Eek, this one's much shorter and has a tiny ounce of angst to it. But I'm still going with the romance-theme since Valentine's Day is so close. There's one more pairing I have planned for these one-shots, so guess who it is? None other than our fiery-headed Inferno and her complicated relationship with a Jolteon who's got a passion as powerful as his Thunder.
Yes, I just went there. *shot*
Now to the Kireme and Rena!
I don't own Pokemon, but I did fix up the Pokemon to my liking. They exist in my (MIA) HeartGold game.
"One-two, one-two, one-two–"
"Eyaaahh!"
For what seemed like the twentieth time within those thirty minutes, Rena didn't spin far enough to land into Kireme's awaiting arms, resulting in the shiny Bellossom lying flat on her back on the ground. She should have been used to the pain by now, but each time her body met the cold floor instead of her friend's arms, she couldn't feel anything but frustration.
"Rena, would you like to try one more time?" came Kireme's calm voice, interrupting Rena's thoughts.
The flower opened her eyes to see the shiny Sandslash's face above hers. "It's always that spin," Rena huffed, sitting up and crossing her arms.
"You're almost there," Kireme assured her with a smile, holding out one of his clawed hands to help her up. She took it, both of their grips firm as Rena was lifted to her lower petals.
"Just one more go, and then we'll call it a night," Kireme told Rena, who nodded in agreement.
Rena took his hand again, slowly swaying towards him and then twirling slowly around him. It felt amazing to her when the Sandslash's strong arms lifted her into the air and lightly allowed her to come back to the ground. Both of them spun outwards, away from each other, their hands still entwined. When the initial tug game, Rena came spinning towards Kireme, ready to be caught by him. As she spun, she caught a glimpse of the ivory-white claws that were there to catch her.
"Almost there, almost there, just a little bit more...!"
She stopped spinning and leaned back, her face paling when she could see Kireme's shocked expression.
"Not again!"
~~..xx..キレメxレナ..xx..~~
"Kireme...I guess I'm just not cut out for this..." Rena sighed as she sat down, resting her elbows on her lower leaves. "Maybe it's because I'm too big or something?" She wondered out loud, fluttering the tips of her lower leaves..
The shiny Sandslash looked over to the sulking Bellossom. A unique trait of hers, other than being "shiny", was that she was large for her size. Most Bellossom were smaller than Oddish (Rena was a normal-sized Oddish), but unlike other Bellossom, Rena was just slightly larger than a Gloom; the drastic opposite. In these aspects, she really stood out, but it was just another reason for Kireme to have noticed Rena.
However, he thought that it was more than just her appearance. Given her innocent and mature face, her childish quirks appealed to him. Sure, she had a mischievous side, but it just added to the many things that Kireme adored in the flower. His attraction had only grown when he was chosen by the rest of the team to be the one to teach her how to dance, given that the distraught Bellossom was unable to dance.
It was perhaps a result of her growth: there wasn't as much strength in her lower leaves, giving her a lack of athletic ability compared to others of her species. Kireme figured this could be the case, but the silent Sandslash had other thoughts on his mind as to why she couldn't dance. Rather...painful thoughts.
"It could be, but what have I been telling you?" he asked with a smile.
"That together, we'll make up for it," Rena replied, giving Kireme the smile that he loved the most from her: one full of determination.
~~..xx..キレメxレナ..xx..~~
"Kireme, you look bothered...that's rare," Hiyoko told Kireme as everyone prepared to go to bed. The Pokemon Center's lights were all flickering off by the second as the dove turned to him.
"I'm just tired is all, no worries," Kireme nodded, smiling at her to cover up his outward thoughts.
Hiyoko still didn't seem too convinced. "You are busy much of the time. Other than battling, you are our team's mediator, and you also give Rena dance lessons. It could be stress...so take a good rest, alright?" she told him, patting his head and walking over to Kureno to nestle beside the large teal crocodile.
Kireme let out a short sigh, then walked over to Rena, who was halfway between consciousness and sleep.
"Rena?" Kireme asked gently, looking into Rena's eyes when she jolted up.
"Hnggh—wha?" Rena replied loudly, looking back at the Sandslash and rubbing one of her eyes.
"So childlike, but so cute at the same time."
"Go to sleep, OK?" Kireme asked her, smiling when she nodded and closed her eyes, her head petals curling inwards slightly. He sighed again and looked out the window up at the moon. The light reflected in his eyes as the hurtful memories went through his mind again.
"It's all my fault."
~~..xx..キレメxレナ..xx..~~
"Kireme, I'll let you handle this fight!" Viccy called as she saw the shiny Oddish. "Poison Sting!" she said to the green-hued Sandshrew.
The feisty pangolin ran towards the Oddish, hurling the poisonous shards that formed from his claws at the bright green bulb. They made contact, giving him a satisfied smirk, and upon seeing the plant fall, he stopped to a skid by it.
The Oddish stood back up with surprising speed, wincing just a little bit. However, the beady eyes upon its face were full of fight. It took a step backwards and spun around to run again.
"Kireme, don't let it get away! Scratch!" The girl called, pulling out an empty Pokeball to catch the Oddish.
The pangolin obeyed, his normally blue eyes flashing in the moonlight. He leaped up into the air and landed in front of the Oddish again, his claws swiping out at surprising speed.
"No, not Fury Swipes!" Viccy cried, fearful of what could happen. "Kireme, return!"
The last thing that Kireme saw before the red light engulfed him, his eyes wide in disbelief, were shredded leaves and a deep red gash on the Oddish's leg, which stuck out against the Oddish's...her...body.
Kireme looked again to Rena, placing a hand gently upon her head. His claws fit perfectly to the shape of her form. He would take all of the blame, just like Grey's Ditto did for the birth of Midnight and Seer, and just how Ikazuchi did for Makainu.
"Your attitude's changed," Hiyoko told Kireme as she munched on an apple slice.
"Really?" Kireme asked bitterly, casting his gaze downwards.
"Kireme, you've changed. I've seen that you're not giving it your all in battles anymore, but you have to remember that not everyone can fully control their abilities. I have to stop Kureno from doing such things sometimes," she told the pangolin. "And besides," she smiled, "Rena recovered very well! She's still trying to get adjusted to walking, but she's doing better!"
"Rena...that's her name...?" Kireme asked quietly.
"Yep," Hiyoko chirped, then frowned as Kireme stood up. "Where are you going?" the Togepi asked him.
Kireme didn't answer her, but instead went over to Rena, whose head leaves had grown back fully as if they had never been damaged.
"Hiya," the Oddish greeted Kireme unexpectedly: what was unexpected was that her voice was rather cheerful. "You're Kireme, right? You put up a great battle," she smiled widely at him, standing up with a slight wince to test out her leg. "But because of that, I have to cut back on dance practice," she grinned and gave him a slightly sour look.
"Dance practice?" Kireme asked, looking at her with a puzzled expression and still surprised at her talkativeness.
"Yeah, because I totally want to be a Bellossom someday, so I've been practicing dancing for a long time! What do you think? I can be a great dancer someday, right?" She asked with the bubbly voice that he expected from Hiyoko, the sour expression from earlier disappearing instantly.
"S-Sure, I guess...if you put your mind to it," Kireme replied uncertainly.
"You should learn how to dance too," Rena told him happily. "It relieves a lot of stress," she added, "and I really recommend it so you can take out extra energy."
"Mmm...Kireme, teach me that spin again," Rena mumbled in her sleep, leaning against the Sandslash's shoulder and snuggling into it.
"It's nighttime, Rena. You need to sleep," Kireme smiled softly, his face growing warm from the flower's affection. He used the arm that was on her head to pull her closer to him, chuckling a little bit when one of her hands drifted towards his free hand to hold it. He looked at her peaceful face that was unplagued by the painful memories he had to relive every time the shiny duo had a dance session.
"You need to sleep too," Rena replied drowsily, "and by the way...Happy Valentine's Day...I love you,"
"I know that you'd tell me to let go of the past and move on, but I can't ever forgive myself for what I did," he thought, looking to her slightly thin lower leaves. "It was my fault that you can't dance like any other Bellossom. That's initially the reason I began to teach you to dance again. I want to see it. I want to see your dream achieved."
"Of course," Kireme nodded, kissing the flower's forehead. "You too. Good night, Rena."
When Rena could dance like a Bellossom again, Kireme wouldn't ask for anything more.
~~..xx..キレメxレナ..xx..~~
However, not far from the dancing duo that glimmered, a certain fiery-tempered fox was eyeing a rose, undisturbed by it as much as she was with others.
