Hey, guys, I'm back with the next chapter with HDD, and I'm sorry to say, but this is not the chapter I expected to make for this next one. Originally I had planned to do one for June, but looking through the character lists, I kinda wanted to make others stand out a little bit more, because the three third year students are kinda glazed over a lot, and I want to affirm their positions in this story, even if it's not according to my plans. But then again plans were made to be changed, and I am no different. This chapter gets a bit more into the idea of this being based on the Japanese school year, so here's the lowdown; the school year starts in April, and goes until June, and then the student go off for summer break, after that they go from September to March, and break for Spring break, and this is the school year in Japan. Most schools have finals during June, so you can kinda guess where this is going.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN POKÉMON, BECAUSE IF I DID, GHOSTS AND DRAGONS WOULD NOT BE WEAK TO THEMSELVES.
Chapter 10: The Truth in Duty
How many of you have a certain job you do around the house? Something you do to help out when your parents are too busy to do it themselves, or it's been what you do for all your life since your were knee high to them. For a lot of kids, they'll always complain about how their parents force all this work on them, and that it's not fair they have to do it when their parents can instead. But really, what makes work, well, "work?" Work is generally something you say with a negative connotation, making it sound worse than it is, saying you're going off to work, normally with a grimace instead of a smile. While there is no other way to think about one's job or occupation, but to characterize it as work, work around the house to help others, should never be considered as something that who shouldn't want to do. Work for someone else is simply helping them out, and the difference is all in one's attitude. Doing something merely for the gain afterwards is what people call work, but when it's done for nothing more than the satisfaction of a job done right, that's what is called help, and doing one's civic duty.
The sound of the vacuum continued to roar behind Gabriel as he pushed the hose of the large machine further down the seats of a customer's car, looking underneath the seats to see it littered far past what could be called healthy. Cringing slightly as he reached back towards the vacuum and grabbed a longer nozzle to place at the end of the hose, sticking it in under the driver's side seat, taking only a few minutes to have it looking already better from a sanitation standpoint. Gabriel stood up from his work, still wearing the navy blue jumpsuit he was issued, wiping the sweat away from his forehead, the near summer sky beating down on him.
With Archen on top of the car, fanning his trainer with his wings, Gabriel looked back at the car, looking it over as carefully as he could, nodding at the job he had done, before switching the vacuum off, the roar subsiding, and Gabriel smiling as he turned back to the customer. Tossing her the set of keys, Gabriel gave a quick nod as the woman looked over her car, every stain gone from the carpeting, every smudge gone from the exterior, and not even a sign of the late night snack she had last night. She gave a gentle smile as she slipped a small piece of paper into Gabriel's hand in the form of a fairly sizeable tip.
As the woman drove off, Gabriel waited for Archen to fly back down to his shoulder, and then motioned for Tirtouga to follow, the water and rock type slightly tired from hosing down the car with its own power. Walking into a small office building, Gabriel took a step in before bowing to his supervisor, a fairly pudgy man with a balding head, the man motioning for him to come closer to him. As Gabriel walked further into his office, Archen and Tirtouga waited for him at the very end of the room, the man in front of him not having a very bright appearance.
"Is there a problem, sir?" Gabriel asked, scratching his head as the man nodded as his answer.
"Yes, Gabriel, there is a problem," the man said, pulling out a small file of papers, marked with Gabriel's name. "I'm sorry Gabriel, but I'm going to have to terminate you," he said plainly, but as apologetically as he could muster, Gabriel left shocked by the sudden declaration. "You never told me that you were a student. Lying during your interview isn't something I tolerate in my applicants. Aside from that, you know that I turn back student workers, they don't have time to work the hours I need them during."
"Technically I wasn't lying because you never asked me about that," Gabriel tried to say in his defense, the man at the desk, not willing to argue one the subject of his being a student. "Come on, you gotta keep me on, here, this was the only job I could land after working at the amusement park," he kept pleading, his supervisor shaking his head to answer.
"I called about that last week," the man said. "They said you ran off from your job to deal with a personal matter. In fact, everywhere you've been working so far has been saying that you always leave to deal with your own personal issues. You're a good worker, so I can write you a good referral, but you have to learn that something like this isn't going to look good on any résumé or reference list. Not a lot of places around here can hire students as workers, but that also brings something else to mind," he said, Gabriel cringing at the thought of what was coming next. "If you're here, right now, then you aren't in your classes, are you?"
"No, sir, I'm not," Gabriel admitted. "But, please, you'd let me stay here if you knew how important it was to me to have this job," he said, the man waiting for an explanation, but sadly it was one that he couldn't bring up. "I'm sorry, it's something personal I can't discuss with you."
"And it's because of that attitude that I can't keep you on, anymore," his supervisor said. "All I can tell you is to get back to school, and maybe I can do something for you after you pass your finals," he said the mere mention of the event causing an automatic tensing in Gabriel's fist. "I'm really sorry about this, Gabriel, if it weren't for the student matter, I'd let you stay, I really would, but as it stands, I can be involved in a legal matter of keeping you away from what you have to do."
"You've no idea of what I really have to do," Gabriel said, unzipping his jumpsuit, his clothes still on underneath, reaching into a closet on the side of the room where his blazer was laying, the name across the back making his supervisor look back at him with a surprised look on his face. "Thanks for everything, hopefully your referral will help," he said, both of his pokémon following after him, the man still dumbfounded after seeing Gabriel's name as the door closed.
Walking down the sidewalk streets towards the subway depot, Gabriel kicked one of the rocks in his way out of the way, only his Archen following him in the air, his Tirtouga already returned to its ball. As the two passed some of the shops along the sidewalk leading to the train station, Gabriel looked at the some of the "help wanted" signs, all of them saying things "Experience required," "Must be twenty one or older," or "No Student Workers." Groaning slightly with the sight of all of these messages, Gabriel walked back towards the subway.
"That's how the world works, I guess," he said, shaking his head. "You can't get a job unless you've had a job, or you can't have the job you want because they don't accept who you are. Probably a harsh way of looking at it, but still," he said, walking by the maid café on the corner near the station. "Girls like Khumalo don't have it so rough with an option like that, although I'm sure Kohashigawa could manage a job like that. I guess some people have it easier than others."
Stepping into the subway depot, Gabriel waited impatiently for the subway, walking towards the edge of the rail, letting the steel contraption pass in front of him before boarding, taking a seat by the door. As the train began moving across the ground, taking everyone within it for a bit of ride of shock as it suddenly left the station, Gabriel staying motionless as Archen found his way to the top of his head. With the sight of the station coming into view, and the school he was currently going to beginning to creep closer, Gabriel gave a quick sigh.
"Final exams, huh?" he said. "This isn't going to end well for me at all."
"Huh, final exams?" Natsu asked, Judai sitting in front of him in class as the fire trainer propped his legs up on the desk, his sandwich coming to his mouth with each bite. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, some amount of the food being spit out from the quick realization.
"Ah, it's nothin' much," Judai said, looking back at Natsu as he never changed his position. "They talked about at the beginning of the year, sayin' that the final exams were going to be takin' place in three different categories, your academics, your elective class, and your battlin'. It's not that big of a deal, but if ya fail your academic and battlin' finals, ya gotta take a few classes over the summer. I don't think a guy like my bro is gonna have any problems with this, though. Your elective final is more of a throw-away, more of just to see how ya did in the one subject you're supposed to be enjoyin', if ya catch my drift," he explained.
"How do you feel about it, Judai?" Natsu asked, Judai chocking on his food slightly as he sat back up straight. "Not good, huh?"
"Well, things could always be going better for me, let's just say that," he replied. "Amira-senpai won't be havin' much problem doin' it, so you two can have a bit of summer love goin' on there," he said mischievously, Natsu's face already turning a red color. "Maaya-senpai's grades have never been the best, but if she can get Takeru-senpai to help, she might be able to get some work done with that. Mika-senpai and Jiro-senpai are gonna be studyin' by themselves this year, and Mitsu-senpai and June-senpai are still tryin' to find some way of studyin'."
"What about the third year students?" Natsu asked, noticing that Judai never mentioned Kaname, Sienna, or Gabriel.
"Kaname-senpai is the student body president, and he holds that title for more than just the pretty face, let me tell ya," Judai answered. "Sienna-senpai is a bit of a mysterious one, she's not very well known outside of her being the dorm head for the dragon dorm. She's not as social with the rest of us, and she really only spends the most time with Kaname-senpai. So, that's really a coin flip. But if you're talkin' about the last one," he started, making a sharp inhale when he got to Gabriel. "Gabriel-senpai isn't as serious about his school life as other people are, and a lot of the teachers are really hard on him for it. That dude just has his own way of doin' things."
"Do you think everyone will be okay in the long run?" Natsu asked, Judai shaking his hand to show that it could go either way. "What do people do around summer time, anyway?"
"Hmm, seein' as you've been in trainin' for a good part of your life, it's understandable ya don't know," Judai noticed, sitting back in his chair. "Bein' in a private school like this, you have to wonder what some people do, but I guess most of them go home, or somethin' like that. But for us dorm heads, we gotta stay here in case somethin' happens at the school. The others told me we get to go to the beach durin' one of the weeks. Hey, good chance to check out Amira-senpai in a bathin' suit," he said, nudging Natsu on the shoulder as the images in his friend's mind became all to vivid for him to control.
Seeing Natsu's entire face erupt in a puff of smoke, Judai couldn't help but grin as he kept teasing his friend about his supposedly unconfirmed crush on the upperclassman. Looking out at the classroom, watching a lot of the other students in the room studying in a small group, Judai's face slowly turned into a grin as he turned back to Natsu, a mischievous grin on his face as he kept his toothy smile on him, a bead of sweat dropping from the latter's forehead.
"Why do I not have a good feeling about this?" Natsu questioned, backing off slightly as Judai watched the door open with Koichi walking into the room. "And how in the world is he every going to say 'no' to the kind of idea that Judai's already cooked up?" he continued on, Koichi beginning to write on the chalkboard before turning around to see Judai's raised hand.
"Rare occasion, the boy actually waited for me to call on him," Koichi said jokingly as Judai feigned amusement. "I know you want something, Ryuzaki. Every time you want something, you actually act like you care about who I am, or that I exist."
"Quick as a whip, sensei," Judai said, fanning the flames as he pointed back at Natsu. "Just thought I should give ya fair warning that the dorm heads were gonna be comin' over to your place for a little study party," he said, the other students in the class flabbergasted that he brought this up at that point, Koichi left without a word to say. "Wait for it," he said, counting down on his fingers until he reached zero, Koichi immediately throwing his papers into the air, and speeding down the aisle made by the desks to wear Judai was, bowing to him multiple times.
"I bow in respect to you, oh, great one," Koichi said, not making things any easier for Natsu, Judai keeping the same grin on his face as his plan had already been set in motion. "Tell you what, you two go on out and get the others to agree while I keep going," he said, dancing happily all the way back to the front of the room, none of the students too pleased to see that.
"I obviously didn't anticipate that part," Judai said, standing up from his seat, pulling Natsu along with him. "On the plus side, we get out of class for the moment. Go talk to June-senpai, and see if you can find Gabriel-senpai; he normally skips out on the class, so he'll either be off campus or wandering around the school," he said, Natsu nodding as the two went their separate ways.
"I wonder why Volantis-senpai doesn't like going to school like the others do," Natsu said, walking through the hallways, peeking through some of the windows to see if either of the two people he was supposed to talk to were there. "Even when I first met him, he said we was coming back from a part-time job, but I don't think he was working at the amusement park back then. He smelled like he was working in a restaurant, so why was he working down there when we saw him a few weeks ago. Why does he do all those jobs, and still not do well in school?"
As though it were fate, Gabriel began walking back down the pathway towards his classroom, looking down the way to see Natsu waving at him, seeming to hail him over. Sighing slightly, Gabriel began to increase his stride as he walked over to Natsu, leaning up against the wall next to him, just outside his classroom door.
"Um…, Judai wanted to know if you'd want to come to a study party tonight at the ghost dorm," Natsu said, almost forcing it out due to his own shyness. "I'm sure it's okay if you say no, I have to find June-senpai to see if she's coming, and then I-," he began saying, kind of rambling on as Gabriel looked down at him with a smirk in his eyes.
"I'll be there," he answered, Natsu looking up at him with surprise at how easily the answer came. "I'm gonna need some help with my finals, so if Kaname and Sienna are there, it might actually do me some good. Thanks for inviting me, Kohashigawa, see you there," he said, as Natsu thanked him, bowing as he left while Gabriel simply waved back to him before entering the classroom, all eyes turning towards him. "Hello to you too, sunshine."
"Need I remind your, Mr. Volantis, it is neither wise nor beneficial to appear in class late again," the teacher in the front said, turning back to the board as Gabriel took a quick seat in the back of the classroom, lifting his legs onto the table in front of him, looking back as Natsu's silhouette was still visible, running through the hallways to find June.
"I've said it before, Kohashigawa, you're one tough guy to figure out," he said. "Never mind the fact that you could pass of as a girl, you're completely committed to whatever you're told to do. Too bad I can't be like that; me, I just decide if it has any value to me, or not. Even when you asked me to do this thing, I just did it because of the chance to get some extra practice in before I meet my final verdict."
As class continued on for Gabriel, he simply kept thinking about what had happened earlier at his other job, tensing his grip against his other arm as he continued to shake his head out of frustration. "I need to pass these finals. I can't make any extra money by just being who I am, and battling for money is still illegal. Easy money, but I can't make any decent money from behind bars. Not to mention I'd never hear the end of it from my parents," he said to himself, looking at the window leading out back to the hallway, seeing Natsu's silhouette as well as Judai's, chuckling to himself. "Those two are obviously the best of friends, and I think that's what's been helping Kohashigawa. I remember when he first came here; the dude could've been afraid of his own shadow for all we knew, and now look at him. He's almost able to stomach being in the same room as a bunch of girls. He's smart, friendly, and pretty much everything a girl could want, and a few guys by the looks of it."
Back on the outside of Gabriel's classroom, Judai and Natsu began walking back down the hallway towards Amira's, Maaya's, and Takeru's class, the former noticing Natsu's face covered in red. Giving off a mischievous smile, Judai began nudging Natsu arm for information, which Natsu wasn't exactly too forthcoming with.
"Let me guess, ya almost had to fend off June-senpai with a chair and whip?" he asked, Natsu nodding as his answer. "Man, that girl isn't helpin' me with Amira-senpai," he said under his breath as Natsu looked up at him trying to figure out what he just said. "Oh, it's nothing. Although, I can't help but think that June-senpai's got a little crush on you, bro. The way she keeps hanging around you whenever she comes to the ghost dorm, and everything else she does to you. Might be wise to put a few people in between the two of you when we do this thing."
"Why doesn't Gabriel-senpai like coming to school?" Natsu asked, a little out of the blue, but Judai figured he had his reasons. "It's almost as though he wants to do something else, so why is that?" he asked, Judai looking back towards Gabriel's classroom with a smile.
"Gabriel-senpai is all about his future," Judai answered. "His last name is that same as the current CEO of the famous Casteliacone Company, so you can bet that he's loaded. And yet, he never seems to refer to himself as anythin' but his name. He doesn't want us to look at him with some kind of admiration or anything like, and he just seems to try to fit in with everyone else. I just think he doesn't want anyone to make a big deal out of who he is."
"So why does he do all of those jobs?" Natsu continued asking, Judai soon becoming at a loss for words. "If his family is so rich, then why does he always go to work instead of school?"
"That's a whole other issue altogether, bro," Judai said. "It's too bad that he don't like to talk about himself too much. I figured out the family angle just from goin' to that stand so many times. It's almost like he's tryin' to hide who he is. Ya could probably ask him yourself, but chances are, ya won't like the result. I heard a lot of people that try to get close to him are always shot down without a second thought. Although, in retrospect, I think that's only with the girls that keep on confessin' to him. I think that's why people always group you two together."
"What do you mean?" Natsu asked.
"Well, when ya first got here, a lot of buzz was goin' around like ya were the same kinda guy as Gabriel-senpai," Judai explained. "He didn't start comin' to school until his second year, from what I hear, and it was real sudden the way it was done. A lot of people thought it was some kinda mafia deal. Anyway, with the two of ya bein' so similar in your secrets, people started groupin' the two of ya together. I think I still got the doujin people were passin' around," he said, Natsu mouth hanging wide open. "What's more, both of ya have the same abilities in what the other is openly good at. Senpai can be real good with his grades, but he doesn't try, and you can be a fantastic battler if you just grow a spine. People think that you two are so different, you're the same. It also makes you the favorites to win the competition at the end of the year."
After going through the final group of dorm heads, Judai and Natsu had confirmation from all twelve dorm heads, and were beginning to make their way back to the ghost dorm for preparations, or more the show that went along with it. As the two left their classroom after their venture, both Judai and Natsu could already see the ghost dorm almost morphing in its shape as Cofagrigus and Jellicent, both of Koichi's pokémon, continually floated around the area, cleaning of every single surface. Looking forward at the front door, Natsu could see his Golett standing in the doorway, shaking his head from side to side as he pointed back into the ghost dorm with its thumb. Both Judai and Natsu cringed slightly as they reached the door, and peered inside, almost being thrown back out of shock at the sight.
"Obviously our teacher's been along for quite some time," Judai said almost afraid to step inside with the scent of the different cleaners invading his nose, and knowing any one of them could've been flammable. "If Monferno comes into this place, it's gonna go up in a mushroom cloud," he said, imitating an explosion as he took a few steps. "Call me when the smell dissipates, I'll get Torkoal ready for our training sessions," he said, Natsu nodding in understanding, walking in.
"Um, Koichi-san," Natsu started, covering his nose. "Don't you think this is a bit much?" he asked, Koichi stopping what was he was doing, holding two different aerosols in his hands, like they were guns, before turning around. "They're just staying overnight because we'll be studying for a long time, so I don't think you have to shine every surface," he said, placing his bag on the table, seeing it slowly slide along the surface until it fell to the ground.
"Maybe I am overdoing it," Koichi said, placing Natsu's bag back on the table, only for it to do the same thing again as the two simply watched. "But look it from my point of view. I haven't had more than three people sleep in this dorm for the past ten years, and now I'm having the most prominent students in the school all in one place for an entire twenty-four hour period. For me, this is like finding a legendary pokémon in the kind of position that just screams 'catch me.' This is a dream come true."
"Koichi-san really has been alone for a long time, hasn't he?" Natsu said to himself as he picked his bag up off from the ground, and made his way to the stairwell leading to his room. "Almost twice as long as I have been training Lampent, and I was alone for all that time, too. He did say that we have very different views of what it's like to be alone, and I think he's right. I guess I'll just have to tolerate this much for tonight," he said, taking one step towards the step, before slipping on the cleaner that was used to polish the wooden planks. "On second thought," he said, lying on the ground with Koichi looking as though he were having a stroke.
"You okay, Natsu?" Koichi asked, Natsu snapping his fingers as Lampent floated down from the stairs and back into the main living room, beginning to produce a few small sparks of fire. "You wouldn't," he said, Natsu looking up at him with a challenging face. "Yes, you would. Jellicent!" he shouted, the water and ghost mix floating in from the outside. "Drench the place," he said with tears in his eyes, his pokémon following the instructions to the letter.
"Are you still mad?" Koichi asked, running a blow dryer over the two sofas and the table in the center of the lobby area as Natsu continued to run a towel through his hair, keeping it draped over his head while taking a seat on the bottom step. "Jellicent's Water Pulse was able to wash away a lot of the effects from the cleaner that fell on the ground, but it still smells like it in here doesn't it," he said as Natsu pointed up at Lampent, already prepared to put the whole place up in smoke. "Alright, fine! It was my fault; I'm a bad person, or whatever you need me to say."
Natsu didn't say anything still, simply keeping his face hidden from behind the towel, much of his body still damp from Jellicent's quick cleaning job. His mind was still on Gabriel; he was brilliant, and he remembered how easily he was able to understand advanced geology, and yet, Judai kept talking about something like how he was going to have so many different problems during the finals. None of it made sense to him, but maybe it would to Koichi. Even though he was a teacher, he was more worried about his own agendas, so maybe he would know a little bit.
"Koichi-san, what do you know about Gabriel-senpai?" he asked, Koichi straightening up his stance before turning to him. "Everyone keeps saying how he doesn't like to come to school, do you know why that is?" he asked, Koichi giving a sigh before sitting down on the dried off sofa.
"Are you familiar with the principle that people are only afraid of what they don't understand?" Koichi asked. "Well, at the same time, people become easily fascinated with things they don't know a whole lot about, but only when he know it isn't dangerous. People became extremely enticed by him in his first year here because they only knew about his family. And truth be told, nobody knows anything past that much. A lot of people were actually convinced that he wasn't even a student, and just needed the title to keep him away from any potential dangers. In fact, the biker you took out as Reaper when you first came here, a few of the students thought that either you or the other guy was after him."
"So, why does nobody try to actually find the truth about him?" Natsu asked.
"It's too bad the world isn't as simple as we want it to be," Koichi said, running the blow dryer against the couch adjacent to him. "There are two reasons why people haven't learned more about him; first, he is extremely secretive, but not about his family. He doesn't care about who his family is, and he never hangs that over anyone's head, but about his personal life, he's never really opened about it. Everyone knows he does the part-time jobs, but that's about the extent of that knowledge."
"And what's the second reason?" Natsu asked.
"He's never been one to accept people into a surrogate family that a lot of people make when they come into a private school," Koichi said. "He's tried to keep to himself, even after he'd been named the dorm head for his element, and whenever he seems to be close to another person, he tries to distance himself from them before they can ever find out something incredibly personal. The only person he's never had a hard time being around is actually you. You've probably the longest standing friend he's had since he came here. If anyone's gonna break his shell, it's gonna have to be you."
As Koichi moved to finish his other preparations for their study group later that night, Natsu pulled the towel from his head, and moved back to the upper levels of the dorm building before entering his room. From what his teacher had just said previously, and what Judai had already talked about when it came to Gabriel, a lot of things weren't making sense, but the only way for them to start doing so was when everyone was together.
Judai returned to the dorm with Torkoal following sluggishly after him, no longer having to worry about completely torching the building, and waited in the center of the lobby with Natsu. As per the agreement with coming, the dorm heads were only to bring their secondary pokémon with them for their practice in their battling finals. As Golett sat with its legs crossed as though in meditation, Natsu stood up, and sat down in the small entryway, waiting for anyone else to walk in. Within a few minutes, the first few of the dorm heads began to walk in, Amira, Takeru, Maaya, Mika, and Jiro, all coming at the same time, with their pokémon Duosion, Heracross, Hitmonlee, Pidgeotto, and Tauros walking beside them.
"So, tell me how this is better than just studying by myself," Maaya said.
"Because we all know that if we leave ya by yourself, ya'll flunk at least three subjects, and you're gonna hafta battle a ghost type with that Hitmonlee of yours, knowin' your luck," Judai said, Maaya not as amused as she sat down on one of the seats around the large table. "Actually, I heard that if you hear the same thin' from more than one person, it fits in your head a bit more easily. So maybe Takeru-senpai won't hafta tell you for the thirtieth time," he said, chuckling, and then looking up at Maaya, instantly regretting what I said.
As the violence ensued, both Jiro and Takeru continued to watch as Mika kept applauding both Maaya and Judai as the latter continued to try and escape from the brutal attacks. Natsu, instead, watched both of them with a bead of sweat dropping from his forehead with a nervous chuckle as he looked over at Amira who held up her notebook for him to read.
"I hope it's not too much of a problem with us staying overnight, like this," she wrote, Natsu looking back at Koichi, the teacher's eyes producing a river of tears, primarily of joy.
"I don't think it's that big of an issue," Natsu said while chuckling. "I'm just sorry that we kind of asked you at the last minute to come to this, and you may even end up helping me or Judai out with our studies," he said, bowing apologetically.
"I don't really mind, it's a good review for me to help others with their studies," Amira wrote. "Besides, maybe I can even get Maaya-chan to study seriously, so she doesn't have to make up those classes during the summer," she wrote, both of them chuckling together at the idea as Judai was able to pick up on it just slightly while sticking his thumb out of the dust cloud made by the continuous blows from Maaya.
"That's right, my brother, continue your relationship, and soon I will have made you a man among men," Judai said with tears similar to Koichi's as another figure appeared at the door, everything stopping as Natsu walked past, and opened it. "If not for one major roadblock," Judai said to himself, seeing June in the door, her smile wide, running her fingers through Natsu's hair.
"Your hair smells so nice, tonight," June said, looking a bit disappointed. "You must've taken a bath already. That's too bad, I was hoping to make this night really special," she said teasingly, Natsu's entire face erupting into a puff of smoke as he quickly ran back to the table, Maaya also catching a whiff of some of his hair. "You don't know how to take a joke, do you, Natsu-kun?"
"That's beside the point," Maaya said, stepping on top of Judai once to get to where Natsu was. "His hair smells exactly like the shampoo my brother used to make me use. This is too rich," he said, quickly looking over at Takeru. "Take note of this, I've got so much to use against this kid, it isn't even funny, now. Unless I decide to sell his secrets online," she said, Natsu letting out a depressed sigh as he looked back over towards the door.
"My sister used to take away all the shampoo in our house so I had to use hers," Natsu explained. "She thought it was funny to make even more like a girl; give my dad another excuse to try and toughen me up. She was always able to find out where I was in Unova, and sent more bottles to me via the PokéMart. I'm on the last one right now."
"I don't know what's worse about that whole thing," Jiro said. "The fact you're sister was that possessive, or that you actually bothered to use them for this long."
"I didn't want to waste her money by throwing them away," Natsu answered.
"So you decided that sabotaging your own masculinity was the better option," a voice said from the doorway, leading to Kaname with Sienna, Mitsu, and Gabriel in tow. "I found the others, so I figured we'd all come together as a group," he said, walking up into the room. "May as well get started, then, what do you say?" he suggested, the others, Mitsu walking past Natsu with a studying look in her eye.
"Is it really possible that Natsu-kun is actually the Reaper in disguise?" she said to herself, sitting directly across from Natsu, staring directly at him. "He just doesn't seem like the kind of person capable of that kind of control over some of his pokémon," she tried to convince herself as Judai pushed Amira to the seat directly next to Natsu, both of their cheeks becoming flush from the close proximity. "And with that lack of backbone, can you blame me?"
Mitsu continued to be more interested in studying Natsu than she was in her open book as the others all began, looking down in their textbooks, writing down everything they could, Maaya and Mika taken aback slightly at the speed Takeru was writing at. As Mitsu took small glances between her own book and Natsu, she noticed his eyes beginning to dim as he looked at the book, passively writing down what he read while holding his head up in his open hand, trying to keep from what look liked was an sudden onset of sleepiness. In the same way, Mitsu noticed a similar expression on Gabriel's face as he was trying even less to conceal his boredom.
"If he isn't even going to take this seriously, then why bother coming here?" Mitsu asked, looking over at Natsu again, seeing his notebook almost completely full with different kinds of formulas. "Like oil and water, those two. They both seem to hate this just as much, and yet it's like they're forcing themselves to do this. But why? Gabriel needs to pass his finals to keep himself from having to take summer school, and missing out on working, but Natsu-kun, he seems to be legitimately forcing himself to do this."
Over where Gabriel was seated, each passing second to seem pass by all the slower as the silence was broken only by the nondescript whispers between people, noting flaws in the formulation, small instructions of equation balancing, and all other manner of questions. Gabriel's mind, however, was filled with a different sound; it wasn't sad, more like it was angry. Each voice he could hear in his mind was shouting at him, small silhouettes forming in his mind, and began to look as though they were throwing something. Among them, a single person simply stood by and watched as the others pelted something with a flurry of stones until they stepped in their way. Flinching as the shadows began to morph back into nothingness, Gabriel looked back forward, seeing Natsu staring at him through his peripheral.
"He knows something," Gabriel said, looking back down at his work, still seeing the small flickering of Natsu's eyes towards him. "Just by looking at me, he can already tell that much about me. What else does he know, and isn't telling us?" he asked, hearing one of the pencils being placed back on the table, all of the people in the room looking up to see Kaname straightening out his back.
"No offense to the rest of you, but I think that cramming like this isn't the way to do things," he said, the others silently agreeing. "I say we come back to this after a bit of battle training, what do you say?" he asked, Gabriel giving a large sigh of relief as Maaya's tension began to rise through the roof as she gave a loud cheer.
"All right, now that's what I'm talking about," she said excitedly, pointing over to Natsu. "It's time I finally get some payback for our first battle," she declared, Natsu chuckling nervously with a bead of sweat dropping from his forehead, Mitsu sneering slightly.
"Why not make things more interesting, and make them all tag team battles?" she suggested, Maaya looking down at her surprised, but still satisfied with the idea. "I'll battle on Maaya-chan's team, and how about Gabriel-senpai battles with Natsu-kun," she said, telling the others to divvy up the pairings for the rest of them amongst themselves.
As all twelve people stood up with their pokémon following after, Natsu looked back at Gabriel, the rock type trainer giving a thumbs-up to his partner, eliciting a smile from him, even if just for a moment. The large field out behind the ghost dorm was designed for simple battles, having a single battlefield marked, most of it done like an amateur. As per Mitsu's suggestion, the battles were placed in tag-team matches with each team having two people; Mitsu and Maaya against Natsu and Gabriel, Kaname and Sienna against Judai and June, and Amira and Takeru against Jiro and Mika. Deciding their own practice to be first, Mitsu and Maaya walked to one end of the battlefield, and Natsu and Gabriel did the same, standing on the opposite side.
After stepping out from the dorm with them, Koichi saw that all four battlers had already taken their places with the other eight watching, and walked towards the center field with Natsu's and Mitsu's teams. Lifting up his hands, Koichi saw their main battling pokémon were readying themselves, throwing his hands down in a single motion, all four pokémon converging at the center of the their respective battlefields. Natsu looked over across the edge of his battlefield, seeing Maaya's eyes all too excited for this, but Mitsu's a bit different. She was expecting something, something Natsu wasn't sure would be a good idea to show her.
"Hitmonlee, we'll finish this fast," Maaya said, pointing down across the way to Golett. "Show them that we're no one-trick Ponyta," she said, Hitmonlee charging forwards first, toward Golett, extending its right leg as far out as it could. "Last time, I lost to you because of your immunity to my attacks, but I've been training so I could surpass that weakness for a while now, you brat," Maaya explained, Natsu more than a little nervous as to what she meant.
Mere inches away from Golett, Hitmonlee extended its foot even further out, a small flicker appearing from the sole of its foot, eventually erupting into a large cast of fire all around its leg. Thrusting its leg forward, Hitmonlee struck Golett directly in the chest, the ground type caught off guard from the shock of its new move. Sliding across the grassy field, Golett pushed Hitmonlee back towards the other end of the field, Natsu still left surprised.
"Her Hitmonlee can use Blaze Kick now?" Natsu questioned, seeing only a small flame left from the attack burning on Hitmonlee's foot before stopping it out. "That means the weakness Hitmonlee had of not being able to fight my ghost types is completely ineffective now. Now what do we do?" he kept asking, seeing Gabriel's Tirtouga groggily moving out to the middle of the battlefield, its trainer smirking at his teammate.
"Kohashigawa, you're gonna have to run defense for this battle," Gabriel said. "Tirtouga should have enough power to dowse that Hitmonlee's attack if it should come again, but right now it's not going to be enough to also take care of that Sneasel," he explained, referencing Mitsu's pokémon. "Here's the plan…," he said, whispering it into Natsu's ear, a look of shock on his face, looking back up at him surprised. "Now! Tirtouga, use Shell Smash," he called out, the water and rock type beginning to shake itself violently as Sneasel began running through the field towards its target.
"Sneasel, as soon as he's done with the attack, get ready with a Metal Claw," Mitsu said calmly, folding her arms over her chest as Sneasel continued speeding across the stage, making a zigzag pattern as it ran at Tirtouga, the pokémon's shell beginning to look as though it had been whittled away at, small chunks of stone falling from it.
"Shell Smash automatically raises a pokémon's attack, special attack, and speed stats, but also greatly decreases the same pokémon's defense and special defense stats," Natsu relayed in his head. "If Gabriel-senpai is planning to raise his attack, and for me to play defense, what does want me to do?" he asked, looking out at the battlefield, Sneasel within a few seconds of attack Tirtouga, the fossil pokémon allowing the last few pieces of its excess shell to be taken off. "That's it!" Natsu realized calling out to Golett, and simply motioning for Tirtouga.
As Sneasel brought its claw down, the normal bone structure quickly turning to cold steel, slashing down on Tirtouga, it's attack was cut short by a single outstretched arm from Golett, the ground pokémon standing so it faced Tirtouga. Seeing the same kind of metallic sheen on its body, Mitsu chuckled slightly as she snapped her fingers, Sneasel jumping directly over Golett's shoulders, and back towards Tirtouga. As though within the same instance, Golett gripped onto Sneasel's leg, and pulled the dark and ice type back down to the ground, throwing it across the field. Gabriel, seeing the action Golett took, and smirked at his partner.
"Now, it's our turn," Gabriel said. "Tirtouga, blast 'em with Hydro Pump!" he commanded, Tirtouga rearing its head back, and then thrusting it forward with a continuous stream of water being forced through it. "Try to get past this, why don't you?"
Both Hitmonlee and Sneasel saw the path of the attack, and expertly jumped out of its path, allowing it to easily pass by them, Sneasel looking back forward to see Golett almost flying to it with a fist glowing in power. Spinning around once in the air, Golett caught Sneasel, carrying it with the force of its attack, and then launching it across the field on its back, damaged, but not beaten. As Hitmonlee charged back forward at Tirtouga, the fighting type launched itself off into the air, seeing Golett charging towards it. While in the air, Hitmonlee began tumbling end over end, eventually breaking out of the stance, and extending its leg down at Tirtouga.
"Tirtouga," Gabriel started. "Stone Edge," he said casually, Tirtouga's eyes beginning to shine in a harsh light as the ground beneath it began to rumble uncontrollably. "Being able to dodge from the ground as a land-based pokémon is much easier than dodging from the air, you know."
As if on cue, a series of small, sharpened stones began to expel themselves from the ground, and shoot themselves up towards Hitmonlee, still in midair, and unable to change the direction it fell in. Seeing the stones about to attack it, Hitmonlee began to curl its body into another ball, and then tumbled in the air once more, swinging its other leg downward, forcing the stones back down to the ground, stabbing into the soil, or being broken apart by the sheer force of Hitmonlee's kicking power.
Hitmonlee sneered down at Tirtouga, now on a clear course down to where it was sitting helplessly, simply looking up at its assailant, with no visible fear in its eyes. Making a final flip in the air, Hitmonlee kicked straight down, seeing a small movement in Tirtouga, barely noticeable to anyone else. Within seconds, Maaya was left in shock, seeing her Hitmonlee flying through the air, parts of its body scratched up, several sharp stones flying out just over its body. Gabriel simply looked down at the battlefield, his smile confident, staring down at Maaya, shrugging his shoulders as a means of mocking.
As Hitmonlee stood back up, and charged back at Tirtouga, the fighting type pokémon was met by an even quicker blow as another powerful blast of water attacked it, Tirtouga barely moving as its Hydro Pump attack continued on. Hitmonlee, doing its best to fight the attack off instead of dodging off to the side, swung its leg around, trying to block some of the water, began to spin constantly on a single leg with the other acting more like a kind of barrier, blocking as much water as it could. Looking off to its side, Hitmonlee could see Golett beginning to charge at it, cringing slightly as it kept its focus on pushing back Tirtouga's Hydro Pump. Expecting its attack sooner, Hitmonlee opened its eyes, seeing Sneasel beginning to fight it back, slashing at the ghost and ground mix with its claws coated in metal, Golett's body coating itself in the same way.
"Metal Claw is constantly increasing Mitsu-senpai's attack power, but Iron Defense is keeping the damage from growing at too fast a rate," Natsu said, looking over at Gabriel, his eyes completely focused on the battle in front of him. "It's like he's a different person in battle. Back when we were studying for the academics, he was half-asleep, barely paying attention, but now that he's in battle, it's like everything has been increased for him. His drive, his desire, and his motivation to win," he said, looking out at the battlefield, Golett holding its arms in defense while hardening its body with Iron Defense, and Sneasel constantly slashing at with Iron Claw. "Why is Mitsu-senpai fighting so seriously? She's not going to have enough energy with her Sneasel to do well on her test. So why?"
"Come on, kid," Mitsu said to herself, gritting her teeth slightly. "Show me that side of you. That old man knows who you are, and soon I will too, but you have to fight me with all your strength, otherwise you'll lose the respect of your pokémon. Would you trade that for your own protection?" she asked, half expecting Natsu to answer.
Despite her wishes, Golett did nothing to fight back, just defended against her attacks, Sneasel constantly attacking it with its claws glowing in a deep red sheen with each increase of its attack state. Seeing Golett's stats raise in the same way, a green light surrounding it with the elevation of its defensive power, Mitsu chuckled slightly, motioning for Sneasel.
"Sneasel, we've had enough fun," she said, Natsu looking up at her with a nervous look on his eyes. "We won't see it today. End this with Punishment," she commanded calmly, Sneasel jumping back away from Golett, holding both of its claws over its face.
Sneasel snickered as both of its claws, and the majority of its forearms were cloaked in a alternating black and red light, the colors converging faster and faster together as it made a quick dash for Sneasel. Gabriel, taking his eyes off of Tirtouga and Hitmonlee, their continuous stalemate continuing, saw the attack beginning to charge with Sneasel, and Golett placing its arms over its body.
"Kohashigawa! Don't do it!" he shouted, Natsu giving the frantic order for another Iron Defense, Golett's body beginning to harden with a metal sheen over its body. "Tirtouga, cover him!" he shouted, Tirtouga breaking off the attack, speeding as much as it could into Sneasel's path, but even the increase in speed wasn't enough to get in the way of Mitsu's pokémon.
Running its claws against the ground, Sneasel gave out a large roar before slashing directly downward at Golett, Tirtouga not having enough time to reach it, the resulting explosion, almost enough to engulf the entire back area. As the black and red shadows began to disappear away from where Sneasel struck down, and the dust in the air dissipated, Sneasel looked up, and could see Golett standing firm in its place. Some of the other trainers began to cheer before Takeru began counting down on his fingers, reaching zero with Golett falling down to the ground beneath it. It's fall was instant, no bending in its knees, and instead was like a wall falling down flat. Natsu held out his pokéball, returning Golett, the fallen warrior giving a hollow sigh.
"Punishment causes more damage the more an opponent's pokémon's stats have increased," Natsu said. "I wasn't thinking, and because of that, I lost. I'm sorry, Gabriel-senpai," he said bowing as Gabriel turned his head back to the battlefield.
"Tirtouga, we're done having our fun," Gabriel said, cracking his neck from side to side. "Use two more Shell Smash attacks, and finish this," he said, Tirtouga flipping onto its back, and shattering more of its shell as it did.
Repeating this process one more time, Tirtouga's original tough exterior was replaced by a thin stone layer, almost revealing the rest of its body. Looking at the pathetic state of its defenses, Hitmonlee was the first to attack, running up to it, and swinging a single kick down towards the ground like an axe. As it landed, Hitmonlee was met by a quick attack from behind, more sharpened stones bludgeoning its body before it fell to its knees, Tirtouga already behind it, no emotion in its eyes, but only the battle its only focus. Watching Hitmonlee fall to the ground face first, Maaya quickly returned it, not showing any reaction, but obviously infuriated as she gripped her pokéball.
"We end this now, Ichihana," Gabriel said, snapping his fingers as Tirtouga quickly turned around to face Sneasel, both of the pokémon looking like they were ready to attack.
Letting out a wild cackle, Sneasel held out its claws, the same black and red shadow erupting from the ends of its arms, the amount of stat changes in Tirtouga creating a massive amount of power in Sneasel's Punishment. Taking a small jump in its first step, Sneasel began running, barely touching the ground with its feet, its claws outstretched behind it. Tirtouga simply reared its body back, looking like it was ready to strike, but always waited, allowing Sneasel to slash down with its attack, an even larger explosion occurring from the increased in stat growth for the opponent. As the dust cleared, the others saw Sneasel inches away from Tirtouga, its arms beginning to release the shadows into the air.
"And so it ends," Gabriel said, Sneasel falling to the ground, it's body drenched. "One Hydro Pump from point-blank range is enough to make most pokémon faint. Constant use of Shell Smash makes it so my speed increases with each use, and really it was all a matter of whether your Sneasel was faster than my Tirtouga," he said, Mitsu returning Sneasel to her pokéball.
Walking back away from the battlefield, Gabriel took a seat back inside the ghost dorm, laying himself out on the large sofa, four of the other students walking towards the battlefield, and Koichi motioning for Natsu. As soon as Natsu walked up to him, he was pulled aside, the others barely noticing as Koichi pulled Natsu's head close enough to speak without being heard by anyone else.
"What was that?" he asked, probably referring to his previous defeat. "You knew all about Punishment's effect on a pokémon that kept using status moves, and yet you used it directly before, making things even worse. Explain that to me."
"The way Mitsu-senpai stared at me," Natsu began, looking back at Mitsu as she leaned against the siding of the dorm building. "She knows something. When I first met her, she didn't strike me as a person who could be so violent in battle, and even then, she would never push her pokémon so hard to the point of exhaustion. She was trying to force something out of me. I think she's been figuring something pretty particular about me, and I think you know who I'm referring to," he said, Koichi nodding as he answered. "I can't say anything for sure, so at the time, it was just easier to throw the match to keep suspicions from being placed on me."
The other two battles went on without so much as a hint of overexertion from the pokémon, or the trainers, Natsu being one of the first to walk in, finding Gabriel still asleep on the couch, and then walked over into the kitchen area.
"You guys can keep on studying, I'm going to make us something to eat," Natsu said, Koichi following him inside. "I don't really need any help with this, sensei. I know how to make enough food for everyone," he said, Koichi not exactly looking as though he were going to help.
"I'm not worried about that," Koichi said. "Besides, I can't cook, you know that. I'm more worried about the fact that you suspect Ichihana-san of knowing about Reaper. I mean, when do you think she put it all together? This obviously wasn't a long time coming, otherwise we'd see something in the way she looked at over the last few weeks. She probably came to revelation a little while ago, probably not more than a week. Did anything happen then?"
"Just the day that Jiro-senpai went on his date," Natsu answered.
"You guys all separated after you and Ryuzaki put your plan into action," Koichi reminded him. "Something may have happened at that time, and maybe she found something, or someone, who knew something. Do you think she got Ryuzaki to talk?"
"As long as he plans to get me into a relationship with Amira-senpai, he seems to be keeping himself pretty tight-lipped about the whole thing," Natsu said, looking out at the others, acting much like how they were earlier, but he noticed how much more serious minded Gabriel was. "Besides, it's just a thought I had to try and explain why she was battling so hardcore with Sneasel. It's nothing more than an idea I had."
"For your sake, let's hope so," Koichi said, walking back out, watching the others as they worked, and turning his gaze onto Mitsu. "If she really does know something, she's either very good at keeping it a secret, or not too sure of her suspicions yet. Reaper is still a prominent figure within the world of underground battling, but his appearances have been far and few between, making suspicions about him rise."
As Natsu walked out of the kitchen, holding a few trays, the others quickly removed their materials, watching him place each of the large trays on the table, both of them having six different smaller trays with a basic meal for each of them.
"Wow, bro, that looks good," Judai noted, leaning over to Amira. "Keep that in mind when ya think of who your boyfriend's gonna be; my bro can cook, and turn that ol' phrase around on ya. The best way to anyone's heart is their stomach," he said, Amira's face becoming a distinct red tint, as Natsu leaned over towards him, Judai shrugging his shoulders. "Call it sowin' the seeds of love. You'll be thankin' me for this later, I assure ya."
"I doubt that," Natsu said quietly as he took his seat with the others, everyone else having already started eating. "Well, they seem to like it," he said to himself, content with the job he had done. "With my elective being cooking, I guess it's good I got this practice in before my test," he said, noticing the way Gabriel was posed. With one hand on his food, feeding himself, and the other still looking through his textbook, writing down everything he saw, Natsu couldn't help but smirk. "I guess he's finally starting to get serious about this."
As the others finished up their own meals, Natsu began taking much of their trays away, Judai suggesting to Amira that she help with the dishes, to which she reluctantly agreed. Back in the kitchen, the two began washing dishes in silence, Judai and Maaya peeking their heads inside while the others were taking a break from their own studying, minus Gabriel, still busily writing in his notebook, not stopping despite the others telling him to. As both Natsu and Amira were trapped in the small space, the two continued passing dishes in between each other in near, until Natsu reached his hand out a bit too far, causing Amira to shriek slightly as Natsu caught the plate before it fell to the ground.
"I-I'm sorry, Amira-senpai," Natsu said, backing up a bit so he could in apology.
"No, it was my fault for being afraid of everything," Amira replied with her notepad, grabbing the next dish, trying to act as though nothing had just happened.
"Um…," Natsu started out, Amira turning to him, both of their faces colored red. "A-Amira-senpai? I-If you want to, s-sometime, maybe, y-you'd like to go…," he started, Judai's mouth almost becoming from dislocated from his jaw at where the sentence was leading, watching Natsu continually stumbling over his words as he tried to force the last part out.
"What are you two doing in here!" Maaya shouted from the door, Natsu instantly straightening up before turning back away from the door and Maaya. "Hey, Amira, he can take care of the rest, why don't you help us out here? One of these problems doesn't make sense," she said, Judai opening his mouth in anger about to say something before clenching his jaw and running into the kitchen next to Natsu.
"Bro, what happened?" he asked, almost frantically. "Ya were this close. Ya could've had an actual date with Amira-senpai. Why does this always have to happen? It's like Arceus is tryin' to drive the two of ya so far apart, you'll be in separate regions by the end of this."
"He may as well," Natsu said, holding himself up on the counter, looking as though he were going to cry. "I was thinking of everything you've done to help me get close to her, and yet my mouth wouldn't let the words come out. I thought the hard work that Gabriel-senpai is doing to pass his finals, and here I am, not doing anything important because I'm too afraid of letting people know who I am," he said, tensing up his grip on the counter top. "Sometimes I wish I was more like you, Judai. You're so cool with the way you can always joke around with people, and the way you can look at the good in any kind of situation."
"Hey, bro, listen," Judai started, leaning his back against the countertop next to Natsu. "I was told a long time that no matter who you are, if there's a person who loves ya, they won't care how long they have to wait. The people we love are the kinds that don't care how long they wait, they only care about the end, not the means."
"Are you sure?" Natsu asked.
"Of course, 'sides if Amira-senpai does like ya, she'll probably more apt to make the first move, anyway, so ya could just present yourself on a silver platter," he said, chuckling as he saw Natsu's face turning a bright red color as he quickly went back to washing the remaining dishes. "Ah, my bro, I'll get the two of ya together, yet, just ya wait."
As Natsu walked back out of the kitchen, he saw Koichi curled into a small ball, mumbling pathetically as he looked out in the room, and saw the others beginning to grab their things.
"Are you guys leaving already?" he asked, receiving a quick hug from June.
"Why? Did you really want me to spend the night with you?" she asked as Natsu began to heat with the blush. "We still have other things to get ready for, and it's not late, anyway. Hey, it's not like it's gonna get any darker for me, so it's not that big of a deal. We'll probably get to hang out more after summer begins. Can't wait to see you on the beach, Natsu-kun," she said with a wink as Natsu shuddered slightly.
"Thanks for letting me come over to study, back at my place, it doesn't come easy," Gabriel said, one of the last people to leave before Natsu grabbed his arm. "Can I help you with something, Kohashigawa?" he asked, Natsu leading him outside the dorm, and out past the side of the building. "So what is this? Some kind of interrogation?"
"I just want to know," Natsu began. "Why did you get so much more serious towards the end of that battle, and during your studying after we came back in?" he asked, Gabriel chuckling slightly as he sat down in the grass, leaning the back of his head against the wall.
"When I was a kid, I wasn't really allowed to play with the others at my school, or around town," Gabriel said. "The family name tends to carry a lot of water, but only when you're an adult, but it only means that you're not supposed to be played with when you're a kid. Born with the Volantis name isn't something I like to brag about, especially when people only know me for what my parents are known for, and when I would go out looking for people to play with, it was a time where I could hang out with people like me. Social outcasts are the people at the most extreme ends of the socio-economic ladder, the incredibly wealthy, and the extremely poor."
"Did you ever find any friends?" Natsu asked.
"Eventually, but at first, they didn't want to be around me, either," he said, the silhouettes of the children throwing rocks at his younger self. "They thought I was just looking down on them, trying to give them charity of being a rich kid's friend. Maybe that's how it was back then, but I soon found that they were giving me the charity. There was this girl that was this orphanage I used to visit all the time, Carmen. Oh, she was such a fun girl to be around. Everyone loved her, and when I had to leave for this school, it felt like I was being taken away from the most important thing in my life."
"Did you ever see her again?" Natsu kept inquiring, Gabriel more than happy to answer.
"Every time I go back to Castelia," he answered. "But when I met you, there was a reason I challenged you to a battle almost immediately. I wanted to see how much we were a like; two people, keeping such big secrets from everyone, but starting out with nobody else in our lives. When I look at you, I see the boy I used to be, searching for the people I thought I could help, but instead find that you're being helped all the time."
"I feel like I'm being helped all the time," Natsu admitted. "Every day I spend in this school is like a new adventure for me. Between the people who all love me, and the people who would rather see me dead, it's like I'm still in training, and every day I'm on a new route in Unova, just trying to survive with my partners."
"I believe that people should be themselves all the time, Kohashigawa," Gabriel said, standing back up. "If you have to have people help you, instead of being to help them, but you find friends out of it, I say it's better than helping everyone, and having no friends from it. Nobody should have to live the way I did for so long. I have no regrets about the way I lived my life, but nobody should have to look at my life with envy."
You still didn't answer my question," Natsu noted as Gabriel gave a large sigh before stuffing his hands into his pockets.
"When I saw you holding back against Yoshida and Ichihana, I saw even more of myself in you," Gabriel said. "People look at us as the best this place has to offer, and I think you deserve better than that. You don't have to be some school idol; you're not like the rest of us, I wanted you to see what you could've done to win that battle, because I know that when we all battle at the end of this school year, you are going to be the one that shows all of us what true power is."
"I've read a lot about the legends of Aura, and how that we all seem to have our own essence that tells people who we truly are inside, like with astrology," Natsu started. "And when I think of you, Gabriel-senpai, I don't think that I could narrow you down to a single kind of Aura. I know that you have an Aura of Wisdom; you understand that the end is really the most important thing, but along with that, there are the means in which they are taken through."
"So you already knew why I was studying harder afterwards," Gabriel said.
"The other Aura is something I don't think a lot of people see in you a lot," Natsu started. "When I look at you, I see a gentle Aura, an Aura of Compassion. You think of others at all times; everything you do is for someone else, and you never expect anything out of it. You've helped me, and the rest of us, so many times, and I don't think I've ever thanked you for that. So let me say it now; thank you."
Gabriel was speechless; they were such simple words, why did they convey such meaning. His mind could see the silhouette of the girl holding her arm out for Gabriel's younger self, keeping the other kids from throwing more rocks. He began questioning himself; did he ever say thank you? Did he ever tell that person what her actions meant? Would he ever? Gabriel's mind was full of unanswered questions, but all he knew right then and there was that Natsu was even more formidable in his eyes now than ever. Gabriel began walking back to his dorm, ruffling up Natsu's hair as he walked by, Natsu following directly after, suddenly finding his path blocked by Mitsu.
"Mitsu-senpai," Natsu said, still a bit shocked form seeing her so suddenly. "Is there something I can do for you?" he asked, Mitsu shrugging her shoulders as she began walking away from the building towards her own.
"The Don sends his regards," Mitsu said, calmly, but confidently. Natsu stood there, motionless, his eyes conveying confusion; it wasn't what she wanted to see, and so just walked away. "Maybe I'm just being silly. Even still, he might be as good an actor as me," she said to herself, seeing Natsu walk into his dorm building, Koichi still crushed that the others hadn't stayed like he wanted them to.
Seeing Natsu in the state he was in, though, Koichi stood back up, seeing the look of shock and fear on his face. His eyes were wide, scared, and shaking as he looked down at his hands, looking as though they were flashing as rapidly as possible. He looked up, the scenery of the room gone, and nothing but the form of a large man, his suit a midnight black, his face covered by a large fedora hat, but his laugh; it was all he needed to terrify Natsu. Cackling like he had just won something, the man in his mind struck the ground beneath him with a cane, and walked away. With each of the sights passing by like pictures being thrown back and forth, Natsu held his head in pain, Koichi grabbing onto him to keep him steady.
"Natsu, what is it, what's wrong?" he asked, Natsu's eyes still shot, and trembling in his teacher's grip. "You're normally not like this, what scared you?"
"The Don," Natsu said. "The Don's back…"
Characters:
Gabriel Volantis: Archen & Tirtouga. WereDragon EX
Natsu Kohashigawa: Lampent & Golett. NightFall00
Judai Ryuzaki: Monferno & Torkoal. Jexo
Amira Khumalo: Kirlia & Duosion. FlyPandaBear
Maaya Yoshida: Hitmonchan & Hitmonlee. Emmausgirl94
Takeru Sanjero: Mothim & Heracross. Moth's Aflame
Jiro Matsushita: Bibarel & Tauros. GoldenfeatherKyru
Mika Saito: Ledian & Pidgeotto. Cyanide the Sneasel
June Kurosaki: Lairon & Skarmory. Lady Island Rose
Kaname Misaki: Sableye & Absol. Ariesbird
Sienna Smith: Vibrava & Fraxure. Fluttersong
Mitsuta "Mitsu" Ichihana: Glaceon & Sneasel. Crossroader92
Chapter ten complete. I am so sorry that took so long, but with me trying to get a passport and everything else in my life, it's been difficult. Sorry for making an excuse like that, and with my other stories I wanted to bring this one back in the public eye, and I think I'm making some real progress with this story. Obviously, it's been going pretty well by the reviews I've gotten, and chances are, I'll be able to update within the next week, because the next chapter is the one I wanted to do in the first place. Yes, it is going to be June's chapter, and I am really excited about it. As always, thank you for reading my chapter, and I apologize for the length, it's my OCD, I just hope you found the content to be enjoyable, and foreshadowing into events, yet to pass. Until we meet again, ja nee.