Cold Safety – A Cheren Oneshot
"Cheren~!" a high voice called from behind him while the boy just kept on walking through the large city and let a sigh escape his lips. Why did he ever agree taking this girl with him? He was faster on his own and he worked way better alone. Besides, this girl was clumsy, weak and definitely not the smartest person around. But the worst of all: she had a concentration span of 0. Nada, zero, nothing. "Cheren, please wait for me!" Finally, the boy stopped walking and turned his head a little to watch the girl run in order to keep up with him – her long purple hair flowing back as she ran and her tired face frowned as she tried to run faster. When she reached him and stopped running, she put her hands on her knees and panted, trying to catch her breath.
"April, you're slowing us down…" The guy said, running a hand through his hair. "I want to defeat this Gym Leader quickly so I can become a champion, and I can't do this if you keep checking out every shop you see. Next time, I won't wait for you anymore." The girl looked up, and nodded. Her eyes turned a little sad when he said he wouldn't wait next time, but she regained her energy and managed to look him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry…" She muttered. "it's just… they sell all these cute things here and I got a little distracted… But then I saw something really nice and it reminded me that last week was your birthday…" Her face flushed a red color as she reached her hand into her small bag and took out a small, dark blue box with a sky blue ribbon wrapped around it. "so I got you this… it's not much, but it was all that I could find that I thought you might like." Hesitantly, April did a step closer to Cheren and handed him the box, her face still a little red.
Cheren stared at the box for a while, causing April to worry about her choice. Maybe she had done this all wrong, maybe she just shouldn't have given him anything. He never seemed to be the person of wanting to celebrate his birthday – or even smile. But the guy then pulled the ribbon off carefully and opened the small box he had been given. Inside the box were a couple of different types of Pokéballs. There were six different balls: a Dusk Ball, a Net Ball, a Heal Ball, a Nest Ball, a Luxury Ball and a Repeat Ball. Each of these balls had a different ability such as the Dusk Ball working better in Caves and at night while the Net Ball works extremely well on water and bug-type Pokémon.
Again, Cheren just kept staring at the box and the seconds that passed by seemed to last forever. Then, he looked up, straight into April's eyes and nodded slightly. "Thank you," he said, his voice the same as always – cool and serious. "these Pokéballs are all good in different situations, and I'm quite sure they'll come in handy. You didn't have to do this though. I don't care much for birthdays." April couldn't help but smile. She was happy that she had been able to find him something that he actually seemed to appreciate. Maybe, now, he didn't think of her as someone that was just a pain in the ass. Maybe he could now appreciate her company a little more.
Cheren closed the box and put it in his bag before turning away from April again. "Come on, we've been staying here for too long all ready, I want to defeat this Gym Leader and then head to the next town." He started walking again at his standard, rather quick pace and April quickly ran after him so she wouldn't lose him out of sight again. This time, she was sure not to get too distracted by people, shops and other things. This way, Cheren wouldn't be mad at her; He was terrible when he was mad or unhappy.
After Cheren had defeated the Gym Leader and gotten his newest badge, he and April went back to the other side of the city where they could continue their journey. It had become dark, however, and April had asked Cheren if they could stay in the large city for the night. "But if we don't head out now, we'll be taking too long. Besides, it's only two days until we reach the new town." Cheren said, sounding a little annoyed at April's question.
"But, Cheren…" she looked at the ground and Cheren could swear her face had turned red again. "I don't like the dark…" Cheren mentally slapped himself. She was afraid of the dark. He knew of her fear for heights, scary noises but also large and angry Pokémon or Bug Type Pokémon. And now, she had told him about yet another fear of hers. Was there anything she was not afraid of? "and wild Pokémon might attack when we're off guard. Your Pokémon might not be able to protect us…" There she did have a point. The wild Pokémon that showed up at night were strong, and Cheren hadn't yet healed his own Pokémon for them to be strong enough to protect them if necessary. April's Pokémon were much weaker than his too, so they were useless.
Cheren let out an annoyed sigh and adjusted his glasses. "Fine, we'll stay in the city tonight. We'll head out tomorrow morning. It'll still be two days to get to the new town though." The last part was more of a warning for April. She knew he hated it when she got scared of something because it was a weakness, and Cheren hated the weak.
She nodded and smiled cutely, thanking him for listening to her and doing as she asked. "I won't be scared! I promise!" Not that she could keep this promise, both April and Cheren knew this, but she would try really hard not to upset him again.
The next morning April woke up extra early in order to be ready and impress Cheren a little so that he wouldn't regret staying in the City just for her. As she got ready and packed her bag again, she patiently waited outside. After a while, she noticed the dark haired boy walk her way; he seemed surprised that she was ready before him.
"Good morning." April said cheerfully, not really expecting much of a reply back.
"Good morning…" Cheren answered, to her surprise. "You're done early.." his voice held the same hint of disbelieve as his facial expression had when he had come into the hall. "Interesting… Let's head out." The guy then walked out of the building and made his way out of the city – followed by April who was feeling good about his reaction towards her attempt to be up earlier than him.
After half a day of walking, both decided it'd be best if they would rest a little. April had started cooking some simple lunch while Cheren fed his Pokémon. When they had finished their meal, April picked up the things she had used for the cooking and walked to the stream nearby where they had camped. She sat down and took a spoon, washing it in the fresh water.
Suddenly, she heard the rustling of the bushes behind her. Quickly, She turned around, dropping the spoon in the water in fear as she stared at the bushes. She could see a large, dark shadow come from the bushes as the creature jumped out, causing April to scream loudly.
Cheren looked at the map he had in front of him, checking what route they had to go to next and what town they would end up in. That way he could be prepared for the next gym and other battles. Right when he was about to mark a town, he heard a familiar scream.
He jumped up, dropped the map and began running towards the sound. April was in trouble again, and by the sound of her voice, it was bad. As he reached the stream she was at, he took out one of his Pokéballs and called his Tepig, which appeared next to him. "Tepig, use- eh?" Cheren stared at the Pokémon that was standing in front of him – a Deerling that was eating grass. That was what had scared her so much?
The boy was about to sigh again. It was a miracle she hadn't tripped over anything yet today, though. "Seriously, April, it's just a D-" but before he could finish his sentence, the girl had already fainted. This time, Cheren did sigh. And here he had been happy she hadn't tripped, and now she had fainted!
He called his Tepig back and slowly making his way over to where April was now laying. He pushed his glasses up and looked down, shaking his head slightly. This girl was absolutely useless. But what could he do? He wanted to move on to the next town, but he couldn't just leave her here… and he couldn't carry her with him either, she was probably too heavy for him, and his Pokémon weren't strong enough to carry her either. Neither were hers.
Thinking for a moment, Cheren decided it'd be best if he would just try to wake April up so they could keep moving. He bent down and started poking her face with his finger carefully. "Hey, wake up…" But she didn't wake up, and Cheren started to get impatient – but also a little worried. "Hey, come on.. we have to get moving." He looked at her face and noticed her frown before relaxing again. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and he could swear he saw her face turn pink when she looked at him.
Out of nowhere, April sat up – causing her head to hit Cheren's so both were in pain. "Ow…" April rubbed her forehead and saw Cheren do the same. "Oh, my Gosh… I'm so sorry!" she said, her eyes widening a little. "I was just-… are you all right?"
Cheren sat back up and adjusted his glasses again. "I'm fine. Could you please stop worrying and get up so we can head out again? I found the perfect route for us to walk. We can't waste any more time." And with those words he got on his feet and started walking back to their small camp.
After everything had been taken care of – the dishes had been done, everything was clean and their bags had been packed again – April followed Cheren along the path he had picked out for them to walk. It seemed indeed to be a good path. Not many wild Pokémon showed themselves and they hadn't come across any random trainers yet. April still felt a little awkward about earlier, but she didn't speak of it. She knew how Cheren hated it when she apologized or showed her sadness. It was a weakness.
As time had passed and the sun had started to set, Cheren turned around to face April. "I think we should find a place to camp. It's getting dark soon and we don't want to be unprepared." April nodded and continued to follow Cheren to find a good open spot to camp. Soon the rain started pouring, though, and camping outside didn't seem like a good idea. The sound of thunder and lightning striking somewhere near were echoing and April was starting to get scared again. Unconsciously, she started walking closer to Cheren hoping she would feel more safe around him. "Uhm.. Cheren… I-isn't there a cave here or something?" The dark haired boy looked up from his map and noticed her scared face. So this was yet another things she was afraid of. Why had he been so stupid to bring her along?
But even though Cheren hated it when April acted scared, he understood her question. Staying outside was dangerous, they had to go inside just for their safety. He looked back at his now soaked map. "A couple of minutes from here… there's a small cave." She nodded and pushed Cheren forward so he would hurry.
Finally, after a couple of minutes they indeed arrived at a cave. April quickly threw her bag somewhere in the back of the cave and ran inside. The cave was dark and would light up every once in a while when lightening would show itself in the sky. Cheren just sat down against one of the large rocks in the cave and sighed. It was cold in the cave and a strong wind came inside due to the storm outside. He opened his bag and took out a blanket, which he wrapped around himself.
April was still scared, in her corner. She was too afraid to speak but managed to open her bag and look inside for her own blanket. She couldn't find it though, and gave up searching for it. She sat back down against the cold rocky wall and shivered in fear – and from the cold. She closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see the lightning outside and the dark shadow that was Cheren.
There was a sigh coming from the shadow and the sound of him getting up. Then, she felt something warm being wrapped around her. When she looked up, she saw it was Cheren's blanket. "You need it more than I do… you're such an idiot sometimes." He said, before heading back to where he sat before.
Holding on tightly to the blanket she had just been given, April stared at the guy she had been traveling with. His face would lit up by the light of the lightening every once in a while and it looked calm, as it always did. It was somewhat cute, something she had been afraid to say out loud since the day they had met. She knew he would really dislike hearing that. She would never be allowed to travel with him again.
That's when she noticed that he, too, was shivering from the cold. Even though he had told her she needed it more than him, he was cold too. No denial there. Maybe she should give it back to him; show him she could be tough too and that she would look after him for a change. It was a stupid idea though. Cheren could take care of himself and April knew she wasn't strong; not with Pokémon and not stronger than Cheren by heart.
Hesitantly, April got up from her spot and made her way over to Cheren, who looked up – obviously hearing the noise of her shoes against the cold ground. She kneeled down in front of him and took a deep breath before saying: "You're cold too…"
Cheren rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, just sit somewhere and get some sleep. We're going to the next town early tomorrow and I'll leave you here if you don't wake up early enough." She nodded, but didn't go away yet. "What are you still sitting there? Get some sleep, I'll stay awake." He shivered again and this was April's chance. She sat herself down between his legs and hugged him. "Hey-! W-what are you doing?" His face turned a crimson color – luckily for him it was dark in the cave.
April looked up, smiling a little. "Now we'll both be warm." Her smile widened a little before she rested her head on his chest again and closed her eyes, feeling less scared now that she was this close to Cheren. It took a couple of seconds for the boy to realize what was happening, and unconsciously, he had been holding his breath. But once he realized that it wasn't so bad as he thought, he let out the air he had been holding.
"Fine, fine, but only now because it's so cold… so don't think anything of it-" but she was already asleep. He was fascinated by how anyone could sleep this fast. A small smile appeared on his face as he saw how peacefully she was sleeping now. And that with the pouring rain, darkness and the thunder outside. It was even a little cute.
Ignoring the thoughts he was having on April's cuteness, Cheren quickly closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the rock. Soon he, too, fell asleep.
The next morning, Cheren wanted to open his eyes but the light of the sun that had just come up was stinging. He was about to rub his eyes with his hand, when he noticed his hand touched something warm – and it wasn't him. He rubbed his eye with his other hand and noticed that April was still sleeping – on him.
He shook his head, ignoring the new blush that lit up his cheeks and coughed, hoping she would wake up from the noise – which she did.
Slowly, April opened her eyes and sat back up, rubbing her eyes and looking around the cave as if nothing had happened. She then saw Cheren and noticed the small distance between them. Blushing slightly, she smiled innocently. "Hi…" she whispered.
"Good morning.. I guess…" Cheren replied awkwardly, not really knowing what else to say.
"Were you cold, yesterday?" April continued, causing Cheren's cheeks to turn more red. He shook his head, feeling more awkward about the situation. "Good!" she smiled happily and got up from her spot to gather her things so they could head out again. Once she was finished – surprisingly sooner than Cheren – April walked out of the cave and tripped over her own feet. "Ow…"
"You tripped again, didn't you?" She could hear Cheren's voice from inside the cave. He hadn't even looked up because he knew she would trip at least once a day. That's how clumsy she was. April was about to get up when something heavy stopped her by pushing her back onto the ground. She looked up and noticed two of Team Plasma's men.
"Well, well, well, look what we have here." One of them said with a smirk plastered on his face. "What a cute little girl, and she went on her knees for us too." The other one started laughing.
"Maybe she'll do more… like giving us her Pokémon." April tried to get up so she could run back into the cave, but the foot on her back prevented her from doing so. She bit her lip, hoping they wouldn't notice how scared she was right now. "But it seems that she's pretty useless. She might not even have any! But that boy inside, I recognize his voice from somewhere…"
The man took his foot off April and forced her to get up by pulling her hair. He then pushed her back to the cave where Cheren had finally gotten his stuff together. Once they were at the entrance, that same man smirked as he saw Cheren look up. "I knew I recognized that voice from somewhere!" He said, getting angry.
"Team Plasma…" Cheren pushed up his glasses and sighed. "So annoying…"
"Hey! Stop calling us annoying and give us your Pokémon before we hurt your little friend here!" The other guy yelled, making Cheren freeze a little. This was just so wrong… All the trouble this girl had gotten him into and he still hadn't found a purpose for her. She was weak, scared, annoying and warm- or confusing. Either way, she wasn't really helpful and right now she had gotten herself in even more trouble. But, being who he was, Cheren couldn't just leave her with those idiots.
He got up from his spot and took out his Pokéballs. "Let's battle for it." He said and called out his Tepig. The two men immediately took out their Pokéballs as well and let out their Pokémon – a Timburr and a Patrat. Cheren gulped. It was two against one and he had left his other two Pokémon with the Daycare lady. He was going to pick them up today, but that wasn't helpful now. "Let's begin." He muttered and looked at the two Pokémon. Timburr seemed to be his biggest problem right now. "Tepig! Use Ember on Timburr!" His Tepig ran forward and a fire ball shot from his mouth at the fighting Pokémon, causing it to get burned.
"Argh!" The man pushed April on the ground and did a step forward. "Timburr! Do a Double Kick on that idiot!"
"Patrat! Bite!" The two Pokémon came at Tepig with great speed, causing the Pokémon to run circles in order to let them miss. This was April's chance to crawl away from the two men, to her bag. She took out one of her Pokéballs and threw it in the air.
"Minccino! Sing for them and Double Slap that Timburr." The grey furball began to sing and the Timburr fell asleep, soon to get hit multiple times by the same grey Pokémon.
"Tepig, burn that Patrat and finish this!" The Tepig used another fire ball and the Patrat fainted. "We win…" Cheren said, adjusting his glasses. "Get lost."
The two men ran away, calling their Pokémon back into their balls. Cheren sighed and slowly made his way to April who was now sitting against the wall staring at her knee – which she had hurt because she tripped over her own feet earlier – while rubbing her head. Pulling someone's hair hurt.
"I'm sorry…" She muttered, not looking up from her knee. "I always get in trouble… and you always have to save me." She sighed. "I'm such an idiot." Cheren nodded.
"You're an idiot indeed… it's not your fault this time, however. They were after me. I beat them once, and they wanted revenge. It's me who should be blamed."
"But if I hadn't been waiting outside, they wouldn't have found you!"
"I doubt that." He looked at her knee. "Can you walk?" April nodded and gave it a try to stand up. She was a little unbalanced, but she could manage. She did a step closer to the entrance of the cave but tripped yet again and fell against Cheren.
"It hurts…" April whispered, holding on tightly to the guy so she wouldn't fall again. The dark haired boy sighed and looked around. He then did some quick math and shrugged. "I guess we could stay here one more day… just one though. We can't fall behind on schedule." He sighed. "I just knew this would happen one day… so I planned one extra day in case something bad like this happened. Now, sit down, I'll get some bandages for your knee." April sat down, against the same rock as last night and rested her head against the rock. As soon as Cheren had fixed her knee with the bandages, he took out his map again. There was a shortcut somewhere near to where the cave was, so they could still be in the next town as he had planned – by tomorrow.
"uh.. Cheren…?" The guy looked up, raising an eyebrow. "Thank you." He simply nodded. There was a cold breeze coming inside the cave; Probably another storm that was heading their way.
"Maybe it wasn't so bad that we're stuck here…" Cheren said, looking outside. "The sky is turning dark again. It's probably going to be storming like yesterday." He put his map aside and leaned his back against the rock. Shivers ran down his spine when the wind touched his skin. "I hate the cold…" he muttered, frowning.
April tilted her head slightly and managed to move closer to him without being in too much pain. "April, what are you doing?" Cheren asked, his face a little expressionless.
"Keeping you warm." She simply answered and sat down between his legs again and hugged him – as she had done last night. His face turned a little red, but he didn't make any attempt of moving. "Or do you not want me to?" Her innocent intentions to make him feel better by keeping him warm was so… sweet. It reminded him of yesterday afternoon, when she gave him a present for his birthday. Even though it was a week late, she had still remember it. Not many people remembered his birthday and actually bothered trying to get him something.
He turned his head to his bag and noticed the small box inside it. The six Pokéballs she had given him were a good present; very thoughtful. As if she had spent a lot of time thinking about what she had to give him, but it was a good present.
It made him feel bad about himself, about how he had treated her. He wasn't always nice, but easily annoyed and a bit of an ass to her. She, on the other hand, had always been kind and patient with him.
"Thank you…" he said, before he even realized those words had left his mouth. April seemed to believe it was because she was trying to help him stay warm, but he meant it as an apology for being so mean every time she was so nice to him.
Cheren inhaled the scent of her hair; peach. He mentally sighed for liking that scent. But it wasn't just the scent he liked. It was her purple hair, and grey eyes too. And her cute outfit and the way she smiled whenever she saw something she liked. Or the way her face lit up when someone said something nice about her.
He wasn't supposed to think the way he did now, but he couldn't help it. April was an idiot but innocent and kind. And even though he had been a jerk at times, she still did her best to remain happy and cheer him up. She just kept smiling and it made him feel good and somewhat strong. "Hey, April…?" his voice was unusually soft and it scared him a little that it had changed so much from its usual.
"Hm?" she looked up at him, the innocent curiosity clearly visible in her eyes. It made him wonder if he was being selfish to even think about was he was about to do.
He took a deep breath and adverted his gaze to the left. That way he wouldn't have to look into her eyes and he would stop blushing – hopefully. "Can I…" he paused, frowning slightly. He couldn't just ask that, it sounded stupid. And what if she misunderstood his reasons? That'd be bad. Real bad.
"Uh-huh." He raised an eyebrow and looked back at April. How would she know what he meant? She couldn't, she couldn't read minds! But, by the way she brought her face closer to his, she did seem to understand what he tried to ask her. And so he, too, leaned in until their lips touched in the middle.