Arron and Trexx

Chapter 47

Third person pov

Arron tried her best not to cry as she hugged Shikamaru, holding onto him like her life depended on it. In the end, he had joined the chunin exams, and she was ashamed to say that she was sad he'd made it past the first round. It was a selfish thought to have, she knew, but now he'd be gone a full five days. She was scared.

"I'll be back before you know it." Shikamaru assured her. "And you have Trexx."

"Be safe, Shikamaru." Shikaku said as his son released Arron, staring down at her with a lazy grin that fought to reassure the poor girl. Yoshino had tears in her eyes as she watched Arron wipe her eyes, struggling not to lose it completely as she watched Shikamaru trudge of into a deadly forest. Yoshino had full confidence in her son, of course, but watching him part with Arron was heartbreaking.

"We'll take care of her." Yoshino said. "So stay safe and worry about yourself, okay?"

"I'll try." Shikamaru muttered, more to himself than to her. He knew he'd be nonstop thinking about Arron just about the whole time. There was no doubt in his mind about it. Even now, he couldn't help but think about how she'd do without him. He hoped she'd be a little less attached to him. Well, sort of. He wanted Arron to get better, but as greedy as it was, he enjoyed being her favorite. He enjoyed being attached to her at the hip.

Arron and Shikamaru's parents watched the boy go, and then there was silence. Trexx was absolutely entranced by the light fixture hanging off the ceiling. He didn't care that Shikamaru was trudging off to what could very well be his death. He only cared about Arron's safety, really, as that was his job. Although Shikamaru did let him eat candles sometimes, and light bulbs.

The silence became awkward, fast. Arron stared at the door Shikamaru had left through with clear horror, lip quivering when she realized the shield that stood between herself and both Yoshino and Shikaku was gone. The two adults watched her nervously glance at them, and then back at the door. She was like a scared puppy, half wanting to dutifully wait for her human to return, and the other wishing to hide.

"Arron, we're going to try our best to make you as comfortable as possible while Shikamaru's gone." Shikaku said, and Arron hated that. She knew well and good Shikaku and Yoshino Nara were good people. They weren't bad, and they wouldn't take her, but she couldn't shake that fear. The little voice that asked, "are you sure?" She hated it, because they'd done so much just to accommodate her. They shouldn't have to do that, she knew.

Instead of saying something like she wanted to--thanking them or telling them not to worry-- she found herself running away.

The rest of the day was spent, just her and Trexx, sitting in Shikamaru's room. She sat on his bed, trying to steady her pounding heart. It raced, Shikamaru's absence bringing a wad of paranoia she couldn't swallow. Without Shikamaru here, she felt someone would take her. She knew that wasn't true. She knew plenty of the conclusions her mind leapt to weren't. But she couldn't help it. That was another thing she hated about herself.

Yoshino left food outside her door, but it went untouched. Arron knew she'd have to eat something eventually. None of the food Yoshino had made was ever unsafe. But then again, Yoshino knew Shikamaru tried anything and everything for her. What if she wanted Arron gone? What if, now that Shikamaru was no longer here, she wanted to get rid of Arron? Now would be the perfect opportunity. 

Arron shook the thought away, but still didn't eat. 

She fell asleep there in Shikamaru's bed, and when she woke up that morning, she'd somehow formed some sort of resolve in her sleep. She wasn't sure how it formed, or why, but she latched onto it nonetheless. Shikamaru was counting on her, and she was determined to make him proud. She had seen his confidence in her shining in his eyes before he left. She absolutely had to function these next four days without him, no matter what. The first day, the day he'd left, had been a failure. She had to make something of the rest.

She peeked out of Shikamaru's room, looking left and right in search of Yoshino or Shikaku. Neither were there. She felt Trexx do the same, his head popping out right above hers. She noticed, grimacing, that he was chewing something. Shikamaru's lamp. He always snagged the thing when nobody was watching. Arron was quite sure this was the sixth one he'd eaten so far.

Arron took a cautious step into the hall freezing soon after. Trexx, not trying to be quiet like her, squeezed through the doorway and walked up behind her. Arron was too used to it to really be fazed. Instead she crept towards where the kitchen was locating. The terrified part of her was praying to any god who'd listen that there was nobody home. The other part of her, the one wanting to make Shikamaru proud, didn't fear facing them. What contrasting personalities she held inside of her, she mused to herself.

To her dismay and glee, nobody was there. But there was a note on the table. She only got a brief glance at it before Trexx had it in his mouth. Arron frowned. Yoshino was off at the market. Shikaku was probably at work.

Arron glanced around the kitchen. She didn't want to eat Yoshino's food... but if she made it...

Well, that counted as functioning, did it not?