Set after...uh...prolly the PSX version, with some references to the Apple Gumi thing. ^^ I've also got it so that the Lower Morlia mines were discovered around now. Yeah... -sweatdrop- And it's focusing on Chester's denial-ish sorta thoughts of Arche XD
/
There were several taps at Chester's door, then a frustrated moan,
"What...?" Chester muttered, walking over to the door. He'd just been dozing on his bed, when he was interrupted, 'I'm really tired! Who wants to annoy me at this time of night?' He opened the door quickly,
"What is i-?" Arche fell and lay over the door threshold, "A-Arche?!" Chester took a step back, then crouched down, "What the hell...?" "Ow..." she muttered, "Idiot...help me out..." He blinked,
"Arche? Arche?!" Awkwardly, he picked her up, and got her to lean on his shoulder, supporting her, "What have you been doing?!" He asked, frustrated, dragging her upstairs, over to his room, and sitting her on his bed. Now she was in the small light of the candle, he could see she was covered with scratches and bruises, some bleeding. There was one particularly deep one, which looked to him like it went right to the marrow of the back of her left arm! "What are all these?!" She groaned a little, and fell back onto the bed. It was starting to worry him now, but there was nothing he could do. He'd have to get Mint. He sprinted over to her house as quickly as he could. It had been two years since Miguel had been restored. Chester still found it slightly odd to be running past the restored houses. Once he reached Mint's house, he rapidly knocked on the door,
"Mint! I need your help!" A light flickered, and shuffling was heard. Mint hurriedly opened the door,
"Chester-san! Whats wrong...?"
"It's Arche! She turned up at my door and collapsed! She seems pretty badly injured..." Mint nodded, and they rushed back toward his house.
"Stupid...monsters..." Arche muttered, rolling over. Mint had done her best to help Arche, and she seemed to be a bit better. The bleeding had stopped, Arche had several bandages, and Mint had stayed for several hours,
"There isn't much more I can do, Chester-san. If anything happens though, please promise to bring me over right away!" Chester nodded. Mint looked back at Arche,
"Um...would it be alright to leave her here...?" Chester glanced round,
"Yeah. She can't go anywhere else in that state, huh?" Mint nodded,
"I'll see you tomorrow, Chester-san." She nodded at him, and left. Chester leant against the wall opposite of his bed, and stared at Arche, 'Idiot...what was she thinking?' Arche muttered something incoherant, and rolled over onto her side. Chester sighed, then realised he had nowhere to sleep. He didn't want to have to sleep on the floor, but he wasn't going to share a bed with her! He glanced around, 'It's my house...why should I sleep on the floor...?' He knew Mint would be annoyed if she found Arche had slept on the floor. He sighed, then an evil though crossed his mind, 'If I did lie next to her...her reaction if she found out...' Although it was normally Arche who annoyed him, neither were in it for the other's reaction, 'Or are we...?' He shook his head. They really didn't get on,
"I'm not sleeping on the floor." And with that, he crossed the room, to his bed, lay down, his back to Arche. Although he had a single bed, it wasn't really small, so there was just enough space, though he felt a little cramped, "Troublesome..." he muttered. He lay there for a few minutes, trying to get to sleep. He felt a little embarassed, 'Why?! She's just an annoying little...!' She sighed, and muttered again in her sleep. He rolled over, and propped himself up onto his elbow, looking at her,
"This girl..." All they ever did was argue. Well, she said something to provoke him. And he really hated it. He still couldn't believe the words he'd half-admitted in Arlee;
"Ever since I laid eyes on you... "
And her reaction...! Like she'd read something...romantic into it. Like he'd really meant it that way! ...Or had he? He looked intently at her. He remembered the odd feeling of rejection when she called him weak. He'd been so happy to see Cless again, Mint and Klarth had looked weird to him, and then there was that odd pink-girl. There was something about her...! 'What am I thinking!?' He cut across the wondering thoughts sharply, 'I'm thinking way too deeply into this! Anyway, even if the impossible scenario of me liking her was true, theres no way she'd ever feel the same!' They were opposites. Complete opposites. They argued nearly all the time, and that was how it should be. But there were odd moments, when the electricity between them felt...different. Or maybe it'd always felt like that...? He rested his head back on the pillow, 'Thats it! I've gotta stop thinking so much, and sleep..!' He was starting to feel drowsy anyway, and was asleep a few minutes later.
Chester was dimly aware of having his arm around someone when he woke up. It wasn't a feeling he could object to, and simply dismissed it as a dream.
"Chester!!"
"Uh..."
"Oi, Chester!!"
"What..."
"Get off, you pervert!!" Chester opened his eyes slowly, then blinked,
"Huh?!" Arche was glaring up at him, and he noticed his right arm was around her waist, "What the...!?" He took it off immediately, and Arche hit him on the head,
"You pervert! Pulling that kinda stunt...! I could never get married now!" She sat up, as did he, rubbing the top of his head,
"You make it sound like I did something!" He argued back, "Geez, I didn't know...!"
"Perv! You were probaly staring at me all night!"
"You think too highly of yourself! Theres nothing to perv on anyway!" This statement resulted in a small bag of his being thrown at him, which he just managed to dodge,
"You're crazy! Jeez, so violent..." She folded her arms and pouted,
"That was mean of you to say!"
"Well, you're the one shouting at me in the first place for being a pervert, as you claim."
"Ugh, whatever! You're mean AND a pervert! I'm going!" Chester assumed she was better, having that amount of energy to get so annoyed with him. He watched her walk toward the stairs, and he glanced at the window. There was a faint light shining through. It must be early morning,
"Agh...uh..." He heard a small thump, and saw Arche had collapsed just before the stairs, "A-Arche!" He hurried over to the stairs, and crouched by her,
"You...stupid...agh...get away from me..." She managed to mutter resentfully at him, trying to get herself up,
"Didn't you know?! You...!" He began, then noticed one of her wounds had opened up, "...idiot..." Blood dripped onto the floor, and Arche shuddered very slightly,
"I...don't remember much..." She whispered, as Chester helped her up again, and supported her back toward the bed, "Just...monsters..." A thought occured to Chester,
"Monsters?! Nearby?!" He sat her on the bed, and she shrugged slightly, for fear of aggravating another wound. He sighed,
"Ok, look, just get some rest."
"Not if I have to wake up to find a perv next to me..." She murmered,
"You..." She lay back onto the bed. He blinked, "So you don't care if a PERV sleeps next to you...?" He asked sarcastically,
"Shut up...idiot..." She muttered quietly.
"Really, you...Look, I'll get you something for that wound."
He knew he should've called Mint, but Arche didn't seem terrible. Only, she didn't have a lot of energy. Chester began to wonder, 'Why...would I put my arm round her...?' He came back, and wrapped the bandage around her newly opened wound, 'She's none of the things I'd ever liked in a girl...' He snorted a little, as, 'I doubt I'm her type either.' crossed his mind. He shook his head,
"I-It's not like I care...!" He muttered, sounding almost resentful. He stood up, and went down to the small kitchen,
"But...ah...why did I say what I said at Arlee? She probaly read something into it, and thinks...I dunno, I like her or something...But I definitely don't!" He said the last part loudly, like he was trying to convince himself,'Still, there have been times...' Hadn't he already gone over this? He didn't like like Arche. She was an annoying, noisy pink-shrew, who disliked him as much as he disliked her. Satisfied with this thought, he went back to bed, now feeling annoyed with Arche. When he got there, he found her sitting up, "Hmph, noisy things can't sleep, huh?"
"Shut up, jeez, you're so annoying..."
"Oh, and you're not?"
"What is your problem?"
"I've always got a problem with you."
"Thanks."
"No problem." They glared at each other for a bit, until Arche's wound set off again,
"Dammit..." She muttered, lying down, "...I asked you the same question in Arlee, huh?" She managed a feeble giggle. He raised an eyebrow, wanting to conceal his alarm, 'Oh great, why that now...?' She sat up again, and looked at him,
"I'm starting to remember what happened...Well..." She leant forward toward him a little, "Thanks for helping me, Chester..." She said it so innocently, Chester felt confused. And it didn't help that he was blushing a little,
"What the...hells with you...?" He muttered. Arche's innocent expression turned to an evil smile, and she leant back,
"Aw, you like me or something?"
"W-What?! No way! I'd never like you! You're just an annoying, impossible, little-!" She giggled a little,
"Jeez, you sound like you're denying something! Hmph! I'd never like you either! Don't worry about that! Fox-eyed jerk!"
"Good! We're agreed then!" She nodded determinedly, as he muttered, "Stupid little pink monkey..." She immediately began glaring at him,
"I heard that! And...! Agh..." She coughed, and lay back. He sighed,
"Don't hope I'm gonna get all worried now..." But as much as he hated it, he was. She coughed again,
"I don't care..." He sighed,
"...What happened...?" She managed to sit up,
"Well, I was flying along happily, and these little brats said to me, "Hey, since you're a witch, we bet you can go all the way into the Lower Morlia mines, and come out unscathed!" When I said no way, they started calling me "weak" and "chicken" and stuff. So, I went in..." Chester looked at her in alarm,
"Wha?! Why would you let a bunch of brats goad you like that...?!" She giggled, and gave him a side-long glance,
"I'm kidding. Theres no way I'd be that dumb, I'm not you."
"Ahaha, yeah, funny." He muttered loudly, "I wouldn't be surprised if that actually happened." She sighed,
"Well, what actually happened was...I thought to myself, if I'm the eternal witch, I wonder how far I could get in the Lower Morlia mines. I got kinda far, but I ran out of healing items pretty quickly and...this is the result."
"That was your own fault then." He told her bluntly,
"Geez, you're so kind!" She looked away, "Now I think about it, it was a kinda dumb thing to do..." She muttered resentfully. He smirked at her,
"And you always make yourself out to be so strong..."
"T-Then you go down there, and see how well you do! Go on!" She told him, angrily,
"Sorry, I'm not that dumb." He replied, still smirking,
"Hmph! I'm really hurt! And all you can do is be mean to me! I hate you..." She muttered sulkily. He sighed,
"Yeah, well...you're the one who said...oh whatever...uh...do you need something?" She blinked at him,
"Well...actually, I feel hungry!" He couldn't help but laugh,
"What a surprise. I guess Ive got some leftovers from yesterday..." He would've told her to get them himself, but he wasn't that stubborn, 'I still don't like-like her, or anything!' He told himself again.
He brought her up some food,
"Here." He said, passing her a plate of a couple of sandwiches. She ate them eagerly,
"Jeez.." He muttered, sitting down next to her and waiting for her to finish. Once she had, she looked at him,
"Well...I guess I've really gotta say thanks, huh? Though it's certainly not for you "trying to console me"." He looked away from her,
"It doesn't matter..." They both went quiet now, unsure of what to say,
"Ow..." Arche muttered, lying back. Chester turned to her,
"Hey, Arche..." But she'd already fallen asleep. He scolded himself, 'What the? What were you about to say anyway?!' He looked at her content, sleeping face for a little while longer. He smiled,
"She's so..." He wasn't sure how he was going to end that sentence, and he stood up. He wasn't going to get any sleep. He wasn't sure what to do. He went for a walk.
'Maybe...it'd be ok to think I kinda like her. Not that anyone would ever know! Hell no! No, infact, I don't like her! Ok, I kinda do, but...Oh forget it!' Resentfully, after getting nowhere during his walk, he went back to the house, where Arche was awake, and demanding where he'd gone,
"None of your buisness." He told her cooly,
"Uh-huh, what if I had died whilst you were out?!"
"Oh, sure, you were gonna be dead within ten minutes of me being gone; because your injuries are just that bad right now."
"Stupid sarcastic fox-faced jerk! Isn't Mint gonna be here soon?"
"I hope she hurries up, I don't know how much more of this annoying little girl I can take." He muttered loudly, still ignoring the thoughts which meant the opposite, going about in his head.
/
Uh, yeah, not much for them together, as I said, its more about Chester. Hope it was in-character and all that :D