After we returned back to our rooms, we decided to see each other again after we eat our dinner and take a shower.
“Well, that fat-ass sure takes his time in the shower…”
I waited on top of my bed irritated, Simon tipping on his phone amused while chatting with his friends, happy that he already took his shower.
“I think around 20 minutes already passed. Think he’s letting one go or something?”
“No f****** way…”
Hearing this, I was able to imagine that bastard actually go and rub one in the shower without a bit of shame. I got up and slammed the door a few times in a hurry,
“Oy you bastard. Are you beating your meat there or what the f*** are you doing?”
“Woah, woah! Take it easy there, amigo! A man must have his time of beauty!”
“If you don’t get out whiting 3 minutes, I’ll be sure to make you into the most beautiful pig and roast you for Christmas.”
“Fine, fine! Goddammit…”
In exactly two minutes he opened the door and got out with a sour face and fully clothed, looking at me with contempt about how I dared to disturb his relaxing moment. I then went into the bathroom and started undressing for a shower.
Haah~ I feel like I’m wasting my time on this trip when I could’ve worked on a new project…
“… Sigh~ I don’t think it was the best idea to come after all…”
It was barely the first day and I was already regretting my decisions. I sighed as I entered the shower then tried to just cool down under the water.
Back inside the room, Simon quickly left the room then came back with a bunch of guys and girls. Because I was listening to some music on my phone on speakers, I wasn’t able to hear the noise everyone made when they came in. The bathroom’s door being right beside the exit, the noise coming from inside the room was rather nulled as the walls were sound-proof, giving me the possibility to wash without a worry.
“Hey, is someone in the bathroom?”
“Oh, yeah. Leon it’s still taking a shower.”
A guy asked then Simon answered indifferently while eating some snacks they brought. Then some girls smiled amused as they said,
“Maybe he’ll come out with only a towel around him! What do we do if that happens?”
“Pfft, no way that would happen.”
-knock, knock!-
“Oh, this must be Alice, Mira, and Marina.”
While the others continued chatting and laughing, Simon went to the door to open it. Alice and her friends then came in, just like everyone, smelling of shampoo and soap after showering.
“Hey! I see everyone it’s already here.”
“Yeah, Leon it’s in the shower. He’ll come out shortly.”
“W-wait. In the shower? Did he take changing clothes with him?”
“Eh? Why are you asking?”
Hearing that I was the one showering, Alice’s face started turning red as she remembered the last time she was at my place. However, just as Simon asked confused, the door from the bathroom opened wide, and I, still wet and dripping with only a towel around my waist, got out with a sleepy face.
“Oy Simon, let’s not bring anyone here tonight. I’m kinda… sleepy… S***.”
“Kyaaa~!”
As I ruffled my wet hair I opened my eyes only to see three girls staring frozen at me, Simon right beside me with a dumb smile on his face after seeing Alice, now slowly turning pale while looking at me. After I closed the door in a hurry, the girls shouted surprised, Alice and Mira especially turning bright red, Marina, on the other hand, being completely shocked,
“Leon, what a crazy body you have!”
“You dumbass! Don’t shout such things!”
Although embarrassed, she was more shocked as she shouted out loud, attracting the attention of the others. Simon on the other hand felt defeated for some reason but then I took out only my head, staring daggers at him,
“You bastard, bringing people in when I’m taking a shower. Is this some kind of farce?”
“Errr…”
Simon didn’t know what to say but then Alice got in between us and quickly asked me for my clothes so she can bring them. I sighed tiredly then told her how my bag looks like and to just bring it over. After I finally changed clothes, I seriously wanted to smash Simon’s face if not for everyone being present.
After this mess happened, we just tried to forget as we got down and everyone united all three beds to play cards together. Because of this, I had to lean down beside the beds while searching for things on my phone as I had no desire to play, deciding to rather listen to some music and surf the website for more interesting creations.
As they played, the subject suddenly turned to me,
“Hey, I’m rather surprised at how easy-going the notorious Leon really is. I expected for him to be more, you know, fierce.”
A girl asked interested then Simon simply added while waving his hand,
“Nah~, this guy was always a calm and easy-going dude. However, after what happened last year…”
He scratched his cheek troubled while glancing at me. Seeing I didn’t react in any way, he thought that maybe the volume of my music was loud enough to not hear this subject.
Then another girl asked rather excited, seeing how Simon actually knew a few things about me,
“Hey, hey, did he have a girlfriend before? Or was he alone since forever?”
“I- I don’t think it’s nice to pry too much about someone else’s past…”
At her question, I suddenly muted the music and Simon saw this, shutting his mouth altogether. Alice also tried to stop them from talking about me but the girls didn’t give her any mind. Even more, the fatty interfered and said with a wide grin,
“Actually, I heard that he had a girlfriend before.”
“Oh~? Really?”
“Yeah, yeah. But after everything happened, I heard that she moved from this school. Many said that she did so because she was afraid of being targeted by some kind of survivor after his father’s vendetta-“
I got up after hearing this all and with a relaxed look on my face, I just went towards the door.
“L-Leon? Where are you going?”
Everyone looked at me while an awkward air permeated the room. The one who asked was Marina as she tried to break the awkward silence but I turned around with an indifferent look, my voice calm but uncomfortably cold as well.
“For a walk. Don’t mind me.”
As I got out I used too much force in my arm and slammed the door after me by mistake. I sighed once then went outside the motel to sit on a bench in front of it. I leaned back as comfortable as possible and looked upwards. I stared at the slim crescent moon in the clear sky and at how it shone through the tall trees of the forest in front of the motel. The view was eerie but beautiful as it absorbed me in, helping me to forget about what I just heard in the room. I continued to listen to some calmer music, and after a few minutes, another person came and sat beside me on the bench, making me glance once then turn back at the moon.
“Are you not cold?”
Alice asked me kindly and I simply made an indifferent expression, shaking my head slowly,
“No, the cold wind rather feels good. You better worry for yourself, girly.”
“You started calling me girly again…”
“Wasn’t I calling you like that all the time?”
“Only when you saw me as a stranger.”
“…”
I looked at her and she surprised me with a warm smile, looking at the same moon as me. Feeling my gaze, she turned my way then grinned helplessly,
“You know? I am a bit cold after all. Can I come a bit closer? Your body emanates a lot of heat.”
“…”
My eyes turned sharper for a bit and conflicted feelings swirled inside about all of this. I looked away without answering her question and changed the subject with a serious frown on my face.
“Listen… What happened with the other girl is true. She did leave me because she was afraid, just like everyone I knew… a reason why barely anyone knows me from before everything happened.”
“Hmm~ I wonder if you still have feelings for her.”
“Oy, were you even listening?”
Hearing her playful voice I couldn’t help but feel annoyed. I turned her way and leaned closer as to scare her, a serious look in my eyes,
“I’m saying this so to make you understand that being around me it’s no joke. I suggest you keep your distance.”
“And if I refuse?”
“Are you an idiot?!”
I roared furiously and Alice looked a bit surprised as this was the first time she saw me lose my cool just like that. I then got up and scratched my head into an attempt to calm down, standing with my back at her while looking down deep in thoughts. Seeing me like this, Alice then spoke out mindlessly,
“Leon… are you… afraid?”
“?!”
I suddenly raised my lowered head as I froze in place and Alice then became aware of what she just said, quickly trying to apologize for what she did,
“I-I’m sorry! I didn’t wish to say that-“
“No… you’re right.”
“Eh?”
She looked at my back surprised and I just sat back down, deep in thoughts,
“I am afraid… But not for myself…”
“What do you mean? Are you afraid that the people around you might end up suffering?”
“No… I don’t care about the others.”
“T-then?”
“…”
Alice asked completely confused but I kept quiet as I looked down at the ground. I then closed my eyes and breathed out to calm down, laying my head backward. As I opened my eyes the first thing I saw was the crescent moon shining on the dark sky. While watching the moon’s beauty, I started talking as if absentminded,
“I don’t fear for myself as I already got past that and I don’t care anymore. I don’t fear for others because they don’t care about me either. However, this is the first time I have someone care for me after so long… And with this sudden realization, I started to understand that having someone to care for you, will in the end turn them into someone precious to you…”
“…”
Alice felt her heart rushing as I talked, feeling a mix of happiness and blissfulness. Unaware of this, I continued on talking with a troubled gaze,
“Now think about it this way… I am someone who had everything, but in the end, lost it all. At first, I panicked and almost fell into despair, but soon I reached a point where nothing mattered to me anymore, hammering metal being the only thing that kept me going. I had no friends, no family, no lover, only a drunk uncle that gave me a few tips here and there about blacksmithing, a hammer, fire, and metal. I felt like this was more than enough for me to go on with my daily life as money came in on its own. But then you appeared… nagging me, annoying me, in the end, making me care again and feel the desire to be needed by another…”
As I remembered her smile between the tears when I offered her the tulip, I felt my heart jump again and I understood that was the moment I made the mistake to fall for someone once again. I then looked down and started playing around with my phone, still deep in thoughts while sitting there appearing somewhat confused,
“A mistake I made… was to fall for you. I thought at first that maybe if I made you aware of the danger, you would distance yourself, but you refused. I then made a second mistake, and that was to win your heart as well, your blushing face being as obvious as day.”
I chuckled weakly and Alice lowered her head embarrassed, continuing to listen and not say anything,
“The third mistake was when you appeared at my place and… accepted my everything, not being disturbed by my work, by the fact that I was making weapons, by the fact that I’m poor and live with a drunken uncle… After that, more and more mistakes continued to stack and I ended up feeling absorbed by you, my mind almost all the time on you… And so, I tried to forget everything by starting to once again hammer the metal, every day, without stopping.”
“…”
Hearing that I tried to forget about her, Alice felt a sour taste in her mouth but she still smiled as she knew what happened after, observing the helpless smile on my face,
“However, no matter how hard I tried, I suddenly found out that I couldn’t forget you… my mind wandering back to you at random.”
With a deep frown and a tired gaze, I then looked at her, Alice smiling calmly while her eyes turned wet from tears that waited to fall. I couldn’t help chuckling with helpless eyes and she reached out to hold my hand.
“Now do you understand why I don’t want you near me? Until now I didn’t care if I really had people after my tail or not, and neither did I care when and where would they strike in case it did happen. But now… now I fear that someone would actually really take you away, and I can’t help but turn cold at times. What fatty said was true, and I want you to keep your distance from now on as well. Or I might seriously suffer from insomnia.”
“I’m sorry, but I refuse.”
She came closer to me and hugged me tightly, her eyes closed as tears fell down her blissful face. I stood still like a stone while I wanted to resist her but her sweet scent, her soft and warm body, together with my damned feelings for her made me unable to distance myself, only to sigh weakly and reach my hand around her, pulling her closer as if trying to have her all for myself. My heart was beating wildly, inside of me starting a war between the desire to keep her away for her own good, and the desire to hold her close forever.
“You’re really a fool, ain’t you…”
I breathed out to calm myself and continued to look down while trying to keep my cool. Alice chuckled for a moment then she simply leaned on my chest, feeling my warmth and smiling relaxed.
“I won’t let you worry for me. I promise you, I will be strong enough to protect myself even at the worst times, even be strong enough to protect you. I won’t let you worry for me, so please, watch over me from now on.”
“Why go through all the trouble for-“
“Because, just like you, my feelings won’t let me do otherwise. I am not the one to control these feelings, for sure you’re not the one either, nor anyone else. I will do as I wish, and you shall do as you wish.”
She stared up at my troubled face and while I looked back, I couldn’t help feeling pulled in her big and starry blue eyes, feeling like my very soul is being drawn to.
“You’re a huge idiot…”
“And you’re a big coward.”
I commented annoyed and she answered back with a wide smile, coming closer to her face as I gently held her chin for a soft kiss.
After kissing we continued to gaze in the eyes of one another until I looked away, already feeling embarrassed.
“We should keep all of this a secret from the others.”
“Why? Embarrassed?”
“It’s because of all the trouble it might bring! You little…”
I gently pulled her naughty cheek as I thought of what would happen to her if those bastards were to hear that someone like myself got a girlfriend.
And that one being Alice, no less… Simon aside, there are quite a few men that are after her, the only reason why they keep their distance being the fact that anyone who was too forceful with her would end up thrown to the floor… and risk troubles with Simon as well.
Although I banned Simon from getting near her, I couldn’t help but admire how useful his popularity was as it kept the boys away from her.
After that we returned back to our room and to my surprise I saw fatty sitting alone on the balcony, the door closed from the inside while the others playing cards, chatting, laughing, and eating without care.
“Leon! Are you better now?”
Mira exclaimed surprisingly concerned while everyone else couldn’t help feeling a bit pressured by her for some reason, Marina being the only one chuckling amused. I looked at her then at our pitiful fatty and I asked confused,
“Just what the Hell happened?”
“Ah, don’t mind it.”
Alice pulled me by the arm to sit down, her smile seemingly cold when glancing at fatty. After I sat down, Marina got closer and whispered to me while trying not to start laughing again,
“You got yourself quite the guardian angels, Leon.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Shortly after you left, Alice and Mira got so mad at fatty, they tricked him into going on the balcony then locked him outside. While Alice went out to bring you back, Mira remained behind to be sure that nobody let him back in.”
“I-Isn’t that… kinda extreme?”
“No, you don’t have to worry for him.”
As we talked, Mira came in between us and talked with an aloft and irritated air to her normally sensible and shy self. Marina smiled wryly while I was rather surprised by her sudden intrusion. She was sticking close to both of us like some cat and I couldn’t help but question when she started to be so clingy near me.
After it was 11 pm, everyone returned to their rooms and I was finally allowed to let fatty come back in the room, sneezing the moment he entered the room.
“I-I swear! I-If I get a c-cold after t-this, I-It will be y-your fault-t!”
“Sure man, now just go to sleep. I’m tired.”
I didn’t mind him as he trembled while pointing at me threateningly, Simon not knowing what else to say but shake his head helplessly.
