Well now, the tournament is finally over! Time for our characters to unwind. And by unwind, I mean it's time for relationship drama.

Pokemonking0924: Maybe someday he will. Someday far, far off.

MaMcMu: I'm still accepting Seniors. Or you can submit a character and I'll get around to including it at some undisclosed future point.

Hellraiserphoenix: Yeah, he isn't just some generic asshole. He's actually got his reasons. But Kanone doesn't give a damn.

SkullGreymonX: Signed, sealed, delivered, just not yet.

Jay Hayden: Well, you got your wish.

KedharS: Well, Gerard's stint isn't over just yet. He's still got some stuff up his sleeve.

Draisen: I expected it to be cathartic to some.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: If he ever gets redemption, we are not even close to the start of that road.

Duskzilla: Rock types can still get burned.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 94

"Here we are," Ayame said, staring at Blake with a frown on her face. She had brought him into her room in order to further discuss him joining the Empress's circle.

"Well, your room is a lot cuter than I expected," Blake said, smiling, looking at the various stuffed animals piled around the room. "But it's fitting for a girl as cute as you."

"Very funny," Ayame sighed, shaking her head. "Did you just come here to make jokes?"

"Oh? But I'm not joking," Blake said, leaning in close to her. Ayame stepped away to brush him off, only to realize that suddenly there was a wall pressed against her back.

"Come on, move," Ayame demanded, glaring down at him.

"Is that really what you want?" Blake slammed his hand against the wall right beside her head and leaned up close to her, his breath hot against her ear.

"I said get off!" She exclaimed, more insistently, her cheeks flushing as she placed her hands on his chest and gave a shove. But even with all the strength she could muster, she couldn't seem to push him away.

Suddenly, her back felt soft and cushiony, and she realized she was lying on her bed, Blake on top of her. Her heart was beating in her chest as she stared up at him.

This… how-? Her mind was racing with the beat of her heart, and she could feel her face growing hot. She pushed upwards, the boy rolling to the side as she reversed their positions, pinning him down. His face was as red as hers must have been.

"Well?" He asked. "What now?"

Indeed, what now? She'd flipped the script, and now he was at her mercy. She smiled triumphantly down at him. Now, what would she do with-Why, exactly, was she leaning closer to his face? Staring at his lips? Getting closer and closer until-

Ayame hazily rose out of bed, blinking a few times as her memories of a few seconds earlier swirled in a fog in her head.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Her voice shook the entire floor of her dormitory as the weight of her dream crashed down on her. She ran into the bathroom and began dry heaving, sweat rolling down her face.

"You have gotta be shitting me…" she panted, leaning over the toilet bowl, trembling. "Why would I be dreaming about that… that…" The contents of her dream, or maybe her nightmare, flashed back through her head. She flushed and her gag reflex lit back up, leading her lean over the toilet for more dry heaving.

She stood up, still gagging a little, her body still feeling unnervingly hot.

"…First, a cold shower," she decided. "Then I'm gonna throw up."

Nice and refreshed after her shower, Ayame had finally returned to something of a normal state. Getting dressed, she checked the clock. 7:32. Olivia would be awake by now, for sure. The dormitory they lived in was small, but extravagant, and filled to a one by seniors under Olivia's direct influence. It was the Empress's miniature palace, so of course she occupied the most opulent of its rooms at the top floor.

Ayame rattled her hand against the door, taking Olivia's cue to enter. The girl was going through her daily beauty regiment, staring at a three-fold mirror and applying her make-up with a dedicated hand.

"What's up, Aya?" Olivia asked, not take her eyes off the task at hand.

"Urg… well, you know, just wanted to come by…" Ayame glanced at her boss. Olivia was in the process of gingerly applying glossy pink lipstick. Lips. Ayame fought off another wave of disgust as memories of what she was now certain to be a horrid nightmare flashed in her head.

"You don't look so good," Olivia said, glancing up at Ayame's reflection in the mirror for the first time. She turned to look at her. "I thought you'd be happy. Classes have been canceled for the remainder of the week while the faculty deals with the fallout of the tournament. You have all the time in the world to devote to your club activities."

"Yeah, I know," Ayame muttered, shaking her head. "I just… I had a bad dream last night, and now I'm feeling a bit under the weather."

"Oh. Cramps?"

"No, it's not that!"

"Geez, touchy."

"Sorry, boss."

"Well, you certainly look a bit flushed," Olivia said, staring at her with sympathetic eyes. "Perhaps it would be for the best if we postpone your appointment with Blake for another time?"

"Err…" God, just hearing that annoying kid's name…

"Oh?" Olivia's eyes sharpened. "What's the matter?"

"Huh? What?! Nothing!" Ayame cried.

"So the content of your dream was-"

"Boss!" Ayame said sharply, Olivia chuckling.

"It's not like I mind you know," Olivia said, packing her cosmetic kit up and pushing it to the side. She rose to her feet, looking radiant as ever. "It's quite useful, I'm sure you know. Young boys like him… quite a pack of slaves to their urges."

"Are you saying you want me to…" Ayame's face went pale. The thought of seducing that guy…

"Not at all. It would simply be in our best interest," Olivia shrugged. "But if you would rather not-"

"Not!"

"Pity. He certainly seems receptive to the idea, and he is quite cute, and such a sweetheart…" she sighed, smiling. "If only we were compatible, perhaps I'd even have made a move. …Though he's slightly too young. Indeed, such a pity. Like casting a handsome pearl before swine."

Ayame twitched in irritation.

"Yes, so back to that dream of yours?" Olivia inquired.

"Er…" It wasn't like Ayame could exactly bring up the topic in light of what had been brought up.

"Oh, so it was." Olivia smirked, causing Ayame to turn red in a mixture of anger and embarrassment. "But still, you don't want to…?"

"No!"

"Then maybe you're just… pent up?"

"I'm not like you!"

"How rude," Olivia huffed. "Is that any way to speak with your Empress? I was only trying to help my cute little subject resolve her… urges."

She leaned back, beginning to apply light blue polish to her nails.

"You've got a meet coming up, yes? So maybe you feel anxious? Worked up? It often happens to me. Don't hold yourself back or you'll just affect your health."

"Boss-"

"Although afterwards may be better," Olivia was thinking aloud. "In the wake of a particularly exciting appeal, when my energy is at its peak and my tension high, nothing feels better than looking for a cutie after all is said and done, and, well…"

Olivia held up her hand and made a scissoring motion.

"Subtle," Ayame groaned rolling her eyes.

"Well, if you're not interested in anything serious, all I'm saying is you could find a cute guy, and… or girl?"

Ayame gave a glare.

"…Guy. Right, so find a cute guy, and just… you know. Work off your excess energy."

"If I had excess energy to work off, then I'd rather do it by running," Ayame replied dryly.

"…Fuu…" Olivia blew on her fingernails, glancing up at her with a smirk. "So, what do you think?"

She showed off her nails for Ayame's inspection.

"…Perfect."

Olivia hummed in delight. She rose to her feet, standing radiant before her friend.

"Well, I'm off! There's someone waiting in a charming café for me to sweep her off her feet!"

She turned to exit, before glancing back at Ayame.

"And if you're so insistent on not seducing Blake to our side with your allures, then might I suggest you take your edge off by mastur-"

"I'M GOING FOR A RUN."

Meanwhile, on the other side of campus, another girl was thinking about Blake in a slightly less explicit way.

Sango was humming to herself as she looked in the mirror, taking special care of her appearance for the first time in a long while. To as great an extent as she could, anyway. She'd borrowed Julia's brush to keep her hair as straight as possible, and though she didn't use any of Cynthia's makeup she still made sure to wash her face thoroughly to make sure there wasn't any unnoticed dirt or unaccounted for blemishes. She'd even gone to sleep early and foregone her usual morning routine for a full 8 hours, so she could look nice and rested. What had brought on this positive demeanor and drastic change in routine? It was simple.

Sango had a date.

…Well, sort of. It was close enough! That previous night, after the chaos of the tournament had concluded, Blake had pulled her aside and asked her if she was doing anything the next day. When she said no, he asked if she'd be interested in going out to spend the day with him. And then he said not to mention it to Cynthia or Julia! It would just be the two of them! Now, that didn't necessarily mean anything, but it didn't necessarily not mean anything, right? So… it was okay to be a little hopeful? Maybe?

And if things go well… then maybe we could do it again sometime… she imagined. And maybe even… I could tell him…

Her cheeks turned red. No nono, she just couldn't. Not… not yet. What… what if he said no? She didn't want to make things awkward between the two of them… they already spent so much time together. Plus, they had class duties, to spoil their relationship would just make things weird. At least for now. But someday… hopefully someday soon…

She smiled, imagining what the coming months would be like going out with Blake. She slapped the sides of her head.

I still can't believe I almost blurted it out like that yesterday! What's wrong with me?! I mean, yeah, I thought we were going to die, but… She sighed. There's no telling what would happen if she had actually…

"Silver," Sango said, stroking the small grey pokemon lovingly. "I know we're always together, but can you do me a super-huge favor and stay home today? Please?"

"Cast!" Silver said, bobbing up and down.

"Aw, thanks, you're the best!" Sango gushed, hugging the small pokemon. She checked her phone. Almost time to meet up! They were going to meet at 8:00 outside the dorms. Her heart was beating in her chest as she exited. 7:52…

"Hey, Sango!"

Blake's voice! He was early!

Sango turned on her heel to look back at the entrance, her smile freezing on her face.

"Hey~" Claire skipped down the steps, waving to Sango, smiling like an angel.

Sango's eyes shot from the approaching girl to Blake, whose expression was a mixture between guilty and apologetic.

Claire moved her arms around Sango and hugged her tightly, Sango shooting an evil eye at Blake over her shoulder.

"So what's going on?" Sango asked after Claire finally let go of her. "Blake, I thought we were just hanging out?"

"Yeah… uh…"

"I'm sorry, Sango!" Claire clasped her hands together, lowering her head in apology. "I asked him to lie, I'm sorry."

"Uh…"

"See… I'm leaving tomorrow… and before I go, I really wanted to talk with you some…" Claire said, looking down. "I kept getting the feeling that you don't like me very much… but I really want to be friends with you… so I was wondering if the three of us… could spend the day together?"

She looked at Sango with shimmering eyes. Sango felt more than a little offput. Sure, Claire was a little (a lot) annoying and she constantly invaded Sango's personal space… but then again, so did Cynthia. And while she certainly didn't like the girl, it wasn't like she really hated her or anything. And it seemed like Claire really did want to be friends.

"Sure, I guess…" Sango said, nodding.

"Great!" Claire's expression immediately brightened. "So, what should we do?"

"Ahem." Blake coughed, Sango and Claire glancing toward him.

"Well, I know this is so you guys can spend time together…" Blake said. "But there's some stuff I'd still like to do, if that's okay?"

"Sure, what?" Claire asked.

"Can we stop by the infirmary?" Sango twitched at this suggestion, and a dark shadow passed over Claire's face.

"Blake…" She said, frowning.

"Sounds fine!" Sango said, ignoring Claire, nodding eagerly.

"Cool," Blake said, smiling. The three of them left the dorm entryway, and headed toward the center of campus, where the Chansey Wellness Center was located. Due to various injuries that were often sustained when working with pokemon, the school infirmary was quite spacious, almost as big as an actual hospital. The three entered, and as usual, it was bustling with activity.

"I'm going to go check on Elaina," Blake said. "I want to see if she's okay."

"Elaina…" Claire paled. "Is she the one with the bird pokemon…?"

Blake nodded.

"Uh… I'll just stay here…" Claire said, smiling shakily. "You know how I am about hospitals…"

"Oh, that's right… Claire… sorry, I forgot. We can go, if you want…"

"No, no, it's fine!" Claire said, smiling, shaking her hands. "This place has a café for students, right? Sango can keep my company there, right Sango? We can have some girl talk~"

"Uh…" Sango glanced at Blake, then back to Claire. "Sure…"

Claire wrapped her arms around Sango's arm, and began leading her away. Sango gave a half-hearted wave back to Blake, who turned and walked to the front desk.

"Um, I'm looking for Elaina Bishop?" Blake said. "Can you tell me her room?"

"Oh, are you a friend?" The attendant at the front desk asked. "She's the one from last night… yes, Room 106. But if you want to visit her, it won't do much good."

"What?"

"You can talk to one of the nurses if you want to know more," the woman said sympathetically, "but from our records, that girl still hasn't woken up."

"…I see…" Blake said, looking down. "…I'd still like to go see her, if that's alright."

"Of course, I'm sure she'll be thrilled," the woman said, nodding, giving him a smile to show how touched she was by his kindness. "Just sign in on this clipboard over here."

Blake nodded, writing his name down. He stepped through the doors and tracked down Room 106, walking inside. It was almost empty, except for a single bed in the corner and a nightstand. There wasn't even a chair for guests. The curtain was drawn around the bed so he couldn't see who was behind it, but he spotted something much more distinguishing. On the nightstand was a porcelain mask that was glistening in the beams morning sunlight trickling in from the window.

Blake stepped over to get a closer look, lifting up Elaina's mask and turning it over in his hand. It was heavier than he'd imagined. He stepped over to the pale curtain.

Elaina… he thought, concerned for her condition. Could it be… the same as his mother…? He reached up and wrapped his fingers around the edge of the curtain.

"This is… passable," Claire murmured, placing the drink she ordered down on the table. Sango didn't exactly know what she'd ordered, but it was fancy with a lot of foam and colors and had a name with a bunch of words she'd never heard of.

Sango was feeling very uncomfortable. Since the two had left Blake and gone to get drinks at the adjoining café, Claire had seemed… cold. Like she didn't really care if Sango was there or not. It was off-putting.

"Um, Claire…" Sango said, Claire glancing at her.

"Hah…?" Claire exhaled, her cute looks twisting into a cruel sneer. Sango flinched.

"What?" Sango asked, confused.

"What?" Claire repeated in a mocking tone. She leaned back in the booth and twirled a lock of her hair, staring dismissively at the blonde girl.

Now Sango was mad.

"I-"

"So," Claire interrupted, her voice smooth as silk as she crooned smugly, "I bet you were looking forward to today, weren't you?"

"Huh? What?"

"Sorry to spoil the fun. Your little special date with Blake."

"D-date?" Sango gasped. "It wasn't a-"

"No, it wasn't but you sure would have liked it to be, wouldn't you?" Claire smirked. "After all, you're so into him it's painful to watch."

"I…" Sango's mouth fell open. This girl… she knew? But how? Sango was sure that she had been behaving normally, and yet… "How…"

"How could I figure it out?" Claire finished her question, and then answered it, "how could I not? You were making it so painfully obvious. You were practically swooning like a schoolgirl in heat."

"I-I wasn't-"

"It was so pathetic, I'm honestly surprised that Blake doesn't know yet," Claire said, shaking her head with a chuckle, her hair bouncing. "That's a conversation I'm gonna love having with him, let me tell you…"

"Y-you can't tell him!" Sango said, her face going pale.

"Sure I can," Claire said, smirking. "Why can't I?"

"Be-because… Didn't you say that you wanted us to be friends?"

Claire's jaw dropped and she held her hand in front of her mouth, her eyes widening.

"Wait… you seriously fell for that? Oh, my god. This is amazing. Just…. Amazing!" She had to resist the urge to burst out laughing.

"Look, blondie, I don't know if you've noticed, but me? Friends with you?" Claire raised her hand and gestured towards herself, then raised her hand up and down in front of Sango with a snort. "Come on. I mean… look at me. And look at you. The only reason I said that was so I could talk to you. I thought you were just being polite so as not to cause a scene in front of Blake, but… wow. That's pathetic. I honestly feel sad for you."

At the moment, Sango was feeling what she could only describe as a mixture of sadness and white-hot rage.

"Well, then, on to business. What I wanted to talk to you about," Claire hummed, moving past her horribly cruel comments without a second thought. "I'm gonna have to ask you to stay away from Blake, if you wouldn't mind?"

"What? But he's my friend!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's adorable, really, the whole 'boyish friend' thing, but it stops now," Claire said. "See, I've met a lot of girls like you before, trying to cling to Blake like leeches, pretending to have feelings for him so that you can siphon away his money, and I'm not letting that happen. So stop, k? Just go back to wherever it is boy-girls like you come from and leave him to me, sound good?"

"No, it doesn't sound good! I'm not going to-"

"Yes, you are," Claire sharply interrupted her. "Or I'm going to tell Blake all about how you feel. How you've been trying to get his money away from him."

"His money?! I don't give a damn about-"

"Oh, please," Claire snorted again. "Who do you think you're talking to? Drop the high and might 'proud girl' act, it's old and tired. I've been playing this game a long time, Sango, I know exactly how it works. You pretend like you're his friend, but really you're just trying to get close to him so you can seduce him and get him to fall in love with you, and then you get your hands on all that nice family money of his. Not happening, sister. I'm not letting you sneak in and ruin this for me. I've invested way too much of my time into that boy."

"Wait… what the hell are you talking about?" Sango demanded. "Are you… are you saying that you're trying to get Blake to fall in love with you… for money?"

"Of course?" Claire laughed, rolling her eyes. "What? I mean, he's not bad-looking, but you honestly think that someone who looks like me would give him the time of day if he wasn't loaded? I've been playing the long game, see. You aren't the first girl with dreams of striking it big to go sniffing after him, and you certainly won't be the last."

She scanned her eyes up Sango's body and smirked.

"Although you're certainly the most ambitious, I'll give you that. Thinking you can seduce him looking like that when he has someone like me."

Sango's rage had settled down. Now Claire's words were just painful.

"I mean, come on. You didn't really think you had a shot, did you?" Claire laughed. "When he's got someone who looks like me hanging around him? I bet the only reason he hasn't figured out how you feel yet is because he wouldn't believe you'd be audacious enough to try. Yeah, that's gotta be it."

"Look, blondie, I'm giving you an out. You get to leave, save face, whatever. Just walk right out that door, and stop hanging around him. Then we'll all be good. It's for the best, anyway."

"I'm… not gonna do something stupid like that…" Sango growled through her tears. "I'm… I'm going to tell Blake what you just told me. He'll see you for the cruel, vindictive cunt that you are."

"Fine. Tell him. But who do you think he's going to believe? I've known him practically his entire life. I know about his family. I know about his father, his brother, his struggles with his mother, his sister. I know more about Blake Harker than you could even dream of, and he trusts me completely."

"Do you really think, when it comes down to it, that Blake would choose you over me? He'd toss you to the curb in a minute if I told him a few creative fibs, you've got to know that. And honestly, that's what you get for trying to be a gold digger with a homely, acne-scarred face and an ugly, manly physique. You honestly deserve it. I'm doing you the favor of letting you avoid Blake's rejection to your face. You should be thanking me."

"…I don't care," Sango snarled, rising to her feet. "I don't care if you think I'm some gold digger, or you think that there's no way Blake could ever love someone who looks like me. I… I care about Blake. I don't know if it's love or what, but I know that I truly want what's best for him. And that's to get you out of his life. So I'm gonna tell him everything."

"He won't believe you!" Claire insisted. "He'll think you're a liar, and ditch you!"

"Even so, that's still better than letting you sink your claws into him!" Sango's tears were burning her cheeks.

"Ugh, this is even worse than I thought," Claire sighed. "So you're really not after the money, you're the kind of idiot who actually deluded herself into thinking she has feelings for him. Listen, girly, it's pointless! Blake and I are going to end up together! All you can hope for is misery. Just give up on him already!"

"I won't!" Sango insisted. "I was scared… but now that I know the kind of person you really are, I'm not going to be scared anymore. I'm gonna tell Blake how I feel about him. I'm going to tell him how a piece of shit cunt like you tried to chase me off so you could get his money, and even if he rejects me I know that he'll look at you suspiciously for the rest of your time together."

"You really care about him that much?" Claire growled, her eyes burning with anger.

"I just want him to be happy," Sango insisted. "Even if that means he won't be with me. Even if I have to stand by his side as a friend, I'm going to do my best to make sure he'll be smiling."

Claire glared icily at Sango. She growled, leapt to her feet, and lunged across the table at the tall blonde.

Oh, man. Catfight. Go Sango, you can do it!