College Daze
Chapter II
By: Sara Miyamoto

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--Shigeru--

For those of you who have never experienced it first hand, choking on something in a public place is not an enjoyable experience—in fact, it's quite embarrassing. I was in the middle of the food court of the mall, coughing up a storm, with everyone within hearing distance staring at me. Thankfully, because of the noisy nature of malls, hearing distance equaled only a few tables in any given direction.

Satoshi was on his feet almost immediately and he had come over to me, patting me on the back with an expression of deep concern on his face. "Shigeru! Are you okay?" Even the little yellow Pikachu had looked up from its treat, ears twitching empathetically as it cooed a soft "Pika..?"

I tried to let him know I was all right, but it was difficult while coughing so hard. It was several seconds before I had regained enough control of myself to manage to say "I'm fine, fine..." Of course, Satoshi didn't believe me, and he refused to sit back down until I had actually stopped coughing long enough to give him a weak smile.

"Are you sure you're okay, Shigeru?" he asked, that concerned tone still in his voice, as he settled back into his chair.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Just got some down the wrong tube," I said, still trying to clear my throat to get my voice back to normal. At least all the people around us had gone back to their own little worlds. You simply have to admire human nature at times—now that I was no longer in mortal danger, they were completely disinterested. "So uh," I started, trying to move things back to an actual conversation, my brain buzzing with what Satoshi had told me, "you and Haruka are going to be attending the university? If you don't mind me asking ... why? I figured you'd still be traveling, training..."

I was blunter than I had meant but to be, but I honestly couldn't help myself. Satoshi had, with a single sentence, completely blown my mind. You see, there are certain things about the world that simply aren't supposed to change. The daytime sky is blue, fresh grass is green, and Satoshi trains Pokémon. This seriously didn't add up. But if he found my question rude, he didn't show it. In fact, he seemed rather eager to discuss the subject.

"Well, Haruka has been planning to come here for a long time—she wanted to become a journalist, so she'd be able to travel all over the world," Satoshi said, now back to his usual chipper self since I was all right. He had even gone back to sipping his milkshake, and Pikachu was buried to the ears in hers. "As for me ... well ... I think the courses I take here can really help. The more I learn about Pokémon, the better off I'll be, right? Plus..." he added softly, the happy expression giving way to something a bit more thoughtful, another surprise for me on this day—Satoshi had always been the spontaneous one. To see that look on his face, a look that spoke of deep thought and consideration, was a surprise. "I'm getting kind of tired. I've been on the move for years now. I think taking a break will do me some good."

I had taken to sipping my milkshake again, mainly to have an excuse not to say anything for a few seconds. What could I say to this revelation? When I made the decision to spend four years here in Minamo, to completely change the direction my life was moving, I had expected it to be a kind of new beginning, leaving most of my old life behind. But now, a gigantic chunk of that life had just told me he'd be there right alongside me. Not even just living in the same city, but actually going to the same school. Possibly even attending some of the same classes. Not to mention how close it was possible he'd be living to me.

"So where are you going to be staying?" I asked, hoping for the best yet dreading the worst. Luckily, my momentary fears were groundless.

"Oh, I'm going to be living in the dorms," he said. "Ookido-hakase said he'd help me get an apartment, but he's already helping my mom cover the tuition, and I didn't want to bother him any more than that. I feel guilty enough as it is." The look on his face as he spoke the words left no doubt in my mind that he did. Satoshi wasn't someone who liked such big favors granted to him. It had always made him feel like he was incapable of caring for himself.

"So grandpa knows you're going?" I asked, more than a little confused as what he said completely sunk in. If my grandfather was helping to pay Satoshi's tuition, then he knew Satoshi was going to the same school as I was. So why didn't he mention it to me?

"Yeah! When I told him how I was feeling, he's the one who suggested it to me, and he helped me to get everything set up. Ookido-hakase has always been so helpful ... you're so lucky to have him as a grandpa," Satoshi said, a bit of a wistful look to his face. Life really is amazing. Here we were, talking like we'd been best friends forever, and for years, we'd been at each other's throats. "But," he added, the focus coming back to his eyes as he looked at me. "What about you? I remember you said you were going to become a researcher, but you were still training last time I saw you. What's going on with you?"

"Well," I said, half wondering if maybe I should lie and hope we had different enough schedules that we wouldn't see each other at school. But it was stupid, and I knew the chances of going so long without being noticed on the same campus were remote, if not nonexistent. Besides, whatever bad blood may have existed before, Satoshi was my friend again. I'd just have to trust that it stayed that way.

"I'm starting classes at the university, too. I've been talking about it with grandpa for months, now." I couldn't help but feel a warm feeling inside at the face Satoshi made. It was an adorable blend of delight and surprise. "I can't become a researcher if I don't know how to do the work, right?"

Satoshi's look quickly became one of total, all-consuming enthusiasm. "This is great!" he said, "With both of us going, we'll already have a couple friends at the school, so it won't be so lonely. And maybe we'll have some of the same classes and can help each other out!"

It was a bit surprising to see how much he was enjoying the thought of us attending the same school for several years. I knew that we had finally forgiven each other for all we'd put each other through, but now he was acting like it had simply all never happened. It was ... refreshing, in a way. That was one thing, at least, I no longer had to worry about.

"Yeah," I said, finally allowing myself to smile at the idea. "This'll be nice. It would have been really lonely going to a school where I don't know anyone." I looked around the mall, absentmindedly sipping at my milkshake. It was a lot to take in. And I know it had to be my imagination, but the world, at the moment, seemed a few shades brighter than normal. "So what are you studying?" I asked, looking back at him.

"I'm gonna be majoring in Pokémon Psychology, and then I'm taking Pokémon Biology and Geography courses, too." He said it so naturally, that I was almost positive I had heard him wrong. I could understand him wanting to take the courses on Pokémon, even though those two were possibly the most difficult subjects that were available at the university on them. But the geography course had totally sent me for a loop. Satoshi was proving to have become a very surprising person. "Why those classes?"

"Well, the Psychology course is because I want to be able to understand the way Pokémon think more. And the biology course is so I can understand their bodies and development, so it'll be easier to train them. And the geography course..." he gave a sheepish little grin, and shrugged his shoulders gently. "The more I understand about the world, the easier it'll be to find Pokémon who like specific conditions ... and the more I'll understand how to take advantage of different types of terrain during a battle."

I was quite impressed with his reasoning, and it seemed as if Satoshi was just as impressed with himself. He looked so cute sitting there, looking so happy. "You've really thought it all out, haven't you?" I said.

He nodded. The way his hair moved distracted me for a few moments. I was so used to seeing him wear a hat, that it was pretty odd to see him without one. "Yeah. I have. With no small amount of help from Ookido- hakase." He gave a little laugh, and I couldn't help one of my own. "I really want my time here to mean something. I know I've never been the most responsible of people, but I really think I need this."

For a moment, he seemed ... lost. Like he was anywhere but where he was sitting, in the food court of the mall, and he had no idea how to get back. It was all I could do not to go around the table to him, to make sure he was all right. Luckily, Pikachu beat me to the punch. She let out a long, satisfied "Piiikaaa..." as her cup fell to the table, completely empty. It had apparently even been licked clean. The sound broke Satoshi out of his little trance, and he looked over at his Pokémon with his usual smile. "All done?"

The little yellow mouse nodded then jumped onto Satoshi's backpack, which he had set right next to his seat, where she promptly curled up and dozed off. Satoshi looked back to me, his usually happy face still clouded somewhat from whatever had drawn his mind away earlier. "What about you, Shigeru? What are you studying?"

"Well, I'm taking the Pokémon Biology and Psychology courses, too. Along with electronics engineering and computer programming," I told him. He gave a low whistle of appreciation.

"I guess you're going to be working even harder than I am, with that many classes. Sure you can handle it all?" He grinned at me as he spoke. Just teasing. Of course, the fact he was teasing didn't mean I couldn't rise to his bait. I was still me, after all.

"Of course I can handle it!" I puffed out my chest proudly, striking a rather silly pose from some old action movie. "I am Ookido Shigeru, after all. If I can't handle it, no one can!" It took about two seconds after that for us both to crack, and we shared a real laugh for the first time in a very long time. It felt good. In fact, right then, laughing with Satoshi, in a very normal setting such a mall, I felt better than I had in years.

It was about then that it started to seem like I was finally out of the daze that had taken hold of me from settling down and getting ready for college. If only I had known some of what was to come in the following months. I may have welcomed staying in that daze for a while longer.

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It turned out that Satoshi had just gotten into town, and hadn't even seen the campus yet. So, after I gave him directions, and he convinced me to go with him to the bus station the following day to meet Haruka, we parted ways.

I have to admit to myself, and I guess to you as well, that I was reluctant to let him walk away. We both had things to do, and despite the number of bags I was carrying, there were still a few stores I needed to visit. But it was so nice talking to him that I didn't quite want it to end yet. Still, the thought that we'd have a few years together was enough to let me let him go on his way and me on mine.

I think by the time I was done, I had at least ten bags, all bulging, and was very thankful I had driven to the mall. I don't think it would have been humanly possible to carry everything I had bought home. New clothes (I had never had very many, always traveling), a few small paintings to decorate the walls, little knickknacks for shelves and table tops, and various other things not really worth getting into.

After the two trips it took to get my things up to my apartment, I spent the rest of the afternoon putting things away, and arranging them so that they didn't look too awful. I may never be a professional, but at least I could make my own apartment pleasing to myself. And among those new things were my textbooks, which each seemed at least as large as a phone book (and some put phone books to shame).

Since I had nothing else to do with my evening, I flipped the TV on to a channel where they were showing a tournament in a city I had never heard of, and opened up my book on Pokémon psychology. A lot of what the book talked about seemed very familiar, traits I had witnessed during my training. Things such as while different species of Pokémon usually had several very similar personality traits, that each and every monster was unique to itself, just as humans were.

Of course, some of what the book said was wholly new to me. And it all made since, as things I had never understood about the way some of my Pokémon acted in certain situations was made clearer. I was starting to think I was really going to like taking these classes. Which, considering I'd be taking them for so long, was a good thing.

I'm not exactly sure when I fell asleep. I was reading, with the battles going on in the background of the TV I wasn't really paying attention to, and the next thing I knew, I was in a dream. Well, at the time, I wasn't so sure it was a dream. It was one of those dreams that, while inside of it, it feels completely real.

Everything about the dream seemed so normal. It looked like the normal world, with normal people and things. I was back home in Masara. Everything looked exactly like I remembered it the last time I was there. It's a small, hilly town, the majority of which is taken up by the ranch my grandfather owns and uses to study Pokémon.

Everything just looked a touch bigger than it should have. And then I saw why. I saw Satoshi, dressed in blue jeans and a black shirt, his dark hair messy as ever, running towards me. And he looked like he did more the day we left home than he did now. He was ten, maybe nine years old. And the fact he was just an inch or two shorter than me told me that in this particular dream, I was as well.

Let me tell you something right now. Anyone who says you have control over your dreams is lying to your face. Dreams simply are what they are, and you just have to accept it. I had absolutely no control over what was happening. Because see, I've had this particular dream off and on for six years now. And I would have done anything to change it.

Satoshi and I were meeting at a lake. It was nothing new, we came to this lake all the time to play when we were younger. The land around it was pretty flat, and the water was usually warm enough to swim in, so long as it wasn't winter. Right then, it was late spring, almost summer, and the weather was perfect. We both laid down on the grass, looking up at the sky, which had just enough fluffy white clouds to keep most of the sun out of our eyes.

"Shigeru, aren't you excited? We're both becoming Pokémon trainers soon!" Even laying there in the shade, Satoshi practically radiated energy. He had always been hyper, ever since the day we met, when we were little more than toddlers. He'd been able to think of little else other than becoming a trainer for weeks.

"Of course I'm excited, Satoshi. It'll be the most important day of our lives ... the day we set out to make our dreams come true." I had always been more subdued than Satoshi was. But the truth was, inside, at that moment, I felt just as excited as he did. In about a month, our dreams of traveling, capturing, training, battling, they were all about to become true! I don't see how anyone could could not be excited about that.

"It's gonna be so cool to be away from home! No chores! I can do what I want, when I want!" He was laughing at the sheer joy of the idea. And the idea was certainly appealing, though I knew it to be misguided.

"Satoshi, if you act like that, you're never going to make it out there. You'll have to look after yourself and your Pokémon. Being a trainer is a serious responsibility." The words gave him a momentary pause, and I knew he was probably thinking about the inherent difficulties of trainer-hood for the first time. His eyes were wide, as they always were when he was thinking about something intensely. I doubt I paid as much attention when this event actually happened, but in my dream I could see deep into the chocolate pools of his eyes and could almost see his mind at work. His contemplative mood didn't last long, however. They never managed to.

"You're too serious, Shigeru! I know I'll have things I have to do, but it doesn't mean I won't be allowed to have fun!" He stuck his tongue out at me, and then stood up, taking off his shirt and jeans, under which were a pair of dark blue swimming trunks. "Now, I'm going for a swim." And with that, he made for the water and dove right in.

I sat up, watching him for a few minutes. I knew he wanted me to join him. But I couldn't help thinking, could he be right? Was I being too serious about things? No, I told myself, I was simply being realistic. Yes, our journey in life is supposed to be enjoyable, but being a trainer was not easy, and entailed a lot of responsibility. Why didn't Satoshi see that? It was so infuriating, and we had so little time left before it all began! I was worried about him, but the thought that we'd be traveling together reassured me. I would be there to make sure he didn't falter too badly.

I sighed to myself as I stood up, taking off my own clothing to leave me only in the swim trunks I wore beneath. We had spent so much time swimming, it had become habit in those days to replace our underwear with them. I waded out into the water, and swam out to where Satoshi was. As soon as I was in range, he splashed at me, and thus a gigantic water fight started, both of us getting drenched to the bone in lake water.

I'm not sure why we were trying so hard to soak each other. It was the longest we'd ever gone at it like that. It took so long, in fact, that by the time we were done, we both barely had the energy to swim back to shore and crawl up. I think we both knew it was one of the last chances we'd have to do something like that.

"You're a jerk, you know that?" Satoshi said between pants, and he couldn't help but laugh.

I was laughing too. "You're one to talk." I dragged myself onto my feet, tired, staggering further up to where I could sit down against the trunk of a tree, its leaves blocking out the sun, which had moved from behind the clouds. Satoshi joined me a few seconds later, and he rested his head against my shoulder. Something he had done a hundred times before, a gesture I was intimately familiar with. I felt content sitting there in the shade, the heat of Satoshi's body negating the chill of the light breeze on my wet skin.

"I'm going to miss Masara," he said quietly. "We've lived here so long, it's hard to imagine being somewhere else."

"You'll get used to it," I told him. "You'll get out there, and see how wonderful all these different places are, and totally forget about everything you left behind."

"Not everything."

I didn't have to ask what he meant. I knew, without a doubt, that it was our time together in these familiar places that he was talking about. For a moment, I was filled with the most wonderful feeling I had ever felt. Later in life, no tournament victory, no award presentation, had ever come close to making me feel as good as I had in that one blissful moment. If I had to describe it, I would say it was like there was a great cat inside of me, curled and purring in contented warmth. But the feeling lasted only a moment. In the next, I was suddenly scared, scared of that beast snoozing quietly within me.

"G ... get off me!" I yelled at him, and shoved the thoroughly surprised boy away as I climbed to my feet and stomped over to my clothes, slipping them on my still damp body. I glared at him as he lay on the ground where I had shoved him, looking up at me with the saddest expression I had ever seen anyone make. His face caused that beast inside of me to howl as if wounded.

"What's wrong, Shigeru..?" He didn't sound angry that I had shoved him. Only hurt. Which only made me feel worse for what I had done, but I was, at that point, too frightened to care. He'd made no move to get to his feet, only sat up so he could see me better.

"You are! You're too soft, Satoshi! You're never going to make it out there! And I won't have the likes of you slowing me down!"

Somehow, he seemed even more hurt than before. But I didn't care. I was scared, and I walked right by him. The beast let out a pathetic whimper with each and every step, but I didn't care. I headed straight for home, where I could could hide myself away and cry.

The dream ended long before I ever reached home. I was awake, the tears already streaming down my face. And the beast, long ago beaten into submission, reared its battered head inside of my chest and loosed a wail of sorrow that turned my silent tears into the first sobbing cry I had had let myself endure since that horrible day so long ago.

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End Chapter II.