Red and Gold Create Sexual Tension

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There may have been a smile in the process of reflecting upon her actions, but just below the stretch of her mouth lay Annika's heart, slowly shriveling into a hard lump of coal, falling deep into the recesses of her chest. 

It was the hardest thing she had ever done.

The belt strapped around her hips felt weightless, no more that comforting heftiness at her lower abdomen as it no longer hosted the charm of the Red Panda miraculous.

It absolutely tore at Annika's conscience.

Rimmi was in that charm, forever trapped until another worthy soul could come and release him. It was good, in a way. She was sure that he deserved better. He deserved a better holder, someone who could better care for him. Annika no longer like thar person, one who cherished and loved him to no percievable end. It may have been who she incr was before, but after certain recent, breaking events, she felt herself changing. No longer came the urge to care for the people around her. No longer came the effortless want to be the person who shined in the eyes of others. Her will crushed, her spirit broken, and she was wallowing deep within mind. She was herself no more. And all this because she began as the Red Panda.

Once again the former hero felt herself waning to the influx if thoughts in her head They jabbed at her mind like needles, pricking into her brain, injecting deadly feelings that made her want to break down and cry on the ground until she died kf a physical limit, such as hunger or lack of body moisture due to the tears that she would expel from her eyes.

If this went on any longer Annika was sure she would die from giving herself a broken heart.

At this point the thought of death didn't seem to bother her ad much as it once did.

Reaching the doorstep to her home brought realization to the red head that she had run all the way back. Lost within her head she didn't notice the speed she had taken up just to get away from her suffocation. Just to get away from Rimmi... and Gol. 

Wait, no-- Zander. His real name was Zander. That's who he was. Zander Lockwood, the one she held many feelings for: hate, disgust, hurt--

And somehow something else. She knew what she felt for him was dark and ugly, rearing the unfortunate head of her not-often-felt negative feelings. However as she thought of it, her perspective on her classmate, she just couldn't keep those emotions pinned to him forever. She knew it wasn't his fault, knew the blame was to be put solely on Lady Lust and that infernal dust. She had went over this topic several times, justifying her anger as well has his actions. What happened was a result of poor timing--on both their parts.

So while the hate and hurt surged within her heart, something else tugged at her strings. An image-- that of Zander in his hero form, dominating her aerial view. He glittered like the sun, making her blink profusely to continue looking at him.

Like a knight in shining gold armor...

That was her first impression of him. That first day in which he swooped in and saved her from the octopus Akuma. That was what started it all, his recklessness and her stubbornness. If she hadn't been so proud-- and if he had been a little more strategized-- would any of this be happening to them right now? Would they have been feeling this way? Would they have even acknowledged each others existance?

Annika shook the image from her head, but the strings only pulled more into her mind's eye. There was that smile, just as brilliant as his golden suit. A slight squint in the eyes, a pearl tooth poking from the corner of lip. Boyish yet charming. As much as the former Red Panda didn't want to admit, she had to admit his smile churned her stomach in a most uncomfortable fashion. It almost made her forget their time together, but the sun set and in the dark their history arose to once again plunge her into her misery.