We continue with our peek into the relationship between Reiner and Nikita now that we know how much crap Dakota has been slinging about them. Something tells me they won't just take this lying down. In the meantime, Will still has to come up with a good gift for Misato. Will he be able to think of something? What about Misato herself? What does SHE want from him?

KedharS: Definitely a wholesome couple, even if they have their issues.

Hyphenman: Don't worry, we'll be getting some more of them right here!

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 1264

"Dakota!"

Dakota jumped a mile in her seat when she heard her name get called out. She'd been working on an article for the paper in the library, trying to gradually get used to an environment that had once been familiar to her but now she had a complicated relationship with. Still not fully past her trauma, hearing someone shout at her sent her into fight or flight mode, and she was almost about to teleport away to safety before stopping herself, knowing that would just lead to more issues that she wasn't ready to deal with the consequences of yet.

She shakily glanced up and saw that it wasn't another psycho killer coming to finish the job, not unless assassins were contracting out freshmen. Three first-years that Dakota was vaguely familiar with, Reiner, Nikita, and Will, came storming up to her table. Nikita was fuming while Reiner looked more ambivalent, and Will just seemed resigned.

"What's the big deal with that story?!" Nikita demanded, glaring icily at Dakota.

Dakota blinked. "…You gotta be WAY more specific," she muttered, shaking her head. "What story are we talking about?"

"The story you made up about me and Reiner breaking up soon!" Nikita exclaimed, ignoring that this was a library and she should keep her voice down. "Reiner and I aren't breaking up!"

"…Wellll…"

"Okay, is there something you want to talk about?!" Nikita glared at her boyfriend.

"I'm kidding!" Reiner couldn't hide his laughter.

"Trouble in paradise?" Dakota asked, leaning forward eagerly. Her prior article was forgotten as she studied the couple.

"No, we're fine," Nikita said. Reiner opened his mouth to say something but upon seeing the warning look in her eye, he caught himself.

"Listen, it's not my fault that someone ran an article about you two," Dakota shrugged.

"YOU wrote it!" Nikita said.

"Yeah, plus, you were the editor in charge of that issue so you decide what gets to run, right?" Reiner clarified.

Dakota grinned dopily. "…Yeah…"

"I don't believe this," Nikita said, shaking her head in disbelief. "How could you do something like that? Just lie about people's relationships?!"

Dakota leaned back in her seat and took a sip from her coffee. "…What lie?"

"What lie?! The lie that we're splitting up! That's the lie!" Nikita sputtered.

Dakota tilted her head to the side, scrunching up her face thoughtfully. "…Did I say that? I don't know. I can't remember that period of my life very well on account of the fact that I got stabbed!" Now it was her turn to speak a little louder than the library permitted.

Reiner winced at her declaration. But Nikita wasn't letting this go.

"You're going to reprint a retraction," she hissed.

Dakota raised her eyebrow. "Okay, sure. I'll humor you. What would you like the retraction to say? Specifically."

"Just… say everything you said was a lie," Nikita muttered.

Dakota spread her palms open. "Okay… I said, specifically. What specific things in the article do you want me to retract?"

"Um…" Nikita glanced at Will for a second and Dakota smirked.

"You didn't read it, did you?" She asked, shaking her head. "Unbelievable! You come storming in here with your righteous indignation at having your relationship be 'slandered' and you couldn't even take the time to read what I wrote?"

"W-Well, Will said…"

"Do you get all your information from other people telling you what's what?" Dakota asked, raising her eyebrow. "Because I gotta say girl, that sounds like you're a Mareep to me. A lazy little Mareep grazing away in the field, just believing whatever she hears."

Dakota shook her head. "And here I thought scientists were supposed to verify all the facts before coming to a conclusion. Sounds to me like you've got a long way to go."

Nikita's cheeks burned. But she couldn't refute what Dakota was saying. She was completely right, the smart thing to do, the right thing, would have been to read the article and verify what was being said about her relationship, and THEN confront the reporter about it. But she hadn't bothered. She'd let her emotions get the better of her and picked a fight.

What a mess.

"Th-That's… I mean…" She looked down sheepishly. "I didn't, I…"

Dakota let out an exaggerated sigh. "Whatever… look, I'm busy here, but since I'm SUCH a nice girl, I'll be happy to help out your relationship a little by showing you two exactly what I wrote. Now come with me."

She scooted out of her chair and led the trio down the aisle of bookshelves, towards the periodicals section.

"Luckily for you lovebirds, the school keeps a file of all the papers we publish," Dakota said, scanning the shelves for the right one. She was shaking a little. Even though the periodicals section was nowhere near where she'd been stabbed, it was still tightly confined just like the dead-end where she'd nearly lost her life. And that was causing her to panic a little.

But she shook those concerns away and grabbed the paper, presenting it to the two of them to read.

"Here you go. Take a look at what I wrote, and then tell me if I said anything factually untrue," Dakota said.

Nikita snatched the paper from the pink-haired girl's hands, and tore over it with eyes experienced at reading dense textbooks.

"Are Nikita and Reiner splitsville?

The odd freshmen pair of Reiner Zollern and Nikita Willow have certainly had their ups and downs in their relationship. But now it looks like things might be getting worse! With only a week until Valentine's Day, they've been busy studying in their OWN rooms! No attempt to even try making a little love nest in the library! Nor have they been seen together on any dates recently. The two of them seem more like friends than a couple, at least according to this reporter! We asked a source close to the two for comment on the state of their relationship, and here's what she said:

Anonymous Redhead: "I mean, yeah, they say they're in love, and it's clear that they care about each other, but come on. They're not even fucking! Like I've seen them kiss maybe twice. Believe me, if I had a boyfriend or a girlfriend, you wouldn't be able to keep me OFF of them! So yeah, I just don't get couples vibes from the two of them."

Reiner's eye twitched. He was going to have words with a certain somebody next chance he got. Nikita's hands were shaking with embarrassment.

The article continued, "so when WAS the last time Reiner did something romantic for Nikita? Or Nikita did something for Reiner? It could be that this Valentine's Day will change something, maybe they'll have an exciting time. I certainly hope so. But this reporter is expressing her concern that if something doesn't change soon, these two might be headed for a painful breakup."

All in all, it was a pretty short article. And as much as Reiner might be loathe to admit it, nothing Dakota wrote there had been untrue per se. She was correct that they hadn't gotten physical, and their relationship had been going through a cooling period in the buildup to Valentine's Day.

"Okay, so, maybe you didn't LIE," Nikita scowled. "But I mean, it's old news now! Reiner and I had a really romantic date on Valentine's Day, and we totally got closer than ever!"

Reiner was about to make another jab at her, but decided now wasn't the time. He nodded. "Yeah, she's right. Valentine's Day was great for our relationship."

"Oh, really? It was?" Dakota's voice was loaded with fake syrupy sweetness. "Well, I'm sorry, I had no idea, because you see, I HAD JUST GOTTEN STABBED."

Wow she was really playing that card for all it was worth, wasn't she?

"Okay, but the point is, you should do a retraction!" Nikita sniffed. "Or, at least, I don't know, write an article about how good we're getting along now!"

"Oh, really?" Dakota raised her eyebrow. "And how good are you getting along?"

Nikita blinked, confused. "…Really good," she said.

"I see. Well, if you say so. But from what I hear, didn't you skip out on the chance to go on a romantic trip with your boyfriend so you could write a paper instead?" Dakota asked, raising her eyebrow. "Yeah, you guys are doing great."

Nikita blanched. "W-Well… that was… I didn't have a choice!" She sputtered. "What, was I supposed to let my grades decline? Studying is more important than dating anyway!"

Dakota raised her eyebrow and shifted her eyes to Reiner. Nikita gasped.

"W-Wait, Reiner, I didn't mean that!" She cried, grabbing his shirt. "I just… it's just, I wasn't thinking, and I said…"

But the damage was already done. A pained expression flashed across Reiner's face for a second before he reigned in his emotions and regained his composure.

"Don't worry, it's fine," he assured Nikita, even though nothing about his body language said it was in any way fine.

How could I say something so insensitive? Nikita smacked herself in the head mentally. She had just done the cruelest thing in the world.

Dakota watched all of this unfolding calmly, seeing the two of them getting unwound. "Well, it seems you two still have a lot of issues you have to work out," she said softly. "At least from where I'm sitting anyway. But listen up you two, because here's some free advice from your senior: don't think about it too hard."

"What?" Nikita stared at her, confused.

Dakota shrugged. "Don't think about it too hard," she repeated. "Just do what your heart wants. You two are first-years, there's a lot of shit ahead for you both. Believe me, as far as couples go at this school, you aren't even CLOSE to the most dysfunctional relationship started by freshmen." She laughed in a self-deprecating tone and strolled past the trio, leaving them to contemplate things.

"…Reiner…" Nikita's voice cracked. She looked like she was about to cry. "I'm sorry I said that. I know studying is important, but I shouldn't say it's more important than you."

"Hey, I said, it's fine," Reiner said. "Look, I get it, you care a lot about your future. But you didn't say studying was more important than me, you said it was more important than dating in general. And honestly, I can't say you're wrong. We're students. We should be focusing on our studies, so we can get the futures we want."

Oh no. No, no, no. Nikita didn't like the way this was going, not at all. The way Reiner was talking, it sounded as if he wanted to…

"A-Are you…" Her voice cracked again, and she felt her body sway like she might collapse any second. It was hard to focus on anything but the boy in front of her. "…Are you breaking up with me?" She finally whispered.

Will stifled a gasp.

"What!? No, why would you think that?" Reiner asked, stunned by her assumption.

"B-Because you were saying we needed to focus on our s-studies, and agreed that dating wasn't a priority, so…" Yup, Nikita was starting to cry. She hated it. She hated feeling miserable like this. She tried to force the tears no to come out.

"I-I mean, that's true," Reiner admitted. "Studying should absolutely be our first priority, but that doesn't mean we have to break up. You're too extreme, Nikita. Just because something is a priority in your life, that doesn't mean you have to give up all the other stuff.

Nikita sniffled. "I-I know…" She gazed up at him with eyes glistening like amber. "So… you really don't want to break up with me?"

Reiner gave her a warm smile.

"…Well…"

"REINER!"

That smile. That fucking smile. That mocking grin on his face, goading her like that, taunting her. Nikita's tears dried immediately and she threw herself at her boyfriend, swatting at him angrily.

That jerk! He completely shattered her sadness just like that, it was infuriating! It was shit like that that made her love him so much.

Reiner just laughed, avoiding his girlfriend's ineffectual attempts at punishing him for being a jackass. "Calm down Nikita, we're in a library."

"I know, and I'm going to Dewey Decimal your ass, you… ass!"

Will sighed and shook his head as he watched them… fight? Get along? He couldn't quite be sure, but one thing was for sure, this was all his fault. When he'd asked the two of them for help in picking out a gift for Misato, he couldn't have imagined that things would turn out this way. He felt just awful, putting their relationship in jeopardy like that.

Now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He still had to get something for Misato, but he couldn't exactly butt into the middle of their little spat to ask them for help, either. So all he could really do was leave.

Before he could turn and go, though, Nikita caught him.

"Let's go," she sniffed, wrapping her arm around his. She turned back and scowled at her boyfriend. "Will and I are going shopping, because he's a GOOD boyfriend who buys nice things for his girl! So nyaah!" She stuck her tongue out.

"Ah, it's like that, eh?" Reiner playfully scowled chasing after them. Nikita quickly unhooked her arm and turned around, nudging her boyfriend playfully in the chest.

Will wasn't sure what was worse. The two of them fighting all the time, or flirting like this.

…Flirting, it was definitely the flirting. That just made this shit so much more awkward he couldn't stand it.

"So what are you even going to get Misato, anyway?" Reiner asked as they exited the library, heading back to their main goal. "Some batteries?"

Will rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure Misato doesn't run on batteries."

Reiner raised his eyebrow. "If you say so. Because my… never mind."

Nikita made a sour expression. "Your what?"

"No, it's not important."

"Oh, I think it is!"

"Not really, no, I was just making a joke," he said, shaking his head.

"Okay, then finish it. What's the punchline?" Nikita placed her hands on her hips and challenged him.

"Nikita, really, it's not a big deal," Reiner said, shaking his head.

"Still, I want to know. Because it sounded to me like you were about to compare Misato, Will's girlfriend-"

"Not my girlfriend," Will interjected.

"Quiet. That you were about to compare her to something YOU own which happens to be run on batteries. Would you like to share with the class what that might be?"

Reiner really, really did not. He shook his head.

Will sighed. He'd changed his mind. Flirting was definitely better than fighting.

How the hell are they able to do both so easily? He was really starting to wonder if Dakota's article about their relationship problems may have had some merit.

While Will was seeking help from Reiner and Nikita about what to get for the Mechadoll that was absolutely not his girlfriend, the Mechadoll in question was getting help of a different sort.

"I can't believe this," Oscar said, shaking his head in disbelief as he looked over the damage that had been done to Misato's body. "You were actually able to fight in this condition?"

"Affirmative. This body suffered significant damage but the vital functions were not impacted to a sufficient degree to impair its performance," Misato confirmed. She had all been dissected on Oscar's lab table, a rather unnerving sight to say the least. The repairs he needed to make were extensive, and Misato had definitely gotten lucky.

"You're crazy. I can't believe you ended up in this state over that guy," Oscar said, shaking his head in disbelief. "You know that if this body ends up getting wrecked, that's the end of you, right? We don't have a plan B."

She was one of a kind, after all. And while he might be able to download her data into a large enough computer, the body was a different matter. He doubted there was anyone who would be able to create another. It was only due to how familiar he was with her components that he was able to affect repairs to such a degree.

"That is your purpose," Misato replied. "Your duty is to maintain the performance of this body until I have accomplished the task set out for me."

Oscar frowned. "…So you're really going through with it?"

"Affirmative. There has been no new data presented that suggests altering my course of action is an advisable option," Misato confirmed. "I am a Mechadoll. The pinnacle of artificial life created by the Silph Corporation. By your father."

Oscar lowered his head and laughed. "You know, that's quite something there, Misato."

Misato tilted her head to the side. Or she tried to, anyway. It was somewhat difficult when your head had been separated from your neck and placed on a table.

"Elaborate."

"Just now, you mentioned my dad," Oscar said.

"That was a statement of fact."

"I know it was," Oscar nodded. "But it wasn't a relevant one. The fact that the president is both my father and your creator isn't relevant to our current conversation, is it? And yet you added it at the end like that."

"Your analysis is sound," Misato agreed. "Fascinating. I will have to analyze my processes to determine the cause of that irrelevant statement."

Oscar sighed. "You know… maybe it's just small talk," he suggested.

"Small talk is performed for the purpose of developing personal bonds with people," Misato replied automatically. "There is no merit in developing a bond with you beyond the one that exists."

Oscar sighed again. "You say that… but I'm not so sure. You know, Misato, I actually kind of think of you as a sister to me."

Misato showed no reaction to this. "Elaborate."

"Well, I mean… you were created by my father. You could argue that you're his child, right? Same as me. So… yeah. The way I see it, we're siblings."

Misato processed that for a second.

"The reasoning you have used to arrive at your conclusion is sound, even if the conclusion itself is erroneous. In physical terms there is no sibling relationship between the two of us."

"I know that, but-"

"However, if the conversation were in a metaphysical sense discussing the nature of family and parents, then your conclusion has merit," Misato continued. "It would not be unreasonable to consider us siblings in that regard."

Oscar was surprised. He nodded. "Good. Then as your older brother, I'm going to ask you to take better care of yourself. I don't want to have to upload your brain into a computer and deny you mobility. Or even worse…"

He didn't want to think of what the "worse" event would be. Misato was his father's greatest work, he couldn't bear the thought of her being destroyed.

"Irrelevant," Misato replied. "There is no cause for concern. Until this unit has achieved its primary objective, I will take every measure necessary to ensure the continued survival of this physical body."

Oscar sighed once more. It was the best he could hope for for now.

Well, thankfully Misato knows a really good engineer. She took a lot of abuse in the Orre Region, so it's a good thing that Oscar can fix her. The only question is whether or not he can keep her from doing stupid things to achieve this "primary objective" of hers. And if he can't, well… maybe it will have to fall to Will instead. Can he save her?