Like A Boy

Chapter 10 Your Average Day, I Guess.

I pretty much lost track of time as I was on the ship. At first it had been easy but here, there were no week days and no months. You went by what the season on the next island was and such. Even though the years were kept in order and they knew when the new one would start, you never really knew how long you were out someplace. I figured maybe half a year or so went by since I last saw my real world.

My hair was past my shoulders now and it was becoming annoying. I kept it up in a ponytail most of the time but I still don't like it. I'll probably get some scissors and hack it off. That would at least go by as a basic cut. I mean it isn't like I have to worry or anything. The guys here have very… interesting hairstyles. Well, putting it nicely, simply, they are just plain stupid looking sometimes.

I couldn't find a hair tie this morning though so my blue hair was down and being messed up by the wind. I'm pretty sure Marco was able to catch my agitation about it every time it went into my face. Ace would laugh when it completely covered it. I never knew that simple hair could piss someone off so much.

"Ace let me borrow your dagger." I said getting a good grip on my hair. Luckily since I took a bath often, it was fairly clean.

"Eh, okay." Ace said handing me the dagger at his waste warily. What, did he think I was going to shank him or something?

I walked over to the railing and sat up on it before leaning over and very quickly slicing the knife through my hair. Lee noticed what I was doing and quickly came over to me followed by a lot of the nurses to complain.

"Youko, why did you do that?" Lee asked as I ran a hand through my very badly cut hair. It was shorter now. About the same length as Ace's. I shrugged and handed the dagger back to Pyro. I was going to sit back down but Lee grabbed my arm and dragged me over to the nurses table.

She grabbed a pair of scissors and a few other nurses followed. I looked at Ace and Marco confused and they just shrugged. They weren't sure what the nurses were going to do either.

They brought me around to the back of the ship where the railing was slightly shorter and told me to sit on the railing. I did so and one of the nurses grabbed the scissors and began to cut my hair. The loose strands falling into a bucket that had been prepared. I sat still and let them do as they will.

"Mo, I can't believe you did that." Lee said looking at me as she leaned against the railing.

"It was becoming annoying." I said looking out at the sea. "Harder to swim too."

"Then you should have come to one of us and gotten one of us to do it." The one cutting my hair said.

"With the length it was at that was too risky." I said simply and I heard a few giggles suggesting that I was right.

"Okay, but at least don't use a dagger next time." Lee said meaning I won.

"That kinda hurt, maybe a butcher knife would be better." I said thinking it over.

"How about scissors?" Lee suggested looking at me as if I had even thought about it.

"That is boring, though it might be a little less painful." I admitted.

"You don't like pain that much do you?" one of the nurses asked.

"I hate pain. It hurts." I said with a small grimace. "But being a pirate kinda left me with no choice." I moved a hand to my shoulder. Four jagged scars covered my shoulder from where the merman had bit me.

"Hm, I can't believe you won't use that stuff that will make those fade away." Lee said looking at the reddish lines. I smiled and continued to watch the sea.

"Yeah, but I think I'll keep them the way they are. Nothing wrong with a girl having a scar or two." I said peacefully.

"Or four." One nurse said laughing a bit.

"Done." the one cutting my hair said. I turned around and faced them.

One held up a mirror and I took a look at my reflection. The back was boy short. I had larger bangs in the front that parted in the middle. They were messy and the left a little smaller than the right revealing some of my backer hair. I smiled at the reflection and then at the nurses.

"Thanks." I said with a smile. They smiled back and we walked back to the main part of the deck.

"It's really short." Ace said looking at it. I shrugged, I liked it. Ace grabbed a piece and began to fiddle with the blue lock for a little while even though it was annoying to me.

I woke up the next morning like usual but with a small bit of doubt and a suspicious feeling that something was going to happen that I wasn't going to like. I still was able to yank myself out of my warm bed and onto the cold wooden floor.

I dragged myself to my door and opened it. I grabbed a towel on the way out and headed down the hallway. I kept walking until I came to a larger door than the others. Heat was radiating from it and I opened the door. Most of everybody else was already in the bath. I quickly joined them.

"Ah this was what I needed." I said blissfully as I sat in the warm water. Lee slid up beside me.

"Bad night sleep?" she questioned.

"Nope, too good of a sleep to wake up." I said looking at her happily. I glanced down at the water and noticed that my chest was beginning to show more. They bulged a little bit more and I couldn't help but glare at them.

"You know, now that I think about it, you have changed a lot from the first time that you came here." Lee said noticing what I was staring at. "Physically and socially."

"Nah?" I looked at her and once again the other nurses gathered around us.

"Lee's right. You used to be so shy." One said looking at me. "You would never talk to anyone for so long."

"You were social around Ace and Marco, but you would look down a lot and not look at people in the face. Especially around Oya-bun." Another said.

"You were less tan too and you pretty much looked like a boy."

"Oi."

"Ha ha, it's true. You were also a little more closed than anything else. You never opened your door to us. Now you just sit there and say whatever is on your mind." Lee said smiling. "And you've matured a little bit more."

"How?" I asked. Did I really mature at all? Was I even mature to start with?

"You and Ace are already sleeping together at night." Lee said simply.

I felt the heat rush to my face and I slipped on the edge going under. I shot up and stood over the girl pointing a finger at her.

"D-d-d-don't be ridiculous!" I stuttered. Did everyone know Ace came to my room that one night? "B-besides, all he did was fall asleep in my bed, nothing else." I was still standing but I had my arms crossed and was looking away from the nurses who started to giggle. I realized that it was cold out of the water and went back in.

"Okay, okay, but still." Lee said eyeing me. "You like him."

"N-no, he's a friend but…"

"But~"

The nurses leaned in closer and looked at me earnestly. I tried to back up and get out of this pressure. I don't like being the center of attention and here I was it. I had to do something to get them to back up. But what?

"Would you guys leave her alone." The words were more of a command. We all turned towards Miku.

Miku was a very pretty woman with long blonde hair that she usually kept in a pony tail. Her green eyes would pierce anyone and she probably could get any guy she wanted to fall head over heels for her. She was nineteen and one of the best nurses there were. The only down fall she had was her bitchy attitude.

"Mo, Miku-san we were just joking with her and what does it has to do with you?" Lee asked the girl. She wasn't too much of a fan of the younger nurse.

"She says she doesn't like Ace-san so leave it at that. All you are doing is trying to get gossip." She said standing up and walking out of the bath. I watched her go before sighing. Why did I have the feeling that she was lecturing me?

"Ignore her Youko."

I looked up at Lee. The woman was glaring at the spot that Miku had left. I looked at her confused and one of the nurses picked up. "There's a rumor that she had a crush on Ace but he rejected her." the woman said going back to what she had been doing before.

I looked back at the door before standing up and walking towards where I had my clothes. I looked at the pile. I had forgotten to bring regular clothes as well. I sighed and dried my hair before wrapping the towel around my body.

"Forgot your clothes again?" Lee asked as she got out as well. I nodded and headed towards my room.

Ace stared at the sky. Youko hadn't come out yet and he was getting bored. They were going to go fishing again and she said she was going to teach him a game that she played when she was a kid once. It involved a finger gun and hand motions.

"Maybe she hasn't woken up yet." Marco said noticing the fire user's impatience. Ace sat up and smiled.

He went over to the door that led to the girl's rooms and went in. As Ace closed the door, Haruta walked over to where he had been sitting.

"The nurses are bathing today." The brown haired woman said looking at the door. "Youko usually takes one with them."

"Well, if we hear a girly scream we'll know that Ace is going to die." Marco said going back to the book that he had. Without Youko and Ace arguing he could finally read it.

It didn't take long for that to be ruined however. They heard a scream and the door leading to the girl's section broke open and Ace was sent flying back. Marco watched as his friend crashed into the railing half out of it. He and Thatch walked over to him and sighed.

"How much of that blood do you bet is coming from his nose?" Thatch asked Marco.

"How do we know all of it isn't?" the man replied and Thatch laughed before going back to what he had been doing.

I walked through the tables searching for one to sit at. I noticed an empty spot by Ace but ignored it. Maybe there was an empty seat by the nurses.

"Not sitting with Commander?"

I looked at Teach who was sitting and eating by himself. I sat by him.

"Not after this morning." I replied remembering how the man had walked in right as I dropped my towel to get dressed.

"Zehahaha, that was an accident." The fat man said eating half a cherry pie with one bite. I would never get used to the bottomless stomach of the Ds.

"Yeah, but he could have at least apologized." I said taking a bite out of my sea king meat. Out of habit from sitting next to Ace I glanced at Teach's hand every now and then to make sure it stayed on his food. The man noticed and laughed again.

"Don't worry; I won't steal your food. Got plenty of it." The man said gesturing to the table loaded with the stuff. I laughed and continued to eat happily.

"You seem a little different than the other guys." I noted as we ate. Teach raised an eyebrow at my comment.

"How so?" he asked eating another pie.

"You don't seem to have any ambitions. All you do is sit and watch everyone else. Kinda like how I did, but you seem to fit in more when you do." I said waving my meat back and forth. Teach laughed again.

"Nah, I don't have any ambition. I just like being a pirate. Less rules." He said simply.

"You mean more to break." I corrected. Teach gave me a questioning look. "Pirates have the same amount of laws as other people and the marines. We just break them."

"Zehahaha, you're right." He said I finished my food and so did Teach. He wasn't as fast as Ace but he ate a hell of a lot more than me. Teach stood up and I looked at him. "It's too bad that Ace already claimed you. You're a catch." He left the dining hall and I stared at him as he went.

Wait, since when was I claimed? And what does he mean by catch. No one owns me and goddammit does everyone seriously know about that night. MO~~ and I really wanted that to be a secret.

I stared at my ceiling and sighed. I questioned what I had been told. Everyone knew that Ace and I spent a night together, but what about me. I couldn't help but feel happy when I was with the man. He was different then the other guys from my world. Other than the fire controlling and him being a pirate and all. I closed my eyes and I really didn't feel like opening them.

Ace stared at the girl who was lying on the bed. Youko hadn't moved from the spot even when he had come in and closed the door. Maybe she was actually asleep. That would make this really hard. Ace took a deep breath and walked towards the bed. Why was he so nervous about saying a simple apology?

Ace looked at the girl. Youko was curled up on top of the covers with her face angled up. Her hair was a mess and she hadn't changed, still in her day clothes. Ace smiled slightly at the girl's lack of feminine qualities.

Ace leaned forward carefully so that he didn't wake her up. He would have to wait till tomorrow to apologize to her. He lightly kissed the girl's temple and began to back away. Youko's green eyes flickered open and she looked at Ace.

Ace stared at the girl and stood back up so that she could sit up. Youko stared at the man and did nothing else. Ace smiled sheepishly before straightening up and bowing.

"I'm sorry about this morning." He said looking at the girl. Youko looked at him and did nothing.

Ace was suspecting sarcasm or maybe harsh words, but what did happen wasn't what he expected. Youko had moved forward and wrapped herself around his neck and snuggled into his shoulder. Ace stood frozen before wrapping his arms around the girl's waist to lighten the pressure on his neck. The girl had literally been dangling. She was that short compared to him.

Ace wasn't exactly uncomfortable with the position and he actually liked having the girl dangling on him, but he wasn't sure what was going on. Light snores came from the person he was carrying and Ace had to suppress laughter that was forming in his chest. Ace tried to pry Youko's arms off of him but she was a dead weight and wasn't letting go.

The pyro finally gave up and sat down on the bed. Youko was in a sitting position on his lap but still clinging to his neck. Ace carefully bent over, using one arm to hold Youko and the other to undo his boots. After that he took of his pocket bag and belt. It wasn't exactly comfortable sleeping in them.

Ace was able to move the sheets and lay down on the bed. Youko reflexively moved closer to Ace as her head landed on the pillow. Ace pulled the sheets over the two of them and wrapped his arms around the smaller girl in front of him. A small smile came to his lips as he kissed her on the head and closed his eyes to go asleep as well.

Sorry for this coming a little later than the others. The next chapter is the reason why but I'll put the details at the beginning of it.