Shh...My beautiful chapter 18 is here.

There's a lot of character development in this chapter, so don't be expecting the survival aspect to be grasped until Chapter 19. This chapter is really just a collection of short scenes, but I assure you that they all lead to bigger problems, bigger chapters, and bigger plots.

Gratitude/Comments:

Thank you very much, ElectroPhoenix! It makes me happy that you think my writing isn't bad. I guess you'll just have to find out, Oldrivalshipping is coming right up c:!

Bkitty25, thanks for reading and reviewing! Unfortunately, this story's Ikarishipping romance will be fairly slow... So if you don't like things like that, then yes, I do think you should stop reading now if you dislike it that much. But thanks anyways!

miss ASSASSIN MASTER, thanks for reading! You're very welcome for the little thing at the top.

Cid Neha, I'm glad you enjoyed it ^-^ Sorry, cliffhangers are my thing, you know c:?

JustinThePokemonMaster, thanks for reading again ^ ^ But really, was Paul listening the ENTIRE time? Uhuehuehue. Thanks!

Mr Squirtle6, yo thanks for reading and reviewing! Glad you liked it!

Banana Bomb, thank you for your critique on my last chapter. But really, I'm super glad that you caught that 'love' part! As teenagers in adolescence, love tends to be on the mind of almost everyone. And if not, it is at least laughed at and casually brushed off as a mere comment. By making Dawn and Lucas' relationship shallow, it allows Paul and Dawn's to progress even further. But yeah, thanks for seeing the potential in me!

Marron Chestnut, thanks for reading! Glad you liked it! Hope you had a nice Halloween ^ ^!

PolarDawn, thanks, that means a lot. But I feel like I've still got a lot of improvement to make ^ ^' Thanks again for your critiques! Oldrival, coming your way c:

Alpha The Loyalist, thanks again for dropping by! Haha, yeah, I get how you feel, I'm a little shorty so it's okay. Don't let your self-esteem get swayed by Red The Giant. You'll eventually figure out all the shipping names.. Actually no, that's not entirely true, there are over a hundred and fifty different Pokemon ships because of all the characters that have popped up.

That's it for now, thanks for 75 reviews, makes me really happy, you know?

Here we go c:!

Disclaimer:*

I am not Satoshi Tajiri.

Chapter 18:

'Leafy? What are you doing out here alone this late at night?'

"Holy-!"

She fumbled around in a panic before jumping, spraying sand everywhere. Gary smiled and walked over to where she had been sitting. Flopping down onto the cool, somewhat soft sand, he looked up at her. A startled expression had overtaken her face and her body language seemed as if it were ready to go into battle.

"Did the sight of my hot body scare you?" Smoothing back his hair, he jokingly flashed her a flirtatious grin. Leaf's nose seemed to wrinkle in disgust as a response. Soft brushing sounds of her feet against the sand occurred before stopping as she returned to her previous position. However, this time she was about six feet away from Gary, doing her best to keep her distance.

"Gross." Leaf muttered, hugging her knees tighter and gazing out. Her eyes seemed to follow the small, smooth current of the waves close to the beach. Lifting his head, Gary followed her gaze which then travelled far out, probably miles and miles away from shore. There, the roaring tides crashed and rolled yet for some odd reason, the water closer to the island seemed unaffected.

In the sky above, the sky that almost everyone seemed to be looking at that night, stars twinkled. Light-gray, thin and soft-looking clouds overlapped a majority of the stars. They swirled above and slightly glowed due to the moonlight. Gary couldn't help but sneak another peek at Leaf. Luckily, she didn't show any signs of noticing his stare. Her face was illuminated by the silver rays of light. Even with an astonishing beauty radiating off of her body, her face was blank with no emotion detectable. It was impossible to tell what she was thinking.

"What are you thinking?"

"Eh?" Eyebrows raised, Leaf turned her head. Locking eyes with him, she seemed a bit hesitant to reply. "Why?"

"O-oh!" Gary laughed awkwardly. His question had been spoken without much thought. He reached back with his right hand and sheepishly rubbed his hair, searching quickly for a response. The girl's eyes seemed to be digging into his own and ripping through his face. For some reason, he hated the feeling he got whenever she looked at him. It was always the same sharp, unreadable gaze that he found unnerving yet oddly engrossing.

"Well..?"

"Just curious, you know?" Well, it wasn't necessarily a lie slipping out of his mouth. Although it seemed to be a bit less embarrassing when he said in his head. Leaf's fists clenched tightly as she brought them down from her knees to rest by her side on the sand.

"Curiosity killed the cat." She murmured with not even the slightest amount of aggression in her voice. This in fact, was a shocker as her tone was soft. A soft tone. The tone she hadn't used with him at all. To top it all off, her piercing gaze directed towards him mimicked the eyes of a cat. Recovering from his brief moment of shock, Gary huffed and ran his hand through his hair.

"What, were you thinking about something dirty? It's nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, if you need help fulfilling your desires I'd be glad to he-"

"Y-you're revolting!" Leaf shouted, cutting him off by throwing a stick at his head.

"I'm just trying to help." Gary shrugged with a smirk overtaking his face. He grabbed the stick and tossed it back into her hands. She caught it, sending him an icy glare.

"Why do you always make perverted comments like that?" A light blush appeared on her face as she turned away, not allowing him to look at it. Her actions made him laugh, but he decided to take pity on her embarrassment and hold back.

"'Curiosity killed the cat.'" He mimicked with a cocky grin carving out his smirk. Leaf let out an exasperated sigh before making an attempt to ignore him. Focusing her eyes, she silently directed all her attention towards the ocean. Although, Gary wasn't done yet. The scraping sounds of the sand made her slightly uneasy as she felt his presence uncomfortably close to her body.

"What... are you doing?" Irritation was evident in her voice.

"I just want to be close to my little Leafy." That too was pure honesty. This girl was far too interesting for someone like Gary to just ignore. Why had she not fallen for him like every girl he'd ever talked to? In fact, now that he thought about it, none of the female survivors seemed to swoon over him. What a shame, they were so hot too.

"Leave me alone."

He reached out to touch her shoulder but as quick as lightning, her hand flew up. His hand stung. It wasn't as much painful as it was shocking. Tonight was just full of surprises, wasn't it? Leaf did not seem like the type of person in Gary's eyes to hit someone. However that thought was pretty much dented due to the previous attack on his ear. Even so, he still hadn't expected her to reject his touch in such a way. Usually she would say things like, "Get away from me", or simply, "Don't touch me."

"Only Red, Dawn, May, and possibly Paul may touch me." She growled. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. Red. He had no problem with that man. Red was kind, caring, respectful, intelligent, selfless, and had good leadership qualities. Who wouldn't like him? But it seemed as if, according to the other group members, Leaf was pretty much obsessed with him for reasons unknown to everyone else.

"Why do you like Red so much? He's way too old for you! I mean, sure he's a great guy, but I've known you for at least a day longer. How come you don't trust me as much as you do him?" Gary frowned. He didn't understand why Red could hug her but if he so much as poked her she would get pissed. Was it a mistake to say that? Leaf's eyes went from sharp and cold to lit ablaze.

"I don't believe you realize how much you screw with me." She snarled, shocking him a bit. "Red is my friend and nothing more. Obviously you're too ignorant to understand what our relationship is. Unlike your relationships, which are probably all sexual, ours is a mutual family relationship!"

Although her words offended him and startled him to the point where he couldn't think of anything to say, he was sorry to say that it was the truth. It had been at least a bit over nine years of his life since he'd had a healthy, non-sexual relationship with a girl. His girlfriend back home had probably forgotten all about him and gotten another boyfriend by now. After all, his boyfriend-girlfriend relationship with her was pretty much a whole friends with benefits thing rather than love and cuddle thing. Yeah. He really shouldn't have let his mouth run before his brain.

Her breathing seemed ragged and heavy. Did she really get that worked up over a single person? If Gary wasn't mistaken, that was love. Or maybe was it devotion? An awkward silence overtook the atmosphere much to Gary's disappointment. The scenery around them, though cold and windy, was beautiful and he just had to go and ruin it. Regret claimed his sullen expression.

"I'm sorry."

"Do you seriously think that a simple 'sorry' will cut it? What's your problem? Do you have something against Red or are you just envious of him?" Apparently Leaf was much more talkative when angry than she was when she was happy. Knowing the usual female, Gary figured it'd be the other way around. However with a girl in front of him who has his interest piqued, he didn't want to make their relationship too foul. Taking a deep breath, he tried his best to shove aside his thick ego and immense amount of pride.

"I, Gary Oak, am genuinely sorry for saying such insensitive things when I myself was too ignorant to simply ask to clarify my conclusions."

"W-what are you doing?

His grandfather had always told him that this was the way to apologize formally. Usually his grandfather himself used this apology to keep his grandmother form divorcing him. Which was probably a good thing, considering the fact that his mother wouldn't have met his father or even have been born if it weren't for his grandfather's little tricks. Moving to sit in front of her, he lowered his head and waited for some sort of response.

"Stop it."

Not the right response.

"Stop it, Oak!"

Gary said nothing.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?"

Waiting.. He felt the sand between his fingers as he waited, beginning to get a little bit impatient with her.

"Gary!"

He bowed even lower in response.

..

"Stop! I... I accept your apology..! Just stop." Looking upwards, Gary noticed the faint blush on her cheeks. He grinned before lifting his head and reaching for her hands. Her panicked look was what made him stop. Right. This wasn't his girlfriend, he couldn't freely touch her without her consent. Honestly, he didn't think that his apology would be accepted to quickly. Was it really that embarrassing to have someone kneel in front of you? Retracting his hands, he shoved them in his pockets before standing up and moving back to his spot beside her. Making sure he was a good distance away from her out of respect, Gary shuffled until he became comfortable in the sand.

"If I were to somehow become your friend, would you let me touch you?" Gary inquired, rolling his shoulders as they seemed to be a bit stiff.

"In what way..?" Leaf's eyes seemed to burn holes in him. They searched for specifics as his question must have been too vague.

"A friendly gesture like a high-five or maybe a hug." He shrugged. Her face seemed to look a bit dull and expressionless for a brief moment as she looked down at her feet.

"You already were my friend..." She muttered under her breath. However, Gary couldn't hear her so he figured she was doing something weird like talking to herself. Ignoring it, he stretched his limbs out in front of him before looking back at her. He had some sort of urge to grab her and hug her. But if he did that then she'd probably take his entire ear off. Her gaze seemed to wander away from him and out to a brown, soggy piece of driftwood being tugged and pulled through the waves.

Leaf's small, almost fragile looking figure resembled the porcelain doll which sat on the mantel above the fireplace back at home. Gary froze slightly. What had that doll looked like? It was certainly something that his mother had loved but due to the more recent events it seemed like a blurry photograph. Smacking his head gently, he tried to remember what it looked like. A dress. Some sort of dark colored dress with a strange pattern. Everything in his head was fuzzy. Maybe he was concentrating too much.

The amount of wind blown across the sandy beach seemed to lower. Although he would still occasionally find the need to brush off his clothing or spit out a bit of grit blown into his face. Leaf's mouth was still curved into a frown and she had yet to speak since the earlier moment. It had just been minutes of silence posing as hours. Maybe it was suicide, but it couldn't hurt to strike up a conversation, right? As long as he was very careful nothing could possibly go wrong.

"Leafy, you'd look cuter if you smiled more."

"...Where did that come from?" Her gaze had hardened into a glare. Did she hate him or something? No. It probably just came off wrong, right? Maybe it came off as an insult? The questions made his head hurt, but he decided to give it another shot to lighten the mood.

"I'm just saying, your face will freeze like that if you don't smile enough."

"Well you've changed a whole lot since then, haven't you?" She muttered under her breath. The expression and her precious anatomy. There it was again, the intense urge to touch her.

"What was that?" His eyes were filled with curiosity.

"Oh, it's nothing." Leaf sighed, fiddling with the hem of her skirt. There was something that he just was dying to do, but Gary didn't want to make her mood any worse than it was already. It may have been a good opportunity to practice self-control, but unfortunately, Gary was not the type of person to possess such a thing. He reached forward and with both of his index fingers, pried the sides of her mouth upwards.

"Gary."

"Yes, my dear?"

"What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"Yep. Way cuter like this."

Her eyebrows furrowed together slightly. The look on her face that he had forced was a mixture between creepy and funny. Leaf roughly slammed her palms into his shoulders, propelling him backwards and onto the sand. Reaching upwards, she massaged her cheeks before childishly sticking her tongue out at him. Wordlessly, Leaf pulled herself back into her sitting spot. With her arms wrapped around her sides, she pulled her legs to her chest as she had done before. It was colder than everything now and Gary supposed that her skirt wasn't exactly the best thing to wear at the moment.

Recalling his earlier action, Gary closed his eyes for a moment. Her face felt softer than it looked and there were no traces of makeup. Although, it was probably because with the plane destroyed along with their luggage, there was no time or supplies to make yourself look pretty. Something about the girl was more appealing than his girlfriend. Of course, he didn't mind cheating as his relationship with his girlfriend was shallower than a puddle on the side of a road. But how would she react if he made a more serious move on her?

He froze before shaking his head. That's definitely out of the question, she'd certainly rather kill him than go out with him. However, even if they did go out, there wouldn't really be any point, right? They're on an island with almost no signs or chances of getting rescued. What would they do, survive together? Technically they're already doing that with the help of everyone else. His eyes flickered towards Leaf's face which was stony and hard. Maybe this girl was impossible..

Looking upwards, he noticed the clouds forming in the sky. Moonlight and starlight that once shined down on them was beginning to fade away. Wind was beginning to pick up, sending sand swirling across the earth. Narrowing his eyes, he stood up and tapped Leaf on the shoulder, barely touching her.

"We should go back into the shelter of the trees."

"I'm not tired yet."

"What are you, a child?" Gary raised an eyebrow with a light chuckle.

"I'm under the age of eighteen so technically, yes." Leaf murmured, just barely audible from the shaking of trees and gusts of wind whistling in his ears. He looked at her as if what she had just said was a joke. But her face was coated in pure seriousness.

"Alright, let me rephrase that. It's probably going to storm, and I don't want to get my clothes wet because it's already cold enough. I'm sure that sleeping in the grass clearing close to the trees will be drier than being out here." Yawning at the end of his reasoning, he began to walk back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her rise to her feet. Because it was him, Gary didn't actually think that she would listen to him. Although he must've made a good point in her head or she wouldn't have even bothered to stand up.

Smiling gently, he shook his head and pushed his way past the bushes to get to the clearing in the woods. The fire, which was nearby, was still burning, illuminating the entire area and neither Drew nor Red were in sight. He figured that they must have moved in the keep watch out of the weather. Leaf must've been behind him because he felt a small thud. Turning around, he locked eyes with the girl. In her hand was a pebble which she had thrown at his back. An oddly familiar grin was displayed on her face.

Something was there..

And it was...

Almost too familiar...

And...

He didn't like it.

'Can you stop talking about how wonderful your boyfriends are?'

"Oh!"

Dawn jumped in surprise, eyes widening as they met with Paul's dark, shadowy orbs. She could just barely make out his figure in the darkness of the woods. Even so, Dawn could feel his glare on her. Deciding not to bicker with him, she said nothing in response, awkwardly shifting her legs.

Her eyes took a glance at him. Through the dark, she could see him rub the cloth around his arm. He winced before letting out a low grunt, leaning backwards into the tree even further. His body seemed to quiver as the wind blew past them, disrupting the once still trees and bushes. They rustled and shook, making the moment all the more awkward. As much as she wanted to get up and sleep next to Leaf, May, or Misty and they were pretty much strangers to her, she couldn't bring herself to move. It felt as if weights were tied around her legs.

"Why don't you go snuggle with your boyfriend? Or maybe you'd prefer to fall asleep with Drew holding you? No. Maybe someone as helpful as Ash would be a better fit." Paul spoke in a deep, dull voice. He seemed to be very agitated for a reason unknown to Dawn. Had he really just woken up grumpy? Rather than arguing back, she figured she'd cut him some more slack. After all, he had gotten beaten and bashed until the blood knocked him out earlier and Dawn wasn't the type of person to pester someone that much.

"I don't really want to talk with any of them..." She murmured in response, flashing him a soft smile. His face didn't seem to change, it just remain stony and cold until her soft smile turned awkward. Her fingers twirled her hair as a familiar period of silence put a gap between them.

"And so you decided to come to me?" Paul snorted, staring skeptically at her. Dawn definitely didn't expect him to say anything as he was almost never the first person to break an awkward tension. It was like he was immune to that sort of nervous, strange atmosphere whenever the conversation took a trip south.

"W-well... Uhm.. Yeah?" Although she could feel the heat rushing to her face, she kept copying his stern, icy expression.

"I'm going to take a guess and say it's because everyone else is busy" Dawn swore she saw a slight look of disappointment, but then decided that it wasn't possible.

"You... Could say that.."

He raised his eyebrows in amusement before adjusting the jacket that Drew had thrown on him.

"Who's is this...?" The violet haired boy mumbled in questioning, lifting the jacket from his body with his one good arm and eying it up. Dawn doubted that he could actually see what it looked like, but figured there'd be no point in saying it. In fact, there was no point in commenting on most of his actions. She wasn't sure anyone had noticed, but when she got up to get come water from the tarp for Lucas earlier, she had in fact watched Drew. Unconsciously, a small smile graced her lips as she thought of the act of kindness between the two who were strangers to each other.

"Hey, what are you smiling about? Answer me." Mouth tugged into a frown, he reached out and shoved her just enough to get her attention. Dawn tried her best not to send him a sharp glare, only smiling a bit more.

"Drew gave that to you since it's really cold out and you were unconscious. Oh, and try to relax a little, you still have a fever but it's gone down quite a bit." She replied, taking the coat from his hands and laying it back on top of him.

"Why do you care?" It wasn't exactly a question, more like a statement. After all, Paul wasn't really the type of person to ask a whole lot of questions. Maybe it was because he was used to knowing his stuff all the time? Dawn frowned just a little.

"Everyone else is either asleep or on watch." With a sigh, she fiddled with a lock of her hair before thinking a bit more about what she had just said. "Speaking of which, why do we have to have a 'watch shift'?" It may have been a bit late to ask that, although it was never officially announced so it wasn't an unreasonable question.

"You don't know?" What sounded like laugh emerged from Paul's direction. Almost as if the reason had been completely out there and obvious.

"Of course not!" Dawn glared, eyes adjusting to the darkness only to see Paul's famous 'smart ass smirk'. "What's so funny?!"

"I figured that you of all people would know the reason why." She could see now that his arms were crossed underneath Drew's coat and his legs were crossed as well. He leaned back against the tree with a perfectly relaxed look on his face. Dawn took a moment to think about it before realization took over. Her eyebrows furrowed together and her eyes narrowed.

"You're not talking about those things are you?" Dropping her hair, she shifted into a more comfortable position before standing up. Her eyes peered at him in a slightly terrified yet angry look.

"I certainly am." He huffed.

"They won't attack us if we stick in large groups, right? So far they've only attacked people in pairs." Dawn lowered her voice to a whisper, leaning forward towards him. A shiver ran down her spine as another gust of wind blew through the clearing. Holding her sides, she crouched, trying to keep her limbs close to her body. Again, the scarf around her neck and the beanie on her head was rendered useless to the cold.

"You are all so irritatingly slow." Paul growled, meeting her eyes. They were cold and as dark as the area around them. A moment of silence overtook their conversation as Ash's snoring got louder for a brief moment. With a thud, it was silenced. Dawn smiled for a split moment, figuring that either Misty or May had smacked him like an alarm clock in the morning. Returning her attention to Paul, she did her best to match up to his icy stare.

"What are you talking about?" The fact that Paul was throwing smart remarks and insults again and again without stopping was seriously testing her patience.

"I realized it in a dream while I was... I guess you could say asleep." He stifled a yawn, playing with a a section of cloth which was hanging off his bandaged arm. Through the darkness, Dawn watched it, focusing all of her attention on it for a minute.

"Realized what?" Dawn clenched her fists in frustration however his smirk only grew. Suddenly, his mouth dropped to a blank, straight face. His face was now coated in a serious expression. Jaw clenched, he seemed to be searching through his head for a way to describe it. It looked as if he was having a rough time thinking about how to word it. As she opened her mouth to inquire something about it, he let out a few grunting sounds, shuffling a little before speaking.

"An obvious attack pattern." Paul patted the earth beside him. Dawn looked at him with confusion as to why he'd want her to get closer to him but he simply turned his head away from her and snorted. Almost as if saying he didn't give a crap about her confusion. Sighing, she decided once again not to say anything that might provoke him. Hesitantly, Dawn shuffled closer, keeping a good distance between them. Even if he didn't seem like the type of person to assault someone, she didn't know what was going on in his head. As soon as she was only several inches from him, he lifted his good arm and lazily shoved it into her chest.

"Attack pattern?" She looked down at his arm which had previously had Drew's coat laying on it. The boy retracted his arm to his side with a grunt, leaving the coat in a heap on Dawn's lap. Her usual soft, delicate smile returned to her lips as she picked it up and adjusted it over her torso. Pulling her legs up and under it, Dawn glanced up, awaiting Paul's response. Letting out an exasperated sigh, Paul met her gaze.

"Every incident that has happened so far... Has involved me."

"Damn."

The water in the tarp was slowly beginning to disappear as the hours passed. Last time he had checked it was completely full that morning before Paul passed out and the tarp was revealed. With high winds and a possible storm it would be very difficult to obtain water. It was also too dangerous to head to the lake with the vicious attacks happening out of nowhere.

He raised his hands and ran his fingers through his hair. With a low sigh, he stood up and began fumbling through the dark to the campfire. Earlier, Drew had wandered away to the clearing in the woods to take the watch position closest to the other survivors. Although he had light suspicions, he decided to brush it off as the boy had certainly proven that he could be trusted. At least, he proved himself to him and that was all that mattered.

Red shook his head before picking up the neatly packed away herbs which Drew had set aside for him. Moving them over a bit, he sat down on one of the logs. Heat from the fire rushed over him and almost seemed to remove weight from his shoulders. It was official. The lives of these teenagers were officially becoming a growing burden on his shoulders. And it seemed as if nothing, not even the warm fire could lift it.

He quickly looked up and flashed a smile to Leaf and Gary as they strolled past and into the woods to the clearing. How long could he keep this act up? He didn't think it would last much longer, but their laughs and smiles were worth the pain. Immediately after, his eyes locked on Paul's makeshift knife which he had borrowed in order to make weapons and materials. Now, the long, sharp rock was resting in his hands. Red's eyes trailed the rim of the knife, following in pursuit of his own fingers. They traced up and down the edges which were less jagged and beginning to dull down. Soon, he would either have to help Paul make a new one or sharpen it.

A small thud and crunching of sand rang out as Red dropped the stone, letting it sink into the sand beside his feet. How stressful it was... To try and keep the mood bright and happy when there was most likely no help out there. The plane had been completely destroyed during the crash after it practically exploded. So getting a signal with a radio was a dead idea. He was very surprised that these teenagers could cope so well given the situation. Usually after an event like this would send adults into a violent, panicked flurry.

Things could have been way worse than a couple of confused and unconscious emotional adolescent teenagers stumbling away from the plane. Their luck was almost unrealistic, which drove Red insane every time he thought about it. Massaging his temples, Red leaned forward before adjusting the cap on his head downwards rather than upwards.

No, they were anything but lucky now that he thought about it. The survivors. No. His survivors kept getting targeted by what seemed to be 'vicious cannibals'. What they were going to do, he didn't know. In fact, no matter how hard he tried to seem like he knew what he was doing, he still didn't know anything. Why did they all look at him like he was a genius? Why were they all looking to him for protection? Is it because he's the older one? Is it because he's supposed to be the most mature one? Maybe it's because he made the mistake of creating order in the chaos on the first day?

Red smashed his fist down on the log he was sitting on in frustration. Silently, he cried out in pain as now his fists ached more than his head. He was supposed to have arrived in Kalos four, almost five, days ago for his wedding. His family was waiting for him there and now his fiancée must believe he is dead. And because of the crash he was forced to stand as an emblem of hope, smiling and leading a group of teenagers.

"Damn it all!" Again and again he rammed his fists into the log. Pain. Pain. Pain. In his head, hands, and chest. It was all he could feel. "Screw it. Kill me. Fuck this shit."

The pain rippling through his hands and muscles didn't stop him until the front of his cap fell over his eyes. Reaching upwards, Red ripped his cap off and threw it onto the ground. Panting heavily, he looked at his hands and the log to see what damage he had done. It appeared that something inside him was holding his full strength back, as his hands were still perfectly intact. However they were bloodied and bruised now. A familiar warm liquid formed and spilled over his knuckles. He had waited forever to have a moment where the younger survivors weren't around him. Suffering alone in silence was the best he could do for them. It would be too selfish to make his emotions public and make them feel guilt or regret.

His beautiful, perfect, wonderful fiancée... Without him around, the eyes of low-life scoundrels would violate her body. The thought of it made his fists clench tightly. Was she still wearing the engagement ring? Or had she torn it off her finger and tossed it into the trash after he made a no-show to their wedding? No. Certainly she understood the situation and was waiting in hope, holding that ring close to her heart as she fell asleep at night. She was loyal to him and him only, right?

She's mine. Mine and only mine. Nobody can do anything about that, right? As long as she still has that ring, I've left my mark on her, right?

More wet liquid. A clear, salty liquid which fell and created small puddles on his hands. It mixed in with his blood and sweat. Tears. A whole lot of them. They leaked out of his eyes and slipped down the sides of his face. Red grit his teeth in frustration as he pulled a black and silver band off of his ring-finger. Looking at it through his blurred vision, more un-cried tears shot down his face. Placing it in the palm of his right hand, he closed his hand around it, bringing it to his chest.

"Please..." An unclear plead escaped his lips. What was he asking for? He didn't know. What did he want? Was it to survive? Help the others survive? Form bonds? Get married? His head was now a file of scrambled up memories and wishes. He was only thirty, he had spent most of his life in a lonely solitude until he met his fiancée. Now his happiness was going to be ripped away from him. It's not fair. Nothing's fair. All around him, the teenagers were finding themselves and falling in love as if they didn't have to worry about much else, meanwhile he was suffering in the corner.

"How selfish of me to think like that.." He muttered, quietly scolding himself under his breath. Crossing his legs, he felt a small, flat, hard object in his pocket. Uncrossing his legs, he reached into his pocket with his left hand and pulled out a large, colorful shiny fish scale. Leaf's fish scale to be precise.

More tears. More silent crying. A little bit more than before. Here in his left hand was proof that those teenagers trusted him with their lives. And yet here he was, moping and getting depressed over his own problems. Surely they had just as many problems as him. He now had energetic, happy friends who were though younger, still soothing to the heart to have around, helpful and humorous friends who lightened the situation, and most of all, a girl who looked up to him and respected him more than any of the other survivors. Yet he could not do anything for her or for anyone.

Stuffing it in his pocket, he wiped his tears away, now only clutching his engagement ring close to him. For some reason, the once happy plans he had made with his fiancée to get married, have children, and grow old together seemed like torture to think about. His lip quivered. Red laughed lightly and as quietly as possible. It was funny, a grown man breaking down and sobbing like a four year old. Maybe if they all made it out alive, somehow, he'd introduce Leaf to his wife. Maybe he would get married and Leaf could become his adoptive daughter. After all, it already seemed like it was that way. One big happy family.

"That would be nice." Red unconsciously murmured, pressing his hand even harder into his chest. Was he insane for thinking these things? Aside from the fact that Leaf already had parents, everything in his plans were perfect. Or maybe he was only thinking these strange things because of fatigue. He nodded to himself. That had to be the reason behind it. Leaf...

That fish scale... He promised he'd do something with it for her, but now, in the middle of the night, was no time to do it. This was his night. His night to cry, weep, and feel sorry for himself. But the next day, he would have to suck it up.

His decision was a painful priority but for now...

It was okay.

Yep, Chapter 18 is finished!

I'm sorry, it's shorter than the last two chapters. But to be honest, there's not really a center plot in this chapter so it was harder to write a whole lot of details. I think I got enough in there though.

So, to fill up some space I added what is going to be what I call... "The Red Ache" Arc which was really short to start, but will be soon be mixed into the main story. It will most likely be centered around Red, of course, Leaf, and Gary.

Anyways... What kind have information have we disclosed? Well...:

Leaf has some sort of problem with people touching her.

Gary and Leaf have some sort of secretive past. Why doesn't he remember her? We'll just have to figure that out.

Paul reveals that there is in fact some sort of pattern that goes along with the cannibal-attacks. All the attacks were centered around Paul? Uheuhuehue.

Red had a fiancée who he was going to marry once he arrived in Kalos. Who's his fiancée? Uhuehuehue... Probably someone who won't really affect the main plot too much.

The fish scale from chapter nine makes another appearance. I guess I'll just say it now, the scale will be a very important tie in to The Red Ache arc.

And... Uh...

Yeah, so that's it for now!

Thanks for reading and feel free to leave a review! Say something c:!
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Until next time,

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Bear