Читать книгу Over the Ocean, Over the Sea - Y. Yoshi - Страница 3

Sunlight hit Sho’s eyes as he cracked them open. His head hurt. Why did it hurt? Sho lay motionless, tucked into his bedding as he tried to recall what happened last night. He didn’t remember getting back into bed, but there was a vague memory of drinking from one of the bottles…

As he tried to sit up, his vision swam and a peal of light laughter hit his ears. Sho snapped his head towards the source, making the room spin again as he did. Closing his eyes, he groaned.

“I’ve never met a pirate who barely makes it through a quarter of a bottle,” the voice teased. Forcing his eyes open, Sho squinted as he tried to see who was talking. His aching head immediately felt soothed by the sight before him.

An impossibly beautiful man sat next to the hearth, so beautiful that he tugged at Sho’s heartstrings. The man was smiling at Sho, watching him as he rested his chin on an arm placed on the knee of a propped up leg. Sho found himself staring into the man’s dark eyes filled with mirth, his smile drawing him in.

Suddenly, he snapped out of his reverie. Narrowing his eyes in suspicion, Sho asked, “What makes you think that I’m a pirate?”

The stranger hummed in amusement. Cocking his head to one side, he brushed his long dark hair over his shoulder and said, “That brand on the inside of your wrist is telling enough.”

Sho subconsciously shifted his right hand away, keeping his expression impassive as he kept his eyes on the stranger. As pleasing as he looked to his eyes, something didn’t feel quite right.

“Don’t be so uptight,” the stranger coaxed, stretching his legs out, lounging. As the fabric of his long robe shifted, Sho noticed that it shone with an iridescence as it flowed over the stranger’s form, an odd trait for cloth, if that’s what it was made out of.

“Who are you?” Sho asked, his tone level.

“Does it matter?” The stranger smirked at him.

“If you’re going to come into where I dwell, I might as well get to know you,” Sho said, trying to convince the stranger to give up his name.

“You don’t need to know my name to get to know me,” the stranger said, leaning forward with a wider smile. “Besides, I don’t have a name.”

“That’s not possible.”

“Perhaps,” the stranger said. “Perhaps I had one. But if I ever did, I don’t remember anymore.”

Sho continued to stare at him, unsure of what to make of it.

“You, though.” The stranger pointed a slender finger at Sho. “You have a name, don’t you? Tell me?”

“No,” Sho answered. “If I’m not addressing you by name, you won’t address me by name either. There isn’t anyone else to get mixed up with on this island after all.”

The stranger burst out laughing. “How sure are you that we’re the only two people here?”

Sho grew tense. “Are we not…?”

“It’s alright,” the stranger said, waving a hand as his laughter subsided. “You’re right. There is no one else here.”

The stranger’s confirmation didn’t offer much comfort to Sho. He wasn’t even sure that he could trust this person.

“You really won’t share your name with me?” the stranger asked.

Sho shook his head.

A grin appeared on the stranger’s face. His teeth were particularly white. “Afraid I’ll steal your name?” he teased.

Sho shook his head again. “Just so that we’re on equal grounds.”

The stranger’s grin turned into a smirk. “If you say so,” he said, sounding unconvinced as he turned to look out of the entrance of the house, towards the sea.

“Were you the one who left the food outside the house yesterday?” Sho asked. The question had been nagging at him for over a day.

The stranger’s eyes slid toward Sho. Looking at Sho out of the corner of his eyes, the stranger replied, “Of course, who else could it be? Did you enjoy it?”

Cautiously, Sho nodded. “There’s… still a lot I haven’t eaten, actually,” he said. “But thank you.” After a pause, he added, “Still… why would you…?”

“It’s been a while since I had someone else with me here,” said the stranger. He went back to staring at the sea. “Since you were so bad at spearing fish, I thought you’d starve without help,” he continued, smirking. “Also,” he added, “take it as a thank you for not taking anything from the cave.”

Sho grew tense again, reminded of the hostility he felt when he entered the cave.

“I would appreciate it if you never went back in there,” the stranger said, standing up. Sho remained silent as he began to walk out of the house. Stopping by the barrel of apples, the stranger paused and looked at it intently.

“You can help yourself to them if you want,” Sho offered. “I haven’t figured out how I’m supposed to finish them all anyway. They might just end up going to waste.”

The stranger’s eyes lit up and he picked up an apple. Flashing Sho a smile and a wink, he muttered a soft “thank you” and left, a delighted smile on his face.