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The forecast says the rain won’t be stopping anytime soon.
It started as a drizzle, about an hour ago. Nothing Kipper hasn’t experienced before, and easy enough to deal with on the colder days by having his Tatsugiri take the droplets on to herself using her Storm Drain ability. Unfortunately, this method isn’t nearly as effective in heavier rainfall. During a downpour like this one, even Tatsugiri doesn’t want to be outside her Ball. From the time the heavens opened up to now, probably not even ten minutes later, as he approaches the nearest Pokémon Centre—fortuitously placed about midway between Saffron City and Vermillion City—he gets completely drenched. His shoes are squelching uncomfortably when he enters the Centre, but his hopes of getting a warm meal and changing clothes are quickly dashed as he sees just how many other people there are in the lobby.
Though a sense of dread settles in the pit of his stomach, he approaches Nurse Joy at the counter in spite of it to inquire about a room. Her smile is sympathetic, but her answer is exactly what he expected: “We’re completely full, I’m afraid… This storm really came out of nowhere, didn’t it?”
“Yeah,” Kipper murmurs. “That’s okay. Thanks anyway.”
“You’re welcome to try to wait it out in the lobby,” she says kindly. “But after this one rolls over, there’s supposed to be an even bigger one coming through the night… I don’t know if I would risk going on unless your destination is close.” She gestures behind him, to where some Trainers are setting up bedrolls on the lobby floor. “If you can find the space, make yourself comfortable.”
Sleeping on the floor next to dozens of strangers sounds like just about the last thing he wants to do, but it’s seeming more and more likely that he has no other choice. He concedes with a small nod and another mumbled thank you, then turns away from the desk to, at the very least, locate the washroom so he can change out of his soaked clothes.
He doesn’t make it very far before a familiar voice behind him has him freezing in place.
“Kip! Is that you?”
Breath catching in his throat, Kipper turns around to see Hayate, along with the two girls he’s been travelling with since they started their tour of Kanto: his old friend Morgan, and her younger sister Elaine. Elaine stands behind her sister, as shy as she’s been every time their paths have crossed these past few months. Kipper’s not sure he’s ever even heard her speak.
When Kipper’s eye meet Hayate’s at last, he breaks into a beaming smile.
“You’re totally drenched!” As he approaches, he laughs a bit, though he levels Kipper with a sympathetic look when he gets close enough to see just how wet he actually is. “You must be freezing, Kip.”
“Yeah… I was just going to get changed, and then I guess I’ll find somewhere out here to sleep for the night.”
“Didn’t you get a room?”
Kipper shakes his head. “There aren’t any left.”
“Oh, well…” He glances back at Morgan and Elaine, then fixes his dazzling smile upon Kipper once more. “Why don’t you stay in our room?”
Apparently taking the cue, Morgan and Elaine step closer to join in the conversation. Morgan is just as serious as Kipper remembers her being when they were younger, always the one to keep Hayate on the straight path rather than venturing out into danger. Back then, Kipper found her incredibly intimidating; though he is older now, about the age she was when she and Hayate first met, he can’t say his opinion of her has shifted much.
“It seems like a better option than sleeping on the floor,” she says agreeably. “But Elaine and I already claimed one of the beds, so you’ll have to share the other one with Hayate.”
Kipper splutters. “I—I can’t do that!”
“Why not?” Hayate tilts his head at him, concerned. “It’ll be a bit tight, sure, but we’ll both fit. That’s just ‘cause you’re so tall, anyway.”
That’s the least of Kipper’s concerns. Even if he were still the same height as Hayate, there’s no way they would be able to get through the night without accidentally touching each other. It wouldn’t be fair to Hayate, whose feelings for Kipper are so different from Kipper’s feelings for him.
But the past while, it’s been getting harder and harder to say how Hayate really does feel, he has to admit. The last time they had a chance encounter like this, Hayate greeted him with a hand held out for Kipper’s. He interlaced their fingers, and pulled Kipper closer to him. He kept him there for so long Kipper thought his heart may very well burst from his chest.
…Except, the time before that, he refused to touch him at all. It was like someone had erected an invisible wall between them. When Kipper had tried to ford that gap himself, Hayate just pulled away.
Hayate’s always been touchy, so it’s strange—but maybe he’s just started to realize how Kipper feels for him and is uncomfortable with it. It doesn’t explain the times he still is touchy, nor does it explain how different those touches have become over the past few months—soft and gentle, lingering—but it’s the only justification Kipper can come up with that doesn’t have him drowning in the despair of hope.
Which is why sharing a bed with him would be a horrible idea.
But…if Hayate’s telling him it’s okay, isn’t it better than sleeping out here in the lobby?
“Okay,” he relents at last. “But I don’t mind sleeping on the floor, either…”
“Don’t be silly,” Hayate dismisses. “If you were on the floor, one of us would probably just end up tripping on you.”
He says it so matter-of-factly, how is Kipper supposed to dispute it?
“Before you do anything, though,” Morgan says, “you really ought to get out of those clothes. You’ll get sick.”
“We were just going to have something to eat,” Hayate adds. “Why don’t we get something for you, and you can join us when you’re dry?”
“Oh. Thanks.”
Hayate stays firmly rooted in place, though his responding smile is open and warm. “Anything for you, Kip,” he says brightly.
Kipper’s cheeks flame, and he hurriedly turns away from him to go get changed. Hayate probably doesn’t even realize how romantic he sounds when he says things like that; in a way, it’s part of why Kipper loves him so much, but it doesn’t make it any easier to bear when it’s directed his way.
He takes as much time as he can changing into a dryer set of clothes without feeling like a jerk for taking too much time when the Pokémon Centre is as busy as it is tonight. Probably, a lot of the Trainers here now are in the same boat as Kipper and Hayate: stranded on their way to Vermilion City for the contest being held there in a couple days. He hadn’t known Hayate planned to enter this one, but it shouldn’t come as a surprise; Vermilion City is one of Kanto’s most picturesque. Kipper’s sister said she found it disappointing considering all the hype—she insisted Hoenn boasts much more beautiful port cities—but her girlfriend had adamantly disagreed, telling Kipper it’s well worth the visit. That it’s one of the most romantic cities in the world and he would totally love it. Lime grumbled that she was just biased because she has family there, which Kipper supposes is a reason Hayate might have wanted to come this way, too. His step-mother’s father runs some kind of research institute in Vermilion City; maybe the Vermilion Contest is just a pleasant excuse for him to go visit.
But as much as Lemon’s excessive enthusiasm for everything makes her claims, generally, dubiously over-the-top at best and outright misleading at worst, Kipper can’t deny his curiosity. Especially not now that he knows Hayate will be there at the same time he will be. Maybe after the storm passes, they could even travel there together. If they both planned to enter the same contest anyway, it would hardly hurt anything, would it?
Against his better judgement, it is hard not to let himself hope for it. Especially not when he comes to the table Hayate, Morgan, and Elaine are sitting at and Hayate offers him that same brilliant smile and pushes a bowl of soup his way.
“Isn’t Nurse Joy the best?” he says. “She’s helping all these people and she still finds the time to cook for everyone! If you’d gotten here earlier, maybe you could have helped her.”
Kipper takes the seat next to Elaine, who lets out a small squeak and scoots away from him. He quickly turns to apologize to her, though he notices with some confusion that her cheeks are quite red as she stammers out, “I-It’s okay!”
Self-consciously, he looks down to make sure he hasn’t done something completely stupid like put his shirt on backwards or inside-out, but he doesn’t catch anything off about how he’s dressed himself, so he can only hope it isn’t that he has something strange on his face. After a few long moments, Hayate’s words register, and he feels heat rising to his face.
“I don’t think I could cook for this many people,” he admits.
“That’s too bad. They’d be lucky to get to have your cooking.”
“Well…I can feed your Pokemon, if you want.”
Hayate’s smile widens. “Really? That’d be great! They love your food.”
Kipper drops his gaze down to his soup in an attempt to hide the pleased smile on his face. After a beat, he murmurs, “I’d be happy to.”
The conversation slips away as they all apply themselves to eating. Throughout the meal, Kipper feels Elaine’s eyes on him—and yet each time he turns to meet them, she hastily looks away from him again. It’s unsettling, but each stolen glance Kipper sends in Hayate’s direction confirms that he is not concerned about whatever is bothering Elaine at all. If it’s something to do with Kipper, the last thing he wants to do is call attention to it and make Morgan and Hayate send him away for her comfort.
He knows it’s selfish, but they spend so little time together these days. Each new departure hurts more, even with the knowledge that they will always find each other again eventually. If they could stay like this forever, sat across the table from each other, it would be a dream come true. He wants more—and more deeply with each passing day—but he would give anything just for this. Not too close for Hayate’s comfort, yet still close enough to touch, if maybe someday Hayate would want him to. Kipper doesn’t need more than that. All he has ever truly wanted is Hayate’s company anyway.
But the prospect of such close company as sharing a bed leaves his skin cold with an anxiety he can’t seem to set aside for longer than the duration of the gleaming smiles Hayate offers him each time their eyes meet until Kipper looks away again as they finish their meal and move on to feed their Pokémon before getting ready to settle in for the night. Outside, the rain has slowed, but even darker clouds loom to the west. If Kipper were to leave now, the chances that he would end up stranded midway to Vermilion City in a storm are probably higher than it’s worth risking.
Even if he is almost starting to think that may be preferable to the alternative.
It’s only fair to let Morgan and Elaine get ready for bed first, and then to wait for Hayate, too. While they wait, Kipper finds Elaine’s eyes glued to him again, at least until he hears Morgan tell her very quietly, “It’s not polite to stare, Elaine.”
Elaine straightens up, and trips over an apology—which is actually directed at Kipper, he realizes as looks up to see her.
“Oh,” he says, awkwardly. “It’s okay.”
“She’s a big fan,” Morgan explains. “I’m sure when she decided to come on this journey with me, she didn’t realize she would get to be in such close proximity to her favourite Coordinator.”
“Favourite Coordinator…?” Suddenly, Elaine’s behaviour since they met makes a lot more sense. He shoots her a tentative smile, though she quickly averts her gaze, blushing fiercely. “That’s really nice, Elaine. I didn’t know. Do, um…do you want an autograph?”
She peers up at him from behind a curtain of dark hair. “R-Really?”
“Sure. I don’t mind. But, you know, I still have a long way to go…”
Furiously, she shakes her head. “You’re so talented! Hayate and I watch all your contests together online.”
Kipper’s breath catches. “He does?”
Before she can say anything else, the door to the room opens to admit Hayate, who sends Kipper a smile.
“Go get ready for bed, Kip. I’ll wait up for you!”
In the beat of silence that follows, the sound of pounding rain against the window echoes throughout the room, though not quite loud enough to drown out the rapid beating of Kipper’s heart. Unable to even speak, he gets to his feet and leave the room to go brush his teeth and change into pyjamas. This time, he tries to get ready quickly, not wanting to keep Hayate from resting, but his hands shake in anxious anticipation. What if he does something completely humiliating? What if he rolls over in his sleep and hits Hayate in the face? Worse, what if he drapes an arm over him and tries to pull them closer together? His limbs are so much longer than Hayate’s now—his last growth spurt earlier in the year had made him the tallest in his family, overtaking Lime by a few inches. He can only hope he doesn’t grow any more than this; adjusting to taking up so much space has been one of his bigger challenges during this contest circuit.
But regardless of his concerns, it’s too late to back out now. When he returns to the room, it’s to find Morgan and Elaine tucked into bed already, while Hayate sits on the edge of the other one and kicks his feet back and forth. He looks up as Kipper enters, then gestures to the bed and says, “You take the side close to the wall.”
His tone doesn’t really leave room for any argument, though it instantly occurs to Kipper that, if he is on that side, he won’t be able to escape. Perhaps Hayate’s concerned about feeling claustrophobic during the night. In which case, Kipper doing as he’s said would be the far more noble option.
So he ducks his head and nods, then reaches over to flick off the light before climbing up on to the bed to get to the side closest to the wall. Through the window, a flash of lightning brightens the room just long enough for him to find the edge of the sheet and pull it back. Once he has lay down, he feels the mattress shift as Hayate does the same. Kipper pushes his back as close to the wall as he can to give Hayate space, but even so, it is not enough to prevent him from brushing against Kipper. His sleeve of his nightgown touches the back of Kipper’s hand, smooth and silken; but if Hayate notices, he makes no indication. As thunder rattles through the slap of the rain against the window, the room lights up again, and, with it, Hayate’s smile as he turns his head and says, “Night, Kip.”
Kipper’s chest hitches. “Good night,” he whispers back, just as the room fades back into darkness and Hayate turns on to his other side.
Silence stretches on in the slight space between them. But even as the pitter-patter of the rain begins to decrescendo, sleep does not find Kipper. His fingers curl around the edge of the bedsheet so tightly they ache, and yet he cannot seem to force them to unlatch and relax. He squeezes his eyes shut and cycles through the different appeal ideas he’s had for the Vermilion Contest, willing away the awareness of Hayate’s slumbering form beside him.
It's a useless endeavour, though. At some point, Hayate rolls to his other side, so close to Kipper that his forehead touches Kipper’s shoulder. Kipper tenses, and tries to squeeze himself even closer to the wall, but he’s not able to get very far at all, for only a few seconds later, Hayate is reaching out and wrapping his arms around one of Kipper’s. He pulls it closer, until his cheek is resting on Kipper’s bicep. Though he’s still sleeping soundly, breathing slow and even, his hold is strong enough that Kipper feels his fingers going numb.
Very carefully, Kipper tries to adjust his position to pull his arm free, only to freeze as Hayate shifts in his sleep. He takes in a sharp breath, holding it, until—
A leg hooks around his, pinning him in place.
But when he turns his head and squints, Hayate’s face is soft with sleep. He has no idea that he is clinging to Kipper like a baby Komala to its log.
Kipper’s heart, wedged into this throat, beats so fiercely he fears it alone might be enough to wake Hayate. He takes in deep breath after deep breath in an attempt to quell its furious rhythm, but to no avail; if anything, it only seems to worsen as it becomes increasingly obvious that Hayate won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.
The hand holding the edge of the sheet tightens its grip, until his knuckles are white and trembling. Still, Hayate sleeps on. This close to Kipper, he can hear his every inhale and exhale, can count the seconds of each, can feel the warmth release of air on his neck. It’s mortifying. It’s everything he’s ever wanted. It’s horrible. It’s too perfect to let go of.
He needs out of here. Right now.
But even less than he wants to subject himself to this any longer does he want to risk waking Hayate up. One half of his brain argues that Hayate would be upset with him if he woke up to find them in this predicament. The other half forces him to glance over at Hayate and admire the way his curls frame his slumbering face, the way his cheek is pushed up by the force with which it is pressed against Kipper’s arm, leaving his mouth slightly ajar. Either way, it is beyond clear he will not be able to extract himself from this situation first.
Except, Hayate doesn’t seem willing to go anywhere, either.
The rain slows to a stop, leaving behind only the gentle drip-drop of rainwater off the eaves of the Pokémon Centre. Eventually, that stops too—and still Hayate remains, glued to Kipper’s side.
He runs through at least three dozen different appeal ideas, some much less plausible than others. When he starts imagining Dachsbun using Surf, he finds himself cycling through a new set of thoughts, most of them beginning with some iteration of, I’m losing my mind.
Colour begins to peek in through the window. Hayate does not give an inch.
Just when Kipper is beginning to suspect he has suffered through all of this for nothing, though, Hayate’s grip on him slackens at last. With bated breath, Kipper watches as Hayate rolls around to his other side, putting his back to Kipper and gently snoring away. For the first time all night, Kipper takes in a full breath, and releases it. And then another, and another, as his eyelids slip closed. It’s morning, so he’ll need to be up and ready to go soon. After all, isn’t Hayate going to Vermilion City too? Shouldn’t they just go together?
But the next time he blinks his eyes open, it’s because of a hand shaking his shoulder. Pain splits his head, but he still makes every effort to squint up at Hayate, who seems to be…dressed for the day? Perhaps he’s dozed off after all, and he’s dreaming now. This must be why it’s so hard to keep his eyes open, why they slide shut again even though he’s looking at his favourite object of study…
“Kip?” he hears Hayate ask, though his voice sounds strangely far away. Perhaps a quality of the dream? “We have to set out to make it to Vermilion City by the afternoon, but if you’re still sleepy, we’ll tell Nurse Joy you’re staying in the room a few more hours.”
Why would they leave for Vermilion City in the middle of the night? With great effort, Kipper forces his eyes open again, just enough so that he can see Hayate’s face hovering above him.
“Stay,” Kipper protests feebly, and Hayate smiles at him, then pats his shoulder twice before pulling back.
“All right, you stay here, then! That rain must’ve really done a number on you, huh?” He shakes his head sympathetically. “Get all the rest you need. Maybe we’ll see each other again soon!”
It takes a few seconds too long for Kipper to register the words, and by the time he is opening his mouth to clarify that he meant he wanted Hayate to stay, Hayate’s already left the room, letting the door fall shut behind him with a gentle click.
Exhaustion pulls at Kipper’s bones, stronger than gravity. Even if he could have lifted his limbs and climbed out of bed, he is suddenly unsure he would even know how to make them work. He flops back down on to his side, and despairingly presses his face against the pillow. Even with the miserable weight of his failure to stay by Hayate’s side weighing his heart down, the bed is so, so comfortable. If he left right now, maybe he could catch up to Hayate on the road, but even as the thought occurs to him, he feels his breaths slowing again.
Maybe, he can catch up in just five more minutes…