Misty POV
"May is completely understandable… but Leaf?" I said with a frown to my bluenette friend as we sat alone together in the mess hall for breakfast the day after Max's fist exams.
"I know, it doesn't really make sense," Dawn sighed, swirling her spoon absentmindedly in her cereal bowl. "And you're saying she just completely locked herself in her room and refused to come out today?" She asked, her face morphing into that of confusion.
I nodded my head in conformation, lifting my own spoon to my mouth. Leaf had never really been what one would call an 'open book', but we couldn't help but worry for her well being; she'd almost completely closed herself off from us over the past few days and for all we knew, nothing had really happened to cause this development.
I'd previously explained to Dawn that I'd met her at around the age of ten through Ash and Gary, we'd then met May a year later because of Drew. She'd never told me much about her past, even after knowing her for six years, so anytime before we met I really knew nothing about.
"Maybe Gary and Ash would know something," Dawn suggested, tapping her chin thoughtfully.
"Possibly," I replied, drumming the silver spoon on the edge of my bowl. "Although currently May comes first, Max has his last entrance exam today, we'll have to be there for her just in case…"
I saw Dawn visibly wince and she weakly nodded her head. This was thankfully the last time any of us would have to go through this as no-one else had any younger siblings; Gary and I both had older ones instead. Although sometimes I wish I didn't. I thought to myself bitterly.
We eventually finished our meal and walked over to place our trays among the piles which had formed on the trolleys at the back of the large room.
"I'll head over to my room, grab my bag and meet you there," Dawn said as we headed through the hallway that lead to the different dorm rooms. I nodded and we split ways for the moment. The bluenette and I were both headed over to Gary and Ash's room to catch up on an English assignment all of us had yet to complete, curtesy of Ash who had insisted we all help each other with it, Typical Ash, I thought, my eyes rolling automatically.
I soon stopped outside mine and Leaf's dorm room where I unlocked the door, hoping that maybe Leaf had at least left her room to grab a snack from the mini fridge while I was out.
"Hey Leaf!" I called, walking around the corner and softly knocking on her bedroom door. We were both lucky in the sense that unlike May and Dawn, we had our own rooms, the only down fall was, I couldn't really check on her as we had locks and she'd obviously used hers.
"What is it?" I eventually head Leaf's muffled reply through the door.
"Have you eaten yet? It's gone passed eleven," I said, leaning my back against the door in exasperation. I'd really hoped she'd at least let me into the prison of a room she'd locked herself in over the passed few days, only coming out for school, to train or the occasional snack.
"I'm not really hungry thanks Mist, you don't need to worry about me," she answered, causing me to let out a long sigh. We'd always been pretty private people, both knowing where the others boundaries were and respecting that thoroughly. Despite not completely knowing everything about her, she was still one of my closest and oldest friends.
For these reasons, I didn't press the matter further, whether she wanted to tell me what was wrong or not was her decision to make, not mine. I then hurriedly entered my own bedroom, taking in the familiar cream walls and light wooden flooring. I spied my blue backpack leaning against my black, metal framed bed on my plush grey carpet.
I quickly scanned to see if all the materials I needed were there and then let myself out of our dorm, heading up a flight of stairs and stopping outside room 53. I roughly banged on the wooden door and was soon met by the beaming face of the raven haired teen who lived there.
"Heya Mist!" He greeted, stepping aside to let me enter their apartment which almost mirrored my own. I noticed Dawn's pink, fluffy backpack lying against the wall by the door and next to her baby blue boots she'd purchased while we were out the other week.
"I hope you guys haven't started without me," I said with a small chuckle as I walked towards their lounge where a game of Mario kart 8 had been paused on the screen of their overly large TV. How they'd managed to take the thing seriously beat me; they'd discarded the smaller flat screen each room provided for the massive one that they'd somehow managed to take down from someone's wall and shove into their van, then carry all the way up to their room. They were persistent I'd give them that.
I smiled at the memory of when the two dorks had proudly shown me what they'd obtained. They'd sprinted over to our room and hammered on the door at around two in the morning. Unfortunately for them, I don't take lightly to those who wake me up earlier than ten in the morning at a weekend, let alone two. Despite the fact that we'd had an admittedly fun super smash bros showdown to which I'd reined superior, they hadn't gotten out of the situation without a black eye each, much to the entertainment of my roommate.
"Well, Gary's currently gone off in a sulk because Dawn beat him at rainbow road," Ash commented, causing me to snort.
"The only track he was best at and he was beaten by a girl," I chuckled as Ash and I walked towards the lounge room. Dawn was sitting at their table, a look of triumph spread across her face as she watched us come closer.
"I hear you beat 'the king of the rainbow'," I laughed while Dawn smirked.
"But of course! I was named the Queen of the Kart back when I was away," She replied cockily. I sent her a challenging look to which she returned.
"We'll see about that as I am practically a goddess! And compared to me you are all but simple peasants," I retorted, causing the three of us to burst into fits of laughter.
After around an hour, the two guys had dropped out and the races were only between me and the bluenette. The other two had become tired of losing to the both of us, however we could not seem to decipher a winner as I would win some, and then Dawn would win more.
"Let's pact a truce for now," Dawn eventually said, holding out her hand to me. I smirked and shook it firmly.
"Until the next time," I agreed.
"Well," Gary then piped up, "maybe we should all get on with our assignment now,"
Both Dawn and Ash groaned while I nodded in agreement.
"Good idea, that was what we'd come here for in the first place, wasn't it," I commented, giving both raven and sapphire haired teens a pointed look. They shrank down at my gaze and unwillingly nodded.
Over an hour later, we'd all made significant progress on the assignment, mostly due to both me and Gary. Dawn eventually closed her book and stood up, dusting down the pink dress she'd put on.
"Well, I'm gonna have to go, I have to train with Paul," She said grumpily, her face morphing into a look of disdain. Gary chuckled and stood with her, collecting his own books and stationary.
"I'm going to go as well, boredom is not something that I enjoy having," he sighed, walking over to their door and slipping on his grey sneakers before exiting the room. Dawn followed soon after once she'd shouldered her pink fluffy bag and so Ash and I were left alone in his room.
"You wanna go somewhere?" He asked after we'd packed up all of our school things.
"Sure," I replied with a small smile, waiting for the raven haired boy by the door. We walked down the corridor in a comfortable silence, having nothing really to talk about. My thoughts eventually settle on my roommate, cooped up in her room and all alone. I wanted to help her but I had no idea what was wrong, she was seriously worrying me.
We eventually stopped outside of my dorm as I needed to drop off my bag, I opened the door and we both stepped into a silent and seemingly empty apartment. Ash merely sat down on our black leather sofa as I went to place my bag in my room. I knocked on my roommates door to see if she'd let me in however again, I got no answer.
I sighed and dragged my hands through my short, orange hair in exasperation.
"You eaten yet Leaf?" I called instead, receiving a questioning look from the boy on the couch.
"Uh, yeah. Don't worry about me, seriously," she replied, causing me to roll my eyes, by this time I was seriously considering kicking down her door. I quickly dragged Ash away from my room, scared that if I was there much longer, I really would have.
"What's going on Mist?" The boy said, gripping onto my arm and preventing me from going any further. I merely shook my head and continued in the direction I was headed; I really needed to get outside and cool down as I was scared that if I opened my mouth then, there'd just be a string of insults directed at my friend just to channel out all of my frustration.
I dragged the poor boy through some exit doors and only stopped once we were shelter from the blazing summer sun under a leafy tree.
"Are you gonna tell me now?" He asked, his big, liquid chocolate eyes looking down at me with worry. I sighed, my back slumping against the thick trunk of the tree tiredly.
"I honestly don't know; Leaf's been stuck in her bedroom for ages, and she won't talk to us about anything.
"I see…" Ash muttered, gripping his chin with his thumb and forefinger in thought. The sight was quite hilarious, and if I hadn't been feeling the mixture of anger, confusion and worry, I'd have probably laughed and begun to tease him about it.
"I suppose…" He began to mutter more to himself than me, "it is that time of the year again… and with May's situation…" He suddenly stopped, his eyes widening as he covered his mouth with both hands. I looked on at him with curiosity; he obviously knew something I didn't.
"What do you mean, 'time of the year again,'?" I questioned, my eyes narrowing as my hands made their way to my hips.
"I… erm, it's really nothing." The boy stammered, taking two steps back as I threateningly advanced on him.
"Tell me," I growled through gritted teeth, cracking my knuckles in an intimidating fashion; if I had to, I'd not hesitate to beat it out of him.
"M-Misty please!" He begged with wide eyes, cowering as I raged. I was currently extremely frustrated with him; I needed him to tell me what was going on so that I'd be able to help my friend. I finally brought my fist up and punched Ash across the face. He winced in pain and flinched from the blow.
"I'm sorry Misty, but I can't tell you. I'm really in no place to do so, it's up to leaf to explain everything when she's ready," He sighed out eventually, bracing himself for another beating. I grunted in frustration, realising that whatever information he was withholding from me was very personal and that he was right. Whatever it was, it was only fair that Leaf tell me herself, and when she was ready.
I glared down at the floor, not wanting to accept defeat. In a huff, I turned to face the tree that we were currently standing under and forcefully sent my fist thundering towards its trunk, trying to release all of my pent up anger. The impact stung and my knuckles had begun to turn red, but I didn't stop. I merely continued to pummel the poor tree until Ash gently grabbed my shoulders and lead me away.
"Does it hurt?" He asked, taking my hands in his. I could feel my face heat up considerably, and I didn't want to worry him further so I shook my head.
"I just really want to help, I hate seeing her mope around the place like this," I explained with a sigh. Ash shot me a sympathetic look and brought his hand up to ruffle my hair affectionately.
"I know, I hate seeing my friends looking sad," he said with a frown. "But, sometimes things need to sort themselves out. I can assure you that she'll get through this cause' she has done lots and lots of times before!" He then shot me a toothy grin and I couldn't help but return it.
"Hey Ash!" A melodic voice called from a little way away from us. I internally grimaced as Ash turned around and smiled at the oncoming Barbie doll that was Serena.
"Hiya Serena!" He returned with a small wave. Her high pitched giggles seemed to echo all around my skull, causing me to groan in annoyance. I could never seem to spend five minutes alone with Ash from the safety of either of our rooms without her sticking her powdered nose into our business. She arrived to the place we were at in merely a few seconds and latched herself to my best friend's arm.
"Ashy, you wanna go and grab a drink with me or something?" She asked, batting her thick eyelashes up at him as she did so. The sight made me seethe; I was hanging out with him at the moment, couldn't she see that?!
"Uh, actually I'm hanging out with Misty at the moment," he explained awkwardly, scratching the back of his head with his free hand. Serena pouted in response and ducked her head around to send me a glare which I suppose was supposed to be intimidating. I merely smirked back in triumph, secretly overjoyed that Ash had chosen me over her.
"However, you join us if you want," he added quickly afterwards. This time it was Serena's turn to smirk in my direction while I glared. It wasn't fair, why couldn't he see how irritatingly annoying this girl was?! He was so ignorant and it irritated me to no end sometimes, although an Ash who wasn't ignorant wasn't Ash Ketchum.
"So should we go do something?" Ash asked, looking at both of us in turn. I merely shrugged, directing my death bringing glare to the ground below while Serena giggled and bobbed her head up and down enthusiastically.
The two walked on ahead towards the forest at the edge of the facility, Serena clinging to Ash like a leach while I trailed behind, my hands in my pockets as I mumbled insults under my breath. I couldn't help but notice the unbelievable short skirt and clingy singlet Serena was wearing and compare them to my red, over sized tee and jeans. It wasn't fair, what gave her the right to take my Ash away from me?!
I stopped mid step, my eyes widening and my face feeling like it'd catch fire at any moment. What the hell was I thinking?! Ash wasn't mine, why was I feeling so protective and jealous right now? He was my best friend, I didn't think about him in any other way! Did I?
The pair seemed to have noticed my lack of movement and Ash turned to look at me with his adorably big, questioning eyes. Wait what?!
"You alright Mist?" He asked with a slight tilt of his head. I didn't know how to reply, my throat felt like all the moisture had just suddenly evaporated and I was left gasping like a fish out of water. Am I okay? I asked myself, unsure of what I was doing or what I was feeling.
Eventually I managed a reassuring smile as I weakly nodded my head. He continued to look at me with concern for a few more seconds before Serena began to drag him off again. A new found fury began to boil up inside me and I could feel my face getting hot for different reasons. My hands clenched at my sides and my teeth grit together. I wanted to snap her pathetic little arms so she couldn't hold him ever again, only I should've been able to cling to him like that!
We eventually got to a small clearing in the midst of the tall pine trees that created the small forest we were walking through. The two in front of me arrived around five seconds before and in that time, Ash's poor arm had been free from the bear trap that was Serena and he'd turned round to flash me a toothy grin, only to have it fall when he viewed my thunderous mood and morph into that of a terrified puppy.
I began to advance on the poor boy, Serena looking on in shock as Ash backed up to try and get away from me, his face a mixture of terror and confusion. I eventually stopped and so did he, I then lowered my head and glared towards the ground. I could feel tears prickling the edges of my eyes and I had absolutely no idea why.
I then rushed forward, wrapping my arms around his torso and burying my face into his chest. At this point in time, I didn't care if Serena was watching or if Ash was silently panicking as he stiffened up at my touch, I just needed him for some unbeknownst reason. After a few seconds, I felt his chest heave as he released a breath I didn't know he was even holding and gently wrapped his arms around my back, placing his chin comfortably atop my head.
It was then and there that I realised that I loved Ash Ketchum and I always had. I wanted to be the only one for him; I didn't want Serena in the picture at all. The problem was, he was my best friend and I couldn't ever tell him how I felt, so I had to keep my feelings locked away, only now, I allowed myself that little bit of freedom.
Normal POV
Dawn was headed down the corridor back to her room, glaring at an unbelievably sore area on her leg which she was certain was going to bruise.
"Stupid plumb head…" She muttered dangerously to herself, "Next time I see him I swear I'll break his stupid neck," she growled.
Her mood quickly shifted however once she'd opened the door and seen May and Max rolling around on their white, tiled flooring.
"What are you doing?" She asked in amusement, not feeling entirely surprised to have come home to something like this.
"We're rolling!" May replied, stopping mid roll and lying on her back, looking up at the bemused expression on her roommate's face.
"Do I wanna know why?" Dawn asked, setting down her pink, fluffy bag and walking over to sit on the floor next to her friend.
"Because it's fun!" Max piped up as he crawled over to sit with his sister and friend.
"You honestly don't strike me for someone who'd find this sort of thing fun, Max," Dawn pointed out with a raised eyebrow. He merely shrugged in return. At that moment, a loud, ear piercing siren sounded and Dawn clamped her hands to her ears. Max and May's expressions turned grim and Dawn instantly knew what it meant; it was time.
The hair on the back of Dawn's neck instantly shot up once she'd stepped into the building created for this sick exam, and she hastily closed the gap between herself and Paul who was walking ahead. She'd fearfully grabbed the hem of his grey and black hoodie and squeezed her eyes shut, allowing him to guide her to where they were going to sit.
The entire gang sat high up in the stands of the arena, Max included. The atmosphere in the room of hell was tense and not one person could be seen smiling as people nervously murmured to one another. The building smelled disgustingly of blood, no matter how much the higher up had cleaned it and it made Dawn feel sick.
She watched in horror as pairs of 11-12 year olds were called out to face each other in the arena, each having been given knives. May had squeezed her eyes shut as she was sitting between her brother and Dawn. She was holding onto his hand as if her life depended on it, causing it to go white from the grip. Drew was watching her with concern, he wanted to reassure her that everything was going to be okay, although he himself wasn't certain it would be.
Leaf and Misty were sitting together, and while Misty looked on at the scene almost blankly like Paul, Leaf was muttering endlessly to herself, looking down into her lap while her hands restlessly shook. Being here caused the painful memories she'd had locked away to come gushing out, almost suffocating her and she'd even been considering to not show up at all, although she'd decided that she had to be there for May no matter what.
Ash was gazing up at the ceiling, trying to get his mind off of the current events by replaying what had happened out in the forest before the siren called. Misty was acting weird and he didn't know why; she'd just hugged him for no reason, and he had to admit that he'd highly enjoyed it. Gary however was looking across at Leaf, knowing exactly what was going on. By the looks of things, she wasn't doing too well and he'd decided that if need be, he'd get her out of the building no matter what.
"Why do they have to do this?" Dawn asked with disgust in a hushed tone to Paul who was sitting stoically beside her with his arms crossed.
"Because they do," Paul replied harshly, causing a hurt look to spread across Dawn's face. It wouldn't normally get to her, but he didn't have to be mean in a situation such as this. She sighed and looked down at her shoes, wanting everything to be over quickly.
An hour passed and Dawn was beginning to feel physically sick. She couldn't imagine the mental trauma that those children had to go through; she'd find it excruciatingly painful if she had to fight any of her class mates to the death. Her hands began to tremble and she quickly gripped both of her arms, trying to stop them.
"How much longer?" She asked Paul weakly, causing him to turn and look at her in concern. Her face had become pale and she was shaking all over.
"Not long," he assured her, allowing her to lean against him and cling onto his hoodie as she squeezed her eyes shut. In any normal circumstance, he would have shaken her off; however this was an especially sick game that they'd been forced to watch and he understood full how she felt. He just had to resist the strange urge he had to gently stoke her azure locks comfortingly.
As soon as the body from the previous match had been cleared away, Max Maple's name echoed around the room, causing the group to freeze and May's heart to violently pound in her chest. She griped her brother's hand tighter, refusing to let go until he flashed a reassuring yet terrified smile and made his way down to the arena where the guards were waiting for him and his classmate.
The student he was against was a boy named Tommy; they were almost equal in height although he was slightly taller. He had light brown hair and just like everyone else, a sombre attitude. The knife Max was given was small and light, it had a black hilt with the companies logo engraved on the end.
Max's palms became sweaty and his breathing jagged. He'd known his opponent since they were very young; they'd also been pretty good friends. Why couldn't it have been someone I didn't know?! He thought, tears starting to prickle the side of his eyes.
The signal was made for the two to start and Tommy didn't skip a beat. He instantly lunged for Max, twin blade only missing by a millimetre as Max leaped out of the way. He realised that Tommy was very serious, and if he wanted any chance at winning he'd have to be just as brutal. The ground below was bloody for the previous battles and as Max moved, the crimson liquid splashed up around his shoes.
The inky haired boy leaped towards his attacker, swiping down with the knife and catching the boy's cheek. Blood began to trickle out of the wound yet it was harshly wiped away soon after. The boys received blow after blow, sometimes a small slash from the knife and other times a kick or a punch to the body.
Max wiped the sweat and blood from around his face and advanced once again on his fellow classmate. The boy was at the opposite side of the ring, wearily eying Max as he kept his hand compressed against a deep stab wound which adorned his left arm. The bluenette knew that his chance was now; if he was going to finish off Tommy then it'd have to be done while he was partly lame due to his left arm.
With all his remaining strength, he ran full speed at his opponent, knife held at the ready with his eyes narrowed. He had to get this; he just had to for May!
Max swung the knife, however he didn't see where his opponents was located. Blood was splattered everywhere, adding to the evidence of the previous deaths of the students. No-one up in the stands dared look.
Well, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I'm so so so sorry for leaving it this long, I just haven't had time to write! I've been getting more work that I originally thought which kinda sucks and it's only gonna get worse. In the times I could have been writing I've mainly been doing other stuff so forgive me for that!
I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out exactly, but hopefully it'll be soon. I hate to leave you guys hanging, especially on this cliff hanger.
In another four weeks or so I have my Easter holidays so hopefully I'll be able to get a lot done then, that is if I'm not given too much work to do *sigh*
Well, I thank everyone who's still reading even though it's been ages, it means a lot!
~ X-Ray