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[ 2 ] before i love you na, na, na i'm gonna leave you na, na, na before i'm someone you leave behind i'll break your heart so you don't break mine Kieran x MC ; Kieran learns of love and heartbreak in a week, and swears he never will again. words: 4111 (rewrite of the Indigo Disk DLC from Kieran's POV, originally written before it came out but now includes scenes from the DLC aprox. 2 years has passed between DLCs) part of takeaway series / cross-posted on AO3

The days pass by quickly, and Kieran’s life goes on like normal. He barely pays attention to much, goes to League Club meetings like normal and beats everyone there without a word. Life is mundane and nothing’s a challenge anymore after his grind to be League Club Champion.

He doesn’t think much about it when Drayton asks to meet in the cafeteria after their meeting one day.

Drayton goes ahead first, to “secure them a table”, while Kieran and the other League members clean up the club room. It’s not much of a mess, but Lacey always insists that they should leave rooms the way they originally were and Kieran kind of agrees.

And he can’t ever manage to get away quick enough before Lacey pulls him back, unlike Drayton.

The four of them show up to the cafeteria, and find Drayton half-lying down on the table with a chair pulled out beside him. The cafeteria’s noisier than usual, even before the four of them stepped in, with everyone chattering about something but Kieran can barely pick out the words.

“What did you want to talk to me about?”

“Nothing much, just thought we could grab a bite.” Drayton isn’t fazed, but isn’t smiling for once and that raises suspicion in Kieran, “Where else to do that but the cafeteria?”

“What a waste of time, “ Kieran sighs, “If you have so much time to goof off, how about training your Pokémon? Maybe that’s why you always lose to me.”

“Guess that’s a no.”

Kieran shoves his hands into his pockets and turns away, ready to walk out, before Drayton says, “So I can’t swing a lunch date with you, even with your old pal?”

“What are you-“ Kieran turns back around, his eyes following where Drayton’s looking off to the side, and cuts himself off when all he hears in his ears is his own heartbeat.

When he sees her again, he’s struck with the thought that she hasn’t really changed.

She wears her hair down now, in soft curls that brush against her shoulders. She’s wearing the Blueberry Academy uniform, with the cravat and long pants, instead of her tie and skirt back in Kitakami.

But her shoes are still the same black loafers, eyes still concealed by silver and blue sunglasses, hair still reflects bright purple and her face is still in a permanent smile despite sipping on a milkshake.

“Violetta?”

“Kieran!” She makes sure to put her milkshake down on the table first, before she waves at him with a growing smile as if she’s forgotten about Kitakami and is just seeing an old friend after a while. Her voice is still soft and sweet, like a carefully crafted melody. He hates that she remembers his name, and uses it so familiarly as if it belongs there.

“Why are you…”

“Did you forget? She’s our new exchange student,” Drayton smirks up at him from where he lays, and Kieran curls his hands into fists in his pockets because yes, he had forgotten but he’d be damned if he were to admit it and see Drayton’s smirk grow.

“Really?” He turns to Lacey, who perks up and smiles.

“Yup! Director Cyrano introduced her to me just this morning, when she arrived.”

Just this morning, huh.

“We’re already pretty tight,” Drayton slings an arm around her shoulder, “I even asked her to join the BB League, since she’s already a champion back in Paldea and all.”

This draws outrage from the other members, but Kieran can’t register a word from them as he stares at Violetta. She takes a hesitant seat next to Drayton, sips on her milkshake with darting eyes. Her eyes follow whoever’s talking at the moment, listening intently and reacting to everything, which helps Kieran keep track of how each member is feeling.

But it also reminds him of when she used to look at him like that, hanging off every word whenever he told her about Ogerpon and Kitakami. Her giggles are the same, the way her brows furrow is the same, but the way she looks at him now is a little… different.

Her fingers fiddle with the straw, and her eyes dart away from him the second they meet, and he can’t help but feel a little triumphant.

He’s managed to make her nervous.

He’s not sure how, but he’s done it. And he hopes this continues.

“Well,” Drayton starts, “What say you, reigning BB League Champion, our almighty Kieran?”

She stares up at him with wide eyes, expectant, and his stomach jumps to give him a temporary boost of confidence.

“I don’t care who it is,” Kieran stares her down, sees her eyes shake but she still holds his gaze, “I don’t lose.”

“Heh, guess we got our answer,” Drayton smirks up lazily at him, but Kieran barely acknowledges him. He continues staring down Violetta, who only holds his gaze for a moment after he speaks but she turns away almost immediately.

Good. I am your better, I am the best in the school.

I don’t lose.

He turns and walks away after a moment, the other three following behind him. He can faintly hear Drayton laughing, and his stomach turns at everything that’s happened in the past five minutes.

(x)

The next time he sees her is a few days later, when he’s wandering around the halls at night.

He finds her in one of the endless hallways that connect the school, staring out the glass walls and watching various water Pokémon swim by. She’s not wearing the stupid sunglasses tonight, and every change in Pokémon seems to reflect in her eyes. Her hands are gingerly on the glass, and she is dimly lit by the lights that run along it, outlining her in a diffused glow.

He can’t tell if this was another figment of a dream.

“Why are you here?” He stands more than a few feet away from her, and leans against the wall with his arms crossed. She jumps a little, snatches her arm away from the glass and smiles sheepishly as if she’d been caught stealing, and Kieran’s lips pull down a little further.

“I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to walk around.” She offers an embarrassed smile, a light pink coating her cheeks as she giggles, and Kieran hates that his heart still skips a beat at the sound.

She takes a few steps towards him, and he has to put all his weight into his feet just to root himself there to not appear weak. He can’t really stop looking at her as she crosses, and all he can think about is how Ogerpon’s doing in her care and if they’ve forgotten about what they’d done to him. The thought leaves his stomach lurching, and it’s only then can he turn away and direct his eyes to the ground, hands clenching and unclenching by his side.

“Anyways, I think I’m a little lost now,” he sees her hand reach out for his sleeve, and he quickly goes back to crossing his arms to avoid it, “Do you mind walking me back to the dorms?”

He wants to be a worse person and say no, he wants to leave her lost and awake out in the middle of the hallways but his heart clenches at the thought, so he nods and gestures to her to follow.

He walks her to her temporary dorm in silence. The only way he knows she’s following along is the click-clack of her shoes. Every so often, he glances at her from the corner of his eye and sees her fidget with her glove or the sleeves of her shirt. He fights the urge to do the same.

“You’ve grown taller.” She giggles from beside him, and he turns fully to look at her. She’s not wrong, he now stands a good head taller than her, probably more if he adjusted his posture, and she has to tilt up to look him in the eye. Though she doesn’t, she stares straight ahead and his lips turn down even more.

He lets out a huff as a reply, and she giggles again, though not as light as it was before. He watches as she wraps her arms around herself, and lowers her head to stare at the ground, hair falling forward to shield her face.

He knows that posture, that self-comforting rubbing of her arms, and he feels his lips twitch up. It feels too good, knowing he’s the one looking down at her this time, knowing that this is his home turf and she can’t take anything away from him now.

“Your school is beautiful, very different from Uva.” He watches her eyes darting around the hallways, lingering on the various medal and trophy cases they’ve won from international competitions that decorate their walls. He huffs another reply, and he turns his head away when she turns hers to look at him.

“I didn’t realise how many trophies you guys would have. You must all be really strong.”

She giggles again, but it makes his eye twitch and his jaw tense. There’s something about what she says that makes him feel like she’s looking down on him again, with eyes full of pity and sadness and again, that brief feeling of fulfillment is ripped away from him because she said a few words.

He doesn’t offer a reply this time, and they fall back into their tense silence.

Once they reach her door, she turns to him with a smile, “Thanks for showing me the way. I can’t wait to look around more.”

He lowers his eyes to hers, and nods as polite acknowledgement. She lingers, fingers fiddling with her keycard as she looks between her room and his face. He can hear her nails tapping on the plastic, and he waits for her to say what she looks like she wants to say, leaning against her door frame with his arms crossed.

“I’ll see you soon.” Her smile wavers with her words, before she turns to close the door.

He reaches for her sleeve before he realises. It makes her jump, and he swallows a disbelieving chuckle when she turns around with wide eyes.

“Meet me at the entrance tomorrow night,” he glances at her and sees her brows furrow and eyes widen. He’d understand if she was confused, but her face brightens up and he sees her eyes turn into crescents within a second, and he hates that he doesn’t feel angry.

“I want to battle you. Come when you are ready.” He lets go of her sleeve, and immediately turns to leave after issuing his challenge.

(x)

The next night, he sits at the entrance and waits for her. He fiddles with his Pokeball, Hydrapple hopping around his feet. During occasional glances around the hall, he notices students walking past and whispering, but he looks back down to his feet too soon to notice when they stop.

He doesn’t know how long he waits, but long enough for every student to clear out and leave the entrance empty. Chatter is replaced by the echoes of Hydrapple's syrup splatters. He can feel like Pokeballs rustle, twitching and restless next to his legs. His fingers twitch, wanting to let them out.

No, I’ll surprise her.

I’ll show her I’m better.

Instead his hands start clenching and unclenching on his lap, feet tapping along to his Hydrapple’s hops. He tells himself he’s not nervous, scoffs at the idea even, but his heart is a few hundred miles a second and his breath is stuck in his stomach. It almost feels like he’s about to pass out until a pair of shoes appear in front of him.

“It’s late. Why are you out here?”

He groans and rubs his temple.

“I’m waiting for someone.”

Carmine kicks at his shoes, “They’re not coming. Go to sleep.”

“I’ll wait.”

“For who?” Carmine kicks at his shoes again, dangerously close to stepping on them this time.

“Who do you think?”

“I don’t know, Kiki,” Carmine sneers and kicks his shoe harder, “Why don’t you tell me?”

“I’m waiting for Violetta! Who else would it be?” He snaps his head up, gritting his teeth and staring his sister in the eyes. He sees her flinch and take a step back, before she clenches her hands beside her and glares back at him.

“How was I supposed to know? Maybe you should leave anyway, maybe she doesn’t want to see you.” She spits out at him, wriggling her nose at him. She slaps the heel of her palm against his forehead, as if to tell him to get the idea out of his head.

He’s ready to snap back at her, until he hears click clacking footsteps behind Carmine and he shifts his eyes to where it comes from.

Violetta’s running up to him, curls bouncing with every step, Lacey following close behind her with furrowed brows. Hydrapple’s already bouncing up to the two of them, and Kieran stands up immediately and follows behind, pushing past Carmine, speeding up just enough so that she couldn’t grab onto him.

“Did I make you wait? I’m so sorry!” Violetta stops right in front of him with an apologetic smile, hands clasped in front of her. Lacey stands behind her, bangs stuck stick straight to her forehead. But Violetta was ever so perfect, not a hair out of place or a drop of sweat on her face, even with her panting. Because of course Violetta, being Violetta, could never look like she put in effort.

I’ll ruin her.

“Hi Kieran,” Lacey gives an awkward smile and wave, and he acknowledges her with a nod before he looks back at Violetta.

“I got lost again cause your school is so big! But Lacey found me wandering around and walked me here, “ Violetta turns away from Kieran and it makes him unreasonably irritated, “Thanks again. I’m not sure I said that earlier.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Lacey brushes her off, but her lips pull into a frown, “Are you sure you want to do this right now though? It’s late.”

“Oh,” Violetta straightens, and brushes off the non-existent dust on her clothes, “Don’t worry about it, who’s gonna know?”

Lacey gives both of them a disapproving look, and huffs with arms crossed, “I’ll stay around to make sure you guys stay safe.”

Violetta nods, and Kieran can’t help but chew the inside of his cheek when she giggles at Lacey, and she places a hand on Lacey’s own, “Don’t worry so much, it’s just a battle.”

He bites his cheek so hard he tastes blood, and he’s grabbing Violetta’s wrist to get her attention before he realises it. Violetta looks up at him with raised brows and a questioning smile, and Kieran just stares at her with words stuck in his throat.

“Right, we’re here to battle.” Violetta bounces with her statement, and Kieran nods with furrowed brows. “Let’s go then! Are you ready?”

Kieran drops her hand, looks up and sees Carmine and Lacey staring at the two of them with furrowed brows, and just nods. “You can stand on that side,” Kieran nods his head towards one end of the entrance, and walks towards the other end. Lacey follows Violetta, while Carmine chooses to stand behind him.

Once they get settled, Kieran calls out, “Are you ready?”

“I came prepared, don’t worry!” Violetta shouts back from the other end, still with a bright smile.

“Good luck, Kieran!” Lacey shouts out, and Violetta echoes it to him, louder than Lacey.

Kieran just nods at them, and prepares himself to battle. The first thing he does is tie his hair back, and he sees Violetta staring at him. Violetta tilts her head, smiles a little smaller, and he cocks an eyebrow at her. She shakes her head and gives the brightest smile he’s seen since she’s arrived, as if to make up for it dropping a little earlier, and Kieran narrows his eyes.

The battle is a blur, as expected. He knows he took down her Ceruledge first, and his heart is a little lighter when it drops to its knees, despite taking his Porygon Z along with it. Her Tikaton easily gets rid of his Grimmsnarl and Dragonite, and almost takes out his Incineroar before it falls.

“You’ve gotten stronger!” Violetta shouts from across the field, and it only serves to annoy him further. Is she mocking him? Was he really never strong to her?

“You’ve gotten weaker.” He can’t help but say back to her, and she freezes. He takes the opportunity to attack her Ninetales twice with his Politoed, and it shakes her up when her Ninetales cries out before going down. Her Leafeon is wounded when his Incineroar takes an, admittedly, unfair swipe at its leg while Violetta debates on who to send out next. Her nose crinkles at his Incineroar, who glowers at her and Kieran has just enough guilt to glance away.

His attention is back on the field when she sends out her Sinistcha, who flys over to Leafeon and to pour some tea into its mouth.

“Remember that Poltchageist we saw at the festival? It’s grown, hasn’t it?” Violetta shouts from across the field again, and Kieran feels his frustration get stronger because of course he does.

He does because she asked him, so innocently, what the mark on the corner of its feet meant, and Kieran was so happy for her when he explained it was a sign of authenticity. He’d never seen one before, not in the wild at least, and seeing one with her felt right, it was another first he’s sharing with her and he was so sure it’d be the first of many experiences he’d revel in in the future.

The rest of the battle goes by as if he was on autopilot, and he’s not sure what happens after but he wins.

He wins and he still feels no joy, because she’s laughing as she calls her Milotic back into its Luxury Ball, and she wipes her forehead but she still looks so unbothered he has to grit his teeth so he doesn’t shout.

Why-

Violetta starts to make her way to him, a large smile on her face, before slow claps from the side draw both their attention away.

“As expected from our Champion, she was no match for you, huh?” Drayton walks towards the both of them, ignoring Lacey running to stop him.

“Drayton, would you just-”

“So how was it, Violetta?” He deliberately stops in front of Violetta, in between her and Kieran and just tall enough for him to block his view.

“He’s gotten a lot stronger, I was a bit surprised.” Violetta’s giggle mixes with her last word, and Lacey manages to pull hard enough to make Drayton stumble to the side enough for Kieran to catch Violetta’s eyes. “You’ve grown a lot, Kieran.”

Kieran’s jaw relaxes, and he nods.

“Well, looks like she can take on the league challenge. We should register you in the morning.” Drayton shrugs off Lacey and slings an arm over Violetta, and Kieran’s stomach simmers when Drayton directs a small smirk over to him.

“You’re not registered with Blueberry Academy yet?” Lacey sounds incensed, and Kieran figures a part of him knew before the battle that she wasn’t registered yet. She wouldn’t lose to him otherwise.

“We don’t want a stain on her record just yet. C’mon, let her start after a good night’s rest!” Drayton detaches himself from Violetta to nudge Lacey, and Carmine finally steps forward from behind Kieran to hit Drayton’s shoulder.

“Why are you pushing this so hard? Just let Violetta enjoy her time here.”

“C’mon, don’t you want to see her beat Mighty Champion Kieran over there? Show off how strong she is?”

Carmine bristles at that, glances at Kieran who’s staring at her, waiting for her answer.

“You’re up to something, aren’t you?”

Drayton laughs, “Of course not! It’s all her idea, right Violetta?”

Kieran catches Violetta’s eyes again, and watches her eyes dart between everyone from behind her sunglasses. Her fingers fidget with the space between her thumb and index, before folding behind her, and she gives a sheepish smile, “Yeah, it was.”

Now he knows better.

“There you go, she’s just a little go-getter wanting to do great things.” Drayton’s the most smug Kieran’s heard in a long time, but he can’t bring himself to really care. This night meant nothing, her loss means nothing and it won’t mean anything until she registers into the school system and her crushed chances of being BB League Champion are recorded permanently in where he reigns.

“We’ll get you registered tomorrow.” It’s the last thing Kieran says before he walks off. Nobody tries to stop him, and he hears them continuing conversation the entire time he’s leaving.

(x)

At noon, Kieran hears Drayton at the registration counter before he sees him.

“We Elite Four talked it out real quick, my friend here’s good to go!”

He walks out of the long tunnel that connects the entrance to the rest of the school, and turns to see Violetta’s back and Drayton leaning against the counter. The registration attendant’s obviously not amused by Drayton, and busies herself with the screen in front of her, who sighs loudly, probably thinking of how he can be more ‘convincing’.

“If you can’t register me, it’s fine-“

Drayton interrupts Violetta with a hand in front of her face, “We discussed this, remember? It’s cool.” Drayton smiles lazily at Violetta, before he turns and catches Kieran’s eyes and it transforms into a smirk. He leans closer to Violetta, and whispers something to her, covering his mouth with a hand.

Kieran stiffens, Drayton eyes are on him the entire time, until Violetta jerks away from him, face red and eyes wide. Kieran and Drayton snap their eyes to her. She’s holding her cheek with one hand, staring at Drayton, who still has a lazy smirk on, and Kieran has never felt more confused. Weren’t they close? What did Drayton do to make her jump like that?

His left hand curls into a fist, and starts tapping against his thigh as he stands frozen at the side, only the sound of bustling students filling the space between the three of them.

Violetta takes a few steps back, and her back bumps into Kieran just as Drayton straightens and says, “Kieran!”

“Kieran!” Violetta spins to face him, shoulders raised up to her ears and eyes shaking. His hands reflexively come up to hover at her sides, ready to steady her should she fall. He’s never seen her so off guard before, almost skittish in how she’s looking around everywhere. Looking at her pulls at his heart, makes him want to pull her close and tell her it’s fine, he’s here.

Instead he lowers his hands and fists them up by his sides.

“He’s telling the truth.” Kieran turns to the registration attendant, “I’m allowing Violetta to join the BB League.”

The flustered attendant rushes to register Violetta, who still can’t look him in the eye, almost hyper focused on answering the attendant’s questions.

“Didn’t expect you to ride up in shining armour and save the day,” Drayton crosses his arms in front of him, and leans against the counter, seemingly… content?

“I figured they wouldn’t listen to you,” Kieran pretends he’s unaffected by Drayton’s smugness, tilting his head to crack his neck like he just woke up, “Stop trying to play puppet master.”

“I already told you,” Drayton puts up his hands, “I’ve no ulterior motives. It’s all Violetta’s idea.”

The attendant calls for Violetta, who quickly turns around to give all the relevant information, avoiding eye contact with both of them standing near the counter. Kieran can’t help but watch her, hands politely folded in front of her and a small smile as she practically sings every word. She’s bright, if a bit sheepish, when asked to take a photo for her entry and it’s surprisingly contagious as Kieran finds himself smiling a bit as well.

“Alright, you’re all ready to officially take on the Blueberry League!” The attendant smiles at Violetta, who thanks her and turns back to the two, shaking Kieran out of his smile.

“Violetta,” Kieran furrows his brows, and tucks his hands into the pockets of his shorts, “You better not go losing to anyone else before me.”

She widens her eyes a bit, blinking like an owl, before laughing with a wide smile, “Like I’d lose!”

Kieran nods, and turns around, hiding a smirk with a lowered head, “Good.”

(x)

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