You assumed it was early in the morning when you heard faint footsteps making its way past you. Clicking your tongue, you were annoyed to have it destroy your good night's sleep. You clutched the blanket closer, covering your face as if it is able to mask out the sounds of what seems like running now. Of course, it did not do anything but you decided to still pursue your sleep, choosing to ignore whoever it was and kill them when you wake up fully.
But apparently, they did not want to go along with your plan.
Your blanket was ripped away from you, forcing you to jolt up and angrily exclaimed, "What the fuck?" Your eyes widened upon seeing no one was there to pull your blankets. You searched for the others, panic started to coarse in you as you did not find Eiji nor Shorter nearby when you knew you were supposed to be in the same room as them . Fear washed over you raising the fine hairs on the back of your neck.
"Please let me just sleep." You stated courtly to whoever or whatever entity it was with you because you know for a fact that you are not alone right now. You swiftly took the blanket and covered your whole self with it, grabbing your retractable dagger that was sitted near you for accessibility.
You hold it close to your chest, awaiting for the next move of the culprit. You steadied your beat to try to calm your panic, you wanted to listen to your surroundings but the pulse beat in your ears blocked all the other sounds.
You felt a hand tightened around your neck. The sudden shock made you tense your muscles as you yell out, pushing the blade towards your attacker's chest. You pushed them off, yanking the cloth away from your sight to get a good look at whoever this was. You became paralyzed on spot, the menancing aura holding you in a tightening grip.
There laid infront of you, a girl with eyes so dark that you can even see your silhouette reflecting. Her eyes bleeded with a black substance that resembled blood; it was the same fluid that stained her dress in the area you have stabbed her. You took a few steps backward, her face abruptly turned to you.
Her mouth formed a crippled smile, it made you want to run for safety but your legs would not allow you to do so.
You watched as she slowly sat up before bursting into a fit. Her laughter filled your ears, you tried to drown them all by closing them with the palm of your hands.
"Stop! Stop! Stop it!" You cried out.
You closed your eyes, you didn't want to see her anymore. Fear suddenly became a tangible, living force that crept over you like some hungry beast, immobilizing you; your brain, holding you captive.
"I already told you, you can't kill me." She said with a voice that sounds sweet yet twisted at the same time.
You heard her retract the dagger.
"But I can kill you." You opened your eyes just to see her swing both of her arms up, knife placed in between, before drawing them back down straight to your head.
—--—
You gasped for breath, coughing up and rolling to the side. You took deep breaths, for a moment, you suddenly have forgotten how to breathe. You looked around the room suspiciously, Shorter's loud snores brought an instant relief to you. Everyone was still sleeping, signifying that you just had a horrible nightmare.
You fall back down to the pillow. "That girl again..."
You have always had reoccurring dreams about that same girl and everytime she always tried to kill you. You don't even know why you're not used to her yet. She always appears whenever something in your past has been triggered.
You then flinched at the sound of a gunshot. Is someone in trouble? Is Golzine's men already here? Paranoid, you ran for the nearby window to see the situation. You expected to see men raiding down the small house you're in but instead, you found Ash and Eiji right up in the middle of grass. Ash was behind Eiji's smaller frame, aiding him with his posture and aim. Ash was teaching Eiji how to shoot using some bottles that was placed on the bench as dummies.
"That reckless idiot, he shouldn't be putting too much pressure on his shoulder." You were worried for Ash reopening his wound but the sight was too precious that the bright atmosphere they created also affected you. It made you smile, the fear you have felt earlier was now forgotten as you see the interaction between them.
Without wasting another minute, You grabbed Ash's jacket that he lended to you yesterday and put on your shoes. You wanted to join in on them, and you wanted to do it by surprising Eiji who's a little nervous at holding the gun.
You made sure you walked on them with much stealth, your hands were up, ready to grab on to Eiji's shoulder and scare him. You were still caught by the lynx's radar, obviously. He gave you a weird look, you saw he was about to say something but you responded quickly, placing your pointer finger on your lips. You gestured him to be quiet. He shut his mouth back upon realizing what you're about to do.
As soon as you saw Eiji was about to pull the trigger, you grabbed on his shoulders, making him jump at your sudden appearance and the sound of the gun
going off.
"(y/n)?!" Eiji exclaimed, dumbfounded at what just happened. His face was pale and he looked liked he had seen a ghost. You on the other hand, laughed at his reaction. It was better than you have imagined. Eiji pouted when you made fun of him—you were clapsing your stomach and slapping your thighs as you continued to laugh.
"Great shot." Ash teased, seeing how Eiji did not hit the target. Ash and Eiji began to chuckle as your laugh became contagious, you were stopped upon Ash clasping your face, mushing your cheeks together. "You're barking too loud little dog. Dino must have heard you now at this point." His remark didn't affect your mood, you stiffled in your laughter and showed him a goofy smile. Ash rolled his eyes and let your face go the next second.
"Can you teach me how to shoot too?" You walked towards Eiji with a few bounce in your step, Eiji let you have the gun.
"Pew, pew!" You jokingly aimed at the bottle before Ash snatched it back up before you could lose a finger or two.
Ibe then called out to the three of you, grabbing all your attemtion, and asked for Eiji to wake up Shorter to eat breakfast. As Ibe stood there, he stared at Ash silently but his eyes showed he wanted to say something. Ash placed one hand on his hips, he slyly said, "What? You don't like me letting him shoot a gun, huh?" He turned to the other way.
"No, it's not that. The two of you are just too different. Your backgrounds too..." Ibe let out what was on his mind.
Ash played with his gun, it was true he and Eiji were different but Ibe did not have to rub it in Ash's face. You were put off with Ibe's remark but you decided to shut yourself up this time, allowing the two men to converse since you, yourself don't know what to say, you just woke up and your brain is not yet ready for any kind of intellectual argument.
"I guess you have your reasons but you baby him too much that's why at this age he can't protect himself." Ash aimed at the last bottle on the bench, you studied his posture, he was relaxed yet you can see how his shoulder was somehow affecting him in the slightest bit.
"In our country, we don't have to carry guns to protect ourselves!" Ash pulled the trigger, it echoed through the field as the glass shattered in different bits of pieces.
You faked a smile at Ibe while tilting your head to the side, "Too bad, we're not in Japan, Ibe."
Ash tucked his gun back into his holster before placing it on to your back, pushing you forward. "Try telling them that when someone has a gun to your head." Ash and you headed back to the house with him pushing you from behind.
You crossed your arms, you took a sneak on him, even if his face did not show it, Ash was bothered by what Ibe have said to him. Ash has always comforted you when you needed it, you wanted to do the same for him, to say something to replace what was said to him.
"It's not your fault you're different, Ash. And even if you are, I don't care and clearly Eiji doesn't either!"
Ash stopped walking. The warmth of his hand was suddenly gone on your back, you turned to see him standing so still and was looking at you without any sort of expression.
You felt shy under his gaze. You twirled the lose strands of your hair, continuing your statement, "T-The point is! Your past doesn't define you, we both know that you're a good person and I like how you are even if you're annoying. Ibe is just stuck witht his Japan mindset, don't pay attention to what he said. It was stupid either way plus..." You're a victim of the society too, Ash.
Ash didn't know how to respond but he appreciated your assurance about him. It made his heart flutter, your compliments really hits different. He recalled the day you first met him, how you had a doe-eyed look while deeply peering into his eyes and the way you acted after being caught, you're really something—something he can't put into words.
"Oh, so you're admitting you like me?" Ash hated how he can't compose himself when it comes to you and ending up teasing you by twisting your words. It was what he excuses in his mind but deep down, he also wanted to know if you really did.
Your eyes widened as you shake your head furiously, hands also reciprocated the manner to emphasize your denial.
"No! That's not what I meant by that!"
The lynx then frowned, "So you don't like me? You hate me then?"
Once again, you shake your head. You were put on the spot that you couldn't think properly despite knowing that Ash was only teasing you.
"No, I don't hate you either!"
"Then which is it? If you don't hate me then..."
You groaned in annoyance, "Fine! I hate you then! I hate you and your stupid guts. I hate how annoying you are especially when you always teas-"
You stood frozen in spot as you felt his soft lips on your forehead; the blush that was already present in your cheeks, intesified. Ash pulled away slowly, uncertain at how you would react to what he just did. The two of you stared at each other, deep into eqch other's eyes. You were the first one to break the eye contact as you burried your face on to the palms of your hand. You didn't know what to do, you were beyond confused.
Ash smirked upon seeing the red tint on your ears, he bent down to your level and whispered, "Who knew that would stop you from barking loudly?"
You removed your hands and glared up with him, you wanted to look mean even if it was an act, you wanted to pretend that you were not fazed by—Ash was not intimidated by you at all. Your flustered self was so amusing to him that he wanted to see more of that expression.
You pointed at him with shaky hands, "You! You...."
You saw how your hands trembled and you held it with the other to steady which was also a fail. Your mind couldn't formulate your sentence well and ended up rambling nonsense. With defeated sigh you said, "Oh right breakfast!" You walked pass him, mentally lecturing yourself for coming up with a lame excuse just because you wanted to get yourself away from him badly.
"Wrong direction." Ash watched as you immediately stopped in your tracks, facepalming yourself. The prepared breakfast was in Ash's house and you were heading towards a different direction.
Laughing awkwardly, you scratched your cheek. "Right, I knew that..." You put on your best smile, slowly correcting your waypoint before dashing towards inside the house, bumping at a few obstacles along the way.
Once you were out of his sight, it was his turn to feel the embarrassment. "Fuck..." He fucked up and he fucked up big time. Ash got carried away as you told positive things about him in a way he did not know how to respond. The way you smiled at him while complimenting him, he melted right there.
His fingers trailed on to his lips where he can still feel the warm contact of your skin when he realized what he was doing, he abruptly placed his hands down, shaking all those thoughts out of his head.
He combed his hair to the back, eyes lingering on where you have walked off too—his face felt hot and his heart raced in his chest.
Maybe, he does like you...a little...
And that scared him, a lot.
—--—
Your back slid down the door, you tried to level yourself but you ended up losing your balance and sent your ass down to the floor. You knew it would bruise later but you didn't mind the pain, all your thoughts are preoccupied with what just happened.
Your hand found its way to the spot where you felt his lips; it was soft and it made you feel that you had a whole damn zoo in your stomach rather than just having butterflies. "That was a kiss right....?" You asked to yourself, unsure of how you should interpret the gesture. You sorted out your thoughts, starting with how you felt about it. It wasn't bad per se, surprisingly you didn't mind it. Your eyes widened as you reached a conclusion, you ran off not because you hated it...
You ran because you were okay with it.
You fall back, hitting the back of your head to see if you were still okay. You winced at the harsh impact, "Okay, I think I'm crazy." You soothed the incoming pain by massaging the area.
You were still deep in your own world when Shorter spotted you from the doorway to the kitchen. "What is she doing there?" Shorter approached you with a plate of eggs and bacon that he saved up for you since a certain someone went overboard with eating (he, himself).
"Yo, supergirl! Check out our breakfast, runny eggs and crispy bacon, ain't that a feast?" He said,m with a happy grin, not knowing that he'd be facing the wrath of a girl in complete denial. "No it's not!" You shouted subconsciously, you didn't mean to have an outburst on Shorter.
Shorter flinched at your raised voice, almost dropping the plate but thanks to his reflexes, he had caught it back before it did. "Woah, what got you so worked up? You didn't have to yell at me you know. If you don't like the food, I can always prepare something else for you."
Once again, your palm made contact in your face. "No, no. I'm sorry. I was just thinking and you suddenly came in and I suddenly blurted out my thoughts and you got caught in the mid-" Shorter squatted infront of you, all your ramble fell deaf into his ears as he spooned you a piece of an egg and bacon before gently shoving it into your mouth. You melted at the flavors hitting your tongue, you chewed in delight, relishing on the bacon and how the yolk of the egg complemented it.
"There, better?" You nodded enthusiastically. Shorter lip's lifted upward, your joy radiated in him. He made you stand up, giving you the plate before patting your head. "Go eat on a table (y/n). You're taking the little dog act too far."
"That's because everyone keeps treating me like one! I don't even know why when I clearly don't resemble one at all." You pouted before excusing yourself to eat.
Shorter wrapped his arms around himself, you strutted to the next room, moving with such excitement that Shorter could picture you walking away with your tail wagging behind.
"Yup. She's definitely like a small puppy."
—--—
Woah 3 updates in a row???? I'm on fire! Errrr, I was a bit skeptical about this chapter because I'm not yet that good at writing fluffy moments but I do hope you liked it! Finally, a proper Ash X (y/n) interaction!