Kukui yawned and stretched as he walked down the beach. He felt sore all over. It had been an incredibly long day, and he would have an equally long day tomorrow, and the day after that. His lifelong dream was finally becoming a reality. He was excited, but also absolutely exhausted. It wasn't easy to organize a whole pokémon league, especially since he was doing it practically on his own. Kukui knew that all of this work would be worth it, but that didn't mean that he didn't need a nap...or the chance to sleep for a week when all of this was over.

Kukui had to practically drag his feet up the steps to his house. It was much later than he would normally come home. The sun had set hours ago, and Kukui knew that Ash and Burnet were probably already asleep. Kukui was a little disappointed that he probably wouldn't be able to see them until morning, but it wasn't anything he hadn't expected. This was just one of the sacrifices that he would have to make for the next coming weeks.

Kukui blinked rapidly to try to get his eyes to be less heavy as he opened the front door and went inside. All of the lights were off, so the first thing that Kukui did was turn on the kitchen lights. He was really tired and just wanted to go downstairs and get some sleep, but he really shouldn't yet. Kukui hadn't eaten anything since lunch, nearly twelve hours ago.

Kukui opened the fridge with a frown as he tried to think of something filling, but would be quick to make. He didn't really feel like eating anything, but he knew he really should. He needed to be responsible about eating food when he needed it, not just when he thought he wanted it.

Kukui sighed and closed the fridge door. He turned to the rest of the kitchen and blinked at what he saw. The kitchen wasn't exactly dirty, but Kukui could see clear signs that it hadn't exactly been cleaned very well. Kukui could see water streaks on the counter, like too much water had been used when washing things down, and they hadn't been dried properly. There was a thin line of dirt on the floor, like someone had tried sweeping, but couldn't figure out how to get all of the dirt into the dust pan. Kukui also thought he saw foot shaped smudges on the counter, just beneath some of the higher cupboards. It looked like Ash had tried to clean the kitchen.

Kukui grinned fondly as he grabbed a sponge and quickly cleaned up the smudges and streaks. He also wiped up the small amount of dirt on the floor. In just a minute of effort from Kukui, the kitchen was completely clean. Ash may not have done a perfect job, but he'd done good enough, and Kukui really appreciated it.

As Kukui put the sponge back in the sink he noticed a covered bowl sitting on the counter. It looked like there was a note on it. Curious, Kukui leaned over to look at the note. From the handwriting he could immediately tell that it was from Ash.

Hey, Professor. Professor Burnet worked late today, so I thought I'd make dinner for all of us. I'm not sure how good it is, but it was a lot of fun to make! I made a really big mess in the kitchen though. I tried to clean it, but I don't know how good I did.

If you don't like what I made, that's okay. I just made it up as I went. You really don't have to eat it, but you should at least eat something.

I hope that putting together the pokémon league is going okay. I can't wait to compete in it! I'll see you tomorrow, Professor,

-Ash

Kukui smiled as he saw the note. Ash was always willing to go above and beyond to help out around the house, but there was a difference between a child doing ocasional chores, and them cooking and cleaning for the whole family because the adults were too busy. When Ash had first come here, Kukui had been planning on taking care of the boy. He never would have guessed that Ash would take care of him and Burnet as well. He really appreciated it.

Kukui set the note on the counter and uncovered the bowl. He had expected a simple dish, something like eggs or rice. He was really surprised when he saw a poke bowl. It wasn't exactly a complicated dish, but certainly more than Kukui would expect a child to make. Kukui picked up the bowl and gave the food a try.

It wasn't anything absolutely extraordinary, and Kukui hadn't expected it to be. Ash was a child, not a professional chef, or even anybody who was in the habit of making food for himself, let alone for others. It wasn't half bad though. Actually, Kukui thought it was better than some of the things he'd thrown together when he was on his own and couldn't be bothered to put a lot of effort into anything.

It was only after Kukui started eating did he realize just how hungry he was. He ate all of it in record time. It wasn't a perfect dish. Ash had gone a little overboard with the spices and flavoring, so it was a little uneven, and some completely raw vegetables had been added that didn't really go with the raw fish, but it wasn't the biggest mistake in cooking that someone could make.

When Kukui was finished he quickly washed the bowl and utensils and wet them aside to dry. He turned the kitchen light off as he made his way out. He was beyond ready for bed, but there was one more thing he wanted to do first.

Kukui knew that Ash was probably asleep, as he should be, but he just wanted to see him. Kukui had been gone all day. He hadn't seen Ash since school, and he hadn't truly spent some time with the boy for nearly a week now.

Kukui climbed up the ladder and peeked up into the loft. Ash was there, sprawled on the couch, looking like he was going to fall off of it any second now. Kukui chuckled slightly when he saw the way that Ash's blanket was more on the floor than over him. The only reason that the blanket hadn't fallen completely was because a corner of the blanket was trapped between Ash's legs.

Kukui climbed the rest of the way into the loft. Ash may have a tendency to push his covers off of him, but Kukui at least wanted to try to get Ash more comfortable. He moved to the boy and pulled the blanket back up over him. Ash shifted and whined slightly. The boy opened his eyes ever so slightly and blinked at him.

"...Professor," Ash seemed to snuggle more into his blanket. "You're home,"

"Sorry about waking you," Kukui apologized. Ash shook his head.

"I don't mind," Ash said. "It's good to see you. It feels like so long since we've seen each other, even though we were both at school earlier,"

Kukui grinned. "I know the feeling," He really did. "I saw the food you left out earlier,"

Ash grinned, looking more awake suddenly. "Did you like it?"

"I loved it," Kukui said. The food may have just been okay, but the fact that Ash had made it for him and Burnet was what Kukui loved more than anything else. "What made you decide to go for a poke bowl?"

"I remembered Burnet making it once," Ash said. "And I used to help my mom make sushi and sashimi. They seemed really similar, so I thought it would be okay." Now that Kukui was thinking about it, Ash's poke bowl had flavors that were a lot more like Kantonian sashimi than Alolan poke.

"It definitely worked," Kukui assured Ash. "You really didn't have to make dinner for us though." Kukui felt bad just leaving Ash to his own devices for the evening, he shouldn't have had to make food for himself, let alone for Kukui and Burnet.

"I know," Ash acknowledged. "But I wanted to." And how was Kukui supposed to argue with that? He could tell that Ash really meant it, that he'd really wanted to make dinner for them. Kukui may not think that Ash should have to take on that much responsibility, but if it was what he really wanted to do, and it wasn't doing him any harm, why should Kukui discourage that?

"How is the Alolan league going?" Ash asked, and there was an excited spark in his eyes.

"It's definitely coming along," Kukui sat at the edge of the couch, just in front of Ash's feet. "The activities committee is trying to convince me to let them be a part of this."

"Why don't you want their help again?" Ash sat up. "I thought the activity committee's job was to put together activities. I thought they were pretty good at it."

"They're good at making things entertaining to watch," Kukui admitted. He could give them credit for that. "But they often prioritize that over the safety of the participants, and I don't want any part of that." Kukui would rather struggle to figure things out himself than allow the activities committee to take over and ruin everything. This was Kukui's dream, and he wasn't about to compromise it just because it would be easier.

"Is there anything else you're having a hard time with?" Ash asked. "Maybe I can help."

"Honestly, it's just some last minute planning I have to come up with," Kukui said. "I'm mostly just trying to figure out if we should have a referee aside from the Island Kahunas.

Ash frowned slightly. "You want a fifth referee? Why?"

"I want the matches to be as fair as possible, and exactly who is looking over the match contributes a lot to that," Kukui said.

Ash nodded. "Oh, yeah, because some referees might say that a match is over as soon as a pokémon is slightly dazed, and another might wait for a long time, giving the pokémon time to recover."

"Exactly," Kukui said. "I know the Island Kahunas will do their best to be impartial and fair, but sometimes it's not something you can help." Ash looked confused, so Kukui decided to share some specific scenarios he had thought of. "Like, think of Hau. He's planning on joining the league, right?" Ash nodded. "I wouldn't want Hala to referee any of Hau's matches, because they're related."

"Do you think that Hala would show favoritism towards Hau?" Ash asked with a small frown.

"No, I don't," Kukui said honestly. He knew Hala too well to believe that he would let his own personal opinions about an individual cloud his judgement and responsibilities. "But others may think that he would, and I don't want anybody to think that the league is rigged or unfair."

"I never thought of that before," Ash grinned. He seemed genuinely interested in what Kukui was saying. "Is Hala and Hau the only refereeing you don't want?"

"Honestly, I would prefer it if no Island Kahuna ends up looking over a match that any of the participants have any firm connection to," Kukui said. "But I also want all of the referees to be over the same number of matches. I can't even plan ahead as much as I would like to, because we don't know exactly who is going to be competing."

"You've really put a lot of thought into this," Ash said with a smile. "I can't wait for the league,"

"Neither can I," Kukui said honestly. He could probably talk about the league for hours, and he knew that Ash would be more than happy to listen to what he had to say, but just because it was something that they both wanted didn't mean that it would be a good idea to go through with it. "It's late, and we have school tomorrow," Kukui put his hand on Ash's head, ruffling the boy's hair a bit. "We'd better get some sleep."

"Yeah, okay," Ash laid back down. "Goodnight, Professor," Kukui gave Ash a small smile as he got to his feet.

"Goodnight," Kukui adjusted the blanket, folding more of it over Ash so that the weight of the blanket wouldn't just pull itself down. "I'll see you in the morning." Kukui lingered for a moment in the loft, watching as Ash tried to snuggle with the blanket. Finally Kukui pulled himself away from watching his ward and climbed back down the ladder. He made his way downstairs, ready to get some sleep, eagerly looking forward to tomorrow.

A/N: Actually, one of my favorite things to see about the league, and I don't even know if this was done on purpose, is that the referees they use for most of the matches are actually incredibly impartial (aside from the first two matches of the league, which was Ash vs. Faba, and Guzma vs. Ilima, both of which were refereed by Hala, who could have bias towards Ash and against Guzma). But other than those first two, it seems fairly impartial to me, which I really like. I don't even know why, but I really love how none of Kiawe's matches (that I know of. I haven't watched the semifinals yet) were looked over by Olivia, and none of Hau's were refereed by Hala. And Nanu wasn't over Acerola's match. I don't know if it was done on purpose, or if it's just a happy little coincidence and had no thought put into it, but it's something that I really liked anyways.