May landed on her feet and I walked over to the pile. We looked at each other for a moment before I spoke. "What are you covered in?" She shrugged. "Strawberry jam. What are you covered in?" I raised an eyebrow. "Gargoyle dust. How come you got to be covered in jam? That's unfair."
A second later I noticed that something was moving under the witch's hat. It caught me off guard for a second and I leaned over to lift the hat to see what was under it. I was surprised to see a black cat, and even more surprised when it talked to me. "What have you done?! Return my power at once you fool!" The corner of my mouth raised in amusement as I picked up the cat by the loose skin behind her neck to hold in front of me.
"I don't think you can demand things from us anymore." The cat struggled and hissed as she tried to get out of my grip. "What are you going to do with me?! Kill me?!" I shook my head and smiled evilly. "Of course not. What I have planned for you is far worse." I then turned to hold the cat in front of May, and she immediately gasped with a twinkle in her eyes. "A KITTY!!" The cat's anger quickly became terror, and May dropped the spell book to hug her tightly.
The cat struggled as May swung her side to side in her arms, and she pressed the fluff to her face tightly. "You're so cute! I love you! I love you! You're the sweetest thing in the world! I'm going to name you Jelly Fishy and I'm going to love you forever! ..." As she jabbered on, the cat screamed in horror until she was able to wiggle out of her grip and sprint as fast as she could away from us. "Ahhhh!"
I laughed a little as I watched her run away, but my smile quickly disappeared once I turned back to May and realized that she had gotten the spell book for me. She knelt down to pick it back up and smiled at me once she was back on her feet. "Yay! I can't believe we did it!" I moved my gaze to the ground and started walking to the door. "Yeah. I suppose we did."
Later we cleaned ourselves up and headed back on the trail again. We had put the spell book and the ruby in May's satchel for safekeeping, and I felt better that we were finally out of that place. May was walking next to me silently for once with a soft smile, and I couldn't get rid of a weird feeling. It was like I actually wanted to be nice to her or something and it was really freaking me out. 'Is this what, gratitude feels like? Ugh, I feel all gross and toasty inside. I was perfectly capable of getting that book myself. Why did this brat disobey me?' I thought.
I couldn't help but feel like I should thank her but I was having a difficult time finding my words. "Uh, May?" She turned to me while holding her smile. "Mm?" I avoided eye contact with her as I continued. "You know, it was kind of... Not horrible that I didn't have to get the spell book myself..." Her expression became shocked and she stopped walking. I did the same and she gasped with a brighter smile. "Are you... Thanking me?!"
She then wrapped her arms around me in excitement. "I knew you were good deep down!! You're very much welcome!!" I tried my best to push her off as she tried to squeeze me tighter. "This is why I don't thank people! Stop touching me you brat!!" I smacked her away but she continued to be excited. "I can't believe this! My teachings are finally getting through to you! We really are friends, aren't we?!"
I glared at her. "No! We are not!" I hesitated after I yelled and smiled a little a moment after. "Though, I can't say I'm disappointed in how you've been using my own tips. That kick back there wasn't too bad. I think we should take it to the next step." May's smile became curious. "Really? What's the next-?" I then threw a punch at her and she quickly dodged. "Ah! What are you doing?!" I answered with enthusiasm. "Hand-to-hand combat! Remember, you can block an attack by raising your arms in front of you."
I swung again and she moved out of the way. "I can't believe that you would punch a woman!" I laughed. "Hey, I believe in equality! Come on! Stop dodging and fight me already!" She sighed and ducked as I swung at her. "I think your way of celebrating a victory is very concerning!" I then swiped my leg under her feet and she fell to the ground. "Ow!" She quickly got up again and I continued to attack her. "Just shut up and fight back. I'm not stopping until you land a hit on me. I'll make it easy for you."
She then smirked and took off her satchel to set it beside us. "Well, if you insist." She did what I said to do and blocked one of my punches with her arm, and threw one of her own at me. I grabbed her fist mid-punch and flung her back around. I laughed as she spun in a few circles before she tripped over her own feet and fell again. "Hey! You didn't teach me that!" I shrugged. "You learn by doing in this lesson."
I returned to my fighting position and so did May. After a few failures, she managed to go up against me longer and was able to block my attacks without cringing. She laughed when it looked like she had the upper hand, and I did the same when I kicked her ass again. I took it easy on her since if I was fighting at my best capability I would've destroyed her. She still hadn't been able to hit me yet but I was impressed with how well she was doing.
I ducked from her roundhouse kick and laughed. "While we're still young! I expected at least a slap by now!" We continued to fight as she responded. "Just you wait! I'm looking for the perfect moment!" I rolled my eyes. "Another tip, there will never be a perfect moment. You take whatever chance you can get in combat." She smirked at my reply and flew over my leg as I tried to trip her again. "Thanks!"
My expression faltered and I didn't know what she meant by that until she slipped behind me quicker than I thought she could go. Once I turned around I didn't have time to block her punch that was heading straight towards my face. However, she stopped it an inch before my nose and held a smile as she then opened her fist and slapped me so lightly there wasn't a sting afterward.
I stared at her blankly and she laughed. "You never said how hard the hit had to be." She patted my head and I smacked her hand away. "I guess you got me there. But you could've totally hit me hard. Why didn't you? I'm always an asshole to you." She shrugged and held her smile. "Lesson number thirty-six says it's rude to hit people. I only did it before because we needed the spell book and that witch didn't seem like she was very deserving of it. Oh no, I hope I didn't hurt her too bad!"