Our game ended with a feast for an early dinner. The sun was high in the air as we cooked the meat in the rekindled fire pit and set everything on the table. The wood literally creaked as we lessened the substantial amount of food into our bellies. I had never felt so full. That evening, with bellies full and a sun only just starting to set, we began our descent from the hill to the village. It was a quiet affair with a heavy feeling in the air. Would this be the end of our companionship? I was hesitant to call it a friendship as I had only known him for a day, but I had never felt lighter than I did with him. I couldn't recall the last time I had laughed so freely, alone or otherwise. I didn't want to say goodbye and return to the lifestyle I had led before. I didn't want to spend my days where the foremost thought in my mind was survival rivaled only by safety from others. My thoughts only spiraled more and more into the bottomless pit that housed all of the dark things in my life. It wasn't until Ace let out a long and loud sigh that I looked up from the ground and raised an eyebrow in question. "This is too dull," he whined. Then he stopped walking completely. "Let's race!" He declared with a contagious grin on his face. Anything to get rid of the depression I'm heading towards, I thought to myself.

"Fine," I replied. I stopped walked and turned back to stand next to his side.

"On the count of three," he began. "One, two, three." He took off and I followed behind. The race was exhilarating and did serve to raise my spirits. For a moment I forgot what we were racing towards and my laughter bubbled up and out into the air. At one point, my foot got caught on a branch and I tumbled down the hill. Though this earned me multiple scrapes, it also helped me advance to a position in front of him. He called out behind me, "No fair, cheater!" I ignored him as I speed along. Finally, I slowed down as we reached the end of the hill. Dizzy and disoriented, I sat up. Ace eventually caught up and I could hear him both gasp for breath and laugh it out before his lungs could even process it. "Oh, man. I can't decide if that was hilarious or genius." He offered me a hand and I tried to grab it. I missed because it kept moving and multiplying, though he assured me it wasn't. Eventually, he grabbed me underneath my arm pits and hauled me to my feet. He continued to grin as he waited for me to take the lead, but I refused to go any farther.

"The village is right there," I said as I pointed to the village nearly 100 yards away. After that I was at a loss for words. We stared at each other and his grin slowly began to fall. All of the moments we had shared within only a day came reeling through my mind and my throat began to block up. His mouth began to form words, but before I could hear them, I turned around and began hiking back up the hill.

A hand caught my elbow and forced me to a standstill. Wordlessly, I stood there, waiting for him to change his mind and leave, but he didn't. Instead he wordlessly turned me around to face him and stared into my eyes. Before I could blink, he pried my jaw open and gazed down the open cavern. "ahhhnnnuuaaah," I protested. I tried to knee him in the stomach as an attempt to force him to let me go, but he dodged it and took two steps back. At least my jaw was free.

"Hmmmmm," he hummed with a mischievous glint in his eye. "Your throat looks fine to me. Is there a reason you're not saying goodbye?"

The silence hung in the air between us before I finally managed to sum up the courage to explain my reason for the quick retreat. "I had… fun." I couldn't look at him as I said this and blushed while scratching the back of my neck.

"Oh no, I am so sorry. I can't believe my presence caused you such an inconvenience. However will I compensate you for such a great insult?" He joked.

"No," I explained. "It was… nice. The racing was nice, and the food was delicious, and your jokes were actually funny, and the cooking went faster, and …" He cut me off.

"Are you actually admitting that my jokes were funny? Wow, you are going to miss me." I stared at him. "That's why you're acting funny, right? Because you don't want to say goodbye since you're going to miss me. A lot apparently." He continued on without even pausing to gloat at having read my mind. "It's not so bad. I'm pretty sure that I'm going to be here a while anyways. From what Pops was saying, it sounds like he and a lot of his sons have good friends here, so odds are we aren't leaving for a bit. You can come down to the village and we can hang out. There's got to be more to do than hunt."

"You don't understand. I can't bec…" I tried.

"Because the villagers don't like you. Yeah, I got that part from earlier, but they haven't barred you from the village. I mean, I did meet you in it."

"But,"

"Nope. No buts. I plan to meet you at your place tomorrow promptly at sunrise. Then, since you really don't want to go to the village, you're going to show me around the island. Don't forget your walking shoes." He winked. "So, with all that said; good night, good-bye, and see you tomorrow." With that he promptly turned around and began to walk towards the village. Before I could turn around to begin my trek back up however, he had turned around and was walking back to me. "Can you take this off now?" he asked as he held his hand out to me. The sea stone stared up at me, a reminder at how our relationship had begun. "My friends are going to have a field day if they see me wearing jewelry." I laughed and began to undo the knots. They did not want to come undone so I loosened them up as much as I could and slid the bracelet off of his hand. "Geez, that feels so much better!" he exclaimed. His hand erupted into flames and he flexed his fingers.

"See you tomorrow," I murmured. The flames went out and he looked at me with a full out grin.

"You know it."

As he walked away I grinned to myself and began to walk back up the hill. I had not been walking for long when I remembered something. I turned around and called out to him with a goofy smile on my face. "Hey!" He turned around in the distance. "Don't you dare come up there without a shirt or I'll keep all of your things." I could hear him groan even from the distance we were separated as he realized that he had forgotten his belongings at my house.

"Make me," he taunted.

"That's your only warning. I'm the only one that knows where your dagger is!" I could see his grin in the distance as he responded.

"Fine fine. " He turned around and continued walking. From his tone, it sounded as though it couldn't matter less to him, but his shoulders were slumped and I knew that I had come out on top.

Ace was in a rush the next the afternoon. He had woken up early and was nearly ready to leave when he had conked out on the way out the door. Thankfully, Marco had noticed that he had missed the breakfast that the cook had cooked up for the crew that morning. He had charged into Ace's room with a huge platter of food and found him on the ground. Unabashedly, he kicked Ace not once but twice. Ace rolled over and sat up with a bleary eyed glare in his direction. "Seriously man?" he questioned until he saw the plate being hovered under his nose. Marco straightened up and gave him a cheeky grin.

"Any complaints now?" he asked.

"None," Ace grinned as he began to wolf down the contents of the food while Marco was still holding it. Marco's grin fell and he pulled the plate away from Ace's reach.

"Woah, at least give me a chance to put it down. I might lose a hand if you're not careful." After setting the plate down on Ace's bed, he studied the man as he ate. "There's something off about you man. Did you get a haircut or something."

"What are you, a girl? Who cares?"

"So yes?"

"No."

Marco continued to stare at him until he finally realized what it was. "Seriously, are you wearing a shirt? I knew something happened while you disappeared."

"Who cares if I am,' Ace grumbled. He dropped the strip of bacon he was holding. "Oh, shit!" he exclaimed while grabbing a fistful of his own shirt in realization. "Marco, what time is it," he demanded.

"Mid-afternoon," was the reply as Marco raised an eyebrow at him in question. "Why, you got somewhere to be?"

"I did," Ace chocked out between mouthfuls of food as he ate twice as fast. "This is not good," He said as he jumped up from the bed and began dashing out the door, leaving the empty plate on the bed.

Marco followed in curiosity. "So, what if you're a little late," he asked as he matched Ace's pace. Ace took the stairs two at a time as he rushed to the deck. "It's not like it's the first time."

"I was supposed to be there this morning!"

"Ooh, what for. Can't be breakfast or you would have gone back to bed after eating. You meeting a girl?" Marco wondered as he couldn't think of any other reason for Ace's rushing. Ace stayed silent and continued heading towards the plank of the deck. "Ooh you are!" Marco exclaimed in glee. "I still don't see why you're rushing. You're always late for those kinds of things. They never care. Not sure why, usually a girl has a fit if the guy shows up a couple of minutes late, but you show up hours late and they pretend nothing happened."

"It's not a date," Ace bit out.

Marco nearly tripped on the step up to the plank. "Then why the hell are you in such a rush?"

"Doesn't matter."

"Aw c'mon man," he wheedled. "Even so, it's still a girl and I doubt she'll care as long as you show up."

"This one's different, believe me." Ace was picturing all of the things that Haruna would do and say to him when he showed up at her doorstep. He shuddered.

"Different?"

"Very much so."

"Ooh, don't tell me Ace has a crush. Sounds like she doesn't though. Bwahahaha!"

"Shaddup!"

Marco stopped running after Ace and called out, "Have fun on your not date."

I woke up late that day and had frantically gotten ready with the idea that Ace would show up any minute. I managed to finish getting ready before he arrived and sat on the couch to wait for him. The waiting had stretched from minutes to hours and I eventually had to dejectedly get up to feed lunch to my growling stomach. I had eaten lunch in a dismal silence. Once I began doing the dishes, my silence became one filled with fury. I should have known he wouldn't show. The villagers must have gotten to him. They always did, just like with Tobi. How could I have expected any less of them, and more of him? My foolishness had merely covered over the facts that had been too obvious for me to detect what should have been obvious to me. I would burn his things the moment I finished with these dishes from lunch; dishes that should have been in a quantity to provide for two instead of one. I would never see him again and perhaps that was for the best. If I had continued to be around him I … … … I would have had a lot of fun. There was no doubt of that, but that fun could have brought disastrous consequences. No, it was better this way. I was drying the last dish when I heard a knock at the front door. Surely he didn't have the nerve to show up this late in the day?

Ace was panting when he finally made it to her porch. He had taken the shortest way to get there which had not been on the trail. He fought through bushes and mud and hidden rocks that he had barely avoided tripping over, but he was here. He raised his fist and knocked on the door and waited. The day was nice and cool, despite the fact that he had just run up a hill. He could faintly hear birds chirping as he waited for her to open the door. She would open the door right? It's not as though he could call out through the sound proof door to explain everything. No, she would answer. The past day that was filled with her smile would surely compel her to answer the door. At the very least, she would want to yell at him. And he would let her, not only because he kind of did deserve it, but also because after she blew off her steam, he would make her laugh. And then they would have their day, late as it would be. Assured with his train of thoughts, he gradually closed his eyes as he pictured all of the things he had planned for them. His thoughts faded away rather quickly into a black haze as he contentedly, if not stupidly, dozed off.

I opened the door and instantly recognized Ace standing there. "What the hell do you want?!" He said nothing and I realized that he had more than enough nerve to show up this late. He had some extra as he was sleeping on my doorstep. That fact that he was doing so while still standing did not impress me. I jabbed him in the shoulder with my finger as I berated him. "I don't believe you. First you stand me up, now you have the gall to show up this late. Are you even listening to me?" He continued to sleep and I nearly closed the door on him before an idea stopped me. I cautiously began to lift the hat from his head with the intent to burn it later after I slammed the door on him. A hand caught my wrist as he woke up. He gave a lazy smile in my direction.

"Do you not like my hat?" he questioned.

"It's too small for your damn head," I replied with a glare.

He rolled his eyes and walked in before I could invite him to do so. "H-hey!" I protested as he began to track mud into my floor. He stopped and glanced over at me as I shut the door. I stared pointedly at his feet and swung my arm in an arc to represent the floor. He gave a small jump of surprise as he realized his error and ended up splattering the mud everywhere. I glared at him as he gave a sheepish shrug. Wordlessly I grabbed a wet towel and handed it to him. He got the hint and began to clean up the mess he made after taking off his boots. True to his word, he was wearing a shirt, but it was the same one as yesterday with the addition of mud and a couple rips. I watched him with an eagle eye. Once he finished he stood. "Great, now leave."

"But what about our day?"

"It's halfway over, there's no point in heading out now."

"I fell asleep on the way out," he explained, "I ran as fast as I could to get here as soon as I woke up." I raised an eyebrow. "After I ate breakfast."

"And obviously you still didn't get enough sleep as you were sleeping on my doorstep. So go home and get some more." I told him as I opened the front door. Mentally I berated myself. He was here wasn't he? He still wanted to spend the day together. Yet here I was, kicking my only 'friend' out the door. Hadn't I just thought last night that I couldn't wait for more of the fun times that followed him? But the sting I had felt at his apparent rejection and that I still felt at the fact that he would show up this late masked those features. My lack of desire to be a plaything to be with whenever was convenient for him outweighed my desire for laughter and fond memories. I would not be used!

Ace deflated. "Fine, " he said as he began to put his boots back on. He walked out the door and closed it behind him. He would not come back, of that I was certain. Yet, not two seconds later, a knock sounded once again at my door. I threw the door open and glared at him. "I forgot where the path is," he explained. The path was in obvious sight, though a bit of a walk aways, and I exasperatedly pointed at it. He craned his neck in the direction of my finger. "Nope, still don't see it." I stepped fully out onto the porch in my bare feet and once again gestured to the unconcealed path. "Seriously, where are you pointing?" I groaned and went back inside. After putting on some shoes, I left the house and began to walk with him towards the path. On the way there, he hooked his arm through mine and began half dragging me in another direction. "So, where should we go first?" he asked in a conversational manner, as though he hadn't just tricked me into coming with him anyways.

"Why, are you so insistent on this?" I groaned though genuinely curious.

"Are you kidding? One of the guys saw me leaving. If I return this soon, he'll never stop laughing at me." Ace complained. I wondered whether or not he was just saying that as an excuse or whether that was genuinely the only reason he was still here. Then I decided that I didn't want to know and would try to enjoy myself regardless. It wasn't looking like I would get to leave any time soon anyways.

Hi guys. Been a while again. Hope you enjoy this and think it's funny. If you have any ideas as to what should happen while they're having a day in the sun. Feel free to let me know. :D