Author's Note: Hi, guys! I finally did it! I updated after a long long battle with Writer's Block and school! This chapter took a lot of thinking and careful wording, so enjoy the update!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dangan Ronpa or Pokémon.
In an attempt to clear his head, Cilan decided to take a little trip to the third floor and explore the new surroundings a little more thoroughly. Among a few features were a mathematics classroom, a bath house, a dojo, another science lab, an art room, and more. He decided to visit the bath house (after being unconscious for two days, the green-haired ex-Gym Leader had built up quite an odor), but just as he was about to enter the boys' section with Pansage, he felt his leg being nudged. Cilan looked down to see a forlorn Fraxure with an equally saddened Pansear on his back.
"Frax..." sniffled Fraxure as he set his tear-filled eyes on Cilan, "Fraxure?"
"It'll be alright, Fraxure," assured Cilan as he gently stroked the Axe Jaw Pokémon's head. "Say, why don't you two spend time with me and Pansage? After all, the more the merrier!"
"Frax, Fraxure!" agreed Fraxure.
"Sear!" pouted Pansear as he jumped off of Fraxure's back.
"Pansear, please..." pleaded Cilan, "I know losing Chili is the hardest on you, but you can't stay angry forever!"
"Sear, Pansear!"
"...Pansage, can you please console him? It seems like whenever you talk to him, he always listens."
"Pansage!" agreed Pansage as he came face-to-face with the aggrivated Pansear. "Sage... Pan, Pansage-Sage! (Pansear... you can't stay angry at Cilan forever!)"
"Pan, Sear-Sear?! Sear Pansear, Pansear! (And why shouldn't I?! He was too weak to protect Chili! Thanks to him and Fossil Fangs over there, my best friend in the whole world is gone forever!)"
"Fraxure?! Frax-Fraxure!? Frax... Fraxure, Fraxure... (Excuse me?! Who are you calling Fossil Fangs?! Besides... you're not the only one who's lost a Trainer, Pansear...)"
"Sear, Pan-Pansear! Pansear-sear, Pan! (Yeah, but at least my Trainer wasn't a traitor! Unless I'm wrong, you're the one who helped Iris murder Chili!)"
"Fraxure, Frax-Fraxure! Frax... Fraxure, Fraxure... (Don't you ever say that about Iris! It's not like she had a choice, anyway! Monoteddi tricked us into thinking our friends back home were dying...)"
"Pansage, Pan-Pansage! Sage... Pansage-sage, Pansage. (Guys, stop fighting! Look... I know you guys are going through some tough times, but please at least try to forgive each other!)"
"Sear Pansear?! Pansear-sear! Pansear! Pansear-Sear, Pansear! Pansear-sear! (Why should I, Pansage?! This bastard helped kill my best friend! Bah, whatever! It's not like you'd care anyways, bro! You and Panpour still have living Trainers! I'm out of here!)"
"Pansage, Sage! (Pansear, wait!)"
Despite his brother's pleas, the angry Pansear bolted out of the room in tears. Sighing somberly, Pansage turned to Fraxure to see if he too was angry with him, only to get a gesture that meant "no". So, the two Pokémon decided to head into the boys' bath with Cilan. As the Grass Monkey Pokémon relaxed atop his Trainer's head with the Axe Jaw Pokémon dozing off beside him, Cilan sighed as the warm moist air and tepid water soothed his tense bare body. The traumatic thoughts seemed to have lessened a bit as he rubbed water over his well-built arms and chest. After an hour and a half, Cilan wrapped a towel around his waist as he left the bath with Pansage and Fraxure while drying his hair with one hand.
"Well, that was quite relaxing..." sighed Cilan with a smile.
"Sage..." replied Pansage. "Pansage, Pan-Pansage?"
"Let's try not to worry too much about Pansear, buddy. If we give him a bit of time to himself, he can clear his head better."
"Sage, Pansage..."
After Fraxure wandered off somewhere and Pansage returned to his Poké Ball, Cilan put on a clean pair of clothes and exited the bath house. He did walk by Cress, but his blue-haired brother quickly turned his head away and kept moving without a word. As the forlorn Connoisseur headed down the stairs, he suddenly bumped into Burgundy.
"Ah! Watch where you're going, monsieur!" snapped Burgundy in a shrill tone,
"Oh... sorry, Burgundy..." sighed Cilan, still a bit depressed.
"Cilan?! Oh, non non! Je suis tres desole! I didn't realize it was you! Um, this isn't like me to ask this... but are you feeling-"
"Alright? For the most part, yes I am. I never knew you'd be the type to be concerned about me, Burgundy!"
"I-I am not!" denied Burgundy with slightly rosy cheeks, "I just think that the so-called 'high and mighty' Super High School Level Connoisseur should be at the top of his game! And before you get any ideas, garcon! I'll have you know that I, Super High School Level Connoisseuse Burgundy, already have a petit ami!"
"A boyfriend? That's wonderful! May I ask who the lucky fellow is?"
"Pffft, 'lucky'?! Cilan, I'll have you know my darling Ricky is blessed to have me as his sweetheart!"
"'Ricky'? Now who could that be?"
Smiling, Burgundy handed Cilan a large gold heart-shaped locket containing a picture of her being kissed on the cheek by 'Ricky' in front of the Prisim Tower in the Kalos region's Lumiose City. What really made him do a double take was the identity of 'Ricky', who was someone Cilan knew too well.
"Your boyfriend is Ricard Nouveau?!" squeaked Cilan.
"That's not a problem, is it, monsieur?" snarled Burgundy as she furrowed her eyebrows.
"No no no, not at all! I'm just merely... surprised is all!"
"Hmm... if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you were falling for my irresistable charms!"
"Oh, I wouldn't worry about that! I just can't bring myself to loving any other girl but Iris. She was... special. Iris had her own unique and passionate flavor! I honestly doubt anyone could ever hope to live up to that!"
"Is that so? Well, that's tres bon! I wouldn't dare be unfaithful to Ricard for any stupid reason! For you see, I am his one and only 'raisin reine'!"
"That's quite romantic of him! Well, I do wish you two the best of luck! And who knows? If we all manage to get out of here alive, feel free to make a double reservation at the Striaton Gym, okay?"
"Ha! Why say 'if' when I know we're going to survive? Ricky, just you wait, mon cheri! Your darling Burgundy will see you again soon~!"
Burgundy cheerfully skipped away from Cilan, her mind completely stuck on the joyous thought of reuniting with her boyfriend. Despite smiling a bit at his ex-rival's optimism, Cilan couldn't help but feel melancholic and even a bit... jealous that Burgundy has the chance to reunite with her lover while his had been executed a mere two days ago. Sighing, he decided to head down to the cafeteria to make everyone delectable treats as an apology for his earlier rude behavior. As expected, the cafeteria was empty, but there was something on one of the tables that caught Cilan's eye.
"A plate of macarons?" wondered Cilan as he bit into one of the colorful treats. "My my, these are exquisite! Why, I'd say they even taste better than mine!"
"I doubt that, Cilan!" a familiar voice exclaimed, "Your macarons are tasty!"
"Oh, why hello there, Ash," greeted Cilan as the Super High School Level Battler approached him, "It's a pleasure seeing you!"
"Right back at ya! So, are you... feelin' alright? I mean, after everything that's happened in the past two or three days, I just wanna make sure-"
"There's no need to worry, Ash. I promise I'll be alright. Although, I still can't help but miss Chili and Iris..."
"Me too. With Iris gone, things haven't been nearly the same..." sighed Ash in a forlorn tone.
"So... are you doing anything of particular interest at the moment?"
"Ash? Are you in here?" asked Misty as she entered the room. "There you are! Come on, didn't you say you wanted to have a swimming race with me?"
"Greetings, Misty!" said Cilan. "You and Ash are having a swimming race?"
"Yep! And we all know that I'm gonna win!" boasted Ash.
"I'm sorry, but who has the title of 'Super High School Level Aquatics Master'?" retorted Misty, "That's right; ME. Ash Ketchum, you're going down!"
"Hey, maybe after you lose, Cilan could face me! Let's go!" exclaimed Ash followed Misty while dragging his green-haired friend to the school's pool.
Once at the pool, Ash and Misty had changed into their respective swim attire (Ash with a pair of blue striped competitive swim trunks; Misty with her white and blue one piece). The two strapped on the proper swim goggles and took a fair amount of time stretching before standing at their markers.
"Ready to eat my dust, Ash?" taunted Misty.
"No way! I already ate!" retorted Ash, "Besides, you'd better be ready to eat mine!"
"Swimmers on your marks!" announced Cilan, "Get set... GO!"
At that moment, Ash and Misty dove into the water and began swimming at rapid speeds in attempts to get ahead of one another. Both opponents could feel the coolness of the water flow past their bodies as they headed towards the end of the pool. When the two reached their destination, they both swiftly swam with all of their strength until the winner had reached the ledge near Cilan.
"Winner!" announced Cilan, "The victory goes to Misty!"
"Grrr, no fair!" panted Ash, "I want a rematch!"
"Sorry, Ash!" responded Misty, sticking her tongue out, "I won fair and square!" She then reached her hand out for Ash to shake it. "But I gotta say, you're actually a pretty good swimmer!"
"Th-Thanks, Misty!" exclaimed Ash as he shook Misty's hand with an energetic grin. "Well Cilan, you gotta face the winner!"
"Ah, that's right! Just give me a minute to get changed and stretch!" said Cilan.
A few minutes later, Cilan came out wearing only a pair of competitive swim trunks with a single green stripe on it, and proper swimming goggles. He stretched his arm and leg muscles for a brief amount of time before positioning himself at the markers with Misty.
"You ready, Cilan?" asked Misty.
"Before we start, I should tell you," said Cilan in a confident tone, "If you swim with me, then I'll show you a sight you've never seen before!"
"Swimmers on your marks!" called Ash, "Get set... and... GO!"
Cilan and Misty dove off of their markers and into the water, where they were at an equal distance for a short time until Cilan's front crawl took the lead over Misty's butterfly stroke.
"He's not a bad swimmer!" thought Misty, "But, that doesn't mean I'm gonna let him win! Time to kick it into high gear!"
When the two of them made the turn to the finishing point, Misty's victory-hungry eyes were fixed on Cilan and therefore ignoring her surroundings. But, this became her downfall when she suddenly bashed her forehead on the edge of the pool's other side.
"Misty!" exclaimed Ash and Cilan as the redhead sank to the bottom of the pool.
Cilan quickly dove to the bottom of the pool, and rose back up with an unconsious Misty under his arm. He laid her down with her back facing the pool room floor, but was shoved aside by Ash, who began pressing down on Misty's chest.
"Misty, please please be okay!" cried a worried Ash as he kept pressing down on the Super High School Level Aquatics Master's chest. "Come on, come on, wake up!"
After he stopped pressing on Misty's chest, Ash decided there was only one thing left to do. With a blush on his face and slight hesitation, he pressed his mouth against Misty's and kept exhaling until she pulled away from him and began coughing.
"A-Ash..." groaned Misty as she slowly opened her eyes, "You saved my life..."
"Thank Arceus..." sighed Ash and Cilan.
"You know, while this isn't my idea of a first kiss, I've gotta thank you for saving me!" exclaimed Misty.
"F-First kiss?!" sputtered Ash as his cheeks turned bright pink, "Umm- a-anyways! You should be thanking Cilan! He's the one who pulled ya up from the water!"
"Really? Well, thank you very much, Cilan! You both saved my life!"
"It was no problem, Misty," replied Cilan, "If I hadn't acted, there would have been another innocent life lost!"
"You're so noble, Cilan..." said Misty, smiling.
"Well, I suppose I'll leave you two alone for now," said Cilan as he gathered up his clothes and towel, "Have fun together, you hear~?"
"C-CILAN!" shrieked Misty, blushing furiously, "I-It's not like that, I swear!"
"Not like what, Misty?" wondered Ash, "Aren't we having fun with our race?"
"Ash, you idiot..." fumed Misty with her face still red, "Yeah, we're having fun with our race! S-So... we'll see you later, Cilan!"
Waving goodbye to Ash and Misty, Cilan made his way to the pool shower rooms. Once he had showered and put on a clean pair of clothes, he left the school pool, starting to feel a bit of his grief be lifted from him. Upon returning to the first floor, however, he was startled by a crash sound coming from the Storage Room. He rushed to the room, but was only quick enough to catch a glimpse of a mysterious figure running from it.
"Strange..." pondered Cilan as he examined the broken shelf inside of the Storage Room, "I wonder who could have done this?"
Not thinking very much of the situation, Cilan decided to hitch the shelf back into place and put back everything that fell from it.
After Monoteddi's Night Time announcement later on, Cilan walked out of his bathroom with clean teeth and fully dressed in his pajamas. But as he turned off the lights, his mind flashed back to Cress.
"I wish there was some way to get Cress to forgive me..." sighed Cilan. "Hmm... maybe if I can convince him to talk to me tomorrow, he'll finally see that I'm sorry!"
Students remaining: 11/15
Author's Note: This chapter was mostly Free Time Events since I want to build up before cutting ahead to the next Trial. So, stay tuned for Chapter 11!