(Rhythimi's POV)
Dear diary,
Looking back over the past week, things have been a little...hectic. Actually, things have been hectic ever since Rena arrived, to be exact. Keith, the main source of our school's craziness, has always been a flirty pervert who surrounds himself with the attention of random girls at school. But, ever since she came, well... He's changed.
No, seriously! Now, he's paying less attention to Kim and his fan club and redirecting it towards Rena. I'm actually kind of...happy. You know, for him. Maybe she'll have a good influence on him and he'll finally grow up a little.
...oh who am I kidding? This is Keith I'm talking about here. He'll never grow up.
When Rena isn't spending her time with Isaac and I, she's humoring Keith and his crazy antics. I think he's getting frustrated that all of his usual pick up lines aren't working on her at all. Over the past week, he's been acting strange. Okay, stranger than he usually is. He's been acting out more and trying to grab Rena's attention. Although, I can only imagine he has ulterior motives for trying to get her attention. My guess would be he's developing a crush on our new friend, and he's not sure how to react to his new unacknowledged feelings, since Keith has never even remotely liked a girl.
I know, that does sound strange, doesn't it? But it's true.
Keith's never liked a girl. Not once.
Sure, he hits on them all the time and goes on dates, playing his fair share of women, but he's never actually had feelings for a single one of them. Poor guy... Destined to live a life without love... Then again, that's his own fault for being such an idiot in the first place.
I know him too well, and I've known him for too long to not be able to recognize what he's going through. I think he's just struggling to find a way to connect with Rena, so he's trying to get her attention by being annoying.
I don't think he realizes he likes her just yet, however. How can I tell that he even likes her in the first place, you ask? Well... Let's look over the events of the past seven days, now, shall we?
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(Third Person POV)
Seven days ago.
"Ugh, that was brutal." Keith thought to himself, trudging out of Mr. Kincaid's classroom. He had received yet another stupid detention from the stupid teacher for breaking his stupid rule of running in the stupid hallways.
His bitter thoughts were then interrupted by a familiar giggle: Rhythimi. Keith peered down the hallway in the direction of the giggle that was all too familiar to him until he spotted his two friends and Rena having an amusing conversation of some sort. His bitter expression transformed into a frown as he watched Rhythimi and Isaac get along with Rena so well. It's not like he had a problem with the new girl spending time with his two best friends or anything, but he had to admit...he was feeling a little jealous that she was stealing their attention from him, whether she was doing it intentionally or not.
Rena. He found her to be a curious person. She was smart, funny, sarcastic, and definitely attractive... But she was also fiery with an unpredictable temper. He could relate to that. HE wanted to spend time with HER, but it's like no matter how many times he tried to, something always came up. Either Rhythimi would whisk her away for some girl bonding time, Isaac would steal her from Keith for a science experiment of some sort, or Keith would do something stupid and wind up in detention again whenever Rena actually had free time in-between studying and hanging out with his friends. If he couldn't have her, then no one else could. So what if he was being a little selfish? In the end, Keith always got what he wanted, no matter what it was.
Keith figured that their similar personalities was only one of the reasons why he wanted to take the time to get to know this new girl Rena. The other reason was probably because Keith ALWAYS wants what he can't have. And since Rhythimi and Isaac were hogging up her attention and vice versa, he only desired to get Rena's attention even more.
Keith mischievously smirked to himself, watching Rena's eyes light up with excitement and a joyful smile stretch across her lips. "I guess I'll just have to do something about this little situation, then."
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Six days ago.
Keith had woken up extra early this morning, despite his overwhelming desire to sleep in again and be late to class. He had already set his trap for Rena in place the previous night. He was going to get her attention one way or another.
How was he going to do it, you ask? Well, Keith was, after all, known at the Ranger School's infamous 'Prankster King.' He was bound to figure out something.
With his trap in place, Keith headed outside towards the back of the school. He found a tree just outside Rena and Rhythimi's dorm room and quickly began his ascend towards the top of it. Carefully, Keith concealed himself within the green leaves, and he peered in through the girl's window and got ready to witness his prank in action.
He immediately noticed that the ever-restless Rena was already awake and out and about in her room. Her Mightyena and Rhythimi's Eevee were curled up on Rena's bottom bunk, asleep together soundly. Rhythimi's six o'clock alarm went off, and she grunted in annoyance at the obnoxious sound.
Rhythimi sat up in bed and rubbed her eyes. "Ugh... Is it morning already?" She groaned, looking down at Rena who was standing up on the floor beneath her bed.
"Yes, it is, so you better get up and get dressed." Rena responded in a completely bored tone. She was already dressed and ready for school, even though class started an hour from now.
Rhythimi climbed down the ladder from her bed to the floor, still feeling pretty sleepy. "Yeah, I guess so." She grabbed the uniform she had set out on Rena's nightstand the previous night and took it to the bathroom to get dressed.
Meanwhile, Rena was packing her bag. She was making sure she didn't forget any of her Ranger homework at her desk. She knew very well that she'd get an ear full from Ms. April if she forgot her homework. After packing a few pencils, her Pokemon Textbook, and her Ranger Guide, she threw her backpack over her shoulder and made her way towards the door.
Keith's eyes widened. No! She can't leave yet!
Keith didn't know that Rhythimi and Rena would always set out their uniforms the night before on Rena's nightstand, so he was just now realizing that the 'rigging the closet' prank was a total bust.
"I'm heading out early, Rhythimi. I'm going to stop and study for our test in the Library before class starts." Rena called out to Rhythimi as she stepped out the front door, who was still getting dressed in the bathroom.
"Okay!" Rhythimi's cheerful voice came from the other side of the bathroom door. "I'll see you later then!"
"Bye!" Rena called out to her one last time before shutting the door.
"Damn it..." Keith muttered curses to himself, very disappointed in his failed prank. It wasn't often that his pranks failed. He was sure that Rena would open the door to her closet at some point!
Suddenly, Rena came back into the room just as Rhythimi emerged from the bathroom all dressed and ready for school.
"I forgot to set out a new tie last night, so I forgot to put one on this morning!" Rena scurried back into the room and closed the door behind her.
"Oh, I'll get you one!" Rhythimi offered, stepping towards their shared closet.
"No no no! Rhythimi, don't open that!" All Keith could do was scream his plea in his mind, but it had no effect.
SPLAT!
"EWWWWWWWWWWW!" Rhythimi's disgusted shriek shook the entire Ranger School, and probably woke everyone up too. Mightyena and Eevee rose from their slumber, staring at the blonde with their jaws agape.
Rena, who was staring at Rhythimi, stood there in complete shock for a moment. Rhythimi was covered head-to-toe in black Tentacruel ink. As soon as Rena processed what had just transpired, she and the two Pokemon in the room fell to the floor laughing.
"DON'T LAUGH AT ME!" Rhythimi scolded her friend angrily, feeling overwhelmingly embarrassed. She knew without a doubt who was behind this prank.
Keith couldn't help but laugh, even though his prank somewhat failed.
The trap was activated, just...not by his intended target...
Keith knew that he would be Rhythimi's number one suspect, so he didn't waste any time in high-tailing it out of there.
"Well, that failed..." Keith tried to smother his laughter. "I guess I'll just have to try again."
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Five days ago.
"Okay, there's no way this one will fail..." Keith snickered to himself, waiting around the corner just outside of Rena's room.
Rena always nagged Keith about how he should quit falling asleep in class and actually pay attention. That way, his grades would go up, and she wouldn't have to tutor him as often. But not today! Today, Keith was going to make Rena a hypocrite. How? By giving her drugged coffee.
...relax. He only spiked it with some sleeping medicine that he borrowed from Isaac. He even was considerate enough to check how much to put in the cup of coffee for someone Rena's size. And then he doubled it.
He heard footsteps coming around the corner, and Keith compelled himself to quickly act natural. He causally leaned up against the wall with the cup of drugged coffee in hand, whistling innocently to himself.
An unsuspecting Rena came around the corner, and she was a little surprised to see Keith there. "Morning, Prince Charming." Rena's pet name she had given to Keith on the first day of school made his heart skip a beat, and the innocent smile she flashed him didn't exactly help his heart in calming down.
"Damn... Don't look at me like that!" Keith screamed inside his mind, averting his eyes from Rena's irresistibly cute gaze. Determined to go through with his prank and regain his pride, he held out the cup of coffee for her. "Here." Keith had to stop talking briefly to roughly clear his throat. "I woke up early and headed down to breakfast, so I got first crack the the coffee maker. I thought I'd bring you back a cup."
Rena smiled skeptically, laughing a little. "That was very nice of you..." She accepted the cup of coffee from him graciously. "How unlike you to do something nice for someone other than yourself." Rena smirked arrogantly, taking a sip of her coffee. "So, tell me. What terminal illness do you suffer from?"
Oh hah ha. Very funny---oh, wait! She drank it!
Keith just rolled his eyes at her joke, trying to hide his joy from successfully pulling a prank on her. "Oh you're hilarious." Keith's obvious sarcasm made Rena laugh.
According to the directions on the bottle, Keith had to put two spoonfuls of the medicine in the coffee for someone Rena's weight. He guessed she was somewhere between one hundred and ten to one hundred and fifteen pounds.
Well, he would know what she weighs, since he's picked her up and thrown her over his shoulder just to mess with her a countless number of times.
So, instead of two spoonfuls, he dissolved four of them into the cup of coffee. The medicine is supposed to kick in within ten minutes.
As Rena continued to drink her coffee, Keith comically bowed like a Prince and offered his hand to her. "Well, since you insist on referring to me as 'Prince Charming,' I may as well act like one occasionally." Keith smirked when Rena almost spit out her coffee from laughing. "Shall I walk you to class?"
Her adorable laugh made his cheeks slightly burn, and it took all of his remaining strength to cover it up.
Hah. Keith, the ever smooth ladies man with a reputation for not getting too attached a mile long, wasn't the one supposed to be getting flustered over someone of the opposite gender.
"You may." Rena decided to go along with it, accepting his hand. She didn't know what had gotten into him lately, but she was relieved to be able to enjoy a morning without Keith being his usual dumb self.
Keith tried to hide his evil grin as he walked with Rena down the stairs and to Ms. April's classroom. By the time they had reached their class and the bell had rung, Rena had finished drinking all of her coffee. She discarded the disposable coffee cup in the trash can inside of the classroom, then took a seat at her desk next to Keith. Keith waited for the medicine to kick in. He could hardly pay attention to the lecture Ms. April was giving because he couldn't stop staring at Rena, trying to spot a sign of her getting sleepy.
Seconds ticked by, and minutes passed. Soon enough, a whole two hours had gone by, and it was time for study hall. Keith had watched Rena for that entire two hours and not once did she surrender her body to the overwhelming tiredness the medicine was supposed to bring.
Keith just raised an eyebrow at her. What the heck? Why didn't it work!? It should have worked! What was she, some super-human freak!? She drank it all! Every last drop! Keith even doubled the dosage to make sure that it didn't fail!
Poor Keith couldn't have known that Rena had been building up her endurance to poisons, iocane powder, chloroform, and sleeping medications for the past six years in the event of being captured and/or tortured by an enemy in that form.
"Ahem." Ms. April cleared her throat, glaring at Keith. "Keith? Hello...? Are you even paying attention!?"
Huh?
Keith snapped out of his daze and quickly spotted his angry teacher glaring at him.
Uh oh...
Ms. April disapprovingly tapped her foot on the floor repeatedly. "Keith. Since you seemed to be lacking the focus to pay attention to today's lecture, I expect to see you for two hours after school today to re-learn the entire thing."
Keith just stared at Ms. April blankly. WHAT?! But---agh...
There was no use in arguing with her. Ms. April was very scary when mad.
Keith nodded his head and hung it low in shame, then gathered his belongings at the sound of the bell ringing.
His whole goal was to make Rena fall asleep during class and miss the whole thing, but it totally backfired on him and had the opposite effect.
Keith left the classroom with the rest of the students and made his way towards the Library for study hall. "Well. That didn't work either..."
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Four days ago.
Back to square one again.
Since his last two pranks were a complete bust, Keith decided to try something new: just flat out be really annoying. If Rhythimi got wind of this plan, she'd probably make a joke that this wouldn't be something hard for Keith to do. Hah. Hah hah.
Rena had scheduled to spare some time for Keith today in the Library. Finally! He'd get to see her! She had been so busy lately, and as much as Keith didn't want to admit...he missed torturing his favorite victim. Although, today's subject matter was very...boring.
She was here to tutor him.
"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Rena lightly shook Keith's shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Huh...?" Keith lazily looked up at her, slowly sitting up and removing his head from the table.
Rena let out a heavy sigh, causing Keith to flash her a sheepish look. "Come on, Keith. I really need you to pay attention." Rena stared into his red eyes with her enchanting blue ones, unintentionally distracting the red-head for a moment. "Our math test is in a week, and you currently have a D in the class. If you fail this test, you'll get an F for the quarter. If you calculate that and add it to your last quarter grade and average the two together, then you'll get a rough estimate of---"
"Shhhhhh." Keith pressed two of his fingers over her soft lips, getting her to shut up. "Too many numbers."
Rena just rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Just listen this time, okay?"
She was starting to get frustrated with his lack of focus, but she knew she'd just have to put up with it. He was the mark, and she was the grifter, so Rena would have to put up with him until the end of the school year. She was counting down the days until graduation, just so she could get this job over and done with.
Rena pulled out a sheet of notebook paper and wrote some practice problems down on it, then placed the paper in-between herself and Keith. She scooted her chair closer to Keith's, that way they were side-by-side and sitting directly in front of the paper.
Rena was strictly business, and she didn't even think for a second that their closeness was awkward.
On the other hand, Rena's slender body being only mere inches away from Keith was literally all he could think about. That, plus his confusion as to why he felt this way were the only two things he was thinking about, which only made him more confused.
Unsure of how to deal with the situation, Keith just started to obnoxiously poke her at random.
Rena didn't even take notice. "...and that's how you solve 2(x + 5) - 7 = 3(x - 2)." Rena finished her explanation, setting down her pencil as she did so.
Keith widened his eyes in shock and unconsciously poked her once more. Again, he wasn't really listening. "Umm..." Keith's sudden words made Rena look up at him, and he began losing his nerve. Gah... Why did she make him feel this way?! He was never so nervous around anyone! "...could you repeat that again?" Keith poked her in the forehead this time.
Rena abruptly slammed her head on the table, grumbling to herself. "Oh you've gotta be kidding me..."
This job was more aggravating than any other job Rena had been assigned before. Probably because the mark could be such a moron at times.
Keith just sweatdropped, then began absentmindedly poking her arm over and over. "Sorry..."
Rena inhaled sharply, then let out a heavy sigh. "No, it's okay. You're fine." She scooted even closer to Keith and rewrote the same problem at the bottom of the page. Keith tried not to focus on the fact that her body was pressed up against his, and his arm was lying across her back because he placed his hand on the back of her chair for balance. "So if you have 2(x + 5) - 7 = 3(x - 2), what is your first step?" Rena asked him.
Keith stared blankly at the page for a good five minutes before speaking. "Uh..."
Rena just took in a deep breath, trying to be patient with the idiot. "You distribute what's on the outside of the parenthesis: the 2 and the 3." She picked up her pencil with her delicate fingers and began swiftly writing the numbers across the page in her neat handwriting. As she did so, Keith just continued to poke her. "So now you have 2x + 10 - 7 = 3x - 6. And then you combine like terms, which leaves you with 2x + 3 = 3x - 6. After that, add the 6 to both sides and subtract the 2x from both sides, which leaves you with x = 9." Rena circled her answer at the bottom of the page, then turned her head to look at Keith, who was still poking her. "See? Does that make sense now?"
Keith just stared at the spot on Rena's arm where he was currently poking her. "Does this not bother you at all?"
"Huh?" Rena raised an eyebrow, then followed Keith's line of sight to his finger currently poking her arm. "Oh. I didn't even notice you were poking me."
Keith just facepalmed. "Dammit...!"
Well, that didn't work either.
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Three days ago.
And here we are again, back to trying yet another prank. This time, Keith had prepared a classic for Rena. This prank is beautiful! It's never failed Keith once on any of his other female victims!
Keith, who was lying down in the ventilation shaft above the Library, grabbed his rubber Spinarak and tied it to the clear elastic string. Then, he slipped the rubber spider Pokemon through the slits in the grate and slowly began lowering it down into the Library.
Rhythimi and Rena were taking a break and reading one of their favorite manga in the Library: Fruits Basket. Rhythimi fawned over the cute romantic-y parts, while on the other hand, Rena mostly just enjoyed the violent parts where people got stabbed and beat each other up.
A rubber Spinarak on clear elastic string began slowly creeping down towards them from the ceiling. Keith aimed for Rena, getting closer and closer to her shoulder. But, when he was just three feet away from landing the fake Spinarak on Rena's shoulder, he sneezed from all the dust in the vent.
"ACHOO!"
WHOOSH!
Uh oh.
The Spinarak landed right on Rhythimi's shoulder, not Rena's. Her deafening shriek erupted through the silent Library, giving everyone in the room a massive heart attack.
"KEITH DAZZLE!"
...whoops.
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Two days ago.
Okay, now this one was just mean.
Keith had snuck into Rena's room the previous night and changed the time on her clock, that way she would sleep in and miss all of first period. Hah! She couldn't make fun of him for always waking up late now!
He was having a hard time containing his laughter as he walked to class. She'd wake up late, get yelled at by Ms. April, and probably get detention for skipping class. Hah!...although, he was actually trying to get her detention so that he wouldn't be all by himself today in after school detention...
In retrospect, Keith realized that that was just...sad. Oh well. He still didn't feel guilty.
Keith strutted into the classroom, completely confident and everything---what the fuck is she doing here.
Rena was sitting at her desk. Not only was she wide awake and in class, but she got here before Keith did.
Keith slowly sat down in his desk and shot Rena the weirdest look ever as he did so. Rena noticed him staring, and she drew her head back a little. "...what? What is it?"
"How are you here? Your alarm didn't go off!" Keith quickly caught what he had said, and he covered for himself. "I mean... I didn't hear your alarm go off on my way downstairs like I usually do..."
"Oh, that?" Rena just scoffed. "That's not my alarm. I naturally wake up on my own. The alarm clock is for Rhythimi. You know, so she gets up on time."
What.
He didn't share a room with her like Rena did, so it's not like he could've known that. Keith had a horrific realization dawn on him, making the blood drain from his face. So Rhythimi was going to wake up late and get stuck in 2-hour detention with Keith and Keith alone after school today?
Keith abruptly banged his head on his desk and stayed there, muttering incoherent curses.
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One day ago.
"Why do my pranks keep failing??" Keith slumped in his bean bag chair back in his room, holding an ice pack over the large bump on his head. Over the past few days, the bump just kept getting bigger and bigger every time Rhythimi punched him in the head for screwing her over with his failed pranks. "Am I losing my game...?"
His pick up lines didn't work. She didn't fall victim to his charms like every other girl in the school always did.
His challenges didn't work. Most of the time, she would beat him at whatever challenge he had given her.
His pranks didn't work. Every prank he attempted this week completely failed.
Even being naturally annoying didn't work! And that...he actually didn't have an explanation for that.
Keith didn't know what to think. "Why am I even driving myself crazy over this...?" He sighed, shrinking further back into his skin.
Keith just couldn't figure it out. Why was he so desperate to get her attention? Her, of all people? She's the one girl in school who doesn't fall all over him and desperately want to be his girlfriend, and yet...he values her friendship more than any other random girl in the school. But why? Rena doesn't even seem all that interested in being Keith's friend. Well sure, they flirt and get into fights occasionally, but that's just their overwhelmingly strong yet different personalities clashing.
He honestly didn't know what to think of her. He really didn't.
Were they friends, or what?
She really had given him no signal.
She was always hanging out with Rhythimi. Those two were insanely close from what he could tell. And then Isaac and Rena were the brainiacs of the school who did every major school project and science project together, even though Isaac was in Mr. Kincaid's class and Rena was in Ms. April's.
Although, when he did get to hang out with Rena... They always did talk a lot. That is, when they weren't flirting or fighting, of course. Rena would always call him out if he was out of line or wrong about something, which triggered most of their fights. But then afterwards they'd make up and go straight to racing around the school, doing a capture challenge, or something like that. The more time Rena and Keith spent together, the less he really talked to her, and the more he tried to overwhelm her with his competitive nature by challenging her to contest after contest and race after race.
...
"Maybe that's what I'm doing wrong..."
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Present day.
It was a quiet, sunny day in Almia. The white puffy clouds gently glided across Pueltown's light blue sky, and a wistful breeze lightly blew its way through the streets of the port city. It was around ten in the morning, right about the time that all of the shopkeepers were opening their doors and getting ready to start the day. Today was a teacher work day, so Janice and a few other chaperones decided to take the students out to Pueltown for a nice afternoon of shopping and leisure. As long as the students remained in groups of four at all times and stayed nearby one of the chaperones, they were free to wander Pueltown as they pleased.
The elective teachers, who didn't have to do much work on this day, were enjoying the afternoon out in town just as much as the students. Ms. Claire, the target clear instructor, and Mr. Kaplan, the capture instructor and gym teacher, were wandering around Pueltown aimlessly and enjoying the sights. Ms. Claire dragged Kaplan into almost every shop she saw, enjoying window shopping and having the day off. Kaplan was used to putting up with Ms. Claire's antics, so this really wasn't anything new for him. He took her to the ice cream parlor and bought her an ice cream cone, and the two teachers sat down at a table and watched as several of their students walked by.
Groups of Ranger School students dashed by, laughing and smiling. And then other ones enjoyed being outside window shopping rather than running around carelessly through the city. Some students hung out by the harbor with Janice, enjoying the salty sea breeze. Although, the one particular group of students you are wondering about, fellow readers, happened to be in a clothing shop at present.
"Oooh, this one looks cute!" Rhythimi pulled a pink dress off of the rack, holding it up. "Don't you think, Rena?" She beamed at the dark-haired girl, holding the dress in front of her.
Rena, who was sitting on a bench near the dressing rooms in-between Isaac and Keith, slightly cringed. "Uh...yeah. Sure." Rena did know a lot about clothes for her job's sake, but she wasn't all that interested in it for herself. She never did enjoy getting all dolled up or shopping for clothes. She only did those things when necessary for a job.
Keith let out a loud yawn. "This is totally boring and a waste of time." He placed his hands behind his head and leaned back up against the wall behind him.
Rhythimi flashed him an angry look before going back to happily clothes shopping.
Isaac had his face buried in a map of the city, completely oblivious to the conversation his friends were having. "Uh huh, so if we go this way... Then... Ah hah." His eyes darted across the crinkled map, mentally navigating himself around town. "Oh! We should check out the electronics store next!"
Rena nearly jumped out of her skin at the mention of an electronics store. "Wait. There's an electronics store?" She stared blankly at Isaac. "Like a store that sells cool gadgets and technology?"
Isaac looked back at the map he was holding to confirm her question. "Yeah, looks like it---"
Rena immediately grabbed Isaac's hand and made a run for the door, not even letting him get the chance to finish his sentence. "Oh! Oh! Oh! Let's go!"
Keith laughed at Rena's sudden mood change. It was rare that he got to see her this excited about something. "Wait up, guys!" He leapt up from the bench and bolted out the door after Isaac and Rena.
Rhythimi, just now noticing her friends were gone, put the dress back on the rack and ran out of the store. "Hey, guys! Wait for me!"
The four teenagers ran across the street and walked down the sidewalk until they reached Spark's Electronics. Isaac and Rena didn't waste any time in rushing into the store. Keith and Rhythimi quickly caught up, following the dust cloud Isaac and Rena had left behind. The two science geeks immediately started nerding out over every cool gadget they saw. Isaac was playing with a remote control drone, while Rena was admiring all of the cool high-tech cameras they had.
Keith raised an eyebrow at the contents of the store and turned to Rhythimi. "Is it just me, or are brainiac number one and brainiac number two the only ones really interested in this store?" He discreetly whispered his thoughts to Rhythimi.
Rhythimi just sweatdropped, looking at her two friends that Keith had previously referred to as brainiacs number one and two. She wasn't entirely sure which was which.
"...yeah, it's not just you." Rhythimi just shrugged. "Well, I guess I better make the most of it." She left Keith's side and walked over to Isaac, who immediately welcomed her company.
Keith watched as sparks flew between the two blondes as Isaac showed Rhythimi how to fly the drone. He was a little jealous of how easily they got along and how much fun they were having, and that's when his eyes landed on Rena. He noticed her admiring some high definition camera intently, testing it out and playing with all of the cool features. To Keith, Rena looked like she was a kid in a candy store.
He laughed quietly to himself as he walked up to her. "You like photography or something?" He took his place next to her, leaning up against the wall.
"Yeah, you could say that." Rena shrugged her shoulders. Although, the only thing she ever took pictures of were buildings she was going to rob, like museums. She always scoped out the place a week in advance and took pictures of the outside from several angles, then made a plan. "I've been meaning to get a new camera for awhile now. Mine's just pretty outdated." She placed the camera back on the shelf and started to walk away.
Keith stopped her, confused about something. "Wait. If you need a new camera, then why aren't you getting this one?" He asked her, holding onto her arm.
Rena shrugged her arm out of Keith's grip. "Did you even look at the price on this thing?" Rena scoffed. "It's way too expensive, since it's one of the best cameras out on the market at present."
"Oh." Keith glanced at the price tag, thinking something over. "I see."
Rena just stared at him with a weird look. "You sure are one strange guy, aren't you?" She softly chuckled to herself. "I would never be able to afford fancy things like that in a million years."
Keith, having been brought up in a very rich family, didn't quite understand what Rena meant. He was always used to having everything he ever wanted just handed right to him, and there was no such thing as a price too high where he came from. That was another thing he liked about Rena. Without even knowing it, she would teach him things that he had never even given thought to before meeting her.
Rena, on the other hand, practically lived in poverty. She had to pay a large amount of money to her landlord to look the other way and not pay attention to exactly who was living in the rundown apartment, and to not make her sign any papers for it. The only downside of that was that she didn't exactly get a luxurious apartment. That, plus he overcharged her for everything, since she didn't have much choice in dirty landlords in Castelia City willing to rent her a place. Her electric and water bills were atrocious every month. She didn't have many luxuries, and lived off of the bare minimum.
"Rena! Come on!" The dark-haired girl's attention was quickly brought to the blonde-haired girl at the door to the shop that was frantically waving to her. "We should probably start heading back now!"
"Okay! I'm coming!" Rena turned around to face her, then ran towards the door. She froze when she realized Keith wasn't following her. "Hey, are you coming?"
"Uh...yeah." Keith stumbled over his words, running a hand through his spiky red hair. "Go ahead and go. I'll just catch up in a minute."
Rena was about to question him further when she felt her phone vibrate from inside the pocket of her denim shorts. She knew the only one that could be texting her right now was Ice, which meant something was up. As much as she wanted to drag Keith along with her, she new she had to duck out and take this. "Alright... Don't be too long." She spun around on her heel and jogged over towards the door.
"Is it just me, or was Keith acting weird just now?" Rhythimi raised an eyebrow at Keith watching Rena walk away.
Isaac just watched Keith's awkward encounter with Rena, noticing how his face was slightly flushed. He let out a content sigh. "It's not just you. Honestly, I think Keith has a crush on her, but doesn't see it himself just yet. I mean, he still hasn't technically referred to her as his friend yet. This might take awhile."
Rhythimi beamed up at Isaac after hearing those words. "That's exactly what I thought! Now that I know that I'm not the only one who thinks that, it must be true!"
Isaac let out a quiet laugh, staring at Keith. "Guys can be so dense sometimes, can't they?"
Rhythimi's lighthearted expression quickly shattered and was immediately replaced with a look of annoyance. "You don't say?" She narrowed her eyes at Isaac, being very sarcastic.
Isaac didn't pick up on this at all by the time Rena had reached them. "Hey guys, I'll be right back." Rena walked past them, stepping out the door. "I just need to make a quick call."
"Okay!" Isaac waved good-bye to Rena, completely oblivious to the sharp glare Rhythimi was giving him for his accidental hypocrisy. "Stay close by!"
Rena ducked out of the store and pulled out her phone. The text was from Ice, and it read: "Call me ASAP. This is urgent." She was a little worried, concerned what this was about.
Rena ducked down an alley right by the electronics store, keeping an eye out for any of the teachers or just a bystander that could possibly spot her. She hit the number one on her speed dial, then held her cell phone up to her ear.
Ice only took about ten seconds to pick up the phone. "Hey! Rena! You're in Pueltown, right?"
"Yeah..." Rena awkwardly scratched the back of her head, looking around in a paranoid manner.
"Meet me at the ice cream parlor off of Gracidea Avenue, okay? Come as quick as you can. This is a matter of dire importance."
Click!
Ice had hung up before giving Rena a chance to respond. What was Ice doing in Pueltown? And what was so important that she had to abandon the mark in the middle of a class trip to talk to Ice about? Rena kept asking more questions that left her with more answers. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she was about to find out.
Rena dashed out of the alley after looking to make sure no one was nearby, making her way towards Gracidea Avenue. She knew exactly where Ice claimed to be, because she had just passed by there on the way to the electronics store. She ran as fast as her heart would allow her; her lungs felt more strained by the minute. She had to get there quick so she didn't keep the mark waiting too long.
Finally, she spotted her blue-haired colleague standing in front of the ice cream parlor, dressed in his usual wave-patterned blue and white coat. Rena stopped right next to him, panting heavily.
Ice didn't even turn to look at Rena who had just run up to his side, struggling to catch her breath. "You're here. That was quick."
"Yeah...I...I am..." Rena breathed in heavily, then started to regulate her breathing. "O-okay... What's the matter?"
Ice stared blankly at the sign of ice cream flavors in front of him. "I can't decide what flavor to get."
...
"What." Rena's eyes widened in shock, and then she quickly narrowed them at Ice. "This was the matter of dire importance? YOU COULDN'T DECIDE ON A DAMN ICE CREAM FLAVOR!?"
Ice quickly shushed her when she raised her voice. "Shh. People will hear you. And yes, I'm torn between two flavors..."
A vein bulged from Rena's forehead. She just couldn't believe that she ran all that way for something so silly. "You're kidding." Rena slapped her forehead and slowly dragged it down her face.
"Humor me?" Ice's eyes shifted to shoot Rena a sideways glance. "I was leaning more towards---"
"Mint Chocolate Chip." Both Ice and Rena spoke the shared favorite ice cream flavor at the same time. They both just awkwardly looked at each other for a second, unsure how to respond.
"So...you like Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream...?" Rena raised an eyebrow at Ice, uncomfortably crossing her arms across her chest.
"Yeah..." Ice awkwardly shuffled in place. "...it's my favorite."
"Mine too." Rena cleared her throat, causing an awkward silence to fall between the two.
...
~Awkward Silence~
...
"Well, uh... I guess I'll just go with that one." Ice stepped up to the lady at the counter and handed her some cash from his wallet. He returned to where Rena was standing with two ice cream cones, then handed one to her. "Here. My treat."
Rena blinked back her surprise and accepted the ice cream from Ice. "...thanks?"
"Alright, now that that's settled..." Ice turned to look at Rena. "I actually do have something to discuss with you." Rena shot Ice a skeptical look and opened her mouth to say something, but he cut her off before she even got the chance to. "And before you ask... No, it has nothing to do with ice cream."
Rena choked back a laugh and followed Ice's lead over to a table, and they took a seat across from each other.
"Okay, so what's up?" Rena asked, trying to hide how blissful she was feeling from eating her ice cream. She had been like this for as long as she could remember: something sweet always cured her bad moods.
"I've received some new intel regarding Ranger School events, and I thought I'd give you a heads up to prepare." Ice began his explanation. "Very soon, the Ranger School will be hosting its annual Outdoor Class."
"What's the Outdoor Class...?" Rena asked, having no idea whatsoever what this 'Outdoor Class' thing was.
"That's precisely why I felt it necessary to give you a heads up." Ice brushed his blue hair out of his face, keeping his cool. "Any Ranger wannabee at that school looks forward to Outdoor Class every year. If you didn't know what it was, that would raise suspicion, especially since you and Keith are currently at the top of your class. And yes, I've been checking up on your grades. Nice job, by the way." Ice nonchalantly started eating his ice cream.
Rena flashed him a brief look of annoyance. "Will you just cut to the chase already!?"
Ice sighed at her impatience. "Patience, Rena. I'm getting to that." He lightly shook his head at her. "The Outdoor Class is when your school arranges for a real Pokemon Ranger to come in and be teacher for a day. All of the students get to gather around and ask the Ranger questions, and the Ranger tells them about what it's like being a Pokemon Ranger." Ice explained to her.
"Oh great." Rena rolled her eyes sarcastically. "Looks like I'll need to hit the books tonight and prepare a list of questions..."
"My thoughts exactly." Ice nodded his head. "Ugh...Pokemon Rangers." He muttered that last sentence under his breath, not expecting Rena to hear it, but she did.
"You don't care for Pokemon Rangers?" Rena raised an eyebrow at Ice as she finished up her ice cream cone.
"You could say that." Ice shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "They just tend to...interfere with the boss's business." Ice waved off her suspicion. "It's nothing, really."
Rena relaxed her previously tense shoulders. "Alright then..."
"Yoohoo! Rena!"
"Hey, Rena? Where did you go?"
"YO, BLUE EYES! GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"
Rena just groaned and facepalmed. It was pretty obvious which one of her friends said what.
Ice shot a nervous glance in the direction of the voices, staring off that way. "...well, it looks like I should get going."
"But what about---" Rena didn't even get to finish her sentence. As she turned her head back to look at Ice, she noticed the chair he had been previously sitting in was empty, and the strange bluenette boy was gone. "...how does he even do that?"
________________________________
Later that night...
Rena was sitting on her bed, studying her textbook with her book light when there was a sudden knock on her door. She set aside her textbook and stood up from her bed, quietly walking over to the front door to her dorm without making a sound. Mightyena and Eevee weren't back from the day care yet (while the students were off on the Pueltown trip, Janice arranged for their Pokemon to be looked after by one of the staff members). Rhythimi was still sound asleep in her top bunk, snoring softly and dreaming of Arceus knows what. Probably Isaac naked in the shower or something.
"Who could be here at this hour...?" Rena wondered out loud, noticing that her clock read eleven thirty in the evening.
She twisted the doorknob and quietly opened the door a crack, trying not to let too much of the hallway light flood into her room and wake up Rhythimi.
Oddly enough, she found no one standing at the door. "What the...?"
And that's when something shiny on the ground caught her eye.
There was a wrapped package on the ground in front of the door with a note attached to it (a poorly wrapped package, at that). Rena picked it up and took it back into her room, closing the door behind her. She sat down on her bed and plucked the card off of it, noticing her name was written messily on the front in handwriting all too familiar to her.
"Blue Eyes." The card began, and Rena began to quietly read it aloud to herself. "I'm sorry for being such a jerk to you lately... I hope this makes up for it. I'll ease up on all the challenges I've been giving you and give you a chance to rest up. You're going to need it if you plan to keep putting up with me. Sincerely, your Prince Charming."
Rena just raised an eyebrow at the card, completely confused by it. What the...?
She set the card down on her nightstand and quietly began removing the red wrapping paper. The package was fairly big and heavy, so she was intrigued to see what was inside. Rena was blown away when she spotted the camera she was looking at earlier that day sitting inside of the box, along with a tri-pod, extra lenses, and a case to carry it all in.
...
"But wasn't this whole setup over like five thousand!?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So the Outdoor Class is coming up soon. Naturally, I'm going to rewrite it differently than how the game did it for this book >:3
And...this was my last pre-written chapter :( sorry guys. I will now be shifting to a once every other Friday update schedule from now on for this book. But, maybe if I'm in the writing mood I'll update two Fridays in a row or something. I dunno. It all depends on my schedule.
This chapter number 10 here marks the 1/4 point! The book is now 25% done! I only have 30 chapters left to write now~!
...it doesn't sound like much, but it is.
Fan art by Dragons_Rose ^-^ thank you, Roseykins!
Anyways... Read, comment, vote, and enjoy :)