Cooking smoke rose here and there over Cocoyasi Village, mingling with the sea breeze before dispersing into the deepening indigo sky.
Deep in the Orange Grove, firelight danced, bathing the figures seated around it in shifting, warm gold.
Nojiko sat on a little stool, most of her body enveloped in the shadow of the silver-haired man beside her. Yet she did not feel stifled. Instead, she felt a strange sense of security, of being protected.
She turned her head, blue hair slipping from her shoulder, her eyes curving into two crescents.
"Come have some barbecue, Ace-"
Her voice was clear as a stream as she held up the skewer in her hand. The Sea King Tenderloin on it had been cut into even little chunks, each side seared to just the right shade of brown. Pepper salt and chopped herbs dotted the grain of the meat, and the fat glimmered amber in the firelight.
Ace froze for a moment.
He instinctively reached out and took the skewer.
His fingertips touched the warm wood, and the lingering, soft warmth of the girl's fingertips.
He opened his mouth to say "thank you," but something seemed to block his throat.
"Honestly, you child..."
Bellemere came out of the house, clutching a damp blue washcloth. With her free hand, she took the string of fish Ace had brought back from the shore, then handed him the washcloth, her movements as natural as though she had done this a thousand times.
"Wipe your hands first."
She did not look at him. Her tone was matter-of-fact, even carrying a trace of habitual distaste.
Ace lowered his head and took the washcloth.
Coolness seeped through his palms.
But it felt hot to him.
He thought of Dadan.
He thought of that burly mountain bandit chief, with her