The Art of Theft
Chapter 3: All That Shines
It was then, he realized; that he wasn't wearing any pants.

I groan as I fumble on the sheets, turning slightly towards the open window. I rub my eyes with one free hand and use the other to pull the sheets over me. The bright sun stares me down; it's blinding. I didn't want think about anything. I couldn't think about anything. Not after the 'talk' I had with Jill yesterday.

Her words are bold and they stick to my head like glue. They're all I can think about, and I realize the truth in her words. There was something about them…

There was something about them that made me want to change myself for her.

"Awaken, sleeping beauty!" a voice semi whispers from my window, and my eyes snap open from under my sheets. It's Luke, and I can sense urgency in his creepy tone. I don't dare peek out from the sheets; I just wonder where the hell he came from.

"Oh Chiyo, don't tell me your sick. Do you need Nurse Luke…?" he knows this will get me out of bed and he's right. I throw the sheets off and race for the door. I glance at him for a millisecond, and declare him insane.

"…Jill's worried."

My hands fumble with the doorknob and I slow down my panic. My fingers lie on the handle for a while before resting my amethyst eyes on Luke. His hand was searching around my nightstand, and I run up to him, smacking his hand away.

He looks at me funny. "Oh my, Chiyo, I didn't know you cared about her so much."

I sigh, and rub my eyes off of their remaining sleep. "I don't. I'm concerned for a certain perverted fellow that likes to make gay jokes and stalk my windows." I raise my eyebrow, and fall down onto the bed. "What do you want now?"

"Seriously man, Jill's worried," his voice sounds surprisingly serious and I gaze at him with one eye. "She called me last night, and after confessing her love to me, she told me the whole story."

I throw a pillow at him. "You disgust me…"

He catches it with one hand and hops through the window. "What did you do to her?"

"…Nothing."

"Okay bonehead, I want you to fix this up and fix this up now. Besides… I have your new helper ready and accounted for, over at your Café."

My ears perk up. "Who'd you find?" I ask eagerly.

"…Mai."

My eye twitches. "…I'm going to fucking kill you!"

"Hey now! She's a good chef, isn't she?!"

"That's not the point! I'm talking about when I had to live up at the Inn with her for two months, she drove me insane. A while longer I would have shot myself."

"Well, you'll need help around the time of Date Night, because you'll be getting busy with Jill. And no, not in that way."

"I'm not going with Jill, I'd rather go with Gil—" Luke grinned, and I saw his mouth open. "—You give me one more gay joke and I'll suffocate you."

He laughs and shakes his finger at me. "Please, she's really worried about you. I dunno what kind of spell you put over her, you sicko, but please reverse it. My blue feather is up and ready to go."

He turns to the window and hops out, and I stare at him as he walks away. I shut the window tight, and begin making my bed.

"…Why doesn't he use the freaken' door?!"

I make my way through the town, smiling at people along the way. The townspeople give me strange looks as I smile at them, but it's as expected. Down the dirt roads, people begin to smile back, and a feeling bubbles within me.

"Why, good morning Chihaya." Leena bows, and begins tending the summer crops. I see her water nearby pineapples, and I catch myself smiling.

I make my way to my café, surprising people with a smile and a wave. I surprise myself. I wish she was here to see this.

"Well now, hello Chihaya!" Ose grins as I pass him by. His huge, muscular hands find my own and he gives me a slightly rough handshake. He leaves the opposite way, and I enter my café.

"Chihaya! Hello!" Mai greets me, running towards me with a large stack of papers. "Luke told me about this job and it's really wonderful you wanted me to work here!" she hands me the papers, and I fumble. "Those are my work papers, all signed and ready to go!" she exclaims into my ear.

I nod politely and forcefully crack a smile. "Good morning, Mai."

She blushes, and my eyes widen as she lurches herself towards me. "Oh, Chihaya!" she swoons. I shake her off, but her grip is strong. A feeling swells in the pit of my stomach as I hear the café doorbell ring.

"…Oh, well I'll leave you two alone…" a voice comes from the entrance. I swiftly turn my head, recognizing the voice. I stare into Jill's usually soft brown eyes. Her flustered face shakes, and she stalks out the café.

"J-Jill!" I reach out, but Mai has me locked down in her grasp. I blink, and try to struggle free. To no avail, she grabs me tighter, and my breathing speeds. "Mai! Do you smell that in the kitchen? It smells like fire!" I yell, and she darts off toward it. I speed towards the door, gently closing it in my wake.

"Terribly sorry I witnessed that." Jill states utterly as I catch up her. Her face is still flushed, and I automatically reach for her arm. She gasps a bit, and I let go, embarrassed.

"Jill, have you met Mai? She's… she's psycho. Please, you have to believe me when I say it wasn't how it seemed."

"Luke… he told me you wanted to invite me to Date Night. I came here… to ask you. But now I'm not so sure. I have to get back to the farm now, I'll see you later."

My eyes widen, and I stare hard at her. "…You can't be serious!"

"I inherited a farm, and I have to take care of—"

"You can't be serious!" I repeat, and she turns around. We're face to face, and my slightly heavy breathing is the only thing audible in the serene village. "You were… going to invite me to Date Night?" I process. Somehow, it didn't seem right to me. Everything was going right for me, and I wasn't used to that. I knew, at that moment in time, it wasn't going to end up that way.

"I'm going back to the farm now. Farewell."

"So that's it?! You can take back something like that… just like that!?"

Jill starts walking slowly. My arm reaches for hers, but this time I stay there. "You can't leave just like that! There are so many things I have to tell you… You're impossible!"

"I'm impossible!? Look who's talking!" with that, she shrugs off my arm, and sprints off, leaving me dumbfounded. I slam my palm into my forehead, and silently curse everything that had transpired in a total of five minutes.

Everything was going right for me for once, but I guess things like that don't happen to people like me. Especially things like love.

So when I went back to the café and asked Mai out to Date Night, I figured everything was screwed up enough to let it just run its course.

Do you know what I figured? ):
I write in small quantities, haaahaaaaa...
So that's why my chapters are short.

-blinkblink-

Forgive me! -cry-
Seemingly how I probably wrote/planned most of this story out, I'll try to make the next one supa-long. :D

And y'know it'll be a ChiyoxJill. P: