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Aftermath

The Cubone flexed and stretched his limbs as his alarm clock roused him from his slumber. After fumbling around for a couple seconds, he managed to silence its blaring speakers and sat himself up. He scrunched his eyes closed as he gingerly stretched his limbs. "Zara...c'mon... Ah, we gotta get ready for class." He wiped his eyes as he reached for his mask. "...Zara?" Confused from not even hearing a rustle, Jasper put on his mask and looked over to his roommate's bed. Much to his surprise, Zara hadn't even budged. He was still buried beneath his blanket. With growing concern, Jasper carefully approached him and laid a gentle hand on the dark type's shoulder. With a soft shake, Jasper said, "Zara? You up yet?" Nothing. This was odd; normally he was roused by even the slightest bump in the room. For that matter, Zara was usually the first one up in the morning. Jasper shook him a little harder. "Zara... Come on...it's time to get up..." This time, Zara began to shift. A soft groan escaped his muzzle and his eyelids clenched tightly together. "You alright? It's time to get ready."

"Oh..." Zara replied, remaining planted on his bed, "...ok..."

Jasper waved his tail softly. "...You gonna get up?"

"mmhmm..." Zara paused as he took a deep breath, "...I'll get up later..."

"Oh..." Jasper couldn't help but furrow a brow in concern, "...Ok...I'll see you later then..."

"­...mmhmm..." Jasper had a hard time with getting himself to move with Zara not budging an inch, but the Cubone managed to eventually. Yet even after Jasper had gathered his things, Zara remained glued to his spot on the bed. Jasper opened his mouth to speak, only to stop himself. As terrible as it felt to him, he knew that he had to leave the Zoroark be. So with a heavy heart, Jasper left the room and closed the door behind him gently.

Bu the time Zara's eyes opened again, it was well past his class' starting time. On most days, this would make him freak out and scramble out of bed. Today wasn't one of those days, though. In fact, he barely even flinched when he discovered this for himself. He barely did anything for that matter. He had no energy to move, and he felt no need _to_move. He felt no hunger, no thirst, not even the urge to use the bathroom. Thus, there he remained, buried under a blanket and sunken into the bed for quite literally the entire day. He didn't even realize this until he heard the door to their room open.

"Oh," came Jasper's voice, "hey Zara. Here again?"

"...mmhmm..." he muttered back.

"Tired from today, huh?"

"mmhmm..."

"Yeah...well, I'm glad you got through it all, at least."

"mmhmm..."

"You already grab a bite to eat? Cuz if not, I'm willing to treat you to dinner tonight."

"mm-mmm..."

"No? You sure?"

"mmhmm..."

"Alright. You rest up then."

"mmm..."

"With nothing else to be said, Jasper settled down on his bed and pulled out his phone. He looked over to Zara as he pulled up Gwen's textline. Regardless of what the dark type had said to him, he had a feeling Zara was going through more than just fatigue. This lingered in his head as he began typing out his message.

Hey Gwen, are you free anytime soon? Zara seems pretty down, and I'm thinking he'll need some positive reassurance or something.

A few short minutes after sending, he got a message back.

Tomorrow is fine. Do you know what is saddening him?

Jasper pursed his lips as he typed out his response.

I don't think I'm at liberty to say, but yeah, I know.

Gwen's response came soon after.

Do you think we should be worrying?

Jasper took his time to think out his response before actually typing it.

I think we should just be there for him for now.

It took Gwen extra time too for her response to come.

I think I will trust you. Please tell me when and where so I can be there asap.

Thanks. I'll be sure to do that. G'night.

Take care.

Jasper looked over to Zara as he closed his phone. A part of him wanted to come over to his bed and ask him what was wrong, but he already knew that that was a bad idea. The thought made him decide against telling Zara about the planned meetup, and he decided that it'd be better to ask him about it in the morning. With that plan set in his mind, Jasper laid back on his bed and stared at the ceiling until his stomach told him that it was time for dinner.

***

"I still can't believe him..."

"Sis, please not tonight."

"How are you not furious at him?!"

"Because he clearly doesn't want to tell us!"

"And that doesn't make you mad?!"

"NO!"

"You're telling me that, after 13 years, 13 WHOLE YEARS of knowing him, it doesn't bother you that he still doesn't trust us? Not at ALL?!"

"Well...I mean it does a little...but it's still his choice! He's not obligated to tell us anything--"

"That's not the POINT! I KNOW that he doesn't have to, but the fact that he _chooses_not to is what's making me so mad!"

"Elena, please, I don't wanna talk about this right now. Not tonight."

"Well I do, okay?! I do because I _just_don't understand! What did I do?! What did I do to make him hate me?!"

"He doesn't hate--"

"He said ONE of us, Cerci. ONE. Of us. And he was looking right at me when he did!" Cerci couldn't respond to that, despite how much she wanted to. "I just...wanna know...you know? I-I thought we grew really close to each other over the years. But then we spend one year apart and suddenly all of that goes out the window... I just...fucking...wanna understand...wh-what the hell happened to us..." Elena choked and paused to wipe some tears away from her eyes. Unable to take any more of this, Cerci came over to her sister's bed and wrapped an arm around her tightly.

"Hey, c'mon sis; you don't really think he hates you..."

"Well...it goddamn feels like it..."

Cerci lightly combed her fingers through the Glaceon's hair. "But do you really think he does?"

"...no..."

"There, see? We know him better than that. Let's just give him some time, hmm?"

Elena's answer was nothing but a grunt. It was clear at that point that she was done talking. Though it still bothered her that her sister didn't seem convinced, Cerci was at least glad over the fact that the subject had been dropped for the night. It had been brought up constantly throughout the entire day at every given opportunity, and to have it come to an end felt like a blessing. No doubt it would be brought up again in the next day, but Cerci was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"How about we just grab a bite to eat, hmm? Help you get your mind off of this for a while."

"...Fine. I'm picking where though."

"That's the spirit!"

"Yeah, yeah." Elena then peeled herself out of her sister's embrace and untangled herself from her ribbons.

"So where are we heading then?"

"The food court... What? What's wrong?"

"Sis, I literally suggested we go out to get your mind off of this whole debacle. Going back to where it all started is probably gonna make the _opposite_happen."

"Well where the fuck else do we go then?"

"Out to town. It's really nice there and we rarely go."

"Oh come on. There's like two spots we actually care about there."

"Well then let's go to those two spots." Elena sighed and folded her arms. "Sis...come on; do you really just wanna sit here and mope for the rest of the night?"

"...No... Alright, let's go..."

"Atta girl."

"Lemme call Kamea up too. Maybe she'll want in on this."

"Aw, no one-on-one sisterly bonding?"

"You get that enough every night here."

"But we could never have too much time together!"

"Right..."

Cerci lowered her ears. Normally, their banter would've went on for a good while longer. The Sylveon hoped that her sister would be back to her old self soon.

***

"Jeez, you guys ought'a call me up more. I hate coming here without friends when I don't have to."

"I know, right? I feel like I'm being _watched_whenever I'm here on my own."

"I just feel outnumbered. I got way too used to having a bunch of morphs around at school. Out here I'm lucky to run into a couple of 'em."

"Well thankfully I've got my sis to keep me company. Isn't that right?"

"Uhuh..."

Cerci lightly bit down on the tip of her tongue as she tried to hide her unease over her sister's mood. Only Kamea noticed how her ribbon's agitated flicks gave her away.

"Sooooo, where're we headed to? Is it that Luvdisc's Cove or whatever?"

"Huh? Uhh no, not there. Maybe later, but not now. We're gonna grab dinner first."

"Ah, good; I worked myself up an appetite today."

"Yeah? Were you lifting again?"

"Hell yeah! Benched a good 200 pounds without even breaking a sweat."

"That sounds...heavy."

"Psch, that's some lightweight lifting for us dragons. The real kicker was how long I went for. Can you imagine trying to bench that much for a solid 10 minutes?"

"Dear Arceus! 10 whole minutes?!"

"Yup," Kamea stopped to roll her shoulders, "left me real stiff, but it's payin' off. Look, put yer paws on my shoulders. You can FEEL how strong they are!"

Cerci planted a paw on her shoulder and gave it a squeeze. "OOoooooh, you're right! It feels all muscley."

"Right?! Hey Snowflake, wanna cop a feel?"

"No thanks."

"Aww come on, you know you wanna!"

"I really don't."

"Really don't?"

"Really don't."

"Really don't?"

"Seriously. I don't."

"Oh...shit...okay. Got it..." Kamea glanced at Cerci, and all she gave the dragon was a shake of her head. "Sooooo where're we eatin'?"

"Umm, I was thinking of going to The Salty Shellder. They have some really good seafood there that we haven't had in a while."

"Mmmm, now that takes me back. My dad used to fish a whole bunch when I was little, and he'd always make the best fried fish."

"Oh, so should we not go then?"

"Oh no, I'll go. Just don't be surprised if I get all iron-chef on the food."

"Those'll be tips I'm sure they won't be expecting."

"Ha! I'll be generous with those tips, then." Whilst the two of them laughed, Elena grumbled and stuffed her paws in her pockets. The rest of the walk leading up to the trio being seated at a table went more or less the same, with Kamea and Cerci having an animated conversation and Elena only offering sparse contributions to it every now and then.

"So then, queen of the fried fish," teased Cerci as everyone looked over their respective menus, "which of these orders is worthy of your holy tongue?"

"Fish Queen decrees...: Kamea held out her menu and pointed at one of the selections, "Magikarp filet will be judged by tongue."

"Yes, your majesty," Cerci bowed with a slight curtsy of her paws, "What about you, sis? What're you getting?"

"I dunno... The fuckin...Wishiwashi Wonton soup?" Elena sighed through her nose and set down her menu. "Y'know what? I think I'll just share with you guys. I'm not feelin' too hungry."

Kamea cast a glance at Cerci, who only gave her a brief shake of her head. "That's fine, sis. You can share with me. I was planning on just taking my leftovers to go, so this works out."

"Why? What'chu ordering?" asked Kamea.

"I'm thinking about trying the steamed Corphish. Probably won't finish it on my own, so y'know."

"Heh, alright. Looks like we're ready to order, then. Hey, waiter! Let's get this show on the road, huh?"

Cerci couldn't contain her laughter. "Dialga, Kamea, let the whole restaurant know, why don't you?"

Kamea shrugged at her. "I don't like waiting for waiters. Waiting should be their_job, not mine." After everyone's orders were taken, the conversation continued. "So...I've been talkin' a lot 'bout what's been goin' on with _me. What's been goin' on in your lives?"

"Well," Cerci began, "Sis n' I have been looking for clubs to join. I've been thinking about joining the culture club for a while, actually."

"Really? You care about that kind of stuff?"

"Well I wanna start caring. I feel weird whenever a festival or something is going on and I have no clue what for!"

"...Cerci...I think it's time for you to learn about a little something known as the internet."

"Oh hush, you. I wanna learn about cultures, not read about 'em and forget everything I read five minutes after."

"Oh come on. The internet's a great place to learn stuff! It honestly makes me wonder why we bother with schools at all. Besides, why waste a club membership on something you can just look up when you could join a club that'll do you some good in the long run?"

"You're gonna suggest the fitness club, aren't you?"

"That's right, the fitness club! C'mon, it'll be fun! And you'll end up getting something out of it!"

"Honey, look at me. Do you see these arms? Do you see this jiggle? Do you see this fluff? I ain't the kind of gal that's built for hardcore work-out regimens."

"So what? You could still get the exercise! Besides, there's no weight lifting or anything, so you're not gonna get shown up by anyone. Everyone's just gonna go at their own pace."

"Yeah, but then I'd just get distracted by all of the...jiggling." Kamea choked on her water then. "I'd rather not get all self-conscious about that, y'know?"

"Hey, you said it, not me."

"Point is, I'll just wear my baggy,flowy clothes n' not have to think about it."

"Well, if you ever change your mind, just let me know. That club likes me, so I can get them to lower the admission fee fer ya."

"Aw, that's my dragon sis. Always lookin' out for me."

"You know it. Oh, speakin' o' which, what's the know on Zara's sit'ch, hmm? I wanna--" Cerci's fork clattered onto the floor as she frantically shook her head and swiped her paw over her throat. But it was already too late.

"Oh, you wanna know what's up with him?!" Elena began, suddenly becoming way more vocal, "Well that little bastard decided that he's too good for us! Oh, forget the fact that we've been friends for like 13 years, n' forget the fact that we've been offering our help non-stop! NOOOOoooo, he doesn't NEED our help. Why? Because we, no, I. Am the PROBLEM!"

"Elena!"

"WHAT?!" Cerci needed only to motion to the area around them to remind her sister that they weren't in school, made evident by the amount of human faces that were now looking their way. With a grumble, Elena slumped back down and stared at her plate. Only when a soft murmur filled the restaurant again did the trio feel comfortable with speaking again. Kamea was the first to speak.

"...Soooo...either of you mind telling me what all...that...was about?"

"Her and Zara got into a fight," Cerci explained, "It got pretty bad."

"And it was all my fault apparently."

"No one's saying that."

"But you're thinking it."

"Zara's equally to blame here, sis."

"Not according to him. Because I'm the problem!"

"We don't know that yet, sis. It could easily be me."

"Yeah right."

"Ok how do you know it's you?"

"He was looking right at me, sis. Right. At. Me when he said it was one of us."

"So?"

"Sooo, it's me! GOTTA be! Why else would he not look at you?!"

"Maybe because I'm actually the problem? And maybe he doesn't wanna look me in the eyes because of it?"

"As if! What could you have done to make him so upset?!"

"I dunno! Probably something I never really thought was a big deal?"

"Pffft, please, we all know that you're the angel of the family.

"Okay, well what could you have done to make him so upset?"

"I fuckin' yelled at him, for one thing!"

"But that was after we found out something was wrong. Can you even think of anything you did before that that would get him to wanna stay away from you?"

"I...I don't fuckin' know! It could be so many things! Maybe he's mad that I confronted him about the crush thing! Maybe he's mad that I beat him at his own game in front of so many people! Maybe he's mad that I keep confronting him about things! I can't fuckin' tell with this boy!"

"Wait wait wait," Kamea finally chimed in, "So why were they fighting?"

"Elena confronted him about the crush thing. Then we found out that he's got a problem with one of us."

"I'm telling you; it's me."

"Sis, come on, you're just saying that."

"It's cuz it's true. Think about it; it makes the most sense. I'm the one he meets up with the most out of the two of us. So how would something you did make him want to avoid me?"

"Sis..."

"I'm fuckin' telling you; he hates me."

"Sis..."

"He fuckin' hates me, and he never wants to see my stupid face around ever again!"

"Sis..."

"What?!"

"That's enough. You're crying now..."

"I'm not..." She stopped and blinked. Uttering a soft curse to herself, she wiped her tears away and slumped back down.

"God..." gasped Kamea, "I'm...sorry fer bringin' that up..."

"It's alright," sighed Cerci, "you didn't know..."

"At the very least, it explains why she's been so quiet." Kamea flinched. "Hey...c'mon, don't cry... You know I hate seein' my lil' Snowflake sad."

"I'm sorry, I just..." Elena shuddered and turned away, "Fuck... It fuckin'...it just hurts, y'know? After 13 years, you'd think you know a guy...and then... Fuck..." Her ears flattened down against her head as she shuddered again. Suddenly, she felt her sister's ribbons softly wrap around her torso. Before she knew it, she found herself in Cerci's loving embrace. Elena practically melted in her arms as her attempts at stopping the flow of her tears failed, leading to her finally breaking down entirely. This only made Cerci hug tighter, and soon after, Kamea's arms were wrapped around her as well. It felt as though the two of them were shielding her from the world as she devolved into her weakest emotional state.

"It's alright, sis," whispered Cerci, "It's okay... You're okay..."

"You don't gotta cry no more," said Kamea, "We've got your back, Snowflake."

"...thanks, you guys..." Elena shuddered again as she fought for control over her own lungs, "...Fuck, this sucks..."

"Hey, y'know what?" said Kamea as she withdrew from the hug, "I say screw that guy. It's not like you did anything wrong."

"Kamea," gasped Cerci as she abruptly withdrew as well, "C'mon, he's our friend!"

"Not the kind of friend that I'd wanna stick with! I mean what kind of friend snaps at someone for offering help? I mean honestly?!"

"Well...yeah, but--"

"And all she wanted to do was help him out. He's the one that decided to go all asshole mode on her. Why would you put up with a guy like that?"

"Cuz he's a friend we've known for almost 13 years?"

"Well if he's not gonna trust you guys to help him after that long, and if he's gonna snap at you for something so petty, then I say drop 'im."

"Kamea, come on, don't say things like that--"

"No! Y'know what? She's right!" Elena growled as she wiped her eyes, "He can go ahead n' fuck off for all I care!"

"Sis--"

"NU-UH! I've put up with him n' his bull for way too long! If he insists on acting like a little kid, then that's fine by me. He can play in the playground all by himself."

"Atta girl!" Kamea exclaimed with a firm nod, "Don't you let some guy decide how you feel! He ain't a kid no more! He wants to take care of himself? Then he can do that by himself!"

"You're goddamn right he can!"

"That's right I'm right!"

Despite herself, Cerci couldn't deny that this seemed to be getting her sister back to normal. It was as though a switch had been flipped on her that was letting her feel like her again. Cerci only hoped that she could convince her to make amends with Zara later on, but for now it was clear that things were better this way.

She hoped, anyway.