With Will and Misato's date over, let's move on to take a look at another Valentine's Day story, with a girl who is slightly more emotional than Misato, and slightly less logical and rational, as well. But only slightly. Remember to review!

Also, thank you to everyone who read my story "The Heir to the Dragon". I would appreciate if you continue to read and support it in the future! You can get there through my profile! The story is finally completed! Thank you for reading!

The Semi-Final Round of the second Pokemon Academy Best Girl contest has begun! Which three of these six girls will make it to the Finals? So far we've only got a few votes in, so show your support for your best girl and vote on the poll in my profile! We want this competition to be close, after all! Who's going to win?!

Semi-Finalists: Ayame, Sylvia, Marion, Sango, Elaina, Valerie

Just a Bad Writer for Fun: Welcome back! And yes, it's good to move onto someone who doesn't talk like a computer. I definitely need a break.

KedharS: Misato was pretty boring herself.

Rowlets and Oshawotts: How does one go about programming emotions, though? She's at least programmed to emulate them, as we know.

Aquahaze675: Not if Will keeps pressing the B button she can't.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 679

Will's Valentine's Day was anything but romantic. It had been an interesting day, to say the least, and debatably a fun one, but certainly not romantic.

He wasn't the only one.

There was another couple on campus that, while definitely in love, weren't much better at showing affection than the Will and Misato "couple" were.

Nikita looked up from her computer and let out a sigh, staring out the window at the snowy landscape, feeling a sense of ennui washing over her.

Maybe I should have scheduled something with Reiner, Nikita thought. She didn't consider herself to be someone who cared about things like love and mushy feelings, but still… it was her first Valentine's Day with her boyfriend.

She glanced down at the black egg nestled in her lap. Reiner hadn't made any offer to spend time together on a romantic date, and she hadn't expected him to. Especially given what had happened in the past two weeks. With Blake missing, probably dead, neither one of them had felt particularly amorous.

Even though she had been a little miffed in the beginning that Reiner didn't plan to ask her out or anything, even that wasn't about a feeling of love. It was more just that she thought Reiner didn't care. But then he explained that he did care, it was just that he didn't think that there was any need to make such a big deal about it.

After all, Valentine's Day was just another day, it didn't have anything to do with their relationship or their feelings with each other, so they didn't have to do anything special for it. Blake's later disappearance let it slip from their minds entirely.

So until today, Nikita had been totally in agreement with him treating Valentine's Day like any normal day, because that's what any good scientist would do, right? Focus on her work, the paper that she was writing, rather than letting her emotions get in the way and wasting time on something as sappy as spending time with a boy.

Kitty definitely had the right idea, going to help in the caretaking facility today, rather than spend time worrying about her love life. Just look at what romance had done to Sango! Certainly, she had been overjoyed at the sight of Blake's return, but before that, the way her heart had been so broken, and even before Blake's disappearance, when she had just been heartbroken about his relationship with Ayame…

Well, Sango was certainly making a one-woman case that romance wasn't worth pursuing, and Nikita could definitely understand the logic behind it.

That being said, her feelings for Reiner made a compelling enough counter-argument that she had never seriously considered breaking up with him. It was actually rather refreshing, being in a relationship. It wasn't something that Nikita would have considered possible for herself, not even a year ago. She had always thought of herself as a scientist first, after all.

And now here she was, staring at the snow and wondering if maybe she should have been the one who had asked him out to do something.

A smile crossed her face as she imagined Reiner's expression at Nikita asking him out to a romantic meal. He definitely wouldn't see that coming! But no way would Nikita ever do something like that, not a chance.

Then again, she had said that quite a lot before. When she'd come to the school, the life that she'd imagined had ended up being the opposite of the kind of life that she had ended up happening. Instead of devoting all her energy to her studies, she had friends. She had a boyfriend. Her life had been full of surprises she had never seen coming, not when she was imagining her school life. And she couldn't deny that, with all the surprises, it was so much more fulfilling than the life she could have been living, she had to admit.

Nikita had done lots of things that she never would have imagined doing before meeting Reiner and her other friends. Stuff like flirting during a studying session, or staying up all night watching movies, or even spending the night in her boyfriend's room (not that they did anything!). Even the idea that she would be raising an egg like this, it wasn't something that she would have pictured for herself.

So even though Nikita said "not a chance", that didn't necessarily mean that she was correct. There was a chance, even if she didn't see how.

Nikita wasn't one for making illogical choices, but… wanting to see her boyfriend on Valentine's Day wasn't emotional or anything. No, it was only rational to want to spend a romantic holiday with your boyfriend.

Nikita was going to check with Reiner to see if he maybe wanted to change his mind about doing anything together today.

She took out her phone and texted him.

"Hey, Reiner. Feeling kind of bored. Wanna take a break from studying and get a romantic dinner together later?" She asked, resisting the urge to break out into a smirk. When the three dots showed up, she stopped resisting.

"What? Seriously?" Reiner asked. She could hear the shocked sound of his voice in the text. "I thought we weren't going to do anything romantic for Valentine's Day!"

"I know what you thought," Nikita texted back. "Changed my mind."

She was kind of just playing with him, but she did actually want to go out with him later. She wasn't sure if he would treat it as a joke or not, but she hoped that he wouldn't. This wasn't one of her usual pranks, she was serious.

"Okay, sure," Reiner replied. Nikita's eyes widened and her heart soared.

"Awesome! Let's meet up at 6!" She said. "…Though, we should probably get a reservation somewhere…"

"What?! There's no way we can get one in this time!" Reiner replied back. Shoot. He had a point. She hadn't even thought about that. There were only a few hours left until dinner time, and surely all the restaurants had been booked up. They could eat at the Snorlax Commons, but…

"Yeah, you're right," Nikita agreed, glad that Reiner couldn't hear how disappointed she was through her text message. "I guess we should just forget it then."

"We could still do something else," Reiner suggested. That made Nikita feel a little better. He still wanted to meet up! But she wasn't quite in the mood. The knowledge that they'd missed their chance for a romantic dinner made this whole thing seem like a big waste.

"K. I'll get back to you," Nikita half-heartedly replied. She'd have to think about it.

"Okay, see you," Reiner answered, and the conversation was over.

Setting down her cell phone, Nikita leaned back in her seat and stared up at the ceiling. The shiny black egg in her lap throbbed with a soft warmth, but Nikita didn't feel very reassured by the swell of life she held.

Stuff like this is always so difficult, she thought, turning her attention back to the egg. It wasn't just any pokemon egg. This egg meant something. It wasn't just any normal egg. When Nikita's team won the Escape Room contest during the Pokemon Day festival, she was going to be passed over to receive a pokemon egg. But Reiner had accepted the consolation prize that his team had gotten, and had given it to her. It was a great gesture of kindness from him, and she treasured the egg almost like a symbol of their relationship.

Nikita knew that it was stupid and foolish of her to value something so intangible like that. The egg was an egg. She wasn't such an illogical girl that she would believe it was actually representative of their relationship.

But as logical as she was, she couldn't help but feel a little concerned. Mainly because the egg still hadn't hatched. When everyone had gotten their eggs, they joined with Kitty and they all took care of their eggs together. Her, Blake, Cynthia, Kitty, and Maddi, raising their eggs. But now, all the eggs had hatched.

All except hers.

"Come on, little guy," she murmured, running her hands along the rough shell. "I'm waiting, you know. You can hatch now."

She didn't want to seem worried, but…

When would it hatch?

They had hatched months ago. Blake, Cynthia, Maddi, Kitty, their eggs had all hatched before the new semester. Now, they were over a month into the semester and Nikita's egg was still no closer to hatching than before, at least not as far as she could tell.

She didn't want to believe in something as illogical as omens, but she couldn't help but feel worried about the state of their relationship if the egg was never going to hatch.

No, that's illogical! Nikita chastised herself, shaking her head. There's no such thing as a pokemon egg that won't hatch! It will, I'm certain of it! It's just going to take a little longer, that's all, but that's not something I should be worried about!

Her reassurances were logical. Normally, logical arguments were relaxing to her. But logic and rationality was becoming less and less comforting the more time she spent with her friends. It was becoming harder to convince herself of what was obvious.

Still not sure of what to do, Nikita wondered if she would need to get another perspective on the subject. She got out of her seat and stretched, holding the egg high over her head, and turned to put it in her backpack.

I need to get some advice, Nikita decided. She wasn't sure what she would do about Valentine's Day, but right now, there was something else that she could take care of. She just didn't want to feel so empty and worthless; this way, at least, she was doing something.

And it even felt like she was doing something for her relationship, if she looked at it another way. And maybe Serefina would have some advice for me about my relationship with Reiner, too, she wondered as an afterthought.

Taking the egg and putting it in her backpack, Nikita left her room and headed for the nursery, where Serefina and Kitty would probably be working.

When Nikita got to the nursery, she saw that the two girls were indeed working together to take care of the eggs, which was a great relief. She knocked on the window and waved, Kitty turning to her with a look of surprise on her face and dashing over to let her inside.

"Nikita?" Kitty asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Come to volunteer?" Serefina asked, peeking her head out. Her eyes looked hopeful, and that made Nikita feel a little guilty. It really was just the two of them, after all, they needed help. But right now, Nikita was worrying about her own issues.

"Um, no, sorry," Nikita said, shaking her head. She glanced over her shoulder to look at her backpack. "I actually, um… I need some help with something."

Serefina blinked. "Oh, yeah, no problem. What's up? Need some help with caretaking?" She stepped back to make an entrance for Nikita, who followed the two girls into the nursery. Nikita was grateful that the Caretaking Course also had the responsibility to lend a hand to trainers who needed help with taking care of their pokemon.

"It's not exactly a caretaking problem," Nikita admitted. "All my pokemon are doing fine, actually, this is about, um… something else."

Nikita always felt a little intimidated by Serefina. While her body wasn't anything to be ashamed of, certainly, there was no comparison between her and the other girl. Serefina was just in a league of her own, as much as Nikita was loathe to admit it. But luckily, Serefina was kind and sweet, and Nikita wasn't that insecure.

"Something else?" Serefina asked, raising her eyebrow. Nikita nodded. Serefina's voice was soothing, and that helped Nikita feel more relaxed.

"I, I'm raising a pokemon egg," she explained. "And… it's taking a really long time to hatch. So I was wondering if I was doing something wrong, and I wanted… I wanted you guys to take a look at it. Is that… okay?"

Serefina gave her a smile that reassured Nikita's feelings of anxiety. With a nod of her head, she beckoned Nikita to follow her into the egg room. "Not a problem," Serefina assured her. "I'm happy to help!"

Nikita smiled. "Okay, good, thank you so much," she said. "That really means a lot to me."

"You're still worried about your egg?" Kitty asked. She knew her roommate's anxiety quite well. "Sorry to hear that…"

Nikita glanced gratefully at her friend. Following Serefina into the room where the eggs were being incubated. She glanced at the technology being used, and immediately became insecure. After all, she didn't have access to any of this stuff. Maybe it was better to leave the egg here, for Serefina to take care of, rather than keeping it herself.

"So, let's take a look at your egg!"

Nikita flinched, glancing up at Serefina. The curvy girl was standing behind a large cot/crib sort of thing, filled with pillows and blankets, with a glass lid over it. It was a strange kind of incubator, Nikita guessed, much larger than the standard ones that the other eggs were inside.

Serefina beckoned at her, wearing an open smile. Nikita swallowed, and approached the incubator, setting her backpack down on the table beside it. She showed the egg to Serefina, handing it to the other girl for her inspection.

Nikita looked on warily as Serefina turned the egg over in her hands. She hoped that there was nothing wrong, that she was just overthinking things. That had always been her problem, right? Overthinking things? Surely the egg would be fine.

"Your egg is fine," Serefina assured her, handing it back to Nikita. Nikita sighed with relief. But the nagging feeling in her chest refused to go away.

"Are… are you sure?" She asked warily. She didn't want to be proven so horribly wrong. It wasn't that she didn't trust Serefina, it was just…

Well, Serefina had just held the egg for a second! Nikita didn't see how it was possible for her to tell that quickly that the pokemon inside the egg was okay!

"Of course I'm sure," Serefina assured Nikita with a smile. "I've been doing this for a while, you know! I know my stuff!"

"…But you aren't even in the Caretaking Course officially," Nikita noted. "You're only a second year, so have you really been doing this that long?"

Serefina smiled. Nikita was pretty sure her eye twitched slightly, but maybe that was just a trick of the light.

"My experience extends beyond just my school years," Serefina said, her voice chillingly calm. Nikita hugged the egg a little closer to her chest. "I assure you, I'm one of the most trusted members of the team here, whether it's taking care of eggs or taking care of pokemon."

She sound so assured of herself! Nikita wanted to trust her, she really did. It wasn't like her to doubt the word of an authority on a subject, but when it came to her pokemon…

"Serefina is really good," Kitty advocated. Nikita glanced at her, the small girl nodding back. The way her red eyes were shining told Nikita all she needed to know about her faith in Serefina, which help assuage Nikita's doubts, if only slightly.

"I can tell because I can feel its warmth," Serefina said. "That's all I need. If the egg is warm, and you can feel the pokemon's heartbeat inside, then that's more than enough to know that your pokemon is going to hatch nice and fine, sound good?"

Nikita still wasn't convinced. "But what about if your pokemon is an Ice type? Wouldn't the egg be cold? What if it doesn't have a heartbeat at all? Ghost types don't, and I can't imagine that certain Steel types would, either."

Serefina's professional smile didn't falter for a second.

…

"Now listen here, you little shit-"

"Ahem!" Kitty leapt between Nikita and Serefina, holding her arms out. "Those are some very good points, Nikita, but now isn't the time to be focusing on things like a scientist!"

Nikita saw Kitty's point. After all, Serefina had already verified that her pokemon egg had a heartbeat, and Nikita could feel for herself that it was warm. She was just making an ass out of herself and overthinking things as usual. Heck, for a second she thought that Serefina had just cursed her out, but no, there was no way that was true, Nikita must have misheard. Serefina wasn't that kind of person, after all.

"Sorry for doubting you," Nikita apologized, glancing down at her egg for a second before giving Serefina an apologetic look. Luckily for her, Serefina didn't seem bothered by it. "I'm just really worried about my egg, that's all."

She didn't feel like mentioning that part of her insecurity about her egg was due to the fact that the illogical, emotional side of her saw it as a symbol of her relationship with Reiner.

Serefina shook her head and waved her hand. "Don't worry about it. You're just concerned for your pokemon, that's all. That's totally understandable, we've all been in that situation before." Her smile grew even wider. "It just shows how much you already love that pokemon, isn't that right?"

Nikita felt the weight on her chest lightening even more. Her egg was even warmer now. That was a wonderful way to think about it.

"I'm glad to see you're smiling," Serefina commented, and Nikita realized that a shy grin had crept up her face.

"Oh, um…"

"Does that mean that I was able to help you?" Serefina pressed.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better," Nikita said, nodding. "I was worried, but… I think it's going to be fine."

"All eggs grow and hatch at their own rate," Serefina said. "It's not like you just walk a certain amount of steps and the pokemon comes out. It'll hatch when it's ready, okay?"

"Thank you again," Nikita said. "You're really good at comforting people."

"I give great advice, especially about taking care of pokemon!" Serefina said, smiling. "If you have anything else you need, just ask!"

Nikita actually did have another issue at hand. Serefina was so cool and smart, maybe she could help Nikita out with some of her doubts and concerns about Reiner.

"Um, now that you mention it, there is something else that I've been concerned about," Nikita said, hoping that Serefina would be able to help.

"Sure, shoot!" Serefina said. Her expression turned serious. "…This isn't about your love life though, right?"

The menacing warning in Serefina's voice made Nikita's blood run cold.

Rip Nikita. Now's clearly not the time.