"Being called little by you is a bit too much."

"I'll go wherever you will go."

Protector of Silence

Chapter Twenty-Two - Twelve Chimes

"Okay, so, thank you Keith for bringing us this lovely burnt toast, burnt sausages, incinerated baked beans and some black substance I cannot identify. We can see you really spent a long time working your hair off putting this delightful meal together."

Kellyn stared down at the tray Keith had plonked on the table they were trying to move, before looking away in order to prevent adding his stomach's capacity to the list. He looked at Nick next to him, who was looking positively thunderous, before trailing his gaze over to Keith who had an awkward grin on his face. Snoring at the looks he was being given by the recipients of his generosity, Keith threw his hands up into the air in frustration.

"Fine! Fine! I won't bother next time!" he complained "I was only trying to whip something up for you guys whilst you worked! I only borrowed Cook's oven for a little while!"

Kellyn frowned.

But Keith, you can't cook

"I gather that, genius!" Keith snorted "Next time, you can get Kate to whip you up some snacks! How about that?!"

Unfortunately for Keith, Kate happened to be passing through the courtyard at the time.

"How about no?" she shot back "I'll have you know, Keith Dazuru, my older brother is more of a Cooking Mama than I am." With that she rushed out the front door, getting a:

"No running in the hallways!" from Mr Kincaid.

Strangely, at the mention of the word 'brother', Keith flinched and disappeared up the steps into the common room, calling back:

"Enjoy your meal!"

"Yeah, sure" Nick grunted, disposing of the meal, bowls and all, in a nearby bin.

Kellyn though was curious. He pointed in the direction Keith had gone and tilted his head.

"I dunno" Nick shrugged "He's been acting weird ever since he came back from Saffron City."

Kellyn frowned.

What was Keith doing in Kanto? I thought he lived in Vientown

"He does" Nick agreed, picking up his end of the table again "Must have been a family holiday or something. He went with his little brother, er...Lid, was it?"

Lind

"Yeah, that's it" Nick nodded "Come on, help me out here."

Kellyn picked up his end of the table with a little difficulty and the two slowly made their way towards the steps.

"Weird name to give a kid" Nick muttered. Kellyn blinked. "Don't you know who they're named after?"

Keith Maki and Lind Rinki - the Fall City rangers

"Yeah, but don't you know what happened to them?" Nick pressed. Kellyn shook his head. "Lind was killed in the line of duty during the Great War."

Kellyn was so surprised by this he accidentally dropped the table on Nick's foot. The freckled brunet yelped and grabbed his sore foot, hopping about in pain.

Sorry!

"Oww! Argh!" Nick put his foot back down on the ground again and took some deep breaths. He gritted his teeth "I'm fine!" After a few more breaths, he leant his weight on the table and sighed. "Yeah, so, I'm surprised all matter of bad luck hasn't rained down upon poor Lind by now."

The kid can't help who he's named after

"Suppose not" Nick shrugged "You named after someone?"

Kellyn thought about that.

I think it's original

"Meh, probably" Nick picked up his end of the table "C'mon, the girls want this up there as soon as possible."

The two carried the table upstairs into the common room and put it near the TV. As soon as they and out it down, Tamie and Verity started to fill the table with bowls of crisps, pretzels, rice cakes, celebrations, palma violets, lollipops and (at Ponte's request) marshmallows.

Whilst Nick headed back to the cafeteria, probably to make sure Keith hadn't set it on fire with his cooking, Kellyn walked over to where Liam was picking a DVD selection. His teeth were gritted and Henlooked like he was about to explode.

"Ah! Stupid Kincaid!" Liam vented his rage at Kellyn, his arms flapping at his side "He's limited us to ONE scary movie! ONE! That's automatically nearly all my favourite movies GONE!"

Aw, you poor little guy

That might have been the wrong things to say. Liam frowned, his pale eyebrows furrowed quite possibly with anger.

"Being called little by you is a bit too much" he snorted, turning his back to Kellyn.

Shaking his head, the brunet looked around before tapping Sami, who was in charge of music, on the shoulder.

"Wha?" she looked up.

Starlight?

"Er, your dorm, I think. He was holding his head, said he was tired or something."

Kellyn nodded his thanks and headed over to the boys' dorm, shutting the door behind him. Sure enough, Starlight was there, lying in his side on his mattress with the duvet pulled up to his chin and Shadow curled up, asleep, at his side.

You okay?

Kellyn squatted down at Starlight's side to deliver the message.

"Not really" Starlight groaned "Urgh, I think I've come down with something. I feel like my head's gonna explode."

Kellyn's smile faded.

Will you be coming to the party?

"Sorry Kellyn, I can barely sit up" Starlight groaned "Have fun without me, okay?"

Kellyn put on his bravest smile before leaving the room, closing the door behind him again so Starlight could have some peace.

...and was immediately hit with a snowball to the face.

"Sorry! I was saving it for Starlight!" Keith apologised, grinning.

Kellyn snorted, wiping snow off his face.

He's sick, not coming to the party

"Ah, blow!" Keith snapped his fingers in frustration "Liam and I had a mega prank ready for him!"

Deflated, he disappeared down the steps.

Evening came way too early for Kellyn. He was rudely awoken from his siesta by Liam, clad with a frying pan and rolling pin that made a lot of noise. Surprisingly Keith wasn't in on it. In fact, when Liam woke him up, he snatched the kitchen utensils and stormed out of the room.

'What is up with him? Seriously?' Kellyn couldn't help but wonder. But he didn't particularly want to face Keith when he was in this mood, so just decided to go with it.

Predictably, the first movie Liam had set them up to watch was their one and only Kincaid-approved horror movie. Unfortunately for some of the boys though none of the girls tried to cling to anyone, except for Sami and Tamie who screamed and clung to each other. At one point, Kate yelped and grabbed ahold of Kellyn's arm, but the second she realised what she was doing she let go and looked away. Keith raise his eyebrows so Kellyn elbowed him in the stomach before he could say anything.

After two more movies and a round of truth and dare (which Nick and Kellyn put a stop to after Liam dared Sami to pour hot coals over Mr Kincaid's head whilst he was sleeping, therefore ruining his 'beautiful' hair) they located the Just Dance game which Keith insisted they had to 'take out for a spin'. Kellyn only danced once at Keith's prompting, maintaining his word that he could not dance! Kate only danced once too, going up against Verity and easily won. Whilst she was a gymnastic star and excellent mechanic, Verity was no dancer.

At the moment, Ponte and Becs were going head-to-head. It was actually quite comical, but the two appeared to be enjoying themselves. Kate would be too, if Keith wasn't belting out the lyrics to the song. Whilst Keith could sing on occasion, this was certainly not one of them.

Deciding to stretch her legs, Kate got up from the popcorn-covered sofa she was sitting on, brushed some edibles off her trousers and headed outside in to the crisp night air. There was a thin layer of snow on the ground, so she remained on the bottom step. She inhaled a deep breath of cold air, smiling as she watched the lights on the side of the courtyard's walls lighting up the snow crystalline white.

Kate paused as she heard music. Not the dance music boinging off the walls upstairs, but the sound of a piano. Small, quiet and sweet; that was more Kate's style. She listened to try and find out where the sound was coming from, and frowned in surprise when she discovered where.

'The basement?' she thought.

Turning, she made her way down the basement stairs, wet and clear from where Kincaid had brushed the snow away before he went to bed. Kate considered the amount of trouble she would get in if Kincaid found her down here when he was sleeping, but if Keith could do it so could she.

Instead of making her way down the corridor, she only made it halfway before she stopped. A door she hadn't realised had been there was open. She pushed it open further, wincing as it creaked. Thankfully, the only occupant of the room was so focused on his task that he didn't notice. The room was dusty and virtually empty, besides one big object: a grand piano. Even that was covered in layers of dust, but the red leather stool had been swept clear. Sitting on said stool was s small figure, deeply entranced on what he was playing.

Once the tune had finished, Kate fully entered the room. Kellyn turned around, his blue-green gaze catching her by surprise as if he had known she was there the whole time; there was anxiety in his eyes.

"Nice song" she smiled friendlily.

Kellyn relaxed and smiled his thanks.

Kate made her way over to the piano. "Who taught you how to play?"

Kellyn wrote a word in the dust on top of the piano.

Luke

"I see" Kate nodded "He's a good friend huh?"

Kellyn nodded vigorously. Really though he itched to say: 'But you are too!'

"How did you find this place?"

Kellyn drew a crescent moon in the dust.

"How did I guess it would be Luna?" Kate smiled.

She looked at the piano music and realised there were words written below the notes, words to a song she knew. Sliding onto the piano stool, which was big enough to seat three people, to sit next to Kellyn, she shuffled the music so it was back at the beginning.

"Go on, play it" she smiled. For a second, Kellyn looked absolutely petrified, but as he looked into Kate's pale blue eyes, he began to calm down. Slowly, he put his hands on the piano keys and directed his gaze up to the music stand. Taking a few anxious gulps of air, he began to play.

"So lately, been wondering.

Who will be there to take my place?"

Kellyn froze as he heard Kate singing softly to the lyrics. He stared at her in something close to fright, but her smile encouraged him to go on.

"When I'm gone, you'll need love,

To light the shadows on your face.

If a great wave shall fall, it would fall upon us all.

And between the sand and stone, could you make it on your own?"

As they approached the chorus, Kellyn looked at Kate, wondering if she wanted to go on, to which she nodded. All this time, she'd been singing quietly, as if she was focusing on getting the words right; but for the chorus she raised her voice slightly.

"If I could, then I would,

I'll go wherever you will go.

Way up high, or down low,

I'll go wherever you will go."

Kellyn looked at Kate doubtfully, it she smiled for him to go on still.

"Then maybe, I'll work out,

A way to make it back some day.

To watch you, to guide you,

Through the darkest of your days.

If a great wave shall fall, it would fall upon us all.

Well I hope there's someone out there who can bring me back to you!"

The chorus came up again, and Kate stretched her smile into the a grin big enough to touch the golden shores of Kanto.

"If I could, then I would,

I'll go wherever you will go.

Way up high, or down low,

I'll go wherever you will go.

Run away with my heart.

Run away with my hope!

Run away with my love."

Kate paused to catch her breath but continued to keep the smile upon her pretty face.

"I know now, just quite how,

My life and love might still go on.

In your heart, in your mind,

I'll stay with you for all of time.

If I could, then I would,

I'll go wherever you will go.

Way up high! Or down low,

I'll go wherever you will go."

Kate was shivering, but it appeared to be more to do with excitement than the chilling cold. Kellyn swore he'd never seen her smile so much.

'She must really like singing' he thought 'She's brilliant at it too.'

He almost hit a wrong note and tried to focus back on the piece again.

"If I could make you mine,

I'll go wherever you will go!

If I could turn back time!

I'll go wherever you will go"

Leaning her head back, Kate took a few breaths to recover from the high she had just come down from. She smiled all the time.

"I'll go wherever you will go."

Kellyn played the last few bars or the piece for finally lifting his fingers from the piano keys onto his lap. The two sat there, panting ever of lightly in the darkness, looking at each other. Neither were quite sure what to say.

"You're good at that" Kate finally said. Kellyn pointed at her and nodded. "Me too?"

Kellyn nodded eagerly - she was a great singer.

"Thanks Kellyn! That's so sweet!"

Kellyn turned away to the left so she wouldn't see his strawberry-red face at that. Golly, he'd blushed more times in the last two months than he had in his whole life previous!

Kate shivered, rubbing her arms, since the shirt she was wearing was her thin cherry-blossom-pink pyjama shirt. Kellyn told off his green jumper and held out to her.

"Are you sure?" she asked "But then you'll get cold."

Kellyn shook his head, his notebook appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

You've just come from the south of Fiore. You're more likely to get cold than I am.

Persuaded, Kate took the jumper and put it on. It was a small size, but just big enough for Kate.

From upstairs, there came the sound of something crashing, very loud karaoke music, girls screaming and Keith and Liam yelling at each other.

"Come on, let's get out of here before Kincaid accuses us of trespassing" Kate stood up.

Kellyn nodded and did so to, lowering the lid of the piano over the keys first. Then the two of them headed out of he basement. They didn't go up to the common room yet, just stood there on the stage in front of the steps, watching the snow fall. It was only as Kate leant against him slightly Kellyn realised they'd been holding hands.

To distract himself from the awkward situation, Kellyn looked at his watch. I was two minutes until midnight.

'Two minutes until Kate turns thirteen' he realised 'Wait a minute...her present!'

Letting go of Kate's hand he rushed upstairs into the common room. He was surprised to see only the girls were watching the TV which was tapped into Unova News, sitting eagerly on the edge of the sofa in anticipation of the fireworks over the Skyarrow Bridge. Kellyn was also surprised to see Starlight asleep on the other sofa, Shadow curled up against him.

"You don't wanna go in there" the silver-haired boy groaned "Step in there, all living legendaries breaks loose."

Kellyn shook his head and walked over to the door of the boys' dorm. He pushed it open and stepped into the dorm, but froze and almost wished he hadn't.

'Dear Arceus, what did I just walk in on?'

Liam was mid shout, Keith was about to throw something, Nick was trying to stop them, Ponte had resigned himself to the inevitable and Isaac was just sitting there on his bed unimpressed. All froze in place as Kellyn entered the room.

Kellyn stayed there frozen for a few seconds before looking down and realising what he had come to collect was for some reason at his feet, no doubt used as a missile at some point. Carefully, nudging it with his foot into the common room, Kellyn continued to maintain eye contact with the other occupants of the room.

'I'll just...come back later' he told himself.

Backing out slowly, he closed the door in front of him. The millisecond the latch clicked closed, noises of disarray sounded from inside the dorm again.

He made it to Kate's side just as the bell of the school's clock tower rang out. The sound of fireworks whizzed from the TV upstairs along with the girls' cheering.

'A new year has begun' Kellyn thought, a smile on his face 'When this year ends, I'll be proper ranger! I know it!'

He found his hand in the lock of Kate's fingers again.

One

Two

Three

Four...

Pokémon went wild outside the courtyard walls, cries being yelled in joy and Flamethrowers and Thunderbolts being thrown into the air. Kellyn stole a glance at the girl beside him and saw her eyes were fixed on the starlit sky, glimmering with happiness.

...Ten

Eleven

Twelve!

As the final chime rang out, the boys' cheers joined the girls', apparently having gotten over their strange argument. Kellyn smiled and nudged Kate with his elbow. When she turned her head to look at him, he gave her her present.

Happy Birthday Kate

Luna watched in amusement on the bottom step as the two humans smiled at each other after the female received her gift. The gift was unwrapped and gabbles of thank yous came following. Luna nearly howled with laughter though as the female human pressed her lips against the male's cheek, causing said male to turn Chimchar-red.

"Ah, young love" Luna thought to herself.

"Familiar huh?" a second voice again "I remember a time when you couldn't stand PDA."

Luna turned around to looked at the one coming down the stairs almost as silently as a ghost. She visibly relaxed.

"Good to see you again, I almost didn't recognise you for a second there" she commented, turning her dark-blue gaze back on the young humans "The talk with him helped I see."