I would apologize for the late update, but I sort of warned you beforehand. I've been really busy and I still am. Now I finally have prom out of the way but I have to work on two auditions. Plus TAKS. So, it will probably be a while again. Hehe. Any ways, to make up for the time lapse, I made this chapter longer than normal. Enjoy!
Again my foolishness had struck; putting me in an awkward place. There was really nothing I could do but tell him about the awful incident. Hesitantly, I began to open my mouth to tell the story.
I closed it before I could utter a single word. I hardly knew him! It was none of his business. On the other hand, he would be going back to live with the village tomorrow. It would be nice if one person knew the truth. Of course, there was no guarantee that he would believe me over all of them. In the end, he would hate me. Just like everyone else. Kami-sama, I was only seventeen! Why should I have to deal with this?
"That's none of your concern," I replied instead.
His eyes narrowed in irritation. "Seriously? That's it? You just stood there for like three minutes and said nothing. I thought you were thinking of what to say."
"You were mistaken," I said stoically. I watched his irritation increase. After a moment of tension, it gave way to a sigh of what I believed to be defeat.
"Fine, don't tell me," he mumbled as he began to turn around to head towards my food. I couldn't help but watch the muscles of his abdomen ripple as be began to move. I could already feel my mouth slightly watering. Something would have to be done about this or I would explode.
"Stop," I exclaimed before he could turn his back to me. He turned around and faced me in confusion and I again was slightly mesmerized by his torso.
"What?"
"You need a shirt."
"A shirt?"
"Yes, a shirt. Stay there, and don't you dare touch my food." His eyes widened to resemble a kicked puppy. Yet, I felt no guilt. "I mean it. If I find any of it missing, then you sleep outside. I won't remove the Sea Stone either."
"That's cruel."
"Maybe it is. I don't really care. Don't touch my food. If you need, you can use the wash basin to freshen up. You're filthy and covered in mud."
"You're not looking much better. You're covered in blood. Besides, you're the one who dumped me in some rotted plants."
I glared at him. How dare he! I was giving him shelter and he responded like that! Although, I wasn't exactly being hospitable either. I was snapped out of my thoughts by a hand being waved in my face. "Hello," Ace called, "you alright?"
"Yeah," I answered.
"Are you sure? You keep dazing off"
"I'm fine," I replied with an edge. I warned him again to not touch my food and left to head for my room. Once inside the cramped quarter, I maneuvered myself around the bed that took up almost the entirety of my bedroom and lifted the lid of my chest that contained my shirts. I had to have a larger shirt. This guy's torso was massive. After taking a thorough look, I realized that none of my shirts would be large enough for him. I was simply too narrow to compare to him.
"You know…" I heard a voice say from my door way.
Cursing, I whirled around to face him and lost my balance.
He began to take a step into my room as he said, "Hey, are you okay?"
"Don't move! Stay out of my room," I ordered as I lay sprawled out on the floor.
"What," he deadpanned.
"Just don't." I used this moment to observe that he had used my wash basin and was now perfectly clean except for a smudge of mud along his abs. Oh, the abs. The pleasant direction my thoughts were heading was interrupted as he continued our discussion.
"I'd ask why, but I have a feeling you would tell me that it's none of my concern."
"You are correct," I stated; trying to regain my composure. This was not completely effective as I was still on the floor. "Now, go back to the kitchen."
He raised an eyebrow. "Isn't that my line," he joked.
"That's hardly amusing. Just try this on in the kitchen," I said while tossing him the largest shirt I could find. Coincidently it was purple and probably wouldn't fit him well.
"You know, I…"
"Just do it!" Could he not do anything I asked?
He left quietly but I could feel his annoyance emanating throughout the shack. As if he had a reason to be annoyed. Haphazardly, I brought myself to my feet and began to make my way out of my room and into the kitchen. I paused at my doorway in realization. He was agitated, yet I wasn't attempting to make amends. I was confident around him. Why? Shaking my head I pushed these troublesome thoughts to the recesses of my mind and continued to head towards the kitchen. When I arrived, I doubled over in laughter. He was wearing my shirt, but it was way too tight. The color only added to my amusement.
"You could be polite and stop laughing," he informed me with a grimace.
"No thanks."
"Of course not."
"You know," I teased, "that color compliments your complexion."
"Oh really now," he said while striking a pose. "I must say, I agree. It makes my figure look amazing. But I think it also makes me look a little fat. What do you think," he joked.
At the mention of the word 'figure' my eyes drifted again towards what was once bare. This shirt did not do him justice. It was tight, but it bunched up and covered the bumps along his stomach. It looked ridiculous! The bottom of my shirt reached just below his belly button; giving an appearance of attempted femininity. I almost preferred him without a shirt, but that would be too distracting. He was too distracting. I was forgetting myself. How dare he make me flustered!
"I think it makes you look gay," I replied.
He sighed, almost as though he had expected an answer of that sort. "You know. You really should decide already."
"On what?"
"Whether you hate me or not."
"Of course I hate you." There was no way I couldn't. Right?
"Sure doesn't seem like it."
"You're just too dense."
"Then why are you occasionally nice to me. You're even giving me shelter," he said while inching towards my food, again.
"You are once again mistaken. I've already told you not to…" My reprimand was interrupted by a ripping sound that echoed throughout my hut. The idiot had bent over to try and reach the food. He thought I hadn't noticed, the fool. Now my shirt was ripped along the back and was dangling loosely off of his arms.
"Oops," he said while noticing my glare. In all honestly, the glare wasn't for my lost shirt. It was more for the fact that I was again staring at this guy's freaking godly upper half. Unfortunately, there was only one thing to be done.
I turned around and started to walk to my room again. "Stay here, I'll go find you another shirt," I told him over my shoulder.
"You know. I have another shirt." That caused me to pause. I turned around slowly; seething with anger.
"You have what," I asked quietly. My head was looking at the floor so that I wouldn't strangle this idiot when I saw his overly perky face.
"I tried telling you earlier, but you wouldn't listen," he implored.
I took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Whatever. Just put it on."
I turned away and rummaged through my groceries. I grabbed peaches, apples, pineapples, and grapes. 'A fruit salad would be nice' I thought to myself. I ignored the sounds of rummaging that Ace was creating while looking through his own bag. I walked over to a different wash basin near the fireplace and washed the fruit.
"Anything I can do to help," Ace asked from somewhere behind me.
"No." I did not need him to cut these up with a knife. Like hell if I would give him a weapon. The meat was cooked and he wouldn't know how to season it correctly. Plus, I didn't need him to poison anything.
"I'm not going to poison you, you know." I froze and whirled to face him.
"Wha…," I began to say before I saw his expression. It was one of his teasing expressions, though, how I knew that I couldn't tell. What I could tell was that he obviously had no idea as to what I was thinking. He just had pure dumb luck. The idiot.
Huffing I turned around and continued washing. After that, I ignored him completely while cooking. The plates were set and soon we were ready to eat.
Ace had been watching me the entire time and sat down immediately. "So, what kind of meat is this," he asked. I looked at him and noticed his black t-shirt. It fit much better than any shirt I could have offered and, although my pride was slightly bruised, I was glad that it would no longer cause a distraction for me.
"Don't worry about it," I answered.
"How can I not?"
"Don't think about it. Pretend it's chicken." Weren't guys reputed for being able to eat large amounts of food regardless of taste? Why was he being so picky?
"Kind of hard not to worry about it when I'm wondering what I'm eating. For all I know, this could be monkey."
"Don't be ridiculous. I wouldn't kill a monkey." He visibly relaxed. "They travel in groups so I'd have to kill all of them. I don't have enough arrows for that. Plus, they don't taste nearly as good as fox."
"Am I going to eat fox?"
I could see him mistrustfully eyeing the meat. "No. Now, look at me." He did so. I took a bite and waited for him to do the same. After a few seconds he complied to my unspoken demand.
"Not bad," he admitted. I smirked. He then began to shovel the rest of his food into his mouth at an ungodly rate. Once finished, he took the entire bowl of fruit salad and ate it as well. Due to a lack of food left; he patiently waited to be dismissed from the table. I had no intention of allowing him to walk around my house if he was out of my sight so I refused to tell him that he could rise. Instead, I watched him slightly squirm in his seat with a sadistic pleasure. Where had Mr. Confident gone, eh.
My boastful thoughts were interrupted by a growling sound. There was no way. That could not have come from his stomach. I gave him a glare which he returned with a sheepish grin. "Sorry," he said, "habit. I'm fine though."
Sighing, I shoved my plate of food across the table. "Eat," I commanded.
"But…"
"I'm not hungry," I lied.
I stared at him for the rest of dinner. Due to his fast pace of eating, it lasted for only five minutes; if even. "You can wash the dishes," I informed him. He pouted but stood and began to do the dishes. I left him to make my way back into my room and grab some blankets for myself. As I was gathering them I heard the rain through my walls. My sixth sense once again proved to be infallible. I exited and began to lay the blankets on my straw couch. Ace came in not long after and stretched. "Ooh, that looks comfy."
"I'll let you know how it felt in the morning."
"Eh," he deadpanned.
"You get to sleep under the stars,"
"You mean the rain. The stars are hiding."
"Then why don't you find them."
"You're joking right?"
"You saw my porch in the back yard. You'll be fine."
"But it's raining."
"Then you won't have any unwanted visitors."
"The rain drops are unwanted visitors."
"You're an unwanted visitor." He began to argue again but I cut him off, "look, you are not sleeping in this house unless I chain you up and tie you to something. Do you really think you can sleep like that?" He looked away in defeat. "Good, now go."
"Will you at least take the sea stone off?"
"No, and if I find it missing I'll destroy all of your belongings in this bag," I said while holding up said bag.
"A hostage, really?"
"Yes."
"Fine." He left to go outside and I closed the door behind him while locking it. Then I proceeded to bunch up the blankets to resemble a person should he break into my house. I then checked all the doors and made sure they were locked. On my way to my bed hidden in my secret basement, I stopped to check on him. I listened to him through the back door to make sure he was still there. Instead of hearing him snore I heard another growl. He was still hungry? Oh well, I wasn't going to bother feeding him again. I grabbed a candle and struck a match to it. I then used it to open the latch under my table and make my way down the stairs. Once I reached the bottom, I blew out the candle and crawled into the bed. Just as I was falling asleep, my own stomach growled.