The Final Straw
(Based on the story cover)
Ash and Misty: 16
"Misty, c'mon!" Ash whined as he followed the red head into the kitchen. Only moments earlier, he'd presented her with what he thought was the best Christmas gift ever, but she wasn't excited like he thought she would be. To his bewilderment, she was actually rather angry about it. "You do realize how ridiculous you're being, right? You know how much it cost me to buy something like that? How long I had to save up for it?"
Misty stopped, whirling around on her heel to face Ash. "I'm being ridiculous?" she questioned him, leaning in closer to his face. "You're the idiot!"
"What?" Ash asked, taken back by remark. "That doesn't even make any sense. I did what you nagged me to do for years. Years, Misty! And now I'm the idiot?"
"Yes!"
Not only was Ash now angrier than he was before, but he was also completely lost. It was as if no matter how hard he tried, he could never make Misty happy. And this of all things should have made her the happiest person in Kanto-probably even the world. He'd finally bought her the one thing she'd wanted since the day they met. So why was she so mad?
"In case you've forgotten-which I doubt you have-you've been pestering me since day one to buy you a bike," he lectured her, his face firm and unmoving. He leaned in a bit closer into her personal space, knowing it would tick her off. "And now that I've finally bought you one, you don't want it?"
Unfazed by Ash's actions, Misty folded her arms across her chest. "That's not even the point!" she yelled in his face.
"Uh guys?" Brock quietly called, making sure to keep a good distance away from the two. He really didn't know what was going on. One minute he'd been quietly cooking dinner, and then the next Misty and Ash had walked in already in the midst of a heated argument.
"Stay out of this!" Ash and Misty both snapped at him.
Turning their heads to face each other again, they continued to glare at each other, refusing to give in until the other person had first.
"I don't get it!" Ash shouted in Misty's face, throwing his hands in the air. "What's the point of following someone around for a bike when, after they finally pay you back, you don't even want it?" Misty just stared at Ash with her mouth gaped open in shock. She knew he was a bit slow at times, but there was no way he was that dense. Then again, he'd clearly just proved her wrong. "May and Dawn loved their bikes!"
"Ash Ketchum…" Misty growled, her red face causing Ash to quickly regret everything he had just said. As if it was in slow motion, he watched her lift her head up so their eyes were facing. Seeing her eyes turn a dark shade of green, he gulped in fear.
"Misty?" Ash cautiously called her name.
"ARGH!" Misty suddenly yelled in frustration as she her back on him. No longer would she stand there and allow Ash to be dense. It was obvious he wasn't getting the message-or any of her hints for that matter-and now it was up to her to spell it out for him loud and clear. "That's it! I can't take this anymore!"
When Misty whirled around to face him again, Ash's eyes widened in fear. Feeling her grab his jacket to pull him closer, he closed his eyes and tilted his head away from her. If she was going to hit him, he didn't want to see it coming. With his eyes closed and his body curled into a defensive stance, Ash waited for the attack.
But it never came.
Instead, he felt Misty smash her lips onto his. Not believing what was happening, his eyes shot open to take in the scene before him. Sure enough, there was Misty standing in front of him, her eyes closed and her face only centimeters away. He could have sworn he heard something crashing to the floor nearby, too. For a second he wondered if it was the fireworks people claimed to hear when they kissed their true love. And although he was stunned by Misty's reaction, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't enjoying it. Closing his eyes, he leaned in to deepen the kiss, but he didn't get very far.
Before he could even respond to what was happening, Misty pulled away and roughly shoved him to the ground. As he landed hard on the floor, his face turned red and his face expressed a look of pure astonishment.
Stretching her arms into the air, Misty let out a deep breath as if she was doing her morning stretches "Much better," she sighed in happiness. And with that, she waltzed out of the room, leaving a shell shocked Ash on the kitchen floor.
Once Misty had left the room, Ash, seemed to finally snap back to reality. Leaning back on his palms, he slowly brought one of his hands to brush against his lips. After a moment though, he let his hand fall back to his side with a heavy sigh. He'd never understand Misty.
As he went to stand back up, Ash spotted Brock and Pikachu starting at him from a few feet away. Brock's mixing bowl sat forgotten by his feet, the contents spilled everywhere. He'd completely forgotten they had been standing there, but it was obvious they had remembered. They looked absolutely baffled by what they had seen. He was about to say something to them, but then he caught a glimpse of Misty through the window. Despite the weather and the snow-covered streets, he saw her whiz past the window on her brand new, shiny, blue bicycle.
"Hey! Misty, wait!" Ash suddenly yelled as he scrambled to pick himself off the floor. Once he was again on his own two feet, Ash rushed out of the kitchen to go chase after Misty. "Misty! Where do you think you're going? You've got some explaining to do!"
With Ash and Misty both gone, Brock and Pikachu were left to stand in the quiet kitchen alone. Not knowing how else to describe what happened, Brock turned to Pikachu and spoke the three letters he thought accurately described what they'd just witnessed. Three letters to which Pikachu could only nod and squeak his name in agreement.
"WTF?"