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It had been about a week ever since the multi battle between Maki and Nico versus Rin and Hanayo, the news that Maki was once a formidable Pokemon player had spread within the nine members of μ's. Before Maki knew it, everyone had started asking her questions about Pokemon, how to EV train and the optimal movesets for a Pokemon. They were all hanging out at Maki’s house and then Honoka asked a question.
“So having my Typholsion only knowing fire moves is a bad idea?” Honoka questioned.
“Of course it’s a bad idea, what kind of person would run four fire moves on their Pokemon? You’d get walled by anything that resists those moves, STAB is important but not important enough to where you’d run four moves of the same type.” Maki said.
“STAB? My God why does Pokemon have so many weird terms,” Nico pouted, “okay Ms. Pokemon Nerd, explain to us what STAB is.”
Just as Maki was about to explain, a high pitched voice spoke up, the voice was practically chirping like a baby bird.
“STAB is short for Same Type Attack Bonus,” Kotori explained, everyone looking at her with surprise in their eyes, all Kotori did was give a small smile then she continued explaining, “when a Pokemon uses a move with the same type as them, the move gets a 50% increase in power.”
“Kotori how do you know this? Did you compete in Pokemon tournies a long time ago as well?” Umi asked.
“No it wasn’t anything like that,” Kotori giggled, “it’s just after hearing about what Maki did in the past, I decided to do my own research instead of asking Maki for help on everything.”
“Harasho, Kotori’s taking the initiative unlike the rest of us.” Eli said.
Maki was stunned, stunned at how she for once didn’t have to explain a Pokemon mechanic to her friends. Had she finally found someone who she could talk about the deeper mechanics of Pokemon with? Had she finally found someone that could battle her on even terms? A small smile had started spreading across her face.
“Look at Maki, she’s so lost in thought about the news Kotori gave us that she’s smiling for once in her life,” Nozomi teasingly said with a grin on her face, “how cute.”
“I-I am not smiling!” Maki exclaimed, embarrassed that she had been caught smiling for no reason. “...okay maybe I was kind of smiling but it’s nothing okay?” Maki’s face taking on that familiar shade of red that was usually plastered on it.
“Pfft, yeah right Maki,” Rin scoffed, “come on, just tell us what you were thinking! It can’t be that hard to tell us.”
“Yeah! What were you thinking Maki? There’s no need to be so embarrassed in front of us.” Honoka cheerfully said with her usual smile on her face.
“Maybe she was thinking that she and Kotori should battle?” Hanayo pondered, “am I anywhere close to what you were thinking Maki?”
“It may have had something to do with that…” Maki answered, still faintly blushing and twirling her hair. “but only if Kotori is up for it, I don’t want to force her to battle me if she doesn’t want to.”
“I’m fine with battling you Maki, but shall we make things interesting?” Kotori said with a mischievous grin on her face.
Everyone was shocked by Kotori for the second time that day, the usual Kotori with her fluffy cute smile and easygoing attitude was gone and had been replaced by something else, something almost devilish.
“Oh yeah, and what’s that?” Maki gulped, almost scared by this side of Kotori that she’d never seen before.
“Well first off, let’s make it a multi battle, we both pick a partner of our choosing.” Kotori said, the grin on her face growing ever so slightly by the minute. “And then the winners of the multi battle get to think of a punishment for the losers.”
“Ooh, I like this new side of Kotori.” Nozomi had spoken, the grin on Kotori’s face had seem to have spread to her as well.
“Nozomi, Kotori, would you stop grinning like that, the two of you are scaring poor Hanayo.” Eli said, holding what appeared to be a crying Hanayo.
“Ahh! I’m so sorry Hanayo! I didn’t mean to scare you like that.” Kotori apologized, reverting back to her normal self and sheepishly smiling.
“Just please don’t do anything like that ever again Kotori, you even scared Rin.” Nico had barely gotten her sentence out due to Rin holding and squeezing her like she were some kind of teddy bear.
Even Umi had appeared to be scared by how Kotori was acting, tightly holding Honoka’s hand for support and Honoka squeezing Umi’s hand in a death grip to show that she was just as scared. Now that Kotori had stopped her sinister grin, Maki and Kotori were to now choose their partners.
“I’ll pair up with Nico again,” Maki said, “I hope you’ve been practicing Nico, I don’t want to carry you through this again.”
“Yeah yeah, whatever, why can’t you just say you want the incredible Nico-Ni on your team because she’s your girlfriend?” Nico said, holding up her trademark hand signal.
“On second thought, Eli do you want to be my partner?”
“Hey wait a minute! Answer my question Maki!”
“Why do you always fall for that Nico?” Maki asked with a smirk on her face, Nico knew how to push her buttons, but Maki knew how to push Nico’s buttons as well.
“Whatever, let’s just prepare our teams and win this thing already.” Nico said with a scoff.
“Wait, Kotori still has to pick her part-”
“I pick Umi as my partner!” Kotori chirped right before Maki was able to finish her sentence.
“A-are you sure you want me as your partner Kotori?” Umi asked, not feeling too confident in herself.
“Of course I’m sure! We’ll do just fine together, trust me.” Kotori replied, giving Umi a small peck on the cheek for a bit of a confidence boost, “after all, you are my girlfriend.”
“Y-yes, of course I am. I’ll do my best.” Umi feeling confident once more giving Kotori a small smile. Then her face turned serious as she pulled out her 3DS, “don’t expect me to go easy on the two of you just because we’re friends.”
“It’s just a Pokemon battle Umi, no need to take is so seriously.” Eli said with a nervous smile on her face.
After the teams had talked strategy and Pokemon that they were bringing along, the multi battle had started, Kotori’s team full of bird Pokemon was surprising to say the least, but Maki knew not to underestimate any team, especially not from someone who has EV trained and bred for IVs. Umi’s team was far more balanced, good type coverage and was full of Pokemon that were well known for being huge powerhouses. Nico’s team was full of Pokemon that Nico deemed were cute enough to be on her team, but was still quite a formidable team. Maki brought along a team she hadn’t used in a long time, a team that complemented Nico’s team, Maki noticed how slow Nico’s Pokemon were so she brought along a Trick Room team.
Maki opened up with Bronzong and Nico led with her Sylveon, while Kotori leaded with her Talonflame and Umi leaded with her Garchomp. Maki was sure that Talonflame would either try to set Tailwind or try to Flare Blitz Bronzong, luckily Maki used Heatproof Bronzong so she could safely set a Trick Room without taking damage from Talonflame, but she still had to worry about the Garchomp. Maki had predicted correctly that Talonflame would set Tailwind so she had chosen Trick Room to counter it, Garchomp had used Earthquake and had taken a decent chunk of Bronzongs health but not enough to knock it out, Nico’s Sylveon had used Hyper Voice and with the Pixilate bonus, was almost enough to knock out Garchomp.
“Ooh, nice call Maki, now I can easily outspeed them.” Nico praised.
“Thanks, but that Talonflame is still a problem, it will most likely Brave Bird you next so use Protect and I’ll burn the Garchomp.” Maki explained, the tension feeling unusually high.
As the battle went on, Maki had started feeling something, something she hadn’t felt in awhile, something she had felt she had lost a long time ago. She could still faintly remember her last day of being a competitive Pokemon player, the sheer humiliation of having lost so badly in a tournament had broken her spirit as a Pokemon trainer and that’s when it stopped being fun to her, but now that she was battling with friends and had finally found multiple people she was on even terms with, Pokemon was finally fun to her again. Maki and Nico may have lost the battle, but it was all worth it, it was worth taking a loss against friends to reignite Maki’s passion for Pokemon. All that was left now was the punishment for having lost the battle, and putting up with Nico’s complaining.
“What the heck happened back there Maki? It looked like we were going to win but you must have messed up or something, or maybe I messed up, I don’t know.”
“I don’t know, I just got caught up in things.” Maki answered with a faint smile on her face. “But there is something that came from that battle.”
“What’s that?” Hanayo asked.
Maki explained to them why she had left the competitive scene and how she felt about Pokemon over the past year. Maki was smiling the entire time she was telling her story, her trip down memory lane brought back both good and bad memories, but the good outweighed the bad, and all that mattered in the end was that she found Pokemon fun again.
“That’s great to hear Maki! I’m so glad Umi and I were able to make you excited about Pokemon again.” Kotori giggled.
“So does that mean you’re going to participate in tourneys again Maki?” Eli asked.
“Not right away at least, but maybe one day.” Maki answered, the faint smile now a full on smile from ear to ear.
“Awww, you’re even more adorable when you smile like that Maki, why don’t you smile like that more often?” Nico cooed, giving a Maki a quick kiss on the nose.
“Maybe I will, but on one condition.”
“What’s that?”
“Whenever I get back into the tournament scene, I want you to be there with me, you don’t have to battle if you don’t want to, but I want you to support me.” Maki answered, followed giving Nico a kiss on the lips.
“What’re you crazy? Of course I’m going to be there to support you, you’re my girlfriend after all.”
“Ahem” Nozomi cleared her throat, attracting everyone’s attention, “as much as I like this whole fluff stuff, aren’t you guy forgetting the punishment?” Nozomi’s face then spread into a wide grin.
“Yeah! Kotori and Umi have to think of something for Maki and Nico to do!” Rin bursting with enthusiasm as ever.
“Ugh fine, what do you want us to do.” Nico pouted, looking completely disappointed that Nozomi broke up her kiss with Maki.
“Let’s set some ground rules at the very least” Eli said, “please don’t make them do anything either dangerous or highly embarrassing.”
“Aww but where’s the fun in that Eli?” Nozomi asked with puppy dog eyes.
“So we can do things like this in the future obviously, we can’t just go all out on the very first punishment game.” Eli answered, her smile just screaming something mischievous.
“Actually that’s a pretty good idea Eli, I would’ve never thought you’d think of that.” Nozomi chuckled.
“Can we just get on with it please?” Nico asked impatiently.
“I’ll let Umi choose who gets her punishment, and whoever wasn’t picked by her gets my punishment.” Kotori said.
Deep down, both Nico and Maki were hoping that Umi would pick them. Umi wouldn’t be someone who would make someone do something super embarrassing, worst thing Umi would do is make someone write with their other hand.
“Okay, I choose Nico.”
Nico mentally high-fived herself and then gave Maki a reassuring glance that said that ‘maybe Kotori won’t make you do something super embarrassing’.
“Alright so what am I doing Umi?” Nico questioned.
“My punishment for you is to…” Umi paused, building up suspense as to what Nico would be doing, “write your next essay with your non dominant hand!”
“Come on Umi! You can do better than that! Make Nico do something totally embarrassing!” Honoka almost shouting in disappointment.
“Eli did say that we can’t make them do anything too embarrassing and I could only think of that so that’s my punishment.” Umi said.
“Fine by me.” Nico huffed, not looking forward to how sloppy the essay would turn out.
“So I guess that means I decide Maki’s punishment.” Kotori giggle, but there was a slight sparkle in her eye, she was up to something. “Maki, I want you…” Kotori paused just like Umi did to build up suspense, “to kiss me in front of everyone else!”
“What!” everyone in the room exclaimed, except for Nozomi who was sporting her usual grin.
“Whoa whoa whoa whoa, can she make Maki do that?! Eli you did say they can’t make us do anything super embarrassing!” Nico’s voice raising with every word spoken.
“I did…”
“I’ll do it,” Maki said, her face sporting a light blush.
“Maki what the hell!” Nico practically shrieking, “why do you want to do this!”
“Think of it as my gift to Kotori for making Pokemon fun for me again.” Maki answered. “Besides, it’s just as friends, nothing more, nothing less.”
“...fine whatever, I’ll try not to get too jealous.” Nico said hesitantly.
“Are you okay with this Umi?” Kotori asked, “it’s just like Maki said, it’s a friend kiss, nothing more, nothing less.”
“I’m okay with it I guess…” Umi paused, “but why make your punishment so shameless?”
“It just seemed like a fun thing to do.” Kotori answered, giving Umi a small smile.
“I’m ready when you are, I guess.” Maki said, blushing just as hard if not harder than earlier.
Both Maki and Kotori got up and stood in front of each other, Maki hesitated for a bit but finally placed her lips on Kotori’s. Maki was shocked at first, not by the fact that Kotori was kissing back but by how great of a kisser Kotori was. When their lips had separated, Maki could’ve sworn she heard a whimper from Kotori but Kotori was still standing there smiling her usual smile.
“How was that?” Maki asked, her face just as red as her hair.
“Pretty good, I can see why Nico was so disappointed that Nozomi interrupted your kiss earlier.” Kotori answered, giggling slightly, but Maki could detect a bit of sadness behind it.
“Well, it’s getting late, I think it’s about time we all head home.” Nozomi spoke up.
Everyone had left Maki’s house except for one person, the person that not too long ago asked Maki to kiss her, a person that is hiding her feelings.
“What’re you still doing here? Something wrong?” Maki asked.
“Hm?” Kotori looked up, “oh, no, it’s just that my mom doesn’t want me walking the streets this late at night so is it fine if I spend the night here?”
“I guess…”
After that small exchange, things became awkward between the two of them, neither of them talked and it seemed that neither of them wanted to be the one to start up a conversation. Maki finally fed up with the silence asked Kotori something that’s been on her mind ever since they had kissed.
“Kotori, I want you to be honest with me,” Maki started. “Do you love me? Or were you once in love with me?”
“Am I that easy to read?”
“You kind of gave it away when you whimpered when stopped kissing.”
“I suppose so,” Kotori chuckled, “the truth is Maki, I used to have a really big crush on you.”
This revelation caused yet another awkward silence until Kotori continued with what she was saying.
“I had the biggest crush on you ever since you joined μ's, I was so nervous around you that whenever you sat next to me in the clubroom, I felt like my heart would just explode. It wasn’t until Nico joined and you two started dating that I felt like we really couldn’t be together, but I think there was still a part of me that really wanted us to be together.”
“I see…” Maki said, still taking in everything Kotori had confessed.
“To tell the truth, you were one of the biggest reasons why I didn’t want to study abroad a couple months back, I don’t think I could’ve lived without seeing your face.” Kotori admitted.
Maki was still having trouble taking in everything Kotori had just confessed to her. Everything Kotori had just confessed to her just felt so surreal. Not to mention that there was something that Maki’s been hiding for the longest time as well.
“Hey, Kotori?” Maki began.
“What is it Maki”
“Since you told me all of this, I think it’s only fair if I told you something about myself.”
“You don’t have to if you don’t want to Maki, this is just something I wanted to get off my chest.”
“It’s fine, this is something I need to get off my chest as well,” Maki took a deep breath and then continued, “Kotori, the truth is, I once had a crush you you as well.”
Kotori sat there for a moment, completely stunned that her old crush had a crush on her as well.
“R-really? What caused you to have a crush on me?”
“I don’t really know, I think it was how cute you were, and your voice, and your kindness, it was just everything about you really.”
“Oh, I see, let me ask you this Maki.”
“Yeah?”
“If I had asked you out while you still had a crush on me and before you fell in love with Nico, would you have gone out with me?”
“Most likely, I’m sorry that’s not how things turned out Kotori.”
Kotori then got up and pulled Maki into a warm hug, she could see tears rolling down Kotori’s face, but Kotori was smiling.
“Kotori, you’re crying.”
“Don’t worry Maki, I’m not sad, I’m actually really happy, happy that I can finally get this off of my chest and move on. Thank you, Maki.”
Maki returned the hug, feeling tears stream down her face but just like Kotori, she was also smiling.
“Don’t worry about it Kotori, I’m just glad that we can both get this off our chests and move on.”
After they had finished embracing each other, Kotori yawned and Maki giggled a little and led Kotori to the guest room.
“I hope you don’t mind me spending the night here.” Kotori said.
“Don’t mention it, you’re welcome here any time Kotori. Good night.”
“Good night.” Kotori just barely mumbled out before falling asleep.
Maki went back to her room and reflected on the events that had happened today. Not only had her passion for Pokemon been restored, but she was also able to move on from her crush on one of her closest friends, feeling spent she yawned and quickly fell asleep.
Maki was woken up the next morning by her phone vibrating on the nightstand next to her bed, still half asleep, she lazily picked it up and looked at the screen to see multiple text messages from Nico about what happened last night. Maki replied to Nico’s text messages by explaining that Kotori once had a crush on Maki and Maki, before she started dating Nico, had a crush on Kotori. Maki’s phone then started vibrating saying that Nico was calling, so she answered her phone and explained everything once again.
“So you and Kotori have moved on from this right?” Nico asked.
“Yep, there’s no more awkwardness between us, and I don’t think she’ll be asking me to kiss her any time soon.”
“Can you at least tell me how it was kissing her? Is she a better kisser than me?
“Kotori’s an excellent kisser, way better than you, but with you, everything just feels so right and so nice.”
“Hmph, I’m just going to ignore the part about Kotori being a better kisser than me and say thanks for the compliment. And wait, she spent the night at your place last night?”
“If you’re asking if we did anything last night after everyone left, the answer is no. We told each other about the crush things then she fell asleep in the guest room and I went back to my room.”
“Okay… I just really need to know, I’m sorry.”
Maki sighed and then started saying to Nico, “I’d never cheat on you, now can you please let me go back to sleep?”
“That’s all I needed to hear, I love you Maki.”
“Love you too Nico”
Maki ended the call and put her phone back on the nightstand and was just about to fall asleep again when she heard a knock on her door.
“Maki? Can I come in?” It was Kotori’s voice.
“Uhh, give me a minute to get dressed and I’ll open the door.”
After Maki had finished getting dressed she opened the door and saw Kotori with a slight bedhead and Maki thought it was one of the cutest things she’d ever seen.
“What is it Kotori?”
“I was just wondering if you were about to shower, because if not, I was going to take one then head back home.”
“Go ahead and shower, I’ll try to see if I can get us some breakfast… though I don’t know how to cook.”
Kotori giggled, “It’s okay Maki, I can cook us breakfast if you want.”
“I’d appreciate it, but I’m the host, shouldn’t I do the cooking?”
“It’s fine! I don’t mind cooking, think of it as thanks for talking with me last night and letting me stay over.”
After Kotori had showered and cooked the two of them breakfast, she decided to head back to her house. Before she left, she gave Maki another hug.
“Thanks for everything Maki, you’re my best friend.”
Maki returned the hug and told Kotori, “Don’t worry about it, you’re my best friend as well.”