Because I Love You✔️

Chapter 110: Accident

He eyed the contrast between his tresses and her skin, the purest white against the darkest of blacks.

"You know?" Ella murmured. "Sometimes I think that you're too good to be true."

Xaphile did a double take and stared at her blankly.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means that you're a very charming person, despite how negative you can be," she shot back, paying no mind to the rigidity of his shoulders. "Even though it was under terrible circumstances, I'm glad that I met you, Xaphile. I'm glad that you're here."

He digested that silently, suddenly becoming aware of how close she was.

Setting his harp down, he leaned back against the tree and turned his head away from her since the restlessness he'd thus been experiencing came back to him even harder than before. Itching to do something with his hands, he ran his claws through his hair even though it was already neat.

He simply couldn't help it.

"Thank you," he eventually muttered. "Your words... they're appreciated."

He surprised himself more than anyone when he said it, mostly because he meant it.

"I think you should suggest spending quality time with your uncle today," Ella suddenly said, making his fingers halt. "Instead of training, you should enjoy each other's company."

Xaphile shook his head, knowing that the idea would be rejected without a second thought.

Vordt was so focused on training him, so intent on making sure he knew everything he'd forgotten upon waking up, that he probably wouldn't want to sit around and just enjoy spending time with each other. Plus, technically, being trained by him did count as quality time.

Sort of.

He also felt like if he chose to get greedy, things would go back to being unpleasant.

"I'm happy to be where we're at," he eventually told her. "Things are finally starting to look up... I don't want to get too hasty, particularly since I don't think he'll ever really love me."

"What? Why?"

"I'm not his kid, Ella," he murmured, then hesitantly added, "and I think, to him, looking at me makes him feel the same way felt after I first met you a few months ago. For the longest time, even seeing you and knowing you weren't her... that you weren't mine... it was painful."

Ella's face softened slightly.

"You don't feel that way anymore," she tentatively murmured, "do you?"

He thought about it, then said softly, "no. I don't. Things have changed."

Her eyes danced for a moment, but she covered it up with a stoic expression and glanced down at his chest, eyes slowly roving across his bare skin.

"Do you wish to spar for a little while?" she quipped. "I wish to learn more about how to defend myself without a weapon."

Xaphile sighed, then gave her a look and rose to his feet.

"Sure. Until Vordt gets here, I guess we could do that."

Helping her up, they headed to the clearing to practice Aikido, and he spent the better part of the hour teaching her how to deflect incoming blows and to perform the shoulder toss, all of which she was steadily getting better at. It killed plenty of time, but when the sun was well above the horizon, he finally stopped and looked at the sky.

Vordt still hadn't shown up.

"Why isn't he here yet?" he wondered. "He should have arrived, like, thirty minutes ago."
"I don't know. I guess he's busy," Ella sniffed, looking rather proud of herself. "I'm making progress thanks to your teachings, so for that, I thank you."