Ayame has been told a long story. What will her reaction be? And what will Blake's feelings be on the matter? They're reaching a turning point, will they be able to sort themselves out? Hopefully so.

We've got a decent amount of votes in the Pokemon Academy Best Girl Semi-Finals! The current lead runners in the polls may surprise you! The shakeup really makes me realize how a girl may be in many people's top 5, but not necessarily in their top 3. So I'm certainly feeling more than a little surprised Looks like the girl I'm pulling for isn't going to win, but that's fine. They're all wonderful girls! There have still only been a few votes, I'm sure there are more of you that want to vote! If you want your best girls to make it to the final round and beyond, then make sure to get your votes in! You have 3 votes, make them count!

Semi-Finalists: Cynthia, Ayame, Sango, Kate, Marion, Alcea

Rosealine gold: He is the main character, and this is his arc, so it's a little warranted.

Guest: All will be clear eventually.

Aquahaze675: It is sad, but at the same time Uni wasn't ready for the path she would go down.

ConfusedCradily: It's a little sad that you're so anti-Gwen, considering that she's a victim, too.

PikachuKetchup12: Indeed, it really is.

Mercury – Mercuraneous: It is rather interesting.

Tambry96bj: Yep, otherwise she might have ended up being one of the Children of the Oracles herself.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 285

Ayame was horrified.

The wounds on Blake's hands were nothing compared to what he had just described to her. He'd had such a painful childhood. He'd endured so much pain, and she'd never seen any sign of it. What had happened back then was bad enough. But she could see the full picture now. She understood how much time he'd spent looking for his sister, how much he'd worked for it. And to have all of it be so cruelly wasted…

Ayame's face was wet and her vision blurred. As Blake finished describing what had happened in Galar, the empty, distant tone of his voice was too much for her to bear. It was like he had lost something, like he had given up all hope for the future now, since his sister would not be returning to him. And she couldn't bear to see him like that.

Ayame couldn't help herself. He wasn't even finished talking when she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his back and holding him as tightly as she could. Blake had not shed a single tear since he had begun to speak, even as he described such tragic events. It was like he was broken, and Ayame feared that he wouldn't cry ever again.

So she cried for him. She held him close and cried, whispering apologies and useless platitudes in his ear. She would have said anything, done anything, if she thought that it would have even a chance to give him some hope for the future.

Ayame had wanted a future where she and Blake could be happy together. Now she just wanted a future where Blake would smile again.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder. "I'm so, so sorry, Blake."

Blake didn't answer her. Telling her everything had been liberating. Sharing what he had gone through with someone he cared for had lessened the burden he felt, but having to relive all those painful times had taken a lot out of him.

He still felt numb. He stared at the wall quietly, Ayame's words barely scratching his ears. He didn't even notice that her body was pressed against his; if he had, then he might have been a little embarrassed considering their state of near-undress.

"In the end, all I do is hurt people around me," Blake muttered. "Even back then. If not for me, if I had never been there… Gwen wouldn't have fallen like she did. She'd still have her mom, and Cynthia would have been able to guide her through her harmonia. She could be living a happy life right now, instead of ending up like this."

Ayame pulled back from him, looking up into his eyes incredulously. Did he really believe that?

"Valerie told me that I'm an evil person," Blake murmured. "No matter how much I might think I'm doing the right thing, all I do is hurt others. What sort of person brings so much pain to the people that he cares about? I tore Kate's heart to pieces. I selfishly forced my own crimes onto her, all because I wanted to see my sister again. And look what happened. I put them all in danger chasing after me, getting my so-called friends into a fight with terrorists. What sort of person does that? They could have gotten injured, or killed, and it would have all been my fault! Sango… Sango did get injured, thanks to me. Because I couldn't stop my sister, because I was too obsessed with 'saving' her to see what she actually was."

"No, that's not true!" Ayame said, shaking her head. She grabbed him by the collar of the bathrobe and shook him. "It wasn't your fault, how can you say that?"

"If I hadn't gone, they wouldn't have gotten involved," Blake replied. "If I had said something, done something, then maybe the pokemon rangers… I don't know, maybe they would have been able to stop them, maybe this wouldn't have happened… or if I had been able to beat my sister and Lancelot in the ruins, then she wouldn't have been able to help their escape… if it wasn't for me, then… it's all my fault, don't you get it?"

"No, it's their fucking fault," Ayame snapped. "Yeah, maybe you did some dumb stuff. But you weren't the one who brought those Children of the Corn or whatever the fuck they are to that place! You ain't responsible for your friends trying to get your back, and you aren't responsible for your sister! How if any of that your fault?! From what I fucking heard you did everything you could have! And yeah, maybe you shouldn't have gone to those fucking ruins, maybe that was a stupid as fuck decision, but if you hadn't, then they would have run off with that magic rock, yeah? And now they didn't! So isn't it true that you being there actually was a good thing!?"

"But I got people hurt!" Blake replied. His emptiness had been filled with a strange sort of defensive outrage, unwilling to accept the idea that he wasn't at fault. Valerie's words felt true to him, and he wasn't willing to accept the idea that they weren't. "And not just then, either! I keep… I keep hurting the people I care about!"

"So what are you going to do, huh?" Ayame demanded, shaking him again since he still obviously wasn't getting it. "Are you going to live your life empty and hollow, never speaking with anyone again because you're afraid you're going to hurt them?! You didn't want to hurt people, you were only doing what you thought was best for everyone. And yeah, maybe you messed up, but that doesn't make you a bad person! That just makes you human! Why… what's wrong with being human, huh? Why are you so scared of making mistakes?"

"I'm not scared of making mistakes," Blake protested.

"Yes, you fucking are," Ayame snapped. "You made a mistake like any other human. But your heart was in the right place, don't you see that? You just made a mistake. And it's okay to feel bad that you messed up, we all do. But acting like you're such a horrid person for making mistakes, that's… you can't fucking do that, Blake!"

Ayame panted, her cheeks flushed.

"Is it… because you're scared of being abandoned?"

Blake blinked. He didn't really have a response to that.

"Do you remember when you helped me?" Ayame whispered. "When you told me that I didn't have to be some perfect idol that everyone looked up to, that it was okay for me to just be myself, and just run for the sake of loving it?"

Ayame looked up into his eyes. She felt another wave of tears coming.

"Back then, I was so scared. Scared and angry, because I felt like every time I messed up, that I was letting everyone around me down. That no one would want me if I couldn't be the best. And you were the one who showed me how wrong I was for thinking that, Blake, don't you remember?" Ayame pleaded with him. "You helped me be myself, you helped me smile again. You taught me that I couldn't be perfect, I could only be me. But right now… aren't you doing the same thing?"

"No, I-"

"Don't lie to me!" Ayame cried. "Please… not to me. Not now, not here. I can see it, don't you understand? You're scared, I know you're scared, because I was scared, too."

She leaned down and her head thudded against his chest, her tears falling from her eyes and into his lap.

"I don't care if you hate me for saying this, but here's what I saw from you," Ayame said. She didn't want to look at his face right now, she scare of what she would see. But she needed to look him in the eye when she said this, otherwise he would never accept her words.

"You were adopted by a wealthy family, and from the very beginning you thought you didn't belong there. Because you were just some orphan from somewhere. And now, you were living in a big mansion with servants and wealth and a whole bunch of things that you didn't think you deserved. And so you got scared. Scared that it could all be taken away from you if you weren't some perfect little son, doing everything that was expected of you. That's why you hate being compared to your brother, isn't it? Not just because no one sees you for who you are. But because you know that you won't be the 'perfect son' in your father's eyes that he is. That every time you're compared to him, you'll come up shot. And if you can't live up to the expectations he set for you… you were scared. Every time. Every mistake you made was a chance that you would be disowned, sent away. Because it was so easy, so sudden, you had this fear that, if you did the wrong thing, you would lose everything that you had just as suddenly as you had obtained it. But it wasn't the money or the fancy house that you were scared of losing. You finally had a family. A real family, people who cared about you. And you thought that caring, that love, it came at the price of being what they wanted you to be."

Ayame's eyes wouldn't accept anything but acceptance out of Blake. Her stare was intimidating, but only because Blake could see how right she was, he could see the care in her eyes, and it made him feel guilty for being exactly what she'd accused him of. Someone who was scared of hurting others, afraid that if he said or did the wrong thing, he would be abandoned. He'd tried so hard to be perfect, to be accepted by others… but compared to his brother, he would always come up short. "Kanone Harker's little brother". And when he couldn't be as good as his brother was, everyone was always so disappointed in him. And all he could do was keep doing his best. He'd had to try harder, be better, so that people would see him for who he was. Accept him for who he was. And now… he'd tried so hard to be perfect that he was scared that everyone around him would abandon him the minute he made a single mistake.

"The others might not realize it, but I do," Ayame said softly, taking his hands into hers and lifting them up, clasping their hands together. "You and I have both experienced the pain that comes with that. You told me that living up to the expectations of others would only end up dragging me down, and you were right. But even then you couldn't see that you were doing the very same thing. So maybe you won't realize it unless someone else tells you. And that someone is going to be me. Blake, you don't have to be perfect. Whatever anyone else thinks of you, no matter what expectations they place on you, none of that matters."

Ayame smiled at him, her eyes watering.

"I know who you are. I'm fine with that. So you just be yourself. It isn't the end of the world if you make one mistake, or two, or even a hundred. I know that right now, it seems like the world is tearing itself apart…"

A crash of thunder and the rattle of rain hitting the windows punctuated that statement, startling both of them. Ayame let out a short little giggle of surprise.

"…But tomorrow, the world will keep on going. The sun will rise, and it'll be a brand new day. Every storm passes, and we just have to do our best to stay afloat, see?"

"…Were you always this philosophical?" Blake murmured. His hands slipped away from Ayame's and he leaned back, resting his head against her pillow and staring up at the ceiling.

"No, I just… right now I just want to see you smile again," Ayame said. She stretched out beside him and turned her head, staring solemnly at the profile of his face. Oh, how she wanted him to turn and look at her. But the cloudiness in his eyes hadn't faded, and it made her chest hurt. She wanted to reach out and turn him towards her, but she couldn't.

"Ayame… you said a lot of things, but in the end… I was so lost. I thought that I was the hero. That my sister was being used by some evil criminal group, and that I was going to go in and save her, and she and I could be a family again, and I could go and live a normal life, be happy, find a future for myself. But in the end, everyone was right. It was just a fool's hope, a wish for things to go back to how they were." Blake's voice was so hollow.

Blake sat up, his head slamming against the headboard. But he didn't notice. He still stared off into the distance, watching the storm raging outside. It was like Ayame wasn't even there, he was speaking more to himself than he was to her. Ayame sat up as well, still staring at him. Even if he couldn't see her, she wanted him to know that she was there.

"But… I realized something. Back then, back when everything was falling apart, and back when I was telling you what I had been through, and back when you were doing… what you were doing, when you were showing me the kind of person I am, and all that time there was a question, a question that was burning a hole in my gut."

Blake turned to Ayame, his eyes wet.

"Ayame, do you still love me?"

The two sat in silence for a few moments as the weight of the words set in around them. Ayame opened her mouth to answer, but Blake had already cut her off.

"I can't imagine how you could. After everything that happened, after everything that I said. I hurt you so much, and dragging those feelings back up now, after all of it was over… I've already caused you so much pain already, I know that asking you something like this now, here, that must be the shittiest thing in the world you could do to someone, but-"

"Yes," Ayame interrupted. Blake winced, lowering his head in shame.

"That's just who I am," he murmured. "Someone who hurts others without even thinking about it, for his own selfishness."

Ayame reached out and tilted his chin up so that he was looking her in the eyes again. She shook her head.

"No, I meant yes," she clarified. Her normally husky voice was surprisingly tender and gentle. "Yes I still love you. Even though I've cried over you, hurt my heart over you, none of it made me see you as anything but what you are. The boy who helped me, the boy who always makes me smile. The boy who, no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't stop thinking about. Even though I know you don't love me back, I still love you, Blake. I never stopped."

The two stared into each other's eyes for a long, pregnant moment. Ayame's heart was pounding in her chest, embarrassed at confessing her feelings once again. He had asked, but… that wasn't what he'd needed from her, was it? She was just a friend to him, after all. And Blake was staring back at her, his own heart beating. Even though she said that… what right did he have? At this pivotal moment, Blake was still afraid. Afraid that if he said something, if they moved past what they were now… would he just be using her? To fill the void in his heart left by his sister?

He couldn't do that. Ayame deserved better than that. She deserved better than him. He couldn't tell her how he felt. He couldn't make her happy. He was a bad person. And he was about to hurt her again. He loved her, and he would hurt her. Because if he didn't, he would hurt her even worse in the future. He closed his eyes and prepared to reject her once again.

"I do," he whispered. He didn't know where those words had come from. Two simple words, so easy to say that they had slipped out. When he closed his eyes, he saw Ayame's smiling face. He saw her in his arms, he saw her anger, her sadness, her joy, everything he'd grown to love about her in the time he'd spent with her and the words had just slipped out.

Ayame blinked, stunned. That hadn't been what she'd expected him to say. She wasn't even sure what he HAD said.

"Wh-what?"

Blake opened his eyes.

"I do love you," he repeated. "I didn't realize it until tonight, but… I love you, Ayame."

Ayame shook her head.

"I don't… I didn't hear right. say it again, sorry."

"I love you."

"Still, I didn't get it. Again."

"I love you."

"No, again."

"I love you."

"Again!"

"Ayame!" Blake exclaimed, his face red. What was going on here?!

"Sorry, sorry!" Ayame said. Her face was even redder than his. She held her hands up to cover herself, tears slipping through her fingers. "It's just… I…"

"I've been waiting to hear you say that for so long… I'm afraid that this is all just a dream…" she admitted. "So… if you really mean it, if this is real… then say it again, please, say it as many times as you can until I can believe that this is really happening."

Blake reached out and pulled her hands away, staring into her overjoyed, tearful eyes. She gazed at him with such hope in her eyes that he couldn't resist.

"Ayame, I love you," Blake said, leaning into her and pressing his lips against hers. She sighed into the kiss, and surrendered, wrapping her arms around his back s she pulled him closer to her. It was so much different than before. She could feel his passion for her, for real this time. He hadn't held himself back the way he did the last times they kissed. Rather than her kissing him, they were kissing each other, and she couldn't get enough of that feeling, the overwhelming sense of belonging, or maybe just longing, the feeling of the two of them together…

The need to breathe was what brought an end to it, Blake pulling back and coughing hard, his throat still in pretty bad condition.

"Blake!" Ayame gasped, her heat wearing off as she saw him struggling. "Are you okay?!"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm… I'm fine," Blake said, regaining his bearings. "Just… wow. That was…"

Ayame nodded. They were on the same page. Now… now here they were. His eyes weren't hollow and empty like they had been. She'd finally gotten through to him. That with everything that happened… he could still have happiness in his life.

"So was it… better than your sister?" She asked. Blake was aghast.

"Ayame!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Ayame said, giving him a light peck on the nose to embarrass him. She hadn't wanted to bring up his sister, but… he needed to move past her. He'd hid her away for so long, now he needed to accept his past and embrace it.

The two fell silent again, staring into each other's eyes. Ayame's hands were being cradled in his. As if both suddenly realizing the punchline to the same joke, they burst out laughing.

"Wow, I'm in your bathrobe. And you're wearing something you just threw on," Blake laughed. "That's… that's not how I imagined this."

"Yeah, I know, in my dreams, I was the one in the bathrobe," Ayame said. "And you were wearing, well…"

She batted her eyelashes at him, and Blake's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson.

"Ayame!"

"Kidding!" Ayame let out a throaty laugh, whirling around and flopping back on the bed, propping her feet up on the pillows as the rested her head in her hands, staring up at the ceiling.

"…So what do we do now?" Blake asked, mimicking her position. His elbow touched hers and they turned to look at each other. "Are we, like… dating now, or something?"

"…I don't know," Ayame admitted, averting her eyes from his. She looked back up at the ceiling, because the longer she stared at his face the more she wanted to be kissing it. "I've never… done this before either, you know?"

"You're the older one," Blake replied, his voice teasing her. "So aren't you the one who's supposed to know how this goes?"

"Sh-shut up!" Ayame said, sitting up in a fluster and slapping him on the chest. Blake laughed and coughed. Ayame gasped.

"Oh, sorry! Are you-"

"I'm fine, don't worry," Blake said, sitting up, laughing. The two looked at each other, and laughed again.

"So, um, …are we?" Ayame asked, looking at him hopefully.

"I… I don't know what dating is like," Blake admitted. "But I know how I feel about you. Is that… enough?"

"I know you always make me happy," Ayame said, beaming at him. "Every time I think of you, you make me so giddy inside. I love that feeling, and if dating is like what we were doing? You and I spending time together, having fun together, making each other feel happy… I'd like that, too."

Blake smiled back at her and they kissed again, more tenderly than the last time. He'd gotten so lost before, but this… this was what he wanted. Ayame made him happy, and he wanted to keep seeing her smile, for as long as he could.

Happy end?