Sandwiched between towering mountains is the bustling Veilstone City. Built around its renowned meteorites and hosting numerous skyscrapers, the city prides itself on being one of the largest cities in Parelle, attracting numerous tourists all year round despite its remote location. Mountaineers also stop by the city to rest before they continue on their arduous hike.
"Wow!" Mairin gapes as they draw nearer and nearer to the city. She has only ever seen the countryside in her life, after all, and has had little to no time to appreciate the beauty of the Sinnoh League before it was demolished. "It's so pretty! So your brother lives here?" She directs the question at Paul.
Paul nods. Then he declares abruptly, "we'll stop for a break before continuing on to Veilstone City."
The way he said that statement so assertively made it sound like a fact. But in truth, both Alain and Cilan thought the sooner they reach, the better. However, since Paul is offering up his home to serve them, the two decide to just agree.
The moment their van stops amidst the mountainous area, Paul leaves the others to stretch or take a leak, and walks off to a short distance away from them.
Contrary to their thoughts, Paul is dialing Reggie's phone number.
He picks up right away.
"Hello, my beautiful rose, my gorgeous brother!" His brother's usual cheerful voice attacks his ears. "How unusual of you to call me. To what do I owe this massive honor?"
And that is why Paul hates calling his brother.
He makes a big deal out of every little thing.
Just like a certain troublesome bluenette.
"We're going to stay at the house for a day." Paul says, already bracing himself for Reggie's reaction.
"We? Oh my, my unfriendly, withdrawn, brooding, rude brother now has company! Whom he invites to his house! Give me a moment while I faint." Reggie rambles giddily. "So who is the mysterious person? People? Girlfriend?"
Paul pinches the bridge of his nose. Only his brother can rile him up this much.
"There are twelve, including me." He grits out, ignoring the girlfriend comment. Throughout their journey, he has managed to only give the barest minimum of details required to his brother, so Reggie remains blissfully in the dark about all their exploits.
"So many?" Reggie doesn't sound displeased. No, he's over the moon. "My baby brother –"
"Don't call me that," Paul hisses.
" – has finally grown up and learned to make new friends." Reggie sniffs loudly on the other end. "When should I be expecting you and your lovely friends to arrive?"
Paul knows that arguing with Reggie over the fact that those people he's traveling with are not his friends will just be him digging his own grave. Once Reggie starts babbling about something, his mouth develops a mind off its own and runs away.
Of course, Paul can always hang up or slam the door in Reggie's face.
But.
Thinking of how his brother had painstakingly forsaken his own dreams to raise Paul, thinking of how much Reggie had to sacrifice, how much burden he carried on those shoulders… And yet he kept smiling in that utterly vexing manner, never once complaining… No matter how abrasive Paul is, he simply can't ignore his brother.
"We'll be arriving later today," Paul answers. He hears a suspicious rustling. "I got to go."
Paul waits for Reggie to say bye before he hangs up.
He's somehow unsurprised when he turns around to see Dawn standing there sheepishly.
"In my defense," she begins hastily, "my eyeliner rolled here." She holds up the small tube, waving it frantically as though by doing so she can hypnotize Paul into forgetting this whole thing ever happened.
It's almost hilarious how nervous she is to be caught eavesdropping.
When Paul remains silent, Dawn casually asks, "anyway, was that your brother?"
She peeks at the stone-faced teen. "You treat him way nicer than normal, you know?"
"Your point?"
"I was just curious."
Paul stares down at her. He turns around and starts walking away.
Dawn doesn't know why, but there's a bitter taste lodge in her throat. She swallows. It's still stuck there, making her throat constrict tightly.
Then.
"His name is Reggie, and he's a real pain in my ass."
"Huh?"
Paul looks over his shoulder. "My brother. The one you were curious about." He says very slowly, like Dawn has a concussion.
Dawn blinks.
A small smile works its way up her mouth.
"So he must be a nice person."
"Didn't I just say he's annoying as hell?"
Dawn overtakes Paul, and turns around, walking backwards.
She sticks out her tongue. "Your standards are all messed up."
He doesn't reply.
But she hears his footsteps matching hers, step for step, even though he can totally outpace her.
A wide smile blossoms on Dawn's face.
And that uncomfortable bitterness in her throat dissipates.
The Shinji household is in a buzz.
Even though there is only one occupant currently.
But not for long, Reggie thinks, humming under his breath. Because his baby brother will be coming back with eleven other people in tow.
Oh, it doesn't matter how much Paul complains about it or how old they both get – Paul will always be his baby brother.
"Yrene, aren't you thrilled, as well?" Reggie coos to the parrot he's been raising for three years. He's an animal breeder who also happens to keep a ton of pets. They keep him company while his brother goes off on his own pursuits.
And those pursuits…
Reggie's mood plummets slightly.
Paul has his mind set on one particular goal. Which is good and all, but Reggie doesn't like how chasing it has filled his brother with only bitterness and callousness. He hopes this journey will deter Paul from hounding after it.
"I'm back," A familiar voice calls out as she walks into the living room.
Yrene flaps her wings and flies over to Maylene, while Tiffany, Reggie's adopted chihuahua, and Gilbert, his energetic cesky carrier, both bound over, yapping animatedly.
"Tsk, you guys have betrayed me," Reggie says in a wounded voice, and is rewarded with Maylene's laughter.
His eyes light up, and he walks over to Maylene, bending down to give her a quick peck.
She grabs his face and pulls him in, winding her arms around his neck as she slowly kisses him. When she releases him, her face has turned as pink as her eyes. But there's a wide grin on her face.
"Thanks for buying the groceries," Reggie says, helping her carry them to the kitchen island.
"In return for that, you'll cook, right?" Maylene perches onto a counter height stool and stretches. She can't cook to save her life – the last time she tried, she almost burned down the kitchen and someone called the fire brigade.
"Yeah, seeing you in the kitchen is enough to make my palms sweat," Reggie is only half-joking.
"You're just weak-willed." Maylene quips.
Reggie begins to prepare the ingredients, hoping that the others don't have any food allergies. He wishes that the conversation with Paul had lasted longer so he could find out their food preferences.
Of course, if he called Paul now, he would undoubtedly just tell him that he could have cooked shit and they would still eat it. Paul would make sure of it.
Reggie smiles fondly.
While he pretends not to care, Reggie knows how fiercely protective Paul is of him.
That smile fades.
Which is why he has taken it upon himself to defeat him.
He unintentionally lets out a deep sigh.
"What's wrong, babe?" Maylene asks, hugging him around his waist.
Which would have been good at any time but right now he's frying sausages very passionately. He almost dropped the frying pan.
"Oops." Maylene untangles herself from him and rubs her head sheepishly.
"It's fine, why don't you just rest now and wash the dishes later?" Reggie suggests.
Maylene has been vehemently against a dishwasher, arguing that the ease of washing dishes will make them overeat, especially since Reggie is a fan of, and he quotes, "super ultra unhealthy food", so the pair has never gotten one.
"And that's the code word for 'you're being a hassle, now go'," Maylene says teasingly.
Indeed Reggie looks flustered. "No! I would never chase you away –"
"I know." She cuts in, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "I'm going to edit my video. See ya!"
Besides working as a Gym Leader, Maylene also runs a MeTube channel where she regularly uploads videos of her working out and teaching her subscribers how to stay fit at home.
Those videos also offer invaluable tips to her challengers, who have to pass a rigorous routine if they want to clinch a badge. Rigorous is putting it mildly; the routine is absolutely gruesome, consisting of a hundred jumping jacks, sit-ups, pull-ups, push-ups… Reggie sometimes wonders if Maylene is running a gym or a crash course on how to become the Hulk.
Time flies by quickly while Reggie is busy cooking. Heavy metal music blasts from Maylene's study while Reggie whistles cheerfully.
The lack of sunlight does dampen his mood, though. He likes how the afternoon sun rays shine through the windows. However, currently the curtains in the two-story house are all drawn because Reggie hates seeing the sight of the churning black sky, caused by the Blight.
Two hours later, Reggie has whipped up an impressive feast for Paul and his guests.
Hmm, he still has some time left before they should arrive.
A wicked idea enters his mind.
"Maylene," he calls.
"What?"
"Do you still have those leftover party decorations from last time?"
"The ones for Jojo?"
"Yeah."
They celebrated Jojo's birthday a few months ago with a full-scale party. He is their pet hermit crab who is currently lounging in a custom-made aquarium with others of the same species as him. However, apart from Jojo, the rest are for sale.
As pets, of course.
Not to be eaten.
"Of course. They're in the storage room somewhere."
"Well, since Paul is returning for a short break from his heroic mission…" Reggie tapers off.
A glint sparks in Maylene's eyes. "… Shouldn't we make it a grand event?" She finishes.
Reggie grins. "How are you so good at reading my mind?"
"Your mind is just too simple, duh," Maylene laughs.
And so the scheming duo gets to work.
"Wow, this is your house? I thought it would be dark and gloomy, but it's surprisingly normal looking." Drew comments as Alain stops the van in front of a large, two-story house with a warm caramel roof and an exterior made from wooden tiles.
The others inwardly agree with Drew. The cheerful house does not fit Paul's joyless disposition.
"My brother was in charge of the decoration." Paul says plainly.
"No wonder."
They get out of the car, grabbing all their backpacks with them, marveling at the simple but homely house in front of them.
Paul rummages inside his bag and procures a set of keys.
He strolls towards the porch, and the others all follow dutifully.
"What kind of person do you think Paul's brother is?" Mairin ponders quietly when Paul is a good distance away from her.
Serena, walking beside her, whispers back, "I don't know, but I sure hope Paul's bad manners don't run in the family."
They catch up to Paul, who's jabbing a key into the lock.
He pulls the door open.
A shower of streamers explodes in his face.
He closes his eyes, praying for sanity.
"Welcome home, my dearest little brother! And his poor friends who have to put up with His Grumpiness!" Reggie's annoying voice blares into his ears. Maylene is blowing a party horn, and Arceus damn them, both of them are wearing party hats and t-shirts with Paul's face plastered on them.
And not a flattering face, either.
It was one of those photos Reggie took when Paul just woke up, and it also happened to be on Reggie's birthday when he declared that the best present would be for Paul to wear cute penguin pajamas and a cloud print nightcap to bed.
Cackles of laughter burst out behind Paul.
"Nice pajamas," Drew snickers.
Paul turns back, though his usual glare is missing its usual viciousness. He just looks exasperated.
"Glad to see certain genes are not passed down! Your brother actually has a sense of humor," Gary snorts.
"You guys are like day and night," even Cilan remarks good-naturedly.
Dawn's body is trembling, and she's laughing so hard that she's not even making a sound at all. A few tears spring to life in her eyes.
She points a trembling finger at Paul, the other one wrapped around her quivering stomach. "Y-your face…" She gasps out. "Oh, Arceus, that look is priceless."
Snap.
Misty lowers her phone.
"Blackmail material," she says to an increasingly irritated Paul off-handedly by way of explanation.
"Come in, you guys," Reggie says with a smile. "I prepared a lot of food, so eat before they get cold."
Ash and May perk up. Reggie doesn't need to tell them twice.
They practically shove Paul out of the way, trampling inside.
May sniffs. "I smell grilled fish!"
She lets her nose take her to a wide dining table, where food fills every corner of the tabletop. Tender chicken chunks in creamy avocado dressing, mouth-watering sweet potato casseroles with pecans, rich clam chowder, fully-loaded baked potatoes, a variety of stir-fried vegetables…
May has to pat at her mouth to make sure she isn't drooling.
That would have been embarrassing, and unfortunately, not the first time.
In fact, she accidentally drooled twice, and Drew was there to witness both incidents.
It will go down in her top ten most humiliating moments.
Ash grinds to a halt in front of the food.
His eyes are gleaming. "I think I just fell in love."
"With the food or Paul's brother?" May asks, hiding her laughter.
"Both."
"Sorry, Reggie's taken already." A voice calls out, and they both turn around to see a slim, pink-haired girl standing there in sweatpants and a tank top.
She smiles at them and says affably, "hi, I'm Maylene, Reggie's girlfriend."
It honestly still gives her a little flutter till this day to introduce herself as Reggie's lover. She had the biggest crush on him growing up, and she doesn't think those feelings will ever wane.
The others filter into the room, gawking at the spread. Then they remember their manners belatedly and introduce themselves.
If Paul is uncomfortable by them being here, crowding around his kitchen, he certainly doesn't show it. He's leaning against the wall and looking as bored as always with that expression of faint annoyance.
"Take a seat and start digging in," Reggie walks into the room, giving Maylene a hug.
The others hesitate, not sure whether to take Reggie's words at face value, because after all, he is Paul's brother, but when Paul heads over to take a seat, they follow suit.
They begin to tuck in cautiously, but all wariness simply melts at the heavenly taste in their mouth.
Cilan feels like he's in paradise. "The delicious tanginess of the chicken is being complemented so perfectly by the –"
Iris jabs a spoonful of salad in his mouth to shut him up.
Serena's hawk eyes snag onto them. Hmm… She thinks thoughtfully.
(She does consider herself the one and only, self-proclaimed matchmaker of the group.)
"So, what have you guys been up to?" Reggie asks conversationally.
"Oh, nothing much," May replies, quickly brought over to Reggie's side because of his cooking. "Just busy surviving monstrous hand things and nearly getting kidnapped." She tosses nonchalantly.
Reggie pauses with his fork halfway to his mouth. Then he lowers it slowly.
"Paul?" He starts saying with a benign smile. "You didn't mention any of those in your very irregular and sparse reports."
Paul shoves a spoonful of spaghetti in his mouth. "Forgot."
Reggie is still smiling, but that smile is starting to look really scary.
"Ah, now that I think about it, perhaps I should have spent those days being more worried about you. After all, you could be severely injured or dying somewhere. Though at least then perhaps I would finally get a real update about what was really going on in your life."
His passive-aggressive tone and words make the others realize that he is indeed Paul's brother. A deceptively friendly one.
Or is he?
Reggie's smile suddenly widens and he says to the shell-shocked Arcana, "please don't let my words bother you. Don't stop on my account," he gestures.
Only Ash and May haven't stopped eating.
They resume dining, and Maylene strikes up a conversation.
"So, care to elaborate about the hand things and being kidnapped?"
Seeing as Paul isn't about to answer Maylene's question, Dawn quickly tells them about their adventures so far, the others helping to fill in the details.
Reggie and Maylene are fantastic listeners, only interrupting to clarify questions, making the Arcana realize just how childish they have been cutting into each other's conversations every five seconds.
Reggie's brows are creased by the time they're done.
"It all sounds terribly difficult, but it's fortunate that you guys haven't gotten any major injuries, and hopefully never will."
"Yeah, and um, we should probably get out of your house soon." Dawn cringes. "In case it gets destroyed like the Sinnoh League."
Maylene smiles wryly. "If this house gets torn down, it'll be a good reason for Reggie and I to buy a bigger one."
"So that's what you are secretly aiming for." Reggie teases.
"Not so secret now, is it?"
"Also," May adds, "can we do laundry at your house?"
She blinks rapidly, trying to look as pitiful as possible.
"Damn, I think you got something stuck in your eye, January." Drew mocks.
She pinches him so tightly that he yelps.
Maylene laughs. "Sure. Feel free to treat this like your real home."
Several of them smile awkwardly – Dawn absolutely hates her own home, Drew has too many useless houses and the only place Mairin has lived in all her life is certainly not a home to her.
After their dinner, they all thank Reggie and Maylene, satisfied with their full bellies.
And regardless of their original misgivings, they quickly settle in,
Besides Paul's room and the master bedroom shared by Reggie and Maylene, there is only one other guest bedroom with two beds so in the end, Misty and Serena win a dramatic game of rock-paper-scissors and clinch the beds.
"YAS!" Misty roars, pumping her fist into the air as she wins her bracket while Serena shrieks with joy at having won her side.
"Smell ya later!" Misty shouts back over her shoulder, the comment directed at Gary, as Serena yanks on her hand and the pair tramples up the stairs gleefully.
"I would rather you not," Gary mutters beneath his breath.
The rest of them have to put up with sleeping in the living room in their sleeping bags.
"Sorry," Maylene says, feeling bad for them.
"It's fine!" Dawn smiles brightly at her. "The only times I slept outdoors in a sleeping bag were to film a documentary or a reality TV show, so this is a new experience for me!"
"Speak for yourself," Drew grumbles, having secured a space for himself beside the couch.
"Hey," Gary begins, "can I sleep on the couch?"
Drew whips around, glaring at him. "You better not. You'll roll over and crush me in your sleep."
"Trust me, I won't."
"That's the thing. I don't trust you."
Gary snorts.
Maylene replies, "up to you. It's old and some bits are flaking off, though."
Drew slaps Gary when he tries to climb onto the couch.
"No. Those flaky bits? They'll snow on me at night," Drew hisses.
"Not my problem." Gary shrugs.
Paul comes downstairs, carrying blankets. "It gets cold at night." He says impassively.
Dawn purses her lips, tuning out Gary and Drew's argument.
"Hey Paul?"
No reply.
"I have a fun suggestion."
"Yay." Paul says blankly.
Maylene stifles her laughter. Paul seems like a different person. He seems… more expressive, somehow, though the others will surely disagree.
"How about you put your bed up for auction?" Dawn blurts out.
Despite all her words about this being a "new experience", she really wants to sleep in a warm bed tonight.
Silence.
Then she hears chortling behind her as Paul replies stonily, "no."
While Paul's house has both a washing machine and a dryer, because of the sheer amount of clothes the twelve of them need to wash, the group has decided to split the laundry into several rounds.
"I love it here," May says dreamily, stuffing her mouth with Reggie's homemade apple pie. "Can we never leave?"
"The card," Drew reminds her.
"Yeah, I know," she sighs. "It's just I miss normal life."
"And we can only get back that normal life of yours by putting an end to this apocalypse thing."
"Mm. I wonder how my parents are doing… Is there any update with Joey Williams?"
Drew shakes his head. "The last I checked, he's still unconscious."
May deflates. "I should call Max."
Drew nods, leaving to give them privacy.
Though it's hard to achieve that in this house; Reggie's pets keep running up and down the stairs, nearly tripping him over three times, and the birds won't stop chattering away, seemingly excited at the new guests.
He wondered how they were going to sleep at night, but Reggie assured them that he has a pet pen so no one will be pissing on Drew while he's sleeping. That's the worst way to wake up.
Even worse than getting hit in the face by the hand thing.
Meanwhile, left to their own devices, the others are busy lounging on their own marked territories where they have set down their sleeping bags and toiletries, most of them either napping or using their phones.
"I miss civilization," Dawn bemoans as she taps on Outstagram, where her last upload was over a week ago and her fans are desperate to know if she's still alive amidst the onslaught of the Blight. "But I look terrible right now so there is no way I am posting a new picture. Sorry, my lovely Twilights."
"Twilights?" Cilan cocks his head.
"Dawn's fandom name." Serena replies. She's lazing around downstairs since her room is empty; Misty is off having some fitness training session with an enthusiastic Maylene.
"Ah. I'm guessing you're a 'Twilight' as well?"
"Of course." Serena declares proudly.
"Aw, I feel very honored. And touched." Dawn says, hiding her blush. She may hate the path that her mother has forced her to walk, but she does treasure her fans.
Reggie walks down the stairs with Alain.
"Bad news." Alain begins, garnering their attention.
"I can't handle any more of those," Serena covers her eyes with her hands.
"We need new clothes if we want to go to Mt. Coronet."
"Why?"
"It's freezing up there, and there's actually hail in certain areas."
While the others groan, Iris stiffens.
Freezing? Hail? She thinks, dread pooling in her belly. Her body starts trembling automatically.
"N-no." Her teeth are already chattering.
She remembers. She remembers that horrible day, that blinding whiteness, their desperate, raspy screams, the oppressing winds –
"Iris?" Cilan probes, concerned.
"H-huh?" She snaps back to the present, glancing around. The others are all looking at her.
"I think I'll just…" She stands, her face pale. "… just go outside to clear my head."
She leaves before anyone can say anything else.
Outside, the dark sky only amplifies the frantic pounding of her heart.
She… she needs to get out.
But she can't.
She can't just abandon the others.
But she wants to run.
Far away from here – anywhere but into the mouth of Mt. Coronet, into her worst nightmare come alive.
She doubles over, heaving, and breaking out in cold sweat.
Oxygen. Yes. She needs oxygen.
She breathes, but that simple act has become hard. She can only hear the uncontrollable drumming of her heart, a cacophony that trips all her senses.
She inhales. And scents it.
A hint of peppermint and citrus.
"Breathe." A voice penetrates the muffledness in her ears. "Breathe in."
He counts to four, and she complies. He tells her to exhale, and so she does.
And after several repeats, the world around her focuses.
Iris looks up into calm green eyes. And what a pretty color. Her favorite color. That of nature.
She hasn't seen them this up close before, but now that she's looking deep into them, there are flecks of dark forest green swimming in shamrock. It reminds her of the secret garden in the Gray Temple of the Village of Dragons – a room teeming with life of greenery of every variety, where Iris and all other children of the village were allowed in just once to be baptized when they were ten.
It reminds her of everything she feels connected to, feels grounded by, feels loved by.
Her heart slows down its furious racing.
"Are you feeling better now?" Cilan asks.
She nods, not trusting herself to speak.
He hands her a bottle of water. She takes it, her hands shaking. She takes one sip. Then another.
"Thanks." She squeaks out.
Cilan leads them to a bench, and Iris follows him. They sit there for minutes, staring at nothing, while Iris takes occasional sips.
"You don't have to go to Mt. Coronet if you don't want to." He says abruptly.
Iris isn't quite sure what to reply. She opens her mouth.
"I want to." She squeezes the bottle. "But… I don't know – I mean – I just had a bad experience…" She's rambling now.
She squares her shoulders. "I don't like the cold."
There. So what if it makes her look like a little kid?
Cilan shrugs. "We all have things we don't like. I'm not a fan of leopards myself."
Iris, in spite of herself, is intrigued. The way Cilan said it makes it sound like he has a personal vendetta against them…
But since he isn't prying into her business, Iris decides to return the favor and tame her curiosity.
"So I guess even if I want to go, the thought of it just scares me. What if we're there and I drag everyone down?" Iris's shoes scuff the ground.
"That's a valid point." Cilan admits. Iris is glad he didn't brush aside her concerns with pretty, false words of reassurance.
"I can't guarantee that some of the others won't flare up, with their tempers." Cilan is thinking of specifically the thinking time bomb that is Gary's composure. Not that he has much in the first place.
"But not everyone will get angry. And even if some of them do, well, you've been with them for the past week. Do you think they will leave you to fend for yourself?"
Iris ponders over his question.
Despite all their arguing, despite all their back and forth… Every time they had encountered a dangerous situation, none of them had prioritized their safety over the others. No, even when facing off the hand thing or Dawn's kidnappers, the others had waited for everyone to get into the van before they bolted.
And deep down, she believes that the others won't abandon her.
A smile blooms on Iris's face. "You're right. They can be rude jerks, but they're not evil."
"Wow, I feel so flattered." A voice drawls, and Iris whips around.
Her face heats up.
Everyone is standing there, glancing out at them through the open window. Even Reggie and Maylene are watching them.
What the hell!
Iris is beyond mortified.
Gary continues, "your compliments are so back-handed I've been slapped into tomorrow."
"Good. At least we don't have to put up with you for today," Misty shoots immediately.
Dawn clasps her hands. "Iris! No need to worry, we'll definitely take good care of you. I won't let any harm befall you!"
Drew sends her a dubious look. "You will protect her? You?"
"Actually, I just wanted to try saying those kinds of lines," Dawn confesses sheepishly. "But I'll still try my best to protect you!"
Reggie grins at her. "You delivered those lines perfectly."
They high-five. Paul just sighs.
Iris covers her face with her hands. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Well, I live here," Maylene answers, "but if you're asking about your friends… When Cilan went out to get you, they kind of just pulled back the curtains and opened the windows to eavesdrop."
"WHY DOES PRIVACY CEASE TO EXIST WHENEVER YOU GUYS ARE AROUND!" Iris roars.
"You realized that now?" Gary deadpans.
"How else will we get information if we don't resort to eavesdropping?" May chips in.
"You're seriously defending yourselves?" Iris growls.
"You can't expect to have a conversation right outside the window and expect us not to eavesdrop!" Mairin decides to share her two cents.
"Ah, so now it's my fault for choosing to spill my beans here?" Iris crosses her arms.
"Oh, come on, Iris, stop being mad." Ash badgers. He holds out a bagel. "This is a peace offering."
"You mean a bribe." Misty snorts.
"You're right, it's a bribe." Iris huffs, turning away. Then one hand snakes out to grab the pastry. "But I happen to be quite easily bribed."
Ash grins. "Yeah, food solves everything!"
Cilan watches with a quiet smile as Iris bites into the bagel, squealing at how delicious it is.
And no one notices how Serena watches them with her own sinister smile playing around her lips.
Playing Cupid will be oh so very fun, she thinks devilishly.
A/N:
This chapter was fun to write about. In fact, I think every chapter has been fun for me to write, haha. Reggie is one of my favorite side characters in the anime. Next week, it's Mt. Coronet *intense music plays*
Thank you all so much for the reviews! I was really touched and happy to see them. Also, a thought hit me: if anyone would rather I not refer to their name at the end of the chapter or PM them my reply instead of publicly typing it out, please just inform me at the end of your review.
Now on to the reviews:
CerisierJin:
Aww, your review was so, so sweet. It absolutely made my day and sure, by all means type in Spanish! It makes me happy to know I have international readers and I also used a translator to interpret it. I look forward to your occasional comments ~!
Aww, tu reseña fue tan, tan dulce. ¡Absolutamente me alegró el día y seguro, por supuesto, escriba en español! Me alegra saber que tengo lectores internacionales y además utilicé un traductor para interpretarlo. ¡Espero sus comentarios ocasionales ~! (Utilicé un traductor para escribir esto)
Akatsuki Sakura Uchiha:
Misty's driving will never be forgotten LOL. I hope you enjoy the little snippet of Dawn and Reggie's interactions, which we will see more of once the Ikari ship officially sets sail.
See you soon!