Chapter Text
Kieran looked over the letter again as if it was the last thing he would ever do in his life. It had been a year since Juliana and now his new friends had gone on a visit to Kitakami. Right now, he was planning to invite them back to town, it had been a little over a year since the last visit and he wanted to have fun with them again. However, this time was a little different, as he was... anxious, to say the least. There was something different this time.
He was now in love with Juliana. He had been since the first time Juliana had set foot on Kitakami, however, he was now aware of his infatuation, and with things cleared up between the two of them, and after resuming their friendship, he felt more than ready to confess his love. Well, sort of... he still had his doubts and insecurities, but he had a few ideas in mind for the next time he and Juliana saw each other.
Falling in love and confessing was a complicated task, he knew that, the last time, when Ogerpon didn't choose him, he literally went crazy and became so obsessed with it that he hurt many people, including his family. He couldn't imagine what would happen if the girl he loved rejected him, it terrified him, although deep in his heart he knew he could handle a rejection now.
Returning to the present, he squeezed the envelope with both hands and then put it in the mailbox. By now he should urgently buy a Smart Rotom, yet he was a small-town boy, for crying out loud. Even if he had promised himself to buy one to communicate more easily with his friends and... let's just say it didn't happen.
He returned to his grandparents' house quickly, as the breeze and the trilling of bird pokemon hit him in the face. He finally felt free, somehow, he felt safe and liberated. Furret was running swiftly after him, both with a smile on his face, maybe, just maybe, he was starting to feel happy.
...
The days passed quickly, he hadn't even noticed when, oh my god, today Juliana was arriving along with Nemona, Penny and Arven, he couldn't lie, he was so excited to see them again. On the other hand, Carmine was also excited, but definitely not as much as he was. And best of all, in a couple of days it was the masquerade festival, which meant that, well, maybe he could have his silly little confession of love, he felt pathetic for being a romantic.
He could still remember how, during one of the last days at the academy, Drayton came in during lunchtime and sat down next to him to eat with him. Not that he liked Drayton at all, but they were supposed to be friends or something. He overlooked Drayton's presence until he realized that, through an oversight, he had left one of the friendly letters Juliana had sent him that afternoon. And since Drayton can't shut up, he ended up bothering him with it. The envelope, beyond a friendly greeting, contained a printed photograph of Juli and Ogerpon at the Orange Academy, they seemed to be in a combat class or something like that. Drayton looked at it with his eyes closed and let out a laugh, Kieran was confused for a few seconds until Drayton said something like “Fuck, you definitely bring made crazy a this girl, champion". He didn't like Drayton, but he hoped what he said was true.
Waiting at the bus stop, Kieran was looking forward to the arrival of his friends, his stomach twitching as he saw, in the distance, the bus getting closer and closer. His friends were getting closer at a dizzying pace.
The bus stopped in front of his nose, and as he opened its doors the first thing he saw was Nemona's giant smile, Arven's tousled hair behind her, a Penny with her natural hair colour, and finally Juliana. Juli looked too pretty, her hair was much shorter than usual, nice waves rested on her shoulders, and the fringes were on the sides of her forehead... okay, she could die right now, no doubt.
Quickly, Nemona shook hands with him. Still with her huge smile, while the rest of her friends watched them closely.
"Hey, Kieran? you're like, a little bit taller than Juliana and Penny now, you look amazing, puberty has hit you hard man, I hope you've grown up in terms of pokemon battling too". Nemona said with a chuckle. Kieran was a little embarrassed.
"Well... I just ate vegetables and stuff, no big deal." Kieran replied, putting a hand to the back of his neck.
"Buh, Nemona with her things again..." interjected Penny into the conversation.
"Yeah, well, now that we're all here, would you like something to snack on?" said Arven with a tone of excitement "It's on me anyway!" Ducking his head to look at his beloved companion Mabosstiff.
"Well, I think it's a great idea, what do you think, Kieran?" Juliana finally questioned, drawing Kieran's gaze in her direction.
"Yeah, I think that's cool".
The group of friends decided to climb a small hill to set up a picnic, luckily, Arven was always prepared for occasions like that. As they climbed, Paldea's group chatted, and Kieran was so, so, so distracted that he couldn't even formulate a single word to add to the conversation. His shy and curious gaze was on Juli, he could tell, even a couple of steps away from her, how much she had changed since the last time she had visited Kitakami. Even in the photograph she had sent him a few months ago! Her new hairstyle made such a nice contrast with her eyes, and the Orange Academy uniform fit her so well, as if it had been tailored especially for her.
Anyway, Penny was the first and also the only one to notice how far away Kieran looked from the rest of the group, so she decided to approach the boy, who had fallen a little behind them.
“Is something wrong?” asked Penny with complete curiosity, and she couldn't deny it, she was also worried about how quiet Kieran was. She thought that since they were both introverts, it would be easy for Kieran to be honest with her.
“Umh, no, it's nothing, why...?”
“You've drifted away from the group, are you uncomfortable or something?” asked Penny.
“Not at all! I mean, I'm happy that you guys are finally in Kitakami.” replied Kieran quickly.
“It doesn't sound like that... but if you don't want to tell me, that's fine with me.”
Kieran ducked his head to the ground, at least Furret was keeping him company, he hated not being able to be honest, honestly, it's not like there was anything he was worried about either, and if there was anything, he wasn't sure. It could be his crush, maybe he had lost the confidence to socialize. He couldn't know.
Finally they reached the top of the hill. Nemona began setting up the picnic table while Arven chopped some vegetables. Penny was doing nothing but looking at her Smart Rotom and Juliana as she...
“Hi Kieran.”
He looked back and met Juliana's face. So close.
“Hey Juli.” he said, trying to look nonchalant. He didn't succeed anyway.
Juliana took a seat next to him, on the grass, took Furret in her arms and began to coddle the pokemon.
“I wanted to tell you... well, I didn't have time to greet you properly, I'm sorry.”
You shouldn't worry about that Juliana!
“Maybe, but I wanted to spend time with you, closer, I mean.”
Kieran's ears were getting hot.
"Also, I wanted to tell you that I've been taking good care of Applin, you know, the one you exchanged with me that time."
"Really?"
"yes, it was nice of you."
"N-it's nothing..."
"Hey, Juli, you should help here or something!" Arven shouted in the distance, while he continued to work on the vegetables and other ingredients.
Juli got up from the ground and looked at Kieran, he nodded accepting that she should leave. Juliana smiled at him one last time and went straight to help Arven with the food.
Seeing Juliana with Arven was a visual marvel or something. She was smiling and looked extremely happy with him, it made Kieran feel the need to be equally special to Juli. As far as Kieran knew, a long time ago, Juliana had helped Arven save Mabosstiff's life, that was amazing, that girl was so genuine, kind and dedicated.
A breeze hit his face.
“Kieran, come here, man, it's time to eat,” Arven said to him, pulling him out of his thoughts.
Kieran smiled brightly and took a seat next to Nemona, she was eating some carrot slices and Penny was drinking a juice that looked great while she played Pokemon crossing or something. It felt cozy, almost like last time.
“So what are the plans for this week...hopefully lots of pokemon battles” Nemona asked.
“Actually... the masquerade festival is coming up and it would be great if you could come. Carmine has a couple of Jinbei that might come in handy” Kieran proposed.
“Masquerade festival?” Arven said curiously.
“Yes, it's a traditional celebration here and.... well, there's amazing food.”
“Well that's settled then.”
Juliana smiled “Last time I attended the mask festival, well, it was amazing, I really wish I was going.”
The group of friends continued to have lunch with their pokemon as they caught up. Juliana told how she had cut her hair because, unintentionally, trying to catch a wild garchomp, it cut off a big part of it, now it had grown, luckily, and she had also gone to the hairdresser to get it fixed, hence she now looked super cute. On the other hand, Penny was going bald because of the dyes she used, and she decided to stop painting it, at least for a while. Finally, Arven had started to take his classes at the academy seriously, and he had been doing really well.
“Well, now that Juli is gone.... I took back the title of champion at the Blueberry Academy and all...” Kieran mentioned, not knowing whether to feel good or bad about that fact. “Although well, I don't know if being a champion is what I'm really passionate about.”
“You're a tough boy, Kieran.”
“You think so, Nemoma?”
“Yeah!”
“Well... it's time to go, the sun is finally setting” Nemona stretched.
When they finished packing up the picnic, Kieran escorted them to the place where they would be spending the night. The trip to Kitakami plus the walk up the hill had been really tiring and they needed a rest from it all. Tomorrow Wednesday would be a long and fun day, at least they hoped so.
Arven and Nemona had already gone to their dorms, while Penny went to buy a soda and junk food, only Kieran and Juli were left at the entrance.
“So I'll see you tomorrow Juli, get some rest, yeah?”
“Mhh, yeah, though...”
“What's up?” Kieran asked.
Juliana grabbed Kieran's hand before he could pull away any further.
She was a little nervous, even Kieran could tell, it made his heart race.
“I was wondering if could meet up later like... you and me.”
“Without the others?”
“I mean! They must be really tired, right?” replied Juli before Kieran could say anything else.
“Maybe.”
Juliana smiled, letting go of Kieran's hand and playing a little with her fingers.
“Is 9:00 at the community center okay with you?
“Sure.”
Kieran ducked his gaze “Right, well, see you later then” the boy became somewhat nervous and hid his hands in his pockets.
Juli nodded and Kieran started walking towards his grandparents' house. Heart racing, he couldn't stop fantasizing about his meeting with Juliana, it seemed like a secret even. His steps were getting faster and faster, he couldn't wait to lie down in bed and take a nap before seeing his friend again.
It was definitely going to be an interesting night.