~Afternoon / Vien Forest~
Keith was running through the forest. He was in a hurry and almost ran into a Duduo.
'I gotta hurry! Kate can be home any minute!' he thought.
The reason why he was in such a hurry was because he wanted to surprise Kate. He wasn't even supposed to be there. He was going to be on a mission in Hia Valley, but as soon as he got there, Sven sent him back, saying that he and Wendy would take over the mission. And since it had been a long time since Keith had seen Kate and Kellyn, so why not pay them a visit?
He could finally see the houses in Vientown.
'Ahaha! That's Vientown. I'm almost there!' he thought.
He glanced down at his partner – Buizel.
"You're not getting tired of the running, are you, Buizel? ;D" he asked.
"Bui bui!" Buizel answered as 'No'.
"Great!" Keith said.
When he came to Vientown, he saw someone familiar stand outside the Ranger base.
"Kellyyyyn!" Keith shouted.
Kellyn looked around, confused. He noticed Keith.
"Heeey!" Kellyn shouted back.
Keith was running towards him. Barlow, Crawford and Luana came out from the base.
"What's going on out here?" Crawford asked.
They noticed Keith running towards them.
"Hey there-" Barlow couldn't finish.
Keith ran passed them in a swoosh.
"…Top Ranger… o_o'" Barlow finished.
"Keith, where are you-"
Keith glanced back.
"I'll be back soon! I'm just gonna see Kate first!" Keith shouted before he disappeared into the Chicole Path.
"What the…?" Barlow said.
Luana giggled.
"No wonder why he's in a rush" she said.
"What do you mean?" Kellyn asked.
"Nothing. It's nothing ^_^" Luana answered before she walked into the base again.
"You know what they say. What you have up here…" Crawford started.
He pointed at his leg.
"You don't have up here" he finished and pointed at his head.
Crawford burst out laughing.
"You gotta work on your jokes, Crawford -_-" Barlow said.
~In Chicole Path~
"We're almost there Buizel! Let's race!" Keith said.
"Bui!" Buizel said, accepting the challenge.
Keith and Buizel started to run faster.
Soon, they came to Chicole Village. Keith was leading with a few meters.
"Hahaha! I'm gonna win! ;D" Keith laughed.
'Now which house is it? It was…the last house on the right!" Keith thought.
He was almost there. Only a few meters left.
'Victory is mine! :D' he thought.
…But he eventually tripped and fell clumsily to the ground. He didn't hurt himself, but Buizel won the race.
"Bui bui ^^" Buizel said.
It was standing next to the mailbox.
"Aw man… x_x" Keith said.
"Oh dear. Are you alright?" he heard someone ask.
Keith looked up and saw a woman stand there. He sat up and smiled.
"No worries. I'm okay :D" he answered.
Then he stood up.
"I've never seen you here before…Have you just moved in?" the woman asked.
"Ah, nope. I'm just here to visit a friend :) That's her house" Keith said and pointed at the house next to Buizel.
The woman smiled.
"So you're one of Kate's friends? ^^" she asked.
"You know Kate? O_o" Keith asked.
"Of course. I'm her mom ^^" the woman answered.
"You're Kate's mom? O_o' E-eh…Nice to meet you! I'm Keith! O_O" Keith said.
Kate's mom giggled.
"I know. Kate has told me about you ^^" she said.
"She has? O_o"
'Kate has been talking about me…?' he thought.
"Yes ^^ Please, do come inside" Kate's mom said walked into the house.
Keith and Buizel followed her…Then Keith tripped on the door step. Buizel smiled.
"Aw come on" Keith muttered.
He didn't fall this time. At least that was good.
"Kate is on a mission at the moment, but she'll come soon" Kate's mom said.
"I know. I thought that I'd surprise her by being here when she comes back :D" Keith said.
"What a nice thought ^^ Do you want some milk and cookies?"
"Yeah! :D … o_o I mean, yes m'am"
Kate's mom walked to the fridge and opened it before she took the milk out. She took out cookies from the cupboard. She put the cookies on a plate. Then she gave Keith the plate with cookies and a glass of milk. Keith took a bite from a cookie.
"Mm…It's yummy :D" Keith said.
"I'm glad you like them ^^" Kate's mom said.
Footsteps were heard, coming from above. A little girl came running down the stairs.
"Welcome back mo-!" she said, but stopped talking when she saw a stranger standing there too.
The girl stared at him before she smiled.
"Yay! A ranger! ^_^" she said.
"You must be Kate's little sis" Keith said.
"Yup! ^^" the little girl answered.
She ran up to him.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"I'm Keith! ;D" Keith answered.
"Are you big sis's boyfriend? ^w^"
"W-what? O_o N-no x_x"
"Are you in love with big sis? ^-^"
Keith blushed.
"E-eh…" he stuttered.
"Sweetheart, don't ask such questions" Kate's mom said.
"Okay. I won't ^^" the girl said.
The heard a Staraptors cry outside.
"Big sis is home ^_^" the girl said.
Keith had finished eating the cookies, but had much milk left. He couldn't just leave the milk. That would be rude. Kate's little sister opened the door.
"Hi big sis! Your boyfriend is here! ^-^" she said.
Keith almost swallowed wrong. He had to cough a few times.
"W-what?!" he asked.
Kate walked in through the door.
"Boyfriend…?" she asked.
She saw Keith.
"Keith? O_o …Keith! Hi ^-^" she said.
Kate ran up to Keith and hugged him lightly before she let him go.
"H-hey" he said and laughed nervously.
"What are you doing here? Weren't you going on a mission?" Kate asked.
"I was, but Sven sent me back x_x And since I was here, I thought that I'd stop by :D" Keith said.
"I'm glad you did ^-^" Kate said.
"You…are…?" Keith asked.
"Mhm" Kate answered and nodded. "If you don't mind, could you help me carry a box to my dad at the field?"
"Eh…Yeah, sure. No problem :D"
"Great ^^"
~A few minutes later~
They were walking towards the field. Keith was carrying the box by himself.
"Are you sure, you don't want me to help you?" Kate asked.
Keith grinned.
"Hehe. No need to! I'm strong ;D" he said.
"I know, but you don't look so good" Kate said.
She meant that Keith was red in his face and looked like he was gonna faint anytime.
"Wha…? No. Haha! This is nothing :D" Keith said.
"Okay…, but tell me if you need any help"
"'Kay" Keith said and smiled.
"And…Sorry about my little sister…She…has a lot of fantasy"
Keith remembered what Kate's little sister had said.
Are you big sis's boyfriend?
Keith blushed slightly.
"N-nah. Kids are kids, right?" he said.
"I hope she didn't cause any problems" Kate said.
Are you in love with big sis?
"Sh-she didn't…" Keith said.
Kate smiled.
"Good" she said.
They came to the field, but Kate's dad wasn't there.
"Dad?" Kate said.
She looked around, but didn't see him. She sighed.
"Piplup has probably ran off again and he's searching for him" she said.
Keith put the big box down and sat on it.
"No problem. We can wait ;D" he said.
"I have to wait, but you can go and see Kellyn if you want" Kate said.
"It's fine. I can meet up with him later" Keith said.
Kate smiled slightly. A minute passed and there was a silence between them before Kate started to talk.
"So…" she said.
She sat down next to Keith.
"When are you going back to Fiore?" she asked.
"Why? You want me to leave?"
Kate twitched.
"N-no! I-I was just wondering!" she said.
She was nervous since she didn't want Keith to get the wrong idea.
"Relax. I was just kidding xD" Keith laughed.
Kate sighed in relief.
"I guess I'll be gone tomorrow" Keith said.
"Oh… ._. " Kate said.
"Yeah…It's really fun to be a top Ranger in Fiore, but it's boring sometimes"
"Boring?" Kate asked.
She didn't really understand what he meant. Keith had always wanted to become a top ranger. Now he was. What's the problem?
"Yeah. I mean, you're not there" Keith said.
He froze when he realized what he just had said.
"A-and with 'You' I-I mean you, Kellyn and Rythmi! Hehe" Keith said nervously and scratched himself behind his head.
"Bui bui" Buizel said.
"Ssshh ò_ó" Keith said.
Buizel crossed his arms. Then Keith looked at Kate.
"And Kate"
Kate looked at him.
"Yes?"
"I-"
Buizel pushed Keith, so Keith moved forward and accidently pressed his lips on Kate's. Keith blushed madly while Kate was too surprised to react. Buizel thought it was funny.
"Bui! Bui bui! xD" Buizel laughed.
After a few seconds, Keith pulled away.
"S-sorry! It wasn't me! It was Buizel! He pushed me! Promise! O_O" Keith said.
Then he started babbling about that it wasn't his fault and yadda yadda yadda. During this time, Keith accidently confessed that he likes Kate. Kate was blushing slightly while staring at him. She tried to say something, but Keith wouldn't let her. He just kept babbling. Seriously. Doesn't that guy have a snooze button? Soon, Kate started to get annoyed by Keith's endless talk. She leaned in and kissed him, which made him shut up x)
Keith's eyes widened. It took him a while before he started to relax and kiss back. He slowly moved his hands around her waist, deepening the kiss.
"A-hem"
Keith and Kate quickly pulled away when they heard someone. They saw a man standing a few meters away from them.
"Hi, dad" Kate said and smiled.
'Th-that's her dad? o_o' Keith thought.
Kate's dad glared at Keith, which made Keith feel uncomfortable. Kate's dad walked closer to them.
"…You must be Keith" he said with a serious tone.
Great. This was just great. Keith had made a bad first impression. He noticed he was still having his arms around Kate's waist. He blushed madly and quickly removed them.
"E-eh…" Keith said.
Kate's dad stared at Keith for a minute before he burst out laughing.
"So you're the young man my daughter has a crush on! xD" he said.
"D-dad!" Kate said.
"I'm glad to finally get to meet you in person" Kate's dad said and offered a handshake with Keith.
Keith was really confused, but decided to accept the offer and shake hands.
"Boy, have my daughter talked about you. She keeps talking about that she misses you and how much she wishes you were here instead of the other region. Foise or Forte or whatever it was ^^"
Kate growled and stood up.
"I'm going back" she said as she started to walk back towards her house. Keith jumped up.
"It was nice to meet ya!" he said to Kate's dad before he ran after Kate.
Buizel followed him. Kate's dad just smiled and shook his head.
Keith caught up with Kate and started to walk next to her.
"So…you've missed me? ;D" he asked.
Kate blushed slightly.
"So what?" she asked.
Keith chuckled.
"You know, I can ask if I can be a ranger here in Almia. Then we could go out on missions. Two are better than one ;D" he said.
Kate started to walk a bit slower.
"You…would do that?" she asked.
"Yeah. Then you won't have to miss me so much either ;)" Keith said.
"You mean you wouldn't miss me so much" Kate said and smiled.
Keith scratched himself behind his head.
'Bui… -.-' Buizel thought as he followed Keith.
"Fine…I guess I kinda miss you" he said.
"Kinda?"
"Okay, okay! I miss you, okay? I…I-I like you…I've liked you since you first started at the ranger school! I kept on challenging you because I wanted to impress you so you'd fall in love with me!" Keith said.
Kate smiled brightly.
"I…didn't realize that I liked you until you saved me" she said.
Keith looked at her, curious.
"So…you feel the same way about me?" he asked.
Kate smiled at him and nodded.
"Th-then…Would you…eh…Would you mind…you know…go out with me?" Keith asked.
"No, I don't mind ^^"
"Great! :D Then let's go!" Keith said.
He took Kate's hand in his.
"R-right now?" Kate asked.
"Yeah! I gotta go to Fiore tomorrow, so I wanna spend as much time with you as possible! :D"
Kate smiled slightly.
"Don't worry, Kate. I'll come back faster than you can say 'Pokémon Ranger' ;D" Keith said.
He kissed Kate on the cheek. Kate couldn't help but blush.
"Then let's not waste any time. How about start with a picnic?" she suggested.
"Fine by me ;D Let's go!"
