"Why do we have to learn this stuff anyways?!" screeched a frustrated violet-haired, ninja clothes-clad girl, as she slammed her graded test bearing a loud red "55" scrawled across the top into the wall. "I'm training to become a gym leader...I'm never even going to use geometry!"
"You're just mad because you're not good at it," the blue-haired boy sitting across from her said flippantly. "I don't see you complaining about chemistry."
"Duh, that's because chemistry is related to poison! What am I going to do with geometry, tell you that a Porygon's face is made up of isosceles trapezoids?"
"Are they?"
"...No..."
"Hm."
"But that's not the point!" she quickly amended. "This new rule about gym leaders needing an education diploma is just stupid. Even the adults in the Leagues have to go through this!"
Falkner shrugged. "What's the problem? I've learned a lot of things that I never even thought about before. If anything, it's good for us."
"What about all the challenges that get postponed because all the leaders are away at school?" retorted Janine, her brow furrowing.
Falkner gave her an incredulous look. "We only have to be here every three days." Under his breath, he muttered, "Geez, Kanto people are ridiculous..."
"WANT TO SAY THAT AGAIN, BIRD BRAIN?"
Falkner rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I don't think geometry's as useless as you might think it is," he said drily.
Janine raised an eyebrow. "Prove it," she said, and then giggled from the pun.
"Well," began Falkner, smiling slightly at the young ninja's joke despite himself, "Aside from the more obvious practical usages—for example, architecture and gym renovations—you can also apply it to people, yes?"
"What do you mean?" said Janine suspiciously, though she couldn't hide the curiosity in her tone.
"Well...people are like points, can't they?" Falkner paused for a moment and placed a loosely knuckled hand over his mouth, his "thinking" position. "Ah," he said triumphantly after a moment, and a smirk curved his mouth. "Postulate: With any two people, there exists a relationship, be it friend, lover, enemy, or stranger."
Janine contemplated it for a moment, then, a tad grudgingly, she nodded. "Postulate accepted. What else you got, o great social plus math philosopher of the world?"
"A lot, actually. I've even got a theorem. And judging by your test scores," he said, eyeing Janine's fifty-five, which the girl hastily shoved into her bag with a small blush, "You could use the extra practice."
"Are you kidding?" said Janine, snorting. "Your so-called people geometry isn't even actual geometry."
"I wasn't aware that ninjas were such cowards..."
"TAKE THAT BACK, BIRD BRAIN!" shouted Janine, glaring at the boy. "Fine, I'll prove your stupid theorem!"
"Alright," said Falkner, clearly amused. "Theorem—spend enough time with someone, and eventually, person A's going to fall for person B."
Janine smirked. "You're on."
"Ick, that was the sappiest movie I've ever watched," complained Janine as she walked out of the theater, Whitney of the Goldenrod City Gym beside her.
"Really? I thought they were really cute!" squealed the pink-haired girl. "And when they had that moment in the ocean with the Luvdisc...aaahhh, it was like they were at the center of the world and nothing else mattered!"
"Those Luvdisc were obviously just CGI," said Janine dismissively, though she cracked a grin at her friend's fangirling. Then she froze for a moment because something Whitney had just said rang in her mind. Wait...center...
"Janine?" said Whitney, a tad worried as she looked back at her friend, who was standing still with her chin on her hand and staring at the ground with a determined look on her face. "Are you alright?"
"That's it!" shouted Janine a few seconds later, startling Whitney as well as a few nearby passersby. The young ninja hurriedly whipped out her PokeGear, went to her messages, and selected her conversation with Falkner as she began walking again. Whitney peered curiously over Janine's shoulder, wondering what on Earth was going through the girl's head.
"A circle's circumference wraps around its center. Given: When you're in love, your world revolves and circles around one person," typed Janine, grinning widely as she sent the text.
A few short moments later, her PokeGear dinged with an incoming message. "Given accepted."
The purple-haired girl was so proud that she didn't notice the sly, knowing look on Whitney's face.
"Out of all the trainers out there...the best one would have to be my dad," mused Falkner as he examined some the different brands of refrigerated PokeFood that the department store had in stock.
"Ha!" laughed Janine derisively. "You don't know a thing! The best Trainer in the world is Koga, one of the Elite Four! Namely—my dad!"
"You are mistaken," said Falkner loftily. "My dad treats Poke—"
"Please stop this," said Janine, rolling his eyes. "Why can't you just admit that my dad is the true trainer?"
"Tch. Let's ask someone, then."
Janine crossed her arms with a huff, but he knew that was her way of agreeing when she was annoyed. "Hey, you!" she called to a flustered nearby brunette who was clad in a poofy white hat, blue overalls, red long-sleeve undershirt, white knee-length socks, and red sneakers.
When the girl had ambled over to them, Falkner began, "You were listening, right?" to which the brunette responded with a shy nod. "You agree my dad is greater, right?"
The frightened brunette's eyes flitted back and forth between Janine and Falkner's expectant eyes for a full three seconds before, once again, she nodded.
"You do? Just as I thought!" exclaimed Falkner, beaming. "You know something? I'm sure we'll enjoy talking about my dad! Here's my number," he said as he reached for the girl's PokeGear, which she easily relented. After inputting his number, he returned the device to her, and said with a charming grin, "Give me a call Saturday morning if you want to hear about my dad!"
Smiling nervously, the brunette nodded and quickly retreated to the elevators. The two gym leaders watched her go before turning back to each other, a disapproving expression on the ninja's.
"What the heck was that? You just gave her your number like that?"
"She was cute," said Falkner with a shrug, to which Janine spluttered and flushed for some inexplicable reason.
"Stupid," she muttered. "What if she's going to stalk you or something?"
Falkner eyed her. "I think, if anyone I knew was going to be a stalker, it'd be you."
"Whatever. Point is...what if she was? And then your life becomes a crazy kind of complicated, and it's just because you had to prove a point about your dad—which, by the way, isn't solidified yet. Best two out of three."
"But she isn't," said Falkner, rolling his eyes. "I know her. She was a challenger at my gym a while ago."
"O-oh," stammered Janine, wondering why the thought of Falkner getting to know/being friends with a girl he considered "cute" was so irritating to her.
"To be perfectly honest, I'd heard she's been taking on the Kanto League...I suspect she'll get around to you eventually," he mused. "She's an extraordinary trainer...In fact, I'm rather sure she's the current Johto Champion."
Janine wondered why the thought of Falkner getting to know/being friends with a girl he considered "cute" and who was a freaking Champion was so downright irritating to her. "I can take her any day..." the girl muttered, but then stopped with a sudden realization. She wasn't sure exactly where this was coming from, but... "Hey...if two angles of two or more triangles are congruent, then the triangles are similar. Theorem: If two people share two interests, then they're...similar."
Falkner raised an eyebrow, though from the smile on his lips, he was clearly amused. "Similar how?"
Janine shrugged. "Lovers-compatibility similar?"
"Alright...that works," admitted Falkner, albeit a tad nervously and his ears had suddenly turned a light pink.
Weirdo, thought Janine, though she didn't quite realize that they were both gym leaders and had daddy complexes.
It was late, and Janine had had a long day of non-stop challengers. She would sleep soon, but for now, she was lying in bed and searching through her geometry textbook for anything to help her tie the proof for Falkner's theorem together. It'd already been a few weeks, and though it wasn't exactly always at the forefront of her mind, she'd already tried to twist numerous theorems into a way that could be applied socially, but not with much luck.
Wonder what even made him choose something like that, of all things, she mused as she flipped through the thick book. Anyways, let's see...power theorems? Nah...HL postulate? Eh...hey, wait. All circles are similar?
Quickly remembering her circle and similarity givens, Janine grinned. How had she not seen it before? It was so obvious...
...if she could only make it work, because she knew there was something there, but it was late and she was tired and she wasn't able to think straight anymore. Still, satisfied, she stuck a Post-it on the textbook page and prepared for bed.
"Are you sure you got the proof figured out?" muttered Falkner, giving Janine an incredulous look.
"Yes, I did," hissed Janine, though quietly because there was a nest of slumbering baby Pidgeys in the tree she was hanging upside-down from by use of her spider silk. And it was true, she did figure it out that morning at breakfast. It's just that her train of thought had blanked for some reason when Falkner had ambled over to her.
This train of thought blanking thing had been happening a lot recently.
Not that she'd ever admit that to him. Or anyone else. Or herself.
"Okay, I'll walk you through," said Falkner with a sort of exasperated superior air. "Postulate?"
"Through any two points, there exists a line; with any two people, there exists a relationship," muttered Janine.
He nodded, a small smile on his mouth. "And?"
"A circle's circumference is equidistance around its center. Given—the world of a person in love circles around one other person."
"And circles..."
"Are all similar," finished Janine. Then, her mind racing, her eyes widened. "Wait, I got it! So when two people fall for each other and become the centers of each others' worlds—"
"Hey, whatcha guys talkin' about?" said Blue, a young man with spiky brown hair and who also happened to be the Viridian City Gym Leader, as he walked up to the two and slung his arms around their shoulders. (The newcomer raised an eyebrow because the fact that Falkner's ears were currently tinged a rare pink was speculation worthy, though he didn't comment.)
"Just proving a proof," replied Falkner casually. "Right, Janine?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah," said Janine, and Blue's interest was suddenly piqued. What proof? "Okay, wait, hold on, um...let's see, given: any two points—any two people. With enough time, you can construct a line—a relationship—around both points so that they become circles."
"Label the points," said Blue. Then, before either of the other leaders could respond, Blue continued, "Janine and Falkner."
Blue almost burst out laughing from the looks the other two gym leaders were giving him, but he settled for a mischievous smirk.
"Okay...Janine and Falkner. Any...anyways, um...circles. When two people fall in love, they become the centers of...each others'...worlds..." stammered Janine, blushing profusely.
Blue smirked. "Makes sense."
Both gym leaders shot him a dirty look before Janine continued, "All circles are similar, and...similarity means compatibility, so then...they'd be a good match for each other."
"Well...you guys are always going on about your dads and you're both gym leaders," snickered Blue. "Plus..."
"Therefore, in conclusion, as long as you spend enough time with someone, you'll end up...perfect for each other," said Janine awkwardly, and it was suddenly a bit too hot despite the near-freezing weather.
"I heard you guys have been meeting up every Monday at some random department store," said Blue slyly. "That's an awful lot of time..."
Falkner and Janine turned to glare at the boy, though the effect was lessened by the rampaging color all over their faces. "Just saying," said Blue as he checked his PokeGear, though not before shooting the other two Leaders one more smirk. "Well...the Magnet Train's going to leave soon, so I'll get going. I should leave you two alone, anyways."
"Blue...taste my fist."
And then, with a snicker, a curt acknowledgment of farewell with his hand, and a trademark, "Smell ya later," Blue turned on his heel and began to leave.
Janine and Falkner watched the Viridian Gym Leader walk away for a few seconds before awkwardly turning back to each other (though they were looking anywhere besides each other). Silence ensued, and Falkner scratched the back of his neck while Janine fiddled with the Spinarak silk she hung from.
"You know..." began Falkner after eternity, and he was suddenly dreadfully aware of Janine's large violet eyes peering curiously at him, watching his every move and scrutinizing his every feature.
He swallowed and took a step towards the upside-down girl.
"To be honest, I'm not sure when, or how, really, but, uh..."
He began leaning into her, and nobody on Earth could've been certain that the red beginning to taint Janine's face was from blood rush from hanging upside-down or a certain Bird Master. He was a centimeter away from her face when he began speaking again, and the fact that she wasn't pulling away or punching him was probably a good sign.
"I think, at some point—"
And right then, there, in the middle of a sentence/confession/proclamation/surrender of his sanity/pride/harbored emotion, was probably not a good place to jerk his head forward and collide his lips onto hers and it might not have been a good idea to think, Huh, despite the things she says, her mouth is actually quite soft, and it was probably also the wrong time to marvel how spectacularly this compared to the upside-down kiss scene in Spinarakman and above all, it probably was not a good idea to stay like that for all of five more seconds before pulling away and finishing in a whisper—
"—that I did become your circumference."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"...W-WH-WHAAA—...?!" screeched Janine, and even though this was the longest she had ever stayed upside-down, the blooms of color on her cheeks and the sudden lightheadedness were probably not because of her Spinarakman tendencies.
"I...s-sorry," stuttered Falkner, staring pointedly at the ground. And then, even though it was rather pointless because he had just kissed her, the Bird Master followed up feebly with, "Er...never mind."
"Heh...funny...funny thing is, at some point, despite your annoyingness and daddy's boy problems...me too," stammered Janine sheepishly as she scratched the back of her neck.
And then Falkner's eyes flickered up and Janine's eyes darted forward and their gazes met and it was awkward but in the best way possible and they knew they looked ridiculous sporting the massive blushes that they were but it was alright because both of them had apparently been drawing perfect circles all this time and neither were quite sure what to do next but this moment was so perfect and weird and imperfect and wonderful that it didn't even—
"A SQUARED PLUS B SQUARED EQUALS C SQUARED!" came the unmistakable holler of Whitney from overhead. The suggestiveness of the comment did not pass by either Falkner or Janine, both of whom instantly reddened into tomatoes as they looked up to see Whitney and Blue smirking down at them from atop the latter's Pidgeot.
"Well, when two people are supplementary, meaning they fit together really well..." came the sly voice of Blue, and the suggestiveness of that comment was not passed by either as both Falkner and Janine promptly grew leaves and turned into a familiar type of fruit often mistaken for a vegetable.
"BLUE, I'LL KILL YOU!"
-*-fin-*-
...ahaha yeah :') all I know is that this was a contest entry and a gymleader!shipping was the prompt and Fatherlyshipping is adorbs and I hate geometry right now and geezus I'm not even sure if this story made sense but hopefully it did and SPINARAKMAN SPINARAKMAN DOES WHATEVER A SPINARAK CAN
to be honest I'm not sure how much I like this but I really like the ending :')
...anyways, thanks for reading! :) Reviews are super appreciated, too!