Aspiration to the Heavens: Becoming the Supreme Mage Vol. 1- Novus Magus

[Revised/Edited] Episode 72: The Eight

"Don't be blinded by your ideals, you'll only lose sight of them if you do"

*Adela*

I glanced back at An's clothes and backed away from them as An opened the door.

His violet eyes darted over to his clothes, confused. The rustling of his feet filled the otherwise silent room as Xue remained as silent as a tree.

An turned over to look at us. "My clothes, why are they here?" He furrowed his brow. "Also, why do they look smaller?"

"I'm so sorry," Xue said, bowing her head. "I...I tried to be helpful by washing them, but I did so with hot water, and I left them in for too long that they shrunk. I got Adela to help me out but she has nothing to do with what happened."

An's face turned bright red. "I see. Well that was awfully kind of you... but... I barely know you."

"Huh?" Xue, Ms. Key, and I said at once.

The Aiefan boy fidgeted. "You washed my clothes so that means that... Well, we aren't in Aief, and you aren't a member of my clan so..." He crossed his hands together and laughed. "Never mind."

I recalled a bedtime story my father used to tell me of an Aiefian girl who had washed the clothes of the boy she loved to show him her love for him.

"Did you think that Xue was hitting on you?" I asked, smiling slightly.

An's fidgeting returned. "No..." He blushed. "Well, maybe, a bit. You see a girl washing a boy's clothes means that she has feelings for him and desires to be more than friends with him."

"Well, I wish I knew that," Xue said. "I wouldn't have washed them if I knew that."

An blushed some more and went around us to open the washing machine's door. "Ms. Key, how do you turn this on?"

"I'll show you," Xue said, walking over to him. She instructed him carefully on which buttons he must press and where the nobs needed to be turned, as well as which temperature and how much time was adequate for washing cotton clothes like our uniforms.

"I think everything is fine now," I said, grinning. "I'll be in my room if anyone needs me."

"Thanks for helping me," Xue said, looking over her shoulder. She gave a friendly smile.

I shook my head and snickered. "It's nothing, now don't ever go hitting on any more guys with a method like this again."

Xue blushed. "I was not hitting on him!"

'Wow, I sounded like Iah, Hal, and Nuk when I said that. They are starting to rub off on me.'

An's face became red again. "Sorry for thinking that."

Xue spun around. "No, it was my fault for not telling you that I was going to wash your clothes first."

With a grin, I closed the door behind me. Besides us, nearly everyone else was asleep.

"Nice to see someone else already awake. Think you can help me make breakfast," Hikaru said as I walked out of the laundry room. He wore an apron over his school uniform.

I walked over to him and grabbed a knife. "Alright. I'll make omelets for everyone."

"I will be making chicken with curry spices," Hikaru said as he opened the freezer.

Lei whimpered as he opened his eyes. "What's going on?" As soon as he could clearly see us, he ran over and got flour, butter, and milk.

"Can you put strawberries in mine?" I asked. Lei was making his signature pancakes. He loved to cook food that went well with honey... Now that I thought about it, the broth was clearly Yen's idea.