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Zane, Marcus, and Sam piled out of Marcus' car in front of the Sune's house. Zane and Sam both were holding wrapped presents, Zane's two with checkerboard wrapping while Sam's was beach-themed.

"You think Keith will be moving today?" Marcus asked.

Sam's face furrowed at that. "Wait, what's wrong with Keith?"

"I'm guessing he is, but not very well," Zane answered with a smirk. "Sam, we had districts Tuesday and Wednesday. See, this one scrawny Bunneary from Hassenburgh West Middle evolved into a jacked Diggersby during the pool stage last year - right near the end of it, actually - advancing out of the pools with a losing record because that's how the numbers had worked out. Then he crushed the knockout phase completely. He was back this year, and thankfully not in my or Keith's pool, but we both ran in to him in the knockouts, me a round before Keith. So Keith finished high enough to qualify for state, but he also got massively beaten up in his match with that Diggersby kid. Didn't help that he ran his mouth off after the match and got kicked in the nuts, but I think he's taken a little bit of solace in the fact that said kick disqualified the kid from state."

"That... doesn't sound like a very good outcome for either party..." Sam responded with a frown.

The Electrike just shrugged. "Not really, but it makes a good story."

"So Zane, I forgot," Marcus changed track, "is their birthday actually today?"

"No, it was yesterday," Zane said as they made it up to the front doorbell. "Saturday's close enough to celebrate, though."

"So how big is this party going to be? I guess I should have asked that a while ago," the Arcanine said as Zane rang the doorbell.

"Dunno," was the only answer Zane had, though a moment later the door opened.

"Ah! There you guys are," Kira said, beaming at the three guests. "Come in, come in! Everyone else is already hanging out in the living room."

Marcus peeked around as the three of them took their shoes off just inside the door. "Who all is "everyone else"?"

"Melanie, Michael, and Matthew," Kira answered as she led them in. "Keith invited his two buddies, I invited Melanie and Sam, and of course Zane was invited, as were you once Zane and Sam were coming."

"Wait, so I'm the baggage?" Marcus only got quiet chuckles from Zane and Sam in reply before the four of them made it in to the living room and were greeted by the middle schoolers already there.

"Considering everything that's gone on recently, we decided to keep this year's birthday small, six was enough," Kira further explained as she sat down on the couch opposite her brother, Zane plopping down right in between.

"So that means the party can really start now that we're here, huh?" the Electrike joked, putting one arm over each twin.

Keith sloughed the arm off his shoulders. "Erf - easy bro! hehheh Our party, not yours!"

"Well, get it started, then!" one of the other guys, a Staravia, teased as he tossed a yarn baseball at Keith, the soft toy somehow ricocheting off the first Vulpix, across Zane's nose, and into the second Vulpix' hair.

Marcus chuckled as he and Sam took a seat on the floor. "Nice shot, man!"

"Matt does want to play pro baseball eventually!" Melanie said.

"I know sports get competitive, but I thought it was supposed to just be for fun in middle school and JV," Sam mused, "a bit early to be really thinking about careers, isn't it?"

Matt nodded. "Oh, it is just fun for me! But I can still dream! Trust me, even though getting into pro sports is tough, I don't plan on thinking about a real job until sophomore year at the earliest!"

"Dad wants us to get jobs over the summer," Keith groaned, rolling his eyes.

"Well, you're fifteen now, so you can! It'll be a good experience for you," their dad said, poking his head in from the other room.

"How did you - ??"

"Psychic-type," came the smirking reply, the Espeon ducking his head back out of view with that statement. "Should I break out the snacks now?"

"Yeeessss please!" the red Vulpix groaned.

"Jobs are good because money is good," Marcus commented with a knowing smile.

Zane certainly understood - especially since he planned on following the Manectric's lead in providing his family with extra income once he himself turned fifteen - but something else popped into his mind at the moment to worry him. "Well, wait then - are you gonna have time for our normal summer battle league, then?"

Keith frowned. "No clue. Depends on the job I manage to find, I guess."

"Yeah... And I'm hoping we have time to still hang out," Kira added, resting a paw on Zane's leg.

"Oh, yeah, good point..." the Electrike mumbled.

"I'm sure it'll all be fine," Sam reassured. "Time is always tough to balance, but you make it work for friends and SOs."

"Ah, thank you Mr. Sune!" Melanie suddenly piped up as the Espeon levitated four bowls of various snacks as he carried a crate of soda.

"Pizza has been ordered, by the way," he explained, "and we'll do presents and cake along with the pizza when it gets here, sound good?"

The middle schoolers present gave a chorus of affirmatives before splitting off into groups as they snacked - the four boys pounced on the video games, Melanie and Kira went off to chat (the former filling the latter in with all the recent goings-on at school) and watch videos online, and Marcus and Sam mostly just sat off to the side quietly, occasionally bouncing between Kira and Zane to see what the two were doing.

The party took over the TV for a movie when the pizza came, though once that round of food was gone, Keith got impatient so they went straight to cake and presents. His impatience was karmicly rewarded when half of Zane's present (aside from a new video game) was an athletic cup. There was much laughter and teasing for several minutes after that was opened. (Kira's gift from Zane included no gags as it was a very pretty necklace and a nice fashion belt.)

Eventually the younger teens got picked up by their parents until it was just Sam, the two McKenzies, and the three Sunes left. Officially, Zane was not expecting to stay the night like had been common the past five months, but there was definitely a sense that both he and Kira weren't ready to split, the two of them having become rather cuddly after presents had been opened. Eventually, Marcus and Sam got up to leave, and before Zane could get up from beneath Kira, his older brother flicked a small, square packet at him, earning quite the flustered reaction.

"Figured you didn't bring one since I was supposed to bring you home, but this is simpler, no?" the Manetric teased, leaving his little brother (and his Arcanine girlfriend) sputtering slightly as the Electrike was left to weather the dangerously warning glare of Mr. Sune.

Marcus and Sam left, leaving the remaining four deathly silent for several long moments, before Kira finally said "Don't worry, I don't think we'll be needing it - I'd already be feeling something if we would," from her position in Zane's lap.

---

The next week, Kira accompanied her brother to school on the very last day of the school year to take final exams under the supervision of various teachers and staff. She still wasn't allowed to take the exams with the other students - which didn't entirely sit well with her, being at school and not being able to socialize at least a little - but after having spent an entire semester just doing what the administration said to do, she didn't protest as she took a side room off the counselor's office as her exam room for the day.

When lunchtime came around, the golden Vulpix just pulled out her lunchbox with a sigh, ready to eat alone, though before she was two bites into her sandwich, Zane and Melanie barged on in to her test room to chat and keep her company while they could - not that there was an incredible amount of talking until after most of lunch had been consumed.

"Anyway, did you hear back from Juan at the pool yet? I got an e-mail last night." Melanie asked.

Kira nodded, finishing her mouthful first. "Yeah, I got one last night, too; he said I'm through the application phase and can come to the first lifeguard training tomorrow if I want."

The Fennekin squeed and reached over to give a bouncy hug to the Vulpix. "Yaaaay me too! Won't it be fun lifeguarding together all summer? Well, mainly the together part, I hear lifeguarding in general is a drag if you don't have something or someone to entertain you."

"Wait, last night?" Zane tilted his head, slightly confused. "I thought you already had something lined up... At the public library or something?"

"Yeah, seems like a really cool intern-y thing with the public records historian."

Melanie sat back in her chair. "Wait... So... Are you not gonna take the lifeguarding thing?"

Kira's faced scrunched up a bit. "I'm honestly not sure yet... Daddy made each of us apply for three part-time jobs since of course the job market is kinda shot right now, so trying for three would increase the chances of getting one - I just wasn't thinking I would get two accepted. I mean, they're both part-time, and they don't even really overlap time-wise: the lifeguarding would be during the day and the library would be during the evening, I had at least planned that out. But still..."

"That's essentially a full-time job," Zane completed, sounding a little forlorn. "You'll be really busy."

They were silent for a moment. Melanie then ventured "Well... At least the lifeguarding would a fairly easy thing to drop out of if things got too much, right?"

Kira shook her head with a weak chuckle - she couldn't say no to her best friend's puppy-dog eyes. "No, that wouldn't be too hard I guess."

The Fennekin gave a quiet, happy hum before asking "If that's your job situation, what about Keith?"

"He got a job at TVGZ," Zane answered.

"Also known to the general public as "The Video Game Zone"," Kira explained, seeing Melanie's quizzical look. "He's over the moon about it, obviously."

"Ah! Well, I would guess so! That 'pix basically lives and breathes video games. Outside of his battles, of course," the Fennekin said, directing the latter statement toward Zane. "You guys gonna do the same thing this summer as you did the past few summers?"

"Yup, we'll be training with the South County Scrappers again in the youth league. I'm hoping we get to participate in the weekend tournament at the summer festival again - would love to defend our title - but that'll definitely depend more on Keith's work schedule."

"And what are you gonna do while Keith and Kira are working?"

"Well, I was thinking of just working out more, though Kira suggested I try out being a coaching assistant, helping some of the high schoolers teach the little kids in those weeklong camps or whatever..."

"I think you'd be good at it!" the golden Vulpix affirmed.

Zane shrugged. "I'm not the best with kids, I think, but it could be worth a shot. You gonna finish that?" he added, motioning to Kira's half-eaten bag of grapes. She rolled her eyes, shaking her head with a smile, and handed it over.

---

"Come on, come on... Pick up... Ah!"

"Hi Zane!"

"Hi Kira! How was your week?"

"Ugh! Busy as always... I'm glad you called I've been meaning to get a hold of you; heard a bit about training this week from Keith, but it's not the same as hearing your side of things. Sorry it's been over a week."

"Well, that's alright... I assume your internship is going well? Keith says he and your dad sometimes have to wait half an hour to a full hour for you to disengage from the library."

"Oh, haha, yeah it's great! I'm definitely hooked. You wouldn't think that the archives are used all that much, but there's always at least one request or task a day, and there's certainly always more stuff to add and sort into the archives. You wouldn't imagine some of the cool little historical gems that are just waiting to be rediscovered!"

"Very cool."

"Yeah. Oh! But I should add I wasn't actually at the library this evening. I had my postpartum checkup today, just to see how my body's holding up after the birth and all. I'm basically back down to my weight last summer! Which explains why I feel so good in my bathing suit, hehheh. Everything else seems to be in good order, too, which is nice, no real signs of lasting stress or postpartum depression."

"That's good! You know, I still haven't seen you in that two-piece without the baby bump... You know."

"Well, I have a specific uniform I wear for lifeguarding, so I haven't worn that suit since spring break."

"I guess - I still haven't seen you in either suit though."

"True enough."

"I know you've probably had more than enough pool time with your lifeguarding, so no need for any swimsuit situation, but if you could wrangle out an afternoon or something next week, I'd love to spend some time just with you. I get to see you at Keith's and my weekend meets, but I'm missing all the one-on-one time this we had this past school year."

"I know, me too... I'm just soooo busy, I'm absolutely exhausted most of the time I'm not at one of the two jobs. I'd love to have a day from lifeguarding off but I'm not sure how easy that would be, especially since we've already had one sophomore flake out and another kid not logging full hours, and I really enjoy all my afternoon and evening time at the library..."

"I know... Though afternoons certainly are better for me since mornings and middays are training with the Scrappers."

"Right, right... It's been a rough summer for scheduling. I'll see what I can do - probably not much for next week, but maybe asking in advance for later might be easier."

"Yeah... Well, it was great hearing your voice. We should try to talk more regularly."

"Oh yeah, we definitely should. Love you Chris!"

"Love you too, Kira, talk to ya later."

"Okay, bye hun!"