Black Clover - By My Side (Asta X Noelle)

Chapter 28: The Royal Knights Exam (Part 10)

[It appeared as though humanity would be destroyed by demons. But a single mage saved them all. He was called the wizard king, and he became a legend.]

Noelle POV:

"And you should've seen the way Magna used this new spell of his! It was so cool! He kept chucking fireballs, and they'd disappear, Noelle! Disappear!"

Asta goes on about the match he just came out of and how much fun it was to fight against Magna again. He's moving around, waving his hands in the air, trying to reenact his battle. He looks so happy that he won. He's almost like a little kid. 

"Oh, and that guy on my team, Xerx! His magic is so cool! I've never seen trap magic before," Asta plops down on the chair next to the bed, "I can't wait for the next match. I'm just a bit closer to the finals."

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to crush your dreams, but I believe my team will be the one to win," I say confidently as I sit up. 

"Hmmm? Is that a challenge," Asta smiles as he gets closer to my face, "I think my team will win. With Mimosa and that Xerx guy, I'm unstoppable!"

"Huh," I sneer at him, "and what does that mean?"

Seemingly scared by my reaction, Asta falls back into his chair, tipping it over, sending him straight to the floor. A few seconds later, after I process what happened to I crack a smile and finally burst out into laughter.

"What was that," I say, wiping the forming tears from my eyes, "that really just happened?"

"Shouldn't you be more concerned?" Asta groans as he rubs the back of his head while he lies on the floor. 

"I'm sorry, but that was just slightly funny," I wipe the last tear from my eye, step off the bed, and sit on the floor next to Asta, "as an apology for laughing, I'll join you." 

Asta's face flushes red. I know that I said something kind of embarrassing, but it's just Asta and me, so there's no need to hold back. I cuddle up to Asta and rest my head on his shoulder. I feel his posture change as I cling onto his arm, almost as if he tenses up.

Asta scratches his face with his available hand, "This is kind of sudden, isn't it?"

"What do you mean sudden? I just said this was an apology for laughing," I smile, glossing over the real reason for it. In all honesty, I just want to be close to him. Even though it hasn't been long, I want to be close to him again. 

We sit in silence, holding onto each other. The warmth from his body makes it so that I don't want to let go. I wish we could always be close. 

"Noelle."

"Yes, Asta."

"This is nice- being with you like this. I'm glad."

Asta's words make my heart skip a beat, and I have to catch my breath. 

"I-I'm glad too!" I say with a mixture of nervousness and excitement as I get closer to his face. I stare into his eyes. They've always been beautiful to me, but now they shine even more. 

Almost as we read each other's minds, we both move in closer to go for a kiss. Our lips meet, and I feel happiness throughout my whole body. When was the last time we kissed? It couldn't have been that long ago, right? So why does it feel so good? Asta wraps his arms around me and pulls me in closer. When he does, unintentionally, I let out a small moan. Embarrassed, I back away. I can feel the heat emanating from my face. My entire body is warm from our exchange. 

"Ahem," someone clears their throat. 

I look around the room and see Yuno, accompanied by En, standing in the doorway. Yuno is blushing and avoiding eye-contact. En stands next to him, with a blank face, almost as if he's processing what he just saw. 

"W-We have a match," Yuno says while still avoiding making eye-contact with Asta and me.

However, I don't move. I'm too embarrassed. What did they see? Tell me not all of it. This cannot be happening. That's it! I'm royalty; I'll make them forget this. That's righ-

En violently coughs, halting my inner monologue. There's a brief silence when En's coughing fit comes to an end, but then he speaks, "sorry, Noelle. We didn't mean to interrupt you."

I slowly rise to my feet in shame and can't help but think, 'why me?' I make my way to the door when Asta grabs my hand. 

"Good luck, Noelle!"

I turn to Asta, and his face is completely red, meaning he isn't handling this any better than I. I grip his hand tighter. Even in this situation, I find holding his hand comforting. 

"We'll win," I say confidently. I let go of his hand and walk away with both Yuno and En into the corridor. 

"You can't be serious..." Yuno begins, "why did I have to see that?" 

"You think you had it bad, Yuno? Imagine how I feel?" My heart is still racing. But not from the kiss. Having these two see us is nothing short of embarrassing. I want to crawl in a hole and die.

"I witnessed my brother kissing his girlfriend. I won't be able to sleep at night." 

His words are hollow and devoid of all feeling. Did I really just scar him for the rest of his life?

En laughs, "don't worry, Yuno. You'll forget about it in no time."

"I hope so," Yuno responds.

"Actually, I'd prefer it if you both forgot what you saw. I'm royalty, so you have to listen to me. " I say, crossing my arms. Yes, they have no choice but to listen to me. I am their superiors, after all. I think to myself smugly. 

But their reactions are nothing like what I expected. The two of them laugh. 

"Hey, what's so funny? Why are you laughing?"

However, they don't respond and keep on laughing. We make our way back to the arena.

Cob, the Wizard King's attendant, walks over to us, "are you all ready to be transported down?"

Finally, their laughter ceases. En, Yuno, and I all look at each other and nod. Cob then transports us down to the battlefield. 

"Let's win this, guys," I say as I pull out my wand. Finals, here we come!

[Chapter 28 end]