"Your drink was disgusting, but definitely worth it. I'm glad we still get to hang out tonight," Ace said, not realizing that his tone had become a little gentler.
"Yeah," was all Sora said, keeping her back to him. But her voice also got a bit quieter.
Ace caught up to her so that they were walking together. "Sorry if you feel like, you know, I pressured you into thinking this was a date or something. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"Nah," Sora said, waving him off and pretending like she hadn't spent majority of the day thinking about it. It was true that she had returned to her bar after shopping with Marco in the morning but she couldn't work; her mind was too jittery, she couldn't focus. So, she had left again with Marco to go and visit Michio, the owner of Ramen-Ya.
"You have a date?" the older man asked. Michio was a tall rugged man in his early forties that ran the best ramen shop on the island. However, it was only open at night, as he spent most of the day caring for his twin sons. His wife had died over ten years ago, giving birth to his sons.
"My thoughts exactly," Marco said, playfully slapping Sora on the back.
She choked a little on her glass of water and shook her head. "No! What? Why is this suddenly a date? I don't even know the guy. We live together, yeah, so what, I live with you, too, Marco, and Thatch and Jozu."
Michio made noises like he didn't believe her, tilting his head from side to side as he kept his shoulders shrugged. "He seems like a nice guy."
"Yeah, so he wanted to hang out as friends."
"He asked you to dinner. Come on, Sora, you're like twenty-two now, can you really be that naïve? This Ace fellow seems to be diggin' the show," Michio responded, which caused Marco to laugh and Sora to roll her eyes.
"It's not a date. We're going as friends," Sora said, making up her mind about what she was going to tell Ace if he asked her if tonight was a date. She couldn't stand this ridicule. "Or, whatever, I don't know, I'll just cancel."
"Ah, now look at you," Michio said, patting her on the head. "Your feathers are all ruffled. Stop that. Don't cancel, stupid, bring the guy tonight and eat."
"I—" Sora started, but Michio interrupted her.
"No buts. Just do it," he told her. He grinned at the younger woman and sighed with a feigned admiration. "How long's it been since our Sora has been out with a man? I was beginning to worry that you might've swung the other way and become a lesbian. Not that I'd mind watching some of that action," he added with a wink.
"Shut up," Sora said, rolling her eyes at Michio.
"Where is this ramen place anyway?" Ace asked, snapping Sora out of her mini-flashback.
"It's owned by a friend," Sora said, pointing at a shop down the road. It was an outdoor set up, with a counter that enclosed the cooking space, barstools set up around it. Sheets of cotton were hung on all sides, reading kanji characters for virtues like strength, honor, and integrity. The cotton on the front of the store, however, the side facing the street, read 'RAMEN-YA', which simply meant "ramen shop".
"SORAAA," bellowed one of the chefs, seeing Sora approaching from twenty feet away. He had a white bandana tied around his forehead, and had an apron tied around his waist. The
older man waved broadly, as though Sora didn't hear him calling from the other side of the road.
The woman sighed, burying her face in her hands. Ace laughed. "I take it that's the owner?" Sora just nodded, still hiding her face. Why was Michio making a scene?
They reached the counter and the man grinned at Ace and Sora. He dropped a strainer with noodles into a pot of water, dusted his hands off, and held it out to Ace. "Ryouri Michio," he introduced.
"Portgas D. Ace," the younger man responded, taking Michio's hand in a firm handshake.
"Oh, the second division commander," Michio mused. Sora was sitting already, firing daggers at Michio with her eyes. But the chef was unfazed. "Sora was the second division commander, too."
"I know," Ace said, sitting next to Sora, turning to smile at her. She instantly wiped the glare from her face – she didn't want Ace to know she was going to kill Michio later –and furrowed her brows.
"How'd you know?" she asked. She didn't remember telling Ace about that.
"Kohaku."
Sora sighed. "Of course. That boy cannot keep his mouth shut."
"Ace, you wanna see her poster?" Michio piped, gesturing to a slip of paper posted on a pillar nearby.
It was Sora's wanted poster, tinted a little browner than the newer ones due to age. If Ace hadn't read the name that was written in bold letters he wouldn't have even known that poster was Sora's. Her hair was super short and straight, cut in a bob that framed her face, versus her naturally wavy hair presently. She still had the same side-swept bangs, and her head was tilted up slightly as she smiled mischievously, one hand lifted with her finger looking like she was just about to beckon and say, "Come at me!" Since it was just a shot of her torso, Ace noticed that the photo had been taken when she had already gotten the Whitebeard Jolly Roger tattooed on her arm, and also noticed she was only wearing a bikini top, exposing most of her fair, unblemished skin. Around her neck were tiny metal rods that varied in size, and her left arm had several bands lining her lean biceps.
"You were hot," Ace said, raising his eyebrows. He turned to face Sora. "Not that you're not hot now, it's just that you look like you have boobs in that picture," he added, grinning at the woman, who rolled her eyes. He gestured back at the poster. "Nice bounty. 210,000 Beli? Pretty good."
"Pretty good?" Sora reiterated, cocking one eyebrow. "Pretty great."
"Yep, Fuurin no Sora," Michio recalled.
"Fuurin? That's cute. Why were you the 'wind chimes'?" Ace asked.
"Don't act like you don't know," Sora said, rolling her eyes. "Kohaku told you about my fruit didn't he?" Ace grinned, guilty. He had wanted to hear it from Sora also, but that hadn't worked. "Oh, you are so nosy."
"Oy, he just wants to know more about you," Michio chimed in again, handing Ace and Sora menus.
"Exactly," Ace agreed, flashing her a grin. "I want to know everything."
"Nosy," Sora repeated, flattening her palm into Ace's face and shoving it playfully. Sora handed Michio the menu back without looking at it. "Kotteri ramen," she told him.
"Is that good?" Ace asked, eyes shooting cursory glances over his menu, not even reading the words, just looking at the pictures.
"It's our special," Michio informed Ace.
"Okay, then three bowls of that," Ace ordered, handing the menu back. Michio had to pause for a moment to make sure that he had heard correctly.
"Three?" Michio raised an eyebrow.
"Really? The bowls are big here. I can only finish one," Sora told Ace. "And weren't you eating and drinking all day already?"
"There is always room for food," Ace said, patting Sora on the head teasingly as though she were a misunderstood child. She swatted his hand away. He nodded at Michio. "Three Kotteri ramen, please. Oh, and a couple orders of gyoza. Like, five orders? Six?" He turned to Sora. "Is six okay?"
"If I eat gyoza and ramen, I'm going to explode," Sora said. "And each gyoza order is six pieces, so I don't know if you want to get that many."
"Yeah, okay, six," he told Michio, grinning. Instead of looking surprised again, the man just grinned. "How much would that come out to?" Ace asked Sora quietly.
"It's on the house," Michio said, hearing Ace speak.
Ace looked up immediately. "No, don't do that," he said, waving his hands. He was certainly used to free food as he frequently practiced the dine-and-dash, but here, he had been paying for everything he ate or drank. He didn't want to disrespect Sora's village. "I don't mind. I'm just crappy at math, and I don't have the menu anymore."
"Nah, Sora eats for free everyday," Michio told him, waving him off as he started a batch of ramen. Ace turned to Sora and raised an eyebrow. She had told him that he would be paying, which had started the whole date debate in the first place. The woman shrugged guiltily, laughing. "And you're her date, so you can eat for free as well."
"Ah, we're not, uh—" Ace started, shaking his head. He didn't want to make Sora feel uncomfortable and then suddenly just run away.
"No need to be modest, boy!" Michio called, laughing. "It's been a while since I've seen Sora so happy! I was just telling her today, I haven't seen her out with a man since—"
"Michio," Sora said harshly, and this time Ace saw her glare. It was sharp and certain, but she didn't even look angry. It was a warning. Even though Michio was twenty years older than her, he clamped his mouth instantly.
"Ope," Michio said, breaking the abrupt silence with a wide grin. "Sorry, Sora."
The look on her disappeared as quickly as it had come. She smiled at Michio as though that brief moment of her death glare hadn't happened. Ace knew he probably should have been a little scared, but it just made him more curious. Sora really was a private person; she hated people knowing anything about her. It made Ace want to know her all the more.
But just not tonight. Ace would ask about Sora's past when the time was right. Michio brought Ace a beer, and the young man turned to Sora, who was sipping from a small cup of tea. "You don't drink?"
"I run a bar," Sora said, as though this were supposed to be an answer.
"But I've never seen you drink. And you deny me when I ask if you want to drink with me."
"I just don't feel like it," she said, shrugging.
"Sora gets blasted after like, two shots of sake," Michio revealed, and Sora rolled her eyes, confirming that this was, indeed, the case.
"What?" Ace asked, incredulous. He laughed, shaking his head. "Impossible. You're a pirate, woman, a pirate! Bink's Sake! Like, if you receive the sake instead of delivering it, you're gonna take two shots and pass out? If that ever happens when I'm around, I'm going to draw all over your face."
Michio and Sora laughed, flashing him a small smirk. "Yeah, I'll definitely make sure to never, ever drink around you, then."
"Ah, that is where you underestimate me, Miss De Belleville," he said, poking a finger at her nose. He spoke airily as if he were hypnotizing her. "You will drink with me one day. And I will scribble on your pretty little face."
Sora scoffed. "Never gonna happen, studly."
Ace made a tsk-ing sound, eliciting a laugh from the woman. Michio placed two giant bowls of ramen in front of Ace and Sora. She broke her chopsticks and began to eat, clipping the ramen up gracefully. When she turned to look at Ace, however, he was pouring the food straight into his mouth, his pair of chopsticks lying unused on the table.
"Oy, you're gonna choke," she warned him, giggling a little, but Ace continued to drink the ramen. It was a thick soup base, almost like porridge, but Ace kept his lips pressed to the side of the bowl, continuing to eat like a barbarian. He slammed the bowl down before Sora even finished with half her own bowl, and began throwing gyoza in his mouth as though they were candy. He stopped every now and then to wash the food down with a swig of beer and dove right in again. Michio brought Ace the second bowl of ramen.
"Can you at least eat like a human being?" Sora sighed, rolling her eyes playfully. She didn't mind his crude eating habits; practically all the men on Whitebeard's crew followed the same style of consuming food.
"I'm a pirate," Ace said with his mouth still stuffed with gyoza. Sora laughed and shook her head as little flecks of food flew out of his mouth. He swallowed and was about to reach for the ramen, when his he fell onto the table with a loud thud.
"What the—" Sora started, surprised by Ace's sudden collapse. She hopped off her stool as Michio leaned over the counter to inspect the situation.
"Did he choke?" Michio asked, raising an eyebrow. He paused for a moment, a hint of fear seeping into his voice. "Is he dead?"
Sora circled him, and saw his shoulders rising and falling with his breathing. She furrowed her brows, unsure of what she was actually seeing. "Oh, my God. He's sleeping."
"Wait, what?" Michio's voice was raised, Sora hearing his skepticism.
"No, seriously," she said, poking him in the shoulder. The man didn't move, and continued to snore quietly. "He's asleep. Did you poison him?"
Michio held his hands up and shook his head. "Why would I poison him? I'm not that kind of chef," he said, sounding offended.
"Oy," Sora said, tapping Ace. He didn't stir. She tried again, louder. "Oy, studly, wake—"
Ace shot up, making Sora jump backwards, grabbed the bowl of ramen and proceeded into pouring it down his throat. He paused, hacking a cough and placing the bowl down before pounding his fist against his chest. He swept up his beer and finished the glass, and then emptied out his second bowl of ramen.
"What in the name of all that is holy was that?" Sora asked, furrowing her brows.
"What?" he asked, swallowing the rest of his food. He looked at Sora, who was standing to his side. Michio placed his last bowl of ramen in front of him. "I'm hungry. Why aren't you eating?"
Sora stared at Ace with wide eyes as though he had just asked the stupidest question in all the land. "Why aren't I—I thought you died!"
"What are you talking about?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow. He sounded genuinely confused, and even paused a bit to display his confusion to Sora.
Sora blinked several times, and then just shook her head, waving her hand slightly. "You know what? Never mind," she mumbled, returning to her seat. She exhaled deeply, but Michio noticed a very small smile on the curve of her lips. She actually seemed to be enjoying this man's company. It wasn't to say that Sora didn't have fun when she came to the ramen shop with, say, Marco, or Izou, but she never joined the men in a meal. It wasn't the same if she went to dinner with them to chaperone. Michio smiled to himself. Sora was like the younger sister he never had; it was nice to see her happy again.
"Done," Ace announced as he slurped down the last bowl of ramen. He wiped his mouth off on his arm and passed Sora a plate of gyoza. "Want?"
"Still eating my first bowl," she reminded Ace, gesturing to her half-filled bowl of ramen. It was still hot, steam rising from the top of the bowl.
"Oh," Ace said, shrugging. "Guess I'll eat this then," he dumped the rest of the gyoza into his mouth. He turned to Michio and grinned, giving the man a thumbs up. "That was awesome, man, thanks."
"Glad you enjoyed it," Michio chuckled, moving off for a moment to help other customers.
Ace rested his chin in his hands, staring at Sora as she continued to place ramen into her mouth. Ace noticed how she clipped the noodles between her chopsticks and then closed them, twirling them around as though eating spaghetti and not ramen. But he decided not to say anything, just smiling. She flicked her eyes at him, and then turned her head to face him when he wouldn't look away. "What?"
"Oh, nothing," Ace said, shrugging. "Just looking at you. You dressed up for tonight."
"I did not," Sora said, turning back to her food immediately after the comment.
"Yes, you're actually covering your body," Ace teased, receiving a playful shove from Sora. Sora did normally wear clothes that exposed her lean legs and arms, and firm midriff, like her short dresses, or half-vests, but tonight she was wearing a blue off the shoulder long sleeve. And gray shorts, of course.
"It…was…cold," Sora said, shrugging.
Ace smirked. "You're wearing shorts and heels," he said. He glanced back down at her feet. "Heels," he said again, grinning. "You did dress up!"
"My boots are dirty and blue is my favorite color," she tried again, and kept her mouth occupied by eating the ramen.
"And I feel bad 'cause I'm in rags," Ace said, popping up the collar of his black tank top jokingly. He was dressed in the tank top and beige shorts and black slippers. He'd left his hat, knife, necklace and pouch back in the room. Why carry around all that stuff when there was no need? "I guess you've decided that we're on a date, then?" he added, smirking.
"I have not."
"Not decided or not on a date?"
"Not…on a date," she said, choosing the latter.
Ace just shrugged, looking unaffected. "Okay."
"Okay?" Sora asked. She thought that he was expecting her to say 'not decided' and try to convince her that it was a date. She had saved him the trouble and just told him no. But he was okay with it?
"Yeah. I told you no pressure right?"
"You were serious?"
Ace furrowed his brows, pretending to look a little offended. "Yeah, I was serious!"
The woman laughed. "Okay, okay. My bad, studly. But hey, this is our first time hanging out, so maybe, I will agree to an actual date later."
"Really?" Ace asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Most likely not," Sora answered, receiving a playful shove by Ace. Sora called over Michio, who sidled across his pots to her side of the shack. "We're gonna be heading out now. Thanks so much for dinner."
"Yeah, it was great," Ace agreed, patting his belly. It hadn't looked like he had even eaten at all.
"No problem," Michio said, nodding to the two of them. "Come back anytime!"
Sora had started to leave but when Michio turned away, Ace pulled out Beli from his pocket. He quickly slipped enough money to pay for his meal under his beer glass and turned to catch up with Sora.
"He said it was free, you know," Sora reminded him, having seen what Ace had done.
"Yeah, I know," Ace replied, shrugging. "But I'd feel a little crappy about not paying for enough food to feed like, five people."
"You're a pirate," Sora said, smirking as she saw Ace smile. She had used his line. "Aren't you used to the dine-and-dash?"
There really was no slipping past Sora. As a former pirate, she seemed to know everything about that life. Ace grinned guiltily and Sora just rolled her eyes. "I'm surprised you eat like such a princess," he commented, shoving his hands in his pockets as they walked through the streets. The road was dimly lit with a yellow glow from the few street lights, but the lights from the houses of residents and still-open shops made the path in front of them visible.
"I'm not a pirate anymore. I can't eat like an animal," she laughed.
"So, you used to eat without chopsticks?"
Sora rolled her eyes, and Ace grinned at her confirmation. "Food on the ship is good, okay? Not that Michio's isn't good or anything, I just don't want to eat like a crazy person in public."
"Why'd you quit being a pirate anyway?" Ace asked, and then instantly regretted it, seeing the way the question made her body freeze. It seemed like it was a little painful for her to walk now, and her breathing had halted for a moment.
"I had things to do," she replied nonchalantly, shrugging as though she was unaffected.
Ace decided to just leave it at that. "Where are we going?" he asked, noticing that they weren't headed back to the bar. He had expected to just have dinner and go back and maybe spend some more time together at the bar.
Sora raised her eyebrows. "If you don't want to eat ice cream we can just go back to the bar," she told him.
"Ice cream? I love ice cream," Ace said immediately, glad that the night wasn't over. He was surprised that she had suggested another place to eat together – as she did say that a bowl of ramen filled her up – but he definitely wasn't going to complain.
Sora smiled and the two just continued walking. "How is my old division doing?" she asked, keeping her eyes in front of her, as though the question was a little awkward for her.
"Awesome," Ace responded, grinning.
"Marshall still your subordinate?" the question was a little bitter, but Ace chose to ignore that.
"Yeah. I told him to take the position instead of me, but he said he's not interested in stuff like that," Ace shrugged. "You don't like him?"
"He is nakama," was her answer. Ace stayed silent, and she added quietly, "But just watch out, okay? I always have a bad feeling around that one. Like those painful ones in your chest," she said, putting her hand over her collarbone, pretending to experience it.
"What?" Ace asked, a little incredulous. He chuckled and shook his head. "Teach is harmless."
"Let's hope so," Sora replied, sounding obviously unconvinced.
"He's the one that encouraged me to become the commander," Ace noted, defending his crewmate. "If it weren't for him, you and I wouldn't have met."
Sora laughed. "Yeah, we would have."
"But you wouldn't think I'm as awesome," Ace corrected, flashing her a grin.
Sora scrunched her face together and inhaled through her teeth as though about to reveal bad news. "Sorry, studly, but you're not that awesome. Marco's more awesome than you, 'cause, I mean, fire's cool. But phoenix? Now that's awesome," she added, giggling.
"I am not afraid to hit a woman."
Sora laughed some more, shoving Ace's shoulder. "Shut up, stupid." She smiled at Ace. "But you know, I'm really glad to hear that you're taking care of them," she said, referring back to her old division.
"I don't even know why I never really asked why there was a position open in the first place," Ace mused aloud, shrugging. "I should ask around about you."
Sora smirked. "Nosy."
"What? I want to hear what your nakama have to say about you."
Sora smirked. "Only good things, of course."
"I know, but—"
"If you really want to know more about me," she interrupted. "Then you have to wait."
"For what?"
"Trust," Sora answered, staring straight into Ace's eyes. He felt it again, the tightening of his chest and he watched as all the lights swirled around them. He couldn't even tell what was what; was he floating now? Was he even moving? It was chemistry, exploding chemistry, and Ace felt the electricity rip through his body, tingling every nerve, igniting all his senses.
He nodded slowly, a small smile creeping up his lips. "Okay, then. How do I know when you can trust me?"
Sora laughed and they broke eye contact, waking along. "When you don't need to ask me that question."
Ace grinned. "Fine," he agreed. The reached the ice cream parlor, a small corner shop with a waffle cone and a pink lump of ice cream as the sign. Ace held the door open for her and Sora slipped past him, saying thanks quietly.
"Sora," greeted the cashier, a younger girl who looked about fifteen. She was dressed in a pink apron and had her auburn hair tied out of her face.
"Hey, Coral," Sora greeted, waving slightly.
"Are you Hiken no Ace?" she asked, gasping and covering her mouth, her eyes widening.
"In the flesh," Ace responded, grinning as he pointed a thumb at himself. He held out his hand for the girl to shake. She seemed to not believe this was even happening, and just stared at him with wide eyes, taking his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"You're really awesome," she swooned, clapping her hands together.
Ace turned to Sora and grinned. "See? Really awesome." Sora laughed and shoved him. "What is Sora's favorite ice cream flavor?" Ace asked Coral, looking inside the freezers near the register.
"Green tea," Coral told him, pointing the tub of green colored ice cream.
"I hate green tea ice cream," Sora told Ace.
"Don't you lie to me, woman." Ace said, flattening his palm over her head and clamping it like his hand was a mechanical claw and Sora was the stubborn stuffed bear at the bottom of the grabber machine. He pulled out a few bills from his pocket with his other hand. "Yeah, green tea ice cream for her and chocolate for me."
"Okay," Coral said happily, punching it in the register. Ace made the motion to give Coral the money, but Sora slapped it out of his hand.
"What the hell?" Ace was surprised by her action, bent over to pick up the money, and when he looked up, Sora was handing her own Beli to the young cashier.
"Hey," Ace said, and shoved her aside. "Take mine," he told Coral, plucking Sora's bills from her hands and inserting his own.
"Oy, stop," Sora said, trying to push Ace aside again. But the younger man grounded himself and Sora felt like she was pushing against a wall.
"Hey, stop before you hurt yourself," Ace teased her. He laughed as the girl huffed and tried to hand her money to Coral over Ace. Ace just held his arm up and shifted his body so that he was a human blockade. He laughed at the small woman, who had her brows furrowed. "You beat Marco the Phoenix? Impossible."
"Shut up," Sora said, punching his back.
"Oh, damn, I think a mosquito bit me," Ace said playfully, rubbing the spot that Sora had punched, only to receive another in his shoulder. But, by then, Coral had rang up Ace's order and handed him the change. "Thanks!" he told her as she began to scoop out their ice cream.
"You didn't even need to do that," Sora told him, pretending to be angry as she stared at Ace through little slits in her face.
"I know," Ace told her.
"Then why did you?"
"I don't know, I wanted to," Ace told her, and Sora opened her mouth. Ace clamped his hand over it. "Just shut up already. It's done, you can pay me back later."
Sora slumped her shoulders in defeat. "Fine. Next time, then. Thanks," she said, making a face.
Ace hoped that there would, indeed, be a next time.
Coral handed Ace their ice cream cones, and he grinned, handing Sora's to her. She held it carefully, her eyes sparkling. "Thank you," she told him, starting for a table nearby.
"Sora," greeted a voice and the two turned around to see Izou pushing open the door, a tiny bell jingling behind him. He was dressed in a kimono, as usual, but a set with cool greens and blues. His thin black hair was swept up, his lips were colored, and with his pale skin, he looked very much like a geisha.
"Izou," Sora said, handing her ice cream to Ace so she could pull the other man into an embrace.
"I feel like I haven't seen you since we got here!" He said, patting her on the head. "You are still such a beautiful woman."
Sora grinned. "Thanks, but you're still a lot prettier," she teased.
"I know," he told her, as though this were common knowledge. "Oh, and hello Ace," he greeted, noticing the second division commander standing with two ice cream cones.
"Hey," he greeted, smiling. He watched as Haruta and Vista walked in shortly afterwards, and raised an eyebrow. Why were three other division commanders wandering to an ice cream shop now, just when Ace and Sora were here? "Are you guys following me?" he asked, voicing his thoughts.
Izou laughed, waving Ace off. "Someone's thinking a little too highly of himself. I just wanted to see Sora before she disappears with Marco, as usual," Izou said, rolling his eyes at the woman.
"How'd you know she'd be here?" Ace asked, still not convinced, as the other two division commanders averted their eyes away from Ace, trying to engage Sora in conversation.
"Kohaku," Izou answered.
Ace couldn't help but roll his eyes. That boy really couldn't keep his mouth shut when it counted. The last thing he wanted was word to spread around the Whitebeard Pirates about Sora and Ace hanging out alone and making a big deal of it. Yes, Ace did enjoy spending time with the woman, but not if it made her uncomfortable.
But damn, what did Ace care? Everyone already seemed to know that she spent a lot of time with Marco.
"Ah, well, sorry if we were interrupting something," Izou said, flashing Ace a quick wink while Sora was chatting with Haruta and Vista. He moved past Ace to start ordering ice cream as though this act would make him less suspicious. Coral seemed confused by the whole thing, but just took his order.
Ace cut in to Sora's conversation with the other two commanders, and handed the girl her ice cream cone. "Before it melts," he reminded her. Sora grinned and took it, licking the parts of the ice cream that were oozing off the cone.
"Mm, sorry boys, but chat later?" she told Vista and Haruta, who just nodded and bid her adieu as she swept past Ace to a table near the back of the shop.
"So, everyone knows you hang out with Marco," Ace told Sora, raising his eyebrows.
"Marco's like, my best friend," she laughed, shaking her head. She smirked and added, "Why are you so jealous?"
"I'm not jealous," Ace said, not sure if he was telling that to himself or Sora. "I was just observing, that's all. You sure you guys don't have a thing? I don't want to be disrespectful." He shrugged and tilted his head in a wishy-washy manner.
"Ha," Sora said sarcastically. "We don't. Not anymore," she said, winking at Ace to let him know that it was a joke. Ace threw a napkin in her face and Sora just laughed. "Seriously, studly, Marco and I are friends."
Ace stared at her, narrowing his eyes into slits as he took bites of his ice cream. "If you're lying, our trust will be broken forever," he reminded her and Sora flicked his nose.
"Not lying."
"Good," Ace told her, and popped the rest of the cone into his mouth, chewing noisily.
"But damn, he is really sexy though. I mean, he's older than me and so mature, so I don't know, I'll probably go hit him up when we go back to the bar. Bye-bye Hiken no Ace, hello, Phoenix," Sora teased, and Ace threw another napkin into her face, eliciting the woman to burst out into laughter. "Making you jealous is so fun."
"I'm not jealous," he repeated.
"Ah, okay, my bad then," Sora said, waving him off skeptically by flicking her wrist at him. She continued to lick the green ice cream, turning her eyes to the ceiling as she did so.
"Why do you do that?"
"Do what?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Think Marco's sexy?"
"Shut up, and no, I meant lick your ice cream," Ace said, leaning back in his chair. "It takes you forever to eat if you do that, and by the time you get to the cone your ice cream is like a milk shake."
"I can't bite ice cream."
"What?" Ace asked as though this were completely unheard of.
Sora chomped her teeth together, making a clicking noise. "Sensitive teeth. I normally get my ice cream in a bowl or something."
"You should have told me that, then," Ace sighed, furrowing his brows. "I forgot that you're super weird and don't function like us normal people."
"Wait, hello? Sorry I didn't hear you, what was that? I'm going to run away with Marco?" Sora fired back playfully, shaping her hand as though holding a den-den mushi to her ear. She continued to pretend to be talking to someone through her hand. "Oh, yes, tomorrow would be good. Do I tell Ace? No? Oh, well he'll just throw a tantrum anyway."
Ace burst out laughing and covered his eyes with his hands as he threw his head back, sighing. "You're seriously the weirdest girl I've ever met," he told her. He sat up again and flashed her a grin. "But I like it."
Sora pretended to choke on her ice cream and coughed to turned her face away, bringing her hand to her mouth to try and hide some of the color that just appeared on her cheeks. What the hell was that? She hadn't been expecting that sort of comment. "Thanks, I guess," she told Ace, and turned back to face him, hoping that he hadn't noticed. "You're the, ah," she paused and pretended to think. "Yeah, I don't got one. Not that special," she teased.
"Ouch," Ace said, laughing.
"Did you want to go back to the bar?" she asked, still working on her ice cream. She had gotten to the cone at least, and was nibbling at it, sticking her tongue in to lick the ice cream around the rim before biting ice cream-free pieces off.
"If you want to," Ace said, shrugging. No, he didn't want to go. He didn't want the night to end yet.
"Okay," Sora said, but didn't move. She just continued to eat her ice cream.
"We're not going?"
"I don't want to leave yet," Sora told him, raising an eyebrow as though Ace was asking a stupid question.
"Me either," Ace said, grinning.
"We can leave when I'm done eating ice cream."
"Okay," Ace told her. He slipped out of his chair and jogged back up to the register to talk to Coral. Sora furrowed her brows, as Ace was covering his mouth with his hand and speaking quietly. He made sure Sora knew he was talking about her because he shot her glances and the woman just shook her head laughing. He handed Coral more money and she walked off to scoop more ice cream. Ace waited for a moment. Sora had turned around, crossing her legs and waiting for him to return. He had probably bought himself another cone to stall time—
Sora nearly jumped when Ace dropped a giant silver bowl in front of her. It was the size of the table itself, the entire bowl filled with so much green tea ice cream; Coral should have probably just given Ace the tub.
"What the hell?"
"Now we have to stay forever, muwahaha," Ace said, rubbing his hands together, pretending to be a diabolical genius of some sort.
"I definitely cannot eat all that ice cream! You just wasted your money," Sora told him.
Ace handed her a spoon and then lifted his own, making a face as though he were the coolest, most amazing man alive. "Have you forgotten who you're with?"
"A big nerd."
"Stop hurting my feelings."
Sora giggled. "Ah, sorry, I didn't know I was hanging out with another girl tonight."
"I'm going to cry," Ace said, making a serious face and nodding as though this were a fact. When Sora just shook her head and rolled her eyes playfully, Ace added, "Yeah, laugh now, but then I'm going to cry and then punch your face. And then you're going to cry."
The older woman burst out laughing. "Oh, shut up," she said, shaking her head. "You're so silly and stupid I feel like I might actually die from lack of using my brain."
"I'm officially dead inside."
She laughed some more, and Ace grinned, enjoying the way her laughter tinkled in his ears. He liked that he could make her laugh so much. Although she was weird and open about how weird she was, Ace could feel her wall, set up a hundred feet high and twenty feet thick, built with steel and stone and cement. But hearing her laugh? Hearing those walls crumble as they lowered? That was an amazing feeling, and Ace felt his chest tighten every time her laughter rang through the air.
"We gonna eat this or what?" Ace said, smiling at the woman sitting across him. He lifted his other hand to reveal another spoon. Sora chuckled again at the fact that Ace was going to use two spoons to eat the ice cream. At least it was better than eating ice cream with his hands.
"Yeah," Sora said, smiling. Ace didn't hesitate and began shoveling giant spoonfuls of green ice cream in his mouth. Sora just watched, feeling a weight being lift off her chest. "Ace," she said, and the man looked up at the sound of his name. Damn, he loved when she said his name.
"Mmmm," he tried to say, but there was still ice cream in his mouth.
"Thanks," she said, smiling so that she showed her dimples. "I'm glad we did this."
Ace swallowed, smiling back at the woman. Her kind words caused his chest to inflate and fill with tingles. Jozu was right; there was no other woman like this one. "Me, too."