Welcome to my next project, The Rhythm Of Life! As some of you may know, I've decided to participate in this year's National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo for short), and when I found out that was coming up in late November, I instantly knew I wanted to write with two of my latest OCs.
EDIT 7/7/2021: Unfortunately, due to complicated circumstances on my end and writer's block, this story isn't ever going to be finished. If it's still of interest to you, you're free to read, but keep in mind there won't ever be a conclusion.
This is about the best I have for a synopsis. It's a bit lackluster, but I was having trouble wording it. Here you go:
Like RotI, chapters will be archived here as I post them in-thread for easy access! This is for if you don't feel like digging through the thread to find one chapter. This time, Chapter One is included directly in the OP from the start!
Thank you so much for taking a look, and I hope you enjoy The Rhythm of Life! Don't be afraid to provide your thoughts in-thread––I love to hear what others think!
EDIT 7/7/2021: Unfortunately, due to complicated circumstances on my end and writer's block, this story isn't ever going to be finished. If it's still of interest to you, you're free to read, but keep in mind there won't ever be a conclusion.
This is about the best I have for a synopsis. It's a bit lackluster, but I was having trouble wording it. Here you go:
14-year old Rina Ping suffers a crushing defeat in a ping pong regional tournament in Onett, Eagleland, Nintendopolis, and after her grandfather sends her, her guardian, and her best friend Connor Locke-Stepp to the Worlds tournament in Tehniss, Tenfever, Nintendopolis, problems start to arise in the two––problems they can't face alone.
Like RotI, chapters will be archived here as I post them in-thread for easy access! This is for if you don't feel like digging through the thread to find one chapter. This time, Chapter One is included directly in the OP from the start!
December 2, 2016 11:24 am
Academy of the Interspectaculars and the Darks––Cafeteria
Ping… Pong… Ping… Pong…
A Paddler and her Stepswitcher friend stood at a ping pong setup in the cafeteria, hitting the ball at each other at a breakneck pace with a satisfying plink each time it bounced upon the deep green table, its surface outlined to match that of a real tennis court. The glass walls of the Academy caused light to shimmer brightly in the building, bringing a bright white shine onto everything inside (although it was shining directly in the players’ eyes, which wasn’t the best), and while it was still twenty minutes until lunch, there was still a decent flow of students passing by to pick up a snack early or just skip class. The Paddler had long, blonde hair that stuck out of the light blue box on her head and extended to twin braids in the back, and a tank top the same colour as her hat, with a yellow skirt that had an orange stripe on the top and bottom. Her darker blue tights were shaded from the light, although her short white boots weren’t, and her golden gloves tightly grasped a ping pong paddle with a brown handle and a red plastic exterior, hitting the hollow ball back towards her friend.
The Stepswitcher had bushy, golden-brown hair with electric blue dyed in a strip of a giant section of bangs that could easily cover his left eye (from the perspective of a person looking at him), but was held back by the pair of pink headphones he wore. His skin was two different colours and divided halfway across his entire body, half-dark grey and half-white, and he wore a thin green dress shirt with a cuff that wrapped around his neck like that of a suit, with sweatpants that were a mix between grey and a pale purple. He had an average height, and a thin structure to him, whereas the girl was only a little shorter and had slightly more bulk to her, although the extra weight was mostly muscle. As the ball bounced its way across the table, the two decided to break concentration and talk to each other.
“R-Rina, when’s the finals?” asked the boy in a stutter, talking in between when he had to swing, like switching to an offbeat. Rina brushed her hair out of her face and hit the ball back at the boy, her bright white skin glowing in the sunlight. “I saw you were playing a game earlier today. How’d that go?”
“Oh, it went awesome! The guy completely bombed in the second half. You should’ve seen his face when he hit the ball into the ref! It was priceless!” Rina laughed, forgetting to hit the ball back and leaning on the table giggling until she realized she’d missed and picked up the ball. “But, umm, yeah, that’s what happened. Finals are after lunch. It’s gonna be so tough beating the guy who won the other semifinal match! I’ve never played against him or even met him, but it’s gonna be a challenge!”
“You still get a stipend and trophy though, don’t you?” The boy leaned against the table tiredly, trying to smile at Rina but almost falling asleep, dropping his paddle.
“I told you what when I got back from the semifinal match, Connor! You must really be tired if you can’t remember that!” Both Rina and Connor laughed a little bit; Connor felt embarrassed while Rina found his forgetfulness entertaining. Connor wasn’t a typically forgetful person––if anything, he had quite a memory and could remember things easily––so Rina wanted to have her fun. “They're giving me the stipend in a few minutes or something, so just stick around here until I get back.”
“A-Alright then,” he replied while putting the ping pong paddle in his backpack, starting to think about what to buy for lunch as Rina headed off to possibly collect her stipend. She walked into the nearby gymnasium, a giant room with polished hardwood floors, white brick walls, and multiple different coloured lines painted underneath the gloss of the floor to denote multiple markings for games like soccer, basketball, and simple things like a 1500M run. A podium was set up for when the tournament was finished and the trophies were handed out, painted in three sections to mark where third, second, and first would stand. A long table was positioned in the corner with three seats in the corner, covered in a tablecloth and topped with name tags for the three sitting at the table. Space Gramps was fairly short and stocky, with a long black mustache and a yellow full-body jumpsuit covering everything except his face, as well as a yellow box the same colour as his jumpsuit worn horizontally over his head. While he looked threatening and harsh, he was quite encouraging and tender at heart, and even surprisingly emotional at times. The other two judges, who took the middle and far right seats, seemed to be away at the moment, meaning Rina could talk to her grandfather in peace.
“Hey, Gramps!” she exclaimed happily, hugging Space Gramps tightly. He returned the hug just as much, happy to see his granddaughter. “How have things been with the reffing and organization?”
“Oh, it’s been great, sweetie,” he replied with a warm smile. He always loved seeing his dear Rina, because she was so important to him. She was like his heartbeat; without her, he didn't live. He was a very family-oriented man and prided himself on his relationship with them. “There hasn't been too much to do today, but we did catch a competitor grab the ball and serve it mid-rally. He thought he was going to get away with it, but Space Sister had him disqualified in no time. Space Brother is just working on organizing the stream now, so he probably won't be back here until after the finals are over. You might even be able to see him outside.”
“A stream? Huh, I never even realized they did that at ping pong tournaments! Do people even watch that stuff?” Rina giggled and grinned widely, pulling away from her grandfather and pulling out her ping pong racket to twirl it in her hands.
“Indeed they do, sweetheart. Things like this are always the talk of the town back home, even if they aren’t being held in Tehniss. Look, I've got to get the stipends ready, so when you're done your next match, come back and see me, okay?” Space Gramps pulled out a cheque book and pulled off the top page, starting to fill in the blanks.
“Oh, speaking of stipends, is there any way I could get mine now?” asked Rina, a hopeful glint in her eyes that Space Gramps instantly recognized.
“Sure thing. Make you put it somewhere safe, alright?” he replied with a cautionary tone, finishing the cheque and placing it in an envelope for his granddaughter, handing it to her.
“Will do! Thanks, Gramps!” exclaimed Rina graciously, heading back to the cafeteria and noticing Connor spacing out towards the serving area, where food was being placed out for the students to buy in preparation for the lunch period to come. “Hey, I'm baaaaaack! I got the stipend!” she called, putting her hands on his shoulders and making him blush brightly. Connor was never sure how to react when a female, let alone Rina, made physical contact with him or any sort of romantic action or implication aimed at him, as he wasn't the best with romantic interactions and love.
“U-Umm, h-h-hi!” he squeaked out in a nervous stutter. He kept quiet and his face turned a bright pink until Rina removed her hands from him, which allowed him to stop internally panicking and resume his thoughts about what to buy for lunch.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you? You're staring at the food like you do every day after training.”
“Well, yeah, who wouldn't be at this time?” replied Connor, looking at the time and suddenly getting ready to run, as the bell rang and he dashed off. Rina watched and giggled, instead reserving a table for the two and organizing her things. She was never too worried about having to get in line for the cafeteria, as most Paddlers got a better source of nutrients from paddleball than food. It wasn't as effective on the energy side of things, but energy was never an issue for Rina, as the mere thought of table tennis got her raring to go in an instant. Connor soon returned to Rina and took a seat at the table she was at, spreading out his meal and starting to devour the poutine he’d bought.
“Back,” he stated as if it hadn't been obvious. “You're not having anything, Rina?”
“I've got my paddleball racket. That should be enough,” she replied, reclining back and starting to mindlessly bounce the ball off the paddle as she watched Connor nearly pass out trying to eat as quickly as possible. He normally ate lots of food at a fast pace and didn’t remember to breathe, causing him to pass out after a meal for a short amount of time. He knew it was a problem, but he never remembered to go slower, which he knew would bring health implications at some point in his life and had to improve on.
“Whew, I should stop here…” Connor gasped, pushing away the empty plates and wiping his mouth with a napkin while fighting to stay conscious and catch his breath. He then set aside a cookie he’d bought with his lunch and handed it to Rina, who was confused about why he was handing her part of his lunch.
“What are you doing? Isn’t that yours?” she asked, confused. “You’re gonna eat that, right?”
“It’s for you, Rina. All they had was gingerbread, but I knew you’d still want a cookie anyways.” Connor smiled, hoping Rina would be just as happy as he was.
“Aww, you didn’t have to do that!” she said in gratitude, hugging Connor before eating the cookie slowly. She felt at home with the taste, almost as if her mother was tending to her with dessert in bed… Rina dearly wished she could go back to those days, before everything changed. She repeated a ping pong rally to herself in her head and finished eating, getting her mind off the troubling past.
“I-I’m glad you liked it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t go out of my way to help you do,” Connor stated whilst blushing.
“Even murder or robbery?” joked Rina.
“Umm…” Both Connor and Rina burst into laughter, each knowing they would only take a shot like that to them. It was one of the many privileges of having a best friend, amongst trust stronger than concrete and the increased amount of time communicating with said friend. “I’m n-not going to help you do that!”
“Of course not! I just wanted to see how you reacted. You always act so nervous when I do that and it’s so cute!” she squealed, pulling out her ping pong paddle as the bell rang and failing to notice that Connor’s face had gone pink again. “Well, I’ve got to get ready for the finals now. Thanks for the cookie!”
“No problem, Rina. Good luck!” replied Connor, brushing his hair out of his face and flipping his headphones on as the bell rang and the room started to go steadily quiet, Rina disappearing into the gymnasium. It wasn’t long until she found herself back where she’d been with Connor an hour before, standing at one end of a ping pong table while facing her opponent, someone much more intimidating than Connor. He was much taller than Rina and wore a purple full-body jumpsuit that covered everything but his face, with a fancy black vest and red bowtie on, topped off with black dress pants and white dress shoes.
A Cosmic Paddler, Rina thought to herself, cursing. They’re always so rude and full of themselves. Why am I considered the same species as them?! The boy’s short, black hair seemed to sparkle with hair gel, and he lowered his eyes in an arrogant manner, passing off the girl as weak and feeble. His spherical head seemed to be coated by his headgear like chocolate, the deep violet latex stretching without a single wrinkle.
“It’s a fluke you made it this far, Butterfingers,” he remarked without hesitation in the tone of a flirt. Rina shivered, a bit unsettled. “Your skill is non-existent, and it’ll only be a matter of… hmm, let’s say fifteen minutes. It’ll only be that long––maybe even less––before you go down.”
“Excuse me! I’m much better than you think and I’ll be the one on top, thank you very much!” Rina shouted back, slamming her fists against the table. The crowd of students watching gasped in surprise, some pulling out their PokéGears and starting to film the two. However, the noise halted when Space Sister blew her whistle in an attempt to start the match, handing the ball to Rina with a sneer that made her feel lowly. As kind as she seemed, Space Sister was awfully discriminatory towards the Galactic Paddlers, and she didn't hide it as well as she probably should have. However, she treated her own people with utmost respect, and mustered up the tolerability to treat the Galactics the same every now and then, although the strict vibe could still be felt strongly in her. Her outfit was virtually identical to that of Rina’s opponent’s, except she didn't wear a full-body jumpsuit or dress pants in favour of a lilac skirt, and she had medium-length orange hair tied into double pigtails. Her head was topped with a deep purple commander’s hat with a white star in the middle, and her hair was segmented into sorts of balls using hair ties. She was more humanoid and had a relatively normal-shaped head compared to her people or Rina's. Why she hates me, I'll never know… Rina pondered before the PA system came on to announce the match’s start, much to Space Sister's dismay.
“Good afternoon, Academy!” rang the voice of Mr. Watch, the school’s principal and home economics teacher. Rina didn't bother to remember if he was teaching the Interspectaculars or the Darks. “It is with pleasure that I announce the finals of the Eagleland Table Tennis Regionals! On the left side of the court, please welcome Samuel Enkison, from Leekin, Tenfever!” The crowd roared as Rina huffed in an irritated way that could just have easily been jealousy, although she didn't want to admit it. Samuel, as the principal had called him, was using his time in the spotlight to throw a spare paddle into the crowd, of which many of the females in that group made a mad dash to grab. Rina figured Samuel was some sort of popular figure back in Tenfever—if not, he was just living up his fame.
“And on the right side of the court, give a round of applause to the Academy's very own Rina Ping!!” shouted Mr. Watch enthusiastically into the PA system from the office. This time, the crowd started cheering Rina's name loudly amidst the whoops and hollers, heaving support in heavy lumps towards their star ping pong player. Rina couldn't help but let it get to her head, bowing and yelling her thanks before jumping and pumping her paddle into the air, which got on the nerves of both Samuel and Space Sister. She felt like there was no stopping her from winning; that the Cosmics would bow down to the Galactics after her devastating effect on their table tennis pride.
“Watch out, little girl,” snorted Samuel in a demeaning manner. “Your cockiness is going to be the end of you.”
“Says the Cosmic Paddler!” Rina blurted out, covering her mouth with her hands and instantly refocussing on the match at hand. Another whistle sounded to quiet down the crowd.
“To win, your opponent must hit the ball out of the field three times. Finals, commence!” she commanded, glaring at Rina to serve the ball. Intimidated, she tossed the ball upwards and hit it harder than she would have normally, hitting the ball just barely out of bounds, causing Samuel’s smirk to reappear stronger than it had been before. A whistle blew, and Space Sister added a taller to Rina's side to mark that she had hit the ball out already. Connor, who was standing in the very front as to keep a close eye on her best friend's playing, saw the ball go out and muttered nervously to himself.
Samuel picked up the ball and served this time around, the ball bouncing nice and high. Slow patterns. Just what I needed, thought Rina as she hit the ball back with a fast pattern, throwing off Samuel and causing him to miss. Space Sister sighed and added a tally to his side, very obviously disappointed. The ball bounced under the table and over to Rina's foot, and as she picked it up and served it again, she saw Samuel was plotting something that gave her a chill. The ball bounced back and forth in varying patterns, both competitors focussing strongly on its hollow sounds and continuing a short rally that lasted about two minutes before Rina hit the ball oddly and hit it out of bounds, sending it into Connor’s hands. He instantly realized what had happened and made an indescribable noise of worry, taking off his headphones (which was normally unheard of for him) and looking at the ball intently.
Rina can't lose now! he insisted to himself, his faith wobbling. There must be something wrong with what’s going on! Samuel picked a spare ball from Space Sister and served it, Rina finally refocussing and hitting it back. Like the last point that had been played out, a short rally ensued between the two teenagers, an intense rivalry tensing between them. As Rina started to rage, she started hitting the ball faster and faster, before Samuel eventually couldn't keep up… but he didn't stop. As the ball bounced past him, he instinctively grabbed it with his free hand, twirled three hundred and sixty degrees, and hit it back much slower, throwing Rina off and causing her to miss, hence costing her the match. Space Sister immediately glared at Samuel as if she were to shush him, adding a tally to Rina's side and announcing Samuel's win.
“Congratulations to Samuel Enkison for coming in first place!!” she exclaimed hastily and excitedly as the crowd roared and girls in the stands rushed over to hug him. Connor's eyes widened in shock of what he had just witnessed. Did Space Sister really let that cheat slide by undetected? The stream was going to have at her throat, and Samuel was going to get caught, no doubt about it. Was she allowing that just to prove that Cosmic Paddlers were better? Either way, it was despicable. Rina stood completely still, surprised. Samuel seemed to figure out what was going on in her head, walking over and staring her down as he put a finger on the tip of her nose.
“Honey, I'm not even the worst of them,” he stated kindly, although the intent of the message was malicious. The girls got even more ecstatic and bombarded him again, and Rina felt anger boiling up. Too much for her to handle in a crowd. She stomped off outside to the grassy field outside, followed by Connor, who was extremely concerned for her.
“A-Are you okay?” he asked nervously, feeling terrible for her.
“No I'm not!” Rina threw her paddle on the frosted grass field and fell to her knees crying, the blue sky seeming to dim to reflect the defeatist vibe amongst the two. Clouds stormed up as if a snow were to fall upon Onett, but they appeared to be darker than they had been in the morning. Connor knew Rina felt horrible about losing so badly—and to cheating, nonetheless. “He cheated, and he’s a freaking show-off, and Space Sister saw him cheat and she did nothing! Tell me what in your right mind makes you think I'm okay!”
“Rina, c-calm down… Please… Things like this are inevitable. He’s going to be punished somehow, whether it be now or later. B-But think of it this way… you have your stipend to the Worlds in Tehniss! You can easily redeem yourself there!” Connor persisted through to Rina the best he could with a comforting tone, who continued sobbing. Losing wasn't something she could handle well to begin with. She was lucky she could get out of the Academy before breaking down.
“L-Look, Connor, I really wanted to win this time…” she bawled, refusing to look up. “You know how much I've been working towards this. To lose like that…” Rina had to pause to finish in between loud sobs. “...it's crushing. Not to mention it finished after not even fifteen minutes. You're right, though. I do have Worlds… I'm sorry for exploding on you like that.”
“P-Please, don't worry about it. You might not be the best at keeping a handle on your emotions like this sometimes, but I've never had a problem with it. I'll always be here for you,” smiled Connor, extending a hand to Rina to help her up, who accepted with a tear-stained but wide grin and proceeded to hug him. Connor felt himself going light-headed from having been hugged yet again, the uncertainty of how to handle the situation overwhelming him, but he nonetheless played along to avoid making an awkward fool of himself to his best friend.
“Thanks, Connor! You're the best,” exclaimed Rina while still crying as the bell rang to signal the early dismissal, which was being used to pack up the tournament. She figured it was best to go in and at least talk to her grandpa before she headed with him and Space Brother. As she stepped in, she saw that not only was the cafeteria lobby completely cleared of students, but that the three judges were huddled together, discussing something while Space Gramps held the giant silver trophy that was meant for her. He noticed his granddaughter in the corner of his eye and turned to face her.
“Hey there, sweetheart. How are—” Space Gramps noticed Rina's face had looked like she'd just been crying and felt sorry for her as she tried to hold back more tears. “Aww, it’s okay, honey… We all have bad days like this. Come give me a hug.”
“I can't believe I…” Rina trailed off into tears, silently crying and hugging Space Gramps. One moment ago, she had felt slightly better––enough to stop crying––but when she saw her grandfather, she couldn't help but cry again. Connor thought that was because she was afraid she had let down Space Gramps, which he knew wasn’t true. Connor decided to comfort Rina as well, timidly putting his right hand on Rina's left shoulder while kneeling.
“Don't worry about it, sweetheart. You tried your best.” Space Gramps reached into his pocket and pulled out two plane tickets, placing them inside his granddaughter's hand and closing her fingers over them. “One’s for you and one’s for Connor. I've a ticket of my own, so don't worry about how I'll get to Tehniss, alright? Flight is tomorrow at 6:45. Space Brother can drive you guys out to the airport; he’ll be coming with you two as your guardian.”
“Gerald, don't be stupid! You can't give away a ticket like that!” shouted Space Sister angrily. She stomped her foot towards the two and clenched her fists.
“Lorraine, have a heart! The man’s just trying to be nice to his granddaughter! My Arceus!” scolded Space Brother. His thin, short, and messy black hair stuck out in random directions from his dark grey box that looked very similar to the one Rina wore, and his full-body dark grey jumpsuit and sleek red bowtie made him look like a professional tap dancer, although he was anything but. His blue overalls and white striped shirt were worn out and started to come apart, showing he either wasn't well-off or just happened to dress rather dishevelled that day. Pale white skin that looked as if he’d been suffering from a long-term illness, rosy cheeks, and his absurd 7’2” height were telltale signs of his race—a Tapper.
“Hmph. It's his choice what to do,” the sister sergeant spat out in response. “He can go waste his money trying to bring everyone and their grandmother along, and I won't care because it's not coming from my pocket.”
“Be rational, Lorraine. We're getting to Tehniss and that's all that matters.” Upon hearing Space Gramps end the conversation, Connor decided to step in, concerned about how to get to the airport with Rina. He feared Space Gramps had wasted money trying to bring him somewhere he couldn’t go.
“U-Umm, my parents won't exactly allow this…” he stuttered, met with an ostracizing stare from Space Sister. It didn't last long, however.
“I believe you three will find a way,” Space Gramps assured him with a wink that Rina instantly knew meant he was expecting them to pull off shenanigans to bring along Connor.
This was going to be one wild ride, however this ended.
Academy of the Interspectaculars and the Darks––Cafeteria
Ping… Pong… Ping… Pong…
A Paddler and her Stepswitcher friend stood at a ping pong setup in the cafeteria, hitting the ball at each other at a breakneck pace with a satisfying plink each time it bounced upon the deep green table, its surface outlined to match that of a real tennis court. The glass walls of the Academy caused light to shimmer brightly in the building, bringing a bright white shine onto everything inside (although it was shining directly in the players’ eyes, which wasn’t the best), and while it was still twenty minutes until lunch, there was still a decent flow of students passing by to pick up a snack early or just skip class. The Paddler had long, blonde hair that stuck out of the light blue box on her head and extended to twin braids in the back, and a tank top the same colour as her hat, with a yellow skirt that had an orange stripe on the top and bottom. Her darker blue tights were shaded from the light, although her short white boots weren’t, and her golden gloves tightly grasped a ping pong paddle with a brown handle and a red plastic exterior, hitting the hollow ball back towards her friend.
The Stepswitcher had bushy, golden-brown hair with electric blue dyed in a strip of a giant section of bangs that could easily cover his left eye (from the perspective of a person looking at him), but was held back by the pair of pink headphones he wore. His skin was two different colours and divided halfway across his entire body, half-dark grey and half-white, and he wore a thin green dress shirt with a cuff that wrapped around his neck like that of a suit, with sweatpants that were a mix between grey and a pale purple. He had an average height, and a thin structure to him, whereas the girl was only a little shorter and had slightly more bulk to her, although the extra weight was mostly muscle. As the ball bounced its way across the table, the two decided to break concentration and talk to each other.
“R-Rina, when’s the finals?” asked the boy in a stutter, talking in between when he had to swing, like switching to an offbeat. Rina brushed her hair out of her face and hit the ball back at the boy, her bright white skin glowing in the sunlight. “I saw you were playing a game earlier today. How’d that go?”
“Oh, it went awesome! The guy completely bombed in the second half. You should’ve seen his face when he hit the ball into the ref! It was priceless!” Rina laughed, forgetting to hit the ball back and leaning on the table giggling until she realized she’d missed and picked up the ball. “But, umm, yeah, that’s what happened. Finals are after lunch. It’s gonna be so tough beating the guy who won the other semifinal match! I’ve never played against him or even met him, but it’s gonna be a challenge!”
“You still get a stipend and trophy though, don’t you?” The boy leaned against the table tiredly, trying to smile at Rina but almost falling asleep, dropping his paddle.
“I told you what when I got back from the semifinal match, Connor! You must really be tired if you can’t remember that!” Both Rina and Connor laughed a little bit; Connor felt embarrassed while Rina found his forgetfulness entertaining. Connor wasn’t a typically forgetful person––if anything, he had quite a memory and could remember things easily––so Rina wanted to have her fun. “They're giving me the stipend in a few minutes or something, so just stick around here until I get back.”
“A-Alright then,” he replied while putting the ping pong paddle in his backpack, starting to think about what to buy for lunch as Rina headed off to possibly collect her stipend. She walked into the nearby gymnasium, a giant room with polished hardwood floors, white brick walls, and multiple different coloured lines painted underneath the gloss of the floor to denote multiple markings for games like soccer, basketball, and simple things like a 1500M run. A podium was set up for when the tournament was finished and the trophies were handed out, painted in three sections to mark where third, second, and first would stand. A long table was positioned in the corner with three seats in the corner, covered in a tablecloth and topped with name tags for the three sitting at the table. Space Gramps was fairly short and stocky, with a long black mustache and a yellow full-body jumpsuit covering everything except his face, as well as a yellow box the same colour as his jumpsuit worn horizontally over his head. While he looked threatening and harsh, he was quite encouraging and tender at heart, and even surprisingly emotional at times. The other two judges, who took the middle and far right seats, seemed to be away at the moment, meaning Rina could talk to her grandfather in peace.
“Hey, Gramps!” she exclaimed happily, hugging Space Gramps tightly. He returned the hug just as much, happy to see his granddaughter. “How have things been with the reffing and organization?”
“Oh, it’s been great, sweetie,” he replied with a warm smile. He always loved seeing his dear Rina, because she was so important to him. She was like his heartbeat; without her, he didn't live. He was a very family-oriented man and prided himself on his relationship with them. “There hasn't been too much to do today, but we did catch a competitor grab the ball and serve it mid-rally. He thought he was going to get away with it, but Space Sister had him disqualified in no time. Space Brother is just working on organizing the stream now, so he probably won't be back here until after the finals are over. You might even be able to see him outside.”
“A stream? Huh, I never even realized they did that at ping pong tournaments! Do people even watch that stuff?” Rina giggled and grinned widely, pulling away from her grandfather and pulling out her ping pong racket to twirl it in her hands.
“Indeed they do, sweetheart. Things like this are always the talk of the town back home, even if they aren’t being held in Tehniss. Look, I've got to get the stipends ready, so when you're done your next match, come back and see me, okay?” Space Gramps pulled out a cheque book and pulled off the top page, starting to fill in the blanks.
“Oh, speaking of stipends, is there any way I could get mine now?” asked Rina, a hopeful glint in her eyes that Space Gramps instantly recognized.
“Sure thing. Make you put it somewhere safe, alright?” he replied with a cautionary tone, finishing the cheque and placing it in an envelope for his granddaughter, handing it to her.
“Will do! Thanks, Gramps!” exclaimed Rina graciously, heading back to the cafeteria and noticing Connor spacing out towards the serving area, where food was being placed out for the students to buy in preparation for the lunch period to come. “Hey, I'm baaaaaack! I got the stipend!” she called, putting her hands on his shoulders and making him blush brightly. Connor was never sure how to react when a female, let alone Rina, made physical contact with him or any sort of romantic action or implication aimed at him, as he wasn't the best with romantic interactions and love.
“U-Umm, h-h-hi!” he squeaked out in a nervous stutter. He kept quiet and his face turned a bright pink until Rina removed her hands from him, which allowed him to stop internally panicking and resume his thoughts about what to buy for lunch.
“You’re hungry, aren’t you? You're staring at the food like you do every day after training.”
“Well, yeah, who wouldn't be at this time?” replied Connor, looking at the time and suddenly getting ready to run, as the bell rang and he dashed off. Rina watched and giggled, instead reserving a table for the two and organizing her things. She was never too worried about having to get in line for the cafeteria, as most Paddlers got a better source of nutrients from paddleball than food. It wasn't as effective on the energy side of things, but energy was never an issue for Rina, as the mere thought of table tennis got her raring to go in an instant. Connor soon returned to Rina and took a seat at the table she was at, spreading out his meal and starting to devour the poutine he’d bought.
“Back,” he stated as if it hadn't been obvious. “You're not having anything, Rina?”
“I've got my paddleball racket. That should be enough,” she replied, reclining back and starting to mindlessly bounce the ball off the paddle as she watched Connor nearly pass out trying to eat as quickly as possible. He normally ate lots of food at a fast pace and didn’t remember to breathe, causing him to pass out after a meal for a short amount of time. He knew it was a problem, but he never remembered to go slower, which he knew would bring health implications at some point in his life and had to improve on.
“Whew, I should stop here…” Connor gasped, pushing away the empty plates and wiping his mouth with a napkin while fighting to stay conscious and catch his breath. He then set aside a cookie he’d bought with his lunch and handed it to Rina, who was confused about why he was handing her part of his lunch.
“What are you doing? Isn’t that yours?” she asked, confused. “You’re gonna eat that, right?”
“It’s for you, Rina. All they had was gingerbread, but I knew you’d still want a cookie anyways.” Connor smiled, hoping Rina would be just as happy as he was.
“Aww, you didn’t have to do that!” she said in gratitude, hugging Connor before eating the cookie slowly. She felt at home with the taste, almost as if her mother was tending to her with dessert in bed… Rina dearly wished she could go back to those days, before everything changed. She repeated a ping pong rally to herself in her head and finished eating, getting her mind off the troubling past.
“I-I’m glad you liked it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t go out of my way to help you do,” Connor stated whilst blushing.
“Even murder or robbery?” joked Rina.
“Umm…” Both Connor and Rina burst into laughter, each knowing they would only take a shot like that to them. It was one of the many privileges of having a best friend, amongst trust stronger than concrete and the increased amount of time communicating with said friend. “I’m n-not going to help you do that!”
“Of course not! I just wanted to see how you reacted. You always act so nervous when I do that and it’s so cute!” she squealed, pulling out her ping pong paddle as the bell rang and failing to notice that Connor’s face had gone pink again. “Well, I’ve got to get ready for the finals now. Thanks for the cookie!”
“No problem, Rina. Good luck!” replied Connor, brushing his hair out of his face and flipping his headphones on as the bell rang and the room started to go steadily quiet, Rina disappearing into the gymnasium. It wasn’t long until she found herself back where she’d been with Connor an hour before, standing at one end of a ping pong table while facing her opponent, someone much more intimidating than Connor. He was much taller than Rina and wore a purple full-body jumpsuit that covered everything but his face, with a fancy black vest and red bowtie on, topped off with black dress pants and white dress shoes.
A Cosmic Paddler, Rina thought to herself, cursing. They’re always so rude and full of themselves. Why am I considered the same species as them?! The boy’s short, black hair seemed to sparkle with hair gel, and he lowered his eyes in an arrogant manner, passing off the girl as weak and feeble. His spherical head seemed to be coated by his headgear like chocolate, the deep violet latex stretching without a single wrinkle.
“It’s a fluke you made it this far, Butterfingers,” he remarked without hesitation in the tone of a flirt. Rina shivered, a bit unsettled. “Your skill is non-existent, and it’ll only be a matter of… hmm, let’s say fifteen minutes. It’ll only be that long––maybe even less––before you go down.”
“Excuse me! I’m much better than you think and I’ll be the one on top, thank you very much!” Rina shouted back, slamming her fists against the table. The crowd of students watching gasped in surprise, some pulling out their PokéGears and starting to film the two. However, the noise halted when Space Sister blew her whistle in an attempt to start the match, handing the ball to Rina with a sneer that made her feel lowly. As kind as she seemed, Space Sister was awfully discriminatory towards the Galactic Paddlers, and she didn't hide it as well as she probably should have. However, she treated her own people with utmost respect, and mustered up the tolerability to treat the Galactics the same every now and then, although the strict vibe could still be felt strongly in her. Her outfit was virtually identical to that of Rina’s opponent’s, except she didn't wear a full-body jumpsuit or dress pants in favour of a lilac skirt, and she had medium-length orange hair tied into double pigtails. Her head was topped with a deep purple commander’s hat with a white star in the middle, and her hair was segmented into sorts of balls using hair ties. She was more humanoid and had a relatively normal-shaped head compared to her people or Rina's. Why she hates me, I'll never know… Rina pondered before the PA system came on to announce the match’s start, much to Space Sister's dismay.
“Good afternoon, Academy!” rang the voice of Mr. Watch, the school’s principal and home economics teacher. Rina didn't bother to remember if he was teaching the Interspectaculars or the Darks. “It is with pleasure that I announce the finals of the Eagleland Table Tennis Regionals! On the left side of the court, please welcome Samuel Enkison, from Leekin, Tenfever!” The crowd roared as Rina huffed in an irritated way that could just have easily been jealousy, although she didn't want to admit it. Samuel, as the principal had called him, was using his time in the spotlight to throw a spare paddle into the crowd, of which many of the females in that group made a mad dash to grab. Rina figured Samuel was some sort of popular figure back in Tenfever—if not, he was just living up his fame.
“And on the right side of the court, give a round of applause to the Academy's very own Rina Ping!!” shouted Mr. Watch enthusiastically into the PA system from the office. This time, the crowd started cheering Rina's name loudly amidst the whoops and hollers, heaving support in heavy lumps towards their star ping pong player. Rina couldn't help but let it get to her head, bowing and yelling her thanks before jumping and pumping her paddle into the air, which got on the nerves of both Samuel and Space Sister. She felt like there was no stopping her from winning; that the Cosmics would bow down to the Galactics after her devastating effect on their table tennis pride.
“Watch out, little girl,” snorted Samuel in a demeaning manner. “Your cockiness is going to be the end of you.”
“Says the Cosmic Paddler!” Rina blurted out, covering her mouth with her hands and instantly refocussing on the match at hand. Another whistle sounded to quiet down the crowd.
“To win, your opponent must hit the ball out of the field three times. Finals, commence!” she commanded, glaring at Rina to serve the ball. Intimidated, she tossed the ball upwards and hit it harder than she would have normally, hitting the ball just barely out of bounds, causing Samuel’s smirk to reappear stronger than it had been before. A whistle blew, and Space Sister added a taller to Rina's side to mark that she had hit the ball out already. Connor, who was standing in the very front as to keep a close eye on her best friend's playing, saw the ball go out and muttered nervously to himself.
Samuel picked up the ball and served this time around, the ball bouncing nice and high. Slow patterns. Just what I needed, thought Rina as she hit the ball back with a fast pattern, throwing off Samuel and causing him to miss. Space Sister sighed and added a tally to his side, very obviously disappointed. The ball bounced under the table and over to Rina's foot, and as she picked it up and served it again, she saw Samuel was plotting something that gave her a chill. The ball bounced back and forth in varying patterns, both competitors focussing strongly on its hollow sounds and continuing a short rally that lasted about two minutes before Rina hit the ball oddly and hit it out of bounds, sending it into Connor’s hands. He instantly realized what had happened and made an indescribable noise of worry, taking off his headphones (which was normally unheard of for him) and looking at the ball intently.
Rina can't lose now! he insisted to himself, his faith wobbling. There must be something wrong with what’s going on! Samuel picked a spare ball from Space Sister and served it, Rina finally refocussing and hitting it back. Like the last point that had been played out, a short rally ensued between the two teenagers, an intense rivalry tensing between them. As Rina started to rage, she started hitting the ball faster and faster, before Samuel eventually couldn't keep up… but he didn't stop. As the ball bounced past him, he instinctively grabbed it with his free hand, twirled three hundred and sixty degrees, and hit it back much slower, throwing Rina off and causing her to miss, hence costing her the match. Space Sister immediately glared at Samuel as if she were to shush him, adding a tally to Rina's side and announcing Samuel's win.
“Congratulations to Samuel Enkison for coming in first place!!” she exclaimed hastily and excitedly as the crowd roared and girls in the stands rushed over to hug him. Connor's eyes widened in shock of what he had just witnessed. Did Space Sister really let that cheat slide by undetected? The stream was going to have at her throat, and Samuel was going to get caught, no doubt about it. Was she allowing that just to prove that Cosmic Paddlers were better? Either way, it was despicable. Rina stood completely still, surprised. Samuel seemed to figure out what was going on in her head, walking over and staring her down as he put a finger on the tip of her nose.
“Honey, I'm not even the worst of them,” he stated kindly, although the intent of the message was malicious. The girls got even more ecstatic and bombarded him again, and Rina felt anger boiling up. Too much for her to handle in a crowd. She stomped off outside to the grassy field outside, followed by Connor, who was extremely concerned for her.
“A-Are you okay?” he asked nervously, feeling terrible for her.
“No I'm not!” Rina threw her paddle on the frosted grass field and fell to her knees crying, the blue sky seeming to dim to reflect the defeatist vibe amongst the two. Clouds stormed up as if a snow were to fall upon Onett, but they appeared to be darker than they had been in the morning. Connor knew Rina felt horrible about losing so badly—and to cheating, nonetheless. “He cheated, and he’s a freaking show-off, and Space Sister saw him cheat and she did nothing! Tell me what in your right mind makes you think I'm okay!”
“Rina, c-calm down… Please… Things like this are inevitable. He’s going to be punished somehow, whether it be now or later. B-But think of it this way… you have your stipend to the Worlds in Tehniss! You can easily redeem yourself there!” Connor persisted through to Rina the best he could with a comforting tone, who continued sobbing. Losing wasn't something she could handle well to begin with. She was lucky she could get out of the Academy before breaking down.
“L-Look, Connor, I really wanted to win this time…” she bawled, refusing to look up. “You know how much I've been working towards this. To lose like that…” Rina had to pause to finish in between loud sobs. “...it's crushing. Not to mention it finished after not even fifteen minutes. You're right, though. I do have Worlds… I'm sorry for exploding on you like that.”
“P-Please, don't worry about it. You might not be the best at keeping a handle on your emotions like this sometimes, but I've never had a problem with it. I'll always be here for you,” smiled Connor, extending a hand to Rina to help her up, who accepted with a tear-stained but wide grin and proceeded to hug him. Connor felt himself going light-headed from having been hugged yet again, the uncertainty of how to handle the situation overwhelming him, but he nonetheless played along to avoid making an awkward fool of himself to his best friend.
“Thanks, Connor! You're the best,” exclaimed Rina while still crying as the bell rang to signal the early dismissal, which was being used to pack up the tournament. She figured it was best to go in and at least talk to her grandpa before she headed with him and Space Brother. As she stepped in, she saw that not only was the cafeteria lobby completely cleared of students, but that the three judges were huddled together, discussing something while Space Gramps held the giant silver trophy that was meant for her. He noticed his granddaughter in the corner of his eye and turned to face her.
“Hey there, sweetheart. How are—” Space Gramps noticed Rina's face had looked like she'd just been crying and felt sorry for her as she tried to hold back more tears. “Aww, it’s okay, honey… We all have bad days like this. Come give me a hug.”
“I can't believe I…” Rina trailed off into tears, silently crying and hugging Space Gramps. One moment ago, she had felt slightly better––enough to stop crying––but when she saw her grandfather, she couldn't help but cry again. Connor thought that was because she was afraid she had let down Space Gramps, which he knew wasn’t true. Connor decided to comfort Rina as well, timidly putting his right hand on Rina's left shoulder while kneeling.
“Don't worry about it, sweetheart. You tried your best.” Space Gramps reached into his pocket and pulled out two plane tickets, placing them inside his granddaughter's hand and closing her fingers over them. “One’s for you and one’s for Connor. I've a ticket of my own, so don't worry about how I'll get to Tehniss, alright? Flight is tomorrow at 6:45. Space Brother can drive you guys out to the airport; he’ll be coming with you two as your guardian.”
“Gerald, don't be stupid! You can't give away a ticket like that!” shouted Space Sister angrily. She stomped her foot towards the two and clenched her fists.
“Lorraine, have a heart! The man’s just trying to be nice to his granddaughter! My Arceus!” scolded Space Brother. His thin, short, and messy black hair stuck out in random directions from his dark grey box that looked very similar to the one Rina wore, and his full-body dark grey jumpsuit and sleek red bowtie made him look like a professional tap dancer, although he was anything but. His blue overalls and white striped shirt were worn out and started to come apart, showing he either wasn't well-off or just happened to dress rather dishevelled that day. Pale white skin that looked as if he’d been suffering from a long-term illness, rosy cheeks, and his absurd 7’2” height were telltale signs of his race—a Tapper.
“Hmph. It's his choice what to do,” the sister sergeant spat out in response. “He can go waste his money trying to bring everyone and their grandmother along, and I won't care because it's not coming from my pocket.”
“Be rational, Lorraine. We're getting to Tehniss and that's all that matters.” Upon hearing Space Gramps end the conversation, Connor decided to step in, concerned about how to get to the airport with Rina. He feared Space Gramps had wasted money trying to bring him somewhere he couldn’t go.
“U-Umm, my parents won't exactly allow this…” he stuttered, met with an ostracizing stare from Space Sister. It didn't last long, however.
“I believe you three will find a way,” Space Gramps assured him with a wink that Rina instantly knew meant he was expecting them to pull off shenanigans to bring along Connor.
This was going to be one wild ride, however this ended.
Connor observed his surroundings as he slipped on his pink studio headphones, noticing every little sound in the distance as they went over his ears and started to fill his ears with the piercing synths of electronic dance music. He had always been musically inclined, as since birth, finding a rhythm and sticking to it near perfectly was natural for him and was of ease. However, as he got older and life started to take a higher emotional toll on him, Connor started depending more and more on music to even get through the day, to the point where he would have a nervous breakdown if there was silence for more than thirty seconds or so. He tried to explain to others that there was a reason to this he didn't want to talk about every now and then if he felt necessary, but they normally never wanted to hear it. Only Rina knew why he had the issues he did regarding silence, and was the only one who cared. Even his family couldn’t quite get their heads around Connor’s struggle with having to have sounds on constantly. As he started to walk out, Rina and Space Gramps stopped him, looking to give him some final details about getting ready for the flight––a flight he wasn’t sure how to attend without getting stopped.
“Connor, make sure you pack everything you need tonight,” Space Gramps told him. “A few changes of clothes and basic toiletries should be good for the weekend. After all, you’ll only be there for three days.”
“I’ll come kidnap you with Space Brother at about 4:00 am or something tomorrow morning, so get some sleep!” interrupted Rina. Connor let out a small laugh, as he did every time his best friend made a joke referring to crime.
“Haha, I-I’m sure you w-will,” Connor snickered with an unexplained stutter, wondering why he kept jittering with his speech before remembering that his parents were waiting for him. “Anyways, I should be heading home, because I'm pretty sure Mom’s waiting out front for me. Talk to you later!” As the bass line of the hardcore dubstep Connor was listening to pounded loudly like a heartbeat, he started striding through the halls towards the lobby, where he would exit the front doors and wait outside for his mother to arrive and pick him up each day. Outside the Academy was a grass field, separated by a sidewalk and a large area of pavement with yellow lines painted to indicate parking spots and signs planted in the ground near the spots closest to the entrance for handicap parking, which only painfully reminded Connor further that he had the shortest walk to his family's vehicle every day after school. Frost crystallized along the edges of the dried, straw-like grass, melting into dew and soaking into Connor's fancy yet worn sneakers, which annoyed him as his feet would be wet when he got home. In the distance of the empty lot sat a shiny, black Mercedes-Benz GLA, its paint slightly scratched and its windshield clear as day. Inside sat a woman of about forty with medium-length hair the same colour as Connor’s natural hair colour and an average build, wearing a silk blouse and yoga pants that looked to be from a fairly prolific company. Behind her in a wheelchair was Connor’s sister, Becky, who had short hair barely reaching to her shoulders, with a long sweater and sweatpants similar to those of Connor’s, but more purple, and cleaner. As the cold December wind chilled Connor and made him wish he’d worn a jacket over the thin dress shirt he had on, he opened the passenger door and threw both himself and his heavy backpack inside without care.
“Hey, Connie,” his mom greeted, ruffling Connor’s hair a bit as he blushed from having been called by a nickname and smiled. He always looked forward to getting home, but he didn’t always look forward to seeing his parents. “How was your day?”
“It was okay, Mom,” Connor replied, hoping he didn’t have to mention the ping-pong tournament and how he planned to run off with Rina all the way to Tehniss. He was usually quiet about what happened at school to begin with, because he believed that grades were the only important things his parents needed to know, although he usually ended up cracking to his sister anyways.
“Hi, Connie!” called out Becky rather awkwardly, as if she didn’t know how she’d sound when she said anything or what she was even saying. Connor turned around, noticing her cheerful smile and smiling back at her.
“Hey, Becky,” said Connor, making strange motions with his hands as he spoke that could’ve only been sign language. Mrs. Locke-Stepp turned on the vehicle and cautiously backed out of the parking spot, starting to drive the ten minute path towards her family’s home. It wasn’t very hard to spot, because of its size and wealthy appearance. The Locke-Stepps prided themselves on the amount of money they had saved up. “How did things go at school today?”
Not bad, Becky signed back. Our teacher told us a story about when he and his son were watching a movie, and he gave us an assignment on where we wanted to explore as a kid, but that’s really all that happened! The rest of it was all boring, and I was alone at lunch again.
Aww man, I wish I could’ve had an assignment like that! Sorry to hear you’ve still been alone at lunch, though. It can be tough to be alone all the time. Connor sighed at how relatable Becky’s loneliness was.
Thanks, Connie. It’s really hard, but I know that every day I come home and see you. That’s what makes me happy at school. Becky smiled at Connor, who smiled back.
I’ll always be there for you. Connor hadn’t realized how time had passed as he heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening. Had he really arrived home already? Mrs. Locke-Stepp parked and turned off the car, locking the Wii Wheel with a club and opening the door to get out, wheeling Becky out before Connor got out himself. He took off his shoes lazily and dragged his backpack up the stairs to the living room, dropping it by the coffee table and crashing on the couch, lying down lazily and wrapping a nearby blanket around him as he drifted to sleep.
Connor found himself being prodded awake by Becky about three hours later, who signalled to him that dinner was ready. Still groggy from his nap, he slowly got up and walked to the table, taking his seat and seeing the chicken and rice upon his plate. The Locke-Stepps had quite an impressive dining room, well reflecting their monetary status. A sleek, black dining table sat close to the left wall with four placemats marking where the family members each sat, decorated with fake flowers in a tall, violet vase. The walls were painted a lush gold, lined with fancy drywall borders, and the small chandelier nearby made everything in the general vicinity sparkle (including Mrs. Locke-Stepp’s caked-on eyeshadow), although the kitchen a mere ten steps away was a mess from having prepared such a large chicken. After watching his father take his seat and his sister wheel into her spot, Connor started to slowly pick at the food in front of him, slowly taking a bite every now and then. Being tired didn’t exactly raise his appetite, nor did the sight of his father sulking. He had come to get used to it, but he still hoped that one day he would come home in a good mood for once.
“Hey, Dad,” Connor muttered between bites. Mr. Locke-Stepp huffed as if he were stressed.
“What do you want?” he snapped. “The factory was a mess today! Damned workers couldn’t make a proper widget in three hours!” Mr. Locke-Stepp had a tendency to take out his anger on anyone who tried to even talk to him after work, as being the manager of a widget factory wasn’t the easiest thing to handle. However, he also seemed to have a short temper in general, often leading to acting out on his loved ones or walking out for multiple days at a time.
“Calm down,” scolded Mrs. Locke-Stepp, in a tone that implied she had to scold him like she had almost every time he was around. “Connie just wanted to say hello; is that the same as your co-worker asking how to make a proper widget?”
“Yes it is, because it’s people trying to talk to me!”
“Kevin, he just––”
“Why don’t you zip it?!”
“Why don’t YOU zip it?!” As Mr. and Mrs. Locke-Stepp yelled and argued, Becky turned to Connor and starting signing a message to him with sign language, of which both parents started at in confusion. Neither of them had bothered to even attempt learning the language that allowed them to communicate with their daughter, although it’d been the very first thing Connor set to achieve after that horrible, heart-breaking day… “What’s she even trying to say?!”
“I’m not sure myself, Kevin Connie, would you be so kind as to translate that for your parents?” asked Mrs. Locke-Stepp with a smile and a sharp, angry tone, although neither Connor nor Becky read it as a sincere, caring one––they instantly knew she was tense when she started speaking the way she just had. Immediately, Connor took to work on translating, motioning for Becky to repeat what she had tried to say and examining every signal. Thumbs pointing to self, a heart shape, and pointing to her parents––the self-made way to say I love you so that everyone could understand, since it was unlikely others would know sign language. It was one of the few signals she found important. A few more signals were made, Connor identified them, and he repeated it back while making the hand signals Becky had made in hopes that his parents would catch on to the translation.
“I love you,” he started, “but please relax. You stress too much and the arguing hurts.” Mr. Locke-Stepp gritted his teeth, glaring at Connor and making him feel unwelcome in his own home. The boy started to slide away and under a nearby table, as if he expected a big reaction aimed at him.
“SHUT UP! I’m outta here, because I can’t stand any of you!” he grumbled as he stomped away from the table and down to the entrance, putting on his shoes and leaving the house. His scene had caused a drink glass to fall over and break into small pieces, making a loud crash sound through the kitchen area.
“B-But he asked me to,” mumbled a disheartened Connor. He knew this happened every time––Mr. Locke-Stepp had just come back from a three-day absence after having been pushed too far about getting a new job––but there was still an agonizing grief inside him that repeatedly shattered his emotions and self-esteem every time. Wasn’t a father supposed to be there for his child whenever he could? Wasn’t a father supposed to give all his support to his family? Connor always thought that there was something his dad hated about him. Maybe he didn’t like how his head was always in his music. Maybe he was too passive and quiet. Whatever it was, it caused Connor uncertainty and sometimes self-loathing. “Mom, why’d he leave again?! I’m sick of him taking off like this whenever he’s around. I want to be able to talk to my own dad for more than five minutes in a week...”
“He’s just stressed out, Connie,” replied Mrs. Locke-Stepp, quick to defend her husband. She noticed Becky frowning and starting to silently cry, so she came over next to her and wrapped her arm around her like a hug. “You should go to your room and talk to Rina. She’s probably interested in hearing about how you’ve been today.”
“I-If she’s interested to hear about how Dad left the house again and listen to a rant on how crappy I feel, then sure, she’ll be all for it!” Connor dashed up the stairs and into his bedroom, closing the door and locking it so that if anyone in the home decided to try talking to him, they couldn’t get in. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to even Becky at the moment, and he didn’t want his family to see him crying. Pulling out his tablet from his dresser while letting out tears, he opened his favourite messenger app and found his private messages with Rina under his Favourites bar, clicking the video call button and giving one last check on his hair, making sure it wasn’t looking messy at all. He felt a strange compellence to look decent during the call, even though they’d had video calls after things like having just gotten out of bed before, and tried to stop his crying but just couldn’t manage it, continuing to sob. It’s got to be because of Dad, he convinced himself, knowing it was likely the truth. Rina picked up the call, and her smiling face appeared in the window covering most of her screen, representing what her PokéGear’s camera could capture.
“Heya, Connor!” she exclaimed, seeming to clear her desk with a wide grin on her face. “How’ve you been?”
“Crappy. Dad walked out again, like he does every time he’s here…” Connor sighed through his cracking voice. Rina noticed he appeared to be crying pretty hard and felt bad for him. She wasn’t sure what went on inside his home too well, but she knew his dad left often and that he wondered sometimes if there would be a day he left for good. She was secretly surprised it hadn’t happened yet.
“Sorry to hear that… but hey, you’ve got to pack! Get all your things together!” Rina lifted up a small backpack by her seat, unzipping it and revealing multiple changes of clothes inside, along with multiple ping pong paddles, a paddleball racket, and a bundle of cash amounting to about $2,000 in Tenfever dollars. “This is all we’ll need. I’ve got money sorted out already, so you just need to worry about getting your clothes and toiletries and all that.” Space Brother walked by in the background––a messy bedroom with walls painted with a deep space pattern; the dresser by the door open and spilling; the bed scattered with messy blankets and flat pillows; a ping pong table in the corner set up with paddles organized strangely tidy compared to the rest of the room––and came up to the screen, annoying Rina a little bit, but in a playful way.
“Hey there, Steppy!” he called out. Connor couldn’t even care about the nickname because of the mood he was in. Space Brother had always called him Steppy in reference to his last name, Locke-Stepp. In a similar fashion, he gave Becky the nickname Goldilocke, because of her golden-blonde hair and last name, which made her giggle every time. “Gettin’ ready for tomorrow morning, are you now?”
“That’s coming soon, Darrell. I just need to vent to Rina for a bit,” replied Connor. His mood seemed to be lifting ever so slightly as the timer counting the minutes in call went up, but he still stayed close to breaking down..
“Aww, what happened? Don’t tell me your––” Rina nodded at Space Brother, silently confirming his suspicions of what had happened. He looked back at her and nodded. “That sucks, Steppy. Hopefully he comes back this time.”
“If he comes back within the week I’ll be astounded. He doesn’t even care about us to call! I wonder if he even loves me or the rest of us sometimes!” Connor had snapped like his dad had and shut off his tablet to end the call, throwing it onto the bed and watching it bounce into the wall before it settled back on top of the covers. Dumping the contents of his school bag out onto the floor––an unusually messy mannerism he had when he was angry at something––and shoving some of his more casual wardrobe inside, he packed his backpack with the things he would’ve needed for the duration of his stay in Tehniss and zipped it up, noticing the time was 7:32 pm. The sun had long been set, the stars sparkling and shimmering in the pitch-black sky. The moon glowed beautifully over the row of houses along both sides of the roads, making the various colours of each roof show somewhat at that time of night. Snowflakes fell from the sky every now and then, lightly frosting the roads but yet making them very slippery for any drivers on the road. The grass turned white to reflect the season, which was still fall, but felt like winter, and Connor felt a chill brush him lightly. Feeling emotionally exhausted and realizing he needed to get a lot of sleep if he wanted to properly thrive through tomorrow’s extensive travelling, Connor went to brush his teeth and prepare himself for bed, dressing into a tank top and long pajama pants and falling dead asleep in his bed as soon as he fell asleep with soothing music playing through his earbuds. A song for every mood, he liked to think. Except the ones I’ve never felt… like love. What is it like to be in love?
Maybe I’ve already struck gold and I just don’t know it yet.
December 3, 2016 3:51 am
Locke-Stepp Residence
Leaving the window open overnight so that Rina could easily get in, Connor was suddenly awoken by his best friend pounding on the window while balancing on Space Brother’s shoulders. Surprisingly not so tired but hungry after having barely eaten his dinner, he jumped out and saw Rina standing atop her guardian’s shoulders.
“Rina, are you not scared of falling?!” he exclaimed, covering his hands to his mouth soon after realizing he’d shouted a bit loudly for 4:00 am. “You must be insane for trying to balance on Darrell’s shoulders like that!”
“Haha, don’t worry,” she mumbled drowsily, stumbling back and forth while being jerked around by Space Brother trying to keep her upright. Connor doubted Rina was sensible enough at such an early hour to make any safe decisions. “I’m compleeeeeetely fine. Nothing wrong here…”
“Y-You sure about that? Either way, let’s head out. My bedroom door is still locked as far as I can remember, so all I need to do is close the window and pull the classic sleeping decoy trick.” The two teenagers broke into laughter at the thought of pulling a cartoon trick, a small giggle from Space Brother down below. Connor grabbed his fancy winter jacket and buttoned up a random dress shirt from his drawers, slowly crawling out his bedroom window with his backpack, being extremely careful so as to avoid leaving any evidence suggesting he’d run away through his bedroom window. As Rina climbed off of Space Brother and Connor climbed on, he closed the window quietly and jumped down, letting himself fall into the soft bushes below. He’d be getting away from home. Getting away from the stress his family placed on him all the time. Getting away from the anxiety from wondering if his father would come home after walking out.
“Steppy, you alright? You seem to be a bit spaced out,” asked Space Brother, concerned.
“I’m fine,” Connor replied, getting up and noticing the vehicle parked in front of his house––a relatively large blue minivan with scuffs in the paint. Its right headlight seemed to be broken, as it had a cracked plastic cover, and Connor wondered whether the countless small dents in the sides were self-inflicted or caused by car accidents. Either way, he wasn’t sure whether Space Brother was a safe driver or not. “Darrell, is this your car?”
“Indeed it is! 2005 Chevy Equinox. Had it for a solid two years now,” Space Brother gloated proudly. “Gramps gave me his old car because I don’t exactly have the money to spend on a shiny new car. A lot of the budget’s towards our daily necessities.”
“Come on, let’s just get into the car already…” Rina stumbled blearily towards the Chevrolet, running into the door before opening it and getting into the passenger seat. Connor seated himself behind Space Brother, taking his headphones off to hear the soft purr of the engine as it revved up and got prepared to carry the trio through the hour-long trip to the airport. Connor sat back and relaxed, noticing that Rina had fallen asleep in the passenger’s seat not long after the trio had taken off, and couldn’t help but get drowsy himself.
It’s almost kinda cute when she’s fast asleep. She looks so innocent, he thought to himself, realizing where his mind was going and instantly stopped himself from going further. Was he really letting his mind go into uncharted territory with Rina, of all people? Connor felt a different type of love with Rina––the type one would share with a sibling––so why would he be thinking of their love as if they were to date? He managed to convince himself that he was thinking from a sibling’s standpoint, as it seemed more probable anyways, but he still couldn’t help but feel immensely confused… Connor kept finding himself lost in thoughts, thinking about how the trip to Tehniss would be, before the vehicle suddenly lurched to a stop. Space Brother had parked nearby the airport entrance and was trying to wake up Rina, who was still asleep and holding a sort of plush doll resembling her guardian.
“Wake up, Reeny,” he whispered softly, shaking her shoulder. “We’re here. If you don’t wake up, Steppy’s gonna blast music in your ears…” Space Brother looked towards Connor and winked, leaving him obligated to take off his headphones and place them over Rina’s ears, turning off the song as he did so to make sure Rina couldn’t hear until he was ready.
Silence.
The fear hit him like a speeding vehicle. A small ring in his ears began that gradually built up in his ears. Connor started wincing in pain, afraid of the next thing to come. He had experienced the effects silence had on him before and knew what was soon to come would be horrible. Space Brother noticed and thankfully broke the spell, getting in the back door and coming up to Connor’s face while placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Steppy, you alright?” he asked, concerned. Connor’s eyes widened and the ringing seemed to shatter, much to his relief.
“Y-You know what happened… don’t you? I’m fine now, thanks to you.” Connor exhaled and placed his own hand on Space Brother’s shoulder, and the two smiled at each other with a sort of mutual happiness.
“I know exactly what you’re talking about,” he answered. “Glad to hear you’re doing fine now. Try humming to yourself if you don’t have any music on you. At the very least, you’ll have something in the background.” Space Brother proceeded to lightly hum a soothing song as Connor played the music from his phone, rudely awakening Rina with a jolt.
“AAH!” she screamed, turning behind her and realizing it was Connor who had awakened her, huffing. “Connor, how many times have I asked you not to do that? I can wake up on my own!”
“But if you didn’t wake up, we would miss the flight!” Connor took the headphones off of Rina’s ears and put them back around his neck, allowing the music to continue playing. He nodded his thanks to Space Brother, who nodded back and made a thumbs-up, and got out of the car as Rina stumbled out, falling onto the concrete at first but soon regaining her composure. The area outside the airport was one Connor knew well, and yet one Rina had vague memories of. The sky was a deep, dark mahogany colour, with transparent mauve-tinged clouds floating across in the sky. The ground was paved with smooth concrete like the kind one would find in a parkade, with patches of grass growing sporadically on the side, with the remaining space covered with gravel. Up the stone stairs twenty feet from the trio laid the entrance to the departures area of the Onett International Airport, a giant glass building filled with anxious travellers and giant screens showing flight schedules and signs for various stores inside, like convenience stores and whatnot. Connor led his two friends inside the building, looking at the jumbotron to find out what gate their flight would board at and took to the halls without even having to follow the signs. His dance troupe had been so many places in Nintendopolis during the four years he had lived in Onett that he knew every twist and turn by heart. To him, the airport was like a second home; hotels like visiting an old friend’s house.
“It's about 5:30 am right now, so maybe we could stop to eat before the flight,” suggested Space Brother, stopping the two teenagers and pointing towards the nearby island of fast food restaurants lined up like they would be in a food court. “Which one do you wanna go to? The bill’s on me.”
“Let’s see what there is and then decide. We’ve got a bit of time, anyways.”
“Connor, make sure you pack everything you need tonight,” Space Gramps told him. “A few changes of clothes and basic toiletries should be good for the weekend. After all, you’ll only be there for three days.”
“I’ll come kidnap you with Space Brother at about 4:00 am or something tomorrow morning, so get some sleep!” interrupted Rina. Connor let out a small laugh, as he did every time his best friend made a joke referring to crime.
“Haha, I-I’m sure you w-will,” Connor snickered with an unexplained stutter, wondering why he kept jittering with his speech before remembering that his parents were waiting for him. “Anyways, I should be heading home, because I'm pretty sure Mom’s waiting out front for me. Talk to you later!” As the bass line of the hardcore dubstep Connor was listening to pounded loudly like a heartbeat, he started striding through the halls towards the lobby, where he would exit the front doors and wait outside for his mother to arrive and pick him up each day. Outside the Academy was a grass field, separated by a sidewalk and a large area of pavement with yellow lines painted to indicate parking spots and signs planted in the ground near the spots closest to the entrance for handicap parking, which only painfully reminded Connor further that he had the shortest walk to his family's vehicle every day after school. Frost crystallized along the edges of the dried, straw-like grass, melting into dew and soaking into Connor's fancy yet worn sneakers, which annoyed him as his feet would be wet when he got home. In the distance of the empty lot sat a shiny, black Mercedes-Benz GLA, its paint slightly scratched and its windshield clear as day. Inside sat a woman of about forty with medium-length hair the same colour as Connor’s natural hair colour and an average build, wearing a silk blouse and yoga pants that looked to be from a fairly prolific company. Behind her in a wheelchair was Connor’s sister, Becky, who had short hair barely reaching to her shoulders, with a long sweater and sweatpants similar to those of Connor’s, but more purple, and cleaner. As the cold December wind chilled Connor and made him wish he’d worn a jacket over the thin dress shirt he had on, he opened the passenger door and threw both himself and his heavy backpack inside without care.
“Hey, Connie,” his mom greeted, ruffling Connor’s hair a bit as he blushed from having been called by a nickname and smiled. He always looked forward to getting home, but he didn’t always look forward to seeing his parents. “How was your day?”
“It was okay, Mom,” Connor replied, hoping he didn’t have to mention the ping-pong tournament and how he planned to run off with Rina all the way to Tehniss. He was usually quiet about what happened at school to begin with, because he believed that grades were the only important things his parents needed to know, although he usually ended up cracking to his sister anyways.
“Hi, Connie!” called out Becky rather awkwardly, as if she didn’t know how she’d sound when she said anything or what she was even saying. Connor turned around, noticing her cheerful smile and smiling back at her.
“Hey, Becky,” said Connor, making strange motions with his hands as he spoke that could’ve only been sign language. Mrs. Locke-Stepp turned on the vehicle and cautiously backed out of the parking spot, starting to drive the ten minute path towards her family’s home. It wasn’t very hard to spot, because of its size and wealthy appearance. The Locke-Stepps prided themselves on the amount of money they had saved up. “How did things go at school today?”
Not bad, Becky signed back. Our teacher told us a story about when he and his son were watching a movie, and he gave us an assignment on where we wanted to explore as a kid, but that’s really all that happened! The rest of it was all boring, and I was alone at lunch again.
Aww man, I wish I could’ve had an assignment like that! Sorry to hear you’ve still been alone at lunch, though. It can be tough to be alone all the time. Connor sighed at how relatable Becky’s loneliness was.
Thanks, Connie. It’s really hard, but I know that every day I come home and see you. That’s what makes me happy at school. Becky smiled at Connor, who smiled back.
I’ll always be there for you. Connor hadn’t realized how time had passed as he heard the familiar sound of the garage door opening. Had he really arrived home already? Mrs. Locke-Stepp parked and turned off the car, locking the Wii Wheel with a club and opening the door to get out, wheeling Becky out before Connor got out himself. He took off his shoes lazily and dragged his backpack up the stairs to the living room, dropping it by the coffee table and crashing on the couch, lying down lazily and wrapping a nearby blanket around him as he drifted to sleep.
Connor found himself being prodded awake by Becky about three hours later, who signalled to him that dinner was ready. Still groggy from his nap, he slowly got up and walked to the table, taking his seat and seeing the chicken and rice upon his plate. The Locke-Stepps had quite an impressive dining room, well reflecting their monetary status. A sleek, black dining table sat close to the left wall with four placemats marking where the family members each sat, decorated with fake flowers in a tall, violet vase. The walls were painted a lush gold, lined with fancy drywall borders, and the small chandelier nearby made everything in the general vicinity sparkle (including Mrs. Locke-Stepp’s caked-on eyeshadow), although the kitchen a mere ten steps away was a mess from having prepared such a large chicken. After watching his father take his seat and his sister wheel into her spot, Connor started to slowly pick at the food in front of him, slowly taking a bite every now and then. Being tired didn’t exactly raise his appetite, nor did the sight of his father sulking. He had come to get used to it, but he still hoped that one day he would come home in a good mood for once.
“Hey, Dad,” Connor muttered between bites. Mr. Locke-Stepp huffed as if he were stressed.
“What do you want?” he snapped. “The factory was a mess today! Damned workers couldn’t make a proper widget in three hours!” Mr. Locke-Stepp had a tendency to take out his anger on anyone who tried to even talk to him after work, as being the manager of a widget factory wasn’t the easiest thing to handle. However, he also seemed to have a short temper in general, often leading to acting out on his loved ones or walking out for multiple days at a time.
“Calm down,” scolded Mrs. Locke-Stepp, in a tone that implied she had to scold him like she had almost every time he was around. “Connie just wanted to say hello; is that the same as your co-worker asking how to make a proper widget?”
“Yes it is, because it’s people trying to talk to me!”
“Kevin, he just––”
“Why don’t you zip it?!”
“Why don’t YOU zip it?!” As Mr. and Mrs. Locke-Stepp yelled and argued, Becky turned to Connor and starting signing a message to him with sign language, of which both parents started at in confusion. Neither of them had bothered to even attempt learning the language that allowed them to communicate with their daughter, although it’d been the very first thing Connor set to achieve after that horrible, heart-breaking day… “What’s she even trying to say?!”
“I’m not sure myself, Kevin Connie, would you be so kind as to translate that for your parents?” asked Mrs. Locke-Stepp with a smile and a sharp, angry tone, although neither Connor nor Becky read it as a sincere, caring one––they instantly knew she was tense when she started speaking the way she just had. Immediately, Connor took to work on translating, motioning for Becky to repeat what she had tried to say and examining every signal. Thumbs pointing to self, a heart shape, and pointing to her parents––the self-made way to say I love you so that everyone could understand, since it was unlikely others would know sign language. It was one of the few signals she found important. A few more signals were made, Connor identified them, and he repeated it back while making the hand signals Becky had made in hopes that his parents would catch on to the translation.
“I love you,” he started, “but please relax. You stress too much and the arguing hurts.” Mr. Locke-Stepp gritted his teeth, glaring at Connor and making him feel unwelcome in his own home. The boy started to slide away and under a nearby table, as if he expected a big reaction aimed at him.
“SHUT UP! I’m outta here, because I can’t stand any of you!” he grumbled as he stomped away from the table and down to the entrance, putting on his shoes and leaving the house. His scene had caused a drink glass to fall over and break into small pieces, making a loud crash sound through the kitchen area.
“B-But he asked me to,” mumbled a disheartened Connor. He knew this happened every time––Mr. Locke-Stepp had just come back from a three-day absence after having been pushed too far about getting a new job––but there was still an agonizing grief inside him that repeatedly shattered his emotions and self-esteem every time. Wasn’t a father supposed to be there for his child whenever he could? Wasn’t a father supposed to give all his support to his family? Connor always thought that there was something his dad hated about him. Maybe he didn’t like how his head was always in his music. Maybe he was too passive and quiet. Whatever it was, it caused Connor uncertainty and sometimes self-loathing. “Mom, why’d he leave again?! I’m sick of him taking off like this whenever he’s around. I want to be able to talk to my own dad for more than five minutes in a week...”
“He’s just stressed out, Connie,” replied Mrs. Locke-Stepp, quick to defend her husband. She noticed Becky frowning and starting to silently cry, so she came over next to her and wrapped her arm around her like a hug. “You should go to your room and talk to Rina. She’s probably interested in hearing about how you’ve been today.”
“I-If she’s interested to hear about how Dad left the house again and listen to a rant on how crappy I feel, then sure, she’ll be all for it!” Connor dashed up the stairs and into his bedroom, closing the door and locking it so that if anyone in the home decided to try talking to him, they couldn’t get in. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to even Becky at the moment, and he didn’t want his family to see him crying. Pulling out his tablet from his dresser while letting out tears, he opened his favourite messenger app and found his private messages with Rina under his Favourites bar, clicking the video call button and giving one last check on his hair, making sure it wasn’t looking messy at all. He felt a strange compellence to look decent during the call, even though they’d had video calls after things like having just gotten out of bed before, and tried to stop his crying but just couldn’t manage it, continuing to sob. It’s got to be because of Dad, he convinced himself, knowing it was likely the truth. Rina picked up the call, and her smiling face appeared in the window covering most of her screen, representing what her PokéGear’s camera could capture.
“Heya, Connor!” she exclaimed, seeming to clear her desk with a wide grin on her face. “How’ve you been?”
“Crappy. Dad walked out again, like he does every time he’s here…” Connor sighed through his cracking voice. Rina noticed he appeared to be crying pretty hard and felt bad for him. She wasn’t sure what went on inside his home too well, but she knew his dad left often and that he wondered sometimes if there would be a day he left for good. She was secretly surprised it hadn’t happened yet.
“Sorry to hear that… but hey, you’ve got to pack! Get all your things together!” Rina lifted up a small backpack by her seat, unzipping it and revealing multiple changes of clothes inside, along with multiple ping pong paddles, a paddleball racket, and a bundle of cash amounting to about $2,000 in Tenfever dollars. “This is all we’ll need. I’ve got money sorted out already, so you just need to worry about getting your clothes and toiletries and all that.” Space Brother walked by in the background––a messy bedroom with walls painted with a deep space pattern; the dresser by the door open and spilling; the bed scattered with messy blankets and flat pillows; a ping pong table in the corner set up with paddles organized strangely tidy compared to the rest of the room––and came up to the screen, annoying Rina a little bit, but in a playful way.
“Hey there, Steppy!” he called out. Connor couldn’t even care about the nickname because of the mood he was in. Space Brother had always called him Steppy in reference to his last name, Locke-Stepp. In a similar fashion, he gave Becky the nickname Goldilocke, because of her golden-blonde hair and last name, which made her giggle every time. “Gettin’ ready for tomorrow morning, are you now?”
“That’s coming soon, Darrell. I just need to vent to Rina for a bit,” replied Connor. His mood seemed to be lifting ever so slightly as the timer counting the minutes in call went up, but he still stayed close to breaking down..
“Aww, what happened? Don’t tell me your––” Rina nodded at Space Brother, silently confirming his suspicions of what had happened. He looked back at her and nodded. “That sucks, Steppy. Hopefully he comes back this time.”
“If he comes back within the week I’ll be astounded. He doesn’t even care about us to call! I wonder if he even loves me or the rest of us sometimes!” Connor had snapped like his dad had and shut off his tablet to end the call, throwing it onto the bed and watching it bounce into the wall before it settled back on top of the covers. Dumping the contents of his school bag out onto the floor––an unusually messy mannerism he had when he was angry at something––and shoving some of his more casual wardrobe inside, he packed his backpack with the things he would’ve needed for the duration of his stay in Tehniss and zipped it up, noticing the time was 7:32 pm. The sun had long been set, the stars sparkling and shimmering in the pitch-black sky. The moon glowed beautifully over the row of houses along both sides of the roads, making the various colours of each roof show somewhat at that time of night. Snowflakes fell from the sky every now and then, lightly frosting the roads but yet making them very slippery for any drivers on the road. The grass turned white to reflect the season, which was still fall, but felt like winter, and Connor felt a chill brush him lightly. Feeling emotionally exhausted and realizing he needed to get a lot of sleep if he wanted to properly thrive through tomorrow’s extensive travelling, Connor went to brush his teeth and prepare himself for bed, dressing into a tank top and long pajama pants and falling dead asleep in his bed as soon as he fell asleep with soothing music playing through his earbuds. A song for every mood, he liked to think. Except the ones I’ve never felt… like love. What is it like to be in love?
Maybe I’ve already struck gold and I just don’t know it yet.
December 3, 2016 3:51 am
Locke-Stepp Residence
Leaving the window open overnight so that Rina could easily get in, Connor was suddenly awoken by his best friend pounding on the window while balancing on Space Brother’s shoulders. Surprisingly not so tired but hungry after having barely eaten his dinner, he jumped out and saw Rina standing atop her guardian’s shoulders.
“Rina, are you not scared of falling?!” he exclaimed, covering his hands to his mouth soon after realizing he’d shouted a bit loudly for 4:00 am. “You must be insane for trying to balance on Darrell’s shoulders like that!”
“Haha, don’t worry,” she mumbled drowsily, stumbling back and forth while being jerked around by Space Brother trying to keep her upright. Connor doubted Rina was sensible enough at such an early hour to make any safe decisions. “I’m compleeeeeetely fine. Nothing wrong here…”
“Y-You sure about that? Either way, let’s head out. My bedroom door is still locked as far as I can remember, so all I need to do is close the window and pull the classic sleeping decoy trick.” The two teenagers broke into laughter at the thought of pulling a cartoon trick, a small giggle from Space Brother down below. Connor grabbed his fancy winter jacket and buttoned up a random dress shirt from his drawers, slowly crawling out his bedroom window with his backpack, being extremely careful so as to avoid leaving any evidence suggesting he’d run away through his bedroom window. As Rina climbed off of Space Brother and Connor climbed on, he closed the window quietly and jumped down, letting himself fall into the soft bushes below. He’d be getting away from home. Getting away from the stress his family placed on him all the time. Getting away from the anxiety from wondering if his father would come home after walking out.
“Steppy, you alright? You seem to be a bit spaced out,” asked Space Brother, concerned.
“I’m fine,” Connor replied, getting up and noticing the vehicle parked in front of his house––a relatively large blue minivan with scuffs in the paint. Its right headlight seemed to be broken, as it had a cracked plastic cover, and Connor wondered whether the countless small dents in the sides were self-inflicted or caused by car accidents. Either way, he wasn’t sure whether Space Brother was a safe driver or not. “Darrell, is this your car?”
“Indeed it is! 2005 Chevy Equinox. Had it for a solid two years now,” Space Brother gloated proudly. “Gramps gave me his old car because I don’t exactly have the money to spend on a shiny new car. A lot of the budget’s towards our daily necessities.”
“Come on, let’s just get into the car already…” Rina stumbled blearily towards the Chevrolet, running into the door before opening it and getting into the passenger seat. Connor seated himself behind Space Brother, taking his headphones off to hear the soft purr of the engine as it revved up and got prepared to carry the trio through the hour-long trip to the airport. Connor sat back and relaxed, noticing that Rina had fallen asleep in the passenger’s seat not long after the trio had taken off, and couldn’t help but get drowsy himself.
It’s almost kinda cute when she’s fast asleep. She looks so innocent, he thought to himself, realizing where his mind was going and instantly stopped himself from going further. Was he really letting his mind go into uncharted territory with Rina, of all people? Connor felt a different type of love with Rina––the type one would share with a sibling––so why would he be thinking of their love as if they were to date? He managed to convince himself that he was thinking from a sibling’s standpoint, as it seemed more probable anyways, but he still couldn’t help but feel immensely confused… Connor kept finding himself lost in thoughts, thinking about how the trip to Tehniss would be, before the vehicle suddenly lurched to a stop. Space Brother had parked nearby the airport entrance and was trying to wake up Rina, who was still asleep and holding a sort of plush doll resembling her guardian.
“Wake up, Reeny,” he whispered softly, shaking her shoulder. “We’re here. If you don’t wake up, Steppy’s gonna blast music in your ears…” Space Brother looked towards Connor and winked, leaving him obligated to take off his headphones and place them over Rina’s ears, turning off the song as he did so to make sure Rina couldn’t hear until he was ready.
Silence.
The fear hit him like a speeding vehicle. A small ring in his ears began that gradually built up in his ears. Connor started wincing in pain, afraid of the next thing to come. He had experienced the effects silence had on him before and knew what was soon to come would be horrible. Space Brother noticed and thankfully broke the spell, getting in the back door and coming up to Connor’s face while placing a hand on his shoulder.
“Steppy, you alright?” he asked, concerned. Connor’s eyes widened and the ringing seemed to shatter, much to his relief.
“Y-You know what happened… don’t you? I’m fine now, thanks to you.” Connor exhaled and placed his own hand on Space Brother’s shoulder, and the two smiled at each other with a sort of mutual happiness.
“I know exactly what you’re talking about,” he answered. “Glad to hear you’re doing fine now. Try humming to yourself if you don’t have any music on you. At the very least, you’ll have something in the background.” Space Brother proceeded to lightly hum a soothing song as Connor played the music from his phone, rudely awakening Rina with a jolt.
“AAH!” she screamed, turning behind her and realizing it was Connor who had awakened her, huffing. “Connor, how many times have I asked you not to do that? I can wake up on my own!”
“But if you didn’t wake up, we would miss the flight!” Connor took the headphones off of Rina’s ears and put them back around his neck, allowing the music to continue playing. He nodded his thanks to Space Brother, who nodded back and made a thumbs-up, and got out of the car as Rina stumbled out, falling onto the concrete at first but soon regaining her composure. The area outside the airport was one Connor knew well, and yet one Rina had vague memories of. The sky was a deep, dark mahogany colour, with transparent mauve-tinged clouds floating across in the sky. The ground was paved with smooth concrete like the kind one would find in a parkade, with patches of grass growing sporadically on the side, with the remaining space covered with gravel. Up the stone stairs twenty feet from the trio laid the entrance to the departures area of the Onett International Airport, a giant glass building filled with anxious travellers and giant screens showing flight schedules and signs for various stores inside, like convenience stores and whatnot. Connor led his two friends inside the building, looking at the jumbotron to find out what gate their flight would board at and took to the halls without even having to follow the signs. His dance troupe had been so many places in Nintendopolis during the four years he had lived in Onett that he knew every twist and turn by heart. To him, the airport was like a second home; hotels like visiting an old friend’s house.
“It's about 5:30 am right now, so maybe we could stop to eat before the flight,” suggested Space Brother, stopping the two teenagers and pointing towards the nearby island of fast food restaurants lined up like they would be in a food court. “Which one do you wanna go to? The bill’s on me.”
“Let’s see what there is and then decide. We’ve got a bit of time, anyways.”
Rina gasped and took in every sight around her with awe, dizzy from a lack of sleep but yet able to fully appreciate everything in her current environment. She had never been in the Onett airport since she was eight, when her life felt like a giant, messy blur of unclear memories, and was only now getting to see its grandeur. The glass structure allowed Rina to see out into the takeoff area––a humongous patch of land paved with countless pathways for airplanes to take off on runways, with a few jets scattered by the gate entrances––and the moon sparkled as it slowly started to set in the horizon, although she knew it wasn’t going to be fully gone until at least seven in the morning.
“Ooh, I could go for some nice Poffins right now!” Rina chimed, starting to make her way towards a restaurant called The Poffin Palace and motioning for Space Brother and Connor to follow.
“Poffins? Sure. I’ve never tried them before, so I wonder what they’ll be like,” Connor remarked in agreement, seeming to stare off thinking about all the different types of ways he could have the cookies prepared. Deep-fried, baked, maybe even grilled… Rina couldn't help but wonder how many different styles he was coming up with, before thinking about how she would have preferred her Poffins. As the trio got up to the counter and ordered their meals, Space Brother winced as he pulled out his debit card from his wallet and put it into the card machine by the cash register, punching in his PIN and waiting for the money to be drained with the purchase so he could get on with using his credit card or the funds Rina had brought along already. It wasn't long after they had reserved a table before the number on their receipt was called, and Connor went to grab the food as Rina and her guardian sat alone for a moment.
“Are you excited for the trip, Brother?” asked Rina, grinning at the mere thought of winning a table tennis tournament the world would have their eyes on. She had been waiting so long for the opportunity to even attend such a tournament, as the high school division of ping-pong players––the youngest division––started in grade nine, whereas high school in Onett started in grade eight.
“Of course, Reenie! I was organizing the flight and hotel with Gramps for months!” Space Brother replied back, his already rosy cheeks turning even redder with glee and making his sickly pale skin look even more transparent, before coughing heavily for fifteen seconds.
Rina sometimes wondered if he was ill, and while she was normally pretty sure he wasn’t, she would notice him break into coughing fits every now and then and she worried for his health, as he was prone to sickness. If he fell ill, he would be more at risk for long-term illnesses; he was born rather frail. Space Brother’s eyes seemed to narrow in fatigue, leaning his head on his hands and stooping over half the table. Being as tall as he was, it wasn’t hard to take up more space than desired.
“You must be pretty tired,” Rina pointed out.
“And like you weren’t? You passed out the moment you got in the car and bumped your head against the door before you even got in!”
“Hey, I was up late last night for a good reason! I was training!” Connor returned with the food, carrying the meals on a tray and setting it down as he took his seat at the circular table, nearly drooling at the sight of such an exquisite dish.
“My Arceus, does this food look good,” he stated before grabbing his portion and digging in. “I’ll bet I can finish this before you guys even start. You guys are slower than Slowpoke when it comes to eating!”
“Connor, would you slow down?!” Rina exclaimed, noticing Connor had started shovelling the Poffins in his mouth and stopping his breathing, his lightheadedness becoming obvious in his actions as she watched him eat.
“I will,” he sputtered out before swallowing and gasping for air, regaining his breath and continuing to devour before realizing he hadn’t been breathing, finishing his food and instantly passing out for about fifteen seconds.
“Steppy, don’t your parents ever tell you that you’re putting yourself in danger by doing that?” Space Brother asked with concern, happily munching away at the Poffins on his plate with a fork and knife. Rina was about halfway finished her meal, trailing just slightly behind her guardian.
“H-Huh? R-R-Repeat that again…” Connor stuttered, awakening from his unconsciousness.
“Don’t your parents ever tell you that you’re putting yourself in danger by doing that?” Space Brother repeated.
“They d-do,” Connor answered, dazed. “Or at least, they used to. I don’t think they really care anymore… except Becky. She seems to be the only one in my family who cares about anything regarding me these days.”
“It’ll be okay, Connor. We’re here for you and if you ever need to get away for a few days, we’d be more than happy to have you! Right, Brother?” Rina turned to Space Brother expectantly, who wasn’t sure with how to respond, as he had been put on the spot.
“Of course. We’ll just have a lot of cleaning to do,” Space Brother replied while glaring at Rina knowingly. She got the message and started packing up her things, finishing her breakfast, putting her backpack on, and getting ready to go towards the gate.
“It's about 6:20 right now. We should get to our flight,” Rina insisted.
“Probably for the best,” Connor agreed, grabbing Rina by the wrist and dragging her along in the wide, vast halls while Space Brother followed, unsteady in his steps. As Rina boarded the plane and took her seat in the middle of the row next to her friends, a memory came flickering back to her in her mind, although still a blur.
Rain poured miserably and uncontrollably, storming onto the concrete of the runway with a loud patter. The zooming whir sounds of a jet plane repeated over and over in Rina's head, echoing with every play. A sense of urgency filled her eight-year old mind… but she didn't know why. However, she knew something wasn’t right.
“Rina Ping! Don't look back!” called a short man in yellow, pushing her through giant crowds of people over the mystifying green carpet and pitch-black sky. Rina could see it all too well from the glassy walls. “You have no time!”
The memory faded from her mind. Rina started to shudder, becoming unexplainably fearful. She couldn't quite place why, but she had a gut feeling it had been caused by the memory that had unexpectedly resurfaced. She couldn’t even figure out why that memory had arisen so unexpectedly.
“You alright, Reenie?” Space Brother asked, his face scrunching with worry. He adjusted his bowtie and moved around the box on his head, taking the box off Rina’s head and running his fingers through her hair quickly before putting it back on.
“Yeah,” Rina forced out, drowsy. “I’ll be fine. I think.” She fell asleep once again, feeling soothed as she took off from the ground.
December 3, 2016 1:40 pm
Tehniss International Airport
The flight had only been three hours long, but to Rina, it felt like seven––partially because of the timezone change, which would have made it seven hours should it have been the same time back home in Onett. Exhausted but yet well-rested at the same time, Rina pulled herself from her seat and followed Connor’s lead out the airplane and towards the arrivals wing, feeling the same sense of urgency in her memory as she did now and wondering what was causing the stress. Did being around flights give her anxiety? Was it the notion of being thousands of feet in the air travelling at high speed?
“I-I’ve been here before. We’re supposed to go down this escalator, go straight for a while and then turn right, and then we’ll be at the taxi boarding station,” Connor explained, pointing to the escalator he and Rina stood on and then forwards into the distance.
“Why do you always stutter when you’re with me?” Rina blurted out without a care of how it made Connor feel.
“I don’t know,” he squeaked in response, his face turning pink yet again. Space Brother chuckled at how embarrassed he was. He liked to tease Rina about Connor, often referring to them as a couple to her face when she was home alone with him, usually resulting in some sort of paddle-throwing or a ping-pong ball to the face. He had become used to it after a while, but still scolded Rina nonetheless.
“Don't be embarrassed, Connor!” Rina giggled, ironically hugging Connor and making him burn up to the point where he became light-headed and fell into Rina’s arms. She turned to Space Brother, who watched contently. “Uhh, was that supposed to happen?”
“Only if you're supposed to kiss him awake,” Space Brother replied teasingly. This time, it was Rina who turned a bright pink, becoming agitated and cursing at her guardian. Space Brother couldn't help but laugh at how she reacted, despite the rather harsh words being used against him. “Hey hey hey! I told you you can't use those words! Do you even know what they mean?” he scolded. Connor awoke confused, being carried by a blushing Rina as he noticed she and Space Brother arguing.
“W-What…? What were you saying?” he asked, dazed.
“Just teasing Reenie a bit, Steppy,” Space Brother replied. “Nothing of importance.”
“Good…” sighed Rina, which was what Connor was about to say, though he was beaten to the punch and decided to keep quiet. Finding the way through the airport and taking a taxi to the exquisite Hotel Krafito, Rina and her companions went to their hotel room after a quick fifteen minutes at the front desk waiting to get room keys and number. Upon entering, Rina was amazed by what she saw in the room. The space was wide-open, covered with a lush red carpet of which its fluffiness drove her to fall to the ground and let her senses be rushed by the cotton. Two beds sat next to each other against the wall and around the corner from the door, separated by a small wooden dresser with a digital clock set on top, and there were not one, but two fairly big windows and a balcony allowing a spectacular view of Tehniss and its consistently space-like sky. The sun didn’t seem to exist in the city, but yet in the daytime, an abundance of light shone down through the starry void. The curtains had an intricate pattern and were tucked neatly aside as to let the light shine through into the hotel room, and across from the beds in the corner was a flat-screen TV of about thirty-two inches. To the left of the beds along the wall were a bigger dresser with another TV, and a ping-pong table, complete with four paddles and a case of balls for doubles matches. Even Connor was impressed with the room, and having been to many fancy hotels before as part of his dance competitions, not much could surprise him in way of how nice a place looked.
Gramps must’ve gone all-out with this, thought Rina. He really didn’t have to do this for me, but yet he did anyways…
“So how ‘bout some ping pong?” Space Brother chimed, picking up a paddle and twirling it in his hands.
“M-Maybe we should go down to the lobby. I’m pretty sure they have some tables down there,” Connor suggested, nervously wrapping an arm around Rina in a friendly way. “We’ll probably get to meet some of Rina’s opponents too, since they’ll probably be thinking the same thing we are. My team and I do it all the time for dancing competitions.”
“That sounds like a great idea, Connor!” Rina exclaimed, grabbing her paddle from her backpack and rushing out the door, almost forgetting to grab a room key. Upon coming down to the lobby through an elevator that Rina hadn’t paid any attention to in excitement, it was only then that she had been able to see the beauty of the area––a grand place with a fountain obscuring a cafe and ping pong setups, with golden pillars and yellow walls that for some reason reminded Rina of macaroni and cheese––taking it in with awe like she had at the airport and instantly running towards the tables in the back to play ping pong. To her surprise, Rina stumbled along four players having a quick doubles match. The first was a boy about Rina’s age who would have towered over even Samuel, with long, blonde hair that was held in a loose ponytail and went down to about his waist. He wore a green long-sleeve shirt and sweatpants, and his paddle appeared to be custom-made, as it was patterned to look like a trout, complete with a custom handle. Rina figured he would’ve made the other half also shaped like a trout if those specific types of custom paddles weren’t banned from sanctioned tournaments.
The second player was a boy about a year older who had short blonde hair covering his right eye and going down just past his shoulders in the back, with a red t-shirt, grey sweatpants, and worn-out crocs on. He was a little shorter than the first boy (of whom Rina insisted on calling Trout Man) and had a much more normal paddle, the plastic cover instead embedded with a picture of a strange yellow Pokémon Rina believed to be called Pichu.
The third player was another boy about a year older than the first, with black hair that went down to just above his shoulder blades. He had glasses with lenses that looked almost square to complement his grey sweater and black jeans, and was only slightly taller than the second boy. His paddle seemed to be patterned with a red circle that encased a Japanese furigana symbol, of which the character could be swapped out and replaced with one of four other symbols, each purple, green, yellow, and red with a missing spot in the case for the blue symbol currently on the paddle.
The last player was a female about Rina's age, with long brown hair that was braided in the back and went down most of her back. She had glasses with rectangular lenses and wore a pink long-sleeve shirt with grey pants that looked like athletic pants, and she had a pair of wireless headphones on that Connor couldn't get his eyes off of. She was the shortest of the group, only a few inches behind the second player, and her paddle had a deep space-like and rainbow pattern that resembled the sky of Tehniss.
“Are you guys here for the Worlds tournament too?” Rina asked, feeling nervous as the quartet turned towards her. The anxiousness was in vain, however, as the strangers smiled at her and welcomed her in.
“Indeed we are! What's your name?” the girl asked, extending her hand to Rina. “By the way, I'm Jane, and these are my friends, Alex, Carresian, and Matthew. Nice to meet you!”
“I'm Rina, and this is Connor,” Rina replied, shaking Jane's hand and forcing Connor's hand into that of the player. He appeared to be panicky about making contact with a female, which didn't surprise Rina in the slightest. He was nervous around even her at times, which she tried her best to understand, but Rina couldn't think of anything. Her mind could only jump to one conclusion… and she had regrets even thinking about it.
“N-N-Nice to meet you!” he stuttered, smiling. “You’ve got some nice headphones there.”
“Uhh, thanks! You’ve got some pretty good ones there…” Jane and Connor went off to talk about their headphones and presumably their music, too, as the other three were talking to themselves.
“I wonder how well she plays,” Alex said, wondering about Rina. “I'm kinda interested in seeing her skills.”
“Hi kinda interested in seeing her skills!” Carresian exclaimed with a wide grin. Matthew pulled a trout from his bag and slapped Carresian with it. “Ow! That wasn't nice, Matthew!” Alex broke out laughing.
“A slap for every time you do it,” Matthew insisted.
“You can't escape it!” Carresian declared.
“You guys…” Alex laughed. “Wow, Carresian. Let's just go play some ping pong.”
“Alright, sure,” Carresian replied in approval as the group walked over to an empty setup. Jane seemed to be finishing her conversation with Connor, slipping her headphones on and joining her group of friends.
“That was a nice conversation. I didn't think anyone else cared about music as much as I do,” Connor told Rina, bobbing his head to whatever beat played.
“That just goes to show that you're not the only one who loves the things you love,” Rina replied. “Say, how about a quick match?”
“Sure! Just take your spot and I'm ready to go!”
“I think I'll watch you guys,” Space Brother said contently. “Gives me time to relax after the flight, too.”
“Sure thing! Get a paddle ready and let's go!” The two took their spots at the nearby table and began a rally that broke off every now and then.
“Good luck!” As Rina continued to play with Connor and build up an extensive, breakneck rally, she felt an ominous presence approach her, but from where, she didn't know… until it knocked Connor away from the table with a strong push, sending him into the table by a golden pillar and then into the floor. Rina shuddered.
“Fancy seeing you here, Butterfingers,” Samuel said while taking Connor’s spot, his flirty tone unsettling Rina once again. “Did you grandpa give you a free pass in out of pity?”
“Shut up! I got a stipend from coming second, don't you remember?” Rina shouted in response, flustered.
“Pfft. I couldn’t have been bothered to care about that. Who else even cares about second place anyways? It only means you lost,” Samuel argued.
“I-I do,” Connor answered from his place on the floor whilst clutching his leg in pain, hoping to stop the fight from escalating. Both Rina and Samuel looked at him with surprise.
“Of course you would,” Samuel sputtered. Rina caught the slightest glimpse of him blushing and figured Connor had inadvertently destroyed the boy's ego slightly. However, she couldn't see through his mind to see the real reason to why he started to become embarrassed. “He’s your boyfriend, isn't he? Those types of people are the only ones to care. They’re head over heels for the one they love and blow everything out of proportion in a disgustingly positive way.”
“Not necessarily.” Rina winked at Samuel, in the same cocky manner that he would use around her. Connor looked nervous, not sure how she would react to the remark, but to his relief, she seemed to forget. “Say, how 'bout some ping pong?”
“That was my line though!” Space Brother shouted, playfully disgruntled.
“Well… I guess I wouldn't mind destroying you before tomorrow. Any sort of practice I can get,” Samuel replied with a hint of hesitance, as if afraid of getting in trouble. He pulled out his paddle from his packing and grabbed one of the community balls, serving it towards Rina, and the two engaged in a tense rally. Perhaps it was because of the lack of Space Sister's presence that helped Rina focus on the match more, or maybe it was the fact that it was a friendly match (even though she considered it anything but friendly), but she was able to keep up with Samuel this time, even if it was only a small improvement.
“So where are you from?” Rina asked, trying to create small talk but being careful not to lose focus.
“Somewhere around here. I forget where,” Samuel replied.
“You mean you've forgotten your hometown? How do you even manage to do that?”
“Honey, I've been all over the place since I was born. Some tell me I came to be over in Mushroom Kingdom, some tell me it was in Hoenn, and one person told me it was in Edict, but I think it was here in Tenfever.”
“So it's been a mystery. Just like how you took that last point yesterday in the finals.”
“And you question that match why?” Samuel kept classy, but Rina sensed worry in him. She figured he knew what she was referencing.
“You should know.” As the two conversed, Rina swung slightly early and hit the ball out, grunting in disappointment. “Shoot, I dropped it. Your point.”
“Didn't I say I would destroy you? I'm not usually wrong, honey,” Samuel stated.
“I at least kept it going for longer! Also, can you please stop calling me that?!” Rina replied, irritated.
“It's my style of speech. Every girl I come along, that's what I call them.” Samuel picked up another ball and served it, Rina hitting it back with precision.
“What do you call men, then? You’ve probably got a designated nickname for them, too,” Rina asked. She wanted to kick herself for even daring to converse with someone who not only treated her like trash in their first match, but also had cheated to win. It was nonsense to even be showing respect to him. She burned with a desire to chuck her paddle towards Samuel, but she stopped herself so as to avoid being scolded.
“Nah, it's not in our culture. The same goes for the women,” Samuel answered. “They don’t go runnin’ around callin’ each other honey.” Samuel looked to his side and saw a female Stepswitcher walk towards the two, Connor, and Space Brother, slowing down his swings to process who the woman was––arguably Outbeat’s best ping-pong player (and one of the only ones at that), Laura Beat. With platinum blonde hair and sunglasses, and her pink tank top and grey shorts, she strided along in a sassy manner and noticed Connor, heading directly to him.
“You. You were on the school dance team, weren’t you?” she asked him. Connor’s eyes widened, having recognized the lady, and he broke into a sweat. “Before you disappeared off the face of the planet.”
“U-Umm, yeah… Laura? Why are y-y-you here?” he stammered, freeing one ear from the headphones he wore and looking up into Laura’s eyes.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here for the tournament. What are you here for?” Laura was starting to intimidate Connor, her sneer reminding him of what home was like.
“I’m here for my friend Rina,” he answered, trying to be as professional as possible. “She’s participating in the world tournament tomorrow.”
“Uh-huh. Say, where’s Becky? Are you too wimpy to even show yourself in public with her?” Laura smirked, seeing Connor's irritated expression. She knew she was getting close to a good reaction.
“N-No! Not at all! I wasn't able to bring her with me on the trip!” he replied, growing panicky. Space Brother gave a defending glare to the woman, beginning to hug Connor protectively. He was pulled backwards into the guardian and felt a sense of protection.
“Wasn't able to bring her, huh? She's… gone, isn't she? Good riddance. Should've taken your life away as well to go with her.” Connor felt the insult shoot him like a dagger through the heart. No one dared to make a remark like that around him; people knew how sensitive Becky was to him and how much insulting hurt him. An offended expression instantly took over him, the blood draining from his face.
“E-E-EXCUSE ME?!” Connor shouted, fighting back the urge to cry. “D-Did you just—” Matthew seemed to get what was going on, walking behind Laura and slapping her with the trout he used on Carresian before returning to his match.
“You might wanna beat it, Laura,” he said, with a smirk that implied he greatly enjoyed cracking puns. She turned around annoyed and threw a ping pong ball at him.
“Leave Connor alone,” Space Brother growled, rising to his feet and clenching a fist. “Becky is alive and well, and you have no right to insult my friend like this.” Samuel and Rina had put a halt to their rally, glancing over at the scene the Stepswitchers and Space Brother were involved in. Even Samuel felt disdainful about the situation.
“Yeah, get outta here before you get a taste of the community paddle!” Rina shouted in addition. “So many people will have used it it’ll make you sick!”
“Speaking of sick…” Laura walked around to Space Brother, who was staring down the woman with a burning desire to hit her, although he knew he couldn't do it for multiple reasons. “Look at you. Pale and almost see-through. Like a ghost—and those are invisible and unimportant, like you.”
“Does being this vile really make you feel better?” Space Brother suddenly fell into a coughing fit, not being able to speak or even breathe. Rina became worried but yet stayed put, afraid to do anything, as Laura likely would’ve attacked her, too. She didn’t want two people insulting her at once.
“I’ll serve this time,” she whispered to Samuel, hitting the ball slowly in an attempt to start a rally and get her mind off the worry she had. However, he let the ball fall to the ground and bounce until it hit a cafe table.
“Honey, are you really going to play ping-pong when one of the great masters is being harassed like this?” he asked, feeling a mix between irritated and disappointed.
“I thought you and the rest of the Cosmic Paddlers didn't care jack about any of them but Sister,” Rina forced out. She despised Space Sister and didn't even consider her a sister, nor a real master. She was too stuck-up and of discriminatory nature to be recognized properly.
“Hmph. So be it,” he huffed, trying to hold back embarrassment but failing to keep himself from blushing annoyedly. “Our master puts everything she can into us and our lifestyles. Take our practices as you will.”
“Being vile? I think you’ve got it wrong,” Laura stated to Space Brother, who was still coughing and struggling for breath. She took the headphones around her neck and placed them over her ears, turning her nose in disgust. “You're not worth my time. Tomorrow, if I see you again…” She took off towards where she had come from, leaving her statement to be interpreted as the rest wished.
“Ooh, I could go for some nice Poffins right now!” Rina chimed, starting to make her way towards a restaurant called The Poffin Palace and motioning for Space Brother and Connor to follow.
“Poffins? Sure. I’ve never tried them before, so I wonder what they’ll be like,” Connor remarked in agreement, seeming to stare off thinking about all the different types of ways he could have the cookies prepared. Deep-fried, baked, maybe even grilled… Rina couldn't help but wonder how many different styles he was coming up with, before thinking about how she would have preferred her Poffins. As the trio got up to the counter and ordered their meals, Space Brother winced as he pulled out his debit card from his wallet and put it into the card machine by the cash register, punching in his PIN and waiting for the money to be drained with the purchase so he could get on with using his credit card or the funds Rina had brought along already. It wasn't long after they had reserved a table before the number on their receipt was called, and Connor went to grab the food as Rina and her guardian sat alone for a moment.
“Are you excited for the trip, Brother?” asked Rina, grinning at the mere thought of winning a table tennis tournament the world would have their eyes on. She had been waiting so long for the opportunity to even attend such a tournament, as the high school division of ping-pong players––the youngest division––started in grade nine, whereas high school in Onett started in grade eight.
“Of course, Reenie! I was organizing the flight and hotel with Gramps for months!” Space Brother replied back, his already rosy cheeks turning even redder with glee and making his sickly pale skin look even more transparent, before coughing heavily for fifteen seconds.
Rina sometimes wondered if he was ill, and while she was normally pretty sure he wasn’t, she would notice him break into coughing fits every now and then and she worried for his health, as he was prone to sickness. If he fell ill, he would be more at risk for long-term illnesses; he was born rather frail. Space Brother’s eyes seemed to narrow in fatigue, leaning his head on his hands and stooping over half the table. Being as tall as he was, it wasn’t hard to take up more space than desired.
“You must be pretty tired,” Rina pointed out.
“And like you weren’t? You passed out the moment you got in the car and bumped your head against the door before you even got in!”
“Hey, I was up late last night for a good reason! I was training!” Connor returned with the food, carrying the meals on a tray and setting it down as he took his seat at the circular table, nearly drooling at the sight of such an exquisite dish.
“My Arceus, does this food look good,” he stated before grabbing his portion and digging in. “I’ll bet I can finish this before you guys even start. You guys are slower than Slowpoke when it comes to eating!”
“Connor, would you slow down?!” Rina exclaimed, noticing Connor had started shovelling the Poffins in his mouth and stopping his breathing, his lightheadedness becoming obvious in his actions as she watched him eat.
“I will,” he sputtered out before swallowing and gasping for air, regaining his breath and continuing to devour before realizing he hadn’t been breathing, finishing his food and instantly passing out for about fifteen seconds.
“Steppy, don’t your parents ever tell you that you’re putting yourself in danger by doing that?” Space Brother asked with concern, happily munching away at the Poffins on his plate with a fork and knife. Rina was about halfway finished her meal, trailing just slightly behind her guardian.
“H-Huh? R-R-Repeat that again…” Connor stuttered, awakening from his unconsciousness.
“Don’t your parents ever tell you that you’re putting yourself in danger by doing that?” Space Brother repeated.
“They d-do,” Connor answered, dazed. “Or at least, they used to. I don’t think they really care anymore… except Becky. She seems to be the only one in my family who cares about anything regarding me these days.”
“It’ll be okay, Connor. We’re here for you and if you ever need to get away for a few days, we’d be more than happy to have you! Right, Brother?” Rina turned to Space Brother expectantly, who wasn’t sure with how to respond, as he had been put on the spot.
“Of course. We’ll just have a lot of cleaning to do,” Space Brother replied while glaring at Rina knowingly. She got the message and started packing up her things, finishing her breakfast, putting her backpack on, and getting ready to go towards the gate.
“It's about 6:20 right now. We should get to our flight,” Rina insisted.
“Probably for the best,” Connor agreed, grabbing Rina by the wrist and dragging her along in the wide, vast halls while Space Brother followed, unsteady in his steps. As Rina boarded the plane and took her seat in the middle of the row next to her friends, a memory came flickering back to her in her mind, although still a blur.
Rain poured miserably and uncontrollably, storming onto the concrete of the runway with a loud patter. The zooming whir sounds of a jet plane repeated over and over in Rina's head, echoing with every play. A sense of urgency filled her eight-year old mind… but she didn't know why. However, she knew something wasn’t right.
“Rina Ping! Don't look back!” called a short man in yellow, pushing her through giant crowds of people over the mystifying green carpet and pitch-black sky. Rina could see it all too well from the glassy walls. “You have no time!”
The memory faded from her mind. Rina started to shudder, becoming unexplainably fearful. She couldn't quite place why, but she had a gut feeling it had been caused by the memory that had unexpectedly resurfaced. She couldn’t even figure out why that memory had arisen so unexpectedly.
“You alright, Reenie?” Space Brother asked, his face scrunching with worry. He adjusted his bowtie and moved around the box on his head, taking the box off Rina’s head and running his fingers through her hair quickly before putting it back on.
“Yeah,” Rina forced out, drowsy. “I’ll be fine. I think.” She fell asleep once again, feeling soothed as she took off from the ground.
December 3, 2016 1:40 pm
Tehniss International Airport
The flight had only been three hours long, but to Rina, it felt like seven––partially because of the timezone change, which would have made it seven hours should it have been the same time back home in Onett. Exhausted but yet well-rested at the same time, Rina pulled herself from her seat and followed Connor’s lead out the airplane and towards the arrivals wing, feeling the same sense of urgency in her memory as she did now and wondering what was causing the stress. Did being around flights give her anxiety? Was it the notion of being thousands of feet in the air travelling at high speed?
“I-I’ve been here before. We’re supposed to go down this escalator, go straight for a while and then turn right, and then we’ll be at the taxi boarding station,” Connor explained, pointing to the escalator he and Rina stood on and then forwards into the distance.
“Why do you always stutter when you’re with me?” Rina blurted out without a care of how it made Connor feel.
“I don’t know,” he squeaked in response, his face turning pink yet again. Space Brother chuckled at how embarrassed he was. He liked to tease Rina about Connor, often referring to them as a couple to her face when she was home alone with him, usually resulting in some sort of paddle-throwing or a ping-pong ball to the face. He had become used to it after a while, but still scolded Rina nonetheless.
“Don't be embarrassed, Connor!” Rina giggled, ironically hugging Connor and making him burn up to the point where he became light-headed and fell into Rina’s arms. She turned to Space Brother, who watched contently. “Uhh, was that supposed to happen?”
“Only if you're supposed to kiss him awake,” Space Brother replied teasingly. This time, it was Rina who turned a bright pink, becoming agitated and cursing at her guardian. Space Brother couldn't help but laugh at how she reacted, despite the rather harsh words being used against him. “Hey hey hey! I told you you can't use those words! Do you even know what they mean?” he scolded. Connor awoke confused, being carried by a blushing Rina as he noticed she and Space Brother arguing.
“W-What…? What were you saying?” he asked, dazed.
“Just teasing Reenie a bit, Steppy,” Space Brother replied. “Nothing of importance.”
“Good…” sighed Rina, which was what Connor was about to say, though he was beaten to the punch and decided to keep quiet. Finding the way through the airport and taking a taxi to the exquisite Hotel Krafito, Rina and her companions went to their hotel room after a quick fifteen minutes at the front desk waiting to get room keys and number. Upon entering, Rina was amazed by what she saw in the room. The space was wide-open, covered with a lush red carpet of which its fluffiness drove her to fall to the ground and let her senses be rushed by the cotton. Two beds sat next to each other against the wall and around the corner from the door, separated by a small wooden dresser with a digital clock set on top, and there were not one, but two fairly big windows and a balcony allowing a spectacular view of Tehniss and its consistently space-like sky. The sun didn’t seem to exist in the city, but yet in the daytime, an abundance of light shone down through the starry void. The curtains had an intricate pattern and were tucked neatly aside as to let the light shine through into the hotel room, and across from the beds in the corner was a flat-screen TV of about thirty-two inches. To the left of the beds along the wall were a bigger dresser with another TV, and a ping-pong table, complete with four paddles and a case of balls for doubles matches. Even Connor was impressed with the room, and having been to many fancy hotels before as part of his dance competitions, not much could surprise him in way of how nice a place looked.
Gramps must’ve gone all-out with this, thought Rina. He really didn’t have to do this for me, but yet he did anyways…
“So how ‘bout some ping pong?” Space Brother chimed, picking up a paddle and twirling it in his hands.
“M-Maybe we should go down to the lobby. I’m pretty sure they have some tables down there,” Connor suggested, nervously wrapping an arm around Rina in a friendly way. “We’ll probably get to meet some of Rina’s opponents too, since they’ll probably be thinking the same thing we are. My team and I do it all the time for dancing competitions.”
“That sounds like a great idea, Connor!” Rina exclaimed, grabbing her paddle from her backpack and rushing out the door, almost forgetting to grab a room key. Upon coming down to the lobby through an elevator that Rina hadn’t paid any attention to in excitement, it was only then that she had been able to see the beauty of the area––a grand place with a fountain obscuring a cafe and ping pong setups, with golden pillars and yellow walls that for some reason reminded Rina of macaroni and cheese––taking it in with awe like she had at the airport and instantly running towards the tables in the back to play ping pong. To her surprise, Rina stumbled along four players having a quick doubles match. The first was a boy about Rina’s age who would have towered over even Samuel, with long, blonde hair that was held in a loose ponytail and went down to about his waist. He wore a green long-sleeve shirt and sweatpants, and his paddle appeared to be custom-made, as it was patterned to look like a trout, complete with a custom handle. Rina figured he would’ve made the other half also shaped like a trout if those specific types of custom paddles weren’t banned from sanctioned tournaments.
The second player was a boy about a year older who had short blonde hair covering his right eye and going down just past his shoulders in the back, with a red t-shirt, grey sweatpants, and worn-out crocs on. He was a little shorter than the first boy (of whom Rina insisted on calling Trout Man) and had a much more normal paddle, the plastic cover instead embedded with a picture of a strange yellow Pokémon Rina believed to be called Pichu.
The third player was another boy about a year older than the first, with black hair that went down to just above his shoulder blades. He had glasses with lenses that looked almost square to complement his grey sweater and black jeans, and was only slightly taller than the second boy. His paddle seemed to be patterned with a red circle that encased a Japanese furigana symbol, of which the character could be swapped out and replaced with one of four other symbols, each purple, green, yellow, and red with a missing spot in the case for the blue symbol currently on the paddle.
The last player was a female about Rina's age, with long brown hair that was braided in the back and went down most of her back. She had glasses with rectangular lenses and wore a pink long-sleeve shirt with grey pants that looked like athletic pants, and she had a pair of wireless headphones on that Connor couldn't get his eyes off of. She was the shortest of the group, only a few inches behind the second player, and her paddle had a deep space-like and rainbow pattern that resembled the sky of Tehniss.
“Are you guys here for the Worlds tournament too?” Rina asked, feeling nervous as the quartet turned towards her. The anxiousness was in vain, however, as the strangers smiled at her and welcomed her in.
“Indeed we are! What's your name?” the girl asked, extending her hand to Rina. “By the way, I'm Jane, and these are my friends, Alex, Carresian, and Matthew. Nice to meet you!”
“I'm Rina, and this is Connor,” Rina replied, shaking Jane's hand and forcing Connor's hand into that of the player. He appeared to be panicky about making contact with a female, which didn't surprise Rina in the slightest. He was nervous around even her at times, which she tried her best to understand, but Rina couldn't think of anything. Her mind could only jump to one conclusion… and she had regrets even thinking about it.
“N-N-Nice to meet you!” he stuttered, smiling. “You’ve got some nice headphones there.”
“Uhh, thanks! You’ve got some pretty good ones there…” Jane and Connor went off to talk about their headphones and presumably their music, too, as the other three were talking to themselves.
“I wonder how well she plays,” Alex said, wondering about Rina. “I'm kinda interested in seeing her skills.”
“Hi kinda interested in seeing her skills!” Carresian exclaimed with a wide grin. Matthew pulled a trout from his bag and slapped Carresian with it. “Ow! That wasn't nice, Matthew!” Alex broke out laughing.
“A slap for every time you do it,” Matthew insisted.
“You can't escape it!” Carresian declared.
“You guys…” Alex laughed. “Wow, Carresian. Let's just go play some ping pong.”
“Alright, sure,” Carresian replied in approval as the group walked over to an empty setup. Jane seemed to be finishing her conversation with Connor, slipping her headphones on and joining her group of friends.
“That was a nice conversation. I didn't think anyone else cared about music as much as I do,” Connor told Rina, bobbing his head to whatever beat played.
“That just goes to show that you're not the only one who loves the things you love,” Rina replied. “Say, how about a quick match?”
“Sure! Just take your spot and I'm ready to go!”
“I think I'll watch you guys,” Space Brother said contently. “Gives me time to relax after the flight, too.”
“Sure thing! Get a paddle ready and let's go!” The two took their spots at the nearby table and began a rally that broke off every now and then.
“Good luck!” As Rina continued to play with Connor and build up an extensive, breakneck rally, she felt an ominous presence approach her, but from where, she didn't know… until it knocked Connor away from the table with a strong push, sending him into the table by a golden pillar and then into the floor. Rina shuddered.
“Fancy seeing you here, Butterfingers,” Samuel said while taking Connor’s spot, his flirty tone unsettling Rina once again. “Did you grandpa give you a free pass in out of pity?”
“Shut up! I got a stipend from coming second, don't you remember?” Rina shouted in response, flustered.
“Pfft. I couldn’t have been bothered to care about that. Who else even cares about second place anyways? It only means you lost,” Samuel argued.
“I-I do,” Connor answered from his place on the floor whilst clutching his leg in pain, hoping to stop the fight from escalating. Both Rina and Samuel looked at him with surprise.
“Of course you would,” Samuel sputtered. Rina caught the slightest glimpse of him blushing and figured Connor had inadvertently destroyed the boy's ego slightly. However, she couldn't see through his mind to see the real reason to why he started to become embarrassed. “He’s your boyfriend, isn't he? Those types of people are the only ones to care. They’re head over heels for the one they love and blow everything out of proportion in a disgustingly positive way.”
“Not necessarily.” Rina winked at Samuel, in the same cocky manner that he would use around her. Connor looked nervous, not sure how she would react to the remark, but to his relief, she seemed to forget. “Say, how 'bout some ping pong?”
“That was my line though!” Space Brother shouted, playfully disgruntled.
“Well… I guess I wouldn't mind destroying you before tomorrow. Any sort of practice I can get,” Samuel replied with a hint of hesitance, as if afraid of getting in trouble. He pulled out his paddle from his packing and grabbed one of the community balls, serving it towards Rina, and the two engaged in a tense rally. Perhaps it was because of the lack of Space Sister's presence that helped Rina focus on the match more, or maybe it was the fact that it was a friendly match (even though she considered it anything but friendly), but she was able to keep up with Samuel this time, even if it was only a small improvement.
“So where are you from?” Rina asked, trying to create small talk but being careful not to lose focus.
“Somewhere around here. I forget where,” Samuel replied.
“You mean you've forgotten your hometown? How do you even manage to do that?”
“Honey, I've been all over the place since I was born. Some tell me I came to be over in Mushroom Kingdom, some tell me it was in Hoenn, and one person told me it was in Edict, but I think it was here in Tenfever.”
“So it's been a mystery. Just like how you took that last point yesterday in the finals.”
“And you question that match why?” Samuel kept classy, but Rina sensed worry in him. She figured he knew what she was referencing.
“You should know.” As the two conversed, Rina swung slightly early and hit the ball out, grunting in disappointment. “Shoot, I dropped it. Your point.”
“Didn't I say I would destroy you? I'm not usually wrong, honey,” Samuel stated.
“I at least kept it going for longer! Also, can you please stop calling me that?!” Rina replied, irritated.
“It's my style of speech. Every girl I come along, that's what I call them.” Samuel picked up another ball and served it, Rina hitting it back with precision.
“What do you call men, then? You’ve probably got a designated nickname for them, too,” Rina asked. She wanted to kick herself for even daring to converse with someone who not only treated her like trash in their first match, but also had cheated to win. It was nonsense to even be showing respect to him. She burned with a desire to chuck her paddle towards Samuel, but she stopped herself so as to avoid being scolded.
“Nah, it's not in our culture. The same goes for the women,” Samuel answered. “They don’t go runnin’ around callin’ each other honey.” Samuel looked to his side and saw a female Stepswitcher walk towards the two, Connor, and Space Brother, slowing down his swings to process who the woman was––arguably Outbeat’s best ping-pong player (and one of the only ones at that), Laura Beat. With platinum blonde hair and sunglasses, and her pink tank top and grey shorts, she strided along in a sassy manner and noticed Connor, heading directly to him.
“You. You were on the school dance team, weren’t you?” she asked him. Connor’s eyes widened, having recognized the lady, and he broke into a sweat. “Before you disappeared off the face of the planet.”
“U-Umm, yeah… Laura? Why are y-y-you here?” he stammered, freeing one ear from the headphones he wore and looking up into Laura’s eyes.
“Isn’t it obvious? I’m here for the tournament. What are you here for?” Laura was starting to intimidate Connor, her sneer reminding him of what home was like.
“I’m here for my friend Rina,” he answered, trying to be as professional as possible. “She’s participating in the world tournament tomorrow.”
“Uh-huh. Say, where’s Becky? Are you too wimpy to even show yourself in public with her?” Laura smirked, seeing Connor's irritated expression. She knew she was getting close to a good reaction.
“N-No! Not at all! I wasn't able to bring her with me on the trip!” he replied, growing panicky. Space Brother gave a defending glare to the woman, beginning to hug Connor protectively. He was pulled backwards into the guardian and felt a sense of protection.
“Wasn't able to bring her, huh? She's… gone, isn't she? Good riddance. Should've taken your life away as well to go with her.” Connor felt the insult shoot him like a dagger through the heart. No one dared to make a remark like that around him; people knew how sensitive Becky was to him and how much insulting hurt him. An offended expression instantly took over him, the blood draining from his face.
“E-E-EXCUSE ME?!” Connor shouted, fighting back the urge to cry. “D-Did you just—” Matthew seemed to get what was going on, walking behind Laura and slapping her with the trout he used on Carresian before returning to his match.
“You might wanna beat it, Laura,” he said, with a smirk that implied he greatly enjoyed cracking puns. She turned around annoyed and threw a ping pong ball at him.
“Leave Connor alone,” Space Brother growled, rising to his feet and clenching a fist. “Becky is alive and well, and you have no right to insult my friend like this.” Samuel and Rina had put a halt to their rally, glancing over at the scene the Stepswitchers and Space Brother were involved in. Even Samuel felt disdainful about the situation.
“Yeah, get outta here before you get a taste of the community paddle!” Rina shouted in addition. “So many people will have used it it’ll make you sick!”
“Speaking of sick…” Laura walked around to Space Brother, who was staring down the woman with a burning desire to hit her, although he knew he couldn't do it for multiple reasons. “Look at you. Pale and almost see-through. Like a ghost—and those are invisible and unimportant, like you.”
“Does being this vile really make you feel better?” Space Brother suddenly fell into a coughing fit, not being able to speak or even breathe. Rina became worried but yet stayed put, afraid to do anything, as Laura likely would’ve attacked her, too. She didn’t want two people insulting her at once.
“I’ll serve this time,” she whispered to Samuel, hitting the ball slowly in an attempt to start a rally and get her mind off the worry she had. However, he let the ball fall to the ground and bounce until it hit a cafe table.
“Honey, are you really going to play ping-pong when one of the great masters is being harassed like this?” he asked, feeling a mix between irritated and disappointed.
“I thought you and the rest of the Cosmic Paddlers didn't care jack about any of them but Sister,” Rina forced out. She despised Space Sister and didn't even consider her a sister, nor a real master. She was too stuck-up and of discriminatory nature to be recognized properly.
“Hmph. So be it,” he huffed, trying to hold back embarrassment but failing to keep himself from blushing annoyedly. “Our master puts everything she can into us and our lifestyles. Take our practices as you will.”
“Being vile? I think you’ve got it wrong,” Laura stated to Space Brother, who was still coughing and struggling for breath. She took the headphones around her neck and placed them over her ears, turning her nose in disgust. “You're not worth my time. Tomorrow, if I see you again…” She took off towards where she had come from, leaving her statement to be interpreted as the rest wished.
RotI's unfortunately on hold right now. I just haven't been able to write for it like I've wanted to, so I'm giving it some time off while I work on TRoL before I go back to it. I promise you guys it'll have a proper end, though!
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