Kailen looked out the window and the falling snow. "This is insane," he muttered, shaking his head slowly.
"Pardon?" Kairi said from her seat behind him in front of his computer.
"I said this is insane," Kailen repeated himself, turning to face Kairi's back. "It should be summer by now, and the weather's been like this since last winter."
"Yeah," Kairi said absentmindedly. Kailen stood up to go and see what Kairi was looking at. It was an internet article.
When Kairi noticed Kailen's presence looking over her shoulder she reached under the computer table and pulled out a stool for Kailen to sit on. They read the article in silence. Once Kairi finished reading the article she leaned back in the computer chair, putting her hands behind her head and closing her eyes in thought. It took Kailen another minute to finish the article, and when he did he looked at Kairi again. "Bullshit," he said.
"I don't know," Kairi said, opening her eyes and staring at the ceiling as she spoke. "I think it's possible. I mean, what happened to all the members of Team Plasma after that big battle? You can't expect all of them to have gone back to a normal life."
"Why not?" Kailen said, leaning forward and putting his elbows on his knees and holding up his head. "Over half of them were arrested after Natural fled, and the castle was seized and sealed off. They'd have no where to gather. Besides, I thought they wanted people to release their Pokemon, and if it's cold outside people are going to think more than twice about it."
Kairi sighed and turned in her chair, standing up. She put her arms high above her head, stretching. "Well, unless the weather changes overnight it's going to be like this in the morning, so so much for camping outside our first night away."
"We still could," Kailen said, standing up as well and pushing the stool back under the computer table.
"One word: no," Kairi said, looking over her shoulder at Kailen and rolling her eyes. "Besides, the weight we save not carrying around a tent and sleeping bags will make up for the warm clothes we'll have to carry around."
"Pfft," he scoffed, jumping onto his bed and facing her. "I would have ended up carrying them anyway."
"Says who?" Kairi said, straightening and looking at Kailen with an incredulous look. "I'm stronger than you are and you know it."
"Oh yeah?" Kailen said, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Kairi said, then pounced on Kailen. They proceeded to wrestle, rolling off the bed a few moments later. Their was the odd grunt, but their combat was otherwise silent. After about a minute Kailen had Kairi pinned down under him, but before he could smirk Kairi threw off his balance and rolled on top of him, locking him in place. "See?"
"Why aren't you two asleep yet?" a voice called up from the floor below. They both stiffened.
"Sorry mom," Kailen called down. "We'll get ready now."
"Hurry up," she said. "You're going to have to make an early start tomorrow."
"Okay," Kailen replied. Once he was sure she wasn't going to bother them any more, he lifted his upper body quickly and threw Kairi off him. She made a quiet squeak in surprise, then proceeded to shoot a glare at him.
"I won and you know it," she said.
Kailen shrugged and stood up, rolling his shoulders. He reached out a hand to her, which she took and he helped her stand up. "Fine," he said. "I'll say you won, but it's the only birthday present you're going to get from me."
"What? You can't do that," she said, putting her hands on her hips.
"Says who?"
"My birthday's not for another few hours," Kairi continued. "And no early birthday presents."
"Relax," Kailen said, shaking his head and giving her a light punch to the arm. "I'm kidding. Now let's get ready for bed, my mom was right when she said we'd have to get up early tomorrow. The Professor is expecting us at seven." Kairi groaned. "You can use the bathroom first, and I'll get changed in here." Kairi nodded and walked over to her bed to grab her bathroom bag from her smaller adventuring bag, already packed, as well as her sleeping clothes.
"See you soon," she said as she walked out of Kailen's room to head to the bathroom.
Kailen watched her leave and close the door before he turned to look out his window again. The wind had picked up, forcing snow and hail against the glass. Now that Kairi was gone he could hear the rush of the wind as it hit the side of the house he grew up in and the tap as the hail grazed his window before being carried down a roller coaster to the ground. He pulled his drapes across the window before bending down to get a change of clothes out of the bottom drawer of his dresser for the last time. He undressed quickly, pulling on a pair of boxer shorts and an old t-shirt.
Grabbing his bathroom bag from his adventuring pack, he opened his bedroom door to find Kairi waiting outside it. "All done?" he asked, and she nodded before walking past him into his room to put her things away. He proceeded to walk to the bathroom to get ready as well.
As he was finishing up his mother knocked on the bathroom door. "Are you almost done?"
"Yeah yeah," he said. "I'll be done in a sec."
"Did Kairi have any requests for breakfast tomorrow morning? When I went into your room all she managed to do was shake her head when I asked her if she needed anything."
"She said she'd like your french toast if it wasn't too much trouble," Kailen replied, gathering his stuff and opening the bathroom door. His mother stood outside it with a sad smile on her face.
"You can tell her that I'd be happy to make some for her," his mother said before giving him a hug that lasted several moments. Kailen stood in her embrace awkwardly, his hands full of his things. "I can't believe that you're starting your journey tomorrow," she mumbled from behind his head.
"I don't see what the big deal is," Kailen replied steadily. "I would have started months ago if I hadn't waited for Kairi."
"True, but I always had a feeling that you would wait for Kairi," his mother said, releasing him from her hug and standing up straight. "Now get to bed, you'll need all the rest you can get."
"Good night," Kailen said, walking around his mother and back towards his room. The door was open so he walked right in to find Kairi sitting up on the extra bed with her legs crossed waiting for him. "Mom says that french toast tomorrow morning is fine," he told her as he dropped his bathroom bag on the ground next to his adventuring pack.
Kairi's face reddened a bit. "Thanks for telling her," she said quietly.
"No problem," he said, throwing the sheets on his bed to the side to make room for his body. She didn't say anything else so he looked up at her to see her eyes downcast and a frown on her face. "Hey, don't be worried," he said. "I'm going to be travelling with you the entire time, you won't have to talk to anyone besides me."
She looked up at him and smiled. "I know, I was just thinking about where you might be now if you hadn't waited for me."
"What, on the other side of the region freezing my ass off in a Pokemon Centre all alone bemoaning the fact that I couldn't get over my fear of heights to fly back here to see you on your birthday?"
She laughed quietly. "I was more thinking about what Pokemon you would have and how strong you would be."
"Doesn't matter, we'll travel around and catch Pokemon and grow strong together," Kailen said, sitting down in his bed and reaching over to turn off the lamp that sat between the two beds. "But we should sleep now so that we have the energy to do all that."
"You sound like your mom, trying to assure you that you won't fail," Kairi whispered to the darkness, and as Kailen settled into his bed he heard Kairi work her way under the sheets as well. "And remind me to remind you to thank your mom for letting me stay over."
Kailen chuckled. "I'll remind myself. Besides, it's not the first time your parents have been out working. It just sucks that they're missing your departure."
"I already said goodbye to them, so it's not a big deal," she said, turning over in the bed. She let out a long breath, then said "Goodnight Kailen."
"See you tomorrow morning," he replied, turning onto his back and putting his hands behind his head. When he heard Kairi give out a quiet sigh as she got comfortable he couldn't help but thank his lucky star that they would be travelling together. Though they may have ended up doing so anyway, Kairi's inability to talk to people she didn't know had ensured the fact that they would from the day they had started to talk about their journeys. Having grown up together, Kailen was the only person besides Kairi's own parents that she was able to talk to. She had been put on medication for it years ago, but it had caused her to lose so much sleep as a side effect that she couldn't function and she had been taken off it.
Kailen's stomach clenched as he thought of the days ahead. What if he failed as a trainer? What if he failed his future Pokemon? What if he failed Kairi? His confidence was overshadowed by his overwhelming fear of failure and he let out a moan, rubbing his hands over his face as the thoughts raced through his head. "You'll be fine and we'll do great," Kairi whispered from across the room as if she knew his thoughts. "Now relax and sleep."
