I was writing this and got news on another USA hurricane coming. They're naming it Hurricane Isaac. Not the exact name of our mushroom haired friend but its pretty close, no? Curious, I decided to look up other stuff. Nothing on Rhythmi (her name is unique anyways). But I did find Kate, a level 3 from back in 1985, and level 4 Keith from 2000. Weird trivia but eh. Here I am, rambling again… *sweatdrop*
Read, review and OH MY GAWD THE HURRICANE IS BLOWING THIS CHAPTER AWAY!...kidding!
*dodges thrown bombs*
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Keith collapsed on his bed. What a day…hard to believe he lost that bidoof challenge by a tiny bit. One more bidoof and victory would've been his. Kate was a worthy opponent alright, definitely going to be a good ranger someday. He could already tell she'd be a great friend too. Most of the whole 'let's be friends' thing was a cover to keep an eye on the girl more, as per assignment. But a part of Keith really wanted Kate to be his friend, pulling at him from within.
No one else was in the bedroom. Perfect opportunity to read Kate's file, get to know her more. Keith managed to get out the documents and slowly read them over. The picture they provided sort of surprised Keith. Kate was a lot cuter in real life. When he first saw her, Keith was stunned and wondered if it was a mistake; how could this girl be the dangerous assignment? He had accidentally teased her in his shock which must've flared up her competitive side. Keith would've apologized…if she didn't call him short.
"I'm not short." Keith mentally assured himself. "My growth spurt's just a little late. It's normal for my kind."
Kate's name really was just Kate after all; nothing long like previously thought. Though the middle was, er, interesting. The first few parts were about her basic information. Nothing special. Keith mentally noted some of the health stuff for future reference. But further into the file, there was the big stuff. Like the incident eleven years ago…
"Keith!"
Keith shoved the file into his pillowcase, concealing it as Issac came into the room.
"What up?" Keith asked.
"The girls want to play truth or dare. You want to join?" Issac offered.
"Sure." Keith got up. "I was bored anyways."
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"RHYTHMI!"
Kate nearly choked on the water she was drinking.
"What? I was just asking a simple question!" Rhythmi defended.
"No I don't think Keith is cute!" Kate told her.
"Come on, rivalry always heats into passionate…" Rhythmi started saying.
"What about you and Issac?" Kate questioned.
Rhythmi's face turned red right off the bat. Kate smirked, knowing the operator-to-be had a mega crush on the super genius. Ever since Issac helped tutor her. Before Rhythmi could object, Kincaid was coming over to the girls. He didn't look mad or anything. So Kate figured she was safe.
"Have you two seen Issac?" He asked.
"Guys room." They replied in a unison.
Right on cue, both boys exited out the door. Kincaid went over to Issac and talked with him for a bit while Keith snuck over to the table.
"Why do I feel like we sent the wolf after the lamb?" Rhythmi sighed.
"You know Issac, being the favorite of hairspray head over there." Kate said. "Always helping Kincaid with whatever."
"Hey guys." Keith greeted.
"Girls." Rhythmi corrected.
"Whatever." Keith rolled his eyes. "Issac's out on the game. He's working on a project or something with Kincaid."
Rhythmi seemed disappointed. Though it was best not to draw attention to that.
"Shall we start the game?" Kate said. "I'll go first. Keith, truth or dare?"
"Truth. I've got nothing to hide." Keith grinned boldly.
Kate tried to think up something extra embarrassing for the redhead. Something to make him squirm.
"Hmmm…how many girls have you kissed?" Kate asked.
He turned a very slight shade of red at the remark, eyes wide.
"Ah...I…well….." Keith managed to stammer. "Rhythmi! Your turn! Truth or dare?"
"Truth." Rhythmi chose.
"You in love with an…" Keith was about to say.
"DARE!" Rhythmi quickly picked.
"Ok then." Keith's look turned devious. "I dare you to tell me the truth."
The blond pouted while Kate laughed.
"Are you in love with anyone?" Keith questioned.
"….no." Rhythmi lied (Kate could tell). "No one at all. Kate, truth or dare?"
"Dare." Kate didn't want to face a question like the other ones.
"Perfect! Kincaid confiscated my music player while I was studying in the library. I dare you to get it back!" Rhythmi instructed.
"And get it back you shall!" Kate stood up. "I'm rarin to go!"
"I'll go with." Keith was getting up as well. "I'm aching for a little adventure. Plus we don't want you getting scared all by yourself!"
Kate stuck her tongue out at him.
"It does get dangerous around the school at night." Rhythmi added. "Be careful! And don't get caught!"
"We won't!" Kate and Keith called out as they went down the stairs.
During the day, the school was a warm and friendly. At night? Creepy. Once the dark hours fell on the grounds, things got spooky. Pokemon like zubat and gastly were active at nighttime (with occasional bidoof and pichu). Shadows eerily decorated the halls. No one would even think about going down here at night. Which made it perfect to search for Rhyth's music player.
"Let's go. This place gives me the creeps." Keith said, looking around with uncertainty.
Kincaid's room was down the hall and to the left. His room was less scary this time…probably because Kincaid wasn't there. Keith stuck outside while Kate searched the classroom. Ugh. Stench of hairspray was nasty. Kate gagged as she tried to go through the contents of Kincaid's desk. Hairspray, books about appeasing the boss (suck-up), more books about hallway running dangers, random documents, school stuff….tch. Rhythmi's music player wasn't there. It wasn't on the bookshelves or any other place in the classroom.
"Zuuuu…"
"Huh?"
"ZUUUUUUUUUUU!"
A zubat flew up to Kate and circled her, making her shriek.
"KATE!"
BOOM!
The startled Kate gasped as Keith managed to kick the door off its hinges. The boy raced over and pulled Kate away from the danger. He looked her over with concern.
"W-what was that all about?" Kate asked, still in shock.
"Hmm…no harm done." Keith mumbled.
"Don't scare me like that!" Kate scolded.
"Don't scare me!" Keith snapped.
"You're the one who kicked the door down!" Kate pointed out.
They both sweatdropped at the sight. The door was blasted off its hinges. And it didn't look like it'd be fixed easily.
"Shall we pretend this never happened?" Kate gulped.
"Agreed." Keith sheepishly scratched his neck.
The two students backed out of the room and went down the hallway. Kate had another idea how to win the bet. Maybe the music player wasn't in Kincaid's room. It could be in another room he went in, though. Keith started going up the stairs but stopped at Kate going downstairs.
"Wha…?" He blinked.
"I can still win the dare!" Kate said. "Unless you're too chicken to go down with me….heh."
Keith followed her downstairs, looking determined to prove her wrong. Unfortunately, the basement was pitch black. Impossible to see what was ahead. Pokemon scurried about through the mess of boxes and random items. Kate carefully continued on ahead.
"YIPE!"
Before Kate could react, Keith crashed into her. She slipped and fell to the ground. With a thud, Kate landed on her back and Keith slammed on top. Their heads bonked into each other, their lips touching.
"Oh…my….gosh…" Kate's thoughts were running a thousand miles a minute.
She was kissing Keith. KISSING Keith.
Keith seemed just as shocked; eyes widened and face gone pale. He pulled away and hustled off of her.
"I am so sorry!" The guy frantically apologized. "I, er, tripped over something…and…kinda…um…"
"It's fine!" Kate blushed heavily. "Let's keep moving…"
Keith helped her up and they continued down into the dark. Kate's heart was beating three times faster, blood still creeped up her face. What was that? One second she's walking and the next she's locked lips with the new guy, the redhead, her friend. Her first kiss was stolen by that arrogant, redheaded rival. Lovely. But…why did Kate like it? Something about that kiss and Keith…
"I see light." Keith whispered.
There was some light, peeking only slightly through a door. Kincaid must be working in his lab basement. Kate could hear him and Issac talking. She snuck over to the door and peeked in. Sure enough, there were the guys working with some machinery. What on earth could they possibly be working on? If only Kate could speak geek.
"You see the music player?" Keith asked in a low tone.
Kate scanned the room. Hmmm…didn't seem to be…wait…yes! There is was! Sitting on a box, a few feet into the room.
"I'm going in." Kate said.
"You're crazy." Keith sweatdropped.
"I prefer to think of it as daring." Kate smirked.
She pulled the door open just a tiny bit, enough for her to slip through. Neither of the guys at work noticed. Kate tip-toed closer to the box. There it was. The music player, all for the taking. And Kincaid wasn't going to know.
"Mr. Kincaid sir? There is a flaw in your design…" Issac said.
"Hm? Where did we go wrong?" Kincaid asked.
"Well it's not the plans itself but in order to function a machine with such caliber, we need a high-power electric source. Using pokemon wouldn't be efficient unless we have hundreds of them. And using Almia's supply would drain our region and quite possibly the neighboring ones of electricity." Issac explained.
Kate cringed, disgusted. She swiped the music player and started to leave.
"Leave that worry to me. I know how we'll get the power we need." Kincaid assured. "You handle the details and our main goal of this project."
"Got it?" Keith whispered as Kate was out the door.
"Yep." Kate shoved the item in her pocket. "Let's move."
They shuffled through the pitch black darkness again. Kate was relieved that there were no more accidents like before. She was still nervous from the last one. That kiss kept replaying in her mind…soft…full of energy and warmth….oh arceus why was she thinking this! Kate shook her head and tried to clear those suffocating thoughts as she want back up the stairs and to the main lobby.
"So?" Rhythmi was waiting.
"I believe this is yours." Kate smiled and tossed her the music player.
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Keith couldn't sleep. All the other guys could but not him. Mainly because they didn't just accidentally kiss their friend in the dark. It still burned Keith's face just thinking about it! Sure Kate's sort of cute but he didn't want to kiss her! Maybe…it was a nice kiss, so warm and powerful…but no way would he want to do it again! Nuh uh! Not in this lifetime!
"Aw man. What if I get in trouble?" Keith asked himself. "What if someone finds out?"
….probably not. Kate's not the blabbing type and he wouldn't share this with anyone. Besides, if it was found out, it'd be understood that this was an accident. It's not like Keith had feelings for this girl. Especially after the first day of school.
"Keep your cool, Keith." Keith thought, slowly falling asleep. "Kate's nothing more…yawn…than an assignment…."
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Next chapter coming soon! But updates will be coming a tiny smidge less frequent. Maybe I can do it everyday but I'll be aiming for at least every other day. Coming up with original stuff (without the game's normal story support) as well as *shudders* school coming up will be taking a toll on me.
Don't worry. *thumbs up* You can count on this awesome-sauce writer to strike back awesomely!
