"Your boyfriend's here to see ya!"
"Arceus, you sound like my nagging wife!"
Protector of Silence
Chapter Twenty – Meet the brothers
Snow was falling heavily upon the market of Vientown. Soft, frozen water came down in sheets, but the lack of wind meant it couldn't be classed as a blizzard. Shin-deep snow made it impossible to travel outside without boots on and all buyers and sellers were dressed up in thick coats, scarves and gloves.
Kellyn Solluna glanced around the market place, his green cloak draped over his shoulders, yellow scarf around his neck and satchel hanging down by his right hip. Flicking a strand of walnut-brown hair out of his blue-green eyes, he looked at the market stalls on either side of the street, looking at both the items on the stall and those looking at them.
'Starlight's not here, great' he thought, rolling his eyes 'I could use his 'superior' knowledge right now.' He glanced over the stalls again, feeling a knot tighten in his stomach 'Argh, why don't they teach us how to deal with things such as this in school instead of 'the ratio of pi' or 'how to be a good citizen' or stuff like that?!'
What was Kellyn's dilemma you may ask? Well, to know that, we have to go back to Monday...
Two days ago...
"Well this sucks" Keith grunted, standing on a step ladder and taking down some tinsel that was hung around one of the wall-lights in the cafeteria "Three days after Christmas and we have to take down all the decorations! Who's idea was that?!"
"Mr Kincaid's probably" Ponte replied, turning to face Keith. However, being the strong thickset guy he was, Ponte had been ordered to carry the relatively small Christmas tree on his shoulder. As he swung round to face Keith, the back part of it swung with him. Nick, looking up from where he was putting the baubles away back in their shoeboxes for the year, saw what was about to happen and ducked to avoid being smashed upside the head by a bark stump.
"Hey Ponte, can you grab that duct-tape for me?" Liam asked from where he was tapping the Christmas tree lights into ringlets.
"Oh sure" Ponte did a 180 and bent down to pick up the duct-tape. Unfortunately, as he did so, the lower end of the Christmas tree came swinging round again and this time successfully conked the unsuspecting Nick on the back of the head.
Kellyn, who had been helping Liam at the time, burst into a fit of laughter. Ponte looked around, as if unsure of what he had hit and where it had gone.
"Hey Kellyn!" Keith called down to him, getting his attention "Can you go and ask Kate where she took the scissors? I'm gonna need some to get the tinsel off! Did she glob the Sellotape on with superglue or something?!"
Kellyn chuckled and nodded. He stood up, brushed the pine-needles off his clothes and walked out of the warm cafeteria into the crisp white snow. It had been one of the coldest Decembers in Almia's recorded history, but apparently the weather was going to warm up in January.
He guessed Kate would be in her room. He made his way through the snowy courtyard up the steps into the common room. He stopped in front of the door to the girls' dorm and knocked on it. Rhythmi answered it.
"Oh, hi Kellyn" she smiled "You looking for Kate?" He nodded. Rhythmi stepped outside the room and then called on her shoulder "Kaaaate! Your boyfriend's here to see ya!" She then hurried down the stairs to avoid getting killed by either Kellyn or Kate.
"Argh! I knew trusting her to keep her little 'stunt' a secret was bad idea!" Kate scowled. Then she saw Kellyn and her eyes brightened "Oh! Hi Kellyn! What's up?"
Keith thinks you took the scissors from the cafeteria
"The scissors?" Kate blinked, then her pale-blue eyes widened "Oh! Yeah, come in. I'll just get 'em."
She beckoned Kellyn into the girls' dorm which was empty apart from her. The girls' dorm was the same as the boys' dorm, except instead of blue it was a ghastly shade of cherry-blossom pink. Although the room was tidier than the boys', Kate's bed was the messiest of them.
"I know, I'm such a boy, aren't I?" she grinned when he pointed this out "Suppose it comes from growing up with two brothers."
Kellyn blinked. He'd heard Kate mention something about having a big brother named Peter or Perry or something like that. But beyond that, she'd never mentioned anything about her family. Kate seemed to follow his trail of thought.
"Here" she picked up a framed picture that was on her beside table, since she had the bottom bunk whilst Rhythmi had the top. "That's them both, back in Summerland."
Kellyn studied the photo that had apparently been taken on a beach with white cliffs and cerulean-blue skies in the background. It wasn't very clear and the colours were almost grey, like it had been taken with an old camera. Kate was there, about nine years old, with her shoulder-length ginger hair loose and her blue eyes sparkling in the sunlight. She was receiving a piggyback from a man in his early twenties who also had shoulder-length ginger hair but green eyes. Next to him stood an African-American woman about the man's age who had very long black hair reaching a long way down her back. She had her arm around the shoulders of a cheerful six-year-old who gave Kellyn the impression of a hyper, 'I-cannot-sit-still-for-even-a-second-unless-I'm-sleeping' boy. He had blue eyes that were darker than Kate's by several shades and the classic Hitomi ginger hair that spiked out in all directions on his head, like it had been ruffled continuously and never combed afterwards.
"Those are my brothers, nearly three years ago" Kate explained "Percy's the older one - he's 24 now. He's a Summerland ranger, he may even be the deputy at the base; I'll have to ask him when I see him. The woman next to him, that's his co-worker, Leilani Rasuka. They're not dating yet, but it's inevitable." Kellyn chuckled at this "The little one's now nine. His name is Sorrel. Well, actually it's Sora, but we all call him Sorrel these days, because of his hair. He loves to get up to mischief. He's completely hyper when he's awake, but when he's tired he'll just collapse asleep wherever he stands. Seriously, one time he fell asleep on top of the water tower and we had to call the fire brigade to get him down. And he still didn't wake up until noon the next day!" She grimaced at the memory, causing Kellyn to silently laugh.
"They're picking me up to head on the ferry back to Fiore tomorrow morning" Kate went on "I'm spending a few days there and then coming back for New Years." Kellyn nodded. He knew most of the students were heading home for a few days before New Years. At first he'd considered heading back to his foster parents' home too, but then he realised Starlight would be left at school alone with only a handful of teachers and Janice, and he decided to spend the rest of the holidays at school as well.
"It's a tradition here, to spend New Years at school" Kate explained "It's even better, because it means I have to get all my presents early when I'm at home 'cos I spend my birthday here." Kellyn blinked "New Year's Day, that's my birthday. I'm turning thirteen."
Kellyn's blue-green eyes widened with a mixture of surprise and panic. He'd forgotten Kate was even twelve let alone her birthday was coming up! Thankfully Kate didn't seem to notice. She gently took the photo out of Kellyn hand and replaced it with a pair of large black and orange scissors.
"You wanna meet my brothers, come to the front gates of the school tomorrow morning. No need to get up early, ten to one, one of them will be late."
The snow was slowly falling still. A day had passed since he had found out about Kate's brothers, and Kellyn was pacing back and forth in the common room waiting for her. After a good fifteen minutes of him pacing, Kate finally emerged from the girls' dorm.
"Ugh, every single one of them wanted to give me a hug" she grimaced. Kellyn chuckled "It's not funny!" She stood in front of the steps, facing him with her arms folded. Her spiky pigtails seemed to bristle with annoyance.
"Katie!"
Before either of them could react, something tackled Kate from behind. She lost her balance and both of them were sent flying down the steps.
Giving a squeak of shock and fear, Kellyn rushed down the stairs after them. He blinked in surprise. To his left, Kate was sitting up whilst rubbing her head and groaning, and at his feet was a very small boy. He could only have been about nine, but had to be the size of a six or seven year old! He had reddish-brown hair and the darkest but friendliest blue eyes Kellyn had ever seen. The boy looked up at Kellyn and rubbed the back of his head.
"Oops!" he grinned. Kate got to her feet, looking very annoyed.
"Sorrel!" She grabbed the small boy by the collar of his white shirt and lifted him into the air so he was level with her face "What do you think you're doing?!"
"Um...saying hi?" he offered. Kate dropped him and he landed on his face in the snow "Ow! Alright, alright! Sorry! Percy sent me in here and told me to grab you! So I did!"
"He didn't mean literally!" Kate protested "Ugh, you're more unbelievable than Keith!" She once again picked the boy by his collar and plonked him on his feet, turning him to face Kellyn. "Kellyn, this is Sora Hitomi, or Sorrel as he's commonly known. Sorrel, this is Kellyn Solluna, my classmate."
Sorrel blinked his dark-blue eyes before putting on a grin big enough to stretch from here to Kanto. He ran a hand through the messy sorrel-coloured hair that gave him his nickname.
"Oh, hi!" he grinned "You're Katie's boyfriend aren't you?"
Kate automatically shoved him so hard he landed on his face in the snow...again.
"Sorrel Hitomi if you say that again I swear I'll push my foot down on your throat and press down until you stop breathing!" she growled.
Kellyn winced and sweat-dropped. 'She's so rough with him.'
"Okay, okay, okay! I'm sorry!" Sorrel began to plead for his life, spitting out a mouthful of snow he'd collected "It was just, Percy said—!"
"Percy!" Kate was practically fizzing with anger now "Kellyn, excuse me for a moment." She then rushed out the door of the courtyard, yelling verbal abuse in the direction of the school's gates.
Kellyn could only blink in surprise whilst Sorrel got to his feet, swatting snow off the blue patches of his blue-and-white hoodie.
"Ugh...That time of the month again..." he mumbled.
Do you even know what that means?
"Nope!" Sorrel gave him a cute and innocent grin "But that's what Percy says whenever Katie or 'Lani are acting all grumpy."
Kellyn could only shake his head in disbelief and wonder: 'Are all Fiorians like this?'
"Come on!" Sorrel ran ahead a few steps before turning mid-step and running backward, signalling for Kellyn to follow him "I wanna see what happens to Percy when Katie gets a hold of him!"
With a shake of his head, Kellyn rushed back upstairs to grab Kate's forgotten suitcase before following the juvenile nine-year-old out of the school courtyard.
Kellyn had never seen Kate as the violent type, but that changed when he got to the path outside the gates of Ranger School. There, he saw Kate, relentlessly beating up a poor ginger man with her rucksack.
"Katherine! Katherine come on! Ow! Stop it, please! That hurts! Ow! Katherine!"
'Katherine?' Kellyn thought 'Who in their right mind would call Kate Katherine?' Then his blue-green eyes widened as he recognised the man's soft green eyes. 'Oh! That must be her brother! Percy!'
Then a second realisation struck Kellyn. This was Percy Hitomi - one of Lunick and Solana's best friends. Suddenly, a million questions began forming in his brain, questions he had never got to ask his brother and sister. Then he tried to remind himself Percy was in a rush to get his little sister home for the holidays and wouldn't want to wait around for a trivia about twelve years ago.
"Percy's getting beaten up again" Sorrel gave a sigh and shook his head "Older siblings. You got any?"
Kellyn stopped to think before nodding.
"Ah, I understand your pain" Sorrel nodded "Ah well, time to break 'em up."
He set off down the steps towards his quarrelling siblings. As he and Kellyn approached, Kate finally finished beating up Percy.
"And I don't want you spreading any more rumours!" Kate practically screamed at him "GOT IT?!"
"Ah! Alright alright!" Percy rubbed his aching ears "Arceus, you sound like my nagging wife!"
"I thought that was Leilani's job" Kate folded her arms "Well, when you two get married, you'll have two of us, and then there's no escape."
"Ah! Don't say stuff like that!" Percy buried his face in his hands so people wouldn't see his face turning as red as a strawberry.
"You done being a punching bag yet?" Sorrel called over to his brother, who nodded his confirmation.
Kate turned around and smiled. "Hey Kellyn" She gave him a small wave. "This is my older brother, Percy." She gestured at the ginger man behind her. She then whirled round to face her brother and immediately her face darkened "Percy, this is my friend, Kellyn!" She glared at her brother with icy blue eyes.
Percy, at first, didn't react. Paying no heed to Kate's threatening tone, he just stared at Kellyn with unreadable green eyes. Kellyn was starting to get a sense of déjà vu. Then Percy's face lit up.
"Oh! You're Lunick's kid, aren't you?" he smiled.
Kellyn flinched and nodded.
"You've met?" Kate blinked.
"Of course" Percy nodded, grinning a bit like Sorrel "You've meet him before too Katherine. You were only a few months old at the time, but Lunick and Solana used to bring Kellyn over to our house in Summerland. Arceus, Leilani used to fuss over you like a Teddiursa!"
Despite himself, Kellyn found himself turning red with embarrassment. Then he frowned. For a second there, he thought he saw something on Percy's forehead. Percy tilted his head back slightly to laugh at another fond memory and Kellyn saw something flash in the sunlight. A small, thin white scar running from his ginger hairline across his forehead to the far corner of his left eye. Kellyn grunted to get the oldest Hitomi's attention before pointing at his own forehead.
"Oh, it's nothing" Percy shrugged "Just an old scar. A wild Houndoom attacked me when I was little."
"Yeah right!" Kate snorted "That's what you say! He just fell down the Summerland Ranger Base's stairs and banged his head!"
"That's not true!" Percy complained.
"That's what Cameron said" Kate defended herself, locking eyes with her older brother.
"Cameron will blab about anything for a popsicle, true or false!" Percy protested.
"Hey!" Sorrel pushed his way in between the two bickering siblings "Can we please just get home! Katie turns really egocentric when she comes to visit and I wanna get this over as soon as possi—yow!"
Sorrel yelped and ducked to avoid Kate's flying fist. Realising he may only have seconds to live, Sorrel quickly zoomed off down the path.
"YOU'LL DIE FOR THIS SORREL!" Kate screamed after him, shaking her fist. She then turned to Kellyn and gave him a sugary-sweet grin which made him a little afraid. "Bye Kellyn."
Then she really took him by surprise when she wrapped him in a hug. All the blood rushed to Kellyn's cheeks so fast he had a sudden brief sense of vertigo. Kate pulled away and Kellyn noticed she was blushing also. She gave him one last smile before racing after Sorrel.
"I'm gonna be a brother-in-law! Katie and Kellyn sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I—!"
"SHUT UP SORREL!"
The two quickly disappeared across the bridge into the trees. Percy shook his head.
"The joys of being a Hitomi" he sighed "And it appears you may be joining the family someday Kellyn."
Kellyn almost died on the spot. Then that feeling evaporate as Percy turned to face him. The ginger's smiling face was gone and was replaced with a stern expression, and Kellyn immediately realised that for all his wise cracks, Percy was still a formidable ranger who was not to be taken lightly.
"Listen" he said, sternly but not threateningly "Kellyn, Katherine never really made any friends. She was never good with new people. You're the first person I've met who she's really gotten to know who I haven't introduced her to."
Kellyn blinked in surprise. He knew Kate wasn't exactly a social bunny, but she seemed so friendly it was almost impossible to believe she was so shy.
"I'm only gonna ask you one thing Kellyn" Percy said. Kellyn nodded in understanding "Make her happy. Give her someone who'll listen to her. That's all I ask. Can I trust you?"
Kellyn didn't hesitate for a second before nodding.
"Just beware. If you do anything to hurt my sister, Politoed and I will personally bring traumatising pain upon you, got that?"
Kellyn shivered at the look in Percy's narrowed green eyes and nodded extremely quickly. Immediately, Percy brightened up.
"Good!" he smiled "Speaking of traumatising pain, where'd my crazy brother go?"
Kellyn pointed down the path, wondering what Sorrel had to do with traumatising pain.
"Okay, well, it was nice meeting you Kellyn" Percy said before jogging off down the path. Then, at the beginning of the bridge, he turned around, and called back something surprising "Oh! And by the way! If you're ever in trouble, trust the stars!"
PLeaving that puzzling message embedded in Kellyn's surprised-out brain, Percy set off after yelling debacle that was his little brother and sister.
'...Ugh, Percy's as confusing as his sister' Kellyn thought, shaking a clump of snow out of his now wet brown hair 'Well, forget that. What matters is that it's Kate's birthday is the day after tomorrow, and she needs a present.'
As he looked across the market, he confirmed Starlight had not shown up. Kellyn had been relying in him to help him with the present picking, since he needed to get her a present too and may be the only person in the entire school who wouldn't tease him about getting a present for girl's birthday.
'Great, the last thing I need now is him ditching me.'
"Well well well, come look at this!"
"Oh my goodness! Look what the wind blew in!"
Kellyn jumped at the sound of familiar voices behind him and turned to face them. His eyes nearly leapt out of their sockets.
'Oh you have got to be joking!'