"Hey!" he almost yelled, barely restraining his volume as he still remember they are playing hide and seek.
"W-what are you doing here?!" the girl asked the question, as she continue squishing him into the bottom of the barrel.
"I should be the one asking that question!" he whispered harshly, "I'm inside this barrel first!" he quickly pointed out.
"I- uhm, I don't see your name on it!" she goes straight to a very weak argument. Ardent fought the urge to punch the girl, as one, he will not hit girls unless they absolutely deserve it, and two, he will not hit children as long as they did not deserve it. And despite her being annoying, it was not enough to receive a fist from him.
"Get out! This barrel is barely enough to fit one person!" Ardent exclaimed, wishing to push her out.
"No! The seeker already finish counting!" she said, getting Ardent to stop as a shaking barrel is beyond suspicious.
And so, with great reluctance, Ardent was forced to share his hiding spot with the girl.
-x-
As he spend who knows how long with the girl, Ardent took the chance to have a small talk, introducing themselves to each other.
There, Ardent learned her name is Catlin, she is the same age as his, that is 7, and she loved to cook and learned to do chores.
'She will be a perfect housewife.' he thought before realizing what goes through his head.
'What kind of sick person am I! She is just a child! Don't think such thought Ardent!' he yelled inside his head. Even if they are the same age, he is still an old, well, middle-aged man, but still too old for a child like her.
He wanted to curse the deity at the moment. Why can't he took an older body, where he will not feel like a criminal for having thought of someone the same age as his!
'I can only accept this.' Ardent put the thought in his head. He could not change what happened, except for dying but he did not plan on doing so. He want to live his life to the fullest and no one would stop him.
"Found ... you?" he heard Frank said, his voice trailing into confusion. No doubt from seeing him and Catlin sharing a hiding place.
Realizing she had been found, Catlin quickly step on top of him, before trying to climb out of the barrel. Try because her currently lacking body strength from being a child cause her to fall back. On top of him.
"Uuggh! You're heavy!" Ardent yelled, feeling what stools he used in his previous and current life felt like.
"No I'm not!" the blonde girl yelled before she attempt another climb. With the same result.
"My back." Ardent whined, his back the same state as his grandfather in his previous life, who almost moaned of his aching back.
"Dad always said third time the charm!" the girl did not give up, even though she should as she make another attempt.
Spoiler alert, she fell on him.
"Uurghh," Ardent groaned, a snarky reply coming out of his mouth, "Maybe when doing something else. Plus get those outside to help you out." he said.
He could hear the pout, as she spoke, "I don't need anyone help! I can do things myself!" before making another attempt to get out.
Not planning on being her landing pad for the fourth time, Ardent grabbed her legs before pushing her outside. This time, half of her body managed to get out, which should be enough for the others to pull her out.
As for him, "Let them pull her out before I push the barrel." he planned on pushing the barrel to the side, allowing him to crawl out.
"Woah! I'm slipping back in!" unfortunately, Catlin did not get help in time, as she will fall on him if he don't do something.
"We are going out!" Ardent shoved the barrel, causing the already tilting barrel to become even more unstable, as he continue pushing it from the inside.
Slowly, the barrel twirl around before it fell, resulting on his side to be at the bottom, while Catlin to be on top. One could see where this is going.
"Urgh, why?!" he wailed, as he get sat on for the fourth time.
'At this rate, I will become pancake!' Ardent complained, as he moved out of the barrel as Catlin get away from him.
Stretching his aching body, he looked at his friends, only to see foolish grin on their faces.
"So, what are you doing with a girl inside the barrel?" Curt said coyly. Ardent calmly walked in his direction, which the green-haired boy, noticing the danger he was in, bolt in the other direction.
Ardent then give him a chase, which was a completely unfair match-up, as he was more athletic and faster than Curt. The result was one that can be predicted.
"Aaahhh!" screams of pain filled the area as the boys looked away, knowing the price to annoy Ardent. Besides, all of them believe the green-haired boy deserve the punishment.
-x-
'Seriously! What is my luck!?' Ardent swore in his head. For the 5 times they have played hide and seek, he and Catlin keep on finding the same hiding spot, resulting in several awkward moment.
It is a good thing they are still children, or it would have been even more awkward as teens. Still, Ardent find himself annoyed by the entire thing.
"Why do you keep hiding in my hiding spot?" Ardent accused the blonde girl, who glared at him.
"Well, why do you keep on going at my hiding spot?" she retorted, which is a stupid retort. But if one is a child and believe it, well, it is more troublesome.
"Go somewhere else if you find someone's already hiding there!" Ardent yelled, trying to stop himself from going physical. He wonder if a part of his brain mentally regressed with how childish he was acting now.
"Why should I if that means getting caught!?"
As the two argue, the other children looked at one another as all of them have the same thought,
'They argue like an old married couple.'