Ayame was having a perfectly nice time trying to keep Blake from invading her mind. Unfortunately, he happened to invade her room next! And in spite of her desire to keep him from getting close to her, it seems that she's still harboring some conflicted feelings in regards to Blake- feelings that will only get more twisted as she learns that Blake is now aware of Sango's love for him! What's she supposed to do now?! She's pretty stuck.

KedharS: There's definitely some relationship drama ahead, that's for sure. It's just a matter of what relationship.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1271

"You… what the fuck?!" Ayame stared at Blake in shock. She struggled to make sense of what she'd just heard. Sango had feelings for Blake? And he'd overheard her reveal that bit of information to someone else?

"It's what I said," Blake shrugged, not sure what else he was supposed to say. "I know I shouldn't have heard it, but Sango's in love with me."

No way. He was lying to her. That's what this was, some trick to get her jealous and make her fall in love with him again.

But she knew that wasn't the case. After all, Sango had TOLD her that she was in love with Blake just the other day! In this very room! And Ayame's memories of Sango were very clear. The prospective ranger had told her multiple times that she had someone she was in love with, although she'd never specified who that person was. But it was clear, in hindsight, that she HAD said who that person was- the only problem was that Ayame couldn't remember it was Blake.

Sango had tricked her into getting upset at the idea that she was going to confess to Blake, but now Ayame could see that was pointless. After all, Blake was now well-aware of the fact that Sango was in love with him.

"…So why are you telling me?" Ayame asked harshly, glaring at Blake with suspicion. So he was telling the truth. So fucking what? Knowing that Sango was in love with him didn't mean a damn thing to her, after all, why was he bugging her with this? Because they were friends? Because he didn't know what he was supposed to do?

How fucking laughable.

Then a dark thought crossed her mind.

What if this was a setup?

Sango telling Ayame she was in love with Blake, playing with her to get her worked up. And then a few days later Blake comes to her himself, telling her he'd "conveniently" overheard that Sango was in love with him?

It could all be a trick. This was the exact sort of thing Olivia would scheme up, a way to manipulate her into getting involved in Blake's relationships, when really he and Sango were in this with her together and she was their little puppet on a string.

Ayame loved Olivia, but at the same time that's how she knew all of the woman's worst qualities. Something like this would not be outside the realm of possibility when it came to a girl like her, who saw everything as a means to her ends.

And then there was Blake himself. Olivia said he was reliable and trustworthy, but was he? Could she really believe him here, and-

She glanced into his eyes and immediately a stab of guilt pierced her heart.

What am I doing? She asked herself as she stared at the hurt and worry brooding on his face. Why am I thinking this way?

She had no idea how she'd become so overtaken by paranoia that she actually mistrusted the boy standing in front of her.

Sure, she didn't know Blake, she didn't have her memories of him. But she did know him a little bit, didn't she?

Ayame knew Blake because she knew herself. She knew the kind of person she was, even before losing her memories. And whatever reasons the old her would have had for falling in love with the boy in front of her, she knew that she would never love a liar and a manipulator. If Blake was the sort of boy who would feign another girl's feelings for him just to make her jealous, she never would have gone out with him in the first place.

He wouldn't do that. She knew enough about him to know that much.

She sighed and her expression softened. "I'm sorry," she managed to get out. "I wasn't thinking straight."

Blake stared at her, surprised.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"It's nothing, forget about it," she muttered, shaking her head. "Listen, Blake, I understand that if Sango does like you-"

"She does," Blake said, not at all about to negotiate on that point.

Ayame sighed again. "Well, fine, she does. Even so, I don't know what you want me to do about it." She shrugged her shoulders.

"Sango and I, well… we're friends, but it's not like I can give you any advice here." She glanced down at the floor, feeling too uncomfortable to talk about subjects like this with a boy that she'd sort of dated in the past.

"…I'm not good with this whole romance thing."

She glanced up at him cautiously, wondering what he was going to say. Would he laugh? Make a joke? Remind her of their previous relationship, the details of which still eluded her memory?

He didn't do any of those things. He stared at her sadly, and then pulled up a chair and sat down across from her.

"I understand," he said. "I get that this must be really hard for you, Ayame. I mean, how couldn't it be? Me, I remember everything we've been through, all those tiny, perfect little moments that made me light up like the sun. But you, well…"

Ayame winced and glanced away from him, her heart aching just to hear him talk.

"I'm sorry you lost all that," he apologized. "And while I know that you don't want to go out with me anymore, I just want you to know that those memories, that person you were, they're still a part of you. I can feel it."

"Maybe, but… that doesn't mean I have to accept that as my new present," Ayame muttered. "Like you said, my memories… who I was, that's… that's not who I am anymore."

"Sure it is," Blake said. "You didn't become a different person just because you lost your memories, Ayame, you're always like this."

She scowled. "And what's THAT supposed to mean?" Ayame tried to put on an angry face, but it didn't seem to work.

Blake's response was to laugh.

"It means that when we first met, you threatened to kick me, and I got a nice glimpse of your ass because of it," Blake said brazenly.

Ayame's jaw dropped and she adjusted her posture, making sure he couldn't see her panties. How could he say something like that?!

"How could you say something like that?!" She demanded.

"Because it's true," Blake said. "You've always been a little difficult to get along with, Ayame, nothing's changed in that regard."

Ayame's face heated up and she turned away. "Sh-Shut up! You don't get to act like you know me just because-"

"I do know you," Blake pushed. "I know so much about you it's insane. You don't love someone as strongly as I love you without getting to know the kind of person they are. I know how happy you made me, and I know how happy I made you. I know these things for a fact, whether you remember them or not."

"I-I thought we were talking about Sango!" Ayame snapped, slapping her palm against the her bedspread. "Stop talking about… about your feelings for me already!"

"Okay, I will," Blake said, not about to upset her. "That's why I came here in the first place, after all, to talk about Sango. So my question to you is what do you think I should do?"

"Huh? You mean should you go out with her or not?" Ayame scowled. Just posing that question made her feel like she'd eaten something foul. She didn't like being put on the spot like that, and she understood it was probably some lingering vestige of her past self's feelings for Blake. Just another thing she was struggling to get over so she could keep living her life.

Blake looked at her in shock.

"Wait, you… you actually want that?" He asked, surprised. The idea that this new Ayame would actually be okay with him dating other people had never actually crossed his mind. "I mean, I just thought that you would be-"

"You can do whatever you want!" Ayame snapped. "I don't really care!"

It was an obvious lie, and even she was aware of that. But she didn't like the way she felt when she considered Blake going out with somebody else. And because she didn't like it, another, angrier part of her almost wanted to see it happen- if Blake was dating someone else like Sango or Cynthia, then he would finally leave her alone and she could get on with her life.

She should have wanted that.

She obviously should have wanted that.

But why couldn't she bring herself to want it?

Could some part of me really still want to be with him? She asked herself, feeling an ache in her heart. She really did care about Blake's happiness, even if she wasn't in love with him anymore. How couldn't she care? If everything Olivia had told her about their relationship was true, then Blake deserved all the happiness in the world, even if it was with someone other than her.

But fuck, it wasn't like she could just go back to dating him! She didn't want to make the same mistakes her previous self had.

Sango was one of her friends, and Blake was… special to her. If the two of them started dating, that would be the perfect thing for her.

"Ayame, I really don't know what to do," Blake pleaded. "This whole thing with you, and having lost your memories, it's really got me confused. I love you, I really do, but I also know, well… I know that you don't feel the same way."

His face went from wounded to resolved. "But I know that you mean a lot to me. And I know that I really want to make you happy. And I meant what I said before. On the pier."

Ayame thought back to that day on the pier, and remembered Blake's words. How adamant he was about not giving up on her, and making her fall in love with him again.

"I already told you that's not going to happen!" Ayame snapped, her face heating up. "I'm not dating you again, got it?"

"I'm not going to give up on you if I don't have to," Blake asserted. "I owe both of us that much, to try and see if I can make something work out here."

Didn't he understand anything?! Nothing would work out! She'd be gone in two months and they'd never see each other again!

"But this is about what comes after," he added. "For the sake of argument, and yes, I hate saying this, but if you and I don't get back together… however unlikely that is to happen…"

"Completely unlikely!" She snapped. "Absolutely unlikely!"

He stared at her in surprise. She gasped.

"Err, that's not what I meant!" Ayame cried, realizing she misunderstood what he'd been saying. "I meant that it was unlikely that we would get back together!"

That's what her mouth had meant by that outburst, right? Yeah.

Blake just smiled. "…Right. So anyway, as I was saying, however unlikely it is for the two of us to get back together or not, for the sake of argument, let's say we don't."

"We won't," she asserted, crossing her arms over her chest.

"…Right. If we don't… I honestly don't know what I'm going to do. You've always been my rock, Ayame. Your support has made so much possible for me that I didn't even think could happen. And that's why I'm not sure what I should do… without you, I just…"

He stared at the carpet with a solemn expression on his face and sighed. His feelings for Ayame were clear. But if she didn't want him, then what was left for him?

"Before you, I didn't think things like love or romance were a part of my life," he admitted. "For me, the most important thing was my sister, Gwen. I didn't think I had the right to live a life until I brought her back, and gave her happiness. Until I could be her family again, things like love and romance just didn't seem that important."

Ayame winced. Blake's sister… that was something else Olivia had spoken to her about. She didn't know much on the subject, but she knew it was a sensitive issue for Blake.

Gwen… where have I heard that name before…

Then her brain flashed back. Back to the Orre Region.

"Her!" Ayame blurted out in surprise, remembering the blonde girl that had attacked her and the others. That was Gwen. She remembered everything Blake had told her about his sister as well, right here in this room. Being here, talking about her, it must have been the catalyst to bring those old memories back up.

And with them came another memory that rose unbidden from the pool of her thoughts. Blake hadn't just told her about his sister that night.

That had been the night he told her he loved her. The night when they'd gotten together for real, and her feelings had finally been reciprocated.

And as soon as she felt that warmth, it escaped her. But she still remembered Agate Village.

Blake was looking at her suspiciously.

"Did you remember something?" He asked.

"N-No, it… it was only for a minute," Ayame said, shaking her head. "I just… I was thinking about Agate Village."

Blake froze.

"Agate… Village?" He asked.

"Yeah," Ayame shook her head. Already thoughts of Gwen had slipped away, leaving just a haze. "I don't know why, I just… huh?"

Blake stood up. He no longer looked conflicted. Well, he did, but his expression was a lot harder now, as if the difficult thought occupying his mind had completely changed.

He almost looked scary.

"Blake?" She asked worriedly.

"Ayame, what happened in Agate Village?" He asked, sounding calm but clearly anything but. "Was Gwen there? Did you meet my sister?"

Ayame swallowed. Her memories of that period were a complete jumble due to what had happened with Samarra. She'd been under that twisted woman's control for the longest, after all, and it was because of her that Ayame had lost all of her memories. She hadn't even been conscious when the situation had resolved itself.

But Olivia and her mother had told her the whole story, about Gwen and Samarra and all the twisted details about what had happened.

And everyone had made it clear, even her mother, that Ayame wasn't supposed to talk about what had happened that day.

But she'd screwed up. She'd screwed up big time, and let that secret slip out. To the very last person who should have heard anything about this.

"Blake, I don't… I mean… I don't remember," she muttered. It wasn't a lie. She didn't have any concrete memories of that day. But it wasn't answering his question. Blake wanted to know what happened to his sister, and she was hiding it from him. Sure, she was doing it because Olivia had asked her to and knew how important this situation was, but that didn't change much.

It still made Ayame a liar. It still meant that she was lying to someone that she cared about, someone who her past self had loved.

And that just made her feel dirty.

Ayame averted her eyes, unable to look Blake in the face for another second.

"I think you should just go," she muttered. "We shouldn't be talk about this."

It was clear now that Blake's concerns about Sango were a drop in the bucket compared to what he was dealing with now. He'd initially come here because he was uncertain about what he should do with his feelings; after all, he liked Sango and he cared about her, and he didn't want to hurt her. If he and Ayame were still together, he would have been looking for the gentlest way to turn her down so as not to ruin their friendship.

But he and Ayame weren't together anymore, not really. And her feelings were a complicated issue that he couldn't decipher. If he was unsuccessful in seducing her, if he couldn't make her fall back in love, then things would be over between them.

And if that happened, then what Ayame- the old Ayame- would have wanted him to do was move on and be happy with someone else.

Would that someone else be Sango? He didn't know. His feelings had been a complete mess, and he wasn't sure what to do. No one should be forced into a situation like this.

But now, those thoughts were the furthest thing from his mind. He didn't need to be thinking about Sango right now, there was someone else who deserved his focus.

And that someone was his sister.

Ayame didn't know anything. She had lost her memories, after all. But for a moment they'd come back, and that moment was enough to permanently link the relationship between his sister and Agate Village, in the Orre Region.

Gwen had been there. She'd done something. He was certain of it.

And if Ayame couldn't help him, then he needed to talk to someone who could; someone who would know the truth about this entire mess.

And luckily for Blake, that someone happened to live in this dorm.

"…Thank you, Ayame," Blake said.

She stared up at him in confusion. "Thank you? For what?" She asked, not sure how she'd been able to help. But he smiled nonetheless.

"Thanks to you, I have a better understanding of what I should do now," he replied. He smiled at her because he wanted her to see him leave happy. But even though Ayame's memories of Blake were gone, she somehow knew enough about him to know that the smile he was wearing was a false one. He said goodbye one last time, and headed out the door.

She fought down the urge to flip him off as he left, not sure why she felt compelled to make such a rude gesture towards the boy.

Yikes. Blake came here to talk about his relationship with Ayame and Sango, and try to sort out his feelings, and it turns out he accidentally uncovered the worst possible thing! Now that Blake doesn't have Ayame to ground him anymore, could he end up throwing himself back into his search for his sister? That's not good, hopefully he doesn't lose himself again and revert to his pre-Ayame mindset of Gwen being the only thing that matters.