A/n: This is a very random update, I just wanted to post something here to let everyone know that I'm running a poll on my tumblr to change the name of this fic. My current url is ashxketchum and the poll post is pinned so you'll find it quiet easily. It's up for another week so please do go and vote!
Now this update, is just a typical Tyson and Hilary being stubborn idiots kind of update. It's getting quite hot where I am so I let the weather inspire the theme of this oneshot.
Lastly, I wanna thank Cutetyhil for leaving the 100th review for this fic, it's such a huge accomplishment for me and I am very grateful to have you always support my writing Simy!
Tale 31
- x -
Cicadas chirped loudly, leaves rustled lazily as the clear blue sky bore down upon them from above and the sound of summer carried itself into his home through the light breeze that blew across the courtyard. The air was hot and moist, the sunlight was almost glaring so it was no wonder that the streets outside were silent and empty, perhaps rejoicing in their own mundane way that everyone had decided to stay home on this typically hot summer afternoon. And though Tyson preferred not to go against nature, today he wasn't so happy about letting it win.
He sat on a tatami mat facing the electric fan that was running at full speed, the cold air spitting all across his face and aggressively pushing his unkempt navy hair back. The sliding doors to the courtyard were open but Tyson had his back to it, he was worried that even getting a glimpse of the heat outside would take away the peace he felt by sitting inside and hogging the little fan. While he did not mind sitting so listlessly without a thought in his mind, what he did mind was that the option of going out was taken from him unwillingly by the hot weather. He wanted to be the one to decide whether he would spend the day lazing around or playing on the beach, but with the temperature rising to a new high and the weather lady on the news advising everyone to stay indoors, Tyson had had no choice but to grumpily spend the day at home doing nothing in particular.
The main door to the room slid open and Tyson pulled his face away from the fan for a minute as the scent of the watermelon reached him before Hilary entered the room balancing a plate with sliced watermelon in one hand and a book in the other.
"Took you long enough," Tyson muttered as he shifted slightly so the brunette too could reap the benefits of the fan.
"Sorry," Hilary said, smiling sheepishly. "The story reached its climax and I totally lost track of time." She put down the plate in front of Tyson and was about to take a seat when her eyes turned towards the courtyard, "I would've liked to eat outside."
"It's too hot, Hils."
"I know, and I'm sure I don't have it in me to pull you away from that fan." She laughed, meeting his eyes with a pleading look.
Tyson held her gaze for a minute before he let out a defeated sigh, moving slowly to unravel the cord of the electric fan to its full length. Hilary's face held a triumphant smile as she picked up the plate once again and carried it onto the wooden porch that connected the courtyard with the room. The house's roof covered the porch so they wouldn't have to face the harsh sun but could still enjoy the occasional breeze passing through the trees that lined the courtyard's boundary. Tyson tried his best to extend the fan's reach as far as possible, positioning it so that both he and Hilary could enjoy the cool air it provided. The two settled down once again with the plate full of watermelon between them and Tyson was eager to start munching on the sweet fruit but as he reached his hand forward, his eyes unintentionally glanced at Hilary and the sight of her made his world come to a halt.
She had decided to tie up her loose hair before she dug into the watermelon, so her hands were raised high as she twisted her hair behind her head effortlessly. Since she was wearing a simple white sundress today, when her hair was lifted off her shoulders Tyson got a view of her bare neck and chest which made him forget just what he was supposed to be doing in the moment. He felt his mouth go dry as he noticed a single drop of sweat slowly rolling down from her chin across the length of her neck, his brown eyes followed its descent like a hawk zeroing in on its prey. The drop of sweat crossed her collarbone and Tyson inhaled sharply as it suddenly sped up, sliding down right in the middle of her chest until it disappeared behind the hem of her dress. Tyson licked his lips as his head leaned forward on its own, he was sure that if he just bent a little further he'd still be able to see just where that drop of sweat had vanished to-
"Tyson!"
"W-what?" He snapped his head back up as Hilary's loud voice echoed all around the courtyard. He was a little afraid to meet her eyes but realising that to her it may have looked like he was openly gawking at her chest, Tyson managed to face forward and keep his line of vision straight.
If Hilary had noticed his little stunt, she was doing a good job of hiding how she felt about it. Though her ruby eyes shined as they reflected the sunlight, they didn't betray her emotions as she studied his face calmly. Her hair was now all tied up into a bun with only a few shorter strands falling across her forehead and cheeks, hiding any pink tinges on her skin that may help Tyson figure out just how much of his behaviour she had witnessed. Her lips were pressed together tightly, but that wasn't unusual as Hilary often fixed him with a look of disapproval for just about anything he did.
"Aren't you going to eat the watermelon you begged me to prepare for you?" She asked, her voice was normal except for the usual nagging tone it took whenever she questioned him.
"O-of of course." Tyson stuttered out a reply, which didn't obviously make him look any less guilty. He hastily reached for a slice of the fruit and took a large bit out of it, glad to taste something juicy and sweet since the last few minutes had left him feeling very hot and dry.
Hilary nodded satisfactorily as she watched him dig in, picking up a slice for herself and biting into it carefully, the exact opposite of what he had done.
Tyson tried to focus on the fruit in his hand, he tried to avert his gaze towards the blue sky, and he tried his best to count the number of trees in his courtyard to keep himself busy. He shoved slice after slice in his mouth rapidly just to keep his eyes away from Hilary as much as possible but his head would end up turning in her direction almost mechanically. Out of the eight slices she'd cut for them, Tyson was sure that he'd wolfed down six of those at an unhealthy speed but in his mind it was a small price to pay for keeping himself from falling into a trance by just looking at Hilary.
He felt glad when the plate was cleared, it meant that they could go back inside where Hilary would sit in a corner and finish her novel while he lazed about and stared at the ceiling. There would be no chance of his mind getting distracted by how her ivory skin almost glittered under the sunlight, how the spaghetti strap of her dress often slid down her shoulder when she reached her hand forward, how when she crossed her feet sideways the hem of her dress slid up and showed him a glimpse of her bare thighs, how when a light breeze passed them by the loose strands of her hair would scatter across her face like silk threads unravelling. His hands itched with a burning sensation to reach forward and run his fingers across her neck, to loop a finger under the strap of her dress and pull it back into place, to trace his name across the soft skin of her thighs, to tuck her hair behind her ears so he could look her in the eyes and-
"Tyson, are you listening?"
"Wh-what, who, what?" Tyson squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head, feeling his ears go red at how badly he'd managed to hide that he had once again lost himself in her presence.
"I asked, would you like to have some iced tea?" Hilary didn't mind repeating her question for him, though this time she didn't look quite as collected as she had before. Her cheeks were a light shade of red and she tried her best to not meet his eyes as she played with her loose hair.
"Yeah, I'd love that."
"Cool, I'll go make some then." Hilary picked up the empty plate between them and got to her feet, quickly making her way out of the room without glancing back in his direction.
Once Tyson heard her footsteps in the hallway fade away, he took a deep breath and then slapped himself hard across the face.
"Get it together, you idiot." He muttered to himself as he covered his face with his hands and let out a muffled scream. Hilary had probably only used the iced tea as an excuse to get away from his prying eyes and he felt extremely guilty about making her feel uncomfortable in his presence.
Tyson once again slapped both of his cheeks with his hands strongly and nodded to the empty room in front of him. As soon as Hilary got back, he resolved to be on his best behaviour. He wouldn't stare at her at all, he would strictly keep his eyes fixed on the ceiling or the floor unless she talked to him. And even then, he would make sure to focus on a spot above her head and not look directly at her. It was the only way he could keep his thoughts from going haywire and even if it ended up annoying Hilary, he'd make sure to follow through his decision.
Besides, there was no way Tyson was actually smitten with his friend.
His friend who did nothing but nag him about his lazy habits and pick fights with him over the stupidest things. He'd labelled her as a nuisance from the minute he'd met her and he knew he wasn't wrong about it. Even if sometimes she went out of her way to do things for him, like today, most of his friends had stayed home because of the heat but she'd still shown up at his door, wearing a straw hat despite of having an umbrella above her head. He'd whined about having nothing to do and she'd offered to cut up some watermelon for him, even now she was in the kitchen preparing iced tea for him despite his stupid antics.
No, no, he was just feeling confused because of the heat.
Sure she'd done some nice things for him today but this was still Hilary we're talking about. Maybe the only reason she was being so nice was because she was secretly planning to get him to finish his summer homework later in the day or she'd made a mistake and he hadn't yet figured it out so she was just being nice to him to soften the blow.
That's right, that's all there was to it.
Tyson smirked to himself, once she was back he'd make sure to be his usual self, completely aloof and unaffected by her presence. Now that he'd figured out her possible ulterior motives for being here today he wouldn't be fooled by anything.
Just then Hilary entered the room holding a tray with two tall glasses tightly in her hand. She made her way towards the porch and Tyson greeted her with a shrug and a deadpan expression. The brunette raised her eyebrows at his sudden indifference but didn't make any comments on it which only made Tyson feel more confident about himself. He sat up straight as she reached him, if he hadn't been so caught up in wanting to play it cool, he might've thought about getting up to help her by taking the tray from her hands, instead, he just stared confidently up at her.
Though, in that moment he couldn't be sure whether what Hilary did next was intentional on her end but it did make his resolve crumble into nothing in a matter of seconds.
Before sitting, Hilary bent down to put the tray with the drinks on the floor, putting her chest directly in Tyson's line of sight. His eyes almost bulged out as her dress dropped low and he glimpsed the lacy lining of her white bra for a second before she pulled back and sat across him with her legs folded sideways. But Tyson was still frozen in time, his mind only flashing him images of Hilary's bra a million times.
"Don't leave your mouth hanging open like that, Tyson. It's very unpleasant." Hilary smiled sweetly at him as she picked up one of the glasses and brought it to her lips, taking a slow sip of the drink without breaking eye contact with him.
Tyson quickly closed his mouth as he felt his whole face turn hot, this time unfortunately not from the weather. He couldn't think of anything to say back to her, so he just reached for his own drink and took a few loud gulps from it. He could feel her watching him from the corner of her eye even as she picked up her book and turned its pages absentmindedly. He thought about his resolve from a few minutes ago, about how he was going to behave well in front of her, but when he noticed her lips curl upwards in a triumphant smirk, Tyson's grip around the glass in his hand tightened and his jaw was set.
If this is how she wanted to play it, then who was he to turn down the challenge?
Tyson gulped down the remaining drink and kept the empty glass back on the tray, letting out a satisfied gasp which made Hilary focus her attention towards him.
"Thanks, Hils. That tasted really good but," he locked eyes with her and sent her a grin before getting to his feet and stretching his arms above his head, "I still feel kinda hot."
Hilary's brows furrowed in confusion at his words but Tyson couldn't keep the glee off his face as he grasped the hem of his t-shirt and lifted it above his head, pulling himself out of it in one swift movement. He threw the shirt onto the floor of the room and sat back down, leaning against the shoji door that led to the porch with his hands resting behind his head. He looked at Hilary and was satisfied to see her whole face turn bright red as her eyes took in the sight of his bare chest. She quickly lifted her book high and buried her face behind it which only made Tyson gloat harder because he could see the redness spread from her face to her neck, indicating that he'd won fair and square.
"This feels much better," he said out loud and Hilary gave a meek nod, her face still hidden behind her book. "Maybe you should try it too." He snickered quietly under his breath, not really intending for Hilary to hear him. Though he would welcome the opportunity to watch her strip off that dress any day, he sighed dreamily to himself as a vivid picture of her bra reappeared in his mind.
But her ears seemed to be working in top condition today because, in one sudden move, she slammed her book shut and glared at him, completely red-faced.
"You're unbelievable, Tyson."
Tyson opened his mouth to apologize quickly but Hilary was already on her feet, stalking out of the room. On her way out she bent down to pick up the t-shirt he had casually thrown away and if Tyson hadn't been so distracted by the shape of her butt, he would've seen her throwing his shirt right at his face with all the force she could muster before she slammed the door of the room shut behind her.
He picked up the now crumpled t-shirt that had fallen into his lap and quietly put it back down. Sighing tiredly, he shook his head, Tyson knew that this time he'd crossed the line and just a simple apology wasn't going to cut it.
But even as he got to his feet and prepared to follow Hilary out, he couldn't help but feel a little tinge of excitement in his chest. Hilary wasn't completely innocent in all of this either, she had been teasing him too. He tried to wipe the grin off his face before he caught up to the brunette, she would be less forgiving if she saw him enjoying the whole thing instead of regretting his behaviour. He just had to play his cards right now, say all the right words and nod along to everything she said, because if he was able to win her approval, then maybe getting to see that white bra of hers in all its glory wouldn't be such a distant dream.
- x -
A/n: Do you think Hilary kicks him in the shins when he does catch up to her or does she end up forgiving him after all? ;) I am still working on that Rich Girl/Poor Boy AU, god it's unravelling into something else entirely, couldn't post it for Mayblade but will try to drop by with it sometime soon!
Thank you for reading, would appreciate reviews, and don't forget to vote on the poll for the new name for this fic!
