Summary: Messy hair and stubborn eyes successfully stole his breath away, while the uniquely colored Charizard only caught his attention more. She had quite literally fallen into his world, and Alain wasn't sure what to make of her. Though, sometimes the strangest meetings made for the best ones.
Pairing: Alain x Kagome
Disclaimer: I do not own either series.
Chapter Six
Weeks flew by, and, before she could even realize it, almost two months had passed by. She had been sticking to her promise of observing Lysandre and keeping watch of his actions. Sesshoumaru was a massive help with it, as well. He could keep so many more tabs on the man than she could.
Although… she was beginning to realize that it was much harder than expected to abide by her promise. She was finding it harder and harder to keep from bothering Alain. There was so much more that she wanted to say to him now, but she couldn't bring herself to face him following their last few minutes with one another. Especially since she still had no solid proof to back up her claims. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't just ask him to blindly believe her.
A soft sigh came from her as she turned back to the soup she was fixing. Not far off, she could feel Shippo's aura as he ran about, playing with some of their Pokemon, waiting for lunch to be ready. She lifted a spoon to her mouth to give it a taste-test. It tasted good, and she gave a content hum.
"Almost ready~!" she sang as she added a pinch more pepper to the mix. As she turned away from the still-cooking soup, she reached into her bag and pulled out a basket. She popped the lid off to reveal an array of colorful macarons. She took one out, setting the rest on the table, before turning back to the soup as she munched on her cookie.
However, when she glanced back over her shoulder, she noticed the basket of macarons to be gone. She circled around the set-up table curiously, only to hear the faint sound of crunching coming from behind a large rock. Kagome approached it and carefully peered behind, only to find the thief of the cookies.
A Chespin, of all things.
She crouched down in front of it with a small smile on her face.
"Hello," she spoke, her voice catching its attention. Chespin jumped and paused mid-bite. Before she could say anything else, a group of people running into the area stole her attention. Kagome stood up at hearing them call around for a Chespin.
She picked the Chespin up- cookies and all- before walking over to the group. "Could this be the Chespin you're looking for?" she asked, beckoning their attention to the Pokemon held in her arms.
"Ah, yes!" The blonde boy with glasses let out a sigh of relief at seeing Chespin safe. A second later, he noticed the cookies and he let out a louder sigh. "I'm so sorry," he said, looking at her. "Chespin has quite the sweet tooth."
Kagome laughed, "it's okay!" It really was, as she had more prepared. "I was just surprised with they disappeared."
She handed the Chespin to them, keeping the basket in her arms even as it reached for them.
"How many times have I told you…" he scolded the Chespin. "Don't take things that aren't yours."
She watched them for a minute or two before shaking her head. The sudden appearance of a Chespin made her thoughts shift to Mairin and her Chespin back at Lysandre Labs. Though she had recently checked in with her, she was still worried for the both of them.
"I'm Kagome," she spoke abruptly, calling their attention back to her. "Who are you?" Her question was all it took for them to introduce themselves to her.
"I'm Ash," a boy with a yellow Pokemon on his shoulder said as he held a hand out for her to take. She took it and shook his hand as he tilted his head in the direction of the creature. "This is my partner Pikachu."
"My name's Serena," the older girl of the group spoke next, waving and offering her a smile. "It's nice to meet you!"
"I'm Clemont, and this is my younger sister, Bonnie," the trainer of the run-away Chespin said. "Sorry again for Chespin's actions."
Kagome laughed, "it's okay, really."
"Oh, wow!" Bonnie rushed up to her, darting away from her brother to stand across from her. "What a keeper!" she blurted out, much to Kagome's confusion. "Will you please take care of my big brother?"
She felt the confusion twist onto her face at those words. Had she heard this girl right? Just as she was about to manage a response, Bonnie was snatched away by her brother, who then went onto scold her. Kagome felt her shoulders shake as she started to laugh at the entire situation.
That was the last thing she had expected to hear, but it did well to boost her spirits following her previous thoughts of Alain.
She reeled her laughter back under control and rubbed her eyes to wipe away the presence of amusement-born moisture.
"It's nice to meet you all," she said then. There was a faint sound of footsteps, and she was soon joined by Shippo and the Pokemon of theirs he had with him. She turned and smiled at him. "I was just about to call for you," she said.
Shippo, having heard Kagome's laughter, had gotten curious and come to find his mother, only to spot the group of strangers with her. He stood at her side, linking an arm with hers as he set his head against her shoulder.
"Oh, this is Shippo!" she took the chance to introduce him to the others, and she soon filled him in on their name's as well.
He greeted them with a lazy wave before looking at Kagome. "Is lunch ready yet?" he asked.
Kagome nodded and beamed brightly. "Yup!" She turned to face the newcomers. "There's plenty of it, too, if you wanna join us," she offered.
"That sounds awesome, thanks!" Ash said, accepting her offer for the group. Kagome felt her smile widen as she called out the rest of her Pokemon companions so they could eat, as well.
They all crowded together, except for one that lounged and soaked in the water a few paces away from where the picnic site was set up. Her Milotic's tail flicked up some of the water as she splashed around.
As food got served to them all, they settled together and chowed down. Simple conversation was kept up between them as they ate.
Kagome tried to stay focused, but she found her thoughts drifting back to her earlier concerns. A frown tilted her lips downward as she stared at her food.
"This is really good!" Serena praised. Her words were soon followed by a faint echo of agreement from the others with her.
The sudden words made her jolt up and out of her thoughts.
"Thank you," Kagome responded with a bright smile. "I learned the recipe from my mom," she said then. She refrained from talking about having to severely modify it for other ingredients since some of the ingredients the recipe called for did not exist in this world.
Shippo easily noticed her distracted tone, and he glanced her way with a gleam of worry reflecting in his aqua eyes. He frowned and looked down.
He knew what she was thinking about- or more so, who she was thinking about. Among her worries of Mairin and Chespin's well being, she also dwelled on Alain and how she could help him before she lost her chance.
He didn't know what happened the last time she spoke to him, but judging by her reaction, it had stung her a bit. For that, he did resent Alain somewhat. She told him not to, saying that she should have been more tactful about the way she went through with her intentions, but that did nothing to stop his anger at the guy.
It had been some time since he had seen her last, but their last interaction was still vivid in his mind. Alain wasn't sure if it was just due to her schedule, or if she was actually sticking to her last words of not bothering him again. It bothered him more than he wanted to admit- not knowing.
He had attempted to follow her so he could apologize for snapping at her as he had, but she was faster than him. She was out of sight before he could even realize what had happened, and out of the area before he could reach her.
The memory of how sad she had looked honestly hurt him, even more so when he remembered how she could smile even when she was physically hurt. He had made her look that way, and it made him furious with himself.
He wasn't sure when, but somewhere along the path of knowing her, he had begun caring for her. Something about her made her impossible to forget even for a second. Maybe it was how reckless she was, or maybe it was something else. He couldn't be sure what it was, but he knew it was there.
"Maybe it's better if she stays away," he muttered under his breath. Maybe it was for the best if she stayed away from him. He couldn't say for sure, given her reckless nature, but it was likely she'd be a little bit safer that way.
He would find a way to make up for how he had treated her, but he couldn't now. Kagome and Mairin both, he'd make it up to them.
"Miss Kagome!"
A small pair of arms going around her hips took her by surprise all for a second before she let out a loud giggle. Kagome smiled and swept Rin up in a hug. "Rin! Oh, I've missed you so much!"
Kagome let her go some and set her hands on her shoulders. Rin beamed up at her, but Kagome soon found her attention drifting upwards at the man standing behind the young girl. Sesshoumaru greeted her with a nod, to which she returned with one of her own.
"I'm glad to see you, too," she said to him. And she was. He had been routinely checking in with her and relaying information on what Lysandre was up to. Considering everything they had learned, their entire group, it seemed like his plan would get set into motion very soon.
They stood at the entrance gates of where the Kalos League was being held. Before anything could get said, an arm was slung over her shoulder. She jerked some, but a warm smile lit up her face upon realizing who it was.
"Inuyasha!" She let out an excited gasp before jumping some to wrap both arms around him in a lengthy hug. He returned it with vigor, lifting her from the ground and crushing her against his chest.
When he set her back down, she carefully reached up to fix the hat he wore back into place to keep it from falling and exposing his puppy ears.
"No hug for me?" A cheerful voice caused her to turn, and she arched an eyebrow.
"Better keep that hand from wandering," she cautioned before giving him a hug full of just as much warmth as she had given Rin and Inuyasha.
Miroku chuckled, "I'd never dare. Sango's the only woman for me." True to his word, the only movement of his hand was a gentle pat between her shoulder blades. When they parted, a familiar brunette stole her away.
"It's good we're all together again," Sango said, smiling as she looked around. It had been a long time since they had last gotten together again.
"I just wish it was over better circumstances," Sesshoumaru said. He was answered with a quiet rumble of agreement from the rest.
"So what's the plan?" Inuyasha asked. "Just wait around for this shit to start?"
"There isn't anything else we can do," Kagome said with a shrug. She kept a protective grip on Shippo and Rin both as she thought of what was to come.
The idea of waiting for it wasn't a pleasant one to her, but it was all they could do.
They entered through the gates as a group, speaking among one another over several different things. Rin was talking her ear off about a number of things, but she found her attention slipping from the girl when an aura she hadn't felt in a while brushed along her senses. Her heart hammered noisily in her chest as she glanced around for Alain.
She met a pair of familiar blue eyes, and all of her thoughts faded from her brain. She wanted to wave to him and go check up on him, but she held herself back for the sake of sticking to her promise.
With a pained smile, forced and impossible to keep up, she turned away from Alain. A distraction came soon enough when Rin tugged her hand and skipped ahead with her.
Sango took instant notice of her friend's dispirited mood, and she searched around for the cause of it. When her gaze landed on Alain, a small smile appeared on her face. He noticed her, and she gave a quick wave.
She had been informed of Kagome's attempt of telling him of Lysandre's intention. That meant she knew very well of how it had concluded.
"I'll be back," she whispered to Miroku, and he hung back in order to wait for her to get back as she hurried over to Alain.
"Hey!" Sango called out as she reached him. "Long time no see, huh? It's nice to see you again, though!"
Alain nodded. "It's good to see you again, too."
Small talk hadn't been her intention. She made that perfectly clear when she opened her mouth next.
"I figured I should give you a heads up," Sango said as she glanced over her shoulder. "About Kagome…"
"... You don't have to."
She heard the heavy tone he spoke with, and she looked back at him. "No, I really have to," she said. "She's not mad or upset or anything like that. Kagome's just… she's stubborn. She's really stubborn, but, underneath that, she's understanding of a lot of things, and it takes a lot to break her now."
When he didn't say anything so far, she sighed and rubbed the back of her neck.
"What I want to say is, she won't be the one to reach out. Especially if she decided to keep her distance." Sango looked again, and realized her companions, save for Miroku, had already gone out of sight. "I gotta get going," she said, "before I lose them completely."
She waved one last time before rushing off to return to Miroku's side, and the two of them went off to find the others they had been with.
Alain watched as she rushed off, letting her words sink in. Despite doing so, they did little to change his mind.
"I can't wait to watch Alain's battles!" Mairin said as she glanced over her shoulder at the large man a few paces behind her. Lysandre smiled at her, and she soon dashed ahead a bit more.
As she did so, one of his workers stepped up to him. "The readings indicate that she is here."
"Good." Lysandre stepped away from him following hearing that information, and he went to follow after Mairin.
As he walked, his mind shifted to the she in question. The raven-haired companion of Steven; Kagome.
She had stirred his interest some time ago, following the capture of the Megalith. A secondary source of powerful energy was detected, and the only one who could be at hand for it was her.
She and she alone had gotten close enough to it to leave an imprint along it.
When she paid a visit to Lysandre Labs, he had obtained a sample of her unique energy without her realizing it due to her focus on the Megalith. It matched flawlessly.
Furthermore, she was here. That only left one last piece.
She needed to come with him.
Auroua-chan: oof finally got this done. There should be about 10 more chapters (potentially more) of this fic, given the length of them.
There will be some Kagome/Alain exchange in the next chapter, as well as Mairin/Kagome (as well as Lysandre's plan getting set into action) along with some other stuff.
Thank you for reading, and I hope you all enjoyed! Hopefully, I caught all the errors before posting, but, if not, apologies.
Please remember to Review&Favorite&Follow thank you!
Bye for now~
