Before Ace could enter, I slammed the door in his face.

I was about to bolt the locks when I heard his voice through the door.

"Uhm, about what just happened, I apologize. I didn't mean to frighten you." I remained silent. I refused to admit, even to myself, that my anger had dissipated immediately following his apology. The only feeling I now felt was a weakness in my knees that was still present after the shock. "Look, if you're still mad, at least accept a peace offering. I brought back some bacon." Bacon? How did he know my weakness for bacon? Wait, he didn't even have any bacon. That object in his hand was not bacon!

"Liar," I seethed.

"Well, I brought back a pig. We could turn it into bacon."

I was sorely tempted to tell him to take the pig to the village and get the hell away from me. I nearly did so, but the growling of my stomach prevented that. Snarling, I threw open the door. Ace must have been surprised, because his eyes nearly popped out of his head. He turned his head to the side. "I-I could wait here while you go put some clothes on." Okay, maybe that wasn't why his eyes were huge.

"Get in," I growled. Ace walked in and headed straight for the couch while avoiding me with his eyes. He was about to sit down when he jumped.

"Sorry, I didn't know she had another guest," he said to the lump hidden underneath the blankets. I raised a single eyebrow at him and waited; silently counting the seconds until he would realize that it was merely an inanimate object. He continued, "Really, I hope I didn't offend you. Uhm, I suppose it makes sense for you to ignore me. I did just nearly sit on you, but please don't think I have a bad personality because of it. I'm usually really easy to get along with. I've been told I'm very sociable, or was it gullible? Anyways, I'd really appreciate it if you would accept my apology, unless you're sleeping. Then I was probably bothering you. Oh no, I might still be bothering you! I hope I didn't wake you with my talking. I'm very sorry if I did. In fact, I think I'll just walk away now." I lost count. I stalked my way over to the couch and yanked the blanket off. I then went to my room to change into a long skirt with shorts underneath. I was sure he could figure it out now. At least, I hoped he could.

Once I finished pulling my shirt over my head, I went back towards the main area. I saw Ace lightly bouncing on the couch as though he were a child. I stood there dumbfounded. Where did all his energy come from? Not to mention his demeanor. He seemed simpleminded most of the time, but then he had his moments of complete seriousness. When the gun was going off, his personality seemed to change along with his entire self. I blocked the memories of what happened after and was about to turn around to start cooking the boar he had caught when Ace called out to me. "Oi, Haru-chan. Come sit."

"I said not to call me that," I scolded while walking toward him and sitting on the opposite end of the couch, as far away from him as possible. He noticed.

He rested his hands behind his head in an image of pure ease as his eyes examined me carefully. "So," he began, "I already apologized. Mind telling me why you curled up into a ball back there?" Cocky bastard.

"I just don't like yelling," I replied nonchalantly.

"Why not?"

"That's…"

"None of my concern, right?" He flashed a cheeky grin my way.

"Precisely."

"I still want to know though." Nosy brat. Wait, wasn't he older than me? He definitely didn't act like it. I decided to indulge him; telling myself that it was merely to prevent any further argument.

"Nothing good comes from yelling. It's either the peak of a disagreement, or it leads to more violent arguments. It signals the near loss of control. It is, in its simplest form, a warning." There's always yelling. Yelling means they're angry. When they're angry, they start to hit things, or people. I softly grabbed my wrist.

Ace's eyes narrowed marginally, showing me a peak at that serious personality that I had fleetingly glimpsed previously. Yet, he did not ask me about my wrist. Instead, he plastered on a smile that seemed genuine and told me in a cheerful voice, "But arguments can be good as well. They can clear tension between two friends. It's also another way to tell someone your feelings. Arguing shows you care about someone, something, an event, or just in general. If you didn't care, you wouldn't show your passionate feelings through arguing. You would just keep silent and carry on."

"I never said arguing was bad. Arguing is fine; it's yelling that is bad. And who are you to lecture me? It is unnecessary."

"Probably, but you could use a lecture on manners. I mean, I had to sleep outside if you recall. Your poor guest was freezing last night! I mean, I thought this was supposed to be a tropical climate." He was obviously trying to lighten the mood. It worked and I could feel a small smile reach my lips.

"It usually is. We had a cold front come through a couple of day ago. As for the guest matter, you are not a guest. If anything, you are a moocher who ate all of my food."

"I carried a pig that I caught for you all the way to your door. It's laying outside right now, ready to be cooked."

"And how much of that pig will you eat. I have no doubt in my mind that you could eat all of it and still be hungry."

"That's why I caught five others. They're right outside your gate; waiting to be cooked. We could have ham, bacon, eggs, ooh and hash browns. I also heard from our ship's cook that you can make sausage out of pig as well. I would love some sausage. Can we have some sausage too? Please?"

I sighed. This guy had a seemingly one track mind when it came to food. "I have a rotisserie in the back yard. We can have ham. As for bacon, I would have made it even if you were allergic. I have no chickens. So no, you can't have any eggs. I may have one or two semi-good potatoes left in the garden, but you'll have to look for them. I refuse to."

"Deal!" His face resembled that of a small child on Christmas. He was so easy to please. He bounced up and made his way outside. I got up much more slowly due to the pain in my calf and shoulder. I couldn't see my leg, due to my long brown skirt. I was sure it was just a scrape though. As for my knees, the pain was nothing new. I didn't feel like going grab any bandages anyways. Besides, I was sure they had stopped bleeding by now. At least, I hoped they had. I made my way towards the door where Ace was waiting for me. On my way out, he suddenly exclaimed, "Wait, is it even possible to be allergic to bacon?"

There ya go. I decided to get the chapter out sooner rather than later because I'm going to be busy for the next two weeks. I apologize for any grammar mistakes, but it is currently 1:26 am. I am kind of sort of half asleep. So, hope ya'll enjoy anyways.