Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor the locations of each city and building names or whatever Pokemon reference you can find.

Chapter 6 to help me get distracted

Chapter 6: Truth part 2

"Hikari, do you know of a dead person by the name of Kido Nozomi?"

The silence in the house seemed somewhat ominous. Hikari was stunned into silence.

"Kido Nozomi…I don't know… I don't know anything!!" Hikari literally shouted back. Shinji was taken aback; Hikari seldom lost control of herself. "Hikari RELAX!" he tried to calm her down but she was already pushing him out of the door. He caught hold of the door frame and forced Hikari to stop her movements and look at him. "Wait!! What's the matter?" he asked but Hikari flung his jacket straight into his face. "GET OUT!!" she shouted and slammed the door shut. Shinji was left standing outside in the chilly winter air staring at her house door. Must be PMS-ing, he thought to himself as he turned left to go home.

Hikari leaned against the door breathing hard. Shinji's question had hit a wound from the past. She went upstairs and found an old photo album. The pictures in the album depicted a younger Hikari and a girl who looked like Nozomi. Behind one particular picture, some of the words had said "Berlitz Hikari and Kido Nozomi, December 19 2003". Hikari looked at it sorrowfully and took a trip back down the memory lane.

Flashback

Two small girls were playing with snow behind the row of houses that lined the street. "Ne, Nozomi, look at this," called out the five-year-old Hikari. Kido Nozomi, same age as Hikari, looked up, only to be hit by a snowball. Hikari giggled as Nozomi brushed off the snow from her face. "My turn, Berlitz," she said, smiling evilly. Hikari got ready to run as Nozomi possessed very good aim. When the snowball flew, Hikari ran but the snowball hit her anyway.

"Ok, kids, stop for a while," a woman with red hair came out of Nozomi's house. "Aww, mama, can't we play for a little longer?" Nozomi protested. Nozomi's mother shook her head. "No, it will take you kids until night time to realize that playtime's over."

Hikari smiled. "Nozomi, why don't you come over tomorrow then? We can play in the park behind my house."

Nozomi agreed enthusiastically. "May I go to Hikari's house tomorrow mama?" Nozomi asked. Nozomi's mother agreed. "Wait kids, there's something I want you to do before you go in to warm yourselves," she said while pulling out a camera. "Ok, say cheese."

The next day, Nozomi went out of the house early in the morning. Hikari's house was directly across the street. She looked up to Hikari's window and saw the blue haired-girl waving at her and disappeared.

"Nozomi, be careful when you are playing with Hikari ok?" her mother reminded her from the house. Nozomi nodded before waiting for Hikari to come out of the house.

"Nozomi, here!" Hikari shouted. Nozomi watched for any incoming vehicles before crossing the road. But what she failed to foresee was the truck that lost control after skidding on slippery ice.

For Hikari, it was like everything was in slow motion. For a second Nozomi was crossing the road to meet her. The next thing she knew, a large truck appeared where Nozomi was standing and she could not see Nozomi. It was after her brain processed the whole incident that she realized what happened.

"NOZOMI!!"

End of flashback

Akada Nozomi had looked a lot like Kido Nozomi, so Hikari had never paid much attention to why. Maybe Shinji knows something, that's why he asked, she thought. She wanted to talk to Shinji again but being reminded of her actions towards him caused her to think twice. Maybe he's angry at me for suddenly throwing him out. Oh well, I'm dead. Shinji never forgets a grudge, she thought as her hands drew back from her phone. Hikari kicked herself for her rash actions earlier. Daijoubu daijoubu, she thought, her motto in life kicking back in. I see him in school everyday anyway. Piece of cake!

The large golden dog jumped up and tried to bury Shinji in the snow when he opened the gates to his house. He pushed the dog off as Reiji appeared and pulled the overly excited dog away.

"Shinji, you sure are early today," said Reiji as Sun attempted to pounce on Shinji again. The younger brother muttered something inaudible and strode to the door. His hand paused on the door knob and he turned around to face his older brother.

"Aniki, you remember the piece of wall I found on the last outing? The latest Unown phrase that Hikari decoded?" he asked. Reiji nodded. "Yes, why do you ask?" he repled as he tried to get Sun to stay still. Shinji debated mentally whether to tell his brother. Who cares, someone other than me HAS to find out sooner or later, he thought to himself as he came to a decision.

"What if I said that I know where the crystal is?" he said. Reiji's actions stopped. "What? Really?" Reiji answered, happiness evident in his voice. "That's amazing Shinji. We can finally get to study the mysterious properties of the stone!" Then he noticed that Shinji did not look too happy. "What? Aren't you somehow happy on the inside in this major breakthrough?"

Shinji sighed. It was harder than he thought. "Er… Just put that retarded animal away and I'll tell you inside," he replied and slammed the door shut. Reiji glanced at Sun who was jumping among the piles of snow. "That was mean of him. He used to play with Sun when he was younger," he mumbled as he called Sun to come to him.

Shinji threw his jacket onto a nearby chair and sat down on the platform where his bed was. It was bad enough that Hikari possessed the crystal, but now she had used the power of the crystal to recreate an illusion that fooled not only herself and the people around her, but literally everybody in Shinou city. There was never a girl called Akada Nozomi. It was all an illusion created by Hikari. After he had left Hikari's place, he called Satoshi and Haruka who told him about Kido Nozomi. Hikari had zero idea that the Nozomi that she saw everyday was a fake being created since she was five and he did not want to be the one who would break this bit of news to her.

"Shinji?" Reiji called from the door. "What is it you wanted to say?" Shinji got up and walked to the door. He did not quite trust his brother in his territory. Last time Reiji was here, he found a whole lot of potential blackmail information, also known as his daily log book.

"Hikari has the crystal," he stated, "But you know the ancient ways of keeping something as valuable as that safe. The crystal is attached to her soul so if we want to get it, Hikari will have to die. Seriously!!"

Reiji was shocked. Who would have expected someone that you know to possess something important but will have to sacrifice herself in the name of historical studies?

"Then, studying the crystal would be impossible, because nobody will want to see Hikari-kun die," he said softly. Sighing slightly, he told Shinji, "I'll try to convince Oji-san to drop the idea of studying the crystal then. But he can be really difficult to persuade. Also, we never know what he can do with his power and influence. So you better keep an eye on Hikari-kun until he says that we are not going after the crystal anymore." Shinji nodded wordlessly and closed the door.

nuuuu… Chapter 9 is done as well as the mini crack shot at the end. Started the last chapter's structure, but I was more interested in the latest DP episodes XDDD