"Hello there," Hilbert's therapist greeted him as she watched the young man enter the room and sit down. He'd been seeing her for a few weeks now, and after their last session, she was finally starting to make some progress, so she was curious and hopeful that they'd be able to make some more today. "How was your morning? Did you eat a good breakfast?"
"Uh, yeah?" Hilbert affirmed without much confidence as he sat down. "I... I had a banana, at least. That's alright, right?"
"Yes, it is. Potassium and the other fruit are certainly preferable to other things you could've eaten," she praised him. She was about to move on to another piece of small talk before Hilbert initiated the session for the first time since they'd met.
"My mom is making me stay in my sister's room while I attend school."
"Oh, is that a problem?" she asked carefully.
"Not really, it's so nice of her to let me stay at all. It's just, well, it reminds me of her, and that makes me feel bad by association," Hilbert explained.
"You've certainly implied that in the past, yes. She's a successful businesswoman, correct?"
"Y-yeah," Hilbert replied as she couldn't help but notice him begin to tremble. "She's incredibly successful, a millionaire last I heard."
"That's wonderful news. Isn't it nice to know you don't have to worry about her well-being?"
"W-well, I guess. I just know that she's the big millionaire hotshot, and I'm the failed Gym Challenger. She has a degree, money, and a life, and I don't have anything!"
The woman nodded. "Life is unfair like that, isn't it? Always being compared to the more successful ones, especially when it's a sibling. All you can do is do your best with what you're given, even if others can't acknowledge it properly." She smiled softly. "I'm happy you're able to share this with me, though. That's progress."
Although, by most standards, she had done her job perfectly, Hilbert only seemed more incensed by the statement. "It's not fair! When Bianca went missing, she didn't even help look for her, and now she's hosting some kind of fundraiser for missing kids in that dumb skyscraper? What sense does that make!? She's a great sister, but that's just hypocritical! And she'll get away with it too; no one will call her out on-"
The therapist interjected. "Hold on, Hilbert. Bianca?"
"Yeah, Bianca. She was... she was my best friend, and she went missing when we were all ten," Hilbert explained as his demeanor changed completely, anger and passion turning into melancholy and resignation.
"And, your sister, was she friends with her too?"
"Yeah... but not a very good one. Like I said, when Bianca went missing, everyone in town went looking for her, except for Hilda! Everyone said, 'Oh, it must be so hard on Hilda, she must be so ups' - I WAS UPSET TOO! For months after that, I spent every moment I could looking everywhere I could for even a sign of Bianca, anything at all! I was still looking long after everyone in town thought she was dead and gone! That's... that's why I wanted to be a Trainer. I guess I thought that if I was strong enough, and if I traveled far enough, maybe the reward at the end… was her."
The therapist didn't speak for several seconds as she processed this information. "Why haven't you brought this up before?"
"Well, it's a little hard to talk about. I kind of wasted the last six years of my life getting my ass kicked at Gyms trying to look for her," Hilbert sheepishly admitted.
"Right," The therapist trailed off before taking a deep breath. "Do you think there might've been a reason why Hilda might not have wanted to help look for her? Even though they were still friends?"
"Everyone says it was because she was 'too distraught' and 'unable to handle it,' but it's all bullshit. Hilda's my sister, and I love her, but she can be extremely cold. That's what makes a successful person in business, isn't it?" Hilbert morbidly chuckled. "She didn't want to look for Bianca because, at the end of the day, Bianca wasn't that important to her. And I was looking for Bianca because... I guess she's all I ever had. I guess you're right; life isn't very fair."
"I think you're demonizing your sister to alleviate your own guilt," she offered, and as she saw him ready to answer, she held up a hand. "Hear me out; maybe you just have to reconnect with your sister. See her in a new light and find some of that friendship you two had as children. When was the last time you actually spoke to her?"
"...two years ago..."
She shrugged. "A lot can happen in two years. You have no idea what she's like now, do you? Because going off of a public image, well, that's just gonna be a mask no matter the person. Maybe you should try getting in touch with her again." She sat back. "I think you should take some time to think things over. I was right in knowing we'd get some progress done today, and now I think you need some rest. Go home, take a nap, or just go to sleep, and then, in the morning, rethink how you might see your sister. Consider calling her and checking in. Maybe she's different now. Maybe she'll even apologize. You never know."
Hilbert stood up and exhaled. "Y-you're right, you're right! I should, maybe... maybe she's gotten better. And by the way, did I tell you what I'm going back to school for?"
"You didn't, no."
"Forensics! I'm going to be a Police Detective so I can help other girls like Bianca," Hilbert explained with sudden joy as he walked to the door. "You're right, this is going to be great; I'm going to be friends with my sister! See ya next week, doc!"
"See you! Have a good sleep!" The doctor said, smiling to herself as she left, feeling accomplished. Though…there was something else too, a weird feeling she couldn't put her finger on. Oh well.
When Hilbert returned home, he conceded to his mom that she was right; this therapist was doing a world of good. He now saw that a lot of his irrationality and anxiousness over the past few years stemmed from blaming himself for not rescuing Bianca and being unable to see that Hilda hurt just as much as he did. But that was okay because now he was going to work hard to be the best Police Detective in the world, and soon she could be just as proud of him as she was of Hilda. His mother laughed and said that, of course, she loved them both equally, and Hilbert had to bite the inside of his cheek not to instinctively reply that, of course, she probably loved the millionaire property manager daughter more than the unemployed, failed Trainer son.
He went up to Hilda's room. It was definitely Hilda's room. When he told people he was moving into his older sister's bedroom, they had a mental image of him taking down flowery posters depicting Rapidash prancing around fields and 'My Little Mudsdale' posters and replacing the smell of perfume and incense with the kind of BO that Trainers tended to accumulate during long weeks spent training in the wilderness. But this was Hilda he was talking about. The posters on the walls were of death metal bands and assorted pieces of 'artistic gorn,' as she explained to Mom one time. It smelled like mold, although Hilbert tried to tell himself that Mom would never let actual mold grow in this house. One positive aspect was that Hilda had a lovely dresser and a big TV to match. That was balanced by the bizarre way she arranged her bookcases. On either side of the queen-sized bed were massive bookshelves filled with the kind of true crime and horror books that Hilda obsessed over, presumably put there so she could lull herself to sleep with delightful tales of rape and mutilation. Hilbert resolved to pack those up and sell them; if they were still here, Hilda didn't want them. The problem was that the shelves blocked the view of the TV from the bed, and even if the shelf was moved, the bed was at a sideways angle that would require him to crane his neck to see the TV. The thought of neck cramps sustained from watching Pokemon League matches was so unappetizing that he grabbed the end of the bed and pulled it out.
Very quickly, he managed to pull the bed out, rotate it, and then slide it against the other wall so that he could face the TV comfortably. The bookshelves were still standing, and he should've been able to hop into bed and catch the Iris match he had missed because he was at therapy. Instead, something on the carpet became clearly evident.
"HIlDA KIll ME," read a set of small, scraggly, brown letters crusted into the carpet. Some part of Hilbert remembered reading a textbook and seeing dried bloodstains that had that exact look and color to them.
What came next was a bit of laughter as Hilbert kneeled next to the letters and ran his palm across them. The carpet was stuck together and flaky, and any more contact threatened to tear up the anomaly entirely. "No way, no way," Hilbert chuckled as his breath grew faint and rapid. Almost unconsciously, he brought his thumb up to his mouth and began chewing on the nail as he stood back up and began pacing. "No way, no way, no fucking way fuck no-" he ranted as he began pacing around the room. Where were the cameras? The ones in the closet from that stupid prank show all the Youngsters watched? He checked inside, and there were no cameras - why were there no cameras?
After closing the closet door, he sank into a sitting position and began to cry, unable to tear his eyes away from the bloodied words on the floor. "HIlDA KIll ME," "HIlDA KIll ME," he reread in his head over and over and over until the letters blended together and the words lost meaning. Who would write that? Who would Hilda kill? Surely not that beautiful, smiling, blond girl that everyone loved and cherished all those years ago-
Cry he did, harder and harder until the sobs turned into snotty gulps for air and comfort, and the nails on every finger were bitten down as far as they could go. None of it made sense; none of it could make sense. Bianca went missing without a trace the same day he and mom went shopping for a harness for her Munna, and nobody knew she was missing until that night when her parents tried to call her for dinner and couldn't find her. She was never in Hilbert's house. She was never with Hilda, who was also home alone. Home alone and capable of hurting someone like Bianca. Home alone with no witnesses and all of the utensils in the kitchen and all of those books on how to hurt little girls and boys and people and how people had gotten away with it-
"Fuck you," Hilbert gasped under his breath. "Fuck you, fuck you, you killed her, didn't you," he ranted to himself, almost trying to convince himself that this was all some kind of coincidence or bad dream or prank as much as he was exercising the renewed hatred. "You killed her, and she died here, didn't she? Fuck you, fuck you-"
It was a long time until Hilbert could speak coherently, let alone stand up. His body didn't feel like it weighed anything as he slid across the carpet and took out his phone, taking dozens and dozens of pictures of the spot on the carpet from all angles. Then he grabbed one of the bookshelves and slid it, taking great care to lift it slightly and set it down on top of the stained carpet without scraping anything off. Then he dropped his phone on the ground, collapsed into bed, and entered a long, dark sleep that he didn't want to end.
A few days later, Hilbert marched onto the ground floor of Hiun Tower and made his way to the front desk. He was wearing a lovely blue button-up and matching jeans with his usual hat, and his mother had told him that morning he looked better than he had in a long time. He was cleanly shaven, his hair was washed, and he smelled like someone who lived in a small town instead of someone who spent three months training in the woods just to get creamed by Lenora on live television in under five minutes. "Hi, Hilbert; I have an appointment with your building manager?" he introduced himself to the woman manning the front desk.
"HILBERTTTTT~!" A voice that sounded a little too sweet sounded out, and Hilbert turned to see Hilda quickly running down a massive set of stairs toward him. She wore a nice, clean blue suit and skirt that looked perfect and form-fitting. Her smile was wide and bright as she ran up to him and hugged him.
Hilbert tensed up and refused to hug her back, figuring if she made a point out of it, he'd just say he was nervous. "Hilda, my favorite big sis, how's the office life treating you?"
"Stressful but worth it, how about you? I know you've been attempting the Gym Challenge, but I've been too swamped just all the time to keep up with any news about it."
Hilbert laughed as he leaned on the counter. "Yeah, that dream died. I spent... eh, about two years training, and I couldn't get a single Badge. I now have a team that's stronger than any 'normal' person's and no reason to use it."
"There's always a use for Pokémon," Hilda countered, a smile flashing across her face. "Come on, I managed to get some time off for our appointment, so let's go up to my office."
Hilbert followed close behind his sister to the elevator. She seemed so normal. That same part of him that thought he might find Bianca in some cave somewhere frankly expected Hilda to be holding four knives in each hand and a grin that screamed, 'I killed the only person who's ever really loved you for who you are,' but in hindsight that was stupid. After all, that was probably just one of Hilda's morbid pranks. It's kind of like the 'Leave a Seviper in the Toilet' prank. And some part of him, in spite of how easy it would make everything, still couldn't believe that the girl he grew up with was a brutal killer at such a young age. The most obvious answer is usually the wrong one; isn't that what they said in those old mystery stories?
"Say, is there some kind of food court in this big place? I'll get you lunch," Hilbert offered.
"Please, I was gonna get lunch for you. My building, my treat," Hilda said as they reached her office. She opened the door and gestured for him to enter.
Hilbert entered an office that seemed more like a luxury suite than a place where business was done. The area was huge and decorated with a massive flatscreen television, plush furniture, a multi-monitor setup with what seemed to be a gaming PC rather than a standard PC, a bathroom, and a hallway that seemed to lead off to several other rooms. The breath was genuinely knocked out of the boy. "Holy shit, sis, it's like you live here or something."
"W-well uh… I do! Kinda… sometimes I work until the early morning, so I just… sleep here, shower here, do… other stuff here…" she said, a slight blush appearing on her face before she coughed. "Anyway! Make yourself at home while I go get a drink for you."
Hilbert sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. The default channel was a twenty-four-hour local news station currently airing an expose on a series of disappearances in Castelia. Hilbert couldn't help but chuckle. Classic Hilda, so morbid. The thought quickly turned sour. Focus, Hilbert. You weren't here to visit; you were here to figure out if your sister murdered your best friend.
He looked around at the expensive suite. Somehow, that thought was getting more absurd by the moment.
Before long, Hilda plopped a drink down in front of him, his favorite soda. "I figured you still liked this, right?" she said as she sat next to him with a similar drink.
"I... do, you remembered?" Hilbert asked as he took a sip. It was just as delicious as he remembered. "I feel bad; I completely forgot yours."
"It's fine; my tastes have changed a little," she chuckled as she sipped from the soda, then quickly set it back down. "So, you were the one that asked to see me, huh? I was so happy to get the text; I know that you're living at home with Mom, but I didn't expect you to reach out so soon."
Hilbert couldn't help but shift in his seat. Might as well get in deep. "Mom made me go to therapy, we talked, and I realized that we hadn't talked in forever. She told me that it's been years and that you've probably changed, but she still wanted me to reconnect with you. I was worried that it would seem like I was begging for money or something, but, well, I figured there was no time like the present."
Hilda stared at him for a bit before she suddenly giggled and grabbed him again, pulling him into another hug. "AWWWWW! That's so sweet! You're a great brother. I just love you so much!" she said as she practically snuggled him. "Thank you so much, y'know, it's funny; I was just thinking the other day that I regret how little we talk."
"Really?" Hilbert was suddenly taken aback. This was the same girl who had all of the success Hilbert had wanted. The thought that she could spend time with him on her mind was strange, to say the least. "I'm - I guess it sounds mean, but I'm shocked."
"No, no, I completely understand. I should've done more for you," Hilda replied while gently stroking the back of his head.
Hilbert felt himself genuinely tearing up as the first hug he'd had in years was given to him by his own sister. He hugged back before he started to giggle. "That's weird, I'm still expecting to be joy-buzzed or something-"
After some time, she pulled away and wiped away the boy's tears. "I still want to get you food, though, so… what would you like?"
"I dunno, anything would work," Hilbert decided. "Tell me, while you order online, what are you doing nowadays? Y'know, other than working. Still reading those weird crime books?"
"Yep! I'm a complete sucker for them," Hilda laughed as she got up and walked over to the PC on her desk. "It's just fascinating learning about the mindsets of killers and the utter atrocities humans can commit, you know?" Hilda typed something so rapidly into the PC that by the time she was finished, it had felt like no time had passed at all.
Hilbert couldn't help but chuckle. "I mean, I can't say I get it, but I know many people enjoy that stuff. You know me, I was always a fanatic about Pokemon battles."
"Yep! I was always impressed by the strategies you were able to come up with," she praised as she stretched and sighed.
"Yeah, I guess I could still do some amateur tournaments. For now, I'm actually going to school to be a Police Detective."
Hilda's smile froze for only a second before it slowly fell. "Ah…is that…because of…?"
Mutual acknowledgment settled over both of them. They both had memories of Bianca fresh in their head. "Yeah... her death anniversary was two weeks ago, actually. At least when I think she died. If she went missing and was in the woods, then it could've been up to two weeks, so I mark the day two weeks after she went missing as the anniversary."
"Right." Hilda seemed to think things over for a bit before speaking again. "I want to apologize for that, too. I should've helped, but I just - I was scared I might find her, and if I did that, I wouldn't like what I'd find, you know? So I just kinda sat back and hoped someone else would find her instead of me." She looked down. "But nobody did…"
Hilbert internally smacked himself. Of course, the therapist was right about Hilda's grief; it was her job to be right about that shit. "Y'know, it's, uh, kind of tasteless, but something funny happened with that. In a morbid way."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" Hilda asked, looking up and wiping away a tear that had formed in her eye.
"So, a few weeks ago, I was working at the PokeMart. It was a really nice gig. I'd Fly over there with my Unfezant, work for a few hours as a cashier, and Fly home. It was something to do, and I even got Mom a new TV with the money. So, it's the anniversary of Bianca going missing, and I'm kind of a wreck going to work, right?" Hilbert asked to make sure Hilda was following along. "So I'm keeping my head down, trying not to talk or let anyone see that I'm about to cry because I'm like one bad moment away from having a breakdown, and suddenly I hear this little giggle. So I look up, and there's this little blond girl there. I swear, Hilda, she looked so much like Bianca that I genuinely thought it was her for a second. It was like she had been plucked out of the universe that day and put in front of me, at this PokeMart, at that very moment." Hilbert inhaled and sighed before giggling a little. "So I, uh, have a fucking meltdown. I'm bawling and snotting everywhere and wheezing all over the counter while this little girl just looks absolutely terrified. My manager had to quite literally drag me out of the store, and I flew the whole way home while just crying and crying and crying. I still haven't been back - I just never went back."
"That's…w-wow…" Hilda replied. "I…I didn't know it affected you that much…"
"W-well, yeah..." Hilbert sighed. "Bianca was really all I had. I don't mean to make you feel guilty, but Cheren and I were never very close. Mom was, well, Mom. Bianca was the only person who I felt like loved me for who I was, and knowing she just died somewhere, anywhere... like that? It'll never stop hurting." Hilbert couldn't help but giggle again, in a way that Hilda was starting to identify as the 'I'm very pathetic' giggle. "I tried to date this nice science student a few years ago, but when I told her about Bianca, she said that I was more in love with a dead girl than I was with her. I'm starting to think it's true..."
"I don't think there's anything wrong with that," Hilda said as she rubbed her brother's back. "We were all devastated by her death; it was just - I guess it hit you the hardest, huh?" She sighed. "I'm pretty sure Cheren still beats himself up over it, too."
"Funny you mention Cheren," Hilbert replied. "He's actually going to be someone I visit next week." Next week, Hilbert thought, after I determine if I'm genuinely willing to accuse my sister of murder.
"Tell him I said hi when you do then!" Hilda said with a bright smile.
The food arrived, and the two siblings chatted idly for a bit longer over lunch until Hilbert finally worked up the courage. "Oh, by the way, I found the prank you left behind in your room."
"Huh?" Hilda asked as she took a bite of her food.
"Y-y'know? The one with the nail polish on the carpet?"
Hilda stared blankly at him for a while. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. Did somebody spill nail polish on my carpet? That stuff is a bitch to get out," she continued before taking another bite.
Hilbert giggled with an unhealthy amount of giddiness because if he didn't, he would've begun strangling Hilda right there in this expensive penthouse suite in this shitty skyscraper that was run by an evil, lying bitch who murdered children. "O-oh, yeah, it must've been an old spill. It was kind of out of the way. I thought it was a prank because, well, it looked like a penis."
Hilda began to cackle. "Yeah, that might've been done by me then, hehehehe!"
Hilbert stood up and exhaled deeply. "Well, I'm sorry to go, but I must get home. I have an assignment to do. It's on, uh, catching serial killers. I'll stay in touch, okay?"
"Oh! Okay! It was nice seeing you again!" she called as she stood up and hugged her brother again.
Hilbert did his best to hug back, but even Hilda noticed that he withdrew somewhat suddenly and left the penthouse with just as much speed.
As soon as he was gone, Hilda rested back on her couch and smiled. Hilbert was such a wonderful brother. Who else would take time out of their lives during such change to just spend the evening chatting with their sister? It was so lovely for him to do that and take her away from a busy and stressful day that she began to feel bad. Not only was she not there for him all these years, but she could see now that killing Bianca had left some deep scars on her brother. Hilda frowned when she recalled the meek smile he wrapped over his misery as he told her that story about the girl in the supermarket. She didn't feel bad about killing Bianca; the only person she ever regretted killing was Cody, although she'd never admit it. But she did hate how miserable Hilbert obviously was. She resolved to do something nice for him. So nice that it would repair the damage the years and the tears had done to him and chase away that unfamiliar sense of guilt and shame that started to seep into her thoughts the more she thought about it. But that would come another day. She looked over to the clock on the wall and smiled. It had been a good long while since she had played with someone, and tonight, that was going to change.
