Smoke wafted from his lips as he exhaled, her own moving against his ear as she whispered and giggled to him. The scent she was wearing swirled around him – some kind of spice, he guessed, maybe cinnamon. And as Ethan sat there, Ben sighing beside him, he really wished she would stop whoring over him. It was deeply annoying, and he'd only asked for a goddamned cigarette. His Pokegear saved him that moment, ringing loudly from his bag. He fumbled for it while pushing Dana away as gently as he could. She pouted. He didn't give a damn."'Ello?" He grunted, and listened blankly to the words from the other side. He sighed. Tamaki was getting herself into trouble. He smiled, just a tiny bit, and Dana narrowed her eyes. And he had about five seconds to get there and stop it.

"Seeya, Ben. Business." Ben nodded at him as he pulled out Abra's Pokeball again. Dana began to protest, but Abra knew where to go as soon as he hit the roof, and then they were gone.

And as soon as they were gone, they were there. He sucked in a deep breath, withdrew Abra with a smile at the Pokémon (he fully intended to treat it to a nice meal later), and burst through the doors dramatically. With perfect timing, it would seem. Tamaki's face went to one of shock to one of extreme withheld giggles.

"Hold on a second," He said, releasing her from the police officers grasp carefully. He took in the situation at hand quickly, thinking back to what his informant had said. Pokémon had been stolen. Check. Tamaki was heading back. Check. Officer was batshit and thought Tamaki was, obviously, the thief. Check. Perfect. "Officer, it wasn't her." He stared into his eyes, and suddenly the officer's agitation faded. Ethan could feel Tamaki boring holes into him. He spoke up again.

"Some redheaded jerk was here earlia-" She interrupted him quickly.

"Yes!" He looked at her, trying to tell her to let him do the talking, dammit, but…

"He was standing outside here earlier, then he harassed me—" What? "-And then he battled with me with a stolen grass Pokémon!" The officer got excited and started asking questions, but no what? What what what? He harassed her? His mind raced, as did the intense feeling to punch whoever did it in the fucking face. Arceus help Himself if it was planned. Rage burned within him, and he readied himself for the name of this douche bag -

"Haruhi," Tamaki said, looking at them all seriously.

Silence.

"Uh…" Elm coughed. The officer sighed angrily.

"… Tamaki, they're looking for a boy," Ethan said slowly, looking at her blankly.

"… but that's him. His.. his name's Haruhi. I saw his trainer card." She insisted, furrowing her brow together. It, like her odd hair twirling thing, was kind of funny, kind of cute. Silence again.

"…. A guy… named Haruhi?" He burst out laughing, unable to control it. He wondered if a boy with such a sissy name could take a punch. "Wow… that… that fits."

The officer sighed again, obviously tired and seeming like he'd accept it for now. He nodded slowly. "Then I have to go find this… Haruhi. Sorry about earlier." He nodded curtly at them before exiting.

Ethan looked at her now, forcing confusion and concern into his eyes instead of complete and utter anger. Of course, he really was concerned; but he was less "confused" and more "about to beat someone's face in for hurting my bff". He opened his mouth to ask something, but Elm interrupted.

"Sorry, Ethan, but I think I need to talk to her alone."

He hesitated, looking at the Professor in hidden annoyance. After a moments pause he nodded, mouthed "harassment?" to Tamaki, and cocked an eyebrow. She nodded back in her "not now" kind of way, and he rolled his eyes in return. He smiled freely now, letting his concern melt into it naturally instead of forcing it away. With that, he headed out, hands grabbing for his Pokegear again. No new calls. So Dana hadn't called him fifteen times today, like normal… Ah, well, better for him. He scratched the bag of his neck, reached for a spare cigarette he'd swiped for Dana, and went to go wait out the talk between Elm and Tamaki quietly on Route 29.


Ethan smiled at her as she walked towards him, glad that he'd been able to remove the smell of his habit by way of Pokémon.

"Took you long enough!" He laughed.

"You were waiting for me?"

"Obviously!" He settled into a grin as she laughed and moved closer.

"Yeah, well, why?"

"I," He paused dramatically, standing upright now, "Am going to teach you how to catch a Pokémon!"

"Oh teach me, mighty Pokémon master!" She replied just as dramatically, hamming up nice and good. The sheer irony caused him to smirk, but he'd quickly realized his mistake and set back up the happy-perfect-smile-mask. Hopefully she hadn't noticed.

"That I shall do!" He pointed off towards the tall grass before rushing at it, Marill and her bounding quickly behind.

It was too easy, catching the little thing. The hard part was having Marill go so easy on the poor thing that it didn't faint dead away.

"And that," Ethan smiled at her, "Is how you catch a wild Pokémon!" He pumped his fist into the air happily.

"Sweet, can I keep it?" She grinned back.

"No."

"…Well you suck," He laughed, and Eva blew out a puff of smoke.

"Here," He handed her five Pokeballs, as he was instructed. He would have anyway, though.

"…That will do," Tamaki probably had the largest purse known to all mankind. Ethan's bag was quite large as well – oh, shit, he'd left it with Ben – but damn, hers was huge. How she organized anything in there, he'd never know.

"Thought it would," He fell back into his natural grin. It seemed like he always wore it around her. And the odd thing was, it was usually genuine. That could be a problem.

They walked together for a minute, silent. It was comforting, just walking with her… Until she spoke up, with an odd tone in her voice.

"Ethan?" Tamaki asked, quietly.

"With that guy earlier today…" He narrowed his eyes. "Maybe… maybe I need a bodyguard." She nodded afterwards, as if trying to convince herself, or maybe even him. He examined her closely, resisting the temptation to immediately say yes. The knowledge that he couldn't made it even more difficult. He chuckled falsely and shook his head.

"Nah, you'll do fine. I know it. Believe in yourself!" How he wanted to go with her. He grabbed her hands, pulling her closer. He ignored the warmth of them. Their fingers interlocked, and their noses almost touched. "You're going to become a great trainer one day." He stared into her eyes, wishing he could stay like this forever. She stared back before sighing quietly and leaning further into him, pressing their foreheads together. He almost jumped out of shock, and then immediately wondered why he would.

After all, they were holding hands. How could touching foreheads be any closer than holding hands…?

"I'm scared," She whispered, and his heart ached. She seemed so… defenseless. He knew she wasn't, he knew he could handle this. But… it hurt.

"Don't be," He breathed, smiling, at least he hoped, reassuringly. Suddenly his Pokegear exploded. Or maybe it just rang. Shit. Tamaki jumped away, pulling out of their intertwine. She glanced at her Pokegear confusedly.

"That would be mine," He laughed, but was very much incredibly annoyed. He had five minutes left with his best friend ever, dammit, who would be calling him now? She shook her head and waved her hand sharply.

"It's fine. I need to get going anyways." Tamaki started to bolt, but he gripped the back of her overall strap before she could.

"Hey," He said, looking at her seriously, "Don't worry. You'll be fine. I won't allow any other outcome." He smiled, now, as genuine as possible. And damn if he wouldn't.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

He held out his pinky finger and she took it gratefully. With one last smile, Ethan headed back out to the route, gripping his Pokegear angrily and spitting quiet, harsh words to his dumbass informant.


Chapters are going to be a little slowish, just a warning.