"D… Dee dee?! Is that really you?!" He stuttered eventually, walking briskly towards me.
"Kenny!" I finally managed to say as I rushed towards him, pulling him into a tight hug. "And how many times do I have to tell you to quit calling me that!" I said with mock annoyance, pulling away to drink up his features. He'd matured quite a lot within all these years, he was wearing a tight vest and so his biceps were very visible and his abs showed clearly through the material though he had the same red hair and the same cheeky grin. A blush seemed to creep onto my cheeks at that moment and he smirked, I'd obviously been staring for a bit too long.
"Like what you see?" He teased, causing me to giggle and slap him playfully on the arm.
"You wish!" I retorted with a cheeky grin causing him to chuckle.
"Hey, let's hang out for a bit, you owe me an explanation! I thought you were freaking dead!" He exclaimed desperately. I smiled up at him.
"Sure, let's just go back to my dorm first, I need a shower." I said pulling a disgusted face as the clothes seemed to stick. Thank god I was wearing a T-Shirt underneath that hoodie and not a long sleaved shirt; Paul hadn't even let me change. Kenny blushed and I waggled my eyebrows at him. "Wouldn't be having any dirty thoughts now would we Mr. Kengo? I teased, grabbing his arm and pulling him in the direction of my room.
"I.. I wasn't…," he stuttered, causing me to giggle even harder.
"Sure…" I dragged on, smirking slightly.
As I stepped out of the warmth of the shower, I changed into fresh clothes and wrapped a towel tightly around my head. I walked into the main room where I saw Kenny flopped out onto the couch while flicking through the channels on my TV.
"There's nothing on at this time!" He grumbled, causing me to roll my eyes.
"Well I thought we were gonna be heading out to talk, not stuck in this stuffy room." I said, shoving the man off of the sofa and flicking off the TV. He glared playfully at me and pretended to dust himself off as he got up off of the floor. I chuckled at him and replaced the towel with my beanie, not caring if I went out with wet hair.
At that moment, the door was opened and May stepped in. She smiled at me and then glanced over at Kenny questioningly.
"May, meet Kenny, Kenny meet May." I said happily. "He was one of my best friends before I left," I explained.
"Nice to meet you Kenny!" May said, enthusiastically taking his hand in hers and shaking it vigorously. He gave her a lopsided grin and returned the gesture.
"Nice to meet you too," he replied friendlily.
"We're going out for a little walk but I'll be back in a bit," I told May as Kenny and I headed for the door.
"Well have fun you two!" May giggled, shutting the door on our way out. I sighed and grinned over towards Kenny.
"She's my new room-mate, awesome isn't she?" I exclaimed happily. Honestly, I think I'm enjoying it back here a little too much.
"She seems pretty fun," Kenny said honestly. He guided me through a door and we ended up in the court yard. I spied the tree May had brought me to a few days ago and a few students who had come out to enjoy the good weather or wanted to study outside. We sat on the soft grass under the shade of the building, leaning our backs against the wall. I felt obliged to explain exactly why I ran away, and what I was afraid of. I knew that Kenny was a great listener and he showed great concern for me when I explained my fears to him.
We had been sitting there for an hour just talking about life and getting to know each other once again when a voice was heard from a few feet away.
"I thought I'd find you here Kenny! You said you'd help me with my English and your half an hour late! Now, who the hell are you…Talking… To…" Her voice trailed off and we stared at each other for some time before I stood up and pulled her into a tight hug.
"Dee dee, where the hell have you been?!" She yelled, her voice cracking making it obvious she was tying now to cry. The young woman's name was Leona; she, Kenny and I had basically been the three musketeers when we were younger, we were practically inseparable. I began to wipe my eyes, realising that thick tears had begun to form. I stood back from her and noticed she too was wiping her jade eyes. Just like Kenny, she had matured a lot too and her hair had grown considerably longer yet it stayed true to its light brown colour. Then again, I guess I had matured and changed considerably as well.
"How come I didn't get such a dramatic reunion with you Dawn?!" Kenny asked in mock offence as he pulled the both of us in for a group hug. I giggled at him and slapped him playfully on the arm.
"Because you're a Boy!" I said while childishly sticking my tongue out. Both Leona and Kenny chuckled at the remark.
The three of us made our way down to the reception to see my mother. She was sitting at the desk reading some kind of letter which I guessed had something to do with the company's finances. She had red rimmed reading glasses propped on her nose as her short hair was neatly tucked behind her ears.
"Aw, Mummy dear is getting old!" I teased, slinging my arm around her neck and poking her glasses as I sneaked behind the counter. She seemed slightly surprised at first but began to chuckle when she saw it was me.
"I hope you've been looking after my very special daughter you two," she said, acknowledging my two childhood friends as she chuckled.
"We sure have Mrs. B!" Kenny grinned, saluting her. Leona chuckled at the comment and copied his action. Mum frowned for a moment before saying,
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you that Dawn was back though, I had been meaning to but I've had so much work lately…" She muttered, gesturing to the pile of paper on the desk.
"Ah, don't worry about it, we found her didn't we?!" Leona exclaimed cheerfully. "Until death do us apart," she added, making Kenny, Mum and I laugh.
Help Dawn.
"Hey, did you hear that?" I asked, looking around the room to see where the plea had come from.
"Hear what?" Kenny asked, flashing me a worried look.
"Um, never mind," I muttered, shaking my head. It was probably just my mind playing tricks on me. I had missed out on a few nights sleep after all.
I'm down here
The voice came again. I frowned and turned around, finding no-one else in the room except my friends and my mother.
"I'm just going to the bathroom, I'll be back in a sec," I said as I hurried out of the room, not waiting for a reply. I continued down a corridor until I came across a public bathroom. I held my head in my hands as I looked at my reflection in the large mirror hanging over the sinks. I really didn't look too great, big black circles hung under my eyes and my skin was paler than usual. All of this training and school work was really starting to hurt. I really hoped that I wasn't going mad. Normal people don't hear random voices in their head. All this work wasn't that stressful for me… was it?
I decided to get back to my dorm. The others wouldn't mind too much if I ditched them considering they know what I've been through. May was sitting on the sofa, she had her maths text book laid out on the small table in front of her and she seemed to be pondering over something. I chuckled and plopped down on the sofa next to her after grabbing my book as well.
The rest of the day consisted of assignments and homework. May was kind enough to help me with some of my stuff when she had finished as I was pretty much a dunce now.
As the two of us walked into the mess hall for dinner, I was almost immediately confronted by the prince of plumbs himself.
"Meet me in the gym by 7," he grunted, walking away before I could even ask why.
"What was that about?" May asked curiously.
"No idea," I said honestly as we continued towards the table where we usually sit. Kenny and Leona must have spotted me sitting down with the girls, they thundered through the hall, and only just stoped in time not to crash head long into our table.
"Where did you go before?!" Kenny exclaimed, grabbing my shoulders and shaking the living day lights out of me. Misty was quick to react, she grabbed the young man and put him in a fierce arm lock.
"Don't tough her!" She growled angrily, pulling harder and causing Kenny to wince.
"Mist, it's okay!" I said quickly, standing up to help my childhood friend out of the lock. Leona eyed my friends wearily, it wasn't going too well.
"Anyway…" I muttered, trying to break the tension. "Kenny, Leona, these are my friends Misty, May and Leaf. Guys, these are my childhood friends Kenny and Leona." I said quickly after, trying to keep the peace. The five of them shook hands, except for Kenny and May who had met earlier that day.
We all sat and talked for the rest of dinner time. As I glanced up at the huge clock on the wall, it read '6.40'. Misty seemed to also notice the time and excused herself from the table.
"Oi, follow me Dawn, I gotta show you something." She said, waiting for me to get out of my seat. I followed her, bidding goodbye to the rest of the group.
"Did Paul tell you about it?" She asked as we neared the end of the hall.
"Well, he told me to meet him in the gym at 7," I replied, wondering what she meant.
"Okay then, just follow me." She took a detour, we walked almost walked the complete opposite way to the gym, I was getting really curious as to what the two were up to. Misty soon entered a room on the left side of the corridor we were in. She told me to wait there and I did. She then came out carrying a plastic bag and I couldn't help but wonder what was in it.
"You're late," Paul muttered as we entered the gym. He was wearing fully black clothes with a hoddie tied around his waist and a scarf hanging loosely around his neck.
"Sorry, bout' that, we had to get her clothes," Misty said quickly, probably to stop me from arguing back.
"What clothes?" I asked instead, now peering into the bag that my friend held. It contained a black jumpsuit, just like the ones the three were wearing the other day, a hoodie and scarf along with a belt with all kinds of loops and 'pockets'. My eyes widened as I realised what was happening.
"So, I'm going on a mission?" I asked, looking from Paul to Misty. Misty nodded excitedly whereas Paul just rolled his eyes.
"Took you long enough, I do sometimes wonder if there's any brain in there at all," he sneered as he flicked my forehead. This earned him a punch to the shoulder and a death glare.
"Alright, break it up you two," Misty sighed, rubbing her forehead. "I reckon I'm the only mature one here," she mumbled, making it only just audible for Paul and I to hear. "Come on, lets get changed," she said, gesturing to the changing rooms at the back and pulling me along with her.
We then headed over to a huge room filled with weapons and gadgets of all kinds a few corridors down from the gym. One of the women inside provided Paul and I with numerous gadgets and a few weapons in case we got into any trouble.
"So, why are you guys coming with me?" I asked, even though I already knew the more than likely answer.
"To stop you from running away again," Paul muttered from the driver's seat of the van we were currently driving in, confirming my suspicions.
"I'm just filling in for leaf, Professor Oak wanted her for something so she couldn't come," Misty explained. "You two will be doing the field work; I'll just be here in case anything happens to you." She paused before adding quickly, "Though I doubt it will be considering you're just getting a book."
"A book? What for?" I asked curiously, masking my relief as I was afraid that I'd have to kill someone…
"Dunno, they didn't tell us. It's supposedly classified for the scientists or something." I sat and processed the information Mist had given me. It seemed weird that we were stealing a mere book; they probably could have gotten one without stealing and risking the lives of their agents…
As we drove, Misty showed me a photo of the book Paul and I had to get. It looked extremely old, even the picture it itself looked like it was taken with one of the first cameras.
"Apparently we've been looking for this for decades and we've only just found out its location," Misty explained. "It's supposedly one of a kind, written in the early 19th century," she added. This explained why we were supposed to steal it.
Okay, so I guess the plot is moving on a bit now xD But hey, I'm so so sorry if Kenny and Leona seem OOC! I honestly really hate Kenny in the anime xD He's just a little whiny bitch in my opinion _ Sooo I had to make him a bit cooler :I also, it's kinda hard to do Leona considering she only appears once… Please forgive me for it! Oh and yeaaa... Just for future reference, there is going to be some one-sided penguin shipping, maybe a bit of full on penguinshipping every now and again... *Ducks away from all the flames* But c'mon please don't hate me for it xD I mean, it wouldn't be a good story if there wasn't even a little bit of shipping rivalry right?
~X-Ray