Author's note:
Chapter 116 feels a little too transitory, so I'll be releasing it alongside chapter 117. That's right, it's a double chapter release today.
***
Nina raised her scarf to shield her face from the biting winds. The Sky Taxi’s Fly Basket had been modified with an acrylic shield to help dissipate the winds sowhat. But at the altitude that Nina and her friends were currently travelling at, its protection wasn’t as prominent as they would have liked.
It was now winter break of Nina’s tenth year, the students of the Vermillion Fla had just finished their final exams and were now pretty much free until school restarted in February.
Most students at this point would either go out on their own adventures or return ho to roost. Nina was no different, but her purpose in going back to Cerulean City was less for leisure and more for work. Because this year’s Cerulean on Ice was going to be a repeat of her and Beverly’s performance from back in sumr.
Since the only people who got to see the two apprentices perform in person were guests of Misty’s wedding, there was a lot of demand from the general populace who wanted to view it in a live setting as well. So rather than co up with anything new, the Cerulean Sisters decided to cheat and just have their two apprentices do all the work this ti around.
The performance was going to be spruced up a little of course, with extra visual effects and so minor additions, like an extension of Beverly’s ‘fight’ with Nairy complented by a solo singing sequence from Nina. The girl wasn’t taken by surprise this ti since she was given the song beforehand to practice, all that remained was just refreshing her mory on the dance choreography when she got back to the Gym.
Naturally, when Nina told her friends about this, they all wanted to tag along. Nina didn’t mind. Kerry had never been to one of the Cerulean Gym’s winter celebrations before, and she even agreed to bring Justin because she was secretly hoping for so sort of crisis that would lead to the cancellation of her performance.
Lilian wanted to tag along as well, but winter break was a very demanding ti for a scion of the great Blackthorn Clan. Though she did vow to make it to one of Nina’s performances no matter the costs and even asked for tickets to be reserved.
Nina ducked down into the basket where Kerry and Justin were both sitting to seek refuge from the cold.
“Here, Nina. So lotion for your face.” Kerry offered. “We don’t want any scuffs before your big performance.”
Nina let out a wry smile underneath her scarf but thanked the young Joy and accepted the offering all the sa.
“So… are you gonna be in a bikini or sothing?” asked the prudish Justin, earning him glares from both his female companions.
“No, Jennifer. I will not be in a bikini. It’s more of a leotard. Aoi, one of our Gym Trainers, said that she was designing sothing new for the occasion but I don’t know any of the details.”
Justin grumbled. “It’s Justin… Jennifer’s not even a boy’s na!”
Kerry scoffed at the boy’s indignance. “With how interested you are in won's clothing, maybe you should go and beco a girl already. You even asked
about why girls wear bras the other day.”
Justin sputtered, face red with embarrassnt as he scrambled over to Kerry to shut her mouth. anwhile, Nina just laughed at the awkward teen. It was normal for kids at Justin’s age to be fascinated by these things, but it was still funny to tease him nonetheless.
Nina rembered that conversation from back when she had requested Kerry’s help to go underwear shopping with her. It was especially awkward for Nina since she secretly possessed the mind of an adult male and had no idea how these things worked.
Kerry, being an apprentice nurse, was much more knowledgeable despite her young age and offered to help out. Back then, Justin hadn't just asked insensitive questions about the matter, but had even hinted at wanting to tag along, a desire that both girls blatantly ignored for obvious reasons.
Nina sighed, she really wanted to curse Arceus for making her body develop so early. For the life of her she just couldn’t understand why. As far as she could tell, her other classmates weren’t such quick bloors. And all the research she did online did not provide any further elucidation. The finer details of puberty remained as much of a black box in this new world as it did in her old one.
“Does this have sothing to do with my unique circumstances?” Nina wondered. Even speculating that her overly mature mind had affected her unnatural growth sohow.
The lady at the store asured her and said that Nina was growing at a steady and relatively continuous pace, and recomnded a flexible, padded undershirt for her as opposed to a bra since she would outgrow them quickly enough.
The girl had even asked if there was a way to stop the growth, earning her amused laughter from her friend and the store attendant at the ti.
At a certain point, she began suspecting that maybe w’s Gem was to bla and refused to wear it to school for so ti. Not that it mattered. Whenever Nina would rummage around in her bag, she would see the pink Gem nestled safely in a nook sowhere despite having been left behind in her room’s lockbox the morning prior.
“I’m really not looking forward to when I eventually start my nstrual cycle…” Nina made a ntal note to do so research on the matter so she wouldn’t have to embarrass herself again. “Or maybe I should ask mom or grandmother. I an, it’s kind of their job isn’t it?”
***
As it turned out, Nina’s rapid growth ant that Aoi needed to do a lot of last minute modifications just to properly fit her new outfit. Height was also a factor, an area of growth that Nina actually welcod. She was already pretty tall for a kid her age, but now she was head and shoulders above her peers.
Beverly was not happy of course, the older girl was still pretty lanky with little to no curves to her na. A fact that Nina relished in reminding her every chance she got.
“Fatso…” grumbled the discontent girl. But Nina rely smirked at her and grabbed hold of Beverly’s arms to press against her budding breast, causing veins to pop on the older girl’s forehead.
“It really is quite a bother…” Nina sighed. “It feels like soone strapped two Dittos to the front of . They keep rebelling against my body at every turn and threaten to rip right off if I’m not careful about my movent. Can’t even run as fast as I used to anymore.”
The girl humd, completely ignoring the glare that her friend was sending her way. “Maybe I should get a sports bra. But what am I saying? I doubt you’ll know much about bras, Bev. I should be talking to one of your cousins instead.”
Beverly growled. “Or maybe I should just rip them out for you? That way you don’t have to worry anymore!”
Nina chuckled. “Honestly, I would if I could…”
“Alright girls, that’s enough!” Mizuho chided. “You’ll be going out soon, so make sure to put your ga faces on.”
Nina took in a deep breath and replied with a firm nod. Her heart felt like it might burst out of her chest at any mont.
She had been really dreading this. Unlike before where she had a close to a month of practice, they only had a couple of days worth of rehearsals this ti. She was pleased to find that her muscle mory remained. But even then, she still ssed up a bit during practice.
Beverly grabbed hold of her junior’s hand and gave it a little squeeze. It was only tis like this where the girl seed extra reliable.
Nina returned the sentint with a squeeze of her own and the two girls once again skated out into the ice covered arena to the fervent cheers of a much larger audience than what they faced during the wedding months ago.
***
“Happy Coming of Age!!!”
Colorful confetti flew out with a series of pops and rained down onto the two girls in the center.
It was a new year and that ant another batch of children were once again celebrating the montous milestone of turning ten years old.
The two stars of the occasion were the Tendou twins who opted to have one big celebration at the Cerulean Gym. The sisters stood in stark contrast to each other despite their identical faces, with Natsumi wearing a cute green dress adorned with frills and yellow accessories, while Fuyumi opted for a more mature looking red cocktail dress with white hair pins.
But despite their best efforts to differentiate from each other, at this very mont, the twins wore the sa bashful look at all the affectionate attention they were receiving from their friends and loved ones.
“Congrats, girls! Here, this is a gift from
and Bev,” said Nina, when she saw that there was finally an opening for her and Beverly to approach.
“Thanks, Big Sis Nina, Big Sis Beverly!” The two girls said in unison, both looking equally eager to open up their present right away.
Nina laughed at their enthusiasm and urged them on. “Go on now, there’s no need to be shy. And when are you two gonna drop the ‘Big Sis’? You’re ten years old now, I think it’s about ti, no?”
“Never!” The two girls exclaid as they giggled and gingerly began unwrapping the box they were given, to ultimately reveal a full set of expensive looking costic items.
“These are travel series packs from Saphira,” explained Beverly. “I know you two aren’t going on your journey just yet, but it’s never too late to start taking care of your skin. Especially you Natsu, ‘cause I know you wanna beco a rmaid just like , your favorite Big Sis.”
Nina chuckled at the unnecessary emphasis in Beverly’s words. “Bev was going to buy you two a full suite, but I talked her out of it because I know first hand how overwhelming this sort of stuff can be. The travel pack also works as a good beginner’s package for you to try out all the essentials before branching out into the more specialized stuff in the future, if you find yourself lacking in any way.”
The twins bead bright smiles at their senior apprentices and thanked them once again. “We love it! We’ll make sure to use them everyday and grow up to be all pretty like you, Big Sis Nina!
“Hey!” exclaid the indignant Beverly, to which the mischievous twins giggled in good humor and added; “You too, Big Sis Beverly!”
“And I thank you two as well for all your patience in guiding my foolish daughters,” chid Mrs Tendou, the twin’s mother.
“No worries, Mrs Tendou. Bev and I are just doing our part. Besides, you have two very bright children who would have done fine even without our ddling.”
The older woman shook her head with an amicable smile. “Regardless, we would still like to thank you. So if there’s anything we can do for either of you in the future, you need only ask,” she said.
“We are also very grateful that you would be going with Fuyu and Natsu to Pallet Town.” Mrs Tendou added. “My husband and I were so worried that they might accidentally offend the great Professor.”
Nina laughed at the woman’s concern and casually waved a hand at her. “There’s no need to worry about offending Professor Oak, he’s a friendly old grandpa who adores children. Fuyu and Natsu’ll be fine. Speaking of…” Nina turned towards the twins in question.
“When do you guys wanna set out? It’s quite chilly right now, but it’s not really gonna get any better until February. Which would be a little too late then.”
Fuyumi and Natsumi nodded their heads in unison.
“As soon as possible!” Natsumi exclaid.
“Whenever it’s most convenient for you, Big Sis.” Fuyumi corrected.
Nina nodded and briefly discussed a few more details about their trip before making way for other guests who wanted to co and congratulate the twins for the occasion.
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