Part-254

  Later that afternoon, James found himself walking through the familiar streets to Mili’s house. For the past few days, he and Mili had been studying together. As strange as their friendship was, they had developed a rhythm when it came to tag schoolwork. It was effit, even enjoyable in a way. The occasional jokes, the shared exasperation over difficult problems—it made the grind bearable.

  As he reached her house, Mili opehe door before he could even knock. "You're te," she said, but there yful glint in her eyes. She motioned him inside, and they quickly settled into their usual routiextbooks sprawled across the table.

  For the few hours, they worked in silehe only sound being the scratg of pens on paper. Occasionally, they’d exge notes or crify a cept, but overall, it was a fortable quiet. That was, until Mili broke the stillness with a question that threw James pletely off guard.

  “James, have you ever fallen in love?”

  James nearly choked on his drink (he felt it was happening it many times these days). He set his cup down, staring at her as if she had grown a sed head. "What kind of question is that?" he asked incredulously.

  Mili shrugged, her eyes remaining on her book, though the ers of her lips twitched into a smile. "I just felt like asking."

  James leaned ba his chair, rubbing his temples. “I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it.”

  “You’re avoiding the question,” Mili pointed out with a grin.

  He hesitated, the out a resigned sigh. "Okay, fine. I've never been in love, but I did have a crush once."

  Mili looked up, intrigued. "Oh? Do tell."

  "Sixth grade," James began, feeling his face heat up already. "My math teacher."

  Mili blihen burst into ughter, the sound filling the room. "Wait, your *teacher*? You fell for an older woman? That’s rich!"

  James’s face turned crimson as he quickly tried to defend himself. "Hey, I was just a kid! It's not like I *knew* better."

  She ughed even harder, clutg her sides. "You are something else, James. Of all people, your teacher?"

  James crossed his arms, grumbling, "Yeah, yeah, ugh it up. I was young and dumb."

  Mili wiped a tear from her eye, finally managing to calm down. “Alright, I’m done, I promise.” She smiled warmly, her teasing subsiding. “But seriously, thanks for sharing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about stuff like that.”

  James gave a small, awkward smile. "Yeah, well, you asked." He gnced back at his textbook, eager to ge the subject. “Let’s get back to this math problem before we fall too far behind.”

  But even as they resumed their studies, Mili’s ued question lingered in his mind. Love? He hadn’t really thought about it, not seriously at least. His life had been ed by the dungeon, the swordsmanship, the stant battles. He hadn’t had the luxury to think about things like romance.

  Yet, here he was, growing stronger and taller by the day. His body was ging, his life was ging, and now, even his mind seemed to be drifting toward unfamiliar territories.