To the person who wanted a Mallow x Ash fanfic, here ya go. Only a one shot, but I hope it's good enough for ya, let's see.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon or any of the characters
"See you later Ash!" Mallow waved before she ran out of the school, heading home. Ash watched her as she go, recapping her earlier conversation of today.
"So Ash, what are you doing today?" Mallow asked him during their lunchtime. He had just finished telling a story about one of his previous travels, and after he was done, she asked.
"Oh well I don't think I have anything to do today. I was thinking of doing some light training with Pikachu." Inadvertently as he said that, he scratched the bottom of Pikachu's neck, making it coo. He looked at Mallow and she could tell she was conflicted about something before she spoke up.
"Why don't you hang with me after school?" It was a simple question that his usual dense self would of thought, but lately his denseness has been wearing off a bit. He could tell that question had a bit more meaning, nonetheless he said yes.
She looked relieved, but he didn't know why. He put that question towards the back of his head and continued to eat the load of food he had in front of him. Another question popped up into his head. Why didn't she invite anyone else?
He later found out that Kiawe had to help at his farm. Sophocles was always busy after school. And Lillie had to take care of Snowy and has some event that her mother is hosting and she had to be there. Everyone but him was full for the day. She probably wanted us to hang out since everyone else is busy. Yea! That's it. Just friends wanting to hang out.
Though he felt himself cringe when rolling over the word friends. Not too long ago he realized what crushes were. A feeling of wanting to be with someone romantically. The girls had too explain it too him, which was embarrassing for all there. More specifically for Mallow and Lillie. Lillie always blushes and he was confused as to why Mallow blushed almost more than Lillie.
After understanding what a crush meant, he possibly thought he might have a crush on the green haired beauty. Ugh, this is the weird thoughts I'm having. She was pretty in his book. Very pretty. But he set those feelings aside and he knew this was just two friends hanging out, right?
It felt harder to walk and he realized he was walking and sand, meaning… he was home. Well temporary home since he was a guess in Kukui's home. He ran up to the house, went inside and threw his backpack on the couch. Mallow wanted to hang out, soon. He didn't have much time to relax before he had to head back outside and go to Mallow's house.
He sat on the couch, ready to watch a bit of television before he headed out. Pikachu curled in his lap and he softly scratched Pikachu as he watched the show. He couldn't focus on it, only thinking about hanging out with Mallow.
What if she wants to hang out because she has crush on you, a part of him said. She only wants you to hang out with her, because everyone else is busy, the other part scolded him. The two sides started to bicker, giving him a massive headache.
"Shut up!" His head went silent but Pikachu stared at him weirdly. He sighed, his buddy probably thinks he's crazy. Maybe he was. Someone else also heard the words he said.
"Ash, are you okay?" Kukui looked concerned and looked for someone that Ash maybe yelled at. He knew Ash isn't a person who typically would yell or get angry at someone like that, but Ash still yelled and he was wondering why.
"Um no actually." Ash considered asking Kukui about this. He was older, wiser, and definitely knew more about this since he was married. Kukui raised his eyebrows raised at his response.
"Kukui can I ask for your opinion on something?" Kukui's eyes raised even higher at his question, but a held a slightly serious face. Ash knew that he knew this wasn't a joking matter.
"A girl asks you to hang out, not inviting anyone else because everybody is busy. What is uh… the girl's... 'intentions'" Ash quoted his fingers on the word intentions. Kukui took a few seconds to think of a response, before he answered.
"One of two things. Since everyone is busy, she wanted someone to hang out with, but usually people will just wait for the next day when more people are available. Or she wanted to spend some alone time with you and knew that everyone was busy today." Kukui's answers were exactly what he was thinking, so the answer wasn't much else.
"Here's an idea to see if she like you. Flirt with her." Kukui said it as if that would solve all his problems. Flirt with someone? How do I do that? So he asked.
"How do you flirt with someone?" He asked his guardian, who stared at him shockingly, but shook his head. Kukui face contorted to a small smile.
"How can I forgot that I'm talking to one of the densest people of all time. Well to flirt you uh... Um…" Kukui was thinking of an easy way to explain to Ash that a guy flirts by being mean to the girl. If he said that he would have to be mean, he won't do it. He had another way.
"Actually instead of really flirting with her, make her blush, and do that by either complimenting her, or sometimes touch her." This was a much easier explanation than to explain his previous thought.
"So I can check if she blushes?" Ash still didn't understand the concept but Kukui had a smile on his face still, not bothered by his incompetence.
"Yes, but I'll also show you're interested." He tried to peach together what all that meant and slowly he had an idea what Kukui meant. He looked up at the clock at the wall and gasp.
"Uh Kukui I got to go. I don't want to be late. Stay here Pikachu." Pikachu nodded and laid down on the couch.
Kukui watched Ash run off the beach to the path and out of sight. You got this Mallow.
"Pika Pika!" Ash started to slow as Pikachu yelled at him. He had ran for quite some time and he was quite exhausted.
"Yeah you're probably right. Mallow doesn't want to see me all sweaty and out of breath." He smirked as his bud and scratched him behind the ears as he walked. He wondered what they will do. She only said to hang out, and later she said at her house.
He'd finally made it to her house. The house was primarily green on the outside, but he knew it was mainly brown on the inside. The house connected with their restaurant, meaning her dad could just walk downstairs and open the restaurant (I don't know if the restaurant is also connected to their house or not, but in this story it does).
He went up to the house door and knocked. He heard people not far away, probably eating at her dad's restaurant. He heard movement inside the house before the door opened revealing Mallow.
"Aloha Ash!" She a cute pose and stepped back, allowing Ash to enter.
"Aloha Mallow! How are you doing?" She closed the door behind him and sat on the couch, begging him to sit with her.
"I'm doing great now that you're here." Mallow said it so casually that it slightly confused him, but he did see a faint blush on her cheeks.
"Uh.. oh.. Okay." He sat with her and she giggled, seemingly to enjoy his stuttering. Complimenting her or sometimes touch her. He slowly pressed his shoulder on her's and he peeked his eyes to see if she had any reaction. She had a glassy look on her eyes.
"So what are we going to do?" Her eyes reverted to normal after the question and she thought of a response. He noticed that she didn't move away from his but it almost seemed she moved closer. His stomach grumbled and he blushed and put his head down. Mallow laughed out loud while he scratched the back of his neck in embarrassment.
"How about I make you some food." She got up and wink at him before she skipped to the kitchen. He stared at her in wonder and slight amazement. She was acting different than what she'd act on in school are with everybody. She winked at him, skipped, even her voice was sounding unusually playful.
He got himself and made his way to the kitchen to see Mallow already cooking, all her ingredients and supplies out. She looked at him and playfully shoved him away.
"You can sit down and wait for the food to be finished." The aroma was almost too good for him to sit down, but he grudging did so at the dining table. The aroma went into the dining room and his mouth watered.
"So Ash, you got any crushes?" If he had any liquids in his mouth he would of spit it out from the question. Why was Mallow asking that question he wondered. But she asked it so casually that he needed to answer it or it'll be weird.
"Um well… kinda I guess." He saw Mallow's head slightly twitch in the slightest but she made a good job in hiding it. She walked his way with a bowl of soup in her hands. He looked behind her and saw more ingredients that wouldn't be used in soup.
"Here ya go. Course number one since I know this soup won't be enough." She again winked at him and set it down. Pulling her hands back, her hands grazed his as he put his hands on the bowl. A faint blushed appearing but quickly disappeared. He started to have his burning out soup.
"You know it's best to crush on someone who knows who to cook." She said all of a sudden. He stared at the back of her confusedly. She seemed to felt his confusing gaze and responded.
"Well because you have such a appetite, you need someone who's good at cooking." She came back with now a bowl of pasta in her hands. She set it down and kept her hands on the bowl as his hands came onto the bowl. Their fingers touch and neither pulled until Mallow seemed to have a clear blush. She took the other bowl and made her way back to the kitchen. Readying one more dish.
"Mallow I really enjoyed your soup, now Imma enjoy this." He had a hunger look on his eyes and he started to devour the pasta. Unbeknownst to him, Mallow blushed from the compliment and she held a prideful smile.
Her cooking really was good. He loved her food, absolutely loved it. He wanted it all day, everyday.
"T-Thank you Ash." A slight hiccup her voice that he raised an eyebrow to. She couldn't see it as she was making another dish. He was almost done with the pasta.
"Someone who can cook really amazing for you and would cook for you all the time. You should be crushing on a girl like that." Mallow's words were hard to understand for him. She looked back at him and saw his confused look adorned on his facial features. She sighed and rolled her eyes.
She walked to him with what it seemed to be, the final plate. Steak, real delicious looking steak. But his focus wasn't on the steak, his focus was on her as she set down the plate, his hands came on top of hers. She took a breath shakily and she looked kind of nervous.
"Y-you know what they say. The way to a man's heart is through the stomach." At that moment it all clicked to him. Her wanting to hang out, the playful attitude and voice, which was her being flirty, her cooking for him and the words she said about who to crush on. She was applying herself the whole time.
She was blushing and looking at the ground, but his hands were still on her hands and she didn't move them. He'd never seen Mallow like this and he knew what to do. He took his hands off her and slowly stood up. She sadly sighed and turned away, thinking he was rejecting her. She put an arm on her shoulders stopping her, and he forced her to turn around.
She looked up at him, a blush still gracing her face. She was acting nervous, his hand still on her shoulder. He took a step towards her, closing the distance. She didn't move but her breathing was shaky.
"Well luckily Mallow, you knew the right path." Her eyes widened at the statement before he kissed her. She was frozen in place, but after a couple of seconds she kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck, and he did around her back. They seperated after a couple of moments, both breathing kind of heavy.
"Wow." They both said. They both laughed and rested their foreheads against each other's. The smile at each other, and Ash rubbed Mallow's back. They held each other for quite some time before Mallow playfully pushed him off.
"Eat your food before it gets cold." She had a goofy smile on her face as she said that.
"Alright girlfriend." She froze and he had a smirk on his face. She glared at him but he laughed.
"Imma enjoy this." Mallow didn't know if he was talking about the food he was about to eat, or their new relationship.
Looks like The Way to a Man's Heart is Food, and good thing she had her infamous Mallow's Specialty Cooking
Their you have it. An Ash x Mallow One Shot. Hope y'all like it.
I know I know, the ending is a bit cringe but it fits the story. Don't worry I'm still going to focus on Ash x Lillie fanfics, but other pairings are fun to do.
That's it from me. Leave a review and stuff…
Goodbye.