I Like Her
Hau could never tell what Gladion was thinking when he had the same angsty expression on his face all the time. It was like the guy lived in a perpetual state of self-loathing narcissism that made him think he was better than everyone else, but when it came to his sister he would transform into a normal kid just like him. That night, they were getting some coco at the cafe after a long afternoon of battling and Gladion was too tired to go anywhere else for the night. So they sat down at the bar in silence until finally Hau looked up from his mug and looked over at the blonde boy.
"So, have you heard anything from Lillie since she left for Kanto?" Hau asked as he took a sip from his cup, Gladion looked over at him but said nothing. "I haven't had the time to sit down and write my letter to her yet since I've been traveling , so I thought I'd ask you."
Gladion hardly changed his facial expression as he took a sip from his own cup. "Last time I heard from her was when she finally reached Cerulean City with Mother."
"Dang, she already reached Cerulean City on her own? I'm impressed. I wonder if she got a Pokémon of her own yet..." Hau wondered, thinking about how determined she looked at the docks before she left on her journey.
Gladion shrugged his shoulders, "She could've stopped at Professor Oak's place to get a Pokémon but with our Mother with her, I think she'll just use her Pokémon to get to Bill's house."
"Listen Gladion, the truth is that I need to talk to you about something. It has to do with Lillie." Hau confessed, looking him in the eye.
That got Gladion's attention as he gazed back at him with his piercing eyes. "What about her?"
"Once I'm done here in Alola, I'm going to find her Kanto and when I do I'm going to ask her to travel with me. I didn't realize until she left how much of a connection I had with her and I just want to see if I have your approval as her brother since she's your younger sister." Hau stated, scratching the back of his head and smiling.
Gladion looked at him with widen eyes and it almost seemed like he turned into a statue until his face changed from edge one to edge two. "You wanna travel with Lillie? Throughout Kanto?"
"And beyond if she wants to, It really depends if she'll say yes to begin with." Hau replied, keeping his voice cheerful but if you listened closely to his voice you probably would've heard him breathing really heavy. "I just wanna know if you're OK with that if she says yes."
Gladion continued to look over him like he was searching for a hole in his story through his body language. But finally he gave a sigh and looked Hau directly in the eye before asking, "Do you like my sister?"
"Yup. I like her so much that she's been on my mind ever since she left to Kanto. My letter is just the beginning of my confession." Hau admitted while blushing, but he didn't care. He was in love with Lillie and he shouldn't be embarrassed about it.
Gladion's mouth dropped open and after a moment he started giving a genuine laugh of amusement. "I can't believe you confessed something like that to me so bluntly! Same old Hau."
"Gladion. I'll protect Lillie and help her grow up to be a strong trainer, I won't let anything happen to her on our journey together." Hau reassured firmly, "I love her too much to let something bad happen to her."
Gladion's tone made a shiver run down Hau's spine as he told him, "If anything happens to her on your journey together then you'll have to deal with me for the rest of your pathetic life."
"Consider me warned. Does this mean that you approve of my confession?" Hau asked, looking at him with his big eyes.
Gladion said nothing for a while until he finally smiled and looked over at him. "I do."
Hau was so happy to hear that that he wrapped his hands around Gladion's shoulders and brought him in for a big hug. Gladion grumbled at the affection but didn't push him away, he was even laughing a little bit. After they pulled apart, they spent the rest of their afternoon having drinks together at the cafe as they talked about their plans and what they were going to say to Lillie when they met up with her again.