Shinnoh Arc II: How Embarrassing

The next morning, Mari was still asleep. Jacky pushed past a few reporters while Jayden was in their room. He took a sideways glance at the clock, then leaned his back against the window. "Hey, wake up, cutiepie", he said to Mari, who didn't respond. He blinked a few times before walking over to her and lightly shaking her shoulder. "Hello, are you still alive?", "Hmph..." Mari grumbled in her sleep, turning to her other side trying to ignore him.
"Get up!" He grinned and leaned down to her. "Or you'll sleep the day away." She groaned in annoyance and opened her eyes. She turned around and when she saw him, she was instantly wide awake. "FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" she cried out, startled.
"Come on." He rubbed the back of his neck with a big grin. "Even though you look cute when you sleep, cutiepie, you've got to get out of bed sometime.",
"..." She sat up and gave him a murderous look. "Jayden, I'm warning you.",
"Before you turn into a werewolf in the early morning, you should wait until your friend comes with breakfast-"
Mari jumped at him. "GET. OUT!"

Jayden lost his balance and landed backwards on the floor. "Ow...!"
She towered above him angrily. "So, any last words before I drag you out the door and toss you out on the hallway?",
"Pfft..." He was still smiling. "You're a fistful, cutiepie."
She reacted by giving him a sour slap across the face. "Shut up!",
"Ow!" He rubbed his cheek and narrowed his eyes. "What's the matter with you? Yesterday, you were almost friendly with me and now, you're at my throat again?!",
"If you don't want to be yelled at, you should probably not enter a girl's room without asking for permission first, idiot! Besides, watching me sleep is creepy as hell!",
""What's that supposed to mean?! Your friend invited me!" he defended himself. "She said I could join you for breakfast in your room, and that I should wake you up! So I didn't intrude, okay, I HAVE permission!" Mari glared at him and internally cursed Jacky for this before she got off of him.

"Whew." He got up and ran his hand through his hair. "I may be nosy, but even I have enough decency to not just barge into other people's rooms like that.",
"Hmph. Sorry then.",
"Great", he grumbled. "A swollen cheek and a half-broken back and all that comes in response is 'sorry then'?",
"Suck it." Mari scoffed before she turned towards the door. "I'm out. I think I have to have a word with Jacky about that stunt she pulled."

"Mari, wait."
She stopped in her tracks as he called her by her name for once. That almost caught her off-guard. "What?",
"I'm sorry," he said with sincerity in his voice. "I know that I can be quite out of line sometimes... No, almost always. Like I was just now. I realize I could've... approached this differently. But I would never want you to hate me just because I like you. You don't have to apologize at all. I'm just acting like a complete dork to you because I feel like I can be open with you. Not as uptight as I was at home, in the monastery. That I can talk to you...you know. Just like we did that night...",
"..." She turned around to him. "I get that. But that doesn't mean you can just violate my boundaries left, right and center.",
"I... I just don't know how to act around you, that's why I try to be light-hearted. I've never been in contact with people my age, you know? I think I still have much to learn about... everything, essentially. I'm sorry.",
"... Sorry about the slap", she responded.
"Nonsense, I earned that one. I'm an idiot." He waved it off. "We still have some time left... Your friend seems to be very busy. I've noticed that the first reporters are already running around outside.",
"Don't these people ever sleep?",
"Doesn't seem so... Anyway... we could make use of that time and play some kind of, um... Get-to-know-you game?",
"A get-to-know-you-game?",
"Yeah. We'll just ask each other questions and have to answer them honestly. I... have heard that a lot of people like to do that when they first get to know each other.",
"...Hm, why not. Give me a moment." She disappeared into the bathroom, changed and did her hair before sitting down on her bed. "Alright, you start then.",
"Okay..." He sat down across from her and thought for a moment. "...Is there something you're afraid of?",
"Bugs," she replied, "I go crazy when I see any.",
"Ah... I have claustrophobia. I panic when I'm in tight spaces. I don't know why. It's irrational, but I just can't stand them.",
"That's not irrational. It's actually very understandable. You're scared of being trapped somewhere.",
"I guess... Well, it's your turn.",
"Okay..." She nodded. "Is there something you don't like about yourself?",
"Except the fact I know next to nothing? Let's see... I have two left hands. I break things all the time, and Brother Benedict has been pretty mad at me for that. It's not like I break things on purpose, though...",
"Have you been forced to replace what you broke?",
"Sometimes...", he admitted. "My pocket money took huge hits here and there because of that. Hm... What's your favorite food?",
"Lasagna.",
"What's that?",
"Very tasty.",
"I'd like to try that someday...",
"I'm sure you'll get the chance. Is there something you absolutely dislike?",
"Ghost-type Pokémon", he said. "They're the second thing I'm afraid of. I've heard so many things about them that, when I see one, I just want to leave, pronto. I'm not getting my soul eaten by them if I can help it."
She chuckled at that. "Not every one of them is malicious.",
"I know, but I rather not take any chances there.",
"I can understand that, I think... They don't have the best reputation.",
"Not at all..." He shook his head. "With them, you can really keep me away from you.",
"I'll keep that in mind.",
"It's my turn again..." He crossed his legs. "...Can you really not stand me?",
"What kinda question is that?",
"One that's very important to me.",
"..." She sighed. "You're pretty clueless sometimes, which makes you act pretty inappropriate towards me in particular. But... I mean, you see that yourself, so I can forgive you for that... for now. So right now, I would say... I don't necessarily hate you, I can tolerate you.",
"Better than nothing, I guess...",
"What's your goal for your journey?" she continued their game.
"My goal...?" He needed a while to prepare an answer. "To make it to the top on my own, I guess... To understand how the world works, to learn and to fight for myself.",
"Sounds like a big job.",
"I've always been rather lonely... So I think I'll manage, even if I'm completely on my own." He shrugged again. "I'm kinda used to it by now. Do you have secrets?",
"Everyone does, don't they?" Mari tilted her head. "My biggest one at the moment is that I'm..." She stopped.
"That you're what?" He sounded curious, but then remembered her scolding him for not accepting boundaries, so he immediately back-paddled. "I mean, you don't need to tell me...",
'...that I'm a mind reader.'

Silence.

"Wait, what?" He stared at her. "You're joking, right?",
'No. Not at all.' Mari's voice echoed in Jayden's head, though her mouth didn't move an inch. "Get out of my head!" He turned fiery red in the face and hid it in his hands. She chuckled at that. "Hehehe...",
"That's not funny!" He needed a moment to recover from that shock and looked at her again. "Does that mean you've been able to haunt my mind this whole time?",
"...No." She shook her head and put her hands on her lap. "This just started a little while ago... Just before we went back to Sinnoh. I started reading Jacky's mind by accident. I had no idea how... And most of it still happens intuitively, but... I can read other people's minds and communicate with them telepathically. Apparently... Arceus has blessed us with some of its powers in the past, Jacky and me. That's why I can do this stuff... but don't tell anyone.",
"You're... a divinely blessed hero...?",
"So you know about them? I mean, not that surprising, considering you grew up at the monastery. Tell me about it, if you would... please?"
It was the first time Mari actively said 'please' to Jayden, so he couldn't do anything but comply to her request, of course. "I really don't know much because I fell asleep a lot of the sermons Nate gave, or only listened with one ear... But what I do know is that in the past, there were probably two types of blessed ones. One were the heroes who were granted special abilities by Arceus... the other were those called Apostles, those who were blessed with wisdom and carried it out into the world. However, it seemed that a conflict had arisen between the two factions... The real function of the heroes was to protect the apostles and whatever threat overcame the land. But the latter were frustrated by the fact that they had no powers of their own, and no longer wanted to be protected, which is why they started to fight each other. As a result, the heroes disappeared and their existence was forgotten... They were often considered heretics by the people of belief, not... well, what they should have been. They were often outcast or shunned because they were accused of occultism... They were heroes who fought for the future, yet they have never received the gratitude and recognizion of the people they fought for. It's kind of sad, if you think about it...",

"Many believe that the Divinely Blessed Heroes no longer even exist, that Arceus had chosen to spare them this pain of being ostracized..." He looked her in the eyes. "...yet... it seems they do still exist... but free from the vocation they had in the past. And in secret",
"...so you believe me?",
"I wouldn't have believed you if... you hadn't pulled that stunt on me just now. You can talk without talking... I heard your voice in my head, it was scary...",
"If what you said is true... then you really better keep this to yourself. Maybe it's better you just forget about it alltogether.",
"That's something I can't forget about anymore...", he shook his head, "...but I can promise this secret will be in good hands.",
"You won't tell Nate either, even if he's your closest confidant.",
"You have my word.",
'Good... because I will know whether or not you lied to me.',
"H-Hey, stop!" His eyes widened as her voice in his head once again startled him. "No need to do that, I am not a liar!"
She laughed. "This is really freaking you out, isn't it?"
He turned red again. "Stop laughing at me! Ugh, just you wait! I'll get back at you for digging around in my head!" He jumped on her bed and grabbed a pillow. "You will pay for this!",
"Oh yeah? Come at me!" Mari frantically grabbed a pillow of her own and the two engaged in a pillow fight of the finest kind.

Jayden seemed to be visibly enjoying it. He was able to be himself for once, not having to close himself up all the time. Mari fought him off pretty well until she blocked one of his hits, lost her balance and fell on her back. And Jayden was right on top of her when she grabbed his pillow trying to maintain it. It caught him off-guard and he almost fell with her, but was able to catch himself with his arms. A moment of stunned silence followed before he smirked and said: "Victory is mine!" The door opened and Jacky entered the room.

When she saw the two of them, the tray she was carrying almost slipped out of her hands. "Whoa! What the...?!" Mari immediately blushed madly and pushed Jayden away. "It's not what you think! We were having a pillow fight!" she quickly defended herself. Jacky looked at Mari in particular. "Yeah... a pillow fight. Right." She put the tray down. "Here, I got everything. Enjoy." Mari could feel Jacky's gaze resting on her the entire time, and it made her uncomfortable. She had picked the worst time EVER to enter the room! Jayden seemed oblivious and just enjoyed his cocoa.