ılı.lıllılı.ıllı.

ᴺᵒʷ ᵖˡᵃʸᶦⁿᵍ; [ Everlasting Summer by Seycara Orchestra ]

1:10 ——◦———— -4:22

↠ⁿᵉˣᵗ ˢᵒⁿᵍ ↺ ʳᵉᵖᵉᵃᵗ ⊜ ᵖᵃᵘˢᵉ

———

-Your POV-

     Option to happiness number two requires some research on the target.

     I promise that it's not as strange and creepy as it seems, but... one of the only other leads I have is that he's striving to become stronger above all else — and for a reason. Gladion mentioned that he was doing all his training to protect something or possibly someone close to his heart — a heart of ice, might I add.

     If I managed to figure out some personal connections he had, I could ask the family members in question what he liked to do, what he liked to eat, and things like that.

     "Are you alright, (Y/N)?" A soft, timid voice broke me out of my thoughts.

     "Sorry, Lillie." I grinned sheepishly, apologizing to the girl. I was shopping in the bustling town of Konikoni City with the girl out of compassion for her, since every time she went to an apparel store, she always returned empty-handed. The poor dear was far too shy to wear anything she even thought about buying, so never purchased anything.

     Eventually, I convinced her to allow me to go with her on her outings, helping her try on clothes and ultimately bringing them to the cash register without bursting into tears.

     "What's bothering you? I promise to try and help in any way I can." She places a hand on my shoulder comfortingly.

     "I doubt you know him, but there's this guy..." I trail off, realizing how that sounded.

     Before I could revise my words, Lillie clasped her hands together, vivid jade eyes blazing with excitement. "Who's the lucky boy?" She inquires, probably anticipating a love story.

     "It's not like that!" I insist, gaze wandering the isle we were shopping in, searching for a distraction. In the end, I exhale and reluctantly admit. "His name is Gladion-"

     I pause as her eyes dim, a frown replacing her petite smile. She whispers, "Ah, yes, I, um, I know him." My fingers froze on the hanging racks lined with colorful shirts when she continued. "He's my older brother."

     "You have siblings?" I squeal in astonishment, loud enough for many of the other shoppers to hear, much to my embarrassment. How could I have missed the similarities between the two? When you looked past their opposite personalities, they so obviously resembled each other, I was ashamed for not seeing it before.

     "Just Gladion... I have no other siblings." She explains quietly, returning a dress to its spot on a shelf. "But we haven't talked face-to-face in quite a while."

     "I had no idea," I shake my head, incredulous.

     "Um, well... Mother doesn't like it when I talk about him, so... um..."

     I look at her expectantly, but she doesn't elaborate — her saddened gaze signaling family drama that I wasn't supposed to shove my nose into. What did Gladion do? He clearly didn't live with his family, since he has his own room rented... So did he run away?

     "Oh, (Y/N), do you happen to pick out your own outfits?"

     Quickly, I nod to confirm. "Of course!"

     "I thought as much... you seem like a professional, contrasting when standing beside me. You see, I always wear whatever my mother tells me to wear, and... oh, but here I go rambling again. My deepest apologies." She sighs and turns back to the gorgeous skirts on display, modeled by mannequins in the front window.

     A stretch of silence passes between us, and I only watch Lillie miserably as her voice descends to barely above a whisper. Yet another person who needs light in their life — and they're from the same family. I wonder if that says anything about the parenting at her home...

     In a lighter tone, Lillie eventually says, "Do you want his number?"

     "Why?" I flinch — imagining Gladion accusing me of stalking him when I randomly showed up and texted him with his number that he didn't give me without asking or warning him in any way.

     "Maybe you could get through to him. Gladion always ignores me when I attempt to message him." She smiles sadly.

     My next stage of this operation was to text him. It was for both of their sakes, Lillie and Gladion.

- - - Later - - -

     "Send, send!" I stare intently at my phone's screen, chanting in hopes that he'd receive the short and sweet note I quickly typed up the moment I flopped onto my bed in the motel. Lillie gave me his email and Discord in addition to his phone number, so I made sure to write a little letter to each one.

     After letting my words fly through the internet, I let my partner, Rowlet out of its Poke ball. The beige, grass-type owl fluttered to my side as I lay on my back on the mattress. It nested into the plain, crisp covers with a happy little chirp.

     When my gaze returns to my phone, I slowly sigh when I see that he left my messages on read with no awaited response. I tap on Discord and see that Gladion hasn't called me back yet either.

     I'm just not sure anymore.

     My heart is racing faster than a plane, the beat off course and wild, breath rapid and uncontrollable. I close my eyes and believe. Sure, my second tactic failed tragically... but I still had one idea remaining, and it was a bit more despairing and lacking in logic.

     I would ask him out on a date.

———

Author's Note:

Another Sunday, another update for you, my reader! I hope you enjoyed this weekend's update, and please feel free to give me any feedback — it'd be appreciated!

Also, if you didn't already know, I'll be adding song recommendations at the beginning of each chapter — it'll be a song that has a similar vibe to the update. Thanks!

Word count: 994 words