In this chapter, we'll go into a little (a lot) more detail with Nikita and Reiner, their relationship, and where they're going from here!

Pokemon Academy Best Girl Elimination Round is still going strong! Keep those votes coming, a few girls are pulling ahead, but things aren't done just yet! We've still got a good chance of girls getting into the final 5! The poll is on my profile, so go cast your votes there!

Nominated: Sango, Cynthia, Elaina, Kate, Dakota, Ayame, Marion, Kitty, Serefina, Madison, Alcea

KedharS: There's "not rushing" and then there's "hasn't even gotten to the starting line yet."

ConfusedCradily: We've already seen everyone joining the harem, no one else will be falling for Blake that doesn't already like him.

EESDESESESRDT6: Well, she's very fun to hate, certainly.

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Well, he's definitely hiding things from everyone… maybe he'll pull a "just as keikaku" on them. (TL Note: keikaku means plan)

Tambry96bj: Well, he's not the most perceptive guy in the world.

DJ Dib Dab: Lana's not evil, just direct.

Badoobadoop: …Is she wrong, though?

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 253

"So, uh… where do you want to eat?" Reiner asked, turning to Nikita. There were a bunch of restaurants around them.

"Wh-where do you want?" Nikita asked. They were both a little too considerate of each other's feelings, as was the usual for their relationship. Someone had to take the initiative; they were running out of street to walk down.

"Uh… what about here?" Reiner asked, pointing at a sign up down the road, advertising a restaurant called "Bob's Your Uncle".

"Hm… steak?" Nikita murmured. She felt her stomach rumbling. "Okay…?"

Nikita and Reiner entered the steak restaurant and were escorted to their table. As the waiter placed two glasses of water in front of them, they glanced away from each other and down at their menus, still not ready to really talk.

"Uh-"

"Um-"

The two spoke up at the same time, glancing up at each other. They paused and laughed slightly at the awkwardness. How typical.

"I'm sorry for what happened earlier," Reiner said for what felt like the millionth time today. But this time, Nikita was actually willing to listen.

"That girl, Rui…" Nikita said, her eyes growing dim. "Who… who is she?"

Reiner frowned. That was difficult to answer. She looked familiar, like that girl he had met on Mt. Chimney. Identical to her. But something was… off. He couldn't quite place it, it must have been his mind playing tricks on him. But at first, he didn't recognize her in the slightest. But that Rui girl, she was the one who had attacked them on Mt. Chimney.

"Remember the freshman field trip to Mt. Chimney?" Reiner asked. Nikita blinked.

"Yeah, I remember, there was a warning from the Pokemon Rangers that the volcano was preparing to erupt," Nikita said. "I was really worried because you didn't come back… and then I heard you went to the hospital, and I was even more worried…"

"We… we were in the middle of it," Reiner explained. "That wasn't a natural thing, not at all… the volcano wasn't going to erupt, it was… these guys, they were attacking us."

Nikita gasped in shock.

"A-attacking?!" She held her hands over her mouth, her eyes opening wide.

"There were three of them," Reiner explained. "A brother and sister… and that girl, Rui. She was… she attacked us, too."

"Yeah, Sango did say something about that," Nikita said, nodding. "She's like… a terrorist?"

Reiner nodded.

"I think it's something like that. For some reason, she was coming onto me a lot, too… but believe me, I didn't want that, at all," Reiner insisted. He looked her straight in the eye. "Look, Nikita… I know, like, we're just getting started on this relationship. We both have some stuff we have to learn, I know I certainly do."

"She… she was really pretty," Nikita admitted, looking down at her lap. "She was confident and sexy, and I'm… I'm not. So I was worried, you know, that… if she was so appealing, and she offered you things that I'm not… ready to, then… then you might…"

Nikita began trembling a little, but she wasn't going to cry. That would make her feel even more awful, like she was manipulating Reiner with her tears, trying to connive him into feeling badly for her, and she really, really didn't want to do that.

"It's okay to feel jealous," Reiner said. "I admit… I wasn't doing my best to push her away. I think because I was so stunned by seeing her. And last night, with that woman, Elizabeth, that was… that was, I mean…"

Reiner sighed, scratching his hair. He hung his head in shame.

"I could have handled that a little better. I didn't mean to make you insecure, Nikita. I'm sorry that you felt that way."

Nikita frowned, and nodded. Both looked glum now. She thought for a few moments, and opened her mouth to say something.

"R-"

"Ready to order?"

Reiner and Nikita's heads jerked up to see their waiter standing over their table, clipboard in hand and pleasant smile on his face.

The two kids were flustered, they felt like they had just reached a critical point, and now that moment had passed.

"Er, yeah," Reiner said, pointing out an item on the menu. "I'll have the 8 oz Tauros steak, please."

"How do you want it?"

"Rare," Reiner replied.

"Excellent, sir, any chips with that?" The waiter asked.

Reiner baulked.

"Uh, what?"

"All our steaks come with a side of stirred greens and the option for chips," the waiter explained.

"What, like potato chips?" Reiner asked, still confused at what the waiter was talking about. Nikita held her hand over her mouth and giggled.

"No, dummy, chips," Nikita explained. "That's what people in Galar call fries."

"…Oh." Reiner blushed, realizing his mistake, and looked away from the waiter in embarrassment. "Um, then, yes, please, lots of chips."

"Excellent, sir, and for you, miss?"

"Oh, um, just the 6 oz petite filet mignon, medium rare," Nikita said, looking down at the menu. "No chips, just the stirred veggies and a berry cup, please."

"Excellent. Drinks?" The waiter looked at the two of them. They glanced at each other.

"None for me," Reiner said.

"Water's fine," Nikita agreed.

"Excellent." The waiter turned and walked off, and the two returned to looking at each other, trying to get their conversation back on track. They had thought the interruption had been an interruption, but it turned out that lightening the mood and giving them something to share a laugh over (namely being Reiner's stupidity) had done wonders for getting them into a position where they could talk a little more freely.

"So, um, as I was saying, it… it's okay," Nikita said. "I know you didn't mean anything by it. Like you said, we're still getting started, we're still figuring each other out. I mean, when we first started dating, it was kind of like that, right?"

Reiner nodded slowly, and the two of them thought back on how their relationship had reached the point they were at now.

Nikita was studying quietly in the library, reading through a book and typing notes down onto her computer as she glanced between the two of them.

Reiner came up to the table she was sitting at, and sat across from her, setting his bag down and retrieving his laptop as well. He set a large book with a hard leather cover down on the table with a thump that drew Nikita's attention. She glanced up at him.

"Oh, hey," Reiner said, waving at her. Nikita didn't say anything, and returned to her book. Reiner didn't say anything more either, opening the book. The scent of old pages flooded the small alcove, spreading across the shelves. Nikita inhaled, a small smile crossing her face. Old books were always nice to be around.

Nikita glanced away from her notes again, and spied on the book Reiner was reading in spite of herself. She saw on one of the pages a black and white photograph of a large stone mural, with three shapes forming a triangle. At the peak of the triangle was a bird with sharp spines sticking out in all directions like a pincushion. The figure on the left point (to her) was another vaguely bird-like shape, this one more fluid with wings and a mane that seemed to be made of curly flames or perhaps water. And the final bird had a long, flowing tail like a ribbon trailing below it with large squared wings framing either side of its body.

"What book are you reading?" Nikita asked, her curiosity overcoming her shyness. Perhaps if it had been some stranger she would have held her tongue, but she knew Reiner, kind of. So it felt okay to ask. She'd read a lot of books on ruins and murals for their Pokemon Myths and Legends class, but she didn't recognize this one.

"Myths and Murals of the Pokemon World," Reiner replied, meeting her eyes. Nikita's eyes widened eagerly.

"Really? I've been looking for that one," Nikita gasped. "I heard it was here, but when I looked for it, it was already checked out."

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," Reiner said, smiling sheepishly. "I checked it out a few days back for reference."

"Studying for our midterm, huh?" Nikita said. Their midterm was part in-class test, and part research paper on a topic of the students' choice. Nikita was planning on doing hers on ancient pokemon, it seemed that Reiner was doing something similar.

"Yeah, I'm writing my paper on ancient murals," Reiner said. "How people depicted pokemon in ancient times and their effects on the world."

"Oh, that sounds like a good topic," Nikita agreed. "I'm writing mine on the similarities of purported legendary pokemon to pokemon as they exist today. Even though legendary pokemon don't breed, I think it's interesting to see overarching links between current species of pokemon to the legendary pokemon. Do you know the legends of Mew?"

Reiner blinked, tilting his head to the side. No, he didn't.

"Not really? Is that an ancient pokemon or an ancient civilization?"

Nikita's eyes widened and she scooted out of her seat, grabbing the book she was reading. She pulled out the chair beside Reiner and sat down next to him, looking back to the table of contents to find where Mew was mentioned.

"Here," she said, flipping open the book to the specific section. "The first hints of Mew were found in a region in South America. There was an ancient temple found deep in the jungle, with a mural scrawled in a deep, hidden chamber. See?"

Nikita pointed to the photograph on the reverse page, which depicted an old, gritty brick wall covered in moss. Ancient writing and symbols that Reiner didn't recognize were scrawled across the wall, and in their center was the image of a pokemon. It was weirdly shaped with an almost feline or perhaps mouse-like body, and a long tail behind it.

"It's kind of cute," Reiner admitted.

"Well the legend has it that all pokemon descend from Mew," Nikita explained. "At least, that's what they've managed to ascertain from studying the ruins."

"So it's like the ancestor of all pokemon," Reiner said, nodding.

"My dad worked in pokemon genetics," Nikita said, her eyes shining. "I know, you told me," Reiner laughed.

"Wh-what?" Nikita asked. "Oh! Right! I completely forgot, heh…"

"So you really are interested in stuff like this, huh?" Reiner asked. "Gotta say, a pokemon like Mew, that sounds pretty cool."

"I know, right? Imagine, if Mew really does exist and it isn't just a legend? A pokemon from which all species of pokemon can trace their common ancestry?" Nikita asked. "Think of what we could learn about pokemon and their association with human culture?"

Nikita began finding another section of her book.

"Look, see, when you look at the oldest human records of pokemon, you can see that there are far less species than are known to exist now," Nikita explained. "The oldest sites in Kanto only record around 150 different ones! But carbon dating has shown that newer and newer ruins depict not only those same pokemon, but more and more different species! It's like with each subsequent generation of pokemon, species that have never been seen before were discovered and recorded by ancient civilizations. So why do you think that is?"

Reiner shrugged.

"Aliens?"

Nikita gave him a sour look.

"What if Mew was birthing new species of pokemon?" Nikita asked. "That's my dad's theory, anyway."

"So why haven't people heard about Mew?" Reiner asked.

Nikita sighed.

"Well, there are some folks who think that Mew never really existed at all, that the people recorded it down as a 'theory' that there 'must' be something out there that was creating pokemon. The fact that millennia later and no other cultures have depicted Mew in their art or records, and no one has ever actually caught or even seen one, lends credence to the fact that it's all just a big rumor."

She sighed, dissatisfied with this explanation.

"Right now, 'Mew' is treated more as a religious figure and less a potentially existing pokemon. There's no tangible proof of its existence, and even this book, The Origins of Pokemon, refers to it as a myth, instead of an actual theory to explain things. But you know, I think it's real. It just makes sense. I mean, think about it. Pokemon have egg groups, right? That allows them to breed with different pokemon outside their species. Wouldn't it make sense that different species of pokemon would only be physically compatible if they all shared a common ancestral link?"

Reiner tapped his cheek in contemplation. She made a compelling argument. But what was more fascinating…

"This is the most I've ever heard you talk outside of class," Reiner said. "Usually you're so shy and withdrawn."

Nikita blinked. All of a sudden, she realized that she was pouring her heart out to a boy, and her previous excitability went clean out the window.

"W-well, I mean…" she stuttered, frantically shutting her book. She got up and ran back to her seat, hastily jamming her computer into her backpack. "Uhum, um, thank you, for, um, listening, but I gotta go now! Bye!"

Nikita frantically ran off, the library alarm ringing out behind her. In her haste, she had forgotten to check out the book itself.

Reiner sighed and stood up. The library clerk was about to leave the counter and chase after her.

"Hey, uh, sorry about that," Reiner said, stopping her before she left. "My friend was in a hurry, and she accidentally grabbed one of your books without realizing it. 'The Origins of Pokemon.' Can you run the ID number and check it out to me, instead of turning this into a big deal?"

The librarian grumbled something, and nodded sulkily. Reiner handed over his student card, and the older woman walked around the counter and scanned it, typing something into the computer.

"Have that girl back in here tomorrow with that book, or I'm slapping her with a fat penalty," the librarian stated. Reiner assured her he would.

And lo and behold, Nikita showed up the next day, embarrassed and contrite with the filched library book in her hands. She begged the librarian for forgiveness over and over, until the old woman was sick and tired of it and shewed her away.

Still flustered, Nikita quickly shuffled back to the table she had sat at the previous day, the one she always used for studying. Reiner was already there.

"Yo, you're back," he said, giving her a wave as she walked past him. She jumped slightly, but nodded, sitting down across from him again.

"S-sorry about yesterday, running out like that," Nikita mumbled, hanging her head. "I-I was afraid you'd laugh at me, like I was some sort of conspiracy nutbar."

"No harm done," Reiner said, dismissing it with a wave of his hand.

"Y-you even checked the book out for me so I wouldn't get fined," Nikita reminded him. "How can I repay you?"

"Please. Don't you remember what we were talking about a few days ago? When you helped me through all that crap I was dealing with?"

"I remember you landing on top of me…" Nikita said.

"Yeah, and I remember you digging a hole in the middle of nowhere with no way to get us back out, nobody's perfect," Reiner shot back with a smirk. Nikita giggled a little.

"So I guess we're even then…" Nikita said, opening her computer and getting back to work. But for some reason the book was less engaging now than it had been yesterday. "Um…"

"Hm?"

"How are you doing?" Nikita asked. "With… with that decision? A gym leader, or an archaeologist…"

"It's tough," Reiner sighed. He tapped his finger on the yellowed pages of the old book. "But still, I know studying stuff like this is a lot more fun than Gerard Alkwest's 5 hour training drills."

"You actually prefer studying to training pokemon?" Nikita said in mock surprise, her eyes comically wide. "Are you sure you're in the right school?"

Reiner's only response was a somber laugh followed by a shrug.

"So what are you reading about?" Nikita asked.

"Well, you know the legend of the three legendary birds?" Reiner asked.

Nikita was confused. There were three legendary birds? Not just two?

"Ho-Oh, Lugia, and…?"

Reiner tilted his head.

"Hm?"

"Where I'm from, there are two bird pokemon of legend, the Great Rainbow, Ho-Oh, and the Great Storm, Lugia," Nikita explained. "There is a famous legend about them, the Maiden of the Sky. It was even made into a children's book!"

"Oh, I think I have heard of that," Reiner said, nodding. "But those aren't the ones I'm talking about."

"No?" Nikita asked, intrigued. Reiner flipped back to the page with the mural Nikita had seen the previous day, turning the book around so she could get a better look.

"So it says that there are these three legendary birds, also known as Winged Mirages. Every depiction of them in art shows them as a trio, so the idea kind of stuck. They were worshipped by the people of Kanto as deities that controlled and influenced the weather." He pointed to each of them as he described them.

"Articuno was said to bring forth the cold of winter. Zapdos was said to control the stormclouds overhead. Moltres' flames were of the sun and brought forth the warmth of spring. Each an incarnation of nature, see?"

"So what you're saying is that they might not even exist," Nikita said, nodding in understanding. "People just thought they did in order to make sense of changes in the weather."

"Exactly," Reiner said. "And that's why they're depicted as birds. 'Cause birds fly, and, well, where do we see weather patterns? The sky."

"Wow, I didn't even think of that," Nikita said, more than a little surprised at the depth of Reiner's knowledge. But if they are real, maybe they're related to the legendary birds of Johto, as well. Ho-Oh was said to bring forth rainbows, and Lugia's myth says that it summoned tsunamis. So wouldn't those also be forms of controlling the weather? Plus, they're all bird pokemon, so…"

"Huh, that's a pretty smart connection, nice thinking," Reiner agreed. "Maybe I can include something like that in my essay…"

"Oh, I can help! I… um…" Nikita realized she was sounding a little too eager. "I-if you want, of course."

"Yeah, that would be great, thanks," Reiner said, smiling at her. Nikita squirmed in her seat, feeling her face get a little hot.

The next few days went very much the same as this. Reiner and Nikita would arrive at the library when classes were done for the day, and would sit across from each other and discuss what they were writing down for their papers, showing each other interesting details they found in their respective books, and giving suggestions about what could be done to improve their writing.

Then, as time went on, "sitting across from each other" turned into "sitting next to each other". Then, "sitting next to each other" turned into "studying in the café, over coffee". Then, "studying in the café, over coffee" turned into "studying in one of their rooms."

And before long, they were meeting up just to meet up, with no studying getting done whatsoever.

Nikita felt her heart pounding in her chest. Over the last week, she had gotten closer and closer to Reiner, now she was just looking forward to seeing him.

But she hadn't gotten any work done yesterday. They had just talked and gone to go eat dinner together. She had to put her foot down! The day before had been… well, first there was Will and that strange… girlfriend, of his? She'd been thinking of that, and then she had just focused on having fun with Reiner instead of studying!

This was not who Nikita was. Nikita was NOT the kind of girl who would abandon studying for boys or the like. So she'd gotten up bright and early and typed onto Reiner's phone that there would be a change of plans, and they were meeting at the library today, thank you very much.

Also she definitely liked him more than in a "just friends" way. But even so! Studying still needed to come first.

When Reiner responded to her text, she made it perfectly clear that no more room study sessions, they would do all their studying in the library, a place made for studying! With that, she assured herself that there would be no more of these furtive glances at the other while they weren't looking. They had essays to write, and the due dates were only getting closer!

…But if he was looking at her, too, then didn't that mean he-

Nikita grounded that train of thought in the station, and sat down at their usual table, gone unused in the past few days. She took out her computer. She had a paper to write, this was no time to be fawning over cute boys! Even if they were the sweet ones who laughed at her crummy jokes and listened to her crazy theories and tried to help her make friends. Studying came first!

That was why she was quite self-assured of her success when he agreed to study in the library without raising a fuss. Clearly, Reiner was the perfect boy for her, someone who took his schoolwork seriously, someone with a passion for research that could even rival her own, someone whom she could spend nights have long, engaging discussions with, someone who she could have steamy petting sessions in movie theaters, someone who-

Wait, what was that last one?

Nikita shook her head. Stupid dumb teenage hormones! Nikita was better than that! She was a scholar, a genius, she would rock the world of pokemon genetics with her father's research, just like how she would rock Reiner's world when she-

That time, Nikita slapped her face to bring herself back to her senses.

Nikita would beat these feelings, there was time for boys later. Studying, as always, came first. What was she going to say to him when he showed up? Keep it casual, that's what. Just a normal, casual "hey, Reiner." That would be fine. They'd exchange greetings, and then it would be business as usual. And there he was now.

"Hey, Reiner."

"Hey."

"I LIKE YOU!" Nikita felt like she had blurted it out in a volume that deafened the entire library, but it erupted from her lips like the squeak of a Pikachu. She clasped her hands over her mouth in embarrassment. Just seeing Reiner and hearing him greet her had been enough to throw all her restraint out the window.

Stupid, crummy hormones…

The next thing she realized, they were making out. Reiner was pressing his lips against hers and she had craned her head up to meet his, not even getting out of her seat. Her fingers were digging into his hair, holding him as closely as possible. She didn't want this to end, she didn't want him to get away, she just wanted more! This is bad… I really shouldn't… need to study…

Her brain was firing excuse after excuse at her about why she shouldn't be doing this, but Nikita didn't give a damn. This was her first time kissing a boy, and it just felt so… it was like the rush of pulling a prank! And doing it in secret, in the library, which should be a place of silence and learning, made the whole thing feel so much more sinfully delightful.

Suddenly, the sound of stumbling and multiple objects hitting the ground a close distance brought the kissing students back down to earth, and they separated with a start. Embarrassed as hell, they both gave each other a look that said "can't talk now" and went to go see what was going on.

It seemed that they were not the only ones getting hot and heavy in the privacy of the maze of bookshelves.

"Will?" Nikita gasped, her normally dark complexion growing ruddier with embarrassment.

"Well, that's…" Reiner didn't know what to say, seeing a student he kind of knew getting straddled by a smoking hot older student.

"Uh, this is…"

"Kyaaaaaa!" The girl shrieked, her face flushing bright red. She crossed her arms over her chest like she was trying to hide herself and leapt to her feet with exceptional grace, like a practiced dancer. Her blue hair went everywhere as she shook her head. "You peeping toms!"

"Wh-what?!" Nikita gasped.

"Peeping, w-we…!" Reiner was still at a loss for words. Was that what they were?

Will rose to his feet, clearly embarrassed, a crimson blush spread across his cheeks. He looked at them ashamedly.

"Uh… let's all just say we never saw each other here, yeah?" Will asked. "You don't mention this, I don't mention you guys were… you know."

He had seen them, after all. Reiner and Nikita wanted to die, they were so embarrassed. All three nodded, eager to forget this encounter in its entirety. But even after Will left, that would certainly not be enough.

Nikita and Reiner glanced at each other.

"Um!" They both said at the same time, before backing off.

"Y-you go first," Reiner said. Nikita swallowed.

"Um, l-let's go back, to, um, studying!" Nikita said, shaking her head. "J-just forget this whole thing, clearly we, or, I mean, I, was having some strange thoughts, because, you know, we were spending so much time together recently, so I just kind of, I mean…"

Nikita was not stringing together anything even close to a sentence. She whirled around to return to her seat, but Reiner grabbed her gently by the wrist.

"What if… we were both having strange thoughts?" Reiner asked quietly.

Nikita blinked away the tears that had begun to well up in her eyes, looking back at him.

"Wh-what?"

Reiner glanced away, his face flushed with embarrassment that was no doubt a mirror of her own.

"I… I also… when you said you liked me, I also wanted to… I mean, I was happy you said that, I mean, because… I like you, too?"

Nikita felt like singing. An awkward smile spread across her lips as she trembled. She… she liked Reiner? And… and he liked her? Was it even possible to feel this lucky? Such odds as liking someone who liked you back, that was incalculable! And yet even so, she still felt."

"R-really?" She asked hopefully. "Really, really?"

"W-well, I mean… getting to speak with you this last week, well, it… it's been the highlight of my day, every time. I… I kind of want to get to know you better, you know? In a 'not just friends' kind of way. I mean, you're cute, and you're funny-"

"My jokes are dumb, only my pranks are funny," Nikita corrected him. Stupid, stupid, why would you say that?!

"…Well, I find them funny," Reiner said. "And the way your eyes always light up when you're talking about something you like, it makes me feel kind of… warm. I don't really get it, but…"

"I do," Nikita smiled. "I super get it. But, um…"

"So, like, if you want, do you think maybe we could… try it for a little bit? This whole 'couple' thing?"

A big dumb grin broke out across Nikita's face, her eyes glistening hopefully. She'd never been so happy to have her mind feel this empty. And since her brain wasn't working right now, her heart decided to pick up the slack.

"I want to!"

"You know, now that I think about it, that was a really dumb confession," Reiner said. "'Try this whole "couple" thing'? Really?"

"I-I thought it was cute," Nikita came to past-Reiner's defense. "B-besides, we're still… we're still starting out, you know? So, um, maybe it's okay, if we don't do it all the right way at first. Do you… do you want to stop?"

"Of course not," Reiner said, shaking his head. He felt a little hurt that she'd think that. "As long as you want to keep dating me, I want to keep dating you."

A shy smile crossed Nikita's lips.

"I-I want to keep dating you, too," Nikita admitted. "So, um… can we put this all past us? My stupid jealousy, your stupid stupidity, and just… try again?" Her eyes were brimming with the same hope Reiner had seen that day back in the library, when she contemplated his confession. Reiner's feelings hadn't changed since that day in the least.

No, actually, they had gotten even stronger. Everything she did convinced him more and more of how much fun it was to be with her, even if she was shy sometimes, even if she would prank him sometimes, even if she was a little too book-crazy sometimes. All those parts of her were the cutest things ever, and Reiner wouldn't want her to be any other way.

"I want us to try again, too," Reiner agreed, and the biggest smile of all blossomed across Nikita's face, no doubt similar to the one he felt on his.

Aww… they've worked through all their issues, how adorable! Let's take a moment to appreciate this pure and simple love story in the heart of a story filled with so much drama and conflict.