One Big Misunderstanding
Ninten rose up from his seat once he heard the last bell for the year. He joined the rushing students filing out of the classroom, eager to start their summer vacation. He stopped by his locker to take out whatever junk he had stowed there and stuffed it inside his empty bag. Somebody tapped his shoulder. He glanced behind him at the kid with round eyeglasses and whitish-gray hair.
"Hey, Lloyd," he said, slamming his locker shut and turning around.
Lloyd blinked twice and looked up. He had pasty skin that never tanned no matter how long he spent in the sun, which wasn't much, and dreadful eyesight. Despite wearing huge round glasses, he always went basically blind when it was too bright, and he squinted at everything, to the point where his neutral expression became narrowed eyes with a tightly-pursed mouth, which earned him the nickname 'Squint Face'.
Yeah, that's the creative moniker the school kids used. Ninten admitted using it to pick on the kid back when he didn't know him. Everyone picked on Lloyd for being a nerd and wimpy; it was second nature as middle school kids. One day, Ninten decided to get over peer pressure and be nicer to the kid. He got to befriend Squint Face, who turned out to be really cool once Ninten knew him. They hit it off pretty nicely since then. Ninten even protected Lloyd from bullies, who eventually quit bothering him and…
"Hello? Earth to Ninten?" Lloyd waved a hand at his friend's face, who jolted and focused his eyes.
"Yeah. Hi."
"You're spacing out. What's up?"
"Oh. Uh, well I'm spending the summer abroad."
That wasn't the best way to phrase it, but he already said it anyway.
"Really?" Lloyd said, "That's… cool, I guess. Where are you going?"
"Eagleland."
"Why Eagleland?"
"Mom's visiting her sister. She lives in some little town there. 'On-It' or something."
"Ah, I think that's Onett."
"Yeah, you'd know. What the hell is Onett?"
"It's a small town. Kinda like here, but a little bigger, I think. They have a neat library there with maps from all over the world."
"Cool. Listen, do you mind taking care of Mick for me while I'm away?"
Lloyd looked flustered, "Mick? But he licks my face a lot, and mom doesn't like dogs."
Ninten flashed him the most pitiful puppy eyes he could muster. Lloyd pursed his lips to the side before letting out a resigned sigh.
"Alright, I'll keep your dog."
Ninten flashed him a giddy grin.
"Thanks, man. You're the best friend ever."
"Uh, s-sure. You're welcome, Ninten."
Lloyd used to have the worst stuttering problem when he first got to know him. Ninten took it upon himself to 'toughen up' the boy, teaching him the fine art of Being Cool. Since then, Lloyd had dropped most of his dorky habits like darting around from trashcan to trashcan like a skittish mouse or tripping all over his words. Ninten was proud of his work, if he said so himself.
"Well," Lloyd said, then pulled Ninten into a hug, "Guess I'll miss you then."
Not really. The old Lloyd reared his head out sometimes. Ninten smiled and patted Lloyd's back anyway.
"Keep sending e-mails when you're there, alright?"
"I will."
Ninten watched Lloyd turn around and leave for the buses. He heard footsteps next to him.
"Hey, Ninten."
That voice sent a pleasant shiver down his spine. He turned to see his other friend, Ana. While he could speak at length about Lloyd, Ana would've taken up volumes. She was nice, gentle, patient… She was basically flawless.
He didn't like Ana, that's bonkers! Her voice was just extraordinarily soothing, and her hair was just the right shade of blonde, and the pink dress she wore fit her really well. Add to that her warm, blue eyes, lovely smile and cute-looking nose that scrunched up whenever she was concentrating on something…
Ugh, he's only kidding himself. He liked Ana. A lot.
"Oh… Ana," he finally managed to get out after looking like a thorough idiot. She smiled.
"Are you ready for the summer vacation?"
"Yeah, no. My family's going abroad to Eagleland for the summer."
"Wow, that's a little sudden," she said. He shrugged.
"I learned about it last night," Ninten said, "Mom likes to hold the news till the last moment."
"That does sound like your mother, all right," Ana said with a giggle. Ninten rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at her.
"How about you, Ana? What will you do this summer?"
She tapped her chin with a finger thoughtfully.
"I don't know, I think I'll spend the summer in Snowman like usual."
"Ah, then don't forget to bring a coat and a snow shovel," Ninten said jokingly, flashing her a grin. That earned him a punch to the arm.
"Not funny, Ninten," she said.
"Ow, sorry."
"So you're leaving soon?"
"Tomorrow, actually."
"Okay then," she said, a small smile gracing her lips. He wondered why was she looking at him demurely like that. He gulped when she approached him and planted a kiss on the cheek. Ninten's face flushed a painful shade of red. He felt his chest tighten up uncomfortably. He gave her a smile that looked more like a grimace. Ana looked amused at his embarrassment.
"Have fun there, alright?" She said that and left as well. He fumbled in his pocket for his inhaler, bringing it to his face and taking in a few puffs.
"Stupid, damn asthma," he mumbled under his now-restored breath.
When Ninten returned home, he opened the door to the sight of his mother in the middle of a frantic storm, rushing to pack something inside a bag, triple checking the passports in her purse, or screaming at Minnie about something he didn't catch.
"Hi, mom," he said, but his greeting got lost in the yelling. Minnie slammed her room's door upstairs after her mother screamed the top of her head off at her.
"You drop your horseshit attitude, Amelia," Mom bellowed from the staircase. Ninten hurried over to his mother. Whenever Mom used given names, it was a dangerous tell things were about to get bloody.
"Mom?" he said, "What's the deal?"
Ninten knew whatever Minnie did was probably trivial, but Mom always went edgy whenever they were going out or having guests over. The best way to deal with it was lending her a listening ear. He listened to her complain about his sisters, and how they made everything difficult. He nodded after each sentence, muttering an 'Uh huh' or 'Hmm' with the occasional 'Little brats should know better' — that one was her favorite when used sparingly.
A few minutes later, he deemed his mother pacified enough to inquire, "Are we done yet? I packed last night before going to bed. How about you?"
She let out a heavy sigh, "Yes, I'm just checking for anything I might have forgotten."
You double-checked five times since I got here, he thought.
"Is dad coming too?"
Her mood turned sour, "No. I swear your father is married to his work. No, he isn't coming with us. He's going to meet up with us a week later. The idea of spending time with family is all too foreign to him."
He half-listened to her kvetching over her workaholic husband while nodding sagely after every word she said.
Smile and nod, Ninten. Just smile and nod.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Fourside International Airport. Local time is quarter to twelve, and the temperature is twenty-eight degrees. For your safety and comfort, please remain seated with your seat belt fastened…"
As the inflight announcement continued, Mimmie leaned to Ninten and cupped a hand to her mouth.
"Twenty-eight degrees?" she whispered, "Isn't that like, really cold?"
"Eagleland uses the metric system, Mimmie," he replied.
"Oh," Mimmie was silent for a beat, "What's the metric system?"
As Ninten explained the metric system to his little sister, his mother stood up and pulled a bag she stowed in the storage above their heads. The door opened, and the passengers began filing out of the airplane. The flight attendants at the exit flashed a broad smile with an "Enjoy your stay" at every passing passenger.
The procedures at the airport went surprisingly fast. There were no endless checkups like in America, nor any snags like being somehow 'randomly' selected for additional screening. Once they had picked up their bags and headed out, Auntie was waiting for them at the exit. Ninten's aunt and mother squealed at each other, before the two sisters engaged in a tight hug.
"I've missed you so much!" they said in unison.
"Are those baby Minnie and Mimmie?" Auntie said, crooning at the two girls, "Oh my, how much have you grown up!"
"Yeah. I'm here, Auntie," Ninten said, before his aunt looked up and gave him a shocked stare.
"Gosh, Ninten?" she gasped, then wrapped him in a crushing hug as well, "Look at you. You've grown up so much!"
Yeah, considering the fact you've last seen me when I was in preschool.
He smiled awkwardly at his energetic aunt, before she let him go.
"All right," she said, "Y'all must be exhausted after such a long flight. C'mon, we have a long drive to Onett."
Ninten dropped the last item of their luggage in Auntie's house before unceremoniously flopping down on the floor.
"Sorry we made you carry all of that," Auntie said apologetically, "My kids are out of town, and I thought they would've been home by the time we arrived."
"It's fine," Ninten said. She smiled and went in with his mother in tow. Minnie stood in front of him and kicked his foot.
"Get your carcass up, Ninten," she said, "You're blocking the corridor."
He glared at her, then kicked at her shins.
"You're not the boss of me, Minnie," Ninten grumbled, "At least you could've helped."
"Helped?" she gasped, horrified at the prospect of being useful, "You want a girl to carry heavy stuff?"
"Ugh, don't pull the girl card on me, Minnie."
"Chivalry is dead these days," she shook her head melodramatically.
He chose to ignore her. He got up, noticing a large dog lying next to a couch. He whistled at the size of the canine.
"Big dog," he exclaimed, "I bet Mick's probably half its size."
Auntie poked her head into the living room.
"Yeah. That's King," she said, "He's just an old, lazy dog."
"Sounds like Mick," Mimmie said, "But Mick likes to lick our faces and he smells bad."
Ninten sat on the couch next to the dog, who lifted his head and stared at the visitors with an indifferent look from behind his fur-covered eyes. Mom and Auntie were catching up, discussing the house Ninten's family were renting for the summer and talking about their respective kids. He noticed a few pictures of his cousins. He'd never met them, and those photos were fairly old. Like, nursery age old. He was certain the older cousin would be roughly his age, and the little girl would be around Minnie and Mimmie's age. Ninten didn't even recall their names. Since his aunt married an Eaglelander and moved out of the country, family meetings were scarce to none. He stretched his numb feet in front of him, deciding he needed a stroll to restore the feeling in his lower half.
"Mom, I wanna go out for a walk, okay?" he called at his mom in the next room. She replied with something he didn't catch. Mimmie walked in from there.
"Mama said make sure you're back by dinner time, 'Ken," Mimmie said. Ninten winced at the nickname.
"Stop calling me that." He didn't like the pet name his sisters used to call him, not that it stopped them from using it anyway. Ninten huffed and got out of the house.
His aunt's home stood on an elevated hill overlooking the small town, just like how his own house was a little bit away from the main street in Podunk. However, there was a huge villa next door that dwarfed the small two-story house his aunt lived in. He stuffed a hand in his pocket and ambled down a road before a large thing blindsided him, almost knocking him into the ground.
The heavy object turned out to be a plump boy in overalls assaulting him with a bear hug/tackle.
"Ness!" the clingy kid cheered, still invading Ninten's personal space, "Glad I caught you."
"What the…" Ninten wriggled free from the boy's grip, "Who are you? Get off me."
"Ness, it's me, Pokey. We saw each other only yesterday when we—"
"Look pal," Ninten interrupted, jerking a finger up and taking a step away from the portly kid, "I don't know what stuff did you snort this morning, but I assure you I'm not this Ness person."
The fat kid cocked his head sideways in confusion, "Why are you talking funny?"
"Wh- I'm not talking funny!"
"You're putting on a redneck accent," Pokey said, crossing his arms in dissatisfaction, "It's not flattering, Ness."
Is this guy for real?
"God damn it, I am not Ness. Go bother someone else, Porky."
"…It's Pokey," he mumbled.
"Whatever!"
Ninten pushed by Pokey and marched down the street. That guy was a real weirdo, tackle-hugging strangers out of the blue. When Ninten finally reached the end of the dirt road, he found the town library just ahead of the main road.
"Lloyd said this town had a nice library," he told himself, "Guess I'll go check it out and tell him about it."
He walked inside the building, the smell of dusty, aged paper filling his nostrils. The clerk who sat at the reception shot him a dirty glare once he walked in. Ninten awkwardly skulked in front of the reception desk towards the first door he saw. He hastily opened the door and slammed it shut behind him, earning him a few miffed stares from the handful of readers inside.
Ninten mouthed a quick apology, then went to the bookshelves in the back of the room. He traced a finger on the row of books in front of him. Nothing was of particular interest. He stopped at a thick book with a green, flashy cover that read 'Overcoming Shyness'.
"I guess Lloyd should read that one," he murmured amusedly to himself. He spent a few minutes in the library, before deciding he'd had enough of the stuffy library air.
When he walked past the ill-tempered clerk near the exit, she stood up and pointed at him.
"You!" the clerk called, scrunching her eyebrows into a mean glare, "Where are the maps you borrowed three months ago?"
"I, uh…" Ninten was at a complete loss, "Beg your pardon?"
"You heard me," she jerked an accusatory finger at him, "Until you cough up the maps, you are not welcome in this building, mister."
This again?
"Um, I think you're mistaken, ma'am," Ninten said, "I didn't borrow maps from here. In fact, this is the first time I come here, so—"
"You should be ashamed of yourself, young man," she barked, "Those maps are public property, and not returning them back is stealing. I should report you to the police."
Her rising voice was gathering a small crowd in the otherwise silent library. Ninten felt incredibly self-conscious at her yelling. It seemed any rational attempt to calm her down was probably lost on her. He told her he'll give back whatever maps he 'borrowed' before slinking out of the library, red-faced and humiliated.
Great. Thanks to some mixup, he had to endure a clingy fat kid and a nasty library clerk. Ninten refused to let a small misunderstanding dampen his mood. It must have been a coincidence he'd been mistaken for the same person… twice. Then again, he didn't look exactly unique after all; black hair, red baseball cap, striped shirt and blue shorts were fairly common for boys his age. He got out a red, slightly crumpled neckerchief from his pocket and wrapped it around his neck. It looked ridiculous, but he hoped no one would mistake him for someone else with this on.
Some passersby shot him strange looks, their eyes lingering on the neckerchief before continuing on their way, no doubt mumbling to themselves about kids' choice in fashion. He ignored the gawking folk and strolled down the streets of the small town until he met a slightly ratty-looking building with a neon sign reading 'Arcade'.
"An arcade!" he said to nobody in particular, "We don't have one like that in Podunk."
Ninten grinned at the sound of video games blips and bleeps that filled his ears upon approaching the building. He noticed a lot of black-clad kids leisurely playing some of the flashier-looking games. He didn't have change yet, but he wanted to check out the arcade anyway.
A blond teenager in a suit and sunglasses surrounded by a group of the black-wearing punks approached Ninten from behind. The suit-wearing teen slapped his shoulder.
"Oi," the teen said with a gruff voice. Ninten jumped in his place and jerked around.
"What?" he asked after a moment of silence. The disgruntled-looking guy pointed at some graffiti on the arcade wall, particularly a crude drawing of a person bending over next to a sentence spray-painted in messy, big red letters:
'Franky takes it up the ass!'
"Uhm, okay?" Ninten said with an awkward giggle he couldn't help.
"Yeah," the blond said with a smirk showing tobacco-yellowed teeth, "Really funny, innit?"
Something about that smile didn't sit well with Ninten.
"I… guess?"
Then he realized the drawing kind of resembled the blond in front of him.
The greaser's smirk instantly turned grim, "Oh yeah? I know you drew it. Jimmy said he saw you spray it last night with that fatass neighbor of yours."
Ninten took a hesitant step back. They were five, mean-looking and pissed off. Ninten wouldn't last a minute in a brawl, so he had to think fast.
"No, no, no. It wasn't me. Whoever wrote it is right there," Ninten said frantically, pointing to a point behind the group, "He just walked into the arcade."
They all turned around to inspect the door. Ninten turned on his heels and bailed out. The gang took a second to look back and see Ninten on the other side of the block, running as fast as his legs could carry him.
Naturally, they gave chase, hurling obscenities and random objects at him. sticks, empty soda bottles and pebbles buzzed by his ears as he dashed up the main street, running by the town hall. A shiny thing clanged into the concrete at his feet, almost tripping over it.
(Was that a knife?)
Fuelled by panic, Ninten ran towards a small forest behind a burger shop, zig-zagging between the trees. Eventually, the yells of the angry mob faded, leaving only the thumping of his heart in his ears and a burning sensation in his lungs. Only then he realized he couldn't breathe. He reached into his pocket for his inhaler. A few puffs later, his airways cleared enough to be able to get up and walk again. He undid the neckerchief and stuffed it in his pocket after wiping his forehead with it, the feeling of anything on his neck was too constricting.
When he exited the forest, he was on an uphill road to the right from the library. He could reach his aunt's house by following the other end of the road. He chose to go home. It was still a bit early for dinner, but a stay at home sounded inviting at the moment, away from cranky librarians and angry greasers.
At least Ninten had it in him to slightly admire that Ness character. Whoever he is, he's sure hard at work pissing off every soul in this stupid town. It was going to be an awful summer.
Ninten trudged up the hill with hunched shoulders, mood now definitely dampened. When he approached the house, the smell of beef made his nostrils twitch.
Prime ribs, he thought, his eyes widening. He closed the distance to the front door and went in. He spotted Minnie sitting at the couch, petting the big fur ball while his mother was on the phone.
"Is mom making prime ribs?" he said, flashing her a giddy grin.
Minnie turned her head at him and lifted her eyebrows.
"No, Auntie's making steak."
Ninten deflated.
"Goddammit."
"Watch your language," his mother yelled from her spot, muffling the speaker with her hand before resuming her phone call. He rolled his eyes.
"You look awful," Minnie commented, "Don't tell me you've picked a fight with half the town already."
"Hey, I wasn't even trying."
"I'm so proud of you," she said in a monotone, turning her attention back at the large dog. Mom huffed a few words into the phone, before hanging up. She glared at the phone angrily, before exhaling and shaking her head.
"Your father said something happened at work," she said, "He's gonna be late for one more day."
"Oh," Ninten and Minnie said in disappointment.
"It's always like that," Mom gestured angrily, "Just 'one more day', then it becomes 'just this weekend' then he doesn't show up at all."
"Where's Mimmie?" Ninten said, changing the subject so his mom wouldn't go burst one of her tirades again.
"She's out with your cousins," Mom said, "She wouldn't leave Tracy's side since they met each other."
"I see." Ninten figured 'Tracy' would be one of his cousins. He opened his mouth to ask about dinner, before Auntie walked into the living room.
"Welcome back, Ninten," she said upon noticing him standing in the doorway, "You must be hungry. Dinner's almost ready. Go wash your hands while we set the table."
Ninten nodded and went to the bathroom. He clicked the door shut — something he did out of habit, and proceeded to wash his hands. The doorbell rang, indicating his cousins and sister had returned. He listened to the muffled voices as he shook his hands of excess water and drying them with a towel, before exiting. He saw Mimmie and a blonde girl sitting at the table already. He greeted the two, sitting across the table from them.
"You're Ninten? I almost thought you were big bro," Tracy said, "You and Ness look like carbon copies of each other."
"Really? That's nice," he said offhandedly as Auntie placed a thick cut of beef into his plate.
Wait. Did she say her brother's name was Ness? Ninten snapped his head up at Tracy, briefly startling Minnie and his mother on either side of him. His eyes travelled to the staircase.
There he is. That little prick! A spitting image of him climbed down the stairs and plopped down next to his sister like a good little boy. This kid stole maps from the library, pissed off a possible gang leader and had a clingy, creepy fat kid for a friend, and inadvertently made Ninten's day hell in the meantime.
Ninten stared at him with his mouth agape. He debated whether he'd punch his cousin, stab him with his steak knife, or pelt him with mashed potatoes. All options of murder clashed inside his head, making his muscles tense then he deflated altogether.
His doppelgänger flashed him a grin. Large and insultingly toothy, "Hi. I'm Ness. Nice to finally meet ya, cousin."
Damn, even their voices were identical. Ninten blinked at his relative, before taking a deep breath. He had a million words to scream, and a million-and-one curses to hurl at his troublemaking cousin, and he didn't know where to begin.
All he managed was a wry laugh and an tired stare.
"Nice to meet you too, Ness," Ninten grumbled as he stabbed his steak as if it were his cousin. He meant to include a dozen expletives as well, but his mother was within earshot.
Well, Auntie made killer steak. Almost as good as mom's prime ribs.
Almost.
A/N: So, there you have it. Troublemaker!Ness and Hapless!Ninten. Basically a one-shot AU where Ninten and Ness are lookalike relatives and everybody confuses the two, with some of the weird stuff that might ensue afterwards. Okay, flame it if you will, but I think it's an okay read. I wrote this in one go on New Year's Day, but only now I decided to publish it. Let me know what you think. Cheers. :)