Sango and Cynthia consider their feelings, and finally confront one another. This is the climax of the spring break arc, where Sango and Cynthia finally air out the truth. Hopefully nothing too bad will come from this. After everything they have to say to one another, and all the issues with themselves they've confronted, will they be able to remain friends?

KedharS: Believe me, we're just getting started.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1070

"So… what do you think?" Cynthia asked, staring at Blake through wet eyes. She was curled up in his arms, crying into his shirt.

"I… I don't really know what to think," Blake admitted, pushing her back. But gently. He wasn't trying to separate from her, he wanted to take care of her. "Honestly, I'm not the kind of guy who plans out for his future, you know that." He wasn't happy to say that, but it was true. "Aya… she's there to support me, but honestly, other than taking care of my sister…"

"Yeah, I know, sorry," Cynthia apologized, wiping her eyes. "You and me… we're kind of complicated, you know?"

She tried to laugh a little, but it came off as kind of pathetic.

Blake and Cynthia stared into each other's eyes. Suddenly, Cynthia clapped her hands really loudly in front of his face, startling him. He stumbled back, caught off-guard.

"Cynthia, what the fuck?!" He sputtered.

"Back off!" She snapped, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. "You realize what was just happening, right?"

"…No?" Blake asked, completely confused.

"We were having a moment! A real moment," Cynthia said. "We can't be romantic! What the heck do you think would happen if anything happened between us? We would get in complete shit, Ayame would be heartbroken, so cut the shit!"

She gave him a crooked smile as he stared at her in shock, not expecting such a mature answer from Cynthia. But there were some things he had to clarify, first.

"Okay, Cynthia, while I really appreciate what you're saying, really, I do, I just want to make it clear that nothing was going to happen between us. That wasn't a 'I never realized how great you are, let's kiss' moment, got it?" Blake asked her.

Cynthia laughed a little, wiping her eyes. She felt a little better, but the truth was she was still filled with doubts and negative feelings about the whole issue with her family and her future. Right now, though, she just wanted to spend time with her friend.

"Blake… I'm glad for the two of us," Cynthia said, confusing him again.

"What do you mean?" Blake asked, surprised. "I mean, I'm glad too, you're my best friend, Cynthia. And I'm your best friend, too, right?"

"…Uh, what? I mean, yeah, we are, but..." She stared at Blake, a little suspicious of how insistent he seemed to be about this.

"Right,you're your best friend, not Sango," he sighed in relief.

The corners of Cynthia's mouth turned up slightly. "…Gee where was this possessiveness when I was confessing to you, huh?" She joked, jostling him in the side with her elbow. The two shared another laugh.

Truthfully Blake was just trying to improve her mood with jokes. He didn't really have that much competitiveness wrapped up in his status as Cynthia's best friend, but he was happy that she was feeling better now.

"And it's not a competition," she added. "You and Sango are both important to me in different ways, is that clear?"

"Yes, yes, I get it."

"Sango is my best girl friend, and you're my best boy friend," she repeated, just to make sure it was absolutely clear.

"I'm not your boyfriend," Blake replied.

"Shut up, you know what I mean," Cynthia said, punching him in the shoulder. He smiled. Her mood had clearly taken a turn for the better.

Then a shadow crossed over Cynthia's face. "But honestly… things haven't been going so well between me and Sango, either," she admitted, hanging her head. Blake was surprised to hear that, they seemed to get along so well.

"Seriously? But it looked like the two of you have been doing great," he mumbled. Cynthia shook her head.

"We're not," she sighed. "I mean, Sango's great, and I love her, but it feels like she's got kind of a problem with me, you know? And I don't know how I should go about fixing it."

It was Blake's turn to sigh. "Is this like that whole mess between you and Madison Whitmore?" He asked. "Because I think the solution there is just to stop upsetting her you're your jokes and teasing all the time."

"I can't help it!" She whined. "That's just the kind of person I am!"

Blake sighed. He had no idea what he was supposed to do in this situation. If Cynthia was his best friend, then Sango was… well, okay, Sango was also his best friend. Maybe it wasn't that simple. But he really wished he could figure out how to help the two of them patch things up.

I wish I knew what was so difficult between the two of them, he thought with a sigh, staring back at the inn.

Right now, back at the inn, Sango was talking over her problems and trying to figure out why things were so difficult herself.

"Okay so let me get this clear," Elizabeth said. "You realized that your best friend had a crush on the same boy that you did, a boy who already has a girlfriend, and now you feel like you're uncomfortable around her?"

"That's right," Sango mumbled glumly. "But I don't know why. It's not like I'm jealous of her, Blake doesn't have feelings for her after all. It's just… I don't know? I just don't know!" She felt like she wanted to cry. She hated feeling like this, it was like she was doing something awful again. If only she could understand why…

"Sango… did you ever tell Blake you like him?" Elizabeth asked quietly.

Sango flinched. How could she ask something like that?

"No!" She sputtered. "Of… of course I haven't! He has Ayame, what would even be the point of something so stupid?"

"But… Cynthia has told him how she feels?" Elizabeth asked. "And things are normal between them, more or less. That's what you said, right?"

A twinge shot through Sango's heart and her shoulders sagged.

"That's… I mean…" The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Elizabeth had a point. Sango had always been too afraid to confess, not wanting to ruin what the two of them had. But Cynthia had confronted her feelings. She'd never backed down.

"I'm… jealous of Cynthia," Sango realized. "Not because Blake's reciprocating her feelings, but because she was brave enough to confess them. She's braver than me… but at the same time I can't do anything about it."

"You could try confessing your own feelings?" Elizabeth suggested.

Sango shook her head. "I already decided that I can't do that. Blake… he's already facing enough pressure. If he knew I liked him, too, he'd try to be considerate of me… even more than he already is. That's the last thing I want. I just want… I just want us to be friends."

What would Blake think if he learned she'd liked him for all this time? That she'd been hiding these feelings? Would he stop trusting her? Would he keep her at arms' length, for Ayame's sake, or because he didn't feel comfortable? She didn't want to find out. She'd seen the way he was acting around Caelia and Elaina on this trip, how he'd been around Kate after her confession, and even, to an extent, how he was around Cynthia. It was like the redhead couldn't hug him anymore without it becoming some big thing. Sango didn't want that!

…Well, it wasn't like she was planning to hug him or anything. But it would be nice to have the option, just in case.

She quickly shook her head to clear her thoughts. "No. Absolutely not. I can't confess to Blake, there's too much of a chance things will be uncomfortable between us."

Elizabeth wasn't sure that was the best course of action for Sango to take. She thought it might be better for her to be honest and clear the air with everyone. But then, she'd never had teen drama like this before, either.

She sighed.

"Sango… I can't tell you what you should do. All I can say is that whatever you decide to do, I'll support you completely. And if you need a shoulder to cry on, I'm always here for you, Sango," she gently soothed her.

Sango began to tear up. "…Thank you, Elizabeth," she whispered. "I think I know what I have to do." She clenched her fist and said goodbye, hanging up on the doctor.

She took a few deep breaths to build up to it and went to go find Cynthia. She was sick and tired of her emotions messing everything up with her and her friends. She might not be able to tell Blake how she felt… but that didn't mean she couldn't talk about her feelings with someone else.

Sango turned and walked back into her room, searching the inn for a certain redhead.

Of course, Cynthia was actually in the garden, the same one that Sango had been overlooking during her phone call. Neither one was close enough to see or hear the other, though, which was definitely for the best, because Cynthia was still talking with Blake.

"Leaving Sango aside for now," she sighed, glancing down, "what do you think I should do? About my family, I mean…"

Blake honestly didn't know. "Look, it's like I said, when it comes to family stuff, I'm not the best guy to talk to. Are you sure Reiner wouldn't be a better consultant?" Blake knew that his antisocial roommate was dealing with some family pressure of his own. Cynthia could have a lot to learn from how he was handling his situation.

But Cynthia didn't want Reiner. She wanted Blake. And part of that was because she didn't intend on actually fixing the problem; what she was really after was Blake's support. She wasn't some idiot. She knew that there wasn't some easy fix to her problems. But it felt nice to have Blake as a shoulder to cry on.

"How did you deal with it?" She asked suddenly, startling him.

"Deal with what? My family? Well… I had a bunch of my friends lie and pretend we were dating, which kind of confused the whole situation…"

Cynthia rolled her eyes. "No, I mean… when you were little. How did you deal with the fact that… your parents were never around?"

She felt awful asking that question, knowing how sensitive a topic family was to Blake. But she had to ask; maybe Blake would know what to do.

Blake's face darkened. "Well… unlike you, my family didn't really have any expectations for me," he admitted. "They took care of me, but… when I think about back then… I wasn't alone, like you were. I had my sister, of course."

"I had my sister, too," Cynthia said defensively. But her mood deflated. "…No matter how much I wished that I didn't sometimes."

Blake winced. Maybe this was why things were so awkward between Sango and Cynthia, because Cynthia had a way of stepping in it. "Well, it wasn't just Gwen," he said. "There was also Claire. Because of her, I was never alone."

"Claire…" Cynthia's expression turned thoughtful. Then a solemn look crossed her face. "Hey, Blake… can I ask you something?"

"You've been asking me a lot of things," Blake said, raising his eyebrow. "But sure, yeah, go ahead. What is it?"

"When you were a kid… Claire was your best friend, right?" She asked.

"Yup, still is," he nodded. Cynthia made a sour expression.

"Hey, that's no fair. You can't have that many best friends! Me, Sango, now Claire? No way, you get one!" She scowled.

"Okay, fine, then Aya is my best friend."

"She doesn't count, she's your girlfriend! A best friend is different!" Cynthia exclaimed. Then she laughed. "…Never mind. Forget it, it's stupid."

Blake didn't want to forget it. He'd seen Cynthia hide her real feelings behind laughter before. "Hey, come on, what's up? If you're going to use me as a shoulder to cry on, I can at least be here for you until the whole thing is done, you know."

Cynthia raised her eyebrow and sighed.

"Well… okay then," she said. "I guess my question… if you and I… if we met, when we were kids… would you have been my best friend?"

That wasn't a question Blake had expected to hear. "Cynthia, that's…" His heart skipped a beat. Was she seriously asking if he would have been her best friend?

"It's okay if you wouldn't have… I mean, back then… I was really shy, I wasn't the same way I am now… so it's okay if you…"

Her voice trailed off and she stared up at Blake with wet eyes, telling him that whatever her mouth was saying, in her heart she really wouldn't take it well.

Blake sighed. He reached over and wiped her tears away. It was an intimate gesture, one that wouldn't be normal for the two of them. But it was something he felt that he had to do. "Cynthia… I don't care that you're a pervert, you're still one of my closest friends. Do you think I would stop being your friend if you WEREN'T a pervert?"

A sputtering laugh escaped Cynthia's mouth as she stared at him in shock. "That's… I mean-!" She smiled in spite of herself.

"…Thanks. That really means a lot to me," she said. "I guess… I've really been dealing with a lot of shit recently, so having your support means a lot."

She didn't know what she was going to do with her future. She didn't know if she was a good friend, or a good daughter, or if she would make a good Frontier Brain or whatever the fuck it was that the Commander was asking her to do.

But she knew that if she had the support of her friends, if she had the support of the boy she liked, then there was nothing she had to worry about. She'd confront her future when it came.

Cynthia stepped forward, and wrapped her arms around Blake's waist, pulling him into a warm hug. She smiled as she rested her head against his chest.

Blake was startled by the affectionate gesture, but he wasn't bothered by it. He reached up and cradled her head in his hand and he stood there for a while, just comforting her by letting her know he was there for her.

"Cynthia?!" Sango's shout broke the peaceful tranquility of the garden and snapped them out of the good mood they had going between them. "Cynthia, are you out here?"

"Shit! It's Sango!" Cynthia hissed, pulling back from Blake.

"I asked Will, and he said he saw you heading out to the garden!" Sango called. Her voice sounded a lot closer all of a sudden. "Where are you? I need to talk about something important!"

"Quick, hide!" Cynthia hissed, pushing Blake on the chest, shoving him towards the trees on the edge of the garden.

"Ow, hey! What's the big deal?!" Blake hissed. Why did he have to hide?!

"Do you have any idea how bad this will look?" Cynthia hissed back. "You and me, getting hot and heavy together in the garden?! No, no way! You need to get lost, now!"

Cynthia knew that if she caught Sango and Aidan in a situation like this, she'd never let them live it down. If Sango was feeling particularly vindictive tonight… no, she didn't even want to think about that possibility.

"Listen, I'll distract her, while you sneak back inside, okay? If we're caught, then she's absolutely going to tell Ayame!" Cynthia said.

"So? I haven't done anything WRONG," Blake said, confused about what the big deal was. But Cynthia wasn't listening. He gave up fighting and just hid behind the tree, ducking for cover just in time for Sango to find Cynthia.

"There you are," she said, sighing in relief. She caught up to Cynthia. "Listen, we need to talk."

"Yup! Sure thing! Let's talk! Whattya wanna talk about?!" Cynthia was a pretty shitty actress, speaking a little too loudly and excitedly. Sango stared at her in confusion, but quickly shook her head. She didn't know why the other girl was trying so hard to seem like everything was fine, but she figured it had something to do with her family.

Sango took a deep breath and clenched her fists. This was something that she had to do. It had been a long time coming. "I wanted to talk to you about Blake," she said.

Cynthia was startled. That wasn't at all what she expected. Her eyes quickly shot to the tree that Blake was hiding behind. She held up her hands defensively. "Hey, um, listen, that's okay," she said. "Now's not a really good time, so-"

"It's the only time!" Sango cut her off. She was serious about this. "Listen, I need to tell you the truth. This… it's been eating me up for months. I've been trying to hide it, push it down, move past it, but I just can't. And now that I'm taking it out on you…"

She shook her head. "I need to move past this. And the only way I can is if I tell somebody. If I tell you. It has to be you, Cynthia."

Cynthia didn't know what Sango wanted to tell her, but if it was private and involved Blake, now was probably the worst fucking time considering he was less than ten feet away.

"Sango-"

"I was so impressed," Sango said, cutting her off. "The way you confessed to Blake. You were so brave. You knew he didn't feel the same, but for the sake of your friendship, you knew that you had to be honest with him. Even if it hurt. And knowing that… it stung. Because I've never been that brave before. I couldn't do that myself."

Sango's eyes were wet. Cynthia went pale as she saw the expression on her friend's face.

"I'm in love with Blake too!" Sango cried. "I've been in love… since the Fall Festival Tournament. All this time… I've loved him so much… and I just couldn't admit it."

Cynthia didn't know what to say. Her brain stopped working and her jaw hit the ground.

Sango let out a relieved sigh. It was like a weight had been lifted from her chest. She'd finally said it. She'd finally told someone. "That's… so much better," she murmured. "Thank you for listening, Cynthia."

"Y-Yeah…" Cynthia stammered. Her world was collapsing in on itself.

But she wasn't the only one who was listening.

Sango… is in love with me? Blake didn't know what to do. But he knew that those were words… that he absolutely shouldn't have heard.

Sango has finally come clean about her feelings! Way to go, girl! You're doing great! Cynthia was a little taken aback by the revelation, but the one who was blindsided was definitely Blake! How will he respond to this revelation? For that matter, how will Cynthia? This is something Sango's kept to herself for a long time now- how will things turn out, now that the truth has been brought to light?