Is this destiny?

Oni came out of the closet with Michael\'s sweatpants and a cotton t-shirt. 

"Maybe I left a mess in there. I will tidy it up in a bit.", she said guiltily. 

"Don\'t worry about it. Help me change."

Oni walked toward him and then froze. Help him change? Like removing clothes and stuff? "Can\'t you change yourself? I will turn around, or wait outside…"

"Anna said that I should keep my eyes closed.", Michael said while suppressing his grin. Even without looking, he can imagine Oni\'s shy expression. 

"You can\'t do it without looking?"

"I have burns on my arms."

Oni wanted to say that those are just minor burns and that he should be fine, but this is the first time that he is needy and asking her for a help which is not mission related, and he is hurt… so she decided to go with it. It\'s not like he will remove all of it. It\'s just a shirt and pants and she saw guys in swim trunks many times. This will be similar, right?

Oni sighed in defeat. "What should I do?"

He sat up on the bed. "Help me remove the shirt." After few seconds of nothing happening, Michael added: "Don\'t worry, I don\'t bite."

Michael smiled when Oni started undoing the buttons of his shirt and he felt that her fingers are shaky. He would be lying if he said that he is not enjoying her innocence. She is super-cute, and he can imagine her cheeks getting darker because of blushing while her eyes burn with determination to accomplish the task in front of her. Michael knows that she is doing this for him, and that makes this whole experience exhilarating. 

Oni got his left arm out of the sleeve and then moved behind him and paused. A barely audible gasp escaped her lips at the sight of his back marked with numerous scars. Straight lines… was he beaten with a stick, or a whip? They don\'t look recent, but she can see that some of them run deep.

"How did you get these?", Oni whispered, surprised that she lost the strength to talk normally. 

"Hmm?", he hummed questionably.

She cleared her throat and said in a half-whisper: "On your back…"

It took him a moment to understand what she is talking about. "Oh… that is from the mine. The guards would beat slackers, or someone who gives them attitude, or if they are bored."

"You have so many…", she said under her breath.

Michael exhaled. "I was there for a while."

Michael flinched when he felt Oni\'s finger gently tracing the longest scar on his back. 

Her heart ached at the thought of what he went through. 

Oni concluded that these scars explain why Michael never removes his t-shirt when sparring.

Michael knew that Oni is troubled. She is not moving from there, and he guessed that she is staring at his back. "Don\'t worry about it. It was a long time ago."

"Did all of you got beatings like this in the mine?"

"Most of us."

Oni sighed and continued removing his shirt. 

Oni was still behind Michael, reaching for the t-shirt to help him put it on, when she spotted a fresh scratch on the right side of his lower back. She frowned. 

For some reason, Marija\'s image flashed in Oni\'s mind. Did Marija do this when the two of them were intimate? Oni\'s insides churned at this thought. 

"What is this?", she poked the scratch angrily. 

Michael was surprised by Oni\'s attitude change. She was sappy about his scars a second ago, and suddenly she is scolding him… Now what? Who knows what she is thinking? But he realized that she misunderstood (whatever it is). "What do you think it is?"

"Hmph!", she let out a displeased sound and started scooting off the bed. "You can dress yourself up. I will be in the living area."

Oni gasped when Michael pulled her back on the bed and wrapped his arms around her.

"You didn\'t answer: what do you think it is?"

His breath swept behind Oni\'s ear, making her hair stand on ends.

Oni panicked. How did they end up lying on the bed, and he is holding her? Again, she was careless in his proximity… and he has scratches from that woman on his back!

She started squirming, but that only made Michael tighten his hold on her.

"Let go! I don\'t want to be near you.", Oni hissed.

Michael frowned. "I will not let you go like this, so that you leave in anger. Answer my question."

She grunted in displeasure. Even with his eyes closed he can bully her! "What question? Why do I need to say that I saw the evidence that a woman scratched you?"

After a second of silence, Michael stifled a laugh. 

"What is funny?", Oni grumbled.

Michael opened his left eye halfway to see Oni\'s face. "I didn\'t know that the paraglider is a female."

Oni was confused. "What?"

"When we detached the paraglider on the meadow, one of the bungee cords snapped when we unhooked it and I was careless. Did you forget? You were right next to me." Actually, he was not careless. He saw the cord getting loose, but Oni was in the way and if he moved, the cord would hit her. The best he could do to lessen the damage, was to twist his body so the cord hit his back and the hook at the end of it caused a scratch.

"Oh…" Oni was embarrassed. She forgot about the paraglider. And she assumed that it was Marija and made a fool out of herself.

Michael opened his right eye as well and observed changes in Oni\'s expression. "I can promise you that if any woman scratches me in such an… intimate location, that will be you."

Oni blinked. She didn\'t understand the meaning behind his words, but what got her attention is that she got an upgrade from a \'girl\' to a \'woman\'!

She needed a confirmation. "A woman? But… don\'t you call me \'little girl\'?"

He inched closer with a sly smile and murmured close to her ear: "When we reach the point of you scratching my back, you will be a woman. My woman."

Oni thought that her face is going to explode. And her heart as well. Did he just say that they will make love? Oh, God! 

A second later, the whole bed was shaking, and Michael was holding onto his belly.

"Why are you laughing?", Oni asked dejectedly. She is already full-blown embarrassed and on top of that he is laughing at her!

He struggled to catch his breath before responding: "I just found my favorite thing to do…"

"If you say it\'s teasing me, you are in trouble!", Oni warned him.

"It\'s not teasing. It\'s observing variety of your expressions. You are really cute."

Oni didn\'t believe him. It\'s obviously teasing! But she can see that right now she is at a disadvantage and no matter what she says, he will probably use it to tease her more. 

She didn\'t know about this side of Michael. He is full of tricks to make her flustered. But she likes that she is finding out more about him. And she heard him laugh as well. And he called her cute. 

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