Jirachi's Twin

Memory Three: In Loving Memory of Two Years Ago

"The heck are you doing here!?" Hop shouted, his face still hot with embarrassment from his previous mishap.

"Waiting for the stupid train to start up, obviously," Bede answered, not looking at him, "Figured I'd be bored, so I popped over here."

Hop glared at him, "I'm not interested in talking to you."

"Obviously."

There was a tense silence between the two rivals.

"What are you even here for if you're just going to use your stupid phone anyway?" Hop snapped.

"I thought you didn't want to talk to me," he mused, looking up from his phone to lock eyes with him.

"I don't—I want you to leave me alone."

"That's what I'm doing," Bede answered, looking once again at his phone.

Hop could feel his anger rebuilding inside him. It was getting steadily more difficult to restrain his hands from lashing forward at Bede's face. Hop feared if Bede didn't leave soon, he might accidentally cause a scene that would be difficult to explain to his Mum later.

"Say..." Bede started suddenly, putting away his phone, "It's been what—two years now?"

Hop didn't answer.

"When are you going to let our rivalry go, eh?"

"What do you mean?"

Bede stared at him incredulously, "We're both adults now. Neither of us should be throwing these little tantrums at each other in public, don't you think? Point is, I've been a tad guilty for never properly apologizing over the years, and I figured I could do something about it—"

Hop stood up, "Apologize!? You think you can just waltz over here, apologize real quick, and then go back home like it was all part of a checklist!? Well sorry but this isn't something you can be forgiven for in five seconds you brat. Now, I'm not in a particularly good mood today, so I'd appreciate it if you'd get your crap out of here and leave before I lose it!"

Bede stood there in shock briefly before his annoyed face returned, "So that's how it is..." he sighed, and for a moment Hop could've sworn he looked sincere.

"And here I thought you'd gotten over all that stuff. I suppose wounds heal slower for some people."

Hop sat back down, only feeling slightly guilty from the dejection in Bede's voice. They were quiet again. For some reason, Bede still hadn't left.

"What are you still doing here?" Hop spat viciously, clenching his fists to release tension, "Was I not clear enough to you?"

Bede stood quietly for a moment, before responding shortly, "I'm just thinking."

His response annoyed Hop, yet neither of them moved.

After about a minute, Bede reached into his bag of crisps again, "I've got a few left," he muttered, "Want one? I'm not a fan of the flavor and it would suck for them to go to waste—"

Hop snapped. He couldn't believe Bede was still attempting to salvage some sort of camaraderie when there was clearly none to begin with. His mind spun with blind anger and rage, and without thinking, he balled his fist, swung around, and bashed Bede in the center of his face.

Everything went red after that. His body trembled with uncontrollable rage as he sent Bede stumbling backwards. Bede's nose started bleeding instantly, leaving some on Hop's hand. Bede dropped his crisp bag onto the tile and accidentally stepped on it.

Hunched over, one hand over his face, Bede's voice returned.

"You GIT."

The old Bede that he knew two years ago was back in seconds.