美徳

Proceeding through the hallway – and leaving pending the previous subject – the couple quickly reached the cafeteria of the school, which was practically empty as most students didn’t usually stop at school until this hour. Actually, a somewhat fluke as that way no one might disseminate any kind of rumors on her behalf. Ordering an hot coffee, the two then decided to sit nearby a huge window, the one who faced on the main field of the academy –almost empty as well, just few players were apparently having fun while playing football.

“So.. How is my grade in your class?”

A sudden question echoed in the empty room, ruby eyes now and then trying to fix upon her face, hues of red might be seen on his cheeks as well. “You already know the answer my dear.” she chuckled, slowly sipping her coffee as she attempted to be humorous: his grades were all excellent, and he himself most likely knew it. “Your scholastic skills are top notch –you know it. But let me ask an unpredictable question—” she dared, now gently placing on the table her cup, lips curled in a mischievous smile. “Is there any girl in your heart?” she knew it was a rather personal question, a soft giggle escaped from her lips as she thought about the strong abashment he was feeling. “Come on, you can tell me!”

Regardless those futile thoughts, the young scientist quickly prepared his belongings, a radiant smile as he addressed to her,  asking her which lake would fit the best for his experiments –actually, he didn’t mind which lake they would aim for, he apparently seemed fine with all of them. Though, Cynthia wasn’t on the same opinion. “I’d like to visit Lake Verity, as it’s been a while since my last visit!” she giggled chuffed, her hand already rummaging in her pocket, pulling off the same red capsule she used before, the one with her Braviary inside. “It will be a short flight, don’t worry.” she reassured the young man, a gentle throwing and the red capsule hit the ground, a red beaming light was emitted and soon after the Flying-type Pokèmon was out. “Here, come and mount him, c’mon!” she incited the azure-haired man to mount on her trusted Pokèmon, then, with a nimbly hop, she as well was on her most valuable means of transport, ready to set off for Lake Verity.

The flight, as the blonde said, didn’t last any longer than half an hour, the greenery of the place was already in sight as the couple fell of share, the freshness of the zone around the lake was pleasantly felt by Cynthia, who was gently ordering her Braviary to land on the grassy soil –an easy landing, luckily for him.

Many beings around her, many persons who counted nothing toward her, but one person, just one –him. She gazed those emerald eyes of his, few seconds and he ran towards her, conviction printed on his face as he briefly reached out for her touch. What did you mean back there? About losing your life with me? About not understanding something as pure as water? What is it you’re trying to say? his words arrived like a flood to her ears, his warm breath all over her face did make the blonde female stiffen a little: he did come back for her, he questioned about her intentions, about her opinion, about her feelings. He cared for her, after all.

"I’m sorry for flaking on you Cynthia, I should have met you on the rooftop and instead I’ve only made things worse as usual…"

Those words eventually warmed up her whole body, such a tender sensation as he then gently took his jacket off and drew it around her body, slightly budging her against the wall as to shelter her from the rain. His hands upon her shoulders were infinitely pleasant, much more than the soothing pattering of the rain on a window. She owed him answers, she owed him the world.

“I can’t be without you.” she softly whispered as she leant her hands against his chest, lips hovering over his, the scent he emanated was way too irresistible and melancholic. “I know I betray you and our oath, but –look at me now.” she pleaded, her right hand gently grazing his cheek as she directed his face as his eyes were perfectly aligned with hers. “Apologies if I may love you –but I can’t stand your life to be at risk more than necessary."  and after that, she felt extraordinary free from her struggles, though one thing was still left to do, and that weren’t words or confessions, just feelings, burst of feelings; with the same delicacy she took for her speech, she bruised his lips with hers, dearly pressing them against his wet skin –hers as well were soaked, but that didn’t change a thing, the feel remained the same.

Shrugging off those unpredictable thoughts, the blonde stood again as to head toward the kitchen area, already pondering about which kind of tea the ex-leader of Team Galactic might like, yet a feeble questions rose from the couch, she briefly turned toward that faint echo and found his lips slowly moving, pronouncing a sentence she would never imagined to be asked.

"Why… after all this time, are you trying to help me?"

Despite the weakness of his state, he did not renounce to know the truth behind her unforeseen concern, as it was way too odd to be actually real. He continued. This time though, his words flowed more and more confidently, as if he wasn’t that ill and neglected, his desire to acquire her intentions, her sentiments were stronger than every disease he might encounter. And, after all, he deserved explanations.

“I can’t deny I might have some resentment towards you.” she simply pointed out, slow paces and she reached her black leather couch, pearly hands grazed the seatback. “But still—“

I can’t let you die.

Words that didn’t candidly leak from her lips, as she had some sort of block in her throat that prevented her to speak properly. To be perfectly honest, she might have some feelings for him – mercy, affection, rancor, a mixture of sentiments that she barely kept under control: it wasn’t easy for her to let an enemy like him in her house, yet it wasn’t that easy as well to let her feelings die on her for just a terrible mistake he did in the past. She had to face those and possibly got rid of the grudge that still didn’t permit her to fully understand her emotions.

“Everyone make mistakes –and you’re not less.” she regained breath, slowly walking away from the shelter she offered him, heading toward the kitchen, she needed to treat him, or he might for real didn’t make it. “What if I say I might think you can actually change?” words she always wanted to admit, yet occasions never gave her the opportunity to pronounce them. “I can make you a better person, I can teach you how to be cared and loved—“ and she left the sentence to a half, gently pouring some water in a pot, then placing it on the cooker, now she had just to wait for it to boil.

Even if it was quite late, many students – and teachers as well – liked to stay in the scholastic building during this period of the year, as the spirit of the Culture Festival was a quite strong one, catching on almost the entire student body, as it was some sort of tradition rooted since the inauguration of the school itself: in truth, the Culture Festival surely was an old usage, possibly one of the most ancient regarding the scholastic system –though many other schools have renounced to it. This wasn’t the case, luckily.

“I’m really delighted to see you put all your efforts in this project.” she suddenly said, a swift shift of her head and she was facing the young teacher once again. “Not so many teachers put their own soul in their students’ hands and hopes –but you do it.” she was clearly speaking from her heart, the pureness leaked from her words was even way too soft as she gently leant closer to him, a fleeting chuckle as she noticed a bit of embarrass in his smile.

“You really are my favourite teacher.” she teased, perfectly knowing she as well was a teacher, yet she liked to consider herself one of his students, as she sometimes attended his lessons too. A rather magical and intimate moment you might guess –or that what two students thought as they peeked from the open door, few whispers that didn’t manage to not being caught by the two teachers.

Returning their affection, she warmly smiled at them, gently pulling Looker with her as they eventually arrived at her house, a seraphic smile as she invited him to enter first, knowing he would feel abashed to set foot in her home first –how adorable. Regardless, she simply let him in, amazement could be seen in his face’s expression as he gave a fleeting look around her house, then he suddenly began accurately look around, not really bothering about her possible reaction apparently. To be honest, she didn’t mind him looking around her belongings –but just because it was him.

Restlessly, he passed in review most of her books and family photos, eventually ending up limply slipping on the leather sofa, a satisfied yet tired expression hovered on his face as he shifted his gaze toward hers, platinum eyes shiningly staring at hers – could you let the moment last not longer than it should be, but forever?

“Ah, this truly is a lovely place you have, yes! I do not mean to pry, but is it just you that lives here? If anything, I expected you to have a family of some sort, haha!”

And then he came out with this statement, bafflement as the blonde woman didn’t actually know how to reply to his curiosity, she blinked at least twice before actually realizing the questions he has just questioned, elbows gently placed on top of the back of the sofa as she pondered about the reason behind his sudden conclusion: she definitely didn’t have a family to grow and love, neither had she someone she lived with. The solely company she had were her Pokèmon –at the moment. You could never know if things might change, right?

Still uncertain about how she should reply to his question, he came out with another sentence, this time he actually managed to get the blonde Champion quite amused, apparently he has suddenly remembered she had to make dinner for the two of them. I’m sure whatever you decide to serve will be as lovely as you~!, definitely out of character –or that what Cynthia thought as she didn’t really expect such boldness and shamelessness from him, though not really displeasing, nay!

“I will put my heart in it, then!” she softly replied, briefly standing from her position, now walking right in front of him, gently taking his hands in hers as to make him stand from the sofa, “There, come with me in the kitchen, so we can continue out little chat while I’ll prepare dinner.” she hasn’t forgot about his initial inquisitiveness, still wondering about his concern about her relationship status.

As soon as they were in the kitchen, she let him sit at the table, a slight sense of bitterness as she departed from his warm hands, she really didn’t want to, but she had to prepare dinner, right? Someone has to do it, no doubt about it. “Sadly, I have to admit I just have few ingredients, as I really didn’t expect any guest!” she giggled, swiftly pulling out of the fridge few eggs, “I hope an omelette sounds good for you.” otherwise, there was nothing more to eat, for real. She usually ate away in the evening, she wasn’t quite used to buy too many ingredients for herself. He surely was a big surprise for her –not a displeasure though.

“—and I don’t have a anyone here; just my grandmother –yet she lives in another house here in town.” she briefly admitted as she was taking a small frying pan, a swift gesture and the eggs were correctly broken inside the pan and so she proceeded cooking. “I might say your curiosity did intrigue me though!” she confessed, nimbly and quickly finishing cooking their omelettes, it didn’t take too long in the end, as she actually thought it would have taken much more longer than this.

Frankly, she didn’t even like the place itself, but there were really no other choices than it: it was their solely lifeline so far. Eventually, she clasped her hands together, a brief nod as she shifted her gaze back to his, as azure as the sea. “Then it’s settled. Meet me in one hour in the main courtyard; we’ll set off immediately.” she lastly announced, a fleeting smile as she walked past him and exited the spacious room, heading toward the armory room –better play safe even in a place like that, you could never know who you might meet in this awful period.

Taking a liking mostly for rifles and shotguns, she also liked melee weapons, as they always came handy in critical situations. So, as she arrived at the armory room, she didn't take too long deciding which weapons she should pick up with her; first of all, she got her hands on Lucky, a unique version of the standard .357 magnum revolver, then she considered to take with her a melee weapon, a combat knife should work fine. With these weapons, she felt relieved and safer, not really wanting to bump into an enemy without a proper preparation.

—

An hour flew pretty fast, and the young colonel made her way to the main courtyard, the place where she had to meet the blond engineer, a rather interesting guy to deal with, indeed, but let leave those kind of stuff for later. Looking at the spacious open area, she forthwith realized that the helicopter gunship was already on, Volkner standing right beside the noisy machine. A dinky smile appeared on her lips as she swiftly approached the young man, a hint with her head and the two of them got inside the machinery.

The flight itself didn’t last long, about fifteen minutes or a little more, in while the two stayed silent, no words leaked from their mouths except from few dialogues dealing with the actual situation of the world. On the other side, he himself didn’t seem a rather talkative person, so.  Yet, his interest surely raised as the helicopter finally reached the old yard, though something was clearly wrong with the surroundings.

“It’s completely empty!” that was the first sentence the blonde woman said as she landed from the helicopter, swiftly followed by the engineer. “And where’s Old Lady Gibson?—“ she frantically looked around for answers, not getting any clues about what really happened. “There is definitely something wrong here..” she was unsure, a hint of anxiousness leaked from her expression as she turned over him, inquisitive eyes as she pleaded for answers he surely didn’t have.

Those words profoundly flustered Cynthia’s mind, an awful throb wafted throughout her whole skin, making her shiver a little; despite she wasn’t much the emotional person, she strangely felt weak and dejected, sorrow and anguish tormented her psyche as she tried not to burst into emotions while listening to his words. Who has my back now? No one that’s who!, she felt nothing but hopeless hearing those considerations, disappointment hovered on her face as she slowly shifted her gaze at an old inscription, their oath, a pact they used to call ‘Thick as Thieves’, the so called promise she has broken in the moment she decided to take part in the Hall Monitor’s club.

What he thought was surely grounded and true, but he apparently hasn’t consider the arduous choice the blonde had to take, as she, for truth, deeply believed in their relationship, not a single doubts came to her mind as the two of them settled to take that pledge. There was a reason behind the decision she made, indeed she didn’t take the opportunity of making choices without a reasonable justification behind it.

"You just don’t understand Cynthia."

That. That was the trigger which made the blonde burst into overwhelming reactions –at least inside her chest. She still was looking at the old inscription, her yellowish eyes slowly shifted from the wall to his visage, still marked with a deadpan expression, as if he really didn’t care at all about her –not anymore.

“You really don’t get it, don’t you?” she briefly spoke, her tall figure gently kneeling over his crouched shape, her pale visage gingerly getting closer to his face, she could almost feel his breath over her skin. “I may have broken our pact, but I surely haven’t broken our relationship.” she almost whispered, words that leaked from her lips felt as sharp knives, yet her puny state was to be seen.

“I want you to be safe Green, that’s why I joined the Hall Monitor.” not that she hasn’t considered other solutions before ending up to that conclusion, yet there were no other safer way than this: they might have continued doing their stunts, yet after that accident, she actually realized how much she cared for him. A struggle of feelings she couldn’t really express by words, gestures were the best means of communication she knew.