"Relax, Lack-Two," he whispers as he looks at himself in the mirror, "You've recently found out that you're going through puberty, and there will be, some, 'changes', but otherwise it's quite okay and you have to flirt with Whi-Two and, and go on ahead as planned."
He grips the bathroom sink tightly, his hair dripping wet from all the times he'd poured water over his face in vexation. 'It's okay.' He thinks, and relaxes his firm hold on the basin, letting out the air he'd been holding.
He sees something on the right-hand side of the mirror, and isn't really surprised to see the prying person.
"Knock before opening the door, Looker." He growls, as he sponges his face with the towel. Looker's extremely uncomfortable, not to mention embarrassed, to have been caught spying by his superior, but he tries not to show it.
"Sir! Er- you need, something, Superintendent?" He approaches Lack-Two from his side. "Um, I happened to overhear something, and... You must know, that every young man will have to go through this someday, it's an important stage of biological growth, a-and maturity-"
"I don't remember saying I needed more insight into this." Lack-Two pulls his face out of the towel and glares at him. "I already know about that, and isn't there something else that you could do, other than telling me what I already know?"
"Uh-uh, you are right, Superintendent!" He exclaimes, before running at top-speed out of the bathroom. Lack-Two sighs again, before thrusting the towel in his cabinet.
This was gonna be a long day.
~L~
The school hall is buzzing with chatter, from the Trainers' School students who are just starting their third term.
"So, how was your holiday?" A girl wearing tennis gear, and a blonde ponytail, asks her brunette friend cheerily.
"Ah, um, it was good, I guess." Whi-Two replies, chuckling nervously.
Blondé Yuki gives a high-pitched scream, "Oh, that's great! And oh, you know what, I actually had the best holiday ever! I met Lack-Two at a party, and he asked me to dance! Oh, isn't that great?~"
Whi-Two sweat-drops, but nods her head and smiles nonetheless.
She's secretly trying to recover her ears from Yuki's sudden burst of loud conversation.
The bell rings, signalling the start of their first class, a class she knows she shares with Lack-Two.
She's still smiling as she enters the packed classroom, full of students who are eager to start the first lesson of this term, from Mr. Cheren.
~L~
"Sir! I think you should stay at home today: because as far as I know, you're going through changes, both emotional and physical, and it'll be troublesome if you can't control them."
"You're talking too much!" He snaps, as he walks up the empty school hallway, with Looker behind him.
"But, sir." He responds, wearily, "You don't know, superintendent, this could be-"
"Stop telling me what to do, Looker. I already know what I have to do, dammit. And I'm the one who's supposed to be ordering you around, so take that as a dismissal and leave!"
Looker looks on, sweating. These, are literally the exact hormonal temper tantrums he was talking about, seeing that Lack-Two is already letting his angry emotions take over his brain.
This, this is bad.
But Lack-Two is a superintendent ranked officer of the Interpol, a lot more polished than Looker in general.
So surely he'd be able to handle these hormones, and any unfamiliar desires?
So Looker leaves him to take care of himself.
~L~
"Whi-Two!~"
She clasps her bag-strap tightly, to prevent herself from howling in despair. She (tries) to look calm, despite the nervousness that was eating away at her stomach.
His face is just inches over hers, and both of his hands are supporting her back from falling. Their stance is definitely something right out of a Romance movie.
She had stumbled, on a book, and he'd caught her, same as usual. Nothing new. ... Except for the fact that it did not get any less fearful as time went by.
The Fox hunting his rabbit. It was typical.
This was quickly becoming their thing. She does not like the sound of that in her head.
She's quite prepared to except now that no amount of evading would ever help her get through this, or escape from him. She was always going to be clumsy, and he'd always have a hand to lend.
A strong hand, no less.
She's embarrased by the thought, and quickly pulls away from his grasp, her eyes smoothly avoiding contact with his. Low mutters are now passing throughout the hallway, and no doubt the other students are catching up, and forming terrible conclusions about Lack-Two and her.
As if Whi-Two hadn't already had enough attention.
She doesn't want the trouble.
He tilts his visor, and smiles at her innocently. "You're welcome!" He winks charmingly, before unclasping his bag and setting it in his locker.
She really doesn't know what to say at this point.
The bell rings, suddenly, to announce that school is over, and students quickly file out of the crowd. Whi-Two is about to do just that, but Lack-Two, (rather as a predetermined action than anything), catches her arm.
She hastily turns her head in surprise, so that now, they are looking right at each other.
"Whi-Two, don't go!" He chirps, "Didn't you agree that time that we'd collect a hoard of new pokemon, for the start of term? Let's do just that, it'll be fun!"
"C-collect, pokemon? She squeaks apprehensively.
He smiles, knowing he'd measured her actions perfectly well. "I don't see why we shouldn't, after all, we were given the pokedex?!"
"I-I- " Before she even has time to respond, her hand gets pulled on by Lack-Two, and he's walking them to the forest, far way from the school.
~L~
It's sunset.
The last, weak rays of the sun slide over them, and across the green vegetation of the forest.
The sun looks beautiful as it dives underneath the horizon, letting the other stars, and the majestic darkness of the night encompass it.
"You didn't have to do it." She whispers, as her eyes rove over the many stars and shapes across the sky, the levitating and glittery bodies of fire. She looks at them in awe, "They are beautiful, aren't they?"
"Extremely." He murmurs, he isn't looking at the stars.
His hand reaches for her fingers, and he's surprised that she isn't reacting to it in a particular way.
So he keeps it there.
She smiles, and uses her other arm to to trace patterns among the sea of stars, that she was familiar with.
"That's Gothorita! Oh, and this one's the Hydreigon constellation! They are all amazing... " She stops, and shivers slightly because it's cold, so she sits closer to him on impulse.
"Whi-Two, are you cold?" He asks as he notices her trembling figure.
"I- I'm perfectly f-fine!" She stammers, but she evidently doesn't look like it.
He quickly pulls over his jacket. "L-Lack-Two, what are you doing?"
"You are cold." He remarks plainly, as he drapes it around her shoulders, and sees her blushing in response.
"W-well... "
"Do you need more warmth?" He asks, smiling. Whi-Two hesitates a little, when she sees his eyes sparkle in a playful manner.
"W-What?"
At that instant, he grabs her hand, and pulls her right onto him. And just like that, they're cuddling underneath his jacket.
Their sides are brushing, and Whi-Two slowly gets more and more conscious of his body warmth, and how close they are sitting on the grass. 'What is he doing?' She regards him cautiously, but then finds herself submitting into his hold, when she senses another strong gust of wind.
Soon, he figures that their proximity is close enough for them to kiss. Just a little more.
Whi-Two is clueless enough to not notice.
He reaches forward and closes the distance between them, sealing their lips with a kiss, paralysing her in the process.
He can hear her heart beat, as it accelerates dramatically, and he gently follows its erratic tune.
She can hear his as well, and the longer it stays there, the more she melts. And eventually, she loses herself and her guard.
She doesn't know when or how she'd started begging him mentally to come closer. It's all she can think of right now, even as he pulls away to breathe.
He can kiss like a champion, that she knows.
His face looks absolutely perfect in the moonlight, she'd seen his handsome appearance before, but now it looks more noticeable than ever, under the pale light of the glimmering stars and the gorgeous, inky blackness of the sky.
And, she's realising this now, it's all so romantic, and it's everything she has ever wished for, stargazing at night, with someone who legitimately cared, more than she knew, or could've even guessed.
Her thoughts are suddenly interrupted by his voice, "You're a terrible liar, Whi-Two." He says sagely, closing his eyes.
Her eyes shoot open, and she stops, from subconsciously nearing her face to his, like she was doing before. "... And a bad ex-agent, too." He continues. She freezes, and all
the colour drops out of her face.
She's not quite prepared to believe her ears.
He opens his eyes again, vaguely noticing how the colour of her eyes have changed subsequently; her big, beautiful round pools of blue are now nothing but a dark, stormy grey.
"W-what?!" She says, it comes out rather as an abnormal squeak, that she can barely even get out her throat. He takes something out of his pocket and shows it to her.
Her eyes widen in shock, as she takes note of the police identification card he's holding.
So this was all a, a setup?
She's more than just depressed, she's broken. She's angry too.
The one time she was thinking of Lack-Two as more than just a Playboy, the one time she'd let herself trust someone new...
And this was the result, all because she'd chosen to let go?
"Y-you're a fake!" Her voice is low, almost inaudible, but she doesn't care. "You k-knew I was acquainted with Lord N... Lack-Two!" She finds herself choking back tears.
His smile hasn't left his face.
"You're an easy case, Whi-Two. I didn't think you'd confess already!" He taunts, switching to that incredibly high-pitched tone of his, that Whi-Two now loathes.
"W-what do you want?" She asks, her voice trembling. She's ashamed at herself for how distastefully she'd been letting him take advantage of her, and how a three-quarters of her dignity had already been stolen.
He looks at her with a sad countenance, as he takes in her furious (and very hurt) expression.
"You." He replies wistfully, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ears, seeing her tense up from his touch, and then close her eyes, as if she was trying to take in what he'd said.
And then, out of nowhere, she jumps over him and hugs him, and they kiss another time.
The trees sway as the wind gets stronger, and the shadows of the surrounding forest dance over their figures.
It's beautiful, and the clouds have yet to cover up the full glow of the moon. Again he notices, and again his attention's completely set on someone else, so he doesn't care.
He smiles as he sees her sink a little further into his jacket. "How long have you had these feelings for me, Whi-Two?" He muses jokingly, as he tightens his grip on her.
"I, I-I don't really know." She admits. "What about you?" She asks, closing her eyes, and leaning on his shoulder, slightly cautiously at first, but then she relaxes on his form.
"Let's not talk about that." He says, chuckling.
She falls asleep to the sound of his voice, Lack-Two notices.
And instantly, all the amusement drains out of his face.
His hand brushes against her fingers, hesitating for a moment, before interlacing them with his, feeling the gaps of her petite fingers, revelling in the softness of her skin...
Then he stops, takes a deep breathe, and looks away.
He mechanically removes his hands from her figure, and uses them to cradle her head from his shoulders, to his lap, before pushing a button on his x-tranceiver with his finger.
"Hello, Sir. Superintendent Black-Two speaking..." He pauses as he hears the slightly raised voice of his higher-up, then answers brusquely, "Yes, Sir! I've found the locket, Sir, it won't take long before it reaches Headquarters. Yes, Sir, thank you, Sir."
He looks at Whi-Two as he ends the call, scrutinising her a bit dolefully, perhaps.
She looks so pretty right now... Wait, forget it, she's always pretty.
He really doesn't know why she's making him question everything he was about to do, and had done, before. She was just one mission, one of those girls who'd fallen into his trap, been infatuated through his charm.
And yet he's still there, hesitating... He's in trouble now, isn't he?
But he can't be like that, since he's someone who knows the amount of raw power Interpol has within their ranks, and how strict they are when it comes to their terms of secrecy and regulations. The dangerous they'll have to face, if he even thinks to stop working for that manipulative organisation, are limitless.
And why the hell is he considering the option of quitting? Is he doing this for Whi-Two? Is he doing this to protect her, out of pity?
Sadly, he doesn't find answers.
He can't find it in him to leave. Instead, he lies down next to her, and embraces her in her sleep.
He's surprised to see her opening her eyes. "Lack-Two..." She mumbles softly, as she turns on her side to return his hug, "I love you."
"I love you too." His answer comes out automatically, before he can even process what's going on in his head.
And there's his answer, to think about.
He holds her firmly, and lets his doubts and fears wash away from his mind and body, "I really love you." He says fondly, before pecking her lips.
