Chapter 8: Twist of Fate Act 3: Confessions and Secrets, Part 1
This is a reupload of Chapter 8 after I mistakenly replaced this with the recently uploaded Chapter 11. Otherwise, nothing much to see here. Enjoy, and sorry for the inconvenience.
Previously in Chapter 7…
"YANCY!? Y-you're Nancy!?"
"NATE!? Y-you're Lack-Two!?"
…
Immediately following this stunning revelation, an awkward silence hangs within the room as the two of them are still petrified by complete surprise and disbelief. The silence is suddenly broken when the producer speaks up.
"So, you two have actually met before?"
"Well, you see…" Nate/Lack-Two replies "She's my…we're…"
"…He's my boyfriend sir." Yancy suddenly interjects. "We met each other a few months back, and we started dating just around a week ago…"
"Hahaha…I see…" The producer says cheerfully. "I think that was kind of obvious when you two were behaving like that just now. Well, now that it turns out you already know my niece, I think maybe we could get this show on the road?"
"Your niece? Wait, you two are relatives?" Nate/Lack-Two suddenly asks.
"Oh, sorry Mr. Lack-Two. I forgot to formally introduce myself. I'm Mr. Zachary Ruri, Nancy's uncle. My older brother, aka her father, is the owner of the beach resort in the Undella bay area."
"I see…" Nate/Lack two replies. No wonder she was able to afford that condo unit and a credit card just like mine. Her family must own a fortune…
"Umm, uncle, Nate..." Nancy suddenly interrupts the two "Do you think we could get this over with? I still have an autograph signing and the awarding ceremony for the cosplay competition…"
"Uhhh…Right then." Mr. Zachary says.
Despite the awkward tension between them at first, the interview is pulled off without any trace of nervousness or awkwardness between the two of them, both of them maintaining a sense of composure and professionalism.
"And, that about wraps it up…." a Celebrity Channel staff member says.
"Nice job, everyone." Another staff member announces.
"Thank you so much for answering our request to be on our show." Mr. Zachary tells Nate as he shakes his hand. "I'm sorry that my niece acted the way she did earlier…"
"It's fine, really…" he reassures her uncle. "I've known her for quite some time, so it's no problem for me."
"Well, that's good to hear. I'm glad to see that she met someone like you. Her career has improved a lot ever since she met you. "
"Ehehe… thank you very much, Sir."
"Oh yes, before you go, there's one more thing I'd like to ask."
"Hm?"
"She never told you anything about her work as a celebrity until now?"
"Well, I always had this feeling that she was hiding something, even after she became my girlfriend. Though, to be fair… I think I should have told her the nature of my job as well sooner, so I think I'm no different…I should probably apologize to you…"
"Don't worry, there's no need. I can understand what both of you have to go through. But, if I were you, I'd talk with her to clear things up. I wouldn't want to hide everything from my girlfriend."
"I understand, sir. I'll make sure to talk to her as soon as I can." Before leaving, the producer shakes the young actor's hand as a sign of gratitude.
By the time he leaves the convention center, it is around later afternoon, with the area outside still packed with hundreds of people, most of them being cosplayers talking amongst themselves or having their pictures taken, as well as Pokémaniacs from different regions showing off various collections of both actual Pokémon and Pokémon-related merchandise. As he makes his way past the crowds, a familiar voice catches his attention…
"Hey Nate! Wait up!" Rosa shouts.
As she approaches him, she asks him something "So, how did it go?"
"Are you talking about the interview proper or what happened before that? If you're asking about the former, it went …smoothly. As for the latter, well…"
"Not that. I mean…what did you buy at the convention earlier? I mean, you didn't just go there to show off now, did you?"
"*Sigh*…Fine, fine I'll tell you…Not much, just a few comic books and a Sneasel Ninja figure. What about you?"
"Just a limited edition 1/8 scale figure of me as the Princess from the first Mystery Doors film…"
"Lucky…"
Suddenly, her tone changes "Also…"
"Hm?"
"About earlier…To be honest, I was actually worried that something might have happened back there…"
"So you knew beforehand that she was …"
"There were hints that she was hiding something, but I never took the hint. Honestly, I never really expected someone like her to actually be a famous celebrity like us, much less… I was just as caught off-guard as you were."
Suddenly, they are interrupted by a familiar noise.
"Well…Aren't you going to answer her?"
"O-oh yeah... Right…" he says as he answers the call.
"About earlier…" his girlfriend says apologetically.
"Don't worry about it. We can talk about it later."
"About that…Could we meet instead at the pier near SkyArrow Bridge instead? You can ask why later…Well, see you..." She then hangs up before he can reply.
"So, what did she tell you?"
"Well, she simply told me to meet her at the pier nearest to SkyArrow Bridge."
"That's Thumb Pier." Rosa remembers.
"Thumb Pier? Got it." He then starts dashing off to the other side of the city, only for his childhood friend to call him out.
"Wait, you're going now?"
"Yeah." He replies. "I made a promise earlier to her uncle that I'd talk with her as soon as I could." He then rushes off for real.
"Jeez, to think he would leave like that without saying goodbye…Then again, I think I deserved it for doing that to him…sigh…"
After several minutes of walking through the busy streets of Castelia city, he finally makes it to Thumb Pier. However, thanks to the convention taking a toll on him, by the time he makes it there, he is more or less exhausted and barely able to keep himself up.
"Here it is…pant…pant…Thumb…Pier…pant…"
"Here, take this." A familiar voice says, handing out a bottle of Fresh Water to him.
"H-huh?" As he looks up, he is greeted by an all too familiar face.
"Don't push yourself too hard. " Yancy tells him worriedly. "Come on, rest here." She then leads him to a nearby bench.
"I should probably apologize to you for not telling you these things sooner-…"
"Rest first. We can talk about it later. To be honest, I should be the one to apologize for hiding things from you these past few months…And I have something to confess."
"Y-yeah, what is it?" he says before gulping down half the bottle.
"Do you happen to remember that time when I confessed to you a few days ago? Well, I have to admit something."
"…And that would be?" he asks puzzled. By then he manages to finish the entire bottle.
"W-well…how should I put this...That wasn't my first kiss…"
"H-huh?" This genuinely shocks him for a moment. "Y-you mean you were dating someone before you met me? W-why are you telling me this now?"
"That was part of the reason I ran away that night. And, the answer to your question is no… I wasn't dating anyone prior. You're my first boyfriend. And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this earlier. I nearly caused you to think that I hated you for that."
"I see…I guess it must have been a traumatic experience for you. Oh, sorry…"
"It's fine…And, w-well…you could call it that…I have to admit it was a bit traumatic…C-could we stop talking about this? I don't feel like this is the right time to tell you this…"
"Would it be fine if I told you my past then?"
"H-huh? W-wait, I didn't mean it like that…Y-you don't have to…"
"I… promised your uncle that I'd clear things up with you. I feel that hiding any more things from you is meaningless, and that you'd probably think the wrong way if we both continued hiding from each other…"
"Nate…I see. But, would it be okay if we talked about this over dinner? I know a good place."
A few hours later, at a café near her condo unit…
"…To think you were the Unova League Champion" she says as she checks out his Trainer Card, which confirms everything. "…But, why did you resign? And how did you end up taking an acting career?"
"That's…well…kind of a long story."
"That's fine. After all, it's not like we're in any hurry or anything."
"Well…if you really want to hear it then…"
"I'd like to hear the whole thing."
Rather than reply, he silently nods as he continues narrating the rest of his story to her.
…
To be continued in Part 4…
