All was silent on the ship, even it was silent as it seemingly tiptoed closer and closer towards its destination.
Ran was staring at Ann quietly, and she too mimicked him. Neither of them blinked and as for the other two—they were still, afraid they'll be implicated.
Finally, after a quick staring contest, Ran spoke with narrowed eyes:
"You hungry?"
"Uh… sure, why? You hungry too; let me go prepare the food—"
"Aha! Caught you red handed you slimy bastard! Didn't we just say we would fix it? Just look at you; it seems we went too far indeed."
He gave her a look of disappointment, though it seemed he was looking more at the reflection in her eyes than her eyes themselves.
He then turned towards Bob and Fluffy and said, "sorry, but you guys help me out on this?" There was a hint of pleading in his voice.
Bob, startled by the sudden begging, looked at Ann before resolutely saying, " don't worry, I'll support you no matter your decision." His stance was almost too resolute, like a soldier standing at attention awaiting the order to sacrifice themselves for the greater good.
Fluffy, too, resounded with a sonorous decisive roar. Finally, seeing the twos agreement, Ran let out a sigh of relief.
He then fixed his posture, standing as tall as his five-foot-five (hundred fifty five centimeter) self could.
"Thus, in accordance with my fellow companions, I, Ran, hereby declare that we, the people, shall all procure, prepare, and consume our daily sustenance separately from this date forward."
He puffed his chest out, closed his eyes, and held his chin high—he was waiting for everyone's applause and praise for his ingenious idea towards a secure path forward for his trusted friend.
And yet, where was the applause, he thought. Where was the praise, he thought. WHY THE FUCK WAS IT SO SILENT!?
He slowly lifted an eyelid, peeping to see what was the problem.
Only, he discovered everyone gawking at him while trying hard not to laugh.
Seeing him begin to frown, Ann couldn't hold in it anymore and bawled her ass out once more. Only after she told herself repeatedly to shut up did she stop laughing and wiped the tears off her face.
"Ran, you… you couldn't possibly think that would work right?"
Ran was immediately dumbfounded by her response.
"What? Do you think we live in a magical world filled with super powers and mythical beasts? Please tell me you see the logic in my words." He wasn't the smartest, but he was very pragmatic. If he saw a nice juicy solution right in front of him, waiting for him to gobble it up, then he would oblige. There was no need looking for other solutions that could be hiding inside his asscrack for all he cared.
Occom's razer folks! The simplest solution is often the correct one.
If Ann gave her life to Ran and only lived for him, then had to strip himself away and allow Ann to live for herself. Super simple! It's almost like fear, where the best solution is often to face them.
And Ran was being careful about it too; the quickest and most simple solution would be to just leave forever and never look back. As long as he didn't exist within Ann's sphere of existence, or exist at all, then it would theoretically fix everything and Ann would continue her life for herself this time.
Obviously, he was able to see through that mask, though if it meant helping her, he would be willing to sacrifice all ties with her. In reality, doing something like this was akin to leaving the gas on before leaving the house. It would be likely that she would completely break down emotionally, mentally, and even physically—who knows what she might do then…
Instead, he was taking it step by step. He would slowly introduce her to a life where not everything revolved him. The more he thought about it, he even preferred this situation.
He had been leeching off of her their entire lives and it was time to stop.
Imagine, since your birth, you were carrying another person on your back at all times and the more you carry them, the heavier they get. Sooner or later, the person on their back would be like a literal mountain bearing down on their person at all times of the day, night, and even while they're asleep and dreaming.
It was like this for Ann; Ran was like a mountain. It's a miracle that she had survived until now, though she was tattered and in rags.
But almost like Stockholm syndrome, nay, just like it in fact, she liked it this way. As long as she wasn't alone, she thought—everything was fine the way it was. She was content.
But, it didn't have to be that way. Ran… no longer wanted it that way.
However, Ann rejected his plan right from the start.
"Don't 'please' me, please. And actually, yes we actually do live in a magical world—"
"You know that's not what I meant—"
"I do know. Which is why I'm saying there's a much easier resolution to this problem."
"For example?"
Ran was almost livid. Maybe she did not want his help (which was fine in and of itself) and wanted things to stay the same, but he absolutely did want to keep things going this way after he had seen how damage he had done to her, however indirect or direct that may be.
"Of course. It's quite simple really, I don't know how you didn't think of it; we'll just get an elixir that will heal my soul. That way, everything will be back to normal."
"Hmm okay. Let me ask you this; have you ever heard of or seen an elixir that can do as you describe it?"
"Uhh… no. But that doesn't mean they automatically don't exist."
"Then, let's say that you do get one. After you've healed yourself, what's guaranteeing anything from hurting you again?"
Ann had no words to refute.
"Well, we'll just have to… agree to disagree then."
Ann pouted hard as the words barely escaped her mouth—her face red from exhaustion.
"I suppose so." Ran smiled restrainedly as he sweated.
This… was the first argument they had ever had. And it was over such a serious issue too.
In the end, Ran could only sigh stressfully as he crouched to rub Fluffys head.
"I'm sorry buddy, it seems we'll have to eat normal food from now on." He looked at Bob and the both of them nodded. Though they were all in agreement, oh sorry, in accordance with each other, they were all crying inside. Ann's cooking was just that good; it was enough to make a grown man cry.
"Wait… don't tell me you guys agree with him!? I-I don't understand. How can his answer be any better than mine?"
She huffed and moved away from everyone to clear her head a bit.
She really could not understand.