Title: By Your Side
Category: Games » Pokemon
Author: QuietDragon
Language: English, Rating: Rated: K
Genre: Romance/General
Published: 07-12-08, Updated: 07-13-08
Chapters: 1, Words: 3,253

Chapter 1: Single chapter

Author's Notes: I finally finished all fifty prompts! That was fun.

No warnings, except that some of the sentences can be rather long.

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, Shinji, Hikari, and all related characters. They belong to Satoshi Tajiri and the Pokemon Company.

#01 - Ring
After Shinji nonchalantly thrust a ring into her palm and walked away, Hikari blinked in confusion and opened her hand to look at a small plastic ring, most likely won from a vending machine.

#02 - Hero
A Hikari that was not determined to do her best, simply was not a Hikari, and this was especially true when it came to something as difficult as changing Shinji's perspective; she was determined to be his hero, or die trying.

#03 - Memory
Shinji did not often remember people nor their names and sometimes he would remember a name but be unable to make the connection between it and the person, so Hikari, in an attempt to ensure he would not forget her name again, presented him with a Mimirol plush wearing a jacket that had Hikari's name written on the back in inch-high glittery pink ink, only for Shinji to start referring to her as "the Mimirol plush girl" from then on.

#04 - Box
Hikari was incredibly naive, Shinji often thought to himself; a thought that was always immediately followed by the image of a young Hikari literally being raised in a box until the day she turned ten.

#05 - Run
It seemed that Hikari wanted to run everywhere rather than walk, even if the Contest would not be taking place for a whole day or more, whenever she could, she would run, which Shinji would find quite troublesome because she would always grab and drag him along with her; he wondered if the reason she ran was because it felt like flying to her, and if it did, why did she insist on carrying him along with her?

#06 - Hurricane
Everything raced by, sometimes slamming into one another, tumbling, but continued to swirl in frantic circles, until he could no longer tell beginning from end, head from toe; listening to her excited ramblings was not unlike trying to identify the contents of a hurricane.

#07 - Wings
When Hikari slept, though she often complained about her hair going into complete disarray when she woke up, Shinji thought she looked most angelic, and as he wrapped his jacket around her shoulders, almost worried that wings would unfurl from her back and then she would abandon him, and then chided himself for his irrational fear.

#08 - Cold
Hikari never could get over the fact that the same boy who tolerated her silly antics with nothing more than a murmer of "useless" or "foolish girl" (sometime with the smallest of smiles), could then almost immediately afterwards, treat his Pokemon so coldly, that if she were to look him in the eye (and she never wanted to, not when he was like that), she feared his pitiless gaze would chill her to the very bone.

#09 - Red
Shinji stared at the box, its wrappings white patterned with pink hearts, red ribbon neatly tied into an elegant bow at the top, a small gift tag hanging off of it with from "from Hikari, to Shinji " written onto it, and blinked; he remained entirely mystified until he saw Reiji shuffle by looking uncharacteristically gloomy, through which he realized what day it was.

#10 - Drink
As they were walking on a particularly hot day, Hikari muttered about being thirsty and Shinji offered her the bottle of water which he had been drinking from; inexplicably, she turned even redder as she was drinking it, and when he asked, tiredly, what was the matter, she mumbled something about indirect kisses.

#11 - Midnight
Once, Shinji stayed up past midnight while Hikari slept, so that he could wake her up, simply because she wanted to watch the sun rise.

#12 - Temptation
She brought the fork up to his mouth and he sucked in his lips, refusing to belittle himself and allow her to feed him, but the slice of a homemade cake offered was tantalizing and her treacle-sweet smile tempting, but the strangest part of it all was that Shinji had not one sweet tooth.

#13 - View
Shinji had never enjoyed moon viewing festivals before, all it was in Tobari City was yet another excuse for overworked businessmen to get drunk and make idiots of themselves, while families charged in, giving Olympic Marathon runners a run for their money, just to land a good spot; but this time, as he sat with his back against a tree, it was as if he was looking at the moon for the very first time, and he could appreciate it, and Hikari's comments every now and then, were enough to detract any and all attention from the drunken banter of the men sitting behind them.

#14 - Music
At first, Hikari believed Shinji's reluctance to accompany her to a karaoke lounge was simply a matter of pride, but after Shinji begrudgingly trudged onto the stage and took the mic, throwing decorum to the wind, it dawned upon her that he was hopelessly tone-deaf.

#15 - Silk
While Shinji was unsure as to how silk felt like, when he brushed back some stray hairs from Hikari's face (which grew warmer and pinker at his touch), he imagined that must be what silk felt like.

#16 - Cover
She liked to believe that the gentler way he was around her which was akin to kindness, was the real Shinji, and that the careless and aloof act was only a facade he put on around others; she hated to believe that it was the other way around.

#17 - Promise
Hikari had learned not to trust anything Shinji said which related to his Pokemon, especially not promises to treat them better, which were always empty lies, only spoken to give her false reassurance.

#18 - Dream
Things Shinji forgets while he's awake, he only seems to remember while he's asleep, only to forget again by the time he wakes up, drenched in his own cool sweat, and wondering why he couldn't ever remember something pleasant, like a lost memory of her.

#19 - Candle
When Hikari pictured what her wedding would be like (her teacher once commented to her mother that Hikari wasn't a very down-to-earth person-- her mother replied by saying Hikari's feet had only a passing acquaintance with the earth), she imagined herself in a long flowing white gown that sparkled with the light of a thousand stars as she walked down the aisle, arms linked with her groom (Shinji, perhaps?), and she also pictured a big beautiful cake with a thousand candles that also sparkled just as beautfiully (she didn't know if wedding cakes had candles or not, but she knew she wanted hers to have them), friends and family surrounding her: mama, Satoshi, Takeshi, Yumomi, Nozomi, Haruka... and then Kengo would break away from the group and run grinning to the cake and blow out every single candle, like he always did at every birthday Hikari could remember; "Kengo will be seated as far away from the wedding cake as possible," she said suddenly, breaking the silence and leaving Shinji dumbfounded as Hikari nodded with the most serious look on her face.

#20 - Talent
Hikari, Shinji slowly realized, had a natural talent for annoying him and avoiding punishment by feigning innocence in some "cute" way, like some sort of kitten.

#21 - Silence
Shinji valued silence over pointless banter and as such was often silent unless spoken to, which Hikari felt was rather unfortunate, because she loved hearing his voice; perhaps that is what made the times he spoke to her on his own so special.

#22 - Journey
Hikari had asked him a couple of times if she could accompany him on his next journey and he always refused, telling her she would be an annoyance to him, but the truth was, he simply did not want her to pay witness to his training methods every single day or deprive her of her like-minded friends, for the way it began was indicative of how it would end; they were entirely different people.

#23 - Fire
He used to wonder how such a powerful Blaze could have been born out of emotion, or even doubt that that it was really born of just that, but somehow, it seemed to make the slightest bit of sense now as he watched her on the stage, and slowly sunk into his seat, hoping that his collar could hide the heat rising in his face.

#24 - Strength
Secretly, Shinji admired her strength and perseverance, despite her often outrageous flights of fancy, though it always confused him, how that kind of strength can be born of weak beliefs such as those held by Hikari and her friends, and he hated thinking about it because it almost made him doubt.

#25 - Mask
Hikari's mask of false cheeriness was broken and incomplete, transparent at times, and she only donned it when she was sad to save others her misery, but Shinji's mask was so finely crafted and so complete that the truth was lost within its pitch-black endlessness, until nobody could differentiate the boy from his mask, and never seemed to slip off without another fine mask taking its place.

#26 - Ice
She wanted to believe that his heart was not like his city in that it was isolated by stone, but instead by ice, so that she might melt it away.

#27 - Fall
Shinji paused to watch, first in confusion, as an excited Hikari romped through the crackling leaves in autumn colors, then in mild disgust when she called for him, 'it's fine if you want to run around in dead plant organs, but I'm just going to sit this one out,' she frowned at this, so Shinji sighed and relented, picking up a leaf which he studied it for a moment, trying to understand the appeal, but all he saw was a dead leaf, its texture rough, but it was easy to break, lifeless, but easily moved... then he lowered his arm, strolled behind her as she was distracted by some Beedle, slid the leaf down the back of her shirt, and stepped back to watch; then did Shinji agree, fall certainly was fun.

#28 - Forgotten
Shinji, holding a pure white carnation (only because they reminded him of her), walked to where he knew he would find her, but she was not alone when he arrived; after he threw down the flower and quietly departed, he cursed himself for being foolish, while part of him wondered if this may not have happened had he given her forget-me-nots instead.

#29 - Dance
In spite of all of his arguments about not being able to dance (or perhaps because of them), Hikari somehow convinced him to dance with her; dancing in this case had a very loose meaning of simply moving in no particular rhythm to no particular tune, and involved lots of haphazard spinning on Hikari's part and stomping and swaying that was desperately trying to pass for dancing to avoid doing anything more embarrassing on Shinji's part, and neither of them knew how to slow dance.

#30 - Body
Once, as they were walking through a crowded street, a stick-thin woman walked by with a horse-like face wearing a sunhat and a pale green dress and elegant white gloves, whose bones seemed to jut almost through her skin, "wow, she's pretty," Hikari said, and Shinji searched for any other woman in the crowd, but only found the walking skeleton, "... you couldn't possibly be talking about her..." to which she responded with a happy "un, don't you wish I would look like that when I'm older?", and Shinji replied by grabbing her wrist and marching her back to the restaurant they had just left, hoping Hikari was only refering to the woman's fashion sense.

#31 - Sacred
Shinji did not fully understand what the word sacred meant, but as he watched her go from carefully walking- almost tip-toing- through the temple, to playfully ringing the bells, he thought that her innocence would be the most sacred thing he held.

#32 - Farewells
Surprisingly, it was Shinji and not Hikari who did not bode well with farewells; her spirit was raised by the memories of their shared time, whereas his mind was reeling with dread that this time might very well be the last; but none of that showed in the way he acted as he walked off without a wayward glance (because he knew he wouldn't be able to handle it and the mask must not slip).

#33 - World
Shinji sarcastically asked her what color the sky was in her world, Hikari laughed and said, "purple," so Shinji had to turn away so she wouldn't see what felt to him irritatingly not unlike a blush.

#34 - Formal
On the grand list of embarassing things that have ever happened to Shinji, having Hikari not only convince him into entering a Super Contest, but also insist on being the one to pick out his outfit, left everything else in the dust.

#35 - Fever
Shinji had wanted to inform the misguided Coordinator that prancing around in a sickeningly-cute nurse outfit and dropping the bowl of cold water she was going to use for a cold compress onto the floor (the splash and subsequent clattering of which continued to resound in his head) was not improving his condition at all, until she laid a small wet towel on his forehead and he opened his eyes to see her smiling earnestly down at him, so that Shinji could say only "thank you."

#36 - Laugh
He was always so still, unchanging, impassive, like the very stone that surrounded his city, that she wondered if he had ever truly laughed, or if his only laughter was slight chuckles at Satoshi's expense, so, to Shinji's surprise, she tickled him;
'what are y--' he cut himself off and in spite of himself, he broke down into peals of laughter, that sounded so very strange but satisfying to the naive yet scheming young Coordinator.

#37 - Lies
Hikari was watched as she playfully dragged Shinji along by the arm by a childhood friend who still believed in a childhood promise of forever, while putting on a smile for his friend's happiness, though it was at the expense of his own; but that's what friends were for, wasn't it?

#38 - Forever
She asked him once, while gazing at the stars in heaven, if he would love her for as long as there were stars in the sky and he responded quietly, 'I'd be setting my own death sentence saying something as foolish as that, when I don't even know how many stars there are- besides, I never even told you I'd love you for one day...' let the stars die, I'm not going anywhere.

#39 - Overwhelmed
It amazed him how she became so overwhelmed with emotion at the slightest gesture and most simple of actions, so much so that he would sometimes pay her special attention or even give her simple gifts only to see what her reaction would be.

#40 - Whisper
She would come over, shooting conspiratory glances at trees and passing Mukkuru, with all the stealth of a make-believe ninja, and cup a hand over her mouth as she would whisper into his ear that she had a secret, and he would ask her, boredly, what it was, and she would laugh (in his ear, but he would not push her away) that she liked him, and he would respond with a smile, "silly girl, that's no secret."

#41 - Wait
Somehow, when she was waiting for just that one person, she could feel lonely even when she was anything but alone, as Pochama liked to remind her by crawling into her lap and thumping a flipper on its chest in a self-important sort of way, before taking note of the loneliness in those telltale blue eyes, and quietly enquiring with the softest "pocha?"

#42 - Talk
Hikari would often say his name, prompting Shinji to turn to and question her, only for her to make it obvious she was never intending on continuing the conversation, and after he would turn away, she would call him by name again, just because.

#43 - Search
Hikari wandered in the bustling crowd of people shoving and elbowing in the crowded street, searching for Shinji and wondering if he had even bothered to actually show up when a pair of hands covered her eyes, making her jump, before a familiar voice spoke, "guess who?"

#44 - Hope
She sincerely believed she could change him, with all her heart, and was steadfast in her belief, that Shinji found it all amusing if endearingly pathetic; Shinji's way was his own and Hikari's was her own, it was as simple as that, but as he spent more time around her, even Reiji picked up before even he did on the subtle changes in Shinji's behaviour, and then he wondered if perhaps, without him noticing, she had already begun.

#45 - Eclipse
She clung to him, watching the light of the sun quickly dying as the black moon inched across the sky, leaving only a band of light as everything was plunged into darkness; he expected Hikari to be afraid (especially because she was clinging to his arm, but he couldn't see her expression), but she surprised him when instead, she said, "how beautiful, it looks like a halo!"

#46 - Gravity
Hikari could have sworn the laws of gravity had changed without her knowing, so that she was attracted to Shinji more than she was to the earth itself.

#47 - Highway
Shinji had heard Reiji once talk of being at the crossroads of his life, but he had felt that ever since he had met Hikari, his life had gone from a quiet walk along a dirt path to a noisy highway, never dull.

#48 - Unknown
It was only when he was speaking to his brother about her, did he realize he had no word for her; lover, he had deemed early on far too dramatic and brought to his mind over-the-top men and women from his brother's favorite dramas (which definitely seemed to be targeting an audience who wore aprons, but that was the only thing his brother had in common with them) with never a stray strand of hair in the wind, but perfectly-perfect hair somehow always flowing even when there was no wind, always perfectly-perfect, with perfectly-perfect flaws that were virtues in disguise, holding perfectly-perfect hands, and making perfectly-stupid faces at each other, and when his brother hopefully suggested friend, Shinji waved it away and simply called her his Hikari, because no single word seemed fit to describe what she was to him.

#49 - Lock
Their first kiss was entirely accidental, initiated by Hikari tripping over a can, Shinji making an attempt to catch her before she fell, ending in them both on the ground, victims of the most unlikely circumstances, both were staring with eyes wide open and feeling the heat rise in their faces, but they did not break away for whatever reason.

#50 - Breathe
Her embrace was so tight that he found it hard to breathe, but it was like Hikari to be so enthusiastic about everything and he actually enjoyed it in his own way, so Shinji did not push her away.