Chapter 11: The Troublemaker

They arrived at the supermarket, after parking their motorbike. Aiden walked towards the door and almost forgot about Azura, who was always curious about what she saw. He looked back, realizing that Azura wasn't following him made him panic. For some reason he felt that Azura would cause trouble.

"Tch, this idiot is just troublesome! Watching her is like watching a child!" He muttered irritably while looking for Azura's whereabouts. His very sharp sense of smell allowed him to quickly find Azura's whereabouts.

Azura stood in front of the glass door, looking confused because she couldn't get in while there were so many people standing a few steps in front of her. She didn't know how to get in there.

"What are you doing?"

"Aiden, how do you get in there?"

"Oh my God, you really can't be ignored, can you? You just have to push the door!"

"Push the door?"

"Look at this! It says push here, can't you read it?"

"No!" She answer was plain.

"You've got to be kidding, right?" This time, Aiden really didn't believe it if Azura admitted that she couldn't read writing.

Azura looked at the words "Push" with a confused face. She doesn't know how to read and write, the only human ability she can imitate is only by listening to and learning human language and imitating their actions.

Aiden sighed, he rubbed the back of his neck which felt sore. Since meeting Azura, he felt like his energy was draining twice as much as usual. He even felt that this was much more tiring than competing in the wrestling arena.

Aiden pushed open the glass door and pulled Azura's hand to follow his steps. This time he wouldn't let Azura wander around again without his supervision.

After taking the trolley, they went towards the meat rack. Aiden bought several packs of beef, chicken and sausages. But when they passed a rack of fish and other seafood, Azura shuddered in horror. In the sea, fish are her friends. She had no idea that humans hunted sea creatures for food. Aiden took the box containing tuna and salmon, then put it in the trolley.

"Are you going to eat it?"

"Of course!"

"H-how about just eating seaweed? It's got worms and-"

"Don't be kidding! I don't eat fish bait like that! I'm a carnivore, don't you know that?"

"Carnivore, what is that?"

"That means I only eat meat, but sometimes I eat other foods too, bread, fruit and vegetables. But if I could choose, I would only want to eat meat."

"You mean you eat the flesh of living creatures, right?"

"Yes!"

Aiden's seemingly relaxed answer made Azura shudder. She didn't know that in the human world, there were also creatures far more terrifying than sharks that hunted fish to eat. Usually sharks and killer whales were the top predators of the ocean, creatures that she and the other mermaids tended to avoid.

Azura started to feel afraid, she thought, was there a possibility that Aiden would also prey on her like a shark preys on fish? If Aiden really liked meat, that might happen.

"Why are you just standing there? Come on, hurry up! We have to buy bread and eggs."

"O-okay!" She said as she followed Aiden's steps as he entered the bread and pasta area.

Aiden bought a pack of whole wheat bread and two packs of spaghetti. He thought tonight he would cook spaghetti with sauce and minced meat. It is the most practical dish to cook.

"Are these dried worms?" Azura asked when she saw the dry pasta wrapped in transparent plastic.

"You've been talking about worms ever since. You're a worm eater, right?"

"Yes!"

This time it was Azura who made Aiden speechless when he heard her innocent and honest answer. Aiden glanced at the surroundings, he just realized that the conversation between the two of them had attracted the attention of many people.

People near them began to pay attention, some even whispered to each other as if talking about the two of them. Aiden hated attracting the attention of many people, this situation annoyed him.

"Let's go! We have to go to the cashier now!"

After paying for all the groceries, they returned to the flat. Azura felt tired and hungry, she sat limply on the sofa while rubbing her stomach.

"While you wait for me to cook, eat this!" He said while giving me a pack of hotdogs sold in supermarkets.

"What's this?"

"Hotdog, I bought it earlier!"

Azura immediately devoured the hotdog with the wrapper too. Aiden was shocked, he was completely at a loss for words to say.

"It tastes weird! It's so hard to chew!"

"Of course! You ate the wrapping paper too! You're crazy! Here, let me open the wrapper first! Can you really not remember anything or were you unable to do anything in the first place?" He said while helping Azura open the hotdog wrapping paper.

Azura looked at Aiden's face which was right in front of her. She felt embarrassed to admit it. The life she is living now is very different from the life she lived before.

Walking on land, wearing clothes, seeing vehicles and buildings, tv, supermarkets, everything was completely new to her. She has lived quite a long time, she is even 240 years old and in the world of mermaids, 240 years is a very young age.

"Forgive me!" She said with her face downcast sadly.

"Why apologize?"

"Because it looks like I've caused you a lot of trouble, Aiden!"

"It's true that you've caused me trouble. But what can I do? I promised Jake to take you home. Therefore, I have to keep my promise."

Aiden stepped into the kitchen and continued his task of cooking dinner. Azura approached Aiden to see what Aiden was doing.

"What are you doing?"

"Can't you see with your eyes? I'm boiling pasta!"

"You mean dried worms?"

"Tsk, you said dry worms again, you're the one I boiled in this pot!" He said annoyed.

"Ahahaha..." Azura laughed out loud. This was the first time she laughed after she set foot on land.

"Why are you laughing? What's so funny?"

"You, Aiden! You're so funny."

***