Author's note: Heyoooo!

This drabble-ish one-shot's dedicated to VGS2, since I recently remembered something he said a long time ago, and it inspired me to write this. XP

Hope you enjoy it!

Also, stay safe from Corona-chan, peeps!

Best mistake of the day: "for being starts one day."

(So philosophical! o.o Indeed, being does start one day. And, on another, it ends...)

Family Matters

"(So you have no idea who your parents are?)" Buneary asked.

Piplup, who was standing beside her, turned away from the practice battle between Ash and Dawn that they were watching.

"(Nope!)" he replied. "(All of us piplup were raised together, for being starters one day. So we never saw our parents.)" He huffed, putting his flippers on his hips. "(Not that it mattered. Our eggs were laid en masse to be starters.)"

Buneary giggled. "(I guess so. Were you all related?)"

"(Probably not all of us... but we were all raised together, so we were basically siblings.)"

"(Well, that's cool.)" She couldn't imagine having so many 'siblings'.

"(I was the best one, though. Of course.)"

She giggled again. "(Sure, sure...)"

He huffed. "(I was!)" He glanced at the battle briefly, before looking back at her. "(What about you? I bet you weren't raised in a breeding centre.)"

"(Nope! I had a mom, a dad and a little brother!)"

He smiled. "(Oh, cool! Were they all buneary and lopunny?)"

"(Well, my mom's a lopunny! My dad's a raichu!)"

Piplup paused, looking surprised. "(... A raichu?)"

"(Yep!)"

"(Huh... and your little brother?)"

"(He's a pichu! Or... he was a pichu...)" Her mood dipped ever-so slightly. "(He got caught a long time ago by a trainer, and I haven't seen him since.)" She gave a wider smile, partially to not let herself feel down. "(But he's probably fine. Might even be a pikachu now!)"

Piplup stared at her. "(... Huh.)" He folded his arms. "(Don't you think that's weird? Falling for a pikachu when your dad's a raichu, and your brother's... probably also a pikachu?)"

She paused, contemplating it. "(Well... I did, at first... but it's not like we're related. So it's fine, right?)" She beamed. "(Not all pikachu are family, Piplup.)"

He huffed again. "(Yeah, well... I guess not. It's just weird when I grew up with nothing but piplup.)"

"(Well, that's you, isn't it? Plus, you said you probably weren't all siblings, anyway!)"

"(True, true...)"

He glanced across the battlefield. She followed his gaze to see Ash's pikachu standing with his teammates, watching the practice battle.

After a few moments, the yellow mouse caught her eye and waved. Beaming brightly, she waved back at him.

A few days later, Buneary was eating breakfast. Beside her, Pikachu looked like he was in heavy contemplation the entire time he was eating. She couldn't help but wonder what was on his mind.

After the pellets were all eaten, and the bowls were cleared away, she thought about asking Pikachu if anything was wrong. He surprised her, however, by approaching her first.

"(Hey, uh, Buneary?)" he asked.

She beamed at him. Any issues he was having, she'd be happy to help him overcome them.

"(Yeah?)" she replied.

"(Can I... talk to you in private for a minute?)"

She blinked, surprised. "(Oh, uh... sure.)"

He waved for her to follow him. Confused, she did as he asked, until they were behind some bushes and out of sight.

She turned to him, now more concerned than ever. Was this about what he'd been thinking about during breakfast?

"(What is it?)" she asked.

"(Well... Piplup told me about your family the other day.)"

She perked up, interested. "(Oh yeah?)"

"(Yeah. That you have a...)" He glanced at the sky in thought. "(A raichu dad... a lopunny mom and a... pichu brother? Right?)"

She smiled. "(That's right!)"

"(Huh...)" He folded his arms, looking away contemplatively. "(That's a really weird coincidence...)"

She blinked. "(Huh? It is?)"

"(Yeah...)" He looked back at her, his expression oddly serious. "(... I have a raichu dad and a lopunny mom, too...)"

Her eyes sharply widened. "(Really?!)"

"(Yeah. Plus...)" His mouth twisted awkwardly. "(I have an older sister. Who's a buneary.)"

Her eyes widened even more. "(What?! Really?!)"

"(Yeah.)"

"(Wow...)" She paused. "(But... But wait... are there lopunny in Kanto?)"

"(Well, no. That's the thing.)" He glanced down at the grass. "(I'm originally from Sinnoh.)"

She felt her heart skip a beat in her chest. "(S... Sinnoh?)"

"(Yeah... but I was caught by a trainer when I was still a pichu. Then that trainer took me to Kanto.)" He pulled another awkward face as he glanced sideways. "(Things happened and I... ended up in Professor Oak's lab.)"

She couldn't think straight. "(S... So...)"

"(I think...)" He turned his gaze back onto her. "(I think you're my sister, Buneary.)"

Her brain froze.

She put her paws to her head, unable to comprehend this as she stared down at the grass. He was her brother? Her brother?! Her little baby brother that she'd played with and called cute, and promised to protect, until a trainer had taken him away? That brother?!

Oh god... Oh god, oh god... Oh god, oh god!

So the guy she'd been crushing on for the past few months was her brother?!

Her head spun in her paws. This was wrong. This was so wrong!

... Though it kind of made sense, when she thought about it. Her little brother had been very cute. Whenever she used to praise him, he'd get adorably bashful.

He'd also been kind and gentle, and had never liked seeing their parents squabble.

Not to mention, he'd been fairly strong for his age. Hadn't Pikachu said something about being good at fighting from a young age?!

... Oh god, he really was him, wasn't he?!

How had she never noticed?! They were so similar, and yet she'd never once considered that they could be the same person!

She had a crush on her brother... Oh god!

This was wrong. So wrong. So very, very wrong!

She felt like her brain was melting. She couldn't believe she'd let this happen! She was a terrible older sister! The worst older sister!

She looked up at Pikachu, whose arms were still folded, his mouth still curled awkwardly.

... She had to fix this. She had to make this right. Sure, she'd flirted with Pikachu many a time, but she couldn't do that anymore. She had to be a good big sister.

In fact... if he'd figured out her feelings already, then...

Oh no! He was probably feeling even more awkward now, knowing that his big sister had a crush on him! It wasn't like she'd tried to be subtle about it, or anything! She just hadn't said it aloud yet!

Oh god, oh god, oh god... What would her mom and dad think if they ever found out?!

That was it. From now on, she had to cast aside her feelings. Cast aside her desires of any kind of future with him. Occasionally, she'd entertained the thought of settling down one day, and maybe, just maybe, having kids in the far future. But certainly no time soon, and only if he ever returned her feelings first.

Now, though, the thought made her stomach churn. He was her flesh and blood. Her cute little brother. Any kids they may have had would've probably been horribly malformed. Maybe even barely living. Oh god, she could picture it...

Not only that, but she'd gone against her promise of protecting him. Being there for him. Being a good big sister that would help guide him through life!

... No. She wasn't going to do this anymore. As much as she liked him, she couldn't afford to like him like this anymore. From now on, she would be the good big sister that she'd always promised to be!

She opened her mouth to say something.

The corner of Pikachu's mouth twitched. After a moment, it curled upwards. A puff of air escaped. Then he burst out laughing.

"(April Fools', Buneary!)" He doubled over in laughter.

Her brain froze a second time. She stared unblinkingly at him.

"(... Huh...?)" she finally asked.

"(Yeah. It's April first!)" He chuckled a bit more, before unfolding his arms. "(Man, I didn't think that would work so well... But yeah, no, I came from Kanto. My parents are both pikachu, and I don't have any brothers or sisters. I was just messing with ya.)"

She continued to stare at him.

He hesitated at the look on her face. "(Um...)" He shrugged awkwardly. "(Gotcha?)"

Her brain finally jumpstarted again. What followed was a typhoon of emotions, all washing over one another at once.

Disbelief. Anger. Relief. Hurt.

Her eyes began to water, and her bottom lip trembled.

Pikachu jolted, his eyes wide. "(Ah!)" He flailed his arms around in a panic. "(Oh god, I'm sorry! I didn't think you'd get upset!)"

She whined, squeezing her eyes shut. She felt the tears dribble down her face.

"(Oh god, no, I'm sorry! It was just a joke, Buneary! Just... Just a harmless prank!)"

She whined again, swinging a paw at him. She felt it connect with his arm. "(You jerk!)" Putting her paws to her eyes, she cried into them. "(I... I... You made me think I was crushing on my brother!)"

There was a long stretch of silence.

Eventually, Pikachu spoke rather softly. "(... So it was true, then.)"

She sniffled, moving her paws out of the way to look at him. "(H-Huh?)"

His face had a red tint to it as he looked away. "(... Cr... Crushing on me... I mean...)"

She froze. Oh god, she'd said it aloud! Whining again, she went back to covering her face. Great, now she was upset and embarrassed!

After a few more moments of silence, Pikachu spoke up again. "(... I kind of... suspected as much, but... I wanted... you know, confirmation first. Since, uh, you never really, like... outright told me.)"

Yet again, she whined, unable to say anything else.

Pikachu gave a light sigh. "(I'm sorry for the prank. I thought it'd be funny, but... well, it clearly really upset you...)" He paused. "(... Probably because of the crush...)"

Sniffling, she wiped her eyes. "(Mmm-hmm...)"

He sighed again, heavier this time. "(... I meant nothing by it, though. In fact, well...)" He paused. "(It's, um... nice to hear that you have a crush on me.)"

She paused, her eyes widening as she looked at him. "(... Huh?)"

"(Y-Yeah.)" He glanced away, his face redder than before. "(I've... never had a girl crush on me before, so it's... nice. Especially since, well... since it's you.)"

Her heart leapt in her chest. "(... R... Really?)"

"(Yeah.)" He turned his gaze back to her. "(So, uh... again, sorry about the prank.)"

She sniffled again, wiping away the last of her tears. After a moment, the absurdity of the situation hit her, as well as great relief and even happiness. She giggled.

"(It's okay. It's kinda funny, actually. You got me real good.)"

Pikachu visibly perked up. "(I did?)"

"(Yeah. You're a lot like my little brother, actually. More than I realised.)"

He blinked. "(... I am?)"

"(Yeah. Hence why it was so easy to trick me!)" She giggled again.

He relaxed, smiling. "(Heh. Well, sorry about that.)"

"(It's okay! I forgive you~! Though I'll have to get you back next time! Maybe even later today!)"

His eyes lit up in excitement. "(You're gonna prank me?)" He laughed. "(I look forward to it!)"

"(You'd better~!)" She paused for thought. "(... Soooo, am I okay to keep flirting with you?)" She smiled cheekily. "(Brother?)"

A puff of amused air escaped his mouth. "(Yeah, sure. You can... keep doing that.)" He glanced away, smiling bashfully. "(... Sister.)"

She couldn't help but giggle again. He was such a doofus.

The End