corner and the largest once, since she had wanted a place to cook as well. Once they reached her door, she thrusted the key into the hole and turned, a clicking noise sounding. With a glance back at Konstantin, the wizard spoke before he could step off the rug at the entrance. “I’d suggest you use the bathroom first.” Pointing at the bathroom door, she grabbed a clean, folded towel and handed it to him. In the meantime, she would be in the kitchen, preparing her utensils and ingredients for dinner so that they were ready to be cooked once she was done cleaning up.

“I’ll call you Kon, too,” was her short reply when he introduced himself. The moment that Konstantin entered the bathroom, Bianca would grab a smaller towel and begin drying her hair before she used the hairdryer since she would have to wait until he finished and he might take a while. She took off her clothes as well, replacing them with an oversized sweater temporarily, and proceeded into the kitchen. Bending down to open the mini fridge, she retrieved some vegetables, a packet of spicy paste and placed them on the counter. The noodles were in the cabinet next to the fridge, which she grabbed as well, taking the amount that would be enough for two people, and putting it next to the other ingredients. As soon as the water began to boil, she dropped the noodles into the pot and placed the lid on top. Chopping up the vegetables as she hummed a melodic tune, the wizard seemed to be having a moment of peace after what had happened earlier. It was actually a funny incident, come to think of it. The noodles were ready in no time, so she replaced the used water with clean water, then added the vegetables and spices. She didn’t know if Konstantin would prefer it with meat or not, so she simply neglected the thought and simply went on with stirring the contents of the pot properly before fitting the lid on again.

If Konstantin came out of the shower now, she would ask him to watch the pot and turn off the stove in ten minutes. If not, she would keep watch of it herself until he came out. However, once he did finish, she would enter the bathroom with a towel for herself, take off the sweater and shut the door before letting the warm water hit her soft skin, a feeling of relaxation washing over her. She loved warm showers. In fact, she woke up for them every morning, it was the only thing that could get her out of the large cozy king-sized bed that she had been sleeping on for a little over a week now. A wide range of bath oils and gels aligned the shelves on the wall next to her, from which she picked out a vanilla scented one and washed herself with it. Since Bianca was the type of girl who took good care of her body, she would usually spend about twenty minutes in the shower, nicely shampooing herself and letting the oils sink into her skin. After exactly twenty minutes, she stepped out of the shower, letting towel soak up the water on her skin and drying her hair for a second time. She would then carry out her daily after-bath rituals such as applying body butter and such. Once all that was done, she would leave the bathroom with the towel wrapped around her body and pick another oversized sweater (since the other one got wet and added to the laundry basket), put it on, then return to the kitchen with unbrushed hair. “It smells ready.”

Bianca didn’t mind him using the towel because it wasn’t hers in the first place. A pallid hand reached for the giant brush that rested on her dress, firm needles combing through her silky tresses as she walked over to the stove. The noodles were ready, she could tell that by the smell alone, so she turned off the stove and placed her brush to the side. “It’s not because yours is non-existent, it’s because mine is better than normal. I’m a slayer,” she told him. Bianca wasn’t the type to show off, she just had a feeling that Konstantin would want to know why she had a keener sense of smell compared to him. Most people did, but she couldn’t know for sure, it was just an assumption. Removing the lid, which released a huge cloud of steam, she took a bit of the soup and tasted it. It was ready, and sho she lifted the pot off the stove and poured the contents equally into two bowls.

“I’m not sure if you’ll like this, but I prefer to eat as little meat as I can so most of my dishes are vegetarian,” she told him, placing his bowl opposite hers. She noticed that he had found a place for him to dry his clothes. But what she didn’t notice until she finished bringing ice-filled glasses and a jar, was the fact that he was only in a towel. Realising this a little too late, the color of her cheeks turned brighter than the color of her hair. “U-uh . . . we should get someone to buy clothes for you,” she stuttered in embarrassment, immediately staring down at her bowl. “I guess we should eat first, though.” And with that, she sat herself down on the wooden chair and began to eat with her chopsticks.

Since she was really fast at eating, Bianca finished her bowl before Konstantin would. She also liked to keep quiet while eating so they wouldn’t have a conversation until after they both of them finished. Bianca stood and picked up both their bowls once they were done and would leave them in the sink to wash later. The very first thing that she needed to do was find this man clothes so that he would not have to go home half-naked. Plus, it was also still raining. Glancing at the corner of her room, she found the purple umbrella that she had abandoned for days because she preferred walking in the rain. If it was still raining when they found him clothes, she wouldn’t mind borrowing it to him if he returned it later.


The moment he said that he was in the company of such an attractive women, the color that was fading on her cheeks came back in an instant. She thought she was done getting embarrassed but nope. It was not only the first time someone had told her that she was attractive and not sound like a complete creep, but also the very first time someone had made her blush twice in a row, probably without actually intending for it to happen. Bianca, being the nervous wreck she was when she came to these type of situations, she said something that probably made it look like she was hitting on him, which in reality, she wasn’t.


“You’re quite an attractive man yourself,” was what it was. But before things could get worse, she called for the staff girl who cleaned for her room who happened to be in the cleaning room a few rooms away from Bianca’s. She was a nice girl, always willing to help and now that she seemed free and available to help, the relieved phantom gave her a few jewels and told her to bring an appropriate outfit for a man and gave her estimated sizes. She then returned to the room and told Konstantin his clothes were on the way. Meanwhile, since they were supposed to wait, she turned on the telly so that they could watch a movie. She took a seat on the comfy couch in front of the television set and patted next to her. “You can come join me. I won’t bite,” she told him. The awkwardness seemed to have subsided.

To be quite frank, she had never spent time eating dinner or watching the television with a man without both of them expecting to do something else afterwards. This situation was different. After television and getting new clothes, Konstantin was going to leave and it would probably make her feel so empty, not that she was expecting ‘something else’ after this. The only times she wouldn’t even be so shy to see a man in only a towel, were the times she was either heavily drunk or not in her normal state, because she was a very nervous person when it came to this kind of thing, by nature. It was apparently showing a new movie that she had never seen before. The first scene made her cringe a bit mentally, but she didn’t mind. She saw enough gory things in reality to be bothered by such scenes. She wondered if Konstantin was disturbed, on the other hand. He didn’t look like someone who went around killing people for the fun of it.

It didn’t take very long until his clothes arrived. Bianca thanked the girl and brought the bag containing his new clothes over to the couch and handed it to him. “You can use the bathroom to change,” she said, like it wasn’t obvious enough to him. She then brought her legs up, hugging them which she watched the TV with her chin rested on her knees. It was getting really interesting - the movie - so she couldn’t miss a second of it. When Konstantin finished changing he had the choice to either keep watching the movie with her or leave. She would offer him to stay just until the movie finished though, saying, “You can stay until the movie is over, unless you have something important to do,” as she turned to look at him.

It seemed Bianca was late in telling Konstantin to use the bathroom to get himself changed because she could hear the shuffling noises from behind already. With widened eyes, the pinkette sat frigidly as she made sure she didn’t turn or else she would see his naked form. Instead, she tried to focus on the television, which wasn’t helping at all. It made it even worse, and if Konstantin noticed this, he was probably going to think that she was some perverted chick. Hugging her legs tighter, Bianca took a deep breath, ears perked up to hear that Konstantin had walked over to the bathroom. With a relieved sigh that she didn’t feel so nervous anymore, she continued to watch the movie, when something made her froze almost immediately, making her eyes bulge out in shock. She wished she hadn’t been looking at the television, because the reflection that it caught of Konstantin was completely inappropriate, it was what she had been avoiding to look at. She would never be able to look him in the eyes again.

Konstantin accepted her offer and joined her in finishing the movie. Bianca kept herself cooped up in the left corner of the couch as soon as he came back, but relaxed later as the movie climaxed, producing embarrassing gasps at some points. It was clearly going to give Konstantin a negative impression of her, she didn’t doubt that at all, but they were probably going to never meet again, so she didn’t mind. The movie ended with a very mysterious scene, which left her blinking and thinking deeply for a minute. As soon as she remembered that she had to probably lend Konstantin the umbrella, she realised they were probably going to meet her again. She didn’t want to lose that umbrella, it’s her favorite. “You can borrow my umbrella, if you promise to return it,” she told him.

Bianca noticed a sign of slight disappointment in Konstantin’s expression, which she didn’t understand but it was probably just her feeling insecure. She waited for him to get up so that she could walk him over to the door, but what he did next froze her in her seat. He got up, walked over to her side of the couch and gave her a kiss. Tonight was a night of firsts. This was the very first time anyone not related to her had kissed her, and not on her hand like at the balls she went to with her parents when she was younger. Not only did this made her freeze up, it made her face go beet red, the reddest it had ever been, and muted her for about a whole minute before she was able to get him the umbrella.

“Y-you’re welcome and I . . . uh, wish you get home safe.” That was horrible. The stuttering and ‘wish you get home safe’. Pfft. She could jump out of the window right now out of embarrassment. After shutting the door, she leaned against it with her back for another minute, full of humiliation. She just hoped that he didn’t forget to return her umbrella as it was her favorite and she wouldn’t be very happy if he either lost it or forgot about it.