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Kukui’s had these urges for as long as he could remember. Like the urge to hunt. And he could deal with them just fine. But this one. This one felt like an unscratchable itch. Like he couldn’t focus until he got what he wanted.
He wanted raw meat.
Arceus knows why, but he needed to sink his teeth into something raw, to taste the metallic tang of bloody, raw meat coating his tongue. And of course, he knew it wasn’t safe to eat raw meat. But Arceus, the Tapus, and Blinding One itself be damned, he needed it. And so he went for the next best thing.
He walked up from his lab, adjusting his lab coat. Ash was sitting on the couch, and he waved at Kukui upon seeing him enter the room.
“Hey, Professor.” The teen greeted, smiling. He was on his phone but looked up to see what Kukui was doing in the kitchen. Kukui waved back at him.
Kukui opened the fridge, looking for a specific food in there. After a moment of searching, he found it.
“There it is!” He exclaimed triumphantly to himself. His mouth was watering. It wasn’t exactly raw meat, but it was pretty good.
It was a chicken breast. Just a cooked chicken breast. Nothing more. And yet, it made his mouth water just at the sight of it. He’d seldom had an urge this strong before.
He tore off a chunk of chicken and stared at it for a moment. Then, seemingly without thinking, he sank his teeth into it, almost as he’d seen his and Ash’s Lycanrocs do if they were particularly hungry.
It wasn’t exactly what he wanted , but it would stave off the urge somewhat. He let out a small, guttural growl as he wolfed down the piece of chicken. Then he heard some chuckling from the living room. He looked over into the living room, chicken still dangling from his mouth, to see Ash looking at him and giggling to himself.
“What?” Kukui asked, cocking an eyebrow. Ash nodded towards the front door, and upon turning his head, he saw Burnet standing there, her face a mix of confusion and amusement. His face turned beet red and he quickly chewed and swallowed the chicken hanging from his mouth.
“Uh…welcome back?” He grinned sheepishly. Ash busted out laughing, which certainly didn’t help his case. Burnet put a hand over her mouth in a weak attempt to stifle her own giggling. He put the rest of the chicken back into the container, sliding it onto the fridge shelf and shutting the fridge. Burnet walked into the kitchen, setting her grocery bags on the counter.
“What exactly were you doing?” She questioned him, amused. Kukui scratched his nape, chuckling awkwardly.
“I got hungry.” He answered, and Burnet couldn’t hold back her giggling. She pulled containers out of the bags, putting some of them in the fridge and some in cabinets. He snuck out of the kitchen, still embarrassed, and flopped down onto the couch. Ash glanced over at him.
Ash was an alterhuman. He knew this, this was who he was. And sometimes, some of the professor’s behaviours made him wonder if Kukui was an alterhuman as well. He never thought to ask, but now, he had to know. He had to ask. Ash shoved his phone into the pocket of his shorts.
“Professor?” Kukui turned his attention to Ash. “Do you know what the word ‘Alterhuman’ is?”
Kukui cocked his head and raised an eyebrow.
“No..?” The word sounded familiar, but he wasn’t sure what it really meant. He didn’t know the deeper meaning, he supposed. Ash nodded.
“It’s kinda like…when you’re not exactly human? It sounds silly, but stay with me here. Like you’re something other than human.” Kukui scratched his chin. It, surprisingly, made a lot of sense to him.
“Some alterhumans say they’re not human at all, while others say that they’re human in a way that’s not really normal. Some are Poke-hearted, or Pokekin, meaning they identify with Pokemon. Some identify generally with all or most Pokemon, or a specific Pokemon. Some even identify with a single evolution of a Pokemon.” The more Ash explained, the more it made sense to the professor. His entire knowledge of humanity was shaken by this newfound knowledge. He rubbed his chin.
“If I may ask, Ash, how do you know so much about this?” He inquired, and Ash grinned.
“I’m Poke-hearted. I always have been, really. It might be the reason I’ve got such good connections with Pokemon.” He scratched Pikachu’s chin, and the yellow mouse dozing on his shoulders let out a soft ‘chuu’.
It made sense. God, it made so much more sense now. The cravings, the urges, everything . Kukui looked down at his hands, back at Ash, then back at his hands. Was this…was he like that too? Was he an alterhuman? Would that explain the feelings and urges he had since childhood? The confusion he felt as a kid when told he couldn’t act like a Pokemon all the time? The disappointment he felt as a teenager when his hands were those of a human?
…Yes. Yes, it did. It explained everything.
“Oh, Tapus .” He mumbled under his breath. Ash chuckled.
“Lot to take in, huh?” He looked over at the teenager, who seemed particularly amused at Kukui’s identity crisis. Burnet walked into the living room and sat next to him, nudging him.
“What’s all this I’m hearing about alterhumanity?” She asked lightheartedly. She knew what it was–she’d studied psychology in college, it was one of her minors, but had also liked to study the human mind on her own time–and she knew Ash was an alterhuman. She’d also had a sneaking suspicion about Kukui possibly being one, but she never brought it up, in case she was wrong.
But now, she was glad Ash had explained it. She never would have known how to word it in a way that didn’t sound weird, or without making it sound overly analytical. She looked at Kukui, trying to gauge how he was feeling about the newfound realization. He looked…awestruck, confused, and even a little nervous. But she also saw another emotion.
Relief.
Relief that he finally had an explanation for all his odd, and weird, and not-quite-human behaviours. Relief that he could understand himself a little bit better. The pure relief that he was able to put it all together now.
He sighed.
“Holy…holy shit, dude.” Kukui laughed a little breathlessly. He finally had an answer. A word to put it all together. And he was glad.
Ash punched him in the shoulder, grinning.
“Don’t think too hard about it, Professor. From now on, it all just kinda falls into place.” Kukui laughed, ruffling Ash’s hair.
Yeah.
He could live with this.