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Haruto barely has time to process that Terapagos had destroyed its Master Ball before it fires a beam of concentrated, terastral energy straight at Kieran. Time seemed to freeze momentarily as Haruto launched himself forward desperately. He couldn’t let him get hit! His Miraidon, Agias, sprung from his Pokeball the moment he shoved Kieran out of range. And while he took the majority of the blast(which most likely would have killed Haruto out right), he wasn’t able to deflect all of it. The remainder of the blast skidded across Haruto’s chest before it pierced his shoulder. The Champion coughed raggedly, blood dribbling down his chin before he fell backward and collapsed onto the shaking ground. Kieran stared in abject horror, trembling before he screamed for his friend.
He rushed to his side, sliding to him on his knees and his hands hovering shakily over Haruto’s limp form. The other boy managed to open one eye, peering up at Kieran as he smiled,
“Good…you’re-you’re safe.”
Kieran grasped his hand, tears filling his eyes,
“You idiot! Why would you-! I’m not worth this!”
Haruto’s smile softened. He rubbed his thumb across the back of Kieran’s knuckles,
“To me…you’re worth everything.” he murmured.
The smaller boy hiccupped quietly. He pulled off his jacket and pressed it hard against Haruto’s wound. His friend hissed in response, wincing as sharp pain radiated across from where he was struck. Carefully Kieran lifted him from the ground and held him against his side. He tossed a pokeball towards the rampaging Terapagos,
“Hydrapple, keep it busy!”
His pokemon roared in response, lending support to Carmine’s Sinistcha. Agias positioned himself in front of the humans protectively as Carmine and Briar rushed toward them. Carmine was in tears as she reached them,
“Kiki? What-?”
He shook his head,
“I-I don’t know. Terapagos tried to attack me…” he looked down at Haruto, “He jumped in the way.”
Carmine brushed some of Haruto’s hair from his face,
“Oh, you sweet fool.” she whispered.
Haruto tried to smile at her but it came out as more of a grimace instead. His head fell onto Kieran’s shoulder as he breathed out raggedly. The pain was near overwhelming. The smaller boy clutched him tighter and pressed their foreheads together,
“I’m sorry,” he whispered hoarsely, “I’m so sorry.”
Haruto tried to lift his hand to wipe his friend’s tears but he quickly found out that his arm wasn’t responding to his brain’s commands. ‘Not good.’ he thought weakly. He imagined the blast must have damaged some nerves in his shoulder or something. The blood loss was also starting to affect him now. His vision was getting hazier as his mind spun. He was so, so tired. Carmine was the first to notice how he was barely conscious. She shouted something to Kieran but he barely heard it. He did see the other boy’s beautiful golden eyes peer desperately into his own. He was saying something to him. Haruto couldn’t really tell what. He just smiled softly at him. Apparently though this just made Kieran more upset as tears filled his eyes and began to spill down his cheeks.
Haruto doesn’t remember what happens after that. His memories get extremely muddled. He knows at some point he’s on the back of Agias, leaning against someone. But then everything fades away. When he’s lucid again he’s in a hospital bed. An I.V. sending a steady drip of fluids and probably pain meds into a vein in his arm. He blinks blearily and notices someone has his hand grasped in their own; their figure hunched over his bed. It takes a moment for his foggy mind to place the shaggy blonde hair.
“A-Arven…?” he croaked
Arven’s head shot up, pale green eyes finding his and he let out a choked sob,
“H-Haru.”
Haruto blinked slowly at him, uncomprehending. Why was he so upset? What had happened? The taller boy leaned up and wrapped him in a careful hug, which he weakly returned. Arven planted a gentle kiss on his forehead,
“Give me a second. I need to let the others know you’re awake.”
Haruto tilted his head to the side as he watched him fish his phone from his pocket and dial several numbers back to back. The message was always the same. No, nothing was wrong. He was awake. Come as soon as possible. His gaze followed Arven as he collapsed back in the chair next to his bed and threaded their fingers together,
“You gave us quite a scare, you know that?”
“What…happened?” Haruto managed to ask
“You don’t remember?” Arven frowned, concerned
The younger boy shook his head. He leaned his head back against his pillow, eyes darting across the ceiling as he tried to recall anything that would have gotten him in this position. Last thing he solidly remembered was being in the Underpaths, and that small turtle-like Pokemon…Terapagos? He thinks? His memories get really fuzzy from there. Just a sense of franticness and pain…lots of pain. Then Kieran’s tear-filled gaze as he shouted for him but his voice was muted. As if Haruto had been deaf at the time. He jolted suddenly: Kieran! He had been in danger!
“Kieran!” he gasps out, body jerking upward.
He hissed through his teeth as pain pulled at his shoulder. Arven hushed him softly, gently laying him back down,
“Your friend from Blueberry, right?” he asked, “Don’t worry, he’s safe. So is everyone else.”
Haruto let out a sigh of relief, sinking back into his bed. He watched as Arven rubbed his thumb over his wrist. Smiling, he lifted his good arm to cup his cheek; startling the other teen in the process,
“Sorry…I didn’t mean to scare you.”
Arven chuckled quietly, squeezing his hand,
“You better apologize to everyone else too. But you’re forgiven.” he leaned over and carefully kissed him, “I love you.”
“I love you too.” Haruto murmured.
He squeezed Arven’s hand. He was exhausted but he had to tell him…tell him about his feelings about Kieran. His boyfriend, ever observant, was able to pick up on that he wanted to tell him something,
“What is it?”
“It’s about Kieran.”
Arven smirked slightly,
“Don’t tell me…you found another one for our polycule?”
Haruto blushed heavily, eyes darting away. He heard Arven laugh good-naturedly.
“Relax, bud. I’m just teasing.” Haruto peaked at him and saw a familiar wry smile on his face, “But I saw how he looked at you. I can’t say I’m surprised. After all, it’s you.”
The smaller teen ducked his head but couldn’t help the small smile that bloomed across his face in response. He had fallen in love with Arven first during his adventure here in Paldea. But Nemona had grown on him fairly quickly and at first he felt like a terrible boyfriend. He had anguished about it for weeks before finally confessing to Arven what was on his mind. Arven, sweet, understanding person he was, had proposed they become a polycule. It was a struggle at first but they fell into a rhythm soon enough and then towards the end of their journeys together, Penny joined, although she preferred to just hug and cuddle when the mood struck. After first visiting Kitakami Haruto fell hard and fast for Kieran and he thought the other boy might have felt the same. But then after everything that had happened with the Loyal Three and Ogerpon, Kieran had become…distant. Then there was Blueberry Academy. Despite the sudden, concerning, change of behavior his friend displayed, Haruto was fiercely protective of him still. Especially when other students questioned why someone like him was friends with Kieran. He had hoped, eventually, the part of Kieran that saw him as his friend, not just his rival, would come back. In a way, it did but he doesn’t remember what happened after that. It’s frustrating. He looked to Arven,
“Does…does he know?”
“About us? I don’t know. I haven’t told him but we haven’t been subtle. So unless you told him I imagine he’s figured it out by now.”
Haruto bit his lip. He had meant to tell Kieran, truly. Mostly when he intended on asking him out though. Seeing his troubled looked, Arven stood and kissed his forehead,
“Don’t worry, I’m sure it’ll be fine.”
Haruto opened his mouth, mostly to ask why his boyfriend suddenly stood up when a relieved cry of, “HARUTO!” caught his ears. He barely had time to brace himself before Nemona had barreled into his arms. He grunted in pain but brought his good arm to return her embrace.
“Nemona!” Arven scolded, “Be more careful! He’s still injured!”
Both teens were startled by a loud sniff coming from her before she lifted her face, wiping at her eyes.
“S-Sorry, I’ve just been so worried.”
The blond of their group just sighed and shuffled over to kiss her brow,
“It’s ok. Just be more careful next time, yeah?”
Haruto smiled up at her, wiping away a few of her tears himself,
“I’m alright, Nemona.” he said softly.
“You’d better be.” a voice grunted from the doorway.
Haruto craned his neck around to see a very disheveled looking Penny staring at them. She shuffled over to his other side and plopped down in a nearby chair before face planting on his bed. Haruto’s hand moved to hover, unsure, over her head before resting in her tangle of red and blue hair.
“Penny?”
She squinted up at him and, belatedly, he realized she didn’t have her glasses on,
“I haven’t been awake this long since we had finales, you know.”
Haruto gave her a lopsided, apologetic smile. It was certainly a weird thing to say but he knew it was Penny’s way of saying she cared. That she had been scared for him.
“Thanks, Penny.”
She snorted and pillowed her arms underneath her head. In a matter of seconds she was asleep. Haruto moved his hand down to her back, rubbing up and down as he glanced at his other partners,
“She really hasn’t been sleeping, huh?”
Arven smiled sadly, going to grab a spare blanket from the linen closet,
“No, she couldn’t use her hacking skills to make you better,” he explained, voice soft, “She had to wait with us for you to pull through. It terrified her.”
Haruto frowned as Arven draped the blanket across Penny’s shoulders and kissed the top of her head. Nemona had settled herself against his right side, a familiar and comforting presence as her head rested on his stomach.
“I’m sorry, guys.” he murmured, “I didn’t mean to worry you so much.”
Nemona tilted her head to look up at him,
“Don’t worry about it. From what I understand, that Kieran guy would have been killed if it weren’t for you…it’s honestly not that surprising.” she grinned, “I know how far you go for your friends.”
Haruto blushed, looking away and scratching at his cheek absently. Strangely Arven stayed on his left side with Penny but, like with Nemona, he seemed to always have a second sense about people. He gave her a look and, weirdly, Nemona rolled off of Haruto. The teen was about to ask why when a panting, breathless voice asked,
“Haruto…?”
Haruto’s head snapped to the doorway again and there, looking just as disheveled as Penny, was Kieran. The two locked eyes for a moment before Kieran’s eyes filled with tears and he rushed to Haruto’s side. He clutched his hand like it was a lifeline, searching his dark brown eyes. Haruto’s gaze softened, thumb grazing the back of Kieran’s knuckles,
“I’m ok, Kiki.”
Kieran choked on a sob and threw his arms around his neck, tucking his face against his good shoulder. Haruto just held him as he cried, gently stroking his back as he pressed their heads together. His partners said nothing but he swears he sees Nemora grinning like a devil out of the corner of his eye. After a long while, when Kieran’s sobs have whittled down to sniffles, he pulls away slightly. A blush of embarrassment is on his cheeks but he is completely serious when he says,
“You shouldn’t have done that.”
Haruto’s eyes harden,
“I will never not do that.”
Kieran searched his face desperately,
“Why?” he cried, “I told you I’m not worth dying for! Haruto, please…I can’t lose you!”
Haruto brings their heads back together, his hand tangling into the other teen’s hair,
“Nor I you.” he answered simply, “Kieran…I love you.”
He feels more than hears Kieran’s breath hitch,
“Y-you what?” he whispered
“I love you.”
Kieran pulled back and cupped his face. Haruto could stare into those beautiful gold eyes for hours.
“S-say it again.” Kieran pleaded.
Haruto smiled, turning to press a soft kiss into one of his palms,
“I love you.” he repeated.
Kieran’s eyes flitted to the other people in the room but Haruto knew they were doing nothing but giving him encouraging smiles and/or nods. He kept his eyes on his smaller friend and was rewarded with the sight of the sharp inhale he made as he looked back to him, a beautiful blush dusting his face. Haruto’s smile widened slightly and Kieran, careful and unsure, leaned down; brushing their lips together. Haruto kissed him back softly, not wanting to startle him; his hand moving down to the other teen’s shoulder. All too suddenly for his liking Kieran was pulling away, causing Haruto to whine slightly. His new partner chuckled and gently began to comb through his tangled hair,
“I love you too.” he murmured, bumping their foreheads back together. The gesture incredibly more intimate now, “But you need to rest. You still haven’t completely healed.”
Haruto simultaneously blushed and pouted. His heart thrummed joyously. Kiki didn’t hesitate in returning a declaration if love. It made him feel all gooey inside. And yet he was being just as cautious as Arven. As if sensing his thoughts he heard Arven laugh; which devolved into cackling as Haruto turned a baleful eye to him. Wiping his eyes, he said,
“Kieran’s right. Yo-you need to get some more rest.” he moved over to his side and kissed his cheek, “We can all do something together when you get out of the hospital.”
The Champion sighed in mock defeat,
“Alright, alright.”
He brought Arven’s knuckles to his lips, giving them a kiss, then placed a kiss on Kieran’s nose. The other teen let out an embarrassed yelp, hands covering his face and a bright red blush creeping up to his ears. Haruto leaned back into his pillows, smirking slightly,
“I’ll hold you to that.”