Touya sat on his bed in his room pondering. He felt lonely, especially since his best friend wouldn't talk to him anymore. He sighed as he thought about what had happened. What he had done. He had made a terrible mistake, letting his feelings take over and getting caught up in the moment. He remembered that night clearly.
That night he was finding it hard sleep and he was getting quite restless. He sighed and left his house to go next door to his best friend, Touko's, house. He knocked on the door and waited until a sleepy looking Touko opened her front door.
"Touya? What do you want, it's like 2 am." She was sleepily rubbing her eyes.
He shrugged. "I dunno. I couldn't sleep, so I came to see you." He flashed a cheesy grin. "Can we hang outside for a little bit?"
She nodded and wrapped her arms around his neck, embracing him in a tight hug. "I feel special now, 'cause you came to me first." She smiled and he blushed as she pulled him over to the tree next to her house and they sat down under it.
She sat in his lap and leaned back against his chest, as he wrapped his arms around her. They gazed up at the stars for a while in silence until Touko spoke up first. "You know .. I miss N .. a lot." She commented.
Hearing the name of the green-haired boy made Touya even more uncomfortable than he already was. He knew Touko was hopelessly in love with N and ever since he'd disappeared on his Reshiram, she never stopped talking about how much she loved him. Honestly, Touya hated N, for more reasons than one. He always kept Zekrom's pokeball with him, ever since his last fight with him.
He fished the Poké Ball out of his pocked and gazed at it for a few long moments. He turned back to Touko as she interrupted his thoughts. "I wish he would've taken me with him. 'Cause I .. love him and miss him so much."
Now, Touya would be the first to admit that he had a little crush on his childhood friend. But, hearing her talk about N that way made him feel awful. And, being the 16 year old boy that he was, it was becoming increasingly hard to control himself.
Touya looked into her eyes, big and blue. "You know, N isn't here. I had to fight him to stop him from hurting you and everyone else in Ishuu. He probably won't come back either. Zekrom & I made sure of that. But, there are .. others, you know."
He froze as she tried to hide her crestfallen state. "What do you-"
She wasn't able to finish her sentence, as this was the point where his lips were gently pressed against hers. For a split second, he could feel her kiss him back. Then, as if realizing it was wrong, she pulled away from. She blinked at him and stood up, pulling him up too. She threw her arms around him, pulling him into yet another tight embrace. Then, without another word, she turned and slid back into her house quietly.
That encounter had been 3 days ago, and Touko still wouldn't talk to him. He knocked his head onto the wall and tossed a pillow across his room in frustration.
"Dammit, N." He growled to himself. "Why do you have to have the heart of the one that I love?"
Touya stood in front of Touko's front door. He raised a hand to knock on it, but put it back down as the nervousness set in. What would he do if she didn't answer? He took a deep breath, pushing away his fears, and knocked on the door.
He looked up and saw one of Touko's blue eyes peek out from the second story window. She withdrew back inside when she noticed that he could see her.
"Dammit, Touko, I can see you!" He banged his fist on the door. She was refusing to talk to him. Again.
"You're my best friend!" He yelled up at the window. "You're like my only friend!" His face flushed and he felt wet, hot tears sliding down his cheeks. He felt utterly alone and that was a feeling that he wasn't fairly familar with. He didn't like it.
He wrapped his fingers around the door knob and twisted it. Then it opened. It wasn't locked. He suddenly got the best idea that he'd had for days.
"Fine!" He yelled. Then, he ran in place, gradually slowing and silencing his footsteps so that it sounded as if he ran off. He slowly walked inside Touko's house and quietly shut the door behind him. He chucked as he heard a sigh of relief and tiptoed up the stairs, following the sound.
Touko's room door was open as well. He lowered himself onto her pink carpeted floor and slowly crawled across, making his way under her bed. He froze as he heard her begin to talk about N. She had a habit of thinking out loud.
Another sigh. "Where are you, N?" There was a mirror on her closet door and Touya could see her looking at a picture of N. He suddenly became angry all over again. Then, her next words startled him.
"I wish I didn't feel like Touya was better for me." He could see her putting a picture of him and Touko next to N's now. "I care about you both. A lot."
He couldn't bring himself to confront Touko now, especially since he had just found out that she actually did have feelings for him. He didn't know how long her feelings for him would last but, if she did like him, why did she walk away from him that night? And why wouldn't she talk to him now?
He would have to catch her when she when she went out later and try to get her to say it to him on her own. For now, he had to wait for an opening and get the hell out of her house.
"Touko!"
Touya called after his best friend as she slid quietly from her front door, obviously trying to avoid him again.
"What?" She asked with a sigh.
He rubbed the back of his neck and began feeling nervous again. It had almost been a week since he'd snuck into her room, and he hadn't even seen her leave her house at all. The only person he ever saw leave was her mom.
"I just wanted to go for a walk with you or..." He felt himself panicking as she began to back away.
"I-I can't. I have to go .. train!" With that, she turned and ran off in the direction of Route 1.
He sighed wondering if he should follow her, to see where she was really going.
Touya waited until the sun started to set and she still hadn't returned yet. He was really beginning to worry. He grabbed his Poké Balls and, casting another quick glance out of his window, ran downstairs and out of his house.
He followed Route 1 as anyone usually would and then cut off to the side where he and Touko had once discovered a quiet little clearing. They used to love hanging out there when they were young, before they'd set off on their journey. He remembered seeing Touko with N there a little bit before he left her and he'd never come back, even when she'd begged him. Pushing through the long grass, he crouched as he got close to the place and crawled forward until he could see the clearing in plain sight, without being seen.
'There she is!' He thought excitedly to himself as he saw her sitting up against her favorite willow tree. She was writing in her little notebook with her Serperior curled around her, asleep.
He grinned as the memory of when they were five and six years old and she had first gotten the notebook.
"Haha! Is that a diary?! I knew you were really girly!" He teased.
She turned red and puffed angrily. "It is not a diary! It's a journal! I have to write about my life in it!"
"Why?" He asked mockingly. "Did your mommy tell you to write about your frilly dresses and your perfume?"
"What? No!" She dropped the notebook and leaped on top of him, pummeling him with punches as he laughed uncontrollably.
Snapping back into the present, he saw that she had fallen asleep, lying back furthur. The journal was furthur, by their favorite willow tree. Alone. If he could get it, he might be able to find out what this confusion was all about.
He slid forward quietly, still on his belly. As he dragged the journal towards him, Touko flashed upright, gasping and sweatdropping. Then, she spotted him.
"T-Touya?" She seemed curious, rather than shocked.
"Um .. yeah." He stood and rubbed the back of his neck, a nervous tick of his, and walked over to her. She sighed and looked at him as sat next to her.
"There's no avoiding you, is there? You're so persistant, with everything you do." She giggled and rested her head on his shoulder as he settled himself.
Touya felt closer to his friend than he had in weeks. She wrapped her arms around his waist and snuggled into him as he blushed. It wasn't a rare thing for Touko to want to snuggle with him, but it still made his face heat up every time.
They sat in silence until Touko spoke. "You like me, don't you."
He hesitated. He wasn't sure if he was supposed to answer that question. Or if he even wanted to. Thinking again, he decided that he would be truthful for once. "Yeah." He answered her simply.
She took one hand and stroked his cheek. "I-I like you too .."
He looked down at her and felt his heart bursting with both happiness and sadness. He didn't know whether her feelings for him were real or not. If they were real, they probably wouldn't last. There was no way she'd choose him over N, if he ever decided to come back for her. But it seemed like nothing else mattered as he heard her words and felt her gentle touch.
He felt her lips press softly against his. He grabbed her face in one hand and pulled her closer with the other. He greedily kissed her harder as she pushed her body into his. She smiled through the kiss and breaking away, she giggled.
"Oh, man! Did Tomboy Touko just giggle?!" He teased in mock surprise, nibbling on her earlobe with his lips.
She smiled and punched him in the shoulder. He chuckled and sat back as she shifted into his lap. When it quieted again, he knew he had to ask the question that was nagging him.
"Can you just .. be mine now, and finally forget about .. him?"
She shook her head and then frowned. "Not until I can really get myself together. And .. he's important to me too, idiot." She puffed out her cheeks at him. "But .. I enjoyed that, so I guess we're .. not exactly just friends?"
Touko sat on Touya's bed about a week later. He was stretched out, his head in her lap as she played in his hair. They were watching the news and they were talking about how one of the gym leaders, Yaakon, was going to take on the former champion, Adeku. In the crowd behind Yaakon and the news reporter, a flash of green hair made Touko jump up.
"That's N!" She shouted, her blue eyes glittering.
He sighed. 'And things were just getting better between us ..' He thought to himself in slight despair.
She turned to look down at him with a huge grin. "I can go and find him now! He came back for me, I just know it!"
He shook his head. "You don't even know that it was him. He's not the only person in the world with green hair. And if he came back for you, wouldn't he be here and not there?"
She poked her lip out at him and furrowed her eyebrows, but turned her head away, saying nothing.
"Don't get mad at me, now." He whispered, sitting up to kiss her neck.
She giggled and pressed her lips to his in a quick kiss. "I guess you're right. That could have been anyone."
He breathed a sigh of relief. He wanted to keep Touko around for as long as he could. He really loved her and he knew he could get her to love him too, but only if N stayed away from the both of them.
After Touko had gone back home, he decided to go to Hodomoe City, the place where the news report had been and they'd seen the green hair. He wanted to investigate and see if N really was there or if there were at least clues to his whereabouts. He grabbed his Poké Balls and backpack, then ran out of his house.
He threw out his Braviary and hopped onto his back. "Alright, buddy. Take me straight to Hodomoe City!"
Braviary nodded and quickly took off into the air.
Shaving off 20 minutes of time, he arrived in Hodomoe City. He decided to start looking in the many hotels and check their resident lists. He went into the closest one and grabbed the list from behind the front counter, as the clerk wasn't at his desk.
"Yaakon, Akahana, Hiromasa..." He slowly scrolled down the list until, surprisingly, he found N's name.
"Natural Harmonia Gropius ..?!" He chuckled at the name. "And he tries to act all tough, with a name like that?" Looking over he saw N's abbreviation for his name and his room number. "Room B13!" He exclaimed, then carefully placed the list back where it was and hopped onto the nearest elevator.
He walked down the long corridor until he found room B13. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It felt like he'd waited a lifetime when N finally opened the door, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"N.." He whispered, hearing the hatred in his own voice.
"Ah .. Touya was it? I remember you being Touko's friend, as well as a hindrance. Can you take a message to her?"
He frowned, irritation flooding him. "I won't take a message to her and I won't try to pretend to like you, either." He balled up his fists, trying to contain his anger. "I came here to warn you to stay away from Touko and Kanoko Town!"
N laughed, the annoying kind of laugh that showed that he didn't think much of his warning. "Did Touko tell you to come tell me this? Or are you only trying to keep me away because of your pathetic little crush on my girlfriend."
He held his hands behind his back and glared. "Shut up! She doesn't want anything to do with you. You left her and I was- am the only one there to make her feel better. Now, if you come back to our home, I will not hesitate to beat the shit outta you! You should be locked up." His voice slowly rose as he spoke.
N rolled his eyes. "I'll be sure to take note of that." He said before shutting the door in his face.
Fuming, he landed back in Kanoko Town 20 more minutes later, and returned Braviary to its Poké Ball before stomping to his front door.
"Touya, wait!" He turned to see Touko running towards him.
She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest. "I missed you. Where'd you go?" She pouted playfully at him.
He tried to smile, but he knew he had failed when her facial expression changed. "I did some training near Hodomoe Town."
"Oh. But, something's wrong with you. What is it?" She asked, concern creeping into her gaze.
"I'm fine!" He exclaimed, putting on his best charming smile.
She flashed a smile again. "Well," She began. "Let me stay over at your house tonight."
He grinned and pressed his lips to hers. Sweeping her up, he carried her into the house and kicked the door shut behind him as she giggled.
A few days later he woke with Touko beside him, wrapped in his sheets, and her face snuggled into his chest. He smiled down at her. He hadn't seen or heard from N and Touko seemed to had nearly forgotten about him. She'd burned the picture she'd of N, anger in her eyes as she'd done so, and spent most of her time at Touya's house, since he lived alone. He could afford to, now that he'd become Isshu's champion. They'd spent nearly every night together. He couldn't feel closer to her and vice versa.
She woke up and gazed up at him. He smiled down at her and twirled his fingers through her hair.
"Touya?" She looked into his eyes, making him freeze.
"What's wrong?" He asked, brushing the stray locks of hair out of her face.
"I think I'm in love with you."
A/N: I hope it doesn't throw you guys off, but I like their Japanese names, Touya & Touko, much more than their lame English names, Hilda & Hilbert (ugh). So, I decided to just use the Japanese names for everything else, so that it flows better.
