Disclaimer: Hee, I don't own Pokemon.
A/N: The fic is in response to a challenge over at Pokemon Ranger: SoA General Discussion. I strongly suggest that you go check it out. It's a great place with only a few members and needs more. Also, this story contains hints of Kate/Keith and much stronger Rhythmi/Isaac hints. Read and don't forget to review and tell me your thoughts!
Rythmi wasn't entirely sure what had started the standoff between Kate and Kellyn in the first place, but she sure wasn't just going to stand by and let them kill each other with glares and sharp words. Lucky for them that they weren't in a classroom and that there was no class going on right now. Rythmi set her book on Operators that she'd borrowed from the library down on the grass (She'd had to ask Isaac where to find it and he'd given her a searching look that had made her cheeks flush red), already dried from the sprinkle they'd had earlier that day, got up, and went to see what was going on.
By the time she got to them, Kate was glaring daggers into Kellyn, and Keith had already come to his friend's side, arms crossed and returning the favor in the form of a scowl. Rhythmi went to stand next to Kate. She leaned forward and peered at her friend. "What happened?" she asked.
"This…. This idiot," Kate spat, hands clenched into fists, "decided that, just for fun, apparently, to take my styler!"
"And as I keep telling her," Kellyn spat out a response, "I never touched her stinkin' styler!"
"It's attached to my wrist!" Kate shouted, waving her arms in the air. "I know it was you! I think I can tell who grabs my wrist before my styler goes missing! I can put two and two together!"
"Yeah, and get five," Keith put in. Kate turned her head ever so slowly to look at him, and Rhythmi copied her, at the same time inwardly cringing. She opened her mouth to warn him.
"Keith –" was as far as she got. Kate literally flung herself across the foot wide gap between them and hurled her fist into his face. It smashed into the side of his face, connected with his nose, and Keith fell into the grass. Kate leaped on top of him, pinned him down, and began to attempt to pummel every inch of him she could reach. From what Rhythmi could see, she was mostly hitting his arms, which Keith was using to defend himself quite nicely, and Keith was most definitely retaliating.
"—that was a bad idea," Rhythmi mumbled to herself, finishing her thought.
"No kidding," Kellyn said, eyes wide. "I didn't think she'd be this mad…"
"So you did take her styler!" Rhythmi accused.
"Only as a joke!" Kellyn raised his hands in the official, time tested 'please don't kill me!' defensive position. Rhythmi glared at him.
"You're lucky I don't believe in fighting," she retorted waspishly, "or you'd be dead meat right now."
"Ow!" Kate's cry of pain interrupted whatever Kellyn may have wanted to snapped back, and the two wresting students separated. Rhythmi glanced over at her friends, taking in the final tally. Keith had a bruise on the side of his face, a bloody nose, bruised forearms, and a black eye. Kate was significantly less damaged, but she still had her share of injuries. The one that had likely produced the cry was the invisible one, the one that caused her to hold her hand against her chest and forced her to nearly double up over it. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow…" she whimpered.
"Though I can't guarantee what Kate's going to do to you," Rhythmi muttered. Ignoring the glare Kellyn shot her and shooting one of her own at Keith, who was still sitting on the grass, leaning back on his arms, she went over to Kate and put her arm on her shoulders. "Kate?" she tried. "You okay?"
"My wrist…" Kate mumbled, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. It was only sheer stubbornness that kept them from falling. "Ow…"
"It was her fault," Keith muttered. "She's the one who tackled me to the ground."
"You're the one who provoked her," Rhythmi snapped back. "You should know better, especially when she's already angry."
Keith snorted and wiped away the blood from his face. "She gave me a bloody nose," he reminded her. "Honestly, Rhythmi, I think I've got the worse deal here."
"Not if you sprained, bruised, or even broke her wrist," Rhythmi informed him. "I've broken my wrist before. Believe me, it's much worse than a stupid bloody nose."
"I'm worse off than all of you," Kellyn poked Keith in the shoulder to tell him that he was the one he was speaking to. "When Kate gets healed…" he shuddered.
"Maybe you shouldn't've taken my styler," Kate muttered mutinously, her voice wavering slightly despite her venomous tone.
"Okay, okay, I know when I'm beaten." Kellyn sighed and plopped himself down on the grass with a thump, arms resting over his knees. "But I don't have it anymore."
"Then who'd you give it to?" Kate growled, trying her best to sound intimidating, but her wrist moved and she winced, ruining the effect. She sat down on the grass herself, Rhythmi following suit.
"Isaac."
The sheer unexpectedness of that made Rhythmi's cheeks flood with heat and color. Shaking her head to try to stave off the blush, she replied, stuttering a little, "I- why'd you give it to him?"
Keith grinned at the look on her face and even Kellyn managed a smirk. Only Kate didn't notice, too wrapped up in making sure her wrist didn't move. Rhythmi shot a half-hearted glare at the two of them. "Rhythmi likes Isaac," Keith teased.
"Shut up," Rhythmi retorted, cheeks still bright red.
"Maybe you should go get the styler from him," Kellyn continued on Keith's teasing. "I'm sure he'd like it."
"I said, shut up!" Rhythmi tossed a dandelion at him.
"Okay, okay!"
The four sat in silence for a while, the issue of the styler by no means forgotten, but simply put to the side for a while. Rhythmi watched as the school's Bidoof raced around, completely oblivious of the four students and witnessed an interesting argument between a Budew and a Taillow that ended with a game of impromptu tag. Lost in her thoughts of her friends, Pokemon, and rangers in general, she didn't hear the quiet footsteps coming up to them.
"Why are you all sitting on the grass?"
Rhythmi's head jerked up and her cheeks flushed pink at the sound of the familiar – but totally unexpected – voice. Sure enough, Isaac was there, looking down at the four of them in confusion. She was sure that her vocal cords had died on her, but Kate had no such problem. Eyes flickering from Kellyn to Isaac and Kellyn again, she eventually placed them on the studious blonde and narrowed her eyes. "Give me back my styler."
"I don't have it."
Before Kate could strangle Kellyn with her one good hand, Isaac continued, "It's on the desk in the library. Should I bring it out?"
"No, I'll get it," Kate muttered, sending a glare at Kellyn. She pushed herself up with her one good hand and got to her feet.
"I'll go with you," Keith offered, looking up at Kate.
She glared at him for a moment, then looked down at the hand that she was pressing against her chest. She attempted to move it, then winced slightly. "Yeah, you will," she decided.
"Let me see," Isaac told Kate, pointing at her hand. Rhythmi watched, refusing to allow herself to be jealous, as Kate allowed him to touch her wrist.
"Looks like it's just a simple sprain," he decided. "You should be fine."
"Wonderful. C'mon, oh irritating one." Kate beckoned towards Keith and made her way to the library. Keith shrugged at Kellyn, who shrugged a reply, and took off after Kate. Kellyn watched them thoughtfully.
"Wonder when he'll get the nerves to tell her," he mused. Noticing Rhythmi's scowl, he backed away. "…I'm going to go practice my capturing," he muttered before jumping to his feet and going off to a different part of the school.
Rhythmi, aware that Isaac had yet to leave, stood and went to get her book. When she returned, he was still there, much to her embarrassment. "What're you doing here, Isaac?" she finally asked, her curiosity getting the better of her.
To get his answer she actually had to look at him. He just shrugged, eyes on the ground. "I can honestly say that I haven't a clue." He turned away from her, but Rhythmi didn't miss the faint rose hue that brushed his cheeks. "Enjoy your book."
Rhythmi watched as he left for the library again. With a sigh that may not have entirely been resignation, the soon-to-be Operator sat down on the grass again, cracked open her book, and began to read. The pink on her cheeks would not fade for quite some time.