Ages: Touko- 12 and N- 23

Four Years Later…

Touko's POV

"Wow, has it already been four years since you moved here?" I asked N.

"I guess" he said.

"Time sure flies when you're with friends, huh?" I asked N again.

"Yep" he groaned from his side of the bed. He turned over onto his side and wrapped an arm around me. My back was to him.

"N, what have I told you before?"

"Fine" he sighed out. He flipped over to his other side, removing his arm from me. I could feel his long hair tickling the back of my neck.

"Good. Don't touch me again, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. I just miss you wanting to be close after you had a bad dream" N mumbled sadly.

"N, the last time I ever let you wrap a protective arm around me was three years ago. I'm almost a teenager now. Pretty soon, my mom won't let me sleep over anymore. Well at least sleep in the same bed or room" I said seriously.

"I know. No more sleepovers with the opposite gender…unless it's Cheren. I don't understand why you can have a sleepover with him and not me" N grumbled. I turned over to face him, and he turned to face me. N was pouting.

"Sheesh, you're such a kid. Maybe, because you're like eleven years older than me" I said, rolling my eyes.

"Are age differences that big of a deal?" my green haired friend asked. What is up with him and this question? He started asking me this like four years ago. He asks it every chance he gets.

"N, stop asking me this question. It's getting annoying. My answer will never change. I don't know. It depends on the person or people dealing with age difference and their situation" I said annoyed.

"Okay."

"Why do you care so much?"

"No reason" he sighed. He always says that when I ask him why he cares. I can tell he's lying to me. Stupid N.

"Are we done talking? It's really early in the morning, and I want to go back to sleep" I complained. A yawn escaped from my mouth afterwards.

"Yeah, we're done" N chuckled.

"Night, N."

"Goodnight, Touko." I closed my eyes and lay there. N's breathing slowed down and a light snore escaped past his lips. He mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over. His arm went wrapped around me, and I tensed up under his hold.

"N? N?! Let go!" I whispered harshly. No response. I sighed. I'll have to ignore his arm like it's not there. When will N ever learn? I scooted closer to him to loosen the hold a little. I scooted too far, however, because my back hit his bare chest. Once he felt me come in contact with his body, he tightened his hold on me. He started to snuggle into my hair. I heard him take a deep breath and sigh. His warmth and sweet scent drifted around me. I felt myself get really drowsy. Oh N, when will you ever learn?

In the morning…

I tightly squeezed my eyes shut. The sun was coming in from the window and shining right on my face. I turned over to try to limit the amount hitting my face. It didn't work. I gave up and just let my eyes flutter open. I came face to face with N. His blue eyes bore into mine. The pupils of his eyes turned into saucers. He panicked once he realized I woke up and pulled his arm away from me. What was he doing?! Did he just decide to keep his arm around me until I woke up? I bet he didn't think I would wake up so soon. He was going to keep it there a little longer. Idiot. "What were you doing?" I asked angrily. N's close proximity, over the past few days, has been making me uncomfortable.

"N-N-Nothing" he stuttered out. He stood up and started to throw on a white t-shirt to go along with the gray sweatpants he was wearing. I sat up in the bed and punched him in the arm before he could get away.

"Ow" he yelped, rubbing the sore spot. "Look, I'm sorry. I just thought you looked really peaceful laying there. I didn't move my arm because I didn't want to wake you up." I raised an eyebrow. I didn't believe him.

"Right" I said unconvinced.

"It's true. I would never lie to you" he said sincerely, but he wouldn't hold my gaze. N just looked to the side.

"N, why do you keep lying to me? I hate it. I really do. You are honest with almost anything, yet you keep lying when I ask important questions" I cried out. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.

"Please, don't cry" N said, wrapping me in a hug.

"Then answer me. Tell me the truth" I choked out.

"Fine. I didn't take my arm off of you because I like the way you feel. I like your warmth. I like to feel like I'm keeping you safe" N said, looking straight into my eyes the whole time. Now, that I believed.

"Why didn't you just say so the first time? We're friends. I wouldn't have gotten mad at you. I don't know anybody who doesn't like the warmth of someone else" I said gently with a small smile. N smiled too. "Now, can you promise me something?"

"Sure" N said.

"Promise me that you will never lie to me again" I said. N looked at the ground and ran his fingers through his long unruly hair. He must be debating on whether to agree or not. That really hurt. My heart ached knowing that he was considering lying to me. He looked up at me. Tears started to run down my face. He panicked and grabbed my face with his large hands. His thumbs wiped away my tears. This was our thing. We always did this when one of us cried.

"I promise" he said. He sounded like he didn't like his answer, but I didn't care. All I cared about was that he promised.

"Thank you" I whispered in his ear overjoyed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pecked him on the nose with a kiss. He smiled and brought me into a hug. We released each other and headed downstairs for breakfast. I had chocolate chip pancakes, and N had pancakes covered in syrup. We each finished and got into the shower. I went in the one upstairs, and he took the one downstairs. I got dressed, gathered up my belongings, and left. I told my Pokémon that we would train today. N didn't like watching us train and battle, so he stayed at home. I mean he doesn't hate battling. He actually likes it. I just think he doesn't like the way I train. Two years ago, he decided to become a Pokémon Doctor. He studies at home and takes classes on the computer. I decided that I was going to become the Champion of Unova when I'm sixteen. For now, I decided to just train my Pokémon then battle the gyms and Unova League in a few years. I'll be unstoppable by the time I get to the gyms. My team will be so strong. My team consisted of Stoutland, Dewott, Volcarona, Tranquill, Klink, and Foongus. When I'm strong enough, I will catch the three main legendary members of the Swords of Justice, Kami Trio, Zekrom, Kyurem, and Reshiram.

"Hey, Touko." I turned around at the sound of my name.

"Hi, Cheren" I said.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Nothing, I was just about to train my Pokémon" I said. "Where's Bianca? It's strange to not see her with you. She's been following you around for a while."

"She's at home with the flu" Cheren said, shrugging his shoulders to show he didn't really care.

"Oh, I'll have to go visit her" I said.

"Nah, her parents won't let anyone near her. They don't want anyone else to get sick."

"Oh, so you did try to visit her. You do care. Cold heartless Cheren does have a heart" I teased. His face turned a light shade of pink.

"Shut up" he mumbled. Awww, I embarrassed him. Over the years, I decided that I didn't really like Cheren the way I thought I did. He's more of a brother to me.

"What's N doing? Has he been doing anything to you? Did he hurt you? Did he—" Cheren started.

"N didn't do anything. He's just being his old awkward shy self. I think he's studying right now. He's really ahead of his class. I give him about a year before he can become an official Pokémon Doctor."

"I see. Just watch your back" Cheren said softly before walking off.

"What's wrong with him?" I asked myself. "Oh, well. It's time to train."

A few hours later…

"Wow, I'm exhausted. What about you guys?" I asked my Pokémon. They all nodded. "How about we go get N to check up on you? It'll be go practice for him." They all made their respected sounds in agreement. "Let's go then." I returned all my Pokémon to their pokéballs and marched up to N's door. I rang the doorbell. N opened the door and looked down at me.

"Touko? What are you doing? You know you can come anytime you want" N said.

"I know. I just didn't know if you were studying or not. I didn't want to intrude and be a bother." N laughed.

"Touko, you will never be a bother to me" he said sweetly. He looked down at me. There was a look in his eye that I couldn't quite identify. It sent a shiver down my spine, a good shiver. "Come on in. I actually just finished studying" N said.

"Okay. I actually came here to see if you would look at my Pokémon. I figured that it would be good practice for you" I confessed.

"Okay. Come on upstairs then. I'll be glad to examine them." I followed N up to the Infirmary and released one Pokémon after the other. N examined each of them and told me they were in tip-top shape.

"That's great!" I cheered. "How about we go for a walk now? Neither of us are doing anything. What do you say?"

"Sounds relaxing" N breathed out.

"Let's go to Route 1" I suggested.

"Okay" N said. We left his house and started walking down the road. I held my hands behind my back. N and I walked side by side in silence. We made it to Route 1 in a few minutes flat. Up ahead, I saw a crowd of people gathered around an announcement board. People usually hang up flyers on them.

"I wonder what they're looking at. Let's check it out" I said excitedly. I grabbed N's right hand and started running towards the crowd. They must have heard us because they turned around to look at us. They cast us weird glances. I heard them whispering to themselves.

"It that him?"

"It has to be."

"It looks like him."

"Who's that girl?"

"Should we ask him?"

"No, you idiot!"

"Should we attack him then bring him in?"

"Excuse me. Excuse us" I said while pushing through the crowd. I dragged N behind me. I reached the board and scanned the flyers. All of the papers look old except for right in the middle. It had a picture of N on it. I looked up at N and pointed to the paper. N spotted it and read it out loud.

"Missing: Natural Harmonia Gropius, N Harmonia, King N. Ran away from home. Age: Twenty-Three. Height: 6 ft. or over. Reward for his capture and return: One hundred thousand dollars. Return the king alive or else" N read aloud. There was an address on the paper too. N's eyes grew wide and a snarl escaped past his lips. The grip he had on my hand tightened. I let out a yelp of pain, but N didn't notice. He closed his eyes and growled some more. His left fist clenched up. The next thing I knew, N punched the announcement board and it splinted and cracked under the blow. Wow, he's strong. His fist stayed on the board, blood poured from his knuckles.

"N! You're bleeding!" I screeched. I heard whispers break out behind us.

"It is him!"

"He looks angry. Maybe, we shouldn't bother him."

"He freakin' punched that board and cracked it."

"I don't care. Let's get him!"

"Wait, can we do that to a king?"

"N, we should get going" I said. These people were scaring me. N ignored me and let go of my hand. He ripped the flyer off the board. He crumpled the paper up and stuffed it in his pocket.

"My father lies. I didn't run away. He kicked me out. I will never go back to him" N growled. He grabbed my hand and led me away from all of the strange people. I looked over my shoulder. Everybody stared at us and watched us go. Nobody followed. I walked back with him in silence to my house. "Mrs. White, can I have a little help?" N asked while holding up his bloody hand.

"Oh my" my mom gasped. She ran up to N and inspected the wound. She grabbed a first aid kit and wet cloth. She cleaned the wound and wrapped it up with gauze.

"Thank you" N said.

"No, problem dear" my mom said. "Want to tell me what happened?"

"I don't really want to talk about it" N sighed. My mom nodded in understanding and put everything away. N took the crumpled paper out of his pocket. He went into the kitchen and dug through one of the drawers. He pulled out a lighter. He held the wad of paper in front of his face and held the small flame of the lighter under it. The paper caught fire, and N threw it in the sink. I watched the flyer burn from a distance. Poor N. He looks so sad.

"Don't worry, N. You don't need your dad's love. I will always love you" I said truthfully. N looked at me. There were tears running down his face. He fell to his knees and wrapped me in a tight hug. I couldn't help but hug back.

"I love you so much, Touko. More than you will ever know" N mumbled in my hair. My eyes began to water with happiness.

A/N: Too bad Touko doesn't know what N meant. Review or flame.