Hello all! I apologise for the delay in posting. I've been really busy with work and then I've been away and then work again. But I'm back now ^_^
Thanks to all reading and especially to those taking time to leave a comment! It really makes my days!
Just us has officially turned 1 on 18 May, so wow, one year since I started this fic and still going! I will dedicate this chapter to my loyal followers from the beginning, Hessy and Felana! Thanks both, it means a lot to me you re still into this fic and I'm always looking forward to reading your thoughts 3
Hope everyone reading enjoys the new arc ^_^
SUMMARY: Patch continue the discussion on the testing of Yoh while the boy himself and his fiancee enjoy being back to their 'couple routine'.
The smitten boy…(Part 1)
"I didn't see Chrom last night. Little Hao must have obliterated him, what a pity." Magna said sipping his coffee just as he passed Silva who was trying to eat his breakfast.
Silva's spoon fell out of his hand on the bowl, the noise sounding louder than it should in everyone's ears. All the Patch tensed ready for the collision, only for Kalim to put a hand on his friend's shoulder narrowing his eyes at the innocently smirking Magna.
"He probably came late and it's still pretty early, half of us are missing."
"And the existing half would like to have their breakfast in peace!" Namari commented.
"And their coffees too." Thalim mumbled sleepily cuddling his hands around the warm beverage.
Magna rolled his eyes unamused at seeing himself outmatched and took a seat next to Bron who was munching his cereals quite loudly.
The Patch lived in an old university accommodation building that had 20 single bedrooms, four rooms and a bathroom on the hallway per floor. Only half of those rooms however could be used and three of the bathrooms because they were either in a bad condition, had broken beds or no beds or the water didn't work, so most of them had a room colleague. They had bought mattresses and bed linen for the usable rooms from the money spared on paying for their accommodation. The rent for this building was relatively low because it looked ready to fall, most things were old and it was believed to be haunted. The last was true, but the Patch had no problem sorting that out in no time.
The Patch also shared a large kitchen that also served as a living room. However, the couches look filthy and the TV was broken, so nobody ever used that part of the room. The kitchen appliances - 5 fridges, 3 hobs, 2 microwaves and 3 toasters worked well despite the occasional rust or dried food stains. And it came with cutlery and plates too.
Since most of their money got spent on accommodating poor shamans, their current accommodation was their best option.
"Don't listen to him, Silva! He's just trying to work you up! I'm sure Chrom is fine!" Kalim assured him.
"Kalim, Chrom…"
"Is strong, he sure escaped!"
"No Kalim, Chrom is…"
"Yes, he will always be in our hearts!"
"KALIM!" Silva rose his voice and everyone looked his way.
"See, I'm not the reason Silva has anger issues, it's his constant mood." Magna said taking another sip of his coffee while he ignored the murderous looks from both Silva and Kalim and the loud crunching from Bron that was almost annoying him more than Silva in general.
"Just like you causing trouble is your constant mood, Magna! I see you just had your morning dose of causing trouble with your coffee, but I think you should make stronger coffees. Then maybe you'll remember that you saw me last night when you came out of the shower instead of worrying everyone around like this." Chrom commented as he entered the canteen smiling brightly and carrying on his back a sleepy Rutherfor.
Being the youngest, just made the older Patch much more caring towards her. And it wasn't just for her - usually everyone older had a weak spot for the younger ones.
"Chrom you're alive!" Bron mumbled mouth full of food, looking surprised and almost spitting some on Magna who got up to refill his cup grumpily.
"Of course I am! Don't tell me you believed Magna, you know he likes to make up anything that gets my friend Silva here worked up." Chrom sounded cheerful, but his voice betrayed his irritation.
He put Rutherfor down at the table between Namari and Thalim. The girl said a sleepy thank you and waved at everyone before she put her hands on the table and proceeded to sleeping on them. Thalim patted her back gently.
More Patch entered the canteen aka kitchen.
"That's what I was also trying to say Kalim. I saw Chrom come last night." Silva smiled towards Kalim and the latter looked apologetically his way.
"I'm sorry Silva, I let Magna get to my mind. I should have known you couldn't have gone to bed before making sure he came back."
"And indeed he did! He's a very thoughtful friend, though I didn't get a chance to tell him much about what happened." Chrom said gratefully as he went to make some tea for him and Rutherfor while Namari got up to pour her a bowl of cereals.
Magna went to put himself some cereals ignoring the discussion, still very annoyed at Chrom 'ruining his fun'.
"So how did the fight go? Did the young Asakura spare you? Was he powerful as his brother?" Kalim asked curious.
"I actually didn't get a chance to fight him because the boy had some argument with his girlfriend and just as I was about to introduce myself, he found out how to solve it and dashed past me happily that he found a solution. You should have seen him! I haven't seen a kid so happy in ages! Happy and so in love! I had to let him go! He's definitely different from his brother, though I didn't get a chance to read his furyoku level."
"In love?!" Silva and Kalim both exclaimed.
"You let him go because he was in love?" Bron asked brows furrowed, so stunned he stopped from eating.
"You let him go because he was in love." Magna almost choked on his coffee.
"Young Hao is in loooove." Radim sing-sang while he made himself a cup of tea.
"Awww, how sweet!" Rutherfor commented suddenly awake upon hearing and noticed her colleagues had already left a bowl of cereals in front of her.
"Next time we'll read you a love story to wake you up." Chrom smiled her way.
"Wasn't he a teen not a kid?" Renim asked confused.
"They're all kids to Chrom, have you forgotten? It's because he has a little brother…" Magna said rolling his eyes before he went to do some crosswords with his coffee mug in hand still in a foul mood that only increased from listening to Chrom.
"So that means I can still test him?" Silva asked eyes full of hope and feeling like a weight had been lifted off his chest upon hearing Hao's twin seemed harmless.
"The GS hasn't replied yet, so no." Goldva replied as she entered the kitchen yawning and heading for tea. 'But first I need to ask him, I totally forgot, but they don't need to know this detail.' Goldva thought as she looked around the room. "Where are Lip and Rap?" She asked.
"I'll go check on them, I woke them up and left them to use the bathroom." Radim explained as he went for them with his bowl of cereals in his hands.
"I still can't understand how he can walk all the time with that sunglass on, did he even see he left with the cereals?!" Goldva sighed exasperatedly before she eyed Bron. "And Bron, could you eat like a well behaved Patch and not like a starving one? We don't want you to accidentally eat the spoon again, last time we almost had to call the ambulance!"
"So now who's gonna test Yoh Asakura, Goldva-sama?" Magna asked and Goldva could feel the Patch's excitement to stir trouble with that question and of course, Silva jumped.
"We can just wait till the GS replies, I am sure it won't be long."
"But wouldn't that be unfair towards the younger Hao? He sounds like a busy shaman if he has a girlfriend, we can't be selfish."
"I'm sure he will be fine." Silva insisted eying Magna.
"Do we know how powerful he is at least or just that he has a girlfriend?" Goldva asked rubbing her forehead and feeling a headache from their banter way too early for a Monday morning.
"I didn't get a chance to read his furyoku, I apologize Goldva-sama, he really took me by surprise and ran past me before I could stop him." Chrom apologized while he ate his cereals.
"Why didn't you just trip him?" Bron suggested and all Patch looked at him angrily.
"Bron, that would have been inappropriate and stupid because if he ends up in the hospital it would be unfair to test him. We can't afford to pay hospitalization for another Shaman or else you'll all be eating cereals for lunch and dinner as well!" Goldva explained exasperatedly at his logic.
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect that shaman to get so jumpy and fall out of the tree." Renim apologized in a small voice because he was at fault for accidentally scaring and sending a shaman to the hospital and now someone else had to test him when he would get better.
"C-can I test him if we need someone?" Rutherfor asked in a small voice, putting her spoon down, and all eyes went on her making her shrink in her place.
"There, a great solution especially since we don't know how powerful he is! It's all yours Ruhterfor! Please just try not to destroy half of the city if he goes full Hao on you." Goldva encouraged smiling satisfied and sipping her tea finally feeling her headache going away.
"Thank you Goldva-sama." Rutherfor replied blushing - she'd never seen anyone in love before aside from television and the only reason she put herself forward was because she was curious.
Being one of the officiants turned her life upside down and she would jump at any opportunity to peek at how a 'normal' life would be. She did enjoy being a Patch and having a goal in life already, but at the same time, part of her yearned for the things she was missing on - she was still so young, recently turned 16.
"But Goldva-sama!" Silva complained and she silenced him with one annoyed look.
"Silva, we will wait and see what the GS wants for you, until then, it's all on Rutherfor's hands unless she also doesn't get a chance for Great Sprit knows why reason. Just test him after work or whenever you have a break today." Goldva instructed and Ruth nodded. "Everyone else, please prepare for work, don't be late, we really need the extra money! Kalim, Renim and Silva, hope your job interviews today go well!"
All nodded and everyone started to prepare and finish their breakfast.
"Silva?" Ruhterfor asked timidly before leaving the room to get ready. "I…you know…"
"Don't worry Rutherfor, I hold no grudge or hard feelings towards you and I wish you the best of luck with the boy. Please be careful regardless of what Chrom said." Silva smiled at her, putting a hand on her head and patting it reassuringly.
Worry crossed his features briefly - so what if the boy was in love? He could still be a psychopath like his brother and had Chrom fooled. Ruth getting hurt or possible hurt instead of his best friend didn't make him feel any better. She was so young and Silva cared about her dearly because like the others, she was part of their Patch family.
He wasn't also that narrow minded to hold a grudge over the girl. Same as for Chrom, he felt Yoh Asakura should be his responsibility because if the boy hurt them, he would feel guilty about it. His tainted bloodline should be his responsibility, not others.
"Yeah, don't steal the boy from his girlfriend or she might come for you!" Namari teased launching a tickle attack on the girl from which she jumped away laughing.
"Still, be careful and don't take it easy just because he looks nice!" Thalim also advised elbowing her gently.
"I can give you a ride Rutherfor, I was just about to leave with Lip and Rap for school!" Radim said as he appeared in the kitchen followed by the two little girls.
Kalim and Thalim went to fix them breakfast while Namari started to chat with them making them smile.
"You look like a dad to them with the backpacks on your back and car keys in hand." Bron grinned.
"Aww, thanks Brony, it's just the keys from the storage room for the bike." Radim replied blushing at the compliment.
"How do you all fit on that bike again?" Magna asked, now in a better mood not only because Silva didn't get what he wanted but also because he finished the daily crosswords faster than usual.
"It has a little wagon behind it where Lip and Rap sit and it's a tandem bike, so usually Chrom and I pedal along. Kalim used to pedal, but since he's job hunting, I'm his replacement and to be honest, I've been enjoying it more than I thought! Bikes are great! Rutherfor sits on the back of the bike where the luggage should be and sometimes Renim makes himself invisible on the wagon top and tags along."
"We always know from the extra weight." Chrom joked and Renim stuck his tongue out at him.
All Patch left to their daily jobs and tasks not even half an hour later, mostly walking or using their oversouls as discrete as possible. There was only one bike and they used that one for the youngest. And because the rest didn't know how to use it or were too big for it aka Bron.
Anna found it hard to wake up, yet she knew she had. Sleeping in would have shown weakness and she was sure Yoh would worry. Speaking of…
"You are breathing in my face." She mumbled cracking an eye open only to almost jump in surprise when she saw his face barely a palm away from hers.
"Sorry Anna." The boy moved away to sit next to her, cheeks blushing. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right after last night and you, know, are OK and breathing properly and…"
"Yoh, I'm fine." Anna took a deep breath trying to suppress the urge to get angry at him. "I'm not dying, stop fussing so early in the morning you're giving me a headache."
"Is your leg hurting?" Yoh asked eyeing her leg from under the covers that was slightly up because it was on a pillow.
"A bit, but nothing unbearable. I'll change the bandages later." She decided to be honest, he would have known anyway from the way his eyes just stared into hers. "And stop counting my breaths, you look at me as if I'm about to pass out any second!" She added annoyed grabbing her pillow to throw it at him.
"Sorry, Anna." His voice was muffled by the pillow that hit his face full on.
"Don't you have training?"
"Yes, but I wanted to make sure you are fine first or if you need help to get downstairs, I can carry you and…"
"I am fine but you won't if you ask again in within the same hour."
"I apologies, Anna." Yoh said yet his eyes still looked at her like a sad puppy, melting whatever resistance the girl planned to put up.
"OK, you can carry me down when you go shower so I can brush my teeth, but then you will need to bring me back up to change. Or actually I think my black dress is in the washing machine, so I'll just see what else I can put on while it's being cleaned, so never mind."
"Sure!" Yoh's eyes sparkled with joy and she was once again amazed by how easily he could get happy by such simple things. "Also Anna…"
"Yes Yoh?"
"I love the new pyjamas, I slept great in them!" Yoh grinned at her making a twirl and she couldn't suppress a smile. "They're so comfy and flexible, I can even train in them!" He added as he made himself stand on his hands before he landed on his feet and this time Anna giggled because he was being very cute.
Anna had bought them western looking pyjamas, with shirts and trousers. For Yoh, she got one with an orange cat, that had orange sleeves and trousers while hers had a white cat with a pink ribbon and pink sleeves and trousers. The rest was white. She knew the cats from an animation called 'The Aristocats' that she saw ads about on TV, so she and Yoh had decided to watch that in the future.
"I would rather you don't train in those!" She replied turning to put the futon aside. "They should also save us from any future embarrassment situation of you unconsciously grabbing my clothes." Anna added blushing.
"Thanks for getting those Anna and showing them to me last night! They're so cute! And they look cute on you too! Pink makes you so pretty!" Yoh continued joyful despite the blush now visible on his face as well and his fiancée's face coloured further so she grabbed the covers she was just about to fold and hid under them.
"You're impossible!" She whined from under the covers.
"Come on Anna, you are cute." Yoh came closer to her curled form. "And you need to keep the leg straight or the wound would open! Let me check it!"
"Leave me alone!" She whined as she strengthened her legs from out of the cover, so now she was sitting on her tummy, her face and back still hidden.
"I need to shower, come here. I need to take you downstairs."
"I'm not speaking with you anymore."
"Is it because I called you cute and pretty? Cause you are and you'll have to live with it." Yoh chuckled rubbing her back in an attempt to calm her nerves, yet he heard her growl.
"Aww, you're purring again!"
"THAT'S IT, YOU'RE DEAD!" Anna yelled throwing the cover and jumped on him surprising the boy.
Yoh landed on his back on the floor with an annoyed Anna on his tummy, yet he could see the mischievous glimmer in her eyes sparkling as she reached for his pillow. Before he could run away, she hit him with the pillow. Multiple times.
Yoh dodged a few hits before he caught the pillow with his hands and used her surprise to roll them both on the side, making sure Anna won't land on her wound. Then, boldly, he reached for her lower part of the tummy, where the pyjama got slightly up, and started tickling her. Before the girl could get a chance to retrieve the fallen pillow, she felt her body react from the sensation. Initially she tried to reach for his hands and move them, but they just moved away quickly towards another ticklish spot. She started laughing and lost control over her body from the tickling as he merciless assaulted her.
She was almost out of breath when he stopped and let her catch her breath, but that was his mistake. She'd been waiting for the right moment to turn the tables and she quickly moved her hands towards his tummy and started tickling him. Yoh fell on his back laughing, not even trying to stop her attempts, enjoying their little game. Anna's eyes sparkled playfully, equally thrilled, as she returned the tickling treatment to him.
Despite thoroughly enjoying the game and loving the sound of Yoh's laughs, her hands got tired and she eventually stopped.
Yoh closed his eyes trying to catch his breath. Still full of adrenaline, Anna leaned on her good knee and brought her face in front of his, eyeing him smirking victoriously.
"I warned you."
In return Yoh opened his eyes lazily to stare into her beautiful golden ones, smiling before he quickly raised his head enough so he could give her a quick peck on the lips. Anna froze, face colouring fast, really not expecting him to be this bold.
Yet, he'd been like that all morning, she should have seen this coming. In fact, ever since she allowed him to get closer to her without being punished, he'd been making the most of the newfound boundaries. And truth to be told, she loved this playful bold side of his, but she was still too shy at times or wasn't sure how to react. So instead she just stared at him, heart beating wildly.
"It was worth it, you're even cuter." Yoh commented grinning and watched her hide her face in his chest, too flustered - had temporarily stopped working and she needed to rethink her next comeback because he will sure have to pay for this 'boldness'.
Yoh got up and grabbed her so he could carry her to the bathroom. She didn't speak to him all the way to the bathroom and didn't even look at him. She even slammed the door behind her, leaving him outside waiting for her to finish before he was able to go to the showers - he could have gone while she brushed her teeth in the other room, but you always had to pass by the sink area and she locked the door.
She came out still not looking at him. He noticed she had changed her bandages as he watched her smiling, knowing she wasn't actually upset and was just putting out an act because she was that embarrassed. He just couldn't help himself, she'd been so cute! And he adored playing with her, it made him so happy! He loved their new way of 'fighting'.
"You know she will probably increase your training, right?" Amidamaru materialized next to him, a small blush on his face - he left while the two talked, but he did run into Yoh carrying a blushing Anna down the stairs and it wasn't hard for him to know the two had one of their playful spats.
"Yeah, yeah, she will…But it was worth it." Yoh replied absent mindedly, eyes looking softly after her before he entered the bathroom mumbling to himself about Anna being too cute for her own good.
If Amidamaru wasn't 100% convinced before that Yoh was in love with Anna, now he was more than ever assured that there was no turning back in their relationship. Only going up from here against everything the life would throw at the pair. However, he was pretty confident the two would be able to face it.
He also thought Yoh-dono in love was an adorable sight that made him happy because a Yoh-dono in love meant a happy Yoh-dono and that's all he wanted for his master and friend.
