Ren let out a soft sigh as he stared blankly towards the ceiling of his new room, the unfamiliar bed creaking under him and a cool ocean breeze gently blowing through the slightly open window above him. His usual illusioned appearance had been dispelled while he let his newfound powers rest for a bit, letting his dark gray and maroon fur fall around him like a tousled nest. He wasn't too worried about Kukui or Rockruff suddenly bursting into his room, since it was fairly late, and he needed to rest his illusions so he could put enough energy into it to last the night.

It had been two days since Ren had accepted the Professor's proposal of boarding at his place as a student. He hadn't been enrolled at the Pokémon School officially as of yet, but Kukui said he would introduce him to the principal over the weekend. Ren had been trying his best to settle into his new temporary home, but it had admittedly been a struggle. That overwhelming feeling that he was so out of place had been weighing on him heavily, and the nightmares hadn't completely stopped either. At least he was able to sleep on an actual bed now, and his fur coat had started to regain its color after caring for it in Kukui's shower.

'… Hopefully he won't notice how low his fur shampoo supply is,' Ren mused. He didn't realize just how tough thoroughly washing his entire coat of fur would be… Morgana must have it rough.

A somber chuckle escaped his maw at the thought of his team. His worry for his friends had not lessened even a smidge as the days have gone by, a pit renewing itself in his stomach whenever his mind turned to them, wondering if they were doing okay… if they were even alive. He was especially worried for someone like Futaba, who relied on him so much to do things outside of her comfort zone. If she had woken up in this world just as he did… he needed to find her soon.

"I just…" He muttered, his voice coming out as a low growl. "Hope you all are hanging in there. I'll find you as soon as I can, I promise."

He could only hope they all got as lucky as he did and found some good people… minus the now-healing wound in his side, of course.

Ren's muzzle scrunched up as he let out a yawn, subconsciously stretching his arms out as a wave of tiredness settled down on him. It was probably time he got some sleep… even when Morgana wasn't here, he'd gotten used to the sleep schedule he enforced. With a soft flash of light, Ren let his illusion wrap around his frame before settling down onto his pillow for bed, passing out quickly.

The first thing that greeted Ren when he climbed the stairs up to the main floor of the house was a smell that he dearly missed: coffee. His sensitive nose twitched under his illusion as that familiar fragrance made itself known, sniffing the air instinctively before smiling a bit. "I didn't know Kukui was a coffee drinker…" With how much sleep he's had to catch up on these last couple of days, he'd usually wake up when the professor had already gone to the Pokémon School to teach, so he never got to see him in the mornings until today.

The second thing, of course, was Rockruff quickly bounding over to him with a happy bark, his tail wagging wildly behind him. "Ren! Good morning! Do you wanna play with me some more today?" The excitable dog exclaimed, panting as he bent down towards the floor.

Ren couldn't keep a grin off of his face as he bent down, giving the top of Rockruff's head a rub. "Hey, bud. I think Kukui wants to do something today, so maybe later alright?" He said, knowing that the professor might want to go get him enrolled today now that it was Saturday.

Of course, that did nothing to deter Rockruff's excitable mood, nodding quickly. "Oh, okay! What does he want to do?"

Before Ren could respond to the small dog, Kukui's voice rang out from the kitchen. "Alola, Ren! Good to see you up and awake," Ren glanced up to see the grinning face of the professor, frying up some eggs in a pan. "You sleep alright last night?"

"I slept okay, yeah," Ren said as he gave Rockruff a last little rub before standing back up, hands in his illusory pockets. He didn't have any nightmares, at least. "I smelled coffee down there so I thought I'd come up."

"Oh, did you? Hopefully I didn't wake you up too early," Kukui replied as he set the pan down and reached over, grabbing a pot filled with dark coffee. "But we've got a big day ahead, so I thought I'd hit the both of us with a Quick Attack of breakfast."

Ren tried not to give the pot a look of disdain as Kukui poured himself a cup. After over half a year of training under Sojiro, he had turned into what his friends would call a bit of a 'coffee snob'. There was nothing wrong with brewing coffee in a plain old pot, of course, but Ren greatly preferred the ways that Sojiro taught him, which were the pour-over method and the siphon. He'd really have to show Kukui what a real cup of coffee was like sometime…

He still wanted some, though. Coffee was coffee at this point.

"Is it alright if I have a cup, Professor?" He asked as he sat down at the dining table.

Kukui turned and gave him a surprised glance, pausing mid scoop in plating some fried eggs and rice. "You're a coffee drinker, Ren?"

"Yeah. I, uh… used to work in a café, so…" Ren replied after a pause. He'd never been super comfortable with letting details about his life slip like that, but he was trying to put more trust in Kukui.

"Oh, really? Sounds like you know your way around a good cup of coffee, then." Kukui said as he poured another one for Ren. "I didn't peg you as someone who liked the stuff. Do you want any milk or sugar in yours?"

"Just black is fine," Ren shook his head. "I didn't really like it before I started working there, but… the, uh, owner of the place helped me learn to enjoy it a lot more."

Of course, Sojiro did a lot more than just teach him how to appreciate a good cup of coffee, but he'd rather not dwell on that right now. This was no time to get mopey.

"Well color me surprised!" Kukui said as he walked over with Ren's breakfast and coffee, setting them down in front of him. "Yknow, if you've got the experience, there's a bunch of cafés out here that could use the help if you want some extra spending money."

'Huh… not a bad idea, actually,' Ren thought to himself as he scooped a forkful of rice and eggs into his mouth. Since his stay was going to be long term for the foreseeable future, he would need some money. "I'll keep that in mind, thanks. So what's going on today?"

Kukui sat down across from him with a grin after giving Rockruff his own meal. "Well, now that I've got a free day, we could get some things done. You wanna come down to the market with me? I've gotta grab some groceries and I figured you could pick out some new clothes to wear. How's that sound?"

Ren blinked, looking up at Kukui with a lightly surprised expression. "Oh, uh… are you sure?"

"Of course! What you've got now definitely doesn't look bad, but trust me when I say that black clothes and Alola don't mix," He said with a chuckle. "I wouldn't wanna make you walk to school under the sun in all black. And don't worry about paying me back or anything, think of it as a… welcoming gift!"

Ren hummed and glanced away, thinking to himself. He wasn't usually one to readily accept free handouts from someone if he didn't have a way to pay them back, but… he supposed that just this once it wouldn't hurt. He'll just set aside some money once he actually gets some so he can repay the professor.

… There was also the fact that he technically didn't physically need to wear any clothes, but for the sake of appearances he'll keep that tidbit to himself.

"Sure," Ren nodded, a soft smile tugging at his mouth. "Thank you, Kukui."

"No problem, Ren! Now, let's finish up breakfast so we can get going. I wanna beat the crowds down at the market." Kukui said as he ate through his own meal.

Ren nodded, going to take another bite before an excited bark cut through the air. "Ooh, ooh! I wanna come too! Can I? Can I?" Rockruff yipped as he jumped up against the edge of Kukui's seat, his tail wagging excitedly as if in a flurry.

"Woahoho! What's got you all Worked Up, Rockruff?" Kukui said with a laugh as he gave the excitable dog a gentle pet on the head.

Ren couldn't help but chuckle a bit, too. If there was one highlight in his stay at the professor's house so far, it was Rockruff. When he needed a break from cleaning up his new room or checking out the books down in the lab over the last couple of days, the dog was more than happy to keep him company. It was honestly… really nice. It kind of reminded him of having Morgana around.

"I think he wants to come with us, Professor." Ren said.

Kukui blinked and glanced over at Ren. "Is that right? Well, if Rockruff wants to come, I don't see why not."

"Yayyy! Thank you, Ren!" Rockruff barked out as he bounded over and eagerly rubbed his collar against Ren's pant leg.

Kukui watched the two of them with an intrigued look on his face, humming to himself in thought.

'Perfect, looks like we made it before the afternoon rush,' Kukui thought to himself as he walked past a couple of stalls, breathing in that fresh Alolan air. He always liked coming down here on the weekends, saying hello to all the shopkeepers and sometimes he'd even run into one of his students (usually Mallow and her family). Most of the time it would just be him and sometimes Rockruff making a quick shopping run, but today was definitely a bit different compared to those days.

The professor glanced behind himself, watching as Ren took in the sights with Rockruff staying close to his side. 'Honestly, this whole week's been something I never could've seen coming…'

If there was one word that Kukui would use to describe having Ren as a boarder, it would be… interesting. Just from these first couple of days, it was clear to Kukui that he was a good kid. He had already cleaned up that spare room better than the professor ever could have, and thrown himself back into studying using the books down in his lab. He was on the quieter side when it came to teens his age, but considering his situation… he honestly couldn't blame the kid, and he wasn't gonna force him to start talking more, either.

What's piqued his interest the most, however, is just how quickly Rockruff has grown attached to his newest roommate. The small puppy had always been friendly towards anyone he brought around, but with Ren it was almost like something had… clicked. Even just this morning, Ren had known exactly what Rockruff wanted at the table, and only after a couple of days of being around him. Kukui had initially been a tad worried about getting Ren a Pokémon before he got enrolled in the school, but it was quite obvious to him what the solution to that was now. It was about time that Rockruff got himself a real trainer.

Kukui put his hands in the pockets of his lab coat as he let the two of them catch up. "How're you holding up, Ren? Feeling okay?" He asked once the teen was next to him, wanting to make sure he wasn't too fatigued considering how exhausted and sleep-deprived he had been a couple days ago.

"… Honestly, not too bad at all." Ren replied after a small pause, still looking around the market with intrigue. "It feels nice to get out and stretch my legs again. I've… never been to a market like this before."

That made Kukui smile, giving Ren a small pat on the shoulder. "Usually it's a lot busier, but we're beating the crowds today. Let's go find you some new clothes first before we hit the grocery stalls, alright?"

His new boarder nodded in response, with Rockruff agreeing with a sharp yip below. "Lead the way, Professor."

"With pleasure," Kukui said, knowing where a couple of nice vendors were located. It didn't take long to find them, a couple of stands lined up in a row with plenty of shirts and shorts for the weather lined up on hangers and folded neatly on the tables in front. "Alola!" He called as they approached.

The older man in front beamed and waved back. "Well, Alola, Professor Kukui! What brings you over today?"

"Just running some early morning errands before the crowds hit," He gestured over to Ren who was looking over the selections, a contemplative look on his face. "Figured my new student I'm boarding could use some clothes that suited Alola a bit better."

The man glanced over at Ren and chuckled, nodding in understanding. "Ah, I see what you mean. Black on black won't do so well here, especially during the summer. So, young man, does anything catch your eye?"

Ren hummed thoughtfully, his eyes taking over the different styles before he stopped and settled on one of them hanging from the stall. It was a plain-white collared button-up with a small black palm tree over the breast pocket. "Hm… I like the look of this," he said as he gave it a scrutinizing look. Seemed like he took his style choices pretty seriously.

"I think it'd suit you pretty well," Kukui said with a nod of approval. "Anything else to go with it?"

Without hesitation, Ren grabbed a pair of black shorts he'd been eying that had red outlines on the pockets. "Definitely these."

Kukui shook his head with a chuckle. At least he knew the kid had a favorite color. "Still sticking with black, huh?"

Ren folded up his choices and gave him a fox-like grin. "Black's the most stylish color out there."

"Hah! Well, I guess I can't argue with you there," Kukui said. At least it was a pair of shorts instead of long black dress pants like he was wearing now. "As long as you're happy with them, then I don't mind getting them for you."

Ren nodded. "Thank you again, Professor, I really do appreciate it."

"Ruff! Rockruff, ruff!" Rockruff barked up from his position next to Ren's leg, making him chuckle a bit and bend down with the clothes he'd chosen out. "You think they look good too, huh?"

'… Yeah,' Kukui smiled as he watched the interaction, crossing his arms over his chest. 'I think he's gonna do just fine here.'

The rest of the shopping trip went just as smooth as Kukui said it would. After getting him his new clothes and a couple extras for laundry days and such, the professor led Ren to a bunch of different stalls selling fruits, vegetables, berries, breads, you name it. It was a very strange experience for Ren, seeing tons of different fruits that looked similar to ones back in his world but were something completely different here.

"Pinap berries..?" He muttered to himself as he gently picked one up and looked it over. Currently, Kukui was busy picking out some produce over at another stall, so Ren busied himself with checking out the market a bit. "It's like a pineapple but… not…"

"Wow, these all look so yummy!" Rockruff yipped from below, also taking a look at the different berry setups. "Oran berries are my favorite, though."

"Oran, huh? Maybe I could convince Kukui to buy some for you," Ren replied as he set the Pinap berry back.

Rockruff gasped excitedly, his tail wagging furiously. "Would you?! Oh, you're the best, Ren! You should get some for yourself, too!"

Ren couldn't help but chuckle a bit as he picked Rockruff off the floor, ruffling the fur on his head. "Honestly, I might… if they're anything like those Sitrus berries I had in the forest, then I'm sure I'd like them." Inwardly, he wondered if these berries had restorative properties like the ones Oranguru had given him.

He paused in his thoughts when he noticed a familiar head of green hair standing a couple of stalls away, speaking to another girl with long blonde hair and a large, frilly white hat. 'Huh… didn't think I'd run into her today,' Ren thought as he set Rockruff back down gently, going over to say hello. He might as well show her that he's doing okay, after she had worried about him so much and kept him company during his reading sessions.

"Alola," he greeted, still trying to get used to the foreign saying. "It's good to see you, Mallow."

Mallow froze for a second before turning to face him, her eyes wide with surprise. Even Bounsweet seemed a bit shocked to see him, the small Pokémon mirroring its trainer's look. "Ren? Oh my gosh, it's so good to see you too!" She exclaimed as she moved to wrap Ren in a hug, taking him a bit by surprise. "You look tons better! Finally got some sleep, huh?"

"Uh… yeah," Ren said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "Sorry again for worrying you back at the school."

"Don't worry about it, that's what friends do!" Mallow waved him off. "I was still pretty worried the next day so I asked Professor Kukui how you were doing, and he told me that you were gonna be staying with him for a while because you… had nowhere else to go. I'm sorry I didn't try and help you sooner, Ren…"

"I-It's not a big deal, really!" Ren said quickly. She had no way of knowing about his situation, and besides, it's because of her that Kukui offered to help him out in the first place. "You did more than enough for me, and I'm doing… better now."

If he was being honest… he wasn't, deep down. But he didn't like having people worry about him.

Mallow let out a sigh of relief. "Well, that's good… I also asked the Professor if I could come and see you, but he told me that you probably, uh, needed some space for a bit."

… Huh… He didn't know that. That was pretty thoughtful of Kukui.

"Yeah, I just… needed some time to get some sleep and get my head straight," Ren said. He was still pretty stressed over worrying about where his friends could be, but he was feeling loads better compared to a couple days ago.

"Um… Mallow? Who's your friend?" The blonde girl suddenly spoke, holding her hands in front of her.

Mallow blinked before slapping her hand against her forehead. "Duh, I totally forgot to introduce you! Lillie, this is Ren, I met him in the library at school a week ago! And Ren, this is Lillie! She's one of my classmates."

Ren held out one of his hands with a smile. "It's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you, too!" Lillie said, returning the smile as she shook his hand lightly.

"Lillie's super smart, she knows all kinds of things about Pokémon!" Mallow praised. "I don't think there's a single Pokémon on the island that she doesn't know a fun fact about!"

"Oh, well, I just… think Pokémon are really interesting is all! There's so much to learn about them, and-"

"Oh, hi green girl! Hi big hat girl!" Rockruff suddenly barked out as he ran over from whatever he was distracted by.

Ren would've laughed at how he had dubbed the two girls, if Lillie hadn't let out a very terrified scream and jumped back a couple feet once the dog had approached. Her eyes were wide with terror and her entire body seemed rigid with fear as she stared down at Rockruff, shivering slightly.

"Ah, Lillie it's okay, it's just Rockruff!" Mallow said, trying to calm her down. "You know, Professor Kukui's Pokémon?"

Lillie's breathing was heaving, almost hyperventilating as she slowly but surely calmed herself down, sweat rolling down her face. "Hahh… Hahh… R-Right, yeah… Sorry about that… He just surprised me…"

Ren didn't really know how to approach this. "Are… are you alright, Lillie?" He asked, not sure what could've triggered a reaction like that.

"Oh, right, I forgot to mention…" Mallow started, looking apologetically at Lillie. "Lillie is… afraid of Pokémon. She's fine around Pokémon she knows, but when they touch her or one of them surprises her she can have a pretty bad reaction."

"B-But I still love them! They're very fascinating…" Lillie trailed off, adjusting her hat a bit. "… From a research point of view, at least…"

"Ah… That makes sense. I'm sorry about that," Ren said. He couldn't imagine what that would be like in a place like this, where Pokémon were quite literally everywhere. He hasn't been able to walk down a single street without seeing at least a few of them.

… He wondered how she'd react to finding out that he actually was a Pokémon.

Rockruff whined, looking guiltily at the floor. "I-I'm sorry… Did I do something wrong?"

"You're fine, bud," Ren said softly as he kneeled down to pet him. The dog's tail almost instantly started swaying when his palm touched his head. "Just keep in mind to try not to surprise her if you see her again, alright?"

"Okay… I will," Rockruff nodded, leaning into the pets and sitting on his haunches. "I'll be extra careful."

'You are too adorable for your own good, Rockruff…' Ren thought to himself with a little chuckle, giving the dog another ruffle on the head before standing back up.

"Okay… I'm alright now…" Lillie breathed, flattening out her dress a bit as she spoke. "S-So sorry about that, Ren… I've been trying to get better about being around Pokémon."

Ren reassured her with a smile. "It's alright, really. You'll get there eventually."

That made Lillie's shoulders sag with relief, a soft sigh escaping her. "Th-Thank you…"

There was a brief lull in the conversation before Mallow spoke up again, her hands on her hips. "Now that we've calmed down a bit, what're you doing at the market today, Ren? Is the Professor here too?"

"Ah, yeah, he's getting some groceries. He said he didn't need help so I'm just taking a look around," Ren said, glancing back towards where he last saw Kukui. "After this… I think we're gonna go to the Pokémon School so I can get enrolled."

That definitely got both of their attention, the two of them looking a bit shocked. "Wait, you're enrolling in our class?! That's so awesome!" Mallow exclaimed with no small amount of excitement, Bounsweet also looking pleased.

"We haven't had a new classmate in a while, so it'll be nice to have someone else to talk to!" Lillie added, looking much happier than she was a minute ago. "What made you wanna enroll?"

Well, he could say that he really enjoyed the look of the campus and wanted to enroll himself, or that it was either join the school or slowly starve to death in the forest. Before he could reply, however…

"Guess the Meowth's out of the bag, huh?" Kukui's voice suddenly said from behind him, as the professor's hand clapped onto his shoulder.

"Professor Kukui!" Lillie and Mallow intoned at the same time.

"Alola, you two! Didn't think I'd bump into anybody today." He greeted. He was holding a bag that looked like it was filled with a bunch of groceries… guess he's been busy.

"So is it true that Ren's gonna be joining our class, Professor?" Mallow asked.

"Weeeell… I wanted to keep it a secret for a bit longer, but yes," Kukui nodded. "Ren will be boarding with me while he takes classes at the school. It's good that he's already meeting his soon-to-be classmates!"

"That's so great! I can't wait to have you meet everyone, Ren!" Mallow exclaimed, eyes shining. "We're gonna have to throw you a big welcome party!"

"A party?" Ren repeated, a bit surprised by her enthusiasm. The only kind of welcome he got back at Shujin were dark looks and bad rumors.

Of course, Rockruff liked the sound of that idea, barking excitedly. "That sounds like fun! I wanna come too!"

"You know, that's not a bad idea, Mallow!" Kukui said, snapping and pointing at her. "It'd be a good way for Ren to get to know everyone, too. Why don't you figure something out after his first day?"

"Mhm, I will!" Mallow said with an enthusiastic nod, before turning to Lillie. "Do you wanna help, Lillie?"

"Of course! It'd be my pleasure," she replied.

… Yknow, Ren had spent so much time studying this new world that he really hasn't done anything to enjoy himself in what was essentially Hawaii. Why not let himself relax at a small party?

He smiled appreciatively at them both. "I'm looking forward to it."

Meeting Principal Oak had been an… experience, to say the very least.

Once the two of them said their goodbyes to Ren's future classmates, Professor Kukui had led the way back to the school as the sun reached its peak in the sky, so Ren could finally get enrolled in the Pokémon School and start classes next week. There were still a fair amount of students around the campus, but it was definitely a more lax experience because of the weekend. Soon they made it to the Principal's office, where they met one (very eccentric) Samson Oak.

"So this is the young trainer that you've been telling me about, hm Kukui?" Samson said as he looked Ren over from across the table in his office, an intrigued grin on his face. It made Ren just a tad nervous, like he was being scrutinized under his illusion. He calmed himself by gently rubbing Rockruff's fur, who was cozied up next to him on the couch.

"Well, he's not one yet…" Kukui started, standing over to the side with his hands in his coat pockets. "But I have no doubt that Ren's going to make a fantastic Pokémon trainer."

"Oh, just starting out eh? Well, we try our hardest to make classes a Comfey experience for new trainers!" The principal explained enthusiastically. "And even if being a battling type of trainer isn't what you're after, I'm sure you'll find our lessons useful!"

"… I, yeah, that sounds great," Ren said after a pause, a bit taken aback by just how eager this guy was. "Though I… think I am interested in learning how to battle."

That only made Samson's grin widen further, looking over at Kukui. "So that's why you want him in your class so badly! Interested in putting your old battle knowledge to good use with someone besides Kiawe, eh?"

Ren blinked a bit, slightly confused at Samson's words. Was Kukui more familiar with Pokémon battling than anything? He had read about gym challenges and the Pokémon league during his research… Maybe he had challenged them at some point, but if he remembered correctly, Alola didn't have a league like other regions.

Kukui looked sheepish, shrugging a bit. "Well, I certainly wouldn't mind a chance to help another student get into battling. I am researching Pokémon moves, after all!"

"Ha ha ha, you know I'm just Sinistea-sing you, Professor! I know I already told you over the phone, but If you think he'll be a good fit here, then I have no objections." Samson said with a firm nod, looking back over to Ren. "You still want to be officially enrolled?"

Ren couldn't help but smile a bit, nodding. He had issues with trusting authority figures like a principal, but prepared to Kobayakawa, he seemed much easier to talk with… despite his eccentricity. "Yes, I'd love to."

Samson firmly clapped his hands together. "Excellent! Though, we do have a slight rule before that. Before trainers are allowed to enroll, they need to have at least one Pokémon to their name."

"Oh." Well, that presented a problem. Ren didn't have a Pokémon, and he only barely knew how to get one from the books he read. He wasn't sure that him being one counted, either. "That's, uh…"

"And that's where I come in," Kukui suddenly said, walking over and kneeling down in front of him. "I'm a pretty firm believer that Pokémon are excellent judges of character, and that if they like being around you then you're usually an okay person. I've told you already that Rockruff isn't my Pokémon, but I know him well enough to know that he already trusts you more than he ever did me."

Rockruff perked up at Kukui's words, his ears twitching as he stared up at the professor. "Kukui…?"

He smiled down at the dog. "I've seen how the two of you interact, and it's pretty clear to me that he would make the perfect partner to start your journey as a trainer."

Rockruff let out a soft gasp and Ren's eyes widened once he realized what Kukui meant. "Professor, are you sure..?"

Kukui simply held up a hand to make him wait for a moment, before reaching down into one of his pockets and procuring a bright red-and-white Pokéball. "When we were back at the market, I bought this for you. I'm sure Rockruff would love to be your very first Pokémon."

Ren gingerly took the ball in his hands, staring down at it. The smooth metal was cool to the touch, the button on the front just waiting to be pressed. For some reason, he felt a surge of apprehension and excitement well up into him, like he was staring up at Kamoshida's Palace for the first time again. It was like the mark of a brand new journey for him… one that he had no idea where it would take him.

Rockruff also stared up at it, his tail wagging behind him as his excitement grew. "Do you… really wanna be my trainer, Ren?" He yipped, jumping up against his side.

Ren glanced over to Rockruff, the two of them looking into each other's eyes for a moment. "Rockruff… if you want to, I'd be more than happy to be your trainer." He said with a smile, holding out the Pokéball towards the dog.

"Yes, yes, I really want to! I'm gonna get so strong for you!" Rockruff barked with conviction, before touching the ball with his nose. The Pokéball opened with a click, and Ren watched as Rockruff was sucked inside the contraption. The ball shook gently in his hands. Once. Twice. Three times.

Ding!

Kukui burst out into a large grin, obviously very overjoyed for him. "Congratulations on your first capture, Ren! You two are gonna make a great team!"

"That was sweeter than a Slurpuff! You're gonna fit in just fine here, young man." Samson added, also looking quite happy.

Ren looked down at the ball for a moment more before grinning. "… Thank you both. I'm gonna try my best."

It was time for a new beginning.

Back again with another update! I hope you all enjoyed, thank you so much for reading!