let the storm rage on

You’re gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul.

[cagedinice-blog]

Ai smiled, breath sending puffs of smoke into the air. Having freshly conquered the Ice Gym's slippery surface for the second time, she stood in front of its leader. "Hi, Tomoki! I'm back to try again."

               “Hi, Ai-san! Back so soon?” It was a slow week, and his greatest event was meeting the newbie trainer Ai. They had first met in the city’s pokemon center, where he’d given her pokemon poffins, and she had challenged the gym soon after. However, she had lost. He was glad that she came to try again.

[darktwintamers]

“Who ya calling a stuffed animal?” Impmon asked, padding into the room. “Because I swear–Ai!” He’d only just noticed her hair’s mismatched length. “Who did it? I’m gonna–”

“Impmon, don’t,” she admonished gently, giving something as close to a real smile as she had since the incident. “It’s fine,” she claimed. “I’ll go to get it cut tomorrow, okay?”

Looking back at her guest, she replied, “I won’t keep you, then. Your niece sounds like a sweetheart, maybe I’ll get to meet her someday.”

[cagedinice-blog]

               “Kizuna-chan, I can pay for your haircut if you’d like. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to get to her sooner, Impmon.”

               Honestly, he did feel guilty. Though he couldn’t have known, the warrior, the protector, in him felt guilt over the failure. He was determined to make it up to her, and make sure the ones who did this to her were punished.

               “Momo would be happy to meet you. You’ll have to meet her someday soon.” He thought for a moment, before digging into his bag and pulling out a piece of paper and pen. Quickly he scribbled something down, holding it out to Ai. “If you ever need a friend, call me. I promise, you won’t be inconveniencing me, Kizuna-chan.”

[cagedinice-blog]

Trouble in Mayapple - Tomoki

               He’d heard about the showcase--it seemed everyone had--but he couldn’t just take off to go see it. He was a gym leader and so he needed to stay in this time. Without a Pokémon that knew fly, and only having roller-skates, he would’ve been travelling far too long to be plausible. It bummed out the young Gym Leader, but he had responsibilities.

               He ended up missing the broadcast as well, due to a challenger. He couldn’t have been more disappointed, a pout appearing on his face before he was told the news, fresh out of the battle (he’d won).

               Yet, he couldn’t help. He had no way of going there, and instead told a trainer to close the gym, settling down with other trainers to watch the coverage on the tv. He hoped everyone would be alright.

[digitalisprofessorhemlock]

Meet the Ice-Type Gym Leader, Tomoki

Glaceon female / level 25 / Ice Body Hail, Ice Fang, Bite, Hidden Power

Amaura male / level 20 / Refrigerate Icy Wind, Take Down, Mist, Aurora Beam

Sneasel male / level 21 / Keen Eye Feint Attack, Icy Wind, Fury Swipes, Agility

[cagedinice-blog]

“What can I say? The cold never bothered me anyway.”

[darktwintamers]

“Oh. Ice Warrior guy. Hi,” he said, pausing the game and turning around only to spot his sister’s new ‘haircut.’ Mako’s jaw went slack for a second. Finally, he said, “Ai, what the fuck happened?”

He was about to offer to beat up whoever did it when his phone buzzed. Glancing at the screen and seeing the text about what his friends had done that afternoon, his face flamed red. How dare they? He still wanted to beat them up, but–but he wouldn’t.

“…Oh,” he said flatly, before glancing back at her, trying a smirk, and giving a half-hearted ‘ha.’ Flicking off the TV, he got to his feet. “I’ll just…go tell Impmon you’re home. Yeah.”

Ai sniffed once before nodding, her throat tight. Once Mako had vacated the area, she looked back up at her guest. “Sorry, Tomoki-senpai. Can I get you anything? Or do you have to be home a certain time?”

[cagedinice-blog]

               “I do have to be home in a little while, so my brother can drop off Momo-chan. You’d like her a lot. She’s super cute, and is learning to walk!”

                His face lit up when speaking of his niece--she was his pride and joy! Yutaka often left her in his care, so he’d become quite versed in the ways of caring for children. Momoka was a cute baby who wormed her way into everyone’s hearts. She was an excellent judge of character, at least Tomoki thought so.

                “I think she’d love Impmon the most. She’d think he was a stuffed animal who could play! I can only imagine how silly he’d look if she got a hold of him. If you meet her, you’ll be glad your hair is shorter. She chews on long hair.”

[darktwintamers]

“Mako didn’t even come to school today so I don’t think you can report him, at least, but I can’t stop you from getting the others in trouble…” Shaking her head to clear it, Ai forced another smile when Tomoki offered to take her home.

“I appreciate that, senpai. Maybe it was time to try a new hairstyle anyways.” She followed him to the office, and the pair were soon walking their way back to her house. After unlocking the door and taking off her shoes, she turned back to face Tomoki again. “Please, you’re welcome to come in. Let me get you a drink or something.”

Finishing her offer, she led him inside after calling out “I’m home!” Walking past the living room to get to the kitchen, she spotted Mako at the TV, playing some video game.

“You’re home early,” he commented, not looking away from the screen.

[cagedinice-blog]

               “Well, alright, but the other boys aren’t getting away with this. Confrontation isn’t my style, but this was horrible.” He knelt to untie his own sneakers, glancing around before smiling at her. “It’s alright, Kizuna-chan. I don’t want to trouble you at all.”

               Though he followed her into the house, he’s scanning his surroundings--not out of suspicion or anything like that, but because Ai had once said Impmon was quite the trickster, and he didn’t need any untold scares.

               “Ah, pardon the intrusion, Kizuna-san,” he said, directing the words towards Mako. “I escorted your sister home from school early. How have you been?”

[darktwintamers]

“Thanks,” she said with a weak smile, taking the offered handkerchief and fiddling with it for a few seconds before wiping her eyes. “And don’t bother, I doubt they’ll listen. They’re friends with Mako, too, so…”

That shouldn’t really matter when it came to something like this, but she always felt bad interfering with her brother’s life. “Do you think I’ll be allowed to go home early? I don’t think I can handle my last class.”

She would have to arrange for an emergency haircut soon, too… Tears were threatening again. Mako would probably just laugh when he saw, even if Impmon yelled at him for it.

“Maybe I should let you get to your own class,” she added, folding the handkerchief. “I can clean this and give it to you tomorrow.” She just had to hold it together until she got home, that was all.

[cagedinice-blog]

               “Still, they shouldn’t get away with something like this. I know he’s your brother, but I still need to report him and his friends for this,” he informed, biting his lip at just how distressed she was. He couldn’t blame her--losing hair like that, at the hands of her brother’s friends?

               Let alone the fact that her brother played along. Could he truly hate Ai so much that he allowed his friends to bully her so horribly? He doubted it, but his own rocky relationship with his brother wasn’t a great comparison.

               “I’ll walk you home, Kizuna-chan. Let’s stop by the office, and I’ll let them know why we’re leaving. If it’s any consolation, I think you’ll look great with shorter hair.”

[darktwintamers]

Ai was used to her brother’s friends being brats in general and cruel to her in particular, but this–this was farther than normal. Her reaction had been slow, seeing as it was normal for one of the jerks to pull on her pigtails. The snipping sound and the feeling of hair being severed had taken a moment to register. She had turned to face them, only to see that her hair now must look very uneven.

She had been fighting back tears, but as soon as Tomoki came and intervened on her behalf she lost control. They’d muttered half-hearted apologies, one of the boys forcing the cut locks back into her hands before they all ran off, probably not back to class. Ai was left with her forehead against her locker, trying to keep her sobs to herself and failing miserably.

“S-sorry, I–thank you, Tomoki-senpai, I just–” She’d grown closer to him and felt a deeper connection after they had run into each other during that awful trip to the Digital World, but they’d seen little of each other since. This was hardly the image of herself that she wanted to give him. Mako called her a crybaby for a reason, after all.

She swiped at her eyes and ran her nose across her sleeve. “Sorry…about that…”

[cagedinice-blog]

               “That was very cruel of them, Kizuna-chan.” Yes, they’d become much closer since their little adventure, and he was happy to spend time with her when he could. Lately, babysitting his niece had become a much more important task to him, and his time had been taken up.

               “It’s okay to cry, you know,” he said, as if he could just tell what she’d been thinking. He had once been emotional like that as well. He digs into the pocket of his bag and pulls out a handkerchief, offering it to her.

               “I doubt they’ll go back to picking on you for some time. I’ll have some words with them, if you’d like?” Though he wasn’t sure she’d take him up on that. He’d been less than confrontational and nothing but sweet around her.

[cagedinice-blog]

               He heard the snickering from the floor below, and looked over the side of the railing. The floors in this building had a layout that allowed students to see to the floor below it, and so he could see boys, a small group of them, laughing as one held out a pair of scissors, and another a long set of brown locks.

               It’s not like it was hard for him to figure out they’d cut off one of the girl’s pigtails--he recognized her as Kizuna Ai, a girl from a lower grade he’d taken a class with. They’d gotten close as she’d tutored him in English, and it made him angry that she was being picked on.

               He descended the stairs to the lower floor, and walked to them, breaking his stride only when he can put a hand on Ai’s shoulder and frown at the other boys.

              “I suggest you back off. Kizuna-chan’s had quite enough, and you could all get suspended for this,” he told them, in the most innocent voice he could. Still, it wasn’t like he’d let them get away with it. He quickly pulled out his phone, flipped it open and snapped a picture.

              “Please, try and behave, boys.”

[mindfulpoems]

[deeplifequotes]

Instead of getting angry, let it go. You’re only hurting yourself if you don’t.

Robert Tew