Chapter 5: Thawed Ice
The sun rose up on a whole new day and last night we finally got our questions answered. I woke up early to make breakfast; we had a lot of mouths to feed today so waking up late would be a bad idea.
"I guess this should do it." I smiled to myself after cooking the last of the pancakes. I placed the food on a circular tray and went to the large dining room where we had dinner last night. While walking, I came across Yoh.
"Morning, Morty." He yawned
"Morning." I smiled in response
"That's a lot of pancakes." He commented with a grin.
"Well we've got a lot of mouths to feed today." I laughed "I made extra's just in case you want to stuff yourself more."
"Heeheehee, thanks!" he then sighed "That would give me more energy to keep up with Anna's training…"
I had nothing to say and I laugh awkwardly. After all, I've said all I can about Anna's training routine. It was one hell of a ride. I'm surprised Yoh's still standing after all that, but I couldn't say that it didn't pay off, because it did.
We reached our destination and as we opened the door to the dining room, I almost dropped my pancakes. We weren't expecting to see anyone there already.
"Y-you scared me…" I sighed in relief walking towards the table.
"You could say that again. My heart almost jumped out of my chest." Yoh laughed "I didn't think you'd wake up 'til later, Len."
"Hmn…" Len looked at Yoh with a blank expression. He then sighed and drank his bottle of Milk.
"What brings you up so early?" I asked placing the plate of pancakes on the table.
Len stared at his empty bottle for a while before responding. "I… Just wanted to… Well… Last night was…"
It seems Len couldn't find himself to say two simple wods which was 'Thank you'. But Yoh caught on quick and smiled making himself comfortable on the other side of the table, in front of Len.
"Don't mention it, buddy." He took a piece of pancake from the pile and started to munch on it.
"Save some for the other's, Yoh." I reminded him and chuckled "I'm going to make some juice, I'll be right back." With that, I ran back to the kitchen leaving the two of them alone.
"So, now that you're together again… What are you planning on doing now?" Yoh asked; chewing.
Len's brows furrow and he stared down at the empty bottle. "I'm going to depart."
"Huh?" Yoh blinked a bit surprised "Why?"
Len contemplated for a moment, carefully choosing the words he was going to say. "There's something that needs taking care of." He stood up holding the bottle in his hand "And it cannot wait."
"I see." Yoh replied as he looked down and closed his eyes. He then looked at Len with understanding eyes and a smile "Are you sure you won't stay for breakfast?"
"I'm sure." Len responded smiling back. He then walked towards the door and before he was out of sight he made one last request "Please take care of Aya until I get back."
"Sure thing." Yoh grinned and Len left.
I got back shortly after with two pitchers of orange juice and cups. "hmn?" I looked around the room realizing there was a person missing. "Where's Len?" I asked placing the tray down on the table.
"He left." He immediately answered as he took another Pancake off the pile.
"What? Really?" I couldn't believe he just left "Why?"
"He said he had to take care of something important." He gulped, swallowing the pancake he was chewing "It would be wrong to stop him."
Yoh did have a point. But whatever it was, couldn't it wait? I mean, things just got better and I know someone would be disappointed to wake up without him here.
"What about Aya?" I reminded "Isn't she going to be upset when she finds out Len's not around?"
Yoh's brows furrowed a bit, just realizing that what I said was true. But he breathed out and stretched "Well, he said we have to take care of her until he gets back." He then turned to me with a huge grin on his face "I'm sure she'll be looking forward to it."
I couldn't help but smile back at Yoh, his smile was THAT contagious. "I hope you're right."
"Right about what?" someone had just walked in all drowsy.
"Hey, Trey." I smiled "Morning."
"Mor…" When he opened his eyes, he was then totally distracted with the food on the table. "WOW! Are those pancakes?!"
He quickly sat down and grabbed three of the floppy circles and swallowed them whole.
"Easy, Trey!" I panicked "You'll choke!"
And I didn't mean to jinx it… But he did choke. I poured some juice in a cup fast and handed it to him. He swiped it off my hands and drank like there's no tomorrow.
"I told you…" I chuckled.
"Sorry." He gasped "It just looked so delicious!"
"Everything looks delicious to you." Yoh mocked while laughing.
"Hey, not really…" Trey defended "Remember the time when Morty cooked something that you guys said were eggplants? They definitely didn't look good! They look like slugs and…"
"I'm right, here." I spoke up.
Trey flinched and quickly turned to look at me apologetically. "Sorry, sorry…!" he immediately changed the topic after leaning back with his hands supporting his weight.
"I heard something about someone being right." He blinked "what was that about?"
"Well…" Yoh leaned on the table poking the stack with his fork "Len left to do something important and he asked us if we could look after Aya for a while; at least until he comes back."
Trey's brows creased in both worry and doubt "You serious? He just left without letting her know he's leaving?" he then crossed his arms as his head looked down and his eyes closed "That's not cool man. She's going to flip out when she finds out about this." He then looked at Yoh "Didn't you guys see how happy she was seeing Len again?"
"We sure did." I sighed "But what can we do? She's pretty much injured and I doubt she'll be able to travel long distances."
"You got a point." Trey sighed.
"Hey come on you guys, it's still early!" Yoh tried to cheer the two of us up "Everything will be all right." He reassured.
Both Trey and I exchanged glances before smiling to each other and finally agreeing with Yoh.
"Well! Enough with all the talking, it's chow time!" Trey was about to launch himself towards the pancakes, but Anna came just in time to smack him down with a pillow with Tammy and Ryu standing behind her; And that was the start of a very rowdy morning.
After breakfast, Yoh had to run 60 miles before lunch. Ryu and I started to do the chores Anna ordered and Tammy was pouring tea in the smaller dining hall with Anna watching her soaps. Trey was about to head out when someone knocked on the front door.
Trey opened it and not a second too soon, fell on the ground with a thud loud enough for everyone to hear. We all rushed to the door and found him on the ground with someone grabbing unto him. "Horohoro! I missed you!" she squealed.
"What!? Who—Who.. Are you!?" Trey squirmed.
The girl looked at him with teary eyes and a smile on her face and that was when he realized who it was. "Pilika?"
"Pilika?" We all repeated
And I speak for everyone when I said… "Who's Pilika?"
The girl which was called Pilika got off of Trey and he stood up, dusted himself off and faced us with a smile. "This Is my sister, Pilika."
Ryu's eyes went all heart shaped again and before he could make his move on her Ponchi and Conchi pushed him back deeper inside the house.
"What brings you here?" Anna demanded with her arms crossed.
Both Trey and Pilika flinched and after gulping large, Pilika responded.
"I wanted to congratulate my brother for being able to win his last match!" she then wrapped her arms around Trey's "He's moving on to the second round and he's going to be Shaman King!"
I looked at Anna and I stiffened at the look on her face. She wasn't too pleased with what Pilika said.
"Oh, really?" her eyes narrowed.
"Yes that's right!" Pilika announced.
"Uhm, sis…" Trey tried to stop her "I don't think that's…"
"He's going to be a great Shaman King and he's going to make all our dreams come true!" She then looked at Trey expectantly "Right, Brother?"
"Well, I uh… Haha…" Trey stuttered and before he could think of anything, Anna hissed.
"You sad delusional child." She then turned her back to them and walked inside the house.
Trey and Pilika blinked not sure what to do with what just happened. But Pilika realized shortly after Anna was out of sight and marched right in following her "What did you just say?"
Trey and I laughed nervously as we watched them argue about who's going to be the best Shaman King or that is… Who's going to be Shaman King.
I then turned to Trey trying to change the topic "Where are you going? Seems like you're heading somewhere."
He closed the door and walked back in "I change my mind." He shrugged "I was going to go out and buy Ice cream… But with Pilika around, she'll probably just swipe it off of my hands."
"The No junk food rule too, huh?" I sympathized as we walked towards the stairs and up.
"Yeah… I've just about had enough of her trying to feed me smoked whale blubber and mushrooms she brought back from home."
I chuckled "Let's just hope she doesn't try to feed any of us with that…"
We both cringed at the thought. We then reached Aya's door and Trey slid it open and walked in; I stayed outside. "I'll call you when Lunch is ready." I promised.
"Looking forward to it!" Trey gave me a thumbs up and I trotted downstairs.
If you're wondering why he went in Aya's room, we agreed to take turns watching over her just in case she wakes up and it was his turn. She was still out cold ever since yesterday; I can't blame her though, using that much furyoku would knock anyone out. I wouldn't be surprised if it took its toll on her body.
Trey sat beside her futon and watched her as she slept. Fenris wasn't around since she wanted to accompany Yoh, she said she needed the exercise and it's been a long time since she just ran around for fun, at least one of us thinks Anna's out of this world training is fun.
Cory floated beside Trey and tilted her head a bit-worried. "Ruu…"
"Same here." Trey's eyes softened and his brows slanted a bit "Hope she wakes up soon."
As Trey carefully eyed her and noticed that part of her arm wasn't completely covered by the blanket revealing the mark. He tilted his head in curiosity and just when he was about to touch it. Aya groaned softly and her eyes started to open.
"Ee!" Trey swiftly retracted his hand—hoping she didn't notice.
She slowly turned her head to look around the room and then turned to face Trey. Her vision was still blurry and she blinked twice in an attempt to clear her vision.
"H-hey…" Trey greeted nervously "It's good to know you're awake."
"…?" her mind was still keeping up with what was happening and when her vision cleared; her eyes shot open surprised to see someone she was not expecting to be sitting beside her. She immediately sat up leaning away from Trey "What are you doing here!?" she growled
"Don't get any ideas!" he retorted "I was just watching over you in case you woke up and seeing that you're up and running, I should be going!" he then stood up and headed for the door. Cory panicking as she looked from Trey to Aya.
"You better! Stay out of my-…ugh!" A sharp pain on her side interrupted her and she hunched over.
Trey immediately turned around and rushed to her side. "Hey… Take it easy." Aya didn't move wrapping her arms around her stomach. "I don't need your help…" she hissed.
Trey sighed "Man, you're almost as stubborn as Anna." He then made her lay down and he didn't realize even though he was being careful, there was still enough force to 'cause her side to throb. This happened because she tried to go against him as he pushed her down. She yelped in pain.
"..! Sorry, sorry…!" Trey panicked "Geez, you're a handful."
She responded with a glare.
Trey stiffened but shrugged it off. Aya's arms slowly loosened their grip but she was still in a lot of pain. Trey then noticed that there was a bruise on her side and it looked bad.
"Ruu… Ruu!" Cory noticed the bruise and made a suggestion to place ice on it.
"Great idea, Cory!" they formed a small chunk of ice out of thin air "The cold may sting a little but it might help." Trey cautioned and then gently pressed the ice on her bruise.
She flinched a bit, gritting her teeth but then slowly calmed down—breathing softly. "Feeling better?" he asked—concerned.
She turned her head facing away from Trey… And just when he thought she wouldn't answer him, she nodded telling him yes.
Trey smiled and placed his free hand on the back of his head "If you don't mind, I'll stay like this for a while just until it melts all the way."
Again, she didn't respond and Trey assumed she was okay with it. Cory smiled and sat down, making herself comfortable beside Aya's pillow.
The room was quiet for some time until finally, Aya broke the silence by asking a question.
"Where's Master Len…?"
Trey reacted a bit and with his eyes closed did his best to stop from laughing "I seriously need to get used to that…"
When he opened them, Aya was already looking straight at him. Trey flustered a bit and tried not to make eye contact. He scratched his chin as he replied "He… uh… Left."
He noticed Aya's eyes widened a bit but she didn't react too violently. I guess she knew that it would cause her more pain if she did, so she stayed still. She turned her gaze to the ceiling and stared at it indifferently. "Where did he go…?"
Trey noticed the sadness in her tone and this got him worried, but didn't say anything about it and answered her "Yoh said he had some stuff to take care off. I'm not really sure what he's up to, but he said he'll be back. So I wouldn't be worried."
"I see…"
Silence filled the room again. Trey looked around the room trying to find a topic to talk about and whenever he did, she would barely say anything. Trey eventually gave up and just continued to hold the ice that was almost gone on her bruised side.
Minutes passed and the ice had completely melted away. Aya then sat up, glanced at her side and gently caressed it. The ice had numbed it a bit making it less painful when touched.
"Ruuu~" Cory noticed the change and floated near her face. "Ruu, ruu~" Cory happily flailed her arms up and down as if telling Aya that her bruise would be just fun. Aya looked at Cory and even though she didn't smile, her eyes were gentle. She raised her free hand and held out her index finger; Cory then gently held unto it with her other hand since the other one was holding her lily pad.
"Thank you…" Aya softly spoke and Cory nodded with a smile while shaking her hand… I mean, finger slowly.
Trey stared at her and he was about to say something but I came into the room.
"Trey, lunch is…" I stopped and noticed that Aya was awake "Hey! You're awake!" I happily ran to her side opposite of Trey and sat down "How're you feeling?"
She leaned away from me a bit with a surprised look on her face but she then relaxed "I feel… okay."
"It doesn't hurt anywhere?" I immediately asked after she finished.
She jumped a bit surprised she looked down on her sheets and shook her head.
"That's good…" I sighed—relieved "Lunch is ready and you need to eat to keep up your strength!" I pointed out "or what's left of it…" I thought to myself a bit worried. I then stood up and jogged to the door and after reaching the exit, I turned to look at them again with one of my hands holding on to the door frame. "Come on down when you're ready!" I smiled "You too, Trey." And left them with that.
They stared at the door for a bit and then exchanged glances. Trey laughed nervously and slowly got up "Well, we better be heading down; I'm starved." He was now standing up and he offered a hand to help her up.
Instead of taking it, Aya, with much effort, stood up and silently walked to the door.
Trey looked at her not knowing what to make out of the situation. He then grunted in annoyance "Fine, I was just trying to help." He placed both his hands behind his head and followed after her. They both headed to the dining room where we all were enjoying our food.
Trey slid the door open with Aya standing behind him.
"Hehey! You're awake!" Yoh greeted with a mouth full of pancakes.
"Good morning, lady Aya!" Ryu swooped passed us and knelt down in front of her "Might I say you look radiant as the rays of the sun shining down on-…" she walked passed him without paying attention and Ryu hung his head down in defeat. Trey patted him on the back "There, there Rome." He laughed.
"Have a seat." Yoh invited and Aya sat beside Tammy.
"How… How are you feeling?" Tammy shyly asked.
"Better." She turned to look at her and nodded "Thanks."
Tammy smiled in relief she then offered a plate of pancakes and Aya accepted.
As we ate, I couldn't help but look at Aya occasionally. I guess I was expecting that she'd ask about Lenny and I know I should've been more relieved that she didn't, but I was feeling the exact opposite.
"You okay there, Morty?" Yoh seemed to have noticed my restlessness.
"I uh…" I hesitated for a bit and looked at him "I know I shouldn't be worried that she isn't asking about Len… But somehow I feel it isn't right. It's like… I want her to ask." I admitted.
He chuckled "You're worrying too much. If she asks, we'll tell her… If she doesn't we don't." he took a bit off of his last pancake "Just relax."
"Okay, if you say so…" I sighed.
We were all done with breakfast and everybody was just chilling. The weather was nice and it was a good day to just sit back and relax. Ryu and Trey were sparring with each other while Tammy, Yoh and I were sitting on the porch watching, Anna was inside with the door open—studying and Tokageroh, Cory and Amidamaru were cheering on the fight.
Aya on the other hand went up to her room and Fenris followed her. We invited her to watch with us but she seemed like she wasn't in the mood… And it would be wrong to force her.
"She seemed to have something on her mind." I thought out loud.
Tammy looked at me with a curious face.
"Yeah, I noticed it too." Yoh replied while Trey tried to smack Ryu with his stick but he was avlee to block it and pushed him away.
"Why didn't you say anything!?" I got worked up and stood up making my voice louder than it was supposed to.
Everyone turned to look at me 'cept Anna who was busy reading.
"Why didn't who say anything about what?" Trey asked walking over to us with Ryu following him from behind.
"Oh.. uh.." I stuttered. I then took a deep breath and sat back down explaining to them "Something seemed to be bothering, Aya. Even though she looked okay, I can't shake off the feeling that there's something on her mind."
"Maybe it was all off those pancakes she had eaten during breakfast time." Ryu guessed.
"She only ate three… And my cooking had nothing to do with this." I pouted.
"Maybe… Maybe she was just embarrassed?" Tammy assumed.
"I don't think so… She doesn't strike me to be a person who's easily 'camera shy'" I shook my head.
"Hey Trey" Yoh called out "Where you going?"
Trey was about to walk away from us unnoticed… Well not completely since Yoh saw him. It looked like he was hiding something and from the looks of it, he didn't want to tell us.
"I uh…" he quickly turned to face us with his hand on the back of his head "I was going to go get some cheeseburgers for uh Yoh and I…"
"You know he's not allowed to eat junk food." Anna scolded from the room, keeping her eyes on her books but her voice made Trey flinch.
"Come on, Trey…" Yoh urged him with a smile "What's really going on?"
I could tell that Trey didn't want to tell us anything but he gave up and told us anyway.
"I uh… I'm not sure…" he started "but I guess the reason why she's so out of it is because I told her that Lenny left."
"Oh, I see no wonder she-… Wait, what!?" I freaked.
"Well she asked and I didn't know what else to do!" Trey reasoned.
"Yoh…" I looked at Yoh for a second opinion.
"Well like I said, tell her if she asked, and she did." He stood up and stretched "Just not from us, heehee."
"So?" Ryu focused his attention on Trey "Did she say anything?"
"No she didn't." Trey scratched his head with a frustrated look on his face "I was surprised she seemed okay with it."
"Mmn…" I fidgeted "I hope she's not blaming herself for Len leaving." I looked up at her window, expecting to find her there but she wasn't.
And it wasn't just me who was worried, everyone else was too.
The day was fun and it ended pretty well, but we couldn't stop worrying how Aya was. She was awfully quiet the entire day. Tonight I went home since I've already spent two days here and I'm sure people at home would already be looking for me and I didn't want to worry them anymore even though I let them know that I was staying at a friend's house.
This time, Ryu cooked dinner but Aya didn't come down. Ryu took it as a sign that he will never win her affection and just gave up, but left a plate of food for her. He explained that it was for an apology and at the same time a token of friendship. Anna mocked him which made him sob on the table.
When they were done, Trey and Anna were the last to leave. Before Trey got out of the room Anna stopped him and shoved the plate of food into his hands.
"W-woah! What… What do you…"
"Take this up to Wolf girl." She ordered
"Why me!?" Trey complained.
"You were the one who upset her in the first place." She reminded him and walked out the door. Trey was going to protest but Anna answered with a glare and sent him running up the stairs. Trey reached Aya's room and took a moment before opening the door. He sighed and finally slid the door open.
Aya was sitting by the window but instead of on the windowsill like she usually does, she was on the floor; which would explain why I couldn't see her this morning or maybe she was lying down by then… who knows.
Trey walked in and closed the door behind him.
"Hey… Uh…" he slowly walked up to her "here's your food. Anna told me to bring it up here."
She didn't say a word.
Trey breathed out with his brows slanted a bit. He then placed the plate near her futon "I'm just uh… gonna put it here." He awkwardly smiled. She didn't respond and was still quiet as a bat. Trey sighed and stood up, he then walked to the door and was about to leave; until a sound of water dropping on the mat stopped him.
"Huh…?" he blinked and turned to look at Aya. He didn't notice at first but she had her head hung low while leaning on a cabinet near the window. Trey watched her carefully before approaching her.
He crouched beside her and tilted his head to take a good look of her face and his eyes widened a bit with what he say. She was asleep but tears were streaming from her face.
"Morty wasn't worried for nothing." He sat down beside her and attempted to pat her head. His hand stopped above her head, recalling the way she pushed Yoh off. He hesitated for a bit, took a deep breath through his nose, and then finally, placed his hand on her head and something warm flowed from his hand to his body… And it felt nice.
"Come on…" he comforted "He'll be back… And knowing Len, he won't back out on his word." He added "Even though he's full of himself…" He thought to himself.
She whined a bit and more tears flowed down her cheek. Trey's brows slanted in worry and he decided to pick her up and place her on her futon. He then placed the blanket over her before sitting down beside her. Her head then seemed to move from side to side and she looked like she was feeling uneasy. For some reason, Trey knew exactly what to do. He placed his hand on her head again and gently stroked it. She calmed down, her expression softened and her breathing eased.
Trey smiled softly as he continued to stroke her head "Len was right… You are just a pup."