Yumi took her time getting to the clubroom at lunchtime on Tuesday. She wanted to make sure that everyone else had arrived by the time she did. She strode down the hall with intent, her eyebrows furrowed and gaze focused. When she opened the door to the small computer lab, there was only one person present.
"Is it just you, Reiko?" she called to her, keeping her rage in check for the time being. "Where are the others?"
Reiko was at one of the desks, poring over a biology textbook. Good, she wasn't busy. "They're doing some research at the library," she replied. "Might be there for a while."
"Okay. You'll do for now." Her footsteps echoed around the room as she stepped over and sat down across from the orange-haired teenager. "We need to talk."
The larger girl narrowed her eyes. "About what?" she snipped, slamming her textbook shut.
This was just like giving a speech at a protest. You just had to go over what you wanted to say in your head beforehand and then say it. "You should know what," she replied. "There's no excuse for how you treated Nori yesterday. He doesn't deserve it. He has feelings just like anyone else, and he's really upset. He's our club president for crying out loud, and I know if Adelle and Yasmin weren't sick, they'd be saying the same thing to you." At no point did she raise her voice, but she spoke firmly and seriously.
Reiko had been drumming her fingers on the desk. She fired a bored glare and said, "You're just saying that since you have the hots for him."
"Ah?!" Yumi nearly fell backwards. She had expected Reiko to snap back at her, but not with that! "How did you…" She never told anyone!
"Oh, give me a break," she waved and wiggled a hand. "It's obvious to me from the way you look at and speak about him. You're always staring when he's not looking."
Her fists clenched. Who the hell was she to say that?! What if someone walked in right now and overheard?! Like Nori himself?! She retorted, "Like you're one to talk, Ms. Crushes on Terrance."
Now it was Reiko's turn to react with shock. Her eyes widened, but her brow remained in a sneer. "Wait, what the fu–"
"You were yelling at Nori because of him, weren't you?" she accused, leveling a finger at her. "It's obvious to all of us that you like him. The only one who hasn't noticed is him."
"So what if I do?!" Reiko got to her feet and shouted. "He's been my friend forever, and he's always stuck by me. Even when others didn't." She turned away for a second and shut her eyes. When she turned back, her expression was even more pained. "I know he seems weak and unassertive a lot of the time, but you're finding out what I've known all along. That he has inner strength, and he'll always be there when you need him."
Yumi sighed. She didn't mean for it to go like this. "It's okay. I understand." She wasn't here to hate Reiko for crushing on her best friend. "I'm just saying don't judge me for liking someone." As Reiko was opening her mouth to answer, she added, "And I know, it seems hypocritical since you're sticking up for Terrance, but you were taking it way too far."
Reiko studied her for what felt like a minute. When she spoke again, she changed the subject. "Nori Carino. Shit." She shook her head. "Why?"
Yumi blinked at the almost concerned question. She wasn't expecting Reiko to ask her about that. She looked at the door when Reiko added something extra.
"Asking that for you, by the way." She tapped a finger on her textbook. "You know what you're getting into?"
Yumi looked back at her. Reiko was glaring at her beneath lowered eyebrows. She wasn't frowning, only scrutinizing her. Another glance at the door. It was just them here. She wanted to get this off her chest forever! Even her brother didn't really get it besides knowing that she did. Terrance, Mitsu, and Saqid were all busy and hopefully wouldn't be coming back anytime soon. It was just them. Maybe this was the chance.
A sigh escaped her, more dreamy than she intended. "Nori…" she started to say, feeling her cheeks start to flush. "He's cute, smart, funny, loyal, brave, nice, a leader…"
She still remembered the day they first met. It was back when she was with YAMS. Louis had invited Nori Carino to one of their meetings near the old Magcargo Express warehouse. She'd heard of him before — who couldn't hear about Claris Willins' almost-boyfriend? — but she'd never met him. He was kinda cute. His slightly messy hair that was just faintly brown, his gentle red eyes, the way he could smile, even the way he could be dramatic.
Yumi leaned back into the chair. "I thought he was cute since I saw him, and well…" She involuntarily giggled under her breath. "I don't even know how it turned into liking him, it just did."
It was when they met again at school that she realized her feelings. But maybe they went back further than that. She was one of the few in YAMS who was worried about him when he was trying to help the Demon Nidorina. Yumi recalled that day they confronted him in that park.
It had happened one afternoon in August of last year. Back when she was still with YAMS along with her brother and Nariya Yaznik. Louis had figured out where Nori was going to be training the Demon Nidorina: the Veilstone Docks. They decided to head to the nearby Asweil Park to wait for him.
They came in with one of their protesting chants. Then Louis stepped forward and addressed Nori. "We are Youths Against Mistaken Society. And you should know what we're here for, Nori Carino. We're here to protest your harboring of the Demon Nidorina."
Nori brushed it aside and shrugged. "Well, I haven't done anything wrong or illegal, so–"
Touya cut in at that point. "Yes, you have."
"You're turning a blind eye to things!" Yumi had added with frustrated anguish. Still to this day, she hated those who were willfully ignorant of an issue. Inaction only served to perpetuate problems.
Mariko was right in behind them, and she was far more rude about it. "You don't live under a rock, just in a dump! You know what that monster's done! Are you just conveniently ignoring it?"
It took Nori a moment to respond to that. He had every reason to get mad at Mariko, and even them, but he kept his cool at first. He went back and forth with Mariko for a bit; he truly believed the Demon could change in spite of her past. When she went as far as to say he should be punished for supporting the Demon, he asked Louis, "Calm her down."
Mariko was really hotheaded back then. Even Yumi knew she was going way too far by making it personal, so it was an utter shock when Louis crossed his arms and calmly said, "I agree with her."
Yumi couldn't recall what Louis argued, only that she had agreed with it, vacantly or otherwise. The next thing she remembered, the Demon was out of her ball and Nori was challenging them to a battle to prove his point. He was scowling fiercely, and the Demon was happily standing with him!
But none of them would. Mariko and Touya didn't want to endanger their Pokemon. She, Nariya, and Louis didn't have any. In fact, Louis believed Nori was acting hypocritical; he had previously dismissed Pokemon training as throwing part of one's life away, now he was unequivocally doing just that himself by defending the Demon.
Nori eventually had enough and started yelling. "Just shut up! What are you trying to do by doing this?"
Mariko threw up her arms. "Gods, are you slow? We're here to let everyone know what a horrible person you really are, Nori Carino!"
"And make you realize what you're doing is wrong!" Touya added.
Yumi frowned. She hated what they were doing. She didn't think Nori was a bad person at all, just the opposite. But there was such a thing as being too hopeful and kind! "It's not too late, Nori. Please," she urged him. "You can still back out of this. Just let the Demon get justice for all it's done."
There wasn't a single person in the park who disagreed with them. It was jarring, actually. They had never gotten that much support during a protest. It even took Mariko aback for a moment.
Louis gave his final speech. "The Demon Nidorina is a dangerous Pokemon. Trainer law states that any Pokemon – trained or wild – that is a threat to society has to be put down. Only your foolish faith and the Gym Leader's intervention has spared it for now. I don't understand why she is allowing you to humiliate yourself and destroy your own reputation, but it's what you're doing. We're telling you this for your sake, before you ruin your life." He came to a stop a few steps before Nori and leveled at him. "Do you understand now?"
It was at that point Yumi breathed a small sigh of relief. Louis was doing this for the right reasons after all. He wanted to help Nori too. But it still ended with Nori getting frustrated and storming off.
"That's it?" Reiko asked impatiently, breaking the unintentional silence.
Yumi winced. She was daydreaming there, like she sometimes did. "No." She shook her head. What were they talking about? Her feelings for Nori, yes. "I guess…what really makes me like him, is he'd stand up to my parents. Maybe even…" No, definitely even great-grandma. He'd be like a samurai, jumping in to defend her. He had grown a lot since then, now he could actually argue back. Sometimes.
"I think he'd cause more harm than good," Reiko quipped.
Yumi could only sit more upright. "Maybe." There was always the chance he could take it too far. "But…" But she…
"You want to be optimistic?"
"I'm hoping." If he could talk down her parents and make them see what they were doing, then she wouldn't have to worry as much. Touya would be grateful for it, too. Stiil, that was a big if. "That's still if any of this happens."
That was the hardest part about this. She'd come close to telling him several times, but she could never get it out! Her nerves locked up. What if he said no? What if things changed too much between them? What if he didn't want to even be friends anymore?
She looked back at the door. Still nothing. "It'd be easy if he noticed, but I don't know what he'd say if I told him." She let out her frustration with a whimper and buried her face in her arms.
More importantly, there was someone else in his life it was definitely going to be. There were rumors. A lot of people already saw something there. She couldn't compete with that.
"I know what you mean," Reiko said matter-of-factly. Yumi glanced up at her. "I want more with Terrance, but I don't want to screw things up either. Or, well. I don't know if I'd be good enough for him, really…"
Yumi blinked. She didn't think of it that way. All this time the whole club was waiting for Reiko to make a move. She never even considered that despite being so outspoken, Reiko might feel the same way when it came to confessing. She actually giggled a little. "Guess we both feel the same about our crushes, huh?"
"Looks like it," Reiko agreed. She leaned back with a smirk on her face.
She sighed and looked down at the floor. "At least he's your best friend. I know you'd be good for him. I'm just me." She was sure that Terrance wouldn't think differently of Reiko even if he said no. Nori, on the other hand…she didn't know what to expect.
"Well, do what you have to do," the orange-haired teenager waved. After a few seconds, she added, "Will say he's not dumb. Might even be waiting for you. Hell, might even feel the same way."
It really shouldn't have helped. It was just sentiment. But a bit of the dry feeling in her throat lifted with those words anyway. "Thanks, Reiko. And, you keep at it with Terrance." She was rooting for them. Everyone in the club was.
Everyone had the impression that Reiko was sure to succeed once she tried. But she wasn't Nori's best friend. She wasn't a Claris Willins, let alone a Prema Kannagi. She wasn't even an Estella Estrada. Nori could have any girl he wanted. There was no way it'd be her.
"Y'know, I was wrong about you, Takao."
Yumi turned to Reiko once more. She took a deep breath. "What do you mean by that?" Was some sort of backhanded compliment coming?
"I always thought you were just trying to make up for how you were with those YAMS creeps, or you were the same as before deep down." Reiko leaned back and propped her arm on the back of her seat. "But you're pretty cool."
"Cool?" She touched the base of her neck and lightly shook her head. "I really don't think I'm anything but average."
"Just nice to talk to you about this stuff, is what I'm saying." Reiko smiled at her. It looked genuine for all she could tell. "I don't really have many people I can do that with."
Yumi felt a tingle in her chest, but it was a good feeling. "Yeah, same here," she agreed, giving a crisp nod. "It's just been my brother for me, sometimes Nori when he has the time." She smiled back at Reiko, feeling content. "And now you, I guess."
"Why'd you join them in the first place, anyway?" the orange-haired teenager inquired, leaning forward with interest. "YAMS, I mean."
She clutched at her stomach. "It was partially their activism. I thought I could make the world a better place, but I realized they weren't doing it the way I wanted."
She had come to that realization shortly after the incident with the Demon. Yumi and Touya had been ashamed right after they'd been proven wrong. What had happened to Louis and Mariko? Especially Louis. He was trying to help Nori back then, but now, he was trying to hurt Nori. They were fine at first. Maybe that incident broke them. Or maybe they were gradually changing, and she only noticed after being away from them for a while.
Yumi continued. "That's why journalism spoke to me. So I can help spread awareness about issues in the world." The right way.
"Puts some things in perspective," Reiko quipped. She leaned back and gave a playful smirk. "Thought about spreading awareness about parent issues?"
It was like a jolt shot through her. Yumi sat upright and shook her hands. "No! I have, but, that could turn out bad."
Reiko raised her eyebrows. "Your parents actually read our newsletter?"
Yumi nodded. "Yeah." It was benign, mind you. It was simple curiosity as to what she was doing. They always supported her. And Yumi was praying that they kept doing so after what great-grandma said. "What about you?"
Reiko scowled for a moment. It faded as she gave a halfhearted shrug and hung her head. "I'm just here because Terrance is. Had nowhere else to really go."
"I meant, what do you want to do?" Everyone in the club had gotten that impression. Reiko herself had all but outright said as such on a couple of occasions. But besides Pokemon, she had never expressed much intention for her future.
"I don't know just yet." Reiko sagged. "I want to go on a journey at some point, but sure I don't have to repeat THAT too."
"Well, you're young." Yumi wanted to reach across and pat her on the back, but she was too far away. "We all still are. Things change. You'll figure it out down the line. I might not even be working in the news forever."
"Yeah, I guess." Reiko shook her head and eyed her. "Partially, by the way? For why you joined YAMS."
She blinked. "Oh, yes. That." That was simple. "They'd stand up to my parents too."
"Yeah, well. From personal experience, may not work." The orange-haired teenager slumped into the chair and snorted bitterly. "My parents can be stubborn as a Mudbray."
"I know. Mine can be just as bad." It wasn't like they dictated everything about her and Touya's lives. But when they made a decision, it was usually final. "And at least Louis got through to them a couple times."
"Yeah, well I don't think I'm journeying until I've graduated from high school." Reiko grumbled and pushed the textbook that had been idly sitting in front of her off to the side. She retrieved a sandwich box from her bag.
Yumi decided to follow suit. She reached into her backpack and took out her own lunch. It was a simple bento box with plain rice, salmon, and cucumbers. She usually had it with water, but Sanae had bought her some lemon iced tea and gave it to her before school. Wait, that's right!
Yumi put the chopsticks down. "Hey, can you keep a secret? I need to tell someone, and there's not many I can tell it to." She would tell Nori, but, well. She didn't need to bother him when he had his own problems to deal with.
"Sure, what?" Reiko said while chewing. Yumi grimaced a little, but didn't let it bother her too much.
"It's about my brother. He's planning on going on a journey with his girlfriend."
Reiko gulped down her food. "So?" she asked, still holding half of a sandwich.
"Against our parents' wishes. They don't know a thing." She let that hang in the air before adding. "They even invited me to go along with them, but I said no."
"Damn. Wish I was that lucky," Reiko self-deprecated. She gave a bitter snort.
"Hee." One thing she was never going to deny was that Sanae was a wonderful girl. Touya was lucky or even blessed to have found her. "But I'm worried about him. And me."
Reiko was just about to close her mouth and take another bite, only to stop. She looked up at Yumi as it hit her. "Your parents are going to flip."
"Touya told me since he trusts me, and I don't want to betray that." Her shoulders slumped. She crossed her ankles and wrists. "But my family is going to blame me for it. They would even if I didn't know."
Reiko put her sandwich down in its box and placed a hand on the desk. "Didn't you just make your opinion on them clear?"
Yumi peered up and shook her head vehemently. "No!" she insisted. "I mean, I love them dearly. It's just, they can be overbearing. They're very traditionalist."
"The kind who want you to be a housewife?" Reiko asked while grimacing and gritting her teeth.
"Maybe not that far, but basically everything else you can think of." That's what it felt like sometimes, at least. A horrible thought occurred that made her gut churn. "Actually, probably that far for great-grandma, but I hope she's out of the picture for a while."
When she thought about great-grandma Rikina possibly getting in her parents' ears, she couldn't blame Touya for wanting to get away. But what about her? What about him when he got back? Sure, Japan had accommodations for traveling trainers. She even saw his research; there was a story a while back about how a media mogul from Goldenrod technically couldn't stop his daughter from going on a journey. But that didn't mean there wouldn't be consequences.
She sniffed, looked over at Reiko, and asked her the big question. No, it was more of a desperate plea for advice. "What do you think I should do?"
Reiko sat back, and Yumi was met with another surprise. She was always the type to speak her mind right away, to the point of acting without thinking. So to see her shut her eyes, cross her arms, and tap a finger on her elbow was jarring, to say the least.
When Reiko met her gaze again, there was a firm look of determination in her eyes. "I say let your brother go on his trip. Worry about the rest later."
"But–"
"It sounds like he's putting a lot of thought into it. So don't worry about him. I think it'll work out with your parents in the end. But if you screw it up for him, well…" While she was speaking with absolute confidence at first, her bravado faded there. She sighed and turned away. "I've screwed up a lot. Hard to get it back once you've lost it."
"Yeah…" Yumi felt a heavy weight upon her. She felt for Reiko. She sort of knew what that was like from being in YAMS. There were still people who held her time with them against her. It was an utter shock when Nori didn't.
"I should say sorry to Carino when I can," she admitted. She shook her head at herself. "I don't really mean I hate him. I just, I overreacted. Even Terrance said so."
"Thanks." Yumi couldn't help but chuckle. She had come here to yell at Reiko and Mitsu about how they had treated Nori. She wasn't expecting to make friends with the former, let alone for her to admit it on her own! Actually, since she knew how she felt. "Hey. Can you help me if–"
The door flew open, making both girls nearly jump out of their seats. "All right, we're back," Mitsu announced with a harsh edge. His nose and lips were both curled as he went straight to the computer he always sat at.
"We have retuuuurned!" Saqid sang, with some books under his arms. Terrance brought up the rear while holding a stack of printed pages.
Reiko nodded at her, seeming to understand what she was trying to ask anyway. "Just don't expect much," she mouthed.
"What…were you…talking about?" Terrance inquired as he and Saqid sat down on either side of them.
"Just Carino," Reiko said. Yumi's eyebrows shot up and her skin prickled, but her newfound friend left it at that. Mitsu turned and leered, but did no more than that. "C'mon, let's eat."
Yumi took another big sip of her iced tea before grabbing her chopsticks. Yet even as she lowered her face and started eating the rice, the ill feeling in her stomach remained. Maybe she was worrying too much about Nori, but she couldn't help it. It was a weight off her mind to know that things at the club weren't going to be as bad as she thought. And knowing she could talk to Reiko about him in the future was even more of one. For now, she could only wait helplessly and see.
Besides that, she was still worried about Touya. On one hand, Reiko was probably right. He was preparing for it properly, and mom and dad would likely welcome him back once he got home. But there were still way too many problems with what he wanted to do. He was acting impulsively over what happened at the beach with great-grandma. She glanced at the computers. Email him about it at school, as usual. That's what she would do after eating.
A/N: Aside, yeah, that tiny little detail of Yumi being more concerned way back in the first fic was foreshadowing!
