I drew the cover, so this is something I should claim.
I don't own Pokemon.
Bonds
The fox looked down in utter shame at her situation, watching the aftermath of raindrops fall on the ground with a pit-pat rhythm.
Delphox frowned coyly, blushing slightly as her paws sweated while it was grasped by her neighbor, who intertwined his with ease. She slowly let her head tilt up, gazing at the Greninja whose eyes were glued at the lights of the stars. As if he'd bite, she looked with one eye, other shut tight. She craned her neck as tints of deep red suddenly lit up her cheeks, ivory fur unable to hide her embarrassment.
She moved in to the suburbs around a month ago, with a mother retired from her work as a magician, fire dancer, escapist, fortune teller, circus host, and a lot of jobs she did in rotation. After becoming a well-known face in popularity, her mom decided to transfer her and her daughter to a quiet town to avoid all the paparazzi; Delphox didn't like the idea of screaming crowds pounding at the door, as far as she was concerned.
Although the idea was generally good, she was afraid of making bonds with the neighbors, or at least making slightly-close friends and acquaintances to pass the time and to have someone to trust. That was hard in itself, she always believed. I'm just a freak, as always, she always muttered.
She couldn't mend herself, even if she tried. Her heart always shattered a piece of it, and picking it up, as well as gluing it back was a task itself already. She couldn't bring herself to befriend anyone, as she believed so, as a point that came way overdue the limit.
"I don't think you're a freak." she remembered him say, getting a hold of her cold paw. She remembered the look of encouragement he offered to please her heart, the smile he shared with her. She enjoyed looking at it at that time.
She remembered her hesitance she emitted in replying, cracked voice showing that hesitance. "You really think so?" Her brows furrowed upwards, thinking that he was just one out of those others who only said that to lift her spirit.
She fondly remembered the sincere smile he gave. "Mm hmm. I don't need to prove that, too. You're beautiful, even right now."
"-phox. Delphox!"
The mage shook her head furiously, then the memory faded, pieces of the event drained of its color, the scene flipping completely around. She felt herself shaking, as if an earthquake occurred during her reminiscent daydreams.
Her eyes looked lost for a moment, lost in the resolve to open up reality's curse. She widened them right after, using up a split second to recover from her mess-up of emotions. She saw her fellow neighbor once again, with an anxious emotion exuding from him. He was shaking her body furiously, as if to check if she were still alive.
"Sorry..." Delphox muttered, ashamed once more, but a paler red appeared on her face this time.
"It's okay." Greninja briefly said, giving a weak smile. He adjusted the tongue-like scarf a little bit higher, a gesture telling her that he wanted to look more preserved. He looked paler now, a sign that she made him worry.
"Hey...you okay?" She meekly asked, throwing a look of concern, placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Fine, honey." He mumbled, nodding at her clumsily.
"Did I worry you that much?" She spoke so softly it was almost a squeak. She couldn't believe her ears, and as far as she knew, her ears were generally reliable.
"It's been a month since we met, I-I supposed I could call you that. U-unless you're not okay with that." He said in a low voice, walking his fingers through her soft grey paws with the energy he still had.
"It doesn't really matter what you call me, to be honest. I'm just happy that there's this relation we have, because I'm glad to have met you." She beamed, cream-colored tail wagging slowly.
She felt him tug at her arm, dragging her down to a squatted position. He weakly grinned, hastily bringing her close to his face. He pecked her lips, taking both of them by surprise as the kiss lasted for what seemed to be an hour. Releasing their contact, Delphox could make out the murmur of that one word:
Thanks.
