Chapter 19

The morning wasn't exactly going well.

So far, Orion had spilled coffee all over himself, tripped Azrael—twice—and completely botched up about four different questions or comments, warping even the most innocent sentence into something that sounded terribly offensive. Orion would never understand the notorious bad luck he had around girls. He wasn't interested in dating, but it was a serious hindrance when you couldn't get along with roughly half of the population of the world.

Miraculously, Azrael hadn't slapped him across the face yet. She'd looked witheringly away from the table in something akin to embarrassment a few times when he stumbled over his sentences to the waiter—who had leaned over to Azrael and asked in a subtle whisper if her friend was "special"—but other than that she just seemed very distracted.

Orion really didn't think it was his place to ask, but he'd never been good about knowing his place, so he blundered on, "Is something bothering you? You haven't eaten much."

The blunt statement came out sounding like a mother's ragging, but Azrael merely smiled a small, half-hearted smile at him and said, "No, I'm okay. I just found something strange in my room this morning."

The second it was out of her mouth Azrael looked like she wanted nothing more than to take it back. Her jaw tightened and her half-lidded eyes widened slightly—only a hair's width, barely noticeable—but she hid it well. She immediately set herself upon her food, and Orion contemplated whether he should ask or let it drop. The decision was taken off his shoulders when the waiter returned with the check.

About half an hour later the two of them headed back to the Pokemon Center, Orion feeling pleasantly full on bacon, eggs and toast, and Azrael looking strange and contemplative again. Orion couldn't quite place it—he felt like he knew this girl, like they'd met somewhere before. He was sure she hadn't been there three years ago when he'd gotten his first Pokemon at Cerulean City—his memory had always been remarkably good about small details, and even to this day he could remember every face that came out of those doors.

Still. She was hauntingly familiar, which was probably why he was being so persistent about becoming her friend. He was certain she was fed up with him by now—she didn't exactly seem the social type.

Out of the blue, Orion asked her, "So, you're a Pokemon trainer, right?"

Azrael cocked her head to the side and said slowly, "Yeah… I am. Mostly Dark and Ghost types, but I'm not opposed to some flying and psychic types as well. Do you have a preferred type?"

Orion grinned and nodded. "I'm a Normal type trainer all the way—you really don't see many people doing that."

Azrael nodded. "Quite unique."

There was a strangely comfortable pause. And then, a thought occurred to Orion. "You interested in a quick spar? It's been a long while since I've battled anyone. We could just do a quick one-on-one thing if you want…"

Azrael looked surprised. "Well…" she checked the clock adjacent to the wall she was leaning against and shrugged. "I suppose so. I've got time."

Orion smiled. "Glad to see I've been penciled into your schedule." He hadn't meant it in a sarcastic way, and was relieved when Azrael smiled in turn.

"I suppose I can spare a few minutes for you, huh?"

Moments later they were across from each other out back behind the Center, standing at the ready. Orion had been ready to let her go first when Azrael had lifted her hand rock-paper-scissors style, giving him a look that keenly said that she didn't want an advantage just because she was a girl. Giving in, they'd done battle of the hands, to which she won, anyway.

The first Pokemon she sent out was a small brown pup—an Eevee, Orion knew immediately, and felt a surge of keen interest. He sent out Lickitung, which was his best Pokemon. Instinctively the two had known that the battle wouldn't be easy and had selected their strongest Pokemon to fight with.

Azrael had started with Sand Attack, and Orion was already judging her fighting technique as Lickitung pawed at its face with one of its hands. She had strategy in mind far more than brute attacks, he saw. Most trainers would blindly have Eevee use Tackle right off the bat to see how effective it would be against Lickitung—Azrael hadn't taken that chance.

Orion ordered Lickitung to use Supersonic, and was relieved as it was able to see clearly enough to aim the high-density concussion waves at the right target. As Eevee became confused and ended up slamming itself into the ground instead of at Lickitung on its next turn—Azrael had finally given the Tackle command—Lickitung completely missed its target for Stomp. Overall, they were evenly matched.

In the end Eevee beat Lickitung by maybe five hit points. Orion was amazed at the way Azrael handled her Pokemon—instead of shouting "Tackle!" or "Sand Attack!" at the top of her lungs the way Orion had to do more often than not, she muttered the attack name and gave hand signals that actually seemed more effective than the spoken commands. Orion was indeed impressed.

After he dropped Lickitung off at the Pokemon Center, Orion led Azrael back to her room—a gesture that seemed to confuse her—and they stood awkwardly outside her door for a few moments. Finally, Orion unstuck his throat, and, curling his fingers into his pale blonde hair and pulling on a few strands, a habit he reverted to when he was nervous, asked her, "So… you're going to Mount Moon after this?"

Azrael was staring at her closed door as if she were worried it would bite her, regarding it like it was capable of hideous things. Vaguely, Orion wondered why she was worried about her room. "I… yeah, yes, I am. I was thinking of leaving as soon as tomorrow morning."

Orion winced. To him, the unspoken message was very clear: I am out of here; don't try to follow me. Apparently the Pokemon battle hadn't meant they were friends yet.

As she pulled open the door, she was saying "Thank you for—" the meal, probably, but she never got to finish, because as the door swung open a three-inch plate of something shiny fell out from between the door and the threshold, landing with a clatter at their feet.

Orion studied it for maybe a second before Azrael's bizarre reaction to it startled him into looking up at her, instead. He'd seen one of those before, on T.V.: a ninja throwing star. He couldn't remember the Japanese name for it. At the moment, the Japanese name of anything seemed pretty trivial, as Azrael's face had gone sheet-white and her hands had flown up to cover her mouth. It was a terribly feminine and vulnerable position, something that Orion was sure she hadn't meant to do.

Indeed, a nanosecond later she righted herself and swooped down on the throwing star, picking it up with the hem of her turtleneck's sleeves.

"Ah—why was that in your door?" Orion asked, puzzling over the strange thing. He was certain she hadn't put it there by her reaction from it, and inexplicably the appearance of it was disturbing him almost as much as it was she—probably from her air of utmost dread that even now she was attempting to cover with a false air of confidence. He saw the cold emotion in her eyes though—she was afraid.

Gripped with a sudden protective instinct, Orion regarded her evenly, catching and holding her gaze in the most penetrating and forceful way he knew how—which was probably about as effective as puppy-eyes, he knew. "Is someone following you?"

"It's—"

Nothing, Orion could hear on the tip of her tongue. She didn't say 'nothing', however. Instead, out poured the strangest story Orion had heard in a good, long while.

"It's my father. He used these things all the time in his training, but he left me and my mother years ago, and we haven't heard anything from him, and he wasn't well when he left and it's probably not good that these things have been showing up everywhere I go, it's obvious he's not looking to reconnect and talk about the years gone by—" she cut herself off in mid-run on sentence and stared blankly at a wall. "Never mind. I'm sorry for rambling."

She was trying to flee, but Orion wouldn't let her now that he knew the extent of what was really wrong. "Wait," he said, and when she tried to push past him into the room he barricaded the way with his body. His shoulders were broad and he was a good half a foot taller than her, so she soon saw it was no good and looked up at him in a way that made it feel as if she were looking down at him. She was indeed, quite intimidating, but Orion wouldn't be shaken. "Wait, Azrael. You can't go to Mount Moon alone if your father's leaving you death tools with no kind of note or contact! That's insane."

Azrael finally seemed to work up the conviction to tell him the thing she'd probably been meaning to say all day. "Why are you so concerned, anyway? You hardly know me, and I hardly know you. Just—" leave me alone, Orion finished for her in his mind, but for the third time that day Azrael's sentence was cut off before the logical conclusion could be reached. "Just… look. Thank you for being so kind to me, and for your concern. But this isn't something I need help with. It's just… weird, that's all."

"You certainly win the award for the Understatement of the Year," Orion said, breaking into a weary smile. "That even gives the time I said 'I'm a bit clumsy' a run for its money."

He seemed to have hit a chord in Azrael. Something that sounded almost like a repressed chuckle sounded in the back of her throat, and she lowered her face so her bangs fell down over her nose and mouth for a moment. She recovered quickly, though, and smiled at him in a grateful but exasperated way.

"I do appreciate it. You're a very—a very nice guy, which I appreciate." She paused. "And now I'm being redundant. I'm going to start packing now, and I'll need to get into my room unless I plan on leaving all of my things—and my Pokemon—here."

Orion was just about to step aside and concede defeat when he stopped. That seemed to be typical for him to do—step aside and concede defeat. He supposed he was used to it from Surge—but this time he wasn't about to let this girl go out into a dark cave riddled with thousands of dark corners for psycho fathers to hide in all on her own.

"I'm coming with you, then."

"What?" Azrael didn't seem to find him amusing anymore. She regained her control but lifted a finger to him warningly. "You may think you're doing me a favor, Orion, but you're not. I'll repeat myself yet again; I appreciate your concern. But I can't afford to be held up right now. I've only got two months to do all I need to do before my mother expects me back home. I'm not going to travel with anyone."

"I promise you I won't hold you up," Orion said, closing his eyes and getting ready to shove his dignity aside. "Please? Look, I won't sleep right knowing that you're out there friendless." He winced. He'd successfully made it sound like she had no acquaintances. Marveling at his own conversational incompetence, he stumbled on. "Just let me go with you through Mount Moon. That won't be so bad, will it?"

Azrael looked at him as if he'd grown a third head and Weedles were crawling out of his ears. "You are remarkably persistent. I—"

"No, no, don't tell me;" Orion said, lifting one hand in front of her as a "stop" signal and pressing the other to his temple psychic-style. "You appreciate my persistence." He flashed a smile at her, the kind he would give to an old friend.

Azrael's mouth was open as if she were about to vehemently deny it—and then she burst out laughing. Hearing her laugh infected Orion, and soon the two of them were yucking it up, backs pressed against the opposing walls of the hallway, wiping tears of mirth from their eyes. A few moments later when they had recovered some, Azrael regarded him with something almost like fondness.

… Before sliding into her room and closing the door in his face.

Orion stared at it blankly for a moment, jaw hanging. In the laughing fit he'd forgotten to block it. He threw his fists against the wood and shouted through it, "I won't let you out if you don't let me go with you! I'll sleep outside your door!"

"I can climb out the window," came the languid voice from within. Orion could hear her moving around the room, zipping and unzipping things and rustling a plastic bag.

"I'll sleep by the entrance of the cave, then!" he shouted, and actually moved to go to his room to get his things when he heard the sound of her chuckling inside her room again.

"I'm kidding," she said so softly that Orion almost didn't hear it. "I'm going to get my Pokemon and heal them up and tomorrow we'll—we'll go through Mount Moon together. But I swear, if you don't wake up at the same time I do, I'm leaving you there. I will not be held back in any way; you understand, Orion?"

"Quite, Madame." He said, bowing at the door even though he knew she couldn't see it. "Do you need to restock at the PokeMart? I know I do."

"Sure," came the voice from behind the door. "I'll meet you in the lobby in about ten minutes so we can go there."

"Sounds good to me!" Orion said, beaming. "And what time do you want to set out tomorrow morning?"

A moment of silence where Orion was almost worried she'd take the whole thing back. And then, "Make it seven."

Orion closed his eyes and took a deep, steadying breath. "This'll be fun, I can tell. Seven it is!"