Let's leave behind Valon and Gerard's alliance, and let's turn our attention to Akira and Dakota, and see how things are going between them!

KedharS: Well maybe he'll do it this time we don't know.

Aquahaze675: Maybe, we have to hope.

Thunder Fire: Looking this way.

Tambry96bj: Yeah, that would be bad. Darkening such a pure jewel.

Hellraiserphoenix: It's certainly leading somewhere bad, that's for sure.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 470

Akira was leaving his Pokemon Type Specialization class when he was accosted by a girl whose normally sweet face was twisted into an angry glare.

"Serefina? What's up?" Akira asked, feeling a little uncomfortable. He had a good idea why she was confronting him, he was just hoping that he as wrong.

"It's about Dakota," Serefina said, trying to keep her voice from filling with too much anger as she walked closer to him. Akira flinched. His suspicions were right on the money, unfortunately. He looked down, unable to meet her accusatory gaze.

"L-Look, Dakota and I-"

"Nope." Serefina raised her hand to cut him off, shaking her head. She didn't want to hear it right now. "Not now. Tonight. Dinner. The two of you, hashing out your problems. Got it?"

Akira swallowed, and nodded. "The Snorlax Commons?"

"Nope. Kalos Court Kitchen." That was one of the more fancy restaurants on campus, and as the name indicated, it served Kalosian cuisine. It made sense that Dakota would want to eat there, considering she was Kalos-born. She probably wanted a taste of home.

"And don't forget to dress nice," Serefina reminded him. "You don't need to rent a tux, but a good blazer or suit, got it? Dakota's going to be doing her best, so she deserves your best, too."

Akira couldn't really give her any response but a nod in the current situation he was in. Serefina took that to be good enough, nodding back.

"I already scheduled your reservation, it's at 6:40," Serefina informed him. Akira opened his mouth to reply, but Serefina ignored him, continuing to speak, "and no, I don't care if you already made plans with someone else. She's your girlfriend, and this is important. You'll be there."

She narrowed her eyes into a glare that all but said "or else."

"Yeah, I'll be there," Akira agreed.

"Perfect!" Getting the confirmation she needed caused Serefina to immediately brighten into a beaming smile of relief, as though her prior animosity was only a small cloud in front of the sun that had just moved out of the way. Serefina turned and skipped off, eager to tell Dakota that the date was on.

"Yeah, I can't go." That was Dakota's reply when Serefina came into their room to tell her about the great news.

Serefina could scream. Really, she could scream. She WAS going to scream, but first she was going to strangle Dakota until the girl went limp in her hands.

"Dakota, do you have any idea how hard it was to get a reservation at one of the most high-end restaurants on campus?" Serefina demanded, doing the best she could to keep the anger out of her voice.

"Uh… not very? This campus doesn't have THAT big of a student body, certainly not many that would be going on dates to fancy restaurants, and since we're on an island it's not like they're going to get walk-ins," Dakota replied after thinking about it for a moment.

Serefina's eye twitched.

"That is beside the point!" She replied. "Why are you cancelling the date, huh?!"

"I just… I have stuff to do, you know?" Dakota said, the shiftiness of her eyes indicating her lie. "You know, I've got homework, and… and articles to write, yes! A reporter's job is never done! Plus, like… taking care of my pokemon, and there's this show I want to watch, and-"

"Stop making excuses!" Serefina exclaimed, stamping her foot on the floor. "You always do this, Dakota! You say you're worried about your relationship, you want to be with Akira because you love him, and yet whenever it looks like things aren't going to go your way, and you're forced to actually confront your feelings, you just get cold feet and you make excuses in order to try and back out!"

"I don't always-"

"Yes, you do!" Serefina hissed. "Get over it! Stop being so afraid of what's going to happen, and think about what you want to do, what you really want!"

"I… but…" Dakota sputtered, looking down, her face flushing with anxiety and shame. "But what if… what if it's really the end? I mean… I don't… I don't want to break up with him, Seri! I love him! He's the boy I want to be with, for…"

Dakota's voice trailed off as she realized what she was saying. She sat back down on her bed and buried her face in her hands, shaking her head, unable to keep speaking.

"Forever? You were about to say forever?" Serefina asked.

"Don't say it Seri, don't say it," Dakota said, her voice muffled by her hands. She shook her head. Just the notion that she wanted to be with her boyfriend forever being uttered made her want to die of embarrassment.

"I think it's sweet," Serefina smiled. She reached over and placed her hand on Dakota's shoulder. She was still mad, though.

"If I go to dinner with him… then it's real," Dakota whimpered, lowering her hands and glancing up at Serefina. Serefina could see the tears in the poor girl's eyes. "I… I was fine with it, you know? When we were planning it, but… now that it's real… if… Seri, what if it's the end?! If I go tonight, and he really does want to break up with me, then…"

"Then you'll move on," Serefina comforted her. She moved to sit on the bed next to Dakota, wrapping her arm around the girl's shoulder and pulling her close, Dakota resting her head on Serefina's shoulder, enjoying the softness and warmth of another person.

"I don't… I don't want to move on," Dakota admitted. "I want to be with him. So I'm scared, Seri, because if I go to dinner, what if I'm not able to get him to stay? What if he's moving on, and I get dumped, what if he's only going to dinner so that he'll…"

Serefina's sympathy was beginning to wear thin. Dakota was spiraling in circles, now, and Serefina could only say the same thing over and over so many times.

"Listen," Serefina said, releasing Dakota and turning her so that the two girls were looking eye to eye. Dakota flinched. Serefina's eyes were stony and cold.

"Y-yeah?" Dakota stuttered, swallowing.

"You are going to go to that dinner tonight, do I make myself clear?" Serefina ordered her.

"But-"

"And if you don't," Serefina continued, not waiting to hear any more of her bullshit, "then I'm going to take you to the stream, throw you into the water, and hold your head down until the bubbles stop, do I make myself clear?"

Dakota meekly nodded.

"That's my girl," Serefina chirped, patting her on the cheek. "Now, your appointment is for 6:40, so here's what we're going to do. You're going to get into the shower, get all cleaned up, and we're going to prepare you for your date tonight. You don't want him to dump you? Then you really have to wow him."

"Okay," Dakota said, nodding in agreement, her smile returning to her face. "Um, if it's no trouble, can I borrow your boobs?"

Serefina swatted Dakota on the head, the two girls giggling.

"Well, you're dressing up nice," Daryl, Akira's roommate, commented. "Going somewhere special, Akira? Hot date with that girlfriend of yours?"

Akira was looking in the mirror. He had put a blazer over a button-up shirt, with matching trousers. He didn't wear a tie, thinking that was maybe a step too fancy.

"Something like that," he muttered, not wanting to talk about it. He picked his necklace off the dresser and slid it over his head. He was ready to go. He headed out, wondering how the dinner was going to go. Things between him and Dakota… saying they were tense was more than an understatement. He hoped that he'd be able to get through this dinner without things being too uncomfortable, and he couldn't say that he wasn't worried.

Akira walked into the restaurant, and spoke to the receptionist. Explaining that he had a reservation, the receptionist guided him to his private booth.

When Akira got there, he had to do a double-take, rubbing his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

"…Hey," Dakota said, glancing up at him and giving him a small wave. She looked… wow. Dakota's scarlet hair was normally messy, covered in tangles, because she didn't really give a damn about her appearance. Now, though, it was brushed straight, only curling out at the tips for a more flared look. Her bangs were tucked out of her eyes, held in place by a hair clip to reveal her face, made up to emphasize her expressional chocolate-colored eyes.

Glancing down, Akira could see that she was wearing a dress, colored a deep navy blue that stood out against her light skin, glowing in the candlelight and really drawing out the color of her hair. It was fitted to her figure, which she normally tried to de-emphasize, but this time it was standing out, particularly her breasts. They weren't bigger than Serefina's (whose were?) but they were still nice, Akira couldn't help but admit, round and high and-

And Akira was staring. Crap. His eyes shot up from Dakota's cleavage to her face, expecting her to tear into him the way she usually did.

She didn't react the way he expected, though. When they made eye contact, she blushed, and averted her gaze, like the shy, innocent maiden she absolutely was not.

"You, uh…" Akira stumbled over his words, not sure what to say to her. "You look nice."

Lame. That was a lame comment. And while normally, Dakota would have mocked him for saying something like that, right now, she didn't laugh. Her only response was her blush deepening, a shy smile spreading across her face.

"Thank you," she murmured, finally glancing back at him as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. The two stared a gaze filled with electricity.

"Um… wanna sit, Aki?" Dakota asked, gesturing to the empty seat across from the booth.

"Oh!" Akira blinked, snapping out of his fugue as he realized he was still standing there like a moron. "Oh, yeah, sure, sorry."

Akira slid down into his seat across from her, the two resuming their staring contest, the atmosphere around them too awkward to come up with anything to say to each other after almost a month of radio silence.

Akira was the first one to break the silence.

"You… wanted to talk?" He asked.

"…Yeah," Dakota said, nodding. She didn't say anything else, taking a sip of the complementary water and glancing away from him.

Well, so much for that conversation that went nowhere. Akira was going to have to sit through more of this?

For the first time, he wished Dakota would actually be the usual nosy blabbermouth that she always was. Seeing the meeker, tentative side of her was rather nice, but he still wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not. He liked the Dakota that was more outgoing.

With that in mind, this was different, but other than the awkward silence it wasn't BAD. Both Dakotas were cute.

"Hi there, how are we enjoying ourselves today?" Akira and Dakota nearly jumped out of their seats as the tension was broken by the waitress coming up to speak to them. They turned, surprised.

"Uh, it's fine," Akira said.

"Lovely!" The waitress chirped. She was a little older than them, about twenty, and had pink hair, a cheap dye job, that touched her shoulders, and green eyes. "Hi, I'm Carrie, I'll be your waitress for this evening. Can I get you started on anything? An appetizer, maybe?"

"Herb-Dusted Kalos Fries, please," Dakota said. She glanced at Akira. "Want any?"

Akira nodded.

"Kalos Fries for two, got it," Carrie said, nodding. She wrote it down on her pad. "Anything else, anything to drink?"

"Water's fine," Akira assured her. Dakota nodded in agreement.

"Sounds good!" Carrie chirped. "I'll be back with your food shortly!"

Carrie turned on her heel and left the two there. As she did, she let out a sigh of relief, clenching her fist victoriously.

She hadn't messed up! It was perfect! She'd taken their order, written it down, and serviced them with a smile!

Last year, there had been some… issues. She'd gotten into some trouble on Mt. Silver, working with Team Rocket, but she'd been given a second chance at life, and she was going to seize it! No more of Clumsy Carrie who got fired from every job she worked at! She'd made a New Years' Resolution to not get fired from her next job, and she'd managed to find one, working as a waitress in a fancy restaurant on this weird island that served as a school for pokemon trainers.

The restaurant had been closed until recently, since the school was on break. Apparently, it had high turnover due to the fact that not a lot of people were interested in putting up with the commute. But Carrie didn't mind a few boat rides every day, not for what they were paying. This was her first day on the clock, and she had just served her first table!

Carrie was not about to mess this up, not again. She glanced back at the couple. They were one of the only parties here, and the only ones who were sitting in her section. So she was going to give them the best meal possible, even if it DID look like they weren't enjoying themselves.

And, indeed, they weren't. When Carrie left, the crushing atmosphere returned, Akira and Dakota sitting there in silence.

Dakota's heart was pounding in her chest. It was really happening. The two of them were really here. They'd gone on dates before, but this one wasn't like the others. This time, it wasn't just the hope of a goodnight kiss that was making her feel anxious. She was afraid that Akira… that he would dump her. That's why she wore the dress, to seduce him.

It had worked, and maybe a little too well. Now things were so awkward that they couldn't even start a conversation.

At least, she hoped that was the reason. The only other reason she could think of… did he not want to talk with her because he was sick of her? Oh god, she hoped that wasn't the reason, but now it was starting to seem that way.

Serefina had advised her to just be herself, but… Dakota was afraid of that. So that's why she was behaving all shy and demure. (That, and she actually WAS shaking in her shoes around him, not sure what the evening had in store.)

Dakota took a deep breath, and sighed, catching Akira's attention. She glanced up at him, seeing the troubled expression on his face. And that's when she knew, that they were both feeling awkward and uncomfortable, it wasn't just her.

"So, Aki…"

"Yeah?" Akira asked, the eagerness in his tone startling her. Apparently, she wasn't the only one being crushed by the tense atmosphere around the two of them.

Dakota knew she needed to talk. She just wasn't sure what to say. Why are you ghosting me? Do you want to break up with me? Are we okay? Did I do something wrong? There were a bunch of ways to ask the question she wanted to know, she just wasn't sure which method of broaching the subject that she wanted to use.

She finally decided to just say it.

"I'm glad we're talking again," she said. She looked at him expectantly, hoping he would say the same to her.

"…So this is about me ghosting you," Akira said.

Dakota nodded, exhaling, relaxing a little now that he had been the one to bring up the subject.

"Yeah, it's about that…" she said. "Look, Aki…"

"I know I shouldn't have been ignoring you," Akira admitted. "It's just…"

"Do you want to break up with me?" Dakota demanded sharply, her heart pounding in her chest as she stared at him. She held her breath, not sure if she could take the answer he would give her. His face was troubled. His eyes were wide, with a startled surprise, either not expecting the question or not liking that she had asked it.

"N-no, of course not!" Akira exclaimed, shaking his head.

"Really?" Dakota asked, breathing a sigh of relief as all the tension in her body drained away at hearing that her boyfriend didn't want to break things off the way she had feared.

Akira stared at Dakota, surprised himself. The way she had reacted when he had told her… it was like seeing someone who was dead come back to life. She had been tense and nervous all evening, and now she was bright and cheerful again, such a visceral change that it was stunning.

"Yes, you… you thought I wanted to break up with you?" Akira asked.

"I mean, yeah," Dakota said, nodding. She felt a little sheepish now that she knew she was wrong, but she wasn't wrong about the original awkwardness and the ghosting that had led her to think that way, she wanted to know why he had acted that way. "I mean… I was just trying to be normal, you know? Talk with you over break, I wished you Merry Christmas and Happy New Year and you didn't respond to me once!"

Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes, and she didn't know their source. Sadness? Anger? Hell, even joy, at the thought that Akira didn't actually want to dump her.

"So just… why? Why did you ghost me, Aki?" She pleaded with him to answer her, to let her know what she had done that made him ignore her. "Is it something I did? Something I said? Is it… because I invited you to meet my family, or…"

She bit her lip, her eyes dropping. She wasn't sure if it was okay to ask this, but she had to. "Is it… because I wanted to go meet your family?"

"Dakota… my family lives really high up in the mountains," Akira said. "We're really secluded. There's no cell reception up there, I wasn't trying to ghost you."

Dakota blinked. She began putting the pieces together in her mind, and then turned bright red in embarrassment. She buried her face in her hands. Before either of them could say anything else, the waitress came up, bringing two plates of Kalos Fries slathered with special herbs, setting them in front of the students.

"Here you guys go, are you guys ready to order yet?" Carrie asked, giving them a smile.

Akira looked over at Dakota, who was screaming quietly into her hands in embarrassment. He turned back to the waitress and smiled.

"We're going to need a moment."

Carrie nodded, turned, and headed back into the kitchen as Akira turned his attention back to Dakota, who was still embarrassed. He sighed.

"Look, you deserve an explanation," he said, beginning to tell her his side of things.

Well, thankfully, this doesn't look like as big of an issue as it is. Hopefully, things will be fixed. What's Akira's side of things?