Time for some more shenanigans in the inn! What will the revelations from the previous chapter bear out? How will our characters approach things?
TREBOR.E: You can't wear clothing into hot springs, not in an inn like this. It gets the water dirty. It's why you have to shower and clean yourself beforehand, too.
Seamitar X: Oh, please don't apologize. I appreciate that you looked and found something that reminded you of the characters! Thank you for telling me about it, I always like hearing stuff like that.
JoshGamerV: Caelia's quite interesting.
Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Yeah, it wasn't a pretty picture. That's what happens when you play with fire types sometimes.
Aakareo Kokokuhikari: But she'll still feel guilty about it, because she's a good person.
Duskzilla: Don't be so rude, Caelia can't help how she looks!
Superblal: I mean, what's the worst that can happen? She's already been burned pretty badly. No sense in stopping now.
Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings
Chapter 145
Ayame and Sango exited the bathhouse wearing the robes given to them. Caelia had left before them, but she had abandoned the robe in favor of her own change of clothes, along with the gloves and medical mask that concealed the extent of her burns from others.
Ayame watched after Caelia as she returned to the girls' room. Sango could see the conflict on Ayame's face, and understood the turmoil and feelings of guilt that the girl was going through.
"Right now… we should just give her some space," Ayame said, shaking her head. Sango nodded in agreement.
Sango's phone dinged, and she checked it.
"Hey, Cynthia and Blake are in the rec room," Sango said, changing the subject. "Want to go hang out with them? I think the other guys are there, too."
"…Sure," Ayame said, smiling. "That sounds good."
Sango wanted to invite Caelia too, but she knew that the girl would probably want some time to herself. She really doubted that Caelia would want to be around her or Ayame after what they had seen. It would probably be too uncomfortable for her, in no small part because certainly wasn't sure if either of them could act like normal around her. That would make things even worse.
"Let me just get Silver, then we can go," Sango said, running to their room. She whistled for Silver and the Castform floated up and flew over to her, smiling innocently. Sango returned to where Ayame was waiting, and the two girls headed to the rec room. Sango studied Ayame out of the corner of her eye. It was clear that seeing Caelia had really shaken her. Sango didn't want to invalidate what Caelia was feeling, but she also didn't know how to make her feel any better. At least in comparison, Ayame was the easier person to work with and hopefully get back into her usual mindset. If not, things on their hike tomorrow would be awfully tense.
"Hey, let's race!" Sango suggested.
"Huh?" Ayame asked, confused.
"A race, you and me! To the rec room!" Sango said, smiling. "Or what, don't think you can beat me?"
"We're wearing slippers, not running shoes, I don't think-"
"Sounds like an excuse to me," Sango smirked, patting her on the back. "Let's go!"
Sango broke into a run down the long hallway. And of course, Ayame couldn't just let herself be beaten without a fight! So she ran after Sango, catching up with her rather quickly, and-"
"What the hell are you two doing?!" Sango and Ayame screeched to a halt, falling over and landing in a heap.
The two girls glanced up to see Professor Green looking down on them. Sango and Ayame gulped. She did not look happy.
"We are guests at this establishment," Professor Green snarled, glaring down at the two of them. "You will comport yourselves in a manner suited for students of Pokemon Academy. How dare you run in these halls? Disrespecting our hosts like this? Especially you, Ayame! Your job is to supervise the students in your group, not participate in such rambunctiousness!"
"No, professor, it was my fault!" Sango protested, getting off of Ayame and staring pleadingly at the older woman. "I saw that Ayame was feeling down, and so I suggested a little race, that's all! Please…"
"No, don't Sango," Ayame said, standing up and shaking her head. "I still participated. She's right. It's my responsibility to look after you freshmen, and I failed."
Professor Green opened her mouth to fire more chastisements, when she was interrupted.
"Sango! There you are!" The three of them turned to see Cynthia walking down the hall, following closely behind the old man who ran the inn. In spite of his advanced age and wrinkled countenance, the bald man walked with an air of excited cheerfulness that was practically a mirror of Cynthia's, and his brown eyes were shining like a much younger man.
"What's going on here now?" The inn host asked, glancing at the professor in confusion. While he paused, Cynthia skipped around him and hugged Sango, smiling.
"I just knew you'd look adorable in the bathrobes!" Cynthia smiled. "What do you think? Looks good on me too, right?" She did a little twirl. "This one's my personal one!"
Personal? Sango asked herself, confused, but dropped the topic.
"Forgive us, sir, but two of our students were caught… roughhousing in the hallways," Professor Green admitted. "They were running, having a race of some sort. It was completely uncalled for, and I swear it won't happen again! You have my word that these girls will be punished, and-"
The old man smiled warmly and held up his hand to silence her.
"No, no, none of that," he chuckled. "As far as I'm concerned, the matter is dropped. Please don't punish these girls on my behalf. Kids will be kids, as I say."
He winked.
"And if I'm being frank, these halls have dealt with far worse than a few footraces, haha!" He let out a laugh from deep in his gut, patting Cynthia on the back.
"I, I see, I understand," Professor Green said, nodding. She turned to the girls. Her expression was still harsh, but the rage in it had dissipated somewhat. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again, you got it?"
"Yes ma'am!" The two girls said, nodding. The Professor walked off, grumbling.
Ayame and Sango turned to the old man, bowing their heads in both apology and gratitude.
"Th-thank you very much!" The two said at the same time. "And we're sorry for the inconvenience!"
"No, no, don't mind it at all," the old man laughed. "Young ladies with as much energy as yourselves, why it's quite delightful! You remind me of my wife back when she was younger… ah, no holding that one back. Just like this little missy right here!"
The old man reached up and ruffled Cynthia's hair, Cynthia blushing.
"You're Sango, right?" The innkeeper asked, Sango nodding in confusion. "Ah, yes, I've heard a lot about you, Cynthia's told some stories, that's for sure! I'm quite looking forward to meeting this Blake I've heard so much about, too…"
"Wait, she told you… what?" Sango asked, confused by what the old man was saying. "But, I mean… you two know each other?"
The old man let out another laugh from deep in his chest.
"Hah! What sort of man doesn't know his own granddaughter, silly girl! AHAAHA!" He cackled for a few more seconds before he started Weezing and Koffing, Cynthia patting him on the back.
"Your grandparents?!"
Cynthia and the innkeeper had escorted them to the rec room, where indeed, the other boys from Group 11 were gathered, as well as Nick, Kitty, Julia, and Nikita. Everyone was quite stunned at the revelation. Cynthia stood proudly in front of her grandparents, beaming like she was in the center of the stage. The old innkeeper was accompanied by the hostess, a short old woman with a kind smile and sparkling blue eyes, and curly hair that, upon knowing the connection between them, Blake could now see was a faded coloring of Cynthia's own fussy red locks. Both were sitting in the same comfortable chairs as the ones the students were occupying, gazing adoringly up at their grandchild.
"Yup! In fact, I grew up here!" Cynthia said, smiling. "I told you I was looking forward to the trip, didn't I?"
"When we heard from Cynthia that the faculty was planning a trip to Mt. Chimney, we wrote to them, you see, and offered them a great deal on the rooms," the innkeeper laughed. "And since we're in an off season, we're still making a profit, even with the price slashing! Hah!"
'It's so lovely to meet Cynthia's friends," Cynthia's grandmother smiled. "She's told us so many stories about you…"
"I didn't know you lived with your grandparents," Blake said, surprised.
"Well, my mom and dad work in the Devon Company, so they had to move to Rustboro," Cynthia explained. "But since they knew they wouldn't be able to take care of my sister and I very well with the workload they had, we grew up here!"
"Ha! Foolish son of mine," the old man scoffed. "Wasting 300 years of tradition to go run off and stare at a computer all day!"
"Now now, dear, let him chase his own dreams," his wife chastised him kindly.
"Yeah, don't worry grandpa," Cynthia smiled. "Even if dad won't do it, I'll take over the inn for you!"
"I know, I know," her grandfather said, smiling.
"I didn't know you wanted to run an inn," Julia said, surprised. "I thought you were always talking about how much you wanted to travel across the world and face different trainers? Or didn't you want to join up with the Commander and his group?"
"Well, yeah, of course, 'cause I'm still young," Cynthia said. "But I'm gonna settle down someday, y'know? And when the time comes, I'm going to inherit this place! And not only that, I've got some great ideas! This place… it's so closed off and insular! We need some young blood!"
Blake frowned, already smelling something wrong. He had a sinking suspicion of where Cynthia was going with this.
"We've got lots of springs and lots of space, but we aren't using it efficiently! That's why, when I become the hostess of this in, I plan to tear down the walls of the hot springs, and turn this place into a mixed-bathing only resort! So you two just leave everything to me!"
Cynthia cackled wickedly, while her grandparents just smiled and nodded.
"Ah, that's our little Cynthia," her grandfather chuckled. "She's got such a lovely sense of humor…"
"Inded, such a charming, sweet little girl," her grandmother agreed.
No you guys… she's 100% serious… Everyone else in the room arrived at the same line of thinking.
"Well, it's getting late, and it's time for us old folks to check in for the night," the innkeeper said, he and the hostess standing up and bowing to the students. "Do please enjoy your stay. Our inn is a testament to 300 years of Hoennien Culture, and it does us such great joy to see youngsters like you enjoying it so heartily."
That cultural heritage is going to be flushed down the toilet when Cynthia starts running this place, Blake surmised. He kept his thoughts to himself, however.
"If there's anything you need, just ask Cynthia," the hostess said, smiling at her granddaughter. "She knows everything about this place, so she can help you with whatever you need." The couple retired for the evening, leaving the rec room to the students.
Cynthia turned back to the others and sat down in one of the comfortable chairs, tenting her fingers and leaning in close to the others, who were still seated in a circle around one of the round tables. "So? What do you guys think of this place so far? It's a lot of fun, right?"
Cynthia's eyes were shining eagerly as she looked at the faces of everyone else, but most of Group 11 seemed a little… conflicted. And she didn't really understand why. But it was no surprise to her that the first person to comment was Kitty, who was in the same group as Julia.
"I… I liked the baths," Kitty said, glancing down shyly. "It was really comfortable… but I was a little… embarrassed…"
"I told you when we went in, there was no need to be embarrassed," Julia said, shaking her head. She let out a chuckle. "You were so red-faced I thought you were going to overheat while you were sitting in the water!"
Kitty glanced at Julia. Her face grew redder and redder, steam practically coming out of her ears as she remembered the bath they'd been in together not too long ago.
Cynthia giggled, nodding. She glanced at Blake. "What about you guys? You all look stiff as a board, and not in the good way. What's with those uncomfortable expressions? I mean, Will's already pretty antisocial so it's nothing new for him-"
"Hey!" Will interjected angrily, but not feeling comfortable enough around them to push the issue any further.
"But the rest of you look like you've seen a ghost or something!" Cynthia smiled. "Wait, let me guess! You caught Blake peeping, am I right? Oooh, shame on you, Blake!"
"No, he wasn't!" Ayame came to his defense, shaking her head.
"Then Reiner?" Cynthia asked.
Nikita turned her head to Reiner, sitting beside her on the couch, her expression cold and angry. Reiner gulped, sinking into his seat slightly, feeling guilty for some reason even though he hadn't actually done anything wrong.
"No one was peeping!" Ayame insisted. "Right, guys?! You didn't see anything!"
Ayame had risen from her seat, her face hot and her glare leveled in an intimidating leer aimed at the boys of Group 11. Ayame was older, and the only person of authority in the room, and coupled with her imposing stature and harsh, deep voice, everyone was petrified.
"We swear," Aidan said, backing down even though he outweighed Ayame by at least 50 pounds of muscle, "no one was peeking at anybody! We didn't see anything, we didn't even try to look! Honest!"
"…Good," Ayame said, sighing in relief. She sank back down into her chair, relaxing slightly. Sango glanced at her, and understood where she was coming from. If the boys had seen Caelia… there went her last chance of having a normal field trip. The others wouldn't even try to get close to her after that. Maybe not even Blake.
"If anyone was doing anything like that, it was you," Sango smirked, glancing at Ayame, hoping she would take the cue and change topics. Of course, she could count on Cynthia to take the bait at this new tantalizing bite of information.
And lo and behold, Cynthia's eyes grew wide and she turned to Ayame, a perverse grin stretched across her face. Sango smiled. Marion would be proud of her fishing expertise.
"What's this about?" Cynthia asked, smiling eagerly.
Ayame blushed, and so did Blake.
"Well… er… that's…"
"Ayame tried to set things up so that she and Blake would be bathing. Alone." Will smirked. Ayame shot him a death glare.
Cynthia frowned.
"Wh-what?" She asked. Sango was confused. What was with that troubled look on her face? She thought Cynthia would have eaten up this salacious little story with a huge spoon, and then cheekily asked for seconds.
"It… it was just, you know… I didn't go through with it!" Ayame protested.
"Because you got caught," Reiner chimed in. Nikita lightly elbowed him in the gut, shooting him a "keep your mouth shut and don't make this more awkward" look.
"You guys were going to have sex in the baths?!" Cynthia exclaimed. "You know we have to clean those, right?!"
"We weren't gonna-! I would never-!" Ayame sputtered, finally dropping silent in embarrassment. Cynthia stared at her for a few seconds, contemplating. Her expression turned sorrowful.
"Ouch. That's rough, dude," Cynthia sighed, glancing sympathetically at Blake. Blake rolled his eyes and Ayame growled. The room burst into laughter, the earlier awkwardness forgotten.
Sango sighed in relief. Everything seemed to be on the road back to normal. She wasn't sure why the boys had seemed so uncomfortable, especially not Blake and Reiner. From what she'd gotten to know about Will these last few days was that he was anti-social by nature, and Aidan still hadn't completely acclimated to the group, and he was naturally a little shy, even if he was a rather nice guy. And there was also that other thing Ayame had said… but Sango didn't want to think about any potential crush Aidan might have on her, that would just make things more awkward!
Looking over the group, Cynthia saw that everyone was joking around and having a good time. That was a good sign. She inhaled, and smiled. This was a good day. And hopefully, tomorrow would be even better. She didn't like exercising, and certainly didn't like mountain climbing. She wanted to just take the cable car to the peak. Heck, they weren't even climbing the whole thing, so what was the point?
Still, it was good to her grandparents again. Feeling the familiar sticky humidity that only comes from hot springs and the heat of Hoenn.
It was good to be home.
Professor Green entered the room where the teachers were staying the night. It was just her and Professor Lunark, and their meal had been laid out for them.
"Brought some of the good stuff," Leaf said, tossing her porkpie hat aside and shook her brown hair loose, placing a big bottle of sake on the table. "A little celebration before we head out."
"Oh? Drinking on duty?" Her colleague asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Can it, Kelly. Just a little never killed anyone," Leaf growled, filling her cup. She offered some to him, but he shook his head.
"One of us needs to keep his wits intact," Kellyn replied, flattening his brown hair. Unfortunately, the same pointy bit on top just kept sticking back out. After a few seconds, he gave up, and sighed. "We're sharing a room due to spacing, but if Petal found out I was drinking with you, she'd cut by balls off."
Leaf smirked.
"Why would she? That leash she put on them must have been expensive." She cracked an invisible whip and clicked her tongue.
Kellyn rolled his eyes and shook his head, smiling.
"Sorry to let you down, but I'm a happily married man."
"Feh," Leaf sighed. "Why couldn't Aoshi have come instead?"
"The other students still have their classes you know," Kellyn replied. "Professor Kashita just can't take that time off. Our classes only have freshmen students this term, so we could be the chaperones."
"But I wanted a tropical vacation with Aoshi!" Leaf complained, already more than a little drunk. Kellyn rolled his eyes and let her temper tantrum continued. She sobered up a few seconds later, and frowned.
"Tomorrow, huh?" She asked.
"Did you talk with your sister?" Kellyn asked.
"Petal said she'll be coming. She just started in her post in Galar, but she said this was more important."
"And the Ranger Union okayed that?" Kellyn asked, surprised.
"Why wouldn't they?" Leaf asked, shrugging. "Apparently nothing too noteworthy goes on in Galar anyway. They don't even have any evil teams or anything like that."
Kellyn nodded.
"I do suppose this is more important," he agreed. "Especially if the legend that Aurore was looking at pans out."
"Some magic stone that's the incarnation of fire?" Leaf scoffed. "And it's in a shrine in the center of the volcano somewhere? I miss the days when the only magic rocks evil organizations were chasing after were the kind you light up in a pipe."
"What's important is that there might be people coming after it," Kellyn reminded her. "Last time, two of my students nearly got killed over one of those stones on the Nature Preserve. We're the teachers, so it's our job to keep those students safe."
"All the more reason we should have invited Aoshi," Leaf grumbled. "We can count on the rangers to look after students, I'm sure of it. I trust Petal, don't you?"
"Of course I do," Kellyn nodded. "Always."
Leaf let out a sigh, flopping back on the floor and staring up at the ceiling.
"Tomorrow's gonna be a busy day…"
Busy day indeed. The mountain trek begins tomorrow! What awaits us on our journey up the peak?