The Mind World And The Outcast Hero

Tingling Love

Sindy and Nathan walked side by side as they moved towards the cafeteria. Sindy felt at peace walking beside him. It reminded her of when they were kids, bringing back a strong sense of nostalgia.

This was when the thought of holding hands ran across Sindy's mind. She was flushed red as she slowly built her confidence. It was the perfect opportunity to make a move on Nathan.

Boldly, Sindy then tangled her fingers around Nathan's hand. This resulted in a sudden chill running up his spine. He couldn't comprehend why Sindy had done such a thing so suddenly. However, Nathan decided not to question why she had done this. Instead, he held his head straight and continued to walk. He refused to give a reaction.

This however made Sindy dissatisfied. Once again, Nathan had failed to acknowledge her romantic gesture towards him. Due to this, Sindy began to question if he even recognized her as the opposite gender.

Believing this, Sindy released her grasp on Nathan's hand before giving a shallow sigh.

A few minutes later, they arrived at the cafeteria and had even ordered their meals. Nathan ordered a chicken pizza with cheese and pineapple toppings.

Sindy could never understand how Nathan was able to eat pineapple on pizza. Was he even human for doing such a thing?

However, despite her dislike, she still ordered the same topping to see if Nathan would notice. Unfortunately, yet again, Nathan failed to provide her with any of his attention. It was extremely heartbreaking for Sindy.

Sindy wished that she had the courage to simply tell Nathan how she felt. However, it wasn't easy for her. She and Nathan had come a long way since childhood. She treasured their friendship and couldn't bear the thought of losing him. If she were to announce her feelings for him then there was a possibility that things would change between them forever. Due to this fear, she was very cautious with announcing her feelings.

However, despite the constant setbacks, Sindy was determined to keep trying. She was finally alone with Nathan which was an opportunity that rarely came by due to Andrew.

Sadly, there was still an issue. The surrounding assassins all looked at them with disgust. They continuously whispered unpleasant things amongst themselves about Sindy and Nathan.

Nonetheless, Nathan and Sindy knew that things could have been much worse. The details of Nathan's A.O.D transformation were kept classified. Only a select few assassins had been told about what had happened.

If the majority were to find out the truth, then there would be chaos. Since very few people approved of Nathan, they would take advantage of the situation and do everything in their power to have him executed.

Sindy then turned her attention back to Nathan. It was the perfect opportunity to ask him the question she had on her mind for the past few days. Nervously, she twirled her hair as she searched for the courage. Executing her question incorrectly could lead to unwanted developments. She had to be cautious.

"So Nate... I've been wanting to ask you a question for a while now..."

Nathan then looked up with a spec of pizza crust on his lower lip before answering, "Sure. What's up?"

"Well, I wanted to ask if you remembered what I said to you the day before we went on the retrieval mission..."

"Uh, I think I do..?"

Sindy's heart began to race quickly. It seemed she was about to get her long-awaited answer.

"You do..?"

Suddenly, before Nathan could respond, he was interrupted by a loud squeal of excitement from behind.

"Nathypoo, you're awake!!!" Squealed Isabella with delight as she wrapped her arms around him.

Sindy looked up in disbelief. She could hardly believe that Isabella had ruined her perfect opportunity.

"Oh hey, Izzy..!" Greeted Nathan. Isabella's sudden sweet olive scent had almost caught him in a trance.

"Wait, Izzy and Nathypoo..? You've already become that close to exchange nicknames..?" Asked Sindy timidly.

Isabella then smiled charmingly while squeezing Nathan closer to her chest. It was almost as if she wanted to provoke Sindy.

"Yes! I met Nathypoo three weeks ago when he was undergoing training! I didn't know much about him then but I did find myself attracted to him! So I told him that he could call me, Izzy!"

"Oh... I see... Why are you here though?" Queried Sindy.

"I'm just here to collect my prize. Nathypoo is to begin training with me today! Will you be ready to go soon, Nathypoo?"

Nathan then looked up at Isabella. He was slightly charmed by her cute and innocent-like features.

"Sure! I'm down for some training. Let me just finish this pizza real quick!"

"Oh, you got a little bit of pizza crust on your lip, Nathypoo! Let me get it for you!"

Jealousy quickly began to attack Sindy's heart. It was painful for her to watch Isabella interact with Nathan so intimately. To make things worse, Sindy had already suspected Isabella of wanting to make romantic advancements towards Nathan.

Nevertheless, Sindy remained strong. She then called out to Nathan before reminding him of her earlier question. She was not about to let Isabella rob her of the opportunity she had been waiting for all this time.

"So Nate... What's your answer to the earlier question..?" She asked.

"Oh, right..! I'm sorry, Sindy, but I don't remember anything..."

Sindy felt like her heart had split in two. Nathan had not remembered her confession.

"Oh, that's fine..." She lied with a forced smile.

"Huh..? Are you sure? You could remind me of what you said. I don't mind listening."

Before responding, Sindy slowly arose from the table. Her heart felt heavy and her arms were beginning to tremble. She desperately wanted to repeat the three words which she had held in for so long but she was much too afraid. She wasn't willing to run the risk of destroying her friendship with Nathan.

"Don't worry about it! It's not that important anyway..."

Suddenly, an obnoxious voice boomed from behind. The three assassins then looked around to see Andrew running towards them.

"Nateeeee!! You're awake! I'm so happy you're okay!" He cried playfully.

"I'm fine... What about you? I heard you were seriously injured in the battle."

"Pfft! Who told you such nonsense? I beat that commander with my Bankai! It's not like I got my ass handed to me or anything!"

"Well, this is getting crowded!" Giggled Isabella.

Hearing Isabella's voice, Andrew adjusted his gaze. He was immediately stunned by how charming she was.

"Dude, who is this chick?! She's super hot!" He exclaimed excitedly. "Do you have a boyfriend? If not, then I have the perfect solution! Introducing your future husband, Andrew! He takes care of all your boyfriend needs with a rating equal to your beauty!"

Isabella then looked at Andrew innocently before declining with a sweet smile; "I'm sorry... I'm not interested!"

Andrew froze like a block of ice. Slowly, he then walked over to Sindy before gently resting his head on her shoulder in shame.

Unfortunately, Sindy wasn't in the mood to keep up with Andrew's games. In truth, his reaction to Isabella's beauty had only made her feel worse. She was slowly starting to feel inferior to her.

With her heart cracking to pieces, Sindy turned herself around before proceeding to leave. She couldn't even gather the strength to finish her meal.

"Wait, Sindy aren't you going to finish eating?" Quickly asked, Nathan.

"No, I'm sorry... I suddenly lost my appetite..."

"Oh..."

"Wait, so you're just going to leave this pizza here?! Don't mind if I do!" Celebrated Andrew as he began eating.

"Nathypoo! We should get to training! You can finish eating your pizza later!" Declared Isabella as she playfully tugged on his arm.

However, Nathan had now realized that something was wrong. He watched as Sindy slowly walked away without a single word. He knew that Sindy would never do such a thing unless something was truly bothering her.

"Andrew..." He called softly.

Andrew then looked up with his face buried in pizza crust before responding, "Hmm, what's up?"

"Could you check on Sindy for me? I think something's wrong with her. I would do it myself but I promised Izzy that I'd train with her..."

Isabella then looked down with a slight frown on her face. She wished to get Nathan's attention for herself.

"I'm sure she's fine! Let's go!" She demanded cutely.

Isabella then proceeded to lock arms with Nathan before tugging at him to follow her. By this point, Andrew had realized what was happening.

"Man, so much for this pizza... Fine, I'll go check on her! How dense can you be though..? Not even I'm that hopeless."

"What do you mean?" Asked Nathan.

"Sigh... nevermind!"

Andrew then slowly averted his eyes to Isabella one final time. However, before he could even say anything to her, she ran off with Nathan towards the training room.

"Nate!!" He shouted across the cafeteria. "Don't let her bewitch you! Remember, it's bros before hoes!!!"

Following this, Andrew quickly went after Sindy who had now disappeared. Fortunately, a few minutes later, he stumbled upon her slouched over a railing on a small balcony. Her face was built with depression.

"Sindy!" He called.

"Andrew..? Why did you follow me?" She asked in a depressing voice.

"Nate asked me to..."

"I see... I wish he came to me himself..."

Andrew then slouched beside her before responding.

"That's understandable... But Sindy, I assure you that he cares!"

"That's not the problem, Andrew..!" She exclaimed painfully. "I know that he cares! The blind could see that! But he doesn't care like how I care..."

"And you're worried that your feelings might ruin your current relationship with him, huh?"

"Mhm... I've known Nate for ten years, Andrew... And out of those ten years, not a day has gone by when he's not on my mind... I worry about him every day, afraid he'll do something reckless and get himself hurt. I always try to be there for him and I do my best to show him how I feel! But he just doesn't notice my feelings... It's either that or he doesn't view me as someone he would consider a relationship with..."

"Sindy, come on... There's no way that he doesn't view you as relationship material!"

"Then why doesn't he acknowledge how I feel, Andrew? I'm starting to hate this feeling of love because of how awful it feels... I hate feeling so weak and pathetic! I love him so much to the point where it's almost cringe..."

"It's not cringe to love someone, Sindy! It's being human... You don't need to feel that way!"

"But it's so unfair..! I've been trying to get Nathan to realize how I feel for years! Now, Isabella comes along and she's quickly making progress with him out of thin air... I don't get it..."

"Well, Isabell's pretty hot... Not gonna lie..."

Sindy then looked at Andrew with a slight frown. She did not appreciate his insensitivity.

"I mean, you're pretty hot too! Heh-" He laughed awkwardly, acknowledging his error.

Sindy then buried her face into her hands as she quietly wept.

"To me, Nathan is my world... But to him, it seems like I'm nothing more than a simple country... I don't know what to do..."

Andrew then gave a shallow sigh. He could tell that Sindy was not only hurting but she was also confused. She didn't know what she was supposed to do. She was slowly being crushed by the weight of her feelings for Nathan.

"Sindy, when it comes to love, Nathan's the densest guy I know. Why do you think he's never had a girlfriend? It's because he never realizes when a girl likes him. I doubt even Isabella could get through that thick skull of his. Sindy, all I'm saying is don't give up on him. He's not out of your reach."

"I don't know, Andrew... Just the other day, I found the courage to tell him how I felt. But he doesn't even recall what I said to him... It's as if we're not meant to be or something..."

"Sindy, you're the one that taught me that it's best to keep a positive mindset and move forward. Sometimes, things don't work out the way we want them to. But if we give up simply because they didn't work out then we'll miss the opportunities we could have created if we had kept trying. At least that's what I got from the ass whooping you gave me!"

Sindy chuckled, "Right? I whooped you good, didn't I?"

"Yeah, whatever. But what I'm trying to say is that you shouldn't give up on him just because you haven't gotten through to him so far. You said it yourself, didn't you? You've known Nathan for a very long time. So, if there's anyone who can get through to him, it's you. You've just got to show your love for him in a way you've never done before."

Sindy immediately felt as if a boulder was removed from atop her chest. Andrew's words had gotten through to her. She had needed the words of encouragement to push herself forward. She loved Nathan with all her heart and wasn't keen on losing him to someone else so easily.

Finally, Sindy then removed her necklace before looking at Nathan's name which was embedded on it. She then brought it closer to her lips and whispered; "I love you..."