Early the next morning, i, dressed in an oversized pajama shirt, slid open the glass door and took a deep breath of the chilly breeze laced with late-autumn frost.
As if she wanted to savor the cold air properly.
Cough cough!
The next second, the knife-sharp wind had her coughing uncontrollably.
Unlike the hot, humid air of sumr, the autumn wind was biting—like tiny blades slicing into the skin.
The weather had fully shifted into late autumn by now.
If not for the warmth inside the room, i should’ve been wearing sothing a lot thicker.
“Serp?”
Feeling the cold draft drifting in through the window, Serperior lifted its head in confusion.
Is it my turn to hibernate already?
Being a snake—no, a grass snake—winter was far from Serperior’s favorite season.
Every day felt like a lazy Sunday. It just didn’t want to move.
Weather definitely had an impact on Pokémon.
Take Ice-types for example—if you threw one into a 40-degree heatwave, they’d be lucky just to avoid lting on the spot. Literally.
And as a cold-blooded reptile, Serperior wasn’t exactly built for the cold either.
As a plant, this late-autumn chill wasn’t doing it any favors, either.
“Morning, Serperior.”
Looking at the groggy, confused snake, i couldn’t help but laugh.
She wrapped her arms around its head and gave it a vigorous, chaotic rub.
Force-rebooted by her affection, Serperior slowly ca back to life.
Staring at i’s excited face, its eyes were filled with pure disdain.
Look at you, all giddy just because you’re back to see Natsu.
Hmph. Love really does drop people’s IQ, huh?
But wait—are they even technically “in love” yet?
Neither of them’s ever confessed, have they?
Serperior drifted into thought.
Based on everything it had seen about human relationships, by this point, a confession should’ve definitely happened.
But neither Natsu nor i seed to be thinking about that at all.
Could it be… they’re playing hard to get?
No, that can’t be it either. They’re both the type to go all in—no one’s pulling punches here.
Humans really were bizarre creatures.
Now lying flat, Serperior just let i ss with it.
All it wanted was to chill and be a useless snake for a while.
Yesterday’s battle had been a real blow.
It had thought all this ti it’d been training hard too—not necessarily to catch up to Corviknight, but at least to keep the gap from widening.
But this ti, before it even had a chance to face that stupid bird, it got wrecked.
Kinda embarrassing, honestly.
It sucked.
I an, really—what’s the point of a snake’s life anyway?
Serperior’s gaze turned distant and lancholic, as if it had transcended worldly concerns.
“Co on, cheer up.”
“Natsu told last night—he thinks you’ve made a lot of progress.”
“If it weren’t for your off form and the fact that Ceruledge had a type advantage, you might not have lost.”
Letting go of Serperior’s head, i started to comfort it.
This was a lie.
The truth was, the Ceruledge personally trained by w was slowly but surely walking the sa wild, unhinged path as the other seniors on the team.
It was picking up speed on that absurdist road, ready to take off at any mont.
At least from what i had seen online, no one else’s Ceruledge looked this cracked.
Both its swordplay and its flas had reached a level many Pokémon wouldn’t attain even with years of training.
Honestly, i didn’t quite get it either.
Ceruledge hadn’t even been evolved that long.
From what she rembered, Natsu only evolved them not long ago—and now, in the blink of an eye, it was already this strong.
Don’t ask how i knows when Ceruledge evolved.
Smartphones are a wonderful thing.
Especially for young couples living apart—they make it easy to share every little mont of excitent right away.
“Serp.”
Touched.
Serperior, with its head tucked into i’s arms, gave a deadpan monotone response.
Not a hint of being comforted showed on its face.
It knew itself too well. During the heat of battle, sure—it might have told itself it was just a single move short of winning.
But in the post-match analysis, Serperior was fully aware of how far it still had to go.
That “one move short” stuff? Just empty self-comfort.
“Hm-hmm~”
Humming so unknown tune, i quickly freshened up for the day.
She glanced at the makeup on her desk, hesitated for a mont, and decided to skip it.
Partly because she didn’t usually wear much makeup to begin with.
And even when she did, it was never heavy—just a bit of light touch-up at most.
Besides, Natsu seed to prefer her natural look.
He’d once casually said over dinner:
“You kind of have that ‘first love’ kind of beauty when you’re barefaced. Like, that stunning-at-first-sight kind of vibe.”
That line had stuck with i for a long ti.
Since then, her makeup had mostly sat untouched.
And honestly, skipping it gave her a lot more ti in the morning.
“What should I wear today…”
She stood in front of the wardrobe, thinking.
She’d co here during sumr, so most of the clothes in the closet were sumr outfits.
Short sleeves, gym shorts—that kind of stuff.
Fall and winter wear? Yeah, not really in stock.
She’d definitely need to stock up soon.
“I guess this will do for now.”
She pulled out a couple pieces she rarely wore and threw together a simple outfit with a kind of artsy-girl aesthetic.
i really liked that kind of style.
But truth be told, a person’s vibe is hard to change.
Even dressed like this, i didn’t co across as a quiet, literary girl so much as an energetic, sporty one.
Part of it was her sunny personality and her sotis clumsy, carefree actions.
And the other part…
That goofy grin when she smiled—it just didn’t scream “well-read poetry lover.”
That was one of i’s little regrets.
“Morning, Natsu!”
“Morning, i.”
After heading downstairs, the first thing i did was scan the room for Natsu. The mont she spotted him, she bounced her way over and greeted him with a big smile.
Then looked at him with a slightly expectant gaze.
Girls who put effort into how they look always hope for a certain soone’s complint.
When a girl gets dressed up, she’s always hoping for a bit of approval.
And Natsu didn’t let her down.
He gave i’s outfit a serious once-over, then offered his praise.
“That outfit looks really nice. It gives off a kind of artsy and fresh vibe.”
Now, Natsu’s fashion sense when it ca to his own clothing had always been a certified disaster.
But when it ca to judging others’ outfits, he could actually be pretty articulate.
Besides, i really did look great today. He wasn’t just saying it—he ant every word.
“Really?”
“I don’t know… I feel like it doesn’t suit that much.”
She twirled in place, tugging lightly at the hem of her outfit, a little uncertain.
She liked these kinds of clothes, but maybe they just didn’t quite fit her vibe.
“I think it looks great.”
“There’s nothing you can’t pull off.”
When it ca to these kinds of “danger zone” questions, the strategy was always simple: complete denial.
Think you look fat? Must be the lighting—or the clothes.
Think this outfit doesn’t suit you? Nope, just your imagination.
Not happy with your makeup? Impossible—I think it looks amazing.
Answering these deathtrap questions well often required a few harmless little white lies.
Truth was, girls usually already knew the answer in their hearts.
They just wanted to hear you say it.
“Natsu, I was thinking of going clothes shopping later. Will you co with ?”
Sitting down at the breakfast table, i accepted her al from the younger Indeedee sister and turned to look at Natsu.
“Sure, I’m free today.”
Also a lie. There was still a lot to handle as a Gym Leader.
But Natsu figured he’d just wrap up things in the afternoon if he stayed focused—then the rest of the day would be his to use however he liked.
Once they got the Gym apprentices sorted out, he could fully offload the day-to-day responsibilities.
Natsu had a clear idea of his future.
He was never going to be a full-ti Gym Leader.
He hadn’t even sorted out his own stuff yet.
“Yay!”
i cheered, her face lighting up like a kid about to head off on a school field trip.
Reviews
All reviews (0)