Hi, thank you so much to loyalwolf21 and thank you so much for all of the favorites and follows for the story! I hope you all have a nice day/night wherever you all are! Warning: BoyxBoy, some violence, swearing, mentions of abuse, thoughts of self harm or suicide and a warning that ratings may turn up later.


It was almost like a ghost town down in the backstage maze of corridors and the small rooms where the coordinators were preparing with their Pokemon. None of them dared to even speak that loudly, if above the sound of a pin drop. They all kept glancing around... well, what was left of them did anyway. There was only four left, the others having not gotten this far in the competition, or having been crushed out by the conquest, which had been either 'The Masquerade Mirror', or Dawn's war path through the entirety of that day.

A lot had backed out or forfeited after the last match.

It seemed the little performance that had been put on had seemed to have taken an effect on numerous other contestants.

Brock had gone directly to see Dawn after they had announced taking a quick break to repair the lights in the stadium, and from what Ash had seen, the girl looked like maybe she could have done with Brock's comfort, he wouldn't really be one to help her feel better in that moment.

But he had decided to go and see someone else entirely though.

For the reasons that he had come back here for the fact that he and Dawn may have once been friends, he had his own reasons to come back here. He had been thinking about it on the slow walk down here, what he was actually do, whether or not he actually had a plan to go into this with? But he was desperate to know, he needed to know. His curiosity had been burning for far too long, now it had finally given in and corrupted him.

He had spent far too long thinking about what he was desperate to ask.

Now here he was stood in a locker room, looking around at the abandoned space till his eyes locked onto where the boy was sat, gently stroking a certain Mightyena behind the ear, whispering thanks and gratitude for it's hard work, but Ash had to question something as he was staring at those pair of deeply cold, ice like eyes.

The boy unnerved Ash with just that look as his gaze shot up so suddenly it made the ink haired boy stagger back slightly. A small and thin pressed smile slowly clawed

The same way that it had been in the stadium at the end of the fight. When Ash felt those eyes on him, it felt like they were doing more than just seeing him. It was like they were piercing under every layer of skin that covered his body. Like the boy's very gaze itself was able to move past him and see into his very soul.

What made this boy all the more dangerous with it, is that he knew just exactly what the effect was, which he was having.

And he was revelling in it.

"That was an interesting match, out there. It's a shame you wore a mask though..." Ash said gently, shoving his hands into his pockets as he walked it, drawing more of the other boy's attention and focus now.

Lycan growled, lowering his head as he glowered the pure black haired boy while he waited for the boy to give a name.
Pikachu murmured quietly, electricity sparking from his cheeks.

"Bellezza." The boy smirked, slowly pulling away the mask to reveal the smooth of the boy's face. His skin was completely porcelain pale, it was like he had spent a long time somewhere without sunlight, he was thin, maybe looking a bit underfed? His jaw was sharp and angular but also very smooth. Now that Ash was closer he could see the boy a lot better, especially in his costume. The boy was wearing a black button up velvet shirt which had it's sleeves neatly cut off, while the boy had black armbands wrapped around both of his biceps. His legs were toned as well as his arms were, but they were still a bit worryingly skinny. The boy held himself confidently though as he crossed one leg over the other casually, sleeking his fingers through Lycan's fur and easing his Pokemon which still barred it's teeth at Ash.

The boy reached up slowly and ran his fingers through the black side of his hair, the ink black shade creeping free of it completely after the boy gently stroked through the soft looking spikes a few times. He shook his head out a few times and gave out a small but pearly and shinning smile, his spikes of hair bouncing gently and catching under the cold light, sparkling like frosty moonlight. It nearly gave Ash chills to see that the boy's hair was just as a frozen cold shade as his eyes were, okay, the boy's eyes were blue and his hair was near enough to silver and white, but the boy looked like the child of winter!.
"Uncommon name."
"What is normal.
"An old friend once told me, an answer to that once."
"Please do tell."
"It's the expectation of the majority against the minority."
"Smart friend."
"I agree."

Ash's face was completely impassive as he looked the other boy down. The quick shot fire of their comments had sped up till they had near enough had nearly been overlapping each other. Neither of them letting even the briefest second pass between their sentences before they had taken their next move. It felt strange to him though, it had come so... easily, almost like he had felt as though he knew what the boy was going to do next... like he had done it before. But how could he have? He had only just met him!

The ink haired boy took the chance to have a small look around while he still could and admittedly, to escape out of that viciously cold gaze for a few seconds.

The room wasn't much, but there were a few things placed neatly around; some tidily placed clothes were here and there, various pieces to costumes Ash guessed as the materials all looked like they were part of some bigger combination to an outfit. The walls were lightly painted a soft turquoise a bit faded and peeling, but it was still nice, Ash wasn't surprised that the other boy had gotten a room to himself though, the others looked at him as though they wanted to run from the very sight of him. The light around them was dim, but made the blond boy's hair intensify like a source of a frozen sun, adding not only to his appearance but also to the cold pearly smile which he radiated so well.

He could still feel Pikachu tense on his shoulder as Lycan was sat not too far away, glowering both Ash and the small thunder Pokemon while it protected it's master-
"Brother."
"Excuse me?"
"Master." The boy smirked as Lycan rose and let out a harsh snarl. "Trainer, Master." The silver haired boy said gently, placing both hands behind him as he lent his weight onto his palms and returned that piercing harsh look back under Ash's skin. "Both words that aren't appropriate here." Bellezza purred, trying not to laugh when Lycan let out a sharp snarl at Ash again then moved forward laying across Bellezza's lap. The blond cast a loving and kind smile towards the Pokemon.

The care was so obvious to see, at least to Ash anyway.

The silver blond had stood there in a stadium under the spotlight in front of thousands of people, all who had been screaming his name like mad. Those who had been cheering for him with love and adoration, and yet the boy had looked at all of them as though they had been the least important thing there. The way that the boy was looking at Lycan now showed where his true care laid. He cared more about Pokemon than he probably did about people.

Bellezza lent forward slowly, lacing his fingers together after gently scratching the Pokemon behind the ear. "The correct term you are looking for here is Brother, or whenever Lycan is acting like a mother hen, I guess you could say that I could even be his Pup. God knows, he acts like a scolding parent to me enough of the time, and I guess likewise I do that too. We're equals." Bellezza said gently, unable to keep the caring love out of his voice as he smiled at his partner.
"Are you psychic?" Ash wondered, staring at the boy.
"No, just very good at reading people."
"Read books a lot?"
"Might do."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I used to know someone like that."
"They still around?"
"No." Ash growled.
"Wonder why?" The boy's eyes sparkled coldly.

There it was again! Firing those comments back and forth so quickly between one another. The cold haired and ice eyed boy grinning, seemingly trying not to laugh at Ash's face and the glare on the dark haired boy. Ash hadn't heard the boy speak through the entirety of the battle, so he was still quite surprised that the boy's voice was so light. It was gentle and flowing, careful about every word it made but each one seemed perfectly fit and ready without that worry needing be there.

This was getting him no where!

"Listen... Bellezza-"
"Oh please. Call me Belle." The boy purred then paused. "I never caught your name by the way."
"It's Ash."
"Pleasure." Belle smiled.

The blond slowly sat back across his seat on the bench as Ash took a step forward. His arms relaxing out behind him as Lycan came over and laid next to him, resting his head in Belle's lap.
"Belle." Ash said gently. "I was going to come and ask you a few questions but I think that it's best that I maybe leave."
"Wait."

Belle stood a bit suddenly, Lycan glancing at him with a raised eye. The Pokemon seemed more than fairly surprised himself at Belle's reaction, but soon went back to glowering deeply at Ash, the pokemon seemed to be set in it's opinion already of the black haired boy, it's eyes moved over to the Pikachu making Ash's own partner shuffle uncomfortably. But the other boy just walked forward with those magnificently cold eyes looking and burning an brand of their existence into Ash's soul. "Words should not be left unsaid, you came to ask me a question. It is only fair that I respond."
"Thank you." Ash said, reaching a hand behind his neck and brushing the back of his hair. "Uh..." He cleared his throat. "Belle... You've been doing the circuit obviously?"
"Well yeah." The boy nodded, slowly taking off his coat and standing there for a moment as he folded his arms, he seemed to do it more as a comfortable pose thing than any other reason. He seemed to just dominate the room by being stood there. Ash's eyes were drawn directly and irrefutably to him. Bellezza knew how to take the entirety of the room's attention even if he was such a small and deceptive looking thing.
"I was wondering if you could tell me about someone... or If you may have heard about him at any of your competitions?"
"A fan?" Belle rose an eyebrow, though now he seemed to have drawn his own Pokemon's attention. His voice was a little less softer than it had been a minute ago. The boy's eyes far more piercing and a hundred times more guarded now. His face was like a fortress barricading all emotion away except that which would have been expected.
"An old friend." Ash stated, looking down at the floor. "He was aspiring to be a Pokemon co-ordinator." Ash felt a blush creeping it's way onto his cheeks as he thought of the emerald eyed and golden haired boy. It's not as though it was uncommon of him lately to be thinking of that certain boy, after all, whenever Ash on his adventures or not had gotten a chance, he had always tried to see if the certain boy was okay. Whenever his Mom had called from home, he had always been the first to ask about how everything back home was going... Come to think of it, whenever he had actually called his Mom to ask if she had heard anything about that certain boy, his mother had been awkward and said she had to go.

Every time.

Seven to be exact.

Whenever he had run back home to town he had always made a certain spot in the park, along the beach and then to always check up on the news of the boy who he knew he would never be able to forget.
"He must mean a lot to you." Belle stated with a tone that was noticeably colder than the start of their conversation. The gently stroked along Lycan's fur, who responded quickly by licking the boy's cheek before backing up so the blond could stand. Belle's gaze like his voice was a little more colder now, but far ever so much more piercing, like it was hooking further and further down into Ash as the boy made his way over to the side. Belle shook his spikes of blond hair out slightly and ran a hand through the soft locks first. "Would you mind?" He asked softly, glancing over his shoulder as he held a brush in his hand. Ash didn't want to seem rude, especially if this boy would be doing him a favour, so as Belle took a seat in front of the large mirror on the side counter top, Ash gently set his fingers into the boy's hair and ran a brush through it carefully.
"More than anything else in the world." Ash sighed and nodded.

Both fell into silence for a bit after that, it was strange how it was such a content and comfortable silence.

Belle reached up and as softly as possible took the brush from Ash's hand as he looked up the swerved spikes which now curled up like like moonlight icicles, his porcelain like skin gleaming infinitesimally. Ash decided in that moment that the boy truly was like the spirit of winter. "His name." Ash spoke up, just as Belle rose from his seat and shot a questioning look, pausing for a moment as he was about to take back the brush but not seeming to notice he paused as his fingers and Ash's brushed over each others. "It was Alex, but some people called him Lexi-"

That's when a change happened so quickly that the Ash thought that it may not have even happened at all.

The brush slipped from Belle's grip, but Lycan pounced and caught it with a swift and elegant grace. What ever shock it seemed that was to have gone supernova in Belle's eyes now was crushed and stamped out without any hesitation or mercy. The boy turned away, resting his hands on the counter top and drumming his fingers over the surface for a minute or two. Those cold eyes were reflected back in the mirror to Ash, the boy seemed to almost be deciding on something, unsure in that moment with exactly what to do.

Slowly he turned back around and looked Ash dead in the centre of the eye. Those cold eyes blistering like a fierce blizzard on a ice lake. The boy was tensed now, he seemed to be trying to hide it but he seemed to struggling to conceal whatever it was that he seemed to be deciding on. Even Lycan seemed to have abandoned efforts in snarling and growling at Ash and now curled around Belle's legs.

Lycan looked up at his partner and paused, looking between them both, but he seemed more entirely focused on the fact that Belle seemed to be struggling with something. The Pokemon leapt up in one quick and easy bound to the counter top, nuzzling his head against Belle's. The silver blond let out a small sigh, his fingers combing through the fur like a reassurance.

"No one told you, did they?" The blond whispered softly, turning his gaze down for a long moment. "I thought that they would have told you by now about what happened. It's been four months."
"Four months since what?" Ash frowned, not understanding just exactly what it was going on. It made no sense to him? Why was this blond looking at him like that? Why was it his own Mom hadn't even told him any news from home, after all, Alex may have gone running off like he did, of course Alex did! Alex had never been good at handling his emotions! But still, he would never not call in and tell his mother about how he was doing-
"I'm sorry that it has to come from me, but Alex died, four months ago."

Belle slowly looked up into the depths of Ash's eyes, those cold orbs looking so focused, but in that moment so openly pained. "I'm sorry Ash, but four months ago on the road just out side of his home town after winning his first few coordinator events, he lost his battle with depression. He had been diagnosed with illness and unfortunately, it pushed him over the edge... I'm sorry Ash, but he just couldn't keep up the fight any more. He lost belief in himself, he lost belief in his cause and his goals... The darkness swallowed him whole." Belle's gaze moved down slowly to Lycan and closed his eyes, resting their foreheads together. "He killed himself. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but he's gone."