Here's another chapter, the second today! This one gets into a lot more personal stuff, where we get to see a closer look at the scars bared by our characters. Please review!

EzionShadows: You can always submit. Whether or not I'll be able to use the character is a matter of time.

Aakareo Kokokuhikari: I'm not doing a harem ending. If Blake ends up with someone, it will be one person, the person he loves most. Whoever that may end up being, if anyone at all, is to be determined. So yes, there will be heartbreak. Because heartbreak is a natural part of teen love.

Seamitar X: Thanks for the recommendation, it's a little too heavy metal for Elaina, though.

Hellraiserphoenix: It will be explored to some extent, yes.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: The reason she doesn't swim will be made apparent soon enough.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 144

It was midday when the tour bus finally arrived at the place they were staying in Lavaridge Town. Famous for its hot springs piping in heat straight from the volcano itself, the town had many onsen spas to choose from, and the one they were staying at was the perfect mixture of modern luxury and respect for tradition. It was run by a perfectly lovely older couple, filled with a little too much energy considering their age. The school had booked out the entire place, much to their fortune, as the spa seemed just large enough to house all the groups. Group 11 got two rooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. The boys' room was slightly more crammed considering there were four of them, much to their consternation.

"According to Cynthia, she just got off the boat," Sango reported, walking into the boys' room. "She says they'll be here in a few hours. She seemed super pumped for some reason."

"I can guess," Blake muttered. "She's probably excited about the group bathing time."

Sango tilted her head to the side in confusion.

"Didn't you get the report?" Blake asked. The other guys looked at him in confusion. "None of you did?"

"What's this about group bathing?" Sango asked.

"Well, since the large, main springs are being cleaned tonight, and since we've got this place to ourselves, the teachers organized scheduled bathing times. Each of the groups gets approximately 30 minutes in one of the four smaller springs. From what I hear, they hold like 5-10 people, they're usually reserved by families and couples and the like.

"W-wait, bathing… together?" Sango asked, her face going pale.

"No, the springs are still divided by gender," Blake sighed. "You guys seriously didn't hear anything about this? I thought Ayame told everyone."

"…" Sango took a few seconds, but she got there. She grit her teeth together and began seething. That girl! Unbelievable!

"Oh, I get you," Reiner laughed. "That's priceless."

"What?" Aidan asked, confused.

"Ayame didn't tell any of us about the bathing time," Reiner explained. "Just Blake. She wanted to get him alone in the hot spring, so she could… well, use your imagination."

Aidan used his imagination. It took him to a very interesting place.

"That's… wow," he said, blushing.

"Making it with a senior? Nice," Will smirked.

"I'm not 'making it' with anybody!" Blake exclaimed, his face turning crimson.

"I'll be back in a minute," Sango growled, storming out of the room and to the room next-door. She flung the sliding door open so hard she half-worried it might tear, but she didn't let that stop her.

"You were going to put the moves on Blake in the bath?!" Sango exclaimed, her face hot with a mixture of rage and embarrassment. She stared down at Ayame, who was sitting on her futon, reading a sports magazine. Ayame looked up at her, her mouth falling open in shock. Caelia was also seated, staring off into nothing. She was completely unfazed by this exclamation.

"…Dude, keep your voice down!" Ayame hissed. She leapt to her feet and ran to the door, closing it, as though the thin paper was any better at keeping things quiet. "You want everyone to hear?!"

"I can't believe this," Sango said, shaking her head in disbelief. "What is the matter with you? I know you said you were using this trip time to get close to Blake, but even so-! There's a proper way to do this sort of thing!"

"I-I know!" Ayame exclaimed, her face bright red. "But I mean, you didn't leave us any time alone on the cruise, and… I mean… it-it isn't like I was going to do anything!"

"Oh, right, right," Sango scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest, glaring confrontationally at Ayame. "You were just going to walk in on him naked in the bath, and what? Have a deep and meaningful conversation?"

"…Yes." Ayame said, averting her eyes from Sango's gaze.

"Liar!"

"It… I wasn't going to go… you know… all the way!" Ayame exclaimed, covering her face. "Just… if he saw… you know, then maybe…"

She hung her head sheepishly.

Sango could smell Olivia all over this little scheme. She shook her head.

"You don't get it," Ayame sighed, sitting back down. "I built up so much resolve for this trip, when I learned that I was your guys' chaperone… god, I'm such a fool…"

"Damn right," Sango scowled. "You were actually going to-"

"Agh, don't say it!" Ayame cried, holding her hands over her ears. Now that it was out there, she was completely embarrassed at even having been desperate enough to agree to listen to Olivia's insane plan.

Sango's phone rang, and she answered it.

"Yeah, what?" She snapped. Hearing the Reiner's voice on the other side, her eyes widened and her face went pale, her mouth dropping open.

"What's up?" Ayame asked.

"You know we can hear you guys, right?" Reiner shouted from through the thin wall. Ayame gaped, her face growing redder and redder.

"No, no…" Ayame shooked her head, rocking back and forth in denial. The laughter of the guys, save for Blake, could be heard in the other room.

Sango blushed, shaking her head, hanging up on Reiner. Unbelievable…

As the kids prepared for their bath, Sango received a text from Cynthia informing her that her group had just arrived. She texted her, telling her that they'd hook up after her group finished up their bathing.

"Come on, Caelia," Ayame said, rising to her feet.

"I will not bathe," Caelia replied.

"…Uh, yeah you will," Ayame said, shaking her head. "We've been cooped up on a bus for the last few hours, and you're dressed like it's winter time even though we're in the tropics, next to an active volcano. We're all sweaty, and we all stink. And I'm not spending the night sleeping next to your stink."

Caelia paused. Her face tensed, but she reluctantly nodded her head.

"…Then what were you going to do if your plan had worked and the two of us were never told when our bath time was scheduled?" Sango asked, narrowing her eyes. Ayame glanced away, a guilty expression on her face.

"…Well, the plan didn't exactly involve me spending the night in this room, you see-"

"I knew it!" Sango hissed, Ayame holding her hands up defensively. She laughed, and nodded at Caelia to come with them. She rose to her feet and trailed behind the two taller girls. They reconnected with the boys in the inn hall. Silver and Arion were left behind in their rooms, napping.

"Hey, girls," Reiner called, laughing, elbowing Blake in the side. "If you guys like, we can leave the two lovebirds to one of the baths and the five of us go into the other? What do you think?"

Blake and Ayame couldn't even look at each other, their expressions aghast at what the situation had devolved into.

"Dude, Reiner!" Aidan gasped, his face turning red.

Sango stared incredulously at them, flipping the boys off in response.

"I'll tell Nikita," she growled, a look of horror crossing Reiner's face.

"Hey, come on, I was just kidding," Reiner said. Will rolled his eyes.

"Enough," Ayame coughed, regaining her composure. "Let's go, we only have so much time for the bath."

The group of seven headed down the hall to their assigned baths. Sango glanced back at Blake and Caelia, who were following the others. Their expressions seemed conflicted, or at least Blake's did. Caelia was a little harder to read. Her face was as impassive as Sango had learned in the last few days was the norm, but the air around her seemed… tense. Blake, on the other hand, looked reluctant, his eyes moving as though he was looking for a route of escape.

"Blake, everything okay?" Sango asked, stepping back to walk beside him.

"Yeah, just… I'm not a big fan of bathing with other people," Blake said, shaking his head. Sango didn't really understand why, but she could tell that this was something important about him.

"…Is it, like, a size thing, or-"

Blake gave her a cold stare. Clearly he was not in a joking mood, so Sango apologized. She glanced at Caelia. Maybe she felt the same way… was it really okay to make her bathe with them? She had objected at first… but she hadn't said why, either.

Sango went over to Caelia and tapped her on the arm, but the girl did not respond. She placed her hand on Caelia's shoulder and tugged, stopping the girl from walking. Caelia turned and glanced back at her, her eye showing confusion within its depths.

"Hey, um, I know what Ayame said, but if you don't want to take a bath with the rest of us, you don't have to."

Caelia blinked.

"I know you don't get along with others, so…" Sango waited for Caelia to say anything.

"No need…" Caelia murmured. "Concern wasted…"

Sango dropped her hand and Caelia walked followed Ayame into the girls' bath, Sango heading in after them.

Blake was the last one to enter the changing room. He swallowed, reaching up to unbutton his shirt. He trusted Reiner enough to not talk, but he didn't know Aidan very well, and Will was essentially a stranger. Still… it wasn't like he could just take a bath in his clothes on.

Blake stepped out with a towel around his waist. Even in the heat of the Hoenn Region, the setting sun on the horizon still brought a chill to the air. The hot spring steam just made it even more blatant. The other guys had already gotten into the water, and they glanced back at Blake, their mouths open in shock. Barefoot and dripping with water from the shower, Blake walked slowly across the stone ground surrounding the hot spring, slowly slipping down into the water and removing his towel, sinking down and resting against the rocky bottom of the heated water.

"Blake…" Reiner was the first to speak.

"…You can see… why I was reluctant," Blake said, his voice low, as he stared at the divide between the two small pools, out of worry that the girls might hear them.

"Those scars…" Aidan said, frowning, glancing at Blake. "So that's why you didn't want to go swimming?"

Blake nodded. Even in the parts of his torso that were still above the water, it was clear that there was horrific scarring across the majority of it. Long, thin scars ran in lines down his back, resembling the lashes of a whip, and thick, jagged wounds crisscrossed his chest and stomach, as well as various, smaller cuts and burns. His body looked like he had gone a couple rounds with a Haxorus, and had not emerged the victor. The wounds were old, very old, and yet their effects were still clear as day. Likely, they'd always remain.

No one else said anything, and Blake appreciated that very much. They weren't something he enjoyed talking about, even if he couldn't remember what, exactly, had happened to him. He'd obviously repressed the memories, and he definitely didn't WANT to know. Even thinking about it…

The water was warm, but Blake felt a shiver run down his spine. It was unnerving, worrisome. Thinking about the wounds made them ache.

While the boys bathed in silence, clearly too uncomfortable to converse with one another, the girls' side of the baths was a lot more active.

"I thought so yesterday, when we were swimming, but your body is actually pretty good," Ayame said, glancing at Sango's sleek, toned figure. "I'm a little jealous, to be honest."

Sango glanced at Ayame, and scowled. Ayame's figure was just as toned and tight, but where Sango was practically flat with her A-cups, Ayame's body was curvy AND athletic, the kind of body that made Sango insecure. She wasn't as… "endowed" as Serefina or Elly, or even Julia, but her chest still dwarfed Sango's, and even she had to admit that she saw what Blake admired in her ass when she looked at it from behind. The handsome face and sultry bedroom eyes made it even worse. Sango wasn't attracted to girls in the slightest, but even she felt a small swoon sometimes when Ayame smiled at her.

"Hey, Blake!" Ayame called out over the divide. "How're you guys doing?"

"We're comparing sizes," Reiner called back. "You really missed out, Ayame!" Ayame blushed and the guys, even Blake, laughed from the other side.

"Y'all are dirty!" Sango growled, pounding the bamboo wall in embarrassment, trying to force the image of Blake's… thing out of her mind.

"Sorry, Sango," Aidan's voice called out. "Reiner just felt like messing around, don't take it too seriously."

Sango rolled her eyes. Boys were so stupid sometimes.

The screen door opened with rattle, Ayame and Sango turning to face the newcomer. It was Caelia, and upon seeing her Sango immediately knew why she had refused to swim with them. Why she had been so reluctant, in her own way, to join them in bathing.

Ayame regretted forcing Caelia to join them herself. It was all her fault. The girl was reluctant to socialize, and the reason why was plain to see. And like a callous fool, Ayame had dragged the girl in with them, and more than likely caused her horrific emotional damage, even if she hadn't shown it. Ayame wanted to throw up, and it had nothing to do with the sight before her.

Wrapped in a towel, her hair dripping wet, Caelia walked carefully over the slick floor, pressing the towel around her with her left hand. Serious burn scars twisted across the surface of the hand, covering most of the skin and reaching up to her wrist. This was the lesser of her injuries.

The flesh of her right arm was twisted and warped, ravaged by the scars of third- and fourth-degree burns. Her pinkie and ring fingers were amputated at the first joint, and from tip to shoulder the skin was a sickening blend of dark pinkish-red. The scars moved up and spread out over her chest, stopping about halfway into her right breast, as far as they could see beneath the towel. It continued to spread up her collarbone and her neck, covered from sight by her hair. Caelia didn't say a word as she entered the water. She didn't even blink. Her face didn't even twitch as she set herself down into the hot water, staring numbly off into space. She had sat as far away from the two girls as possible within the tub, and took no apparent care of the presence. She closed her eye and sank down into the water, until only her head remained above the surface. Her burns were concealed by the dark and steamy water.

Ayame gulped. Part of her felt sick to her stomach, and part of her wanted to burst into tears. She'd been so unbelievably selfish, forcing Caelia to bathe with them, when she'd been hiding such…

She felt herself gagging. The water was now unbearably hot.

She'd even chastised the poor girl for wearing such long and baggy clothing, when she'd clearly been covering herself up to conceal all of this… so that people wouldn't stare, wouldn't ask questions. So they wouldn't treat her like damaged good, maybe? Ayame suspected all of the above. No wonder Caelia hid in her room and isolated herself from her peers. Ayame didn't have to guess at what sort of trauma that girl had gone through in her past. The ostracization she'd had to endure. It was right there, seared into her skin. And she'd just forced her through all of it again.

Ayame had spent this entire trip selfishly thinking about herself and her feelings, and she had not paid any attention to the needs of the students she was working with. And that callous oversight had most likely just traumatized a girl who was already so damaged she wouldn't even interact with others. Ayame was the most horrible person in the world.

She opened her mouth to say something, not yet sure what. An apology, maybe? A plea for forgiveness? An attempt to try and treat Caelia like a normal person, like she didn't notice her burns, and try to act normal? She wasn't sure, but still…

It was a hand on her shoulder by Sango that stopped her. She glanced back. Sango's expression was serious. She shook her head. Ayame nodded. There… there was nothing she could say to make this better. She'd just have to ignore it. Pretend like she didn't see anything. A single word now… it would just cause the poor girl even more damage. And she already seemed far too damaged to even dare risk something like that.

"I'm sorry," Ayame whispered to herself, staring off into the distance. Making sure not to stare, but also not deliberately looking away so she didn't come across as though she was intentionally averting her eyes. She was just going to pretend like there was nothing wrong.

But of course, that was a load of garbage. There was a whole hell of a lot wrong, and it was Ayame's fault. The damage to the girl had been done. Not by whatever had inflicted those horrific wounds upon her, but by Ayame's own cruel hand. So all she could do was repeat in her mind how sorry she was for being such an insensitive senior and ignoring the signals the girl had been giving off, signals that she now knew were an attempt to feign some sense of normalcy, and conceal the issue entirely. A multitude of signals that Ayame hadn't picked up on until now, when it was far too late to make any difference.

What a worthless chaperone she'd turned out to be.

That's rough. Sometimes you don't realize how insensitive you can really be by trying to force others to adhere to your sense of normalcy. Hopefully Ayame will learn a little something from this event, and not be so stubbornly forceful with everything.