One Piece: The Sacred Tactician

Chapter 4

3rd POV

"I probably should have thought this through." Ace said staring at the single bed places inside of the room. At least it was queen sized but still. Sharing a bed with a girl he just met a few hours ago was a little strange. But it didn't look like Bloom minded in the slightest. She just went to the desk in the corner of the room and pulled a piece of paper in front of her.
"Task 2 halfway fulfilled. Mission incomplete."
"Task? Mission? What are you a spy?" Ace asked in a joking manner laughing a little as he leaned over her chair.
"I am a marine captain. I was ordered to go outside and meet people. I need one more person to complete the goal."
"A marine captain huh? You know who I am, why not capture me?"
"I was not ordered."
"So if you were ordered you would have?" He asked and she turned her chair as he backed away so the two looked each other in the eye.
"I would complete my mission with failure." Ace started into her blue eyes while she sat their silently. He was looking to see if she was serious, if she would really do something like that, if ordered. But to be honest, he didn't have to look in her eyes. She wasn't the joking type.
"You're almost a little scary." Ace smirked walking away toward the bathroom door. "But you wouldn't be able to catch me." Just like that he entered the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Now she was all alone in her room and decided to take this opportunity to ready a book. It's not like could make battle strategies with Ace around. But a few minutes into her ready, she remembered something that has happened earlier on in the day. 'She was like that because she thought I was hot.' Suddenly, she found herself no longer reading the book even if she was looking right it. Even after all this time she wasn't able to understand what he meant.
"Man, that was amazing."
Bloom snapped out of daze, pulling her eyes away from the book she was readying. There Ace stood in front of the bathroom door in his shorts and that was about it. Before even stepping in the bath, he has taken his hat off and placed it somewhere else. Her rubbed a small towel on his head but that didn't stop the water from dropping out the tip and down onto his finely toned body. It wasn't too much and it wasn't too little. But that also wasn't something Bloom noticed. Her mind was still on what Ace had said at dinner. "Are you going to go?" He asked sitting on the bed and finally pulling the towel off his hair, placing it on the beside table. He now looked at her for the first time, waiting for an answer but never got one. She just kept staring at him and that made him more confused. Especially when she suddenly stood up from her chair without a word. She neared him as he sat at the edge of the bed. Ace's eyes widened when Bloom slowly climbed on top of him placing on her legs in between his while her hands were sprawled on his chest. "Bloom...?"
"Your body temperature is normal."
"My body temperature? Why are you...?" He trailed as she then lifted her face from his chest picking one hand to be placed on his cheek. She was going to see if there was a difference there but then noticed that something strange was happening. Like the waitress, his cheeks took on a red color.
"Illogical, when did you become sick?" She asked and that's when it all started to sink in for Ace.
"You're talking about before? With the waitress?" Ace asked and her silence seemed to be answer enough. That was exactly what she meant. "You still don't know?"
"Explain."
"I'm not sure how to. Let's see...." Ace trailed off slowly picking himself and Bloom as well so she knew straddled his hips. "Here, I'll explain it in a way you could understand. The body has a reaction for everything, right?"
"Correct."
"Sometimes for certain people, when they see someone who they think is attractive, they start to get nervous and embarrassed. That's why they're cheeks turn red. Do you get it?"
"No. Why do you're cheeks turn red because of that?"
"Because you're embarrassed?"
"Why?"
"Because you think someone is attractive."
"Why?"
"Because that's the way they make you feel." After that, she fell silent trying to analyze all that he has explained. She didn't fully understand though.
"So, an emotional trigger causes your glands to release the hormone adrenaline in your body? And that is what you call, a blush?"
"You're making it way more complicated then it needs to be."
"It's a feeling inside."
"I do not understand this feeling term." She replied and this time, he was the one to fall silent. How was he supposed to respond to something like that? Without even realizing it, he started to feel pity for the file, but she couldn't see that in his eyes.
"How about we go to sleep?" Age suggested in order to change the topic but when she didn't answer fast enough he took matters into his own hands. "Come on. Let's."
Still not understanding the sudden change, Bloom climbed off of him, lying herself down on the bed while Ace rested on the couch. That's how they stayed during the night and when the next morning, Ace was still fast asleep and Bloom was up. But she didn't try to wake him up. Instead she sat on the desk reading the books that she had left until finally he woke up too. The man let out a loud yawn, stretching his hands above his head before sleepily looking around the room.
"Morning already?"
"Incorrect. Its the afternoon."
"Guess I overslept." Ace chuckled as he picked himself off. He started walking to the desk, throwing his arm around her shoulder, resting it on the other side of the chair as he leaned over. "What are you doing?"
"Nothing."
"Nothing?"
"Nothing."
"This is supposed to be a resort, go to the beach."
"The beach is nothing but sand and sea water. It is a waste of time."
"You can go swimming."
"Pointless."
"Tan."
"I do not understand."
"You can play beach volleyball."
"Pointless exercise."
"You can relax."
"I am relaxing."
"Sure you are." Ace said sarcastically. "You need to go out. You like books don't you?"
"I need to be more informed."
"Well go out and buy some book. Come on."
"Now?"
"Yes." Before she knew it, Ace was dragging her away, up and out of the room in a matter of seconds. Soon enough, she found herself back into the city with Ace leading the way even if he didn't live there. He had to ask around, but eventually he found a small bookstore at the corner. There was a ring when the two entered drawing the owner's attention.
"Hello." The man greeted with a smile. "Is there anything in particular you are look for?"
"Interpretation of Mathematical Monograms, the Copernicus Complex, Statistical Forecasting—."
"She'll just look around." Ace interrupted and the man nodded his head nervously before walking away. Bloom complied and started to look through the aisles as Ace followed along behind. She didn't saw a word but it was obvious her focus were on the books in the shelves.  "I've got an idea." Ace spoke up before grabbing her wrist and pulling her along. His eyes started to look down the isles until finally landing on the area he was searching for. "Try reading some Fairytales."
"A story about a mythical creature with wings?"
"Not exactly. Here look at..." Ace trailed off at the end, reading over the title of each book before finally selecting one. "This." He took out the forest green book handing to her as she read over the title.
"Snow White."
"Hey! She'll take this one!"