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“Oh my god, you came???”
Admittedly a bar was not quite Juliana's scene but the reunion went so well, she wasn't ready to tell her classmates goodbye.
Everyone was going, after all, and Carmine had bragged rather loudly that she had apple sake straight from Kitakami to share. No way she would miss that.
It's been 10 long years. Her academy days feel like a far off dream, but seeing Amarys, Lacey, Drayton, everyone put her right back in the mindset. They all hit off like no time had passed at all. Picking up right where they had left off.
Only one person was missing and that was..
“Kiki, lay off already, you're going to spill my drink!”
“Juliana, heyyyyyyy!”
The two Kitakami siblings had undoubtedly spotted her first. As she scanned the crowd of old academy students, she located them at last with a table to themselves.
“You're late,” Carmine's scowl is playful, “Everyone else already ditched us. Too tired. They have a schedule. Lame!”
Of course she was late. Castelia City in its bright glory was unfamiliar to her and the heels she took a chance on for the reunion proved unwieldy. The hotel was several blocks away, but now that she was able to cool her aching feet in sneakers, she felt the trip was worth it.
Examining them both, Juliana noted with relief that they both seemed hale and hearty- if not a bit drunk.
“Unbelievable! After we came all this way,” Juliana shares a knowing smirk with Carmine. While the rest of the crew still had jobs to attend to, those out of the country, like Carmine, Kieran, and Juliana, used their vacation time.
Juliana hovers at their table before Kieran practically falls over in an attempt to make room for her.
“Sit! Please!” That grin he wears is so genuine, “Next to me! I want to catch up.”
“She's my friend, too, y'know,” Carmine is indignant as she turns away to address Juliana directly, “Sheesh, you should have seen him before you got here. He got into a drinking contest with Drayton and-”
“Won!”
“Lost.”
Juliana chuckles amicably as she settles in, pointedly between Carmine and Kieran to avoid further infighting, “Which is it?”
“Don't let him lie to you. He tapped out first,” Carmine transitions into her least flattering Kieran impression, “‘I can't pass out before Julie gets here!’”
“No, no, see I won, because I'm still here? Drinking? And he went home,” Kieran asserts this with absolute certainty, “I was just playing the long game.”
“Riiiiiiight,” Carmine grins, sneasel-mouthed in her delight, “So if I call him and say-”
Kieran cuts her off by throwing an overly friendly arm over Juliana's shoulder. There's a bit more heft in that move than she expects and they both sway until Juliana is able to steady them both.
“Whoops,” he's sheepish despite the drunkenness, “Didn't mean to um. H-hey!”
Releasing her, his eyes widen as he takes in the sight of her seemingly for the first time. He scoots back in astonishment, “Wayaja, Julie, you look great!”
His ears visibly redden as he brushes his hair out of his face. In his drunken giddyness, he laughs a bit as he raises his hand to his mouth sheepishly, “Ehehe, I'm feeling nostalgic just seein’ ya.”
The gesture twists Juliana's stomach to knots. Time had treated Kieran well. He was taller and fit, but retained his boyish smile. Clean-shaven and well-groomed, only his hair appeared untamed, cascading partially past his nape.
‘He looks so friendly and approachable now,’ Julie noted with muted astonishment. If not for the occasional glimpse of his sharp, golden eyes, he would have been almost unrecognizable.
Before she could get too lost in her reminiscing, Carmine sets a bottle of sake in front of her with a loud clunk.
“I saved the rest of the bottle for you, Jules,” she declared triumphantly, “We can all share it. Well..”
She trails to eye her brother, “I'm cutting you off.”
“I'm fine!!!”
His overly boisterous protestation telegraphed clearly he was most certainly not fine.
“Water,” Carmine enunciated with annoyance, “NOW.”
Seeing Carmine play the role of big sister put Juliana at ease. Despite the years, some aspects never changed.
“Fine, fine,” Kieran conceded, wobbling to his feet, “Do either of y'all want anythin’ while I'm up?”
He didn't inspire confidence that whatever he bought would make it back in one piece. Before Juliana could politely decline, Carmine hissed, “We're fine! Go on so I can talk about you to Juliana.”
There's a mischievous smirk on her face that makes it hard to tell if she is joking. Kieran huffs but turns tail, leaving Carmine alone to lean in conspiratorially.
“He wouldn't shut up about you again. Seriously, talk about deja vu. If one thing will never change, it's my little brother's crush on you.”
“O-oh. Really? After a-all this time? I thought maybe..”
Stammering in her loss for words, Juliana instinctively searched for him in the crowd to make sure he wasn't within earshot.
“Don't worry, he's gonna be in that bar queue for a while,” she downs a sip of sake and continues, “You're just as oblivious as ever. That crush was one of the academy's worst kept secrets. Drayton was giving him hell about it earlier, telling him to man up already.”
Carmine leans into her arm propped up on the table as she watches her brother bob amongst the crowd, the top of his head barely visible. She clicks her tongue in frustration and adds, “Just give me the word and I'll talk him out of it. It's time for him to outgrow this lillipuppy crush.”
“No!”
Juliana's outburst surprises even her. In her embarrassment, she snatches the sake and downs a huge gulp.
“No?” Carmine probes, eyes narrowing, “Wait, don't tell me. You too? Really? My brother? Him?”
The question catches her by surprise as she chokes on her drink. The alcohol burns the back of her throat and she coughs for what feels like an eternity. Sheepish, Carmine passes her a napkin.
“Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that when your mouth was full like that.”
Carmine turns her head aside with an odd expression. Through her teary eyed coughing fit, Juliana is unable to read Carmine until a muffled sound reaches her ears.
“Snrk-”
“Are.. are you laughing??”
Having been caught, Carmine laughs unabashedly.
“You two- are hopeless,” she declares between hiccupping breaths, “You mean to tell me that you NEVER noticed? We all thought you were being purposely obtuse to spare his feelings!”
Looking back, she could see just how obvious it was. His shyness turned to obsession. His change of heart, the boy even gifted her an applin for goodness sake!
“No, I mean, I did, it's just-”
Juliana exhales as she unjumbles her disorganized thoughts, “It never felt like the right time, you know?”
A warm feeling spreads in her stomach and eventually reaches her face, “Even after we made up, it felt disrespectful to his growth to do something like chase a relationship. What if it didn't work out? I don't want to be the cause of any more of his pain.”
A slow, relaxed grin spreads across Carmine's face as she nods Juliana on. At this point they had all but finished what was left of the sake and felt relaxed enough to speak candidly.
“Don't worry so much, Juli. I'm practically the best in manners of love. You can consult me any time!”
“....is that why you're still single?”
Kieran's unexpected interjection spooked them both. It's not clear immediately how long he had been standing there, but the three drinks he held made it clear what took him so long.
“You-!”
In her drunken fury, Carmine swung playfully at the open air, barely missing her brother. Water splashes all of them as he lifts the drinks aloft, but Carmine bears the brunt of it.
“I-I can go if this is a bad time,” Kieran offers, placing a water in front of each of them, “I don't wanna be nosy.”
A slow smile flushes across Juliana's cheeks as she notes how stark a change Kieran had undergone. The old him would have jumped to a poor conclusion and dismissed himself at the outset.
Carmine, sobered by the cool water unceremoniously dumped upon her head, observes Juliana's lingering gaze with interest. She could help her brother here.
“No, it's fine! I was just teasing her.”
She combs through her hair in frustration before standing abruptly.
“I'm going to wring out my hair,” she announces, missing whatever sly aside comment Kieran made to Juliana. She passes the two of them but not before ruffling her brother's hair into an equal mess.
“Behave. And walk her home if she wants to go,” she growls past Kieran's protestations. There's a toothiness to her grin that seems to indicate that they wouldn't see her until the morning. Kieran, suspicious, furrows his brow but accepts, waving her off to nurse whatever is left of the sake.
They were alone. And in a bar. Kieran had rehearsed what exactly he wanted to say after all this time but his drunkenness leads to especially loose lips.
“I, um, saw your most recent match. On the internet, I mean,” he starts, fumbling, “Not in person or anythin’.”
“Yeah?” Juliana laughs and he short circuits momentarily- unsure if it was because he said something funny or if she was simply giggly on the brew. Whatever part of the brain that would normally parse that for him was preoccupied by a much more pressing thought- she was dazzling. Just beautiful.
He wrestles with the urge to tell her this as his more rational thoughts win out, “Yeah! Sorry, um.”
He course corrects less enthusiastically, “You did great. Ogerpon looked like she was havin’ the time of her life! It's crazy how much you two haven't changed at all..”
He trails off, blush spreading to his cheeks. Thankfully Juliana does not point this out. Instead, she says, “Battling is still just as hard as its ever been. Maybe harder now! Everyone’s read about our championship match, you know. I can't pull my old tricks anymore.”
The memory of that match takes them both back for a moment. Juliana lays her head down on the table, laughing to herself.
“I really thought you might win that one,” she admits, watching the water glass next to her head perspire droplets onto the table. Behind them a boisterous voice laughs loudly and she pauses before continuing more quietly, “Almost threw it. Thought you deserved it more, but I-”
“I'm glad you didn't,” Kieran replies, laying his head down on the table as well to meet her eye to eye, “Really! I needed that kick in the, um, butt.”
He chuckles to himself, “If you didn’t stop me then who knows what I would've become.”
“You would have figured it out eventually,” Juliana tells him decisively. She takes another breath and starts, “Actually, there's something I meant to tell you back-”
She is cut off by a loud cheer as the bar around them reacts to some televised match on screen.
‘This late?’ she wonders, stealing a glance at her watch for the time. It was half past midnight. Penny was right about how serious Unova was about their fan culture.
“S-sorry,” Kieran offers sheepishly, “There's a big Johto match on tonight. It just started.”
That Kitakami twang to his stammering pulls on her heartstrings just right.
“It's fine,” she downs her water then wobbles out of her chair, “Why don't we catch up at my hotel? Should be quieter than a sports bar at least. Seriously, who picked this spot for the reunion?”
“You know it was Crispin,” Kieran quips as the rest of his brain catches up with what she just said.
“W-wait, a hotel? With you?”
That excited puppy expression is forced down as he clears his throat, “Yeah. I said I'd walk you home.”
“To Carmine. I said that,” he adds unhelpfully and to his relief Juliana only giggles.
“Then I'm in good hands, if Carmine said that,” Juliana helps him recover and he takes that chance gratefully, following her dutifully outside the bar and down the block.
They make small talk for three blocks before stopping at the entrance of a grand hotel.
“This it?” Kieran stops short to gawk at the imposing building ahead of them. Marble adorned the doorway and he swore he could catch glimpses of gold foil in the crevices of the stonework.
“This is it!” Juliana declared, kicking off her shoes the second they cross the threshold, much to the amusement of the concierge. Kieran offers them a pained smile as they go by, following Juliana down a gilded hallway to a darkened hotel bar with only a handful of patrons.
Juliana scrutinizes the bar before picking a cozy corner.
“Perfect!” She sinks easily into the plush chair beneath her, “Way better than wooden barstools. Do you want a drink? We can add it to my room tab.”
Something about a hotel tab feels incredibly lux to a small town kitakamian. He graciously accepts before elaborating, “I'll poképass you the difference. I'm not planning on drinkin’ much anyhow.”
Juliana pouts with a muted, “Boooooo,” before laughing it off.
They choose their drinks, Kieran with an Alolan fruited import, and Juliana with an Oran specialty cocktail. After a beat, Kieran starts back their abandoned conversation with, “So what were you sayin’ earlier?”
Juliana perks up as if the question catches her off guard, “Oh um!”
There's a noticeable pause as she thinks. Earlier she was going to bring up what Carmine said but now.. she peered at her companion over a sparkling blue cocktail. He returned her gaze and his cordial smile disarms her completely. It's the same warm expression he wore after the Area Zero expedition- after he apologized and wanted to start over.
There was no way she could have that conversation with her heart hammering away at her ribcage like this. Instead, she plucks a diversion from some recess of her mind, “I forgot! I'm sorry!”
It's not exactly convincing but Kieran accepts it anyway.
“Already?? Geez, how much have you been drinkin'?” He teases but there's a hint of disappointment that pulls at her, “That's okay. What have you been up to?”
“Sounds like you already knew if you caught my match online,” Juliana teases back, “Battling, tutoring, leading Area Zero expeditions when the researchers come to call.”
She continues with a sigh, “I've seen Briar probably a hundred times at this point. That woman never changes.”
“Heh, no, that sounds right,” Kieran shakes his head and takes a long drink from his glass, “Y'know you should try this! It's more like a juice than a beer. It's like some stuff you can get back home.”
“I'm not much for beer,” Juliana frowns and eyes the glass which bubbles innocently.
“C'mon, I promise it's just like Pecha juice.”
There's no way she could turn down a pleading face like that.
“I think furret is rubbing off on you,” Juliana muses. His wide eyes match perfectly with his pokemon partner whose reputation with berry pilfering was notorious. As she takes a sip, she is surprised by the lack of alcohol in the taste at all.
“You're right!” She hands it back, astounded, “If more beer tasted like this I'd probably drink it!”
“Ehehe, well, it hardly has any alcohol in it at all. I picked it on purpose since I need to sober up. Plus, it reminds me of home.”
“Thought you swore off pecha after pecharunt.”
“Oh. R-right. Well I did for a while! Mostly over it now. Still can't do mochi.”
Kieran takes a moment to rub the back of his neck and grin, “Carmine's way worse about it than me.”
“Think I can guess why. Speaking of, how is Kitakami? And you?” Juliana asks, tacking on the second question quickly, “Sorry, I should have asked that earlier.”
“You're fine,” he waves her off, “Those two questions have the same answer anyway. We're both good. I used my earnings from the league wins to update a lot of the folklore sites that needed major work. Did'ja know after that stuff with those three, they left the old memorial site in rubble for years? I got it repaired last year.”
“Really? After what those three did, I would have left it. Though.. I guess they have calmed down a lot.”
“It was important to the village,” Kieran noted before admitting, “And I.. kind of broke it in the first place. I think. Probably.”
“With that punch??”
“I don't know. Maybe?” He continues with a shrug, “Anyway, I also updated the signs with the real story. If you and Ogerpon ever come back to visit, you're in for a real treat!”
“I should take a vacation out there,” Juliana concedes wistfully, “You think they'd let me stay in the old community center again?”
“Funny you bring that up- did Carmine tell you the old caretaker retired last month?”
“He was already ancient when we were kids. Who's in charge now?”
Kieran smiles and leans in, “Guess.”
“No way! You???”
“Me!”
Juliana's telegraphed delight is infectious. As the two catch up, Kieran's cheeks begin to ache with all the smiling. Maybe its the brew, but he can't deny that long held crush never faded.
If anything, seeing Juliana fully realized- adult, happy, and fulfilling her dreams, made him ache all the harder.
Why didn't he ever tell her? He had hinted plenty back at the academy, hoping she'd catch on, but she seemed just as unattainable as ever.
“After the break up, I moved back into a flat in- what?”
“Bwuh?”
Whatever noise that just came out of his mouth embarrassed him. Beet-red, he back pedaled, “W-was I staring??”
“A little,” Juliana admitted before reading his expression thoughtfully, “Did you zone out?”
“N-no, I was listening! Um, your flat, right?”
Juliana huffs, less than convinced.
“Right,” her tone turned serious as she reached for his hand, “Are you alright? You can sleep on my couch if you need rest.”
“I'm fine! Besides mine and Carmine's hotel isn't far.”
“Oh, ok,” Juliana nods, shoulders slumping. She toys with the berry rind left over from her drink instead of looking at him directly.
“Why do you look so disappointed?” Kieran blurts, “I can stick around a bit longer if you..”
There's a strange tone to her voice as she cuts him off, “Can you? I'm not ready to say good bye.”
“Of course! Yeah!”
Her brown eyes seem to shimmer as she sniffs, relief heavy in her voice, “Thank you. There's something I want to tell you, but can we go to my room? I'm tired.”
“Y-yeah. Of course. Whatever you want, Juli.”
The hotel room is bright compared to the dim elevator ride. Kieran feels almost like he's floating following her now. His mind wrestles with how to handle Carmine's questioning later. After all, he promised to watch her, not join her up in her room.
His sister's smug expression flashed in his mind- that parting knowing smile. Maybe she knew? Maybe she expected this? Whatever the case, his stomach was in knots.
Juliana deposits herself in exhaustion in an armchair and Kieran opposite, on the adjacent couch.
“Sorry,” she admits finally, “I won't keep you too long.”
“You don't need to apologize,” Kieran's brow is softly furrowed in concern, “What's on your mind?”
She hesitates before finally speaking, “Carmine said you talked about me again.”
“Did she? She loves tellin’ on me.”
Bemused, he runs a hand through his hair, “When she told you that when we were kids, I genuinely wondered if you could die of embarrassment. Now I'm used to it.”
“I thought it was cute!” Juliana interjects, “When we were kids, it made me feel special.”
“You ARE special.”
They both fall silent at this admission, faces reddening. The visible wince across Kieran's face speaks volumes.
“I'm embarrassin’ myself,” he laments as Juliana speaks simultaneously.
“I like you too.”
“Huh??”
“Huh?”
Another second passes as they both stare at one another, panic rising in their throats.
“Say that again,” Kieran places both hands on her shoulders, searching her eyes.
“I like you??” Juliana repeats incredulously.
“How long??”
“Since we were kids!”
He releases her, dumbfounded, and reclines back into the couch.
“I realized earlier how much I missed you. Have missed you. Will miss you,” with a wring of her hands, she breaks eye contact, “Nobody has ever made me feel the way you made me feel. I thought eventually I'd move on but I… didn't.”
“Me neither,” Kieran shuffles over rigidly as Juliana joins him on the couch, “I still feel the same.”
“What was it you used to say?”
Referencing his old line, they spoke in unison, “These feelings never change.”
The unabashed sentiment sent them both into giggling hysterics. After a moment, Juliana sways close. The sweetness of her breath tickles his face as she asks, “Will you kiss me?”
Never in his life did he want something more, but a nagging thought reminded him they both had been drinking.
“Not right now,” he laughs, embracing her instead, “When we're both sober, I will.”
Juliana sighs, pressing into him snugly, “Fine. Will you at least stay?”
“I will.”
The two of them fall asleep together, snuggled in on the couch. The next morning, Juliana stirs, blinking sleep from her eyes. This rouses Kieran who peeks his eyes open with a relaxed grin.
“Can I kiss you now?” He asks.
Juliana doesn’t respond. Instead, she pulls him forward and meets his lips with the eagerness of a decade old love.