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He was drowning, grasping at the water all around him as if that would help matters at all. His new body was particularly ill-suited for aquatics, he thought pointlessly, resisting the growing urge to gasp for air. Takumi had always made fun of him in the past for being a water pokemon that couldn't breathe underwater. Of course, it wasn't Kai's fault that he didn't have gills. Stupid fishbrained Takumi. Just as his vision started to darken, Kai could make out a hand just at the surface of the water; it was reaching for him, those immaculate fingers beckoning him closer. He knew that thin wrist all too well, knew its owner was like poison to him. Kai didn't hesitate.
He reached for Raja's hand.
A week earlier, Kai had heard Raja speaking with Takumi. "I don't think your friend likes me very much..." she complained.
Takumi suppressed a snicker. "What makes you say that?" Kai stiffened as he recognized that they were talking about him and leaned back a bit to stay out of sight behind a pillar.
"Well, he turns white and runs off as soon as he sees me. Is he scared of me?" Her beautiful face was marred by a frown (so Kai thought) as she added, "Maybe he thinks I look repulsive."
"I really don't think that's the ca--"
"Ugh, what a jerk!" Raja interrupted Takumi's attempts to reassure her and stamped her foot on the ground. "If he has a problem with me, at least he should come out and say it honestly!"
At this, Kai stepped out from behind the pillar. "No, I...!!" he started, but at the sight of Raja's eyes focused on him, he reddened and started to stammer. "I... that is... erm..." Raja's head tilted to one side and there was a curious look on her face. She wanted him to continue, to tell her that she wasn't repulsive. He longed to grant her wish, and yet something about that look frightened him to the core. Without warning, Kai turned and ran off despite her ensuing protests.
"I don't know why you like her, anyway," Takumi said to him bluntly, much later.
"Is this your idea of cheering me up?" Kai looked up. He'd found a nice, secluded spot outside where he could sit and think in private, but of course he couldn't hide from his erstwhile best friend.
"Not at all. I mean it. She's a real psycho." The Kingdra-turned-human turned, seeming to look down on his friend. "To each their own, I guess." Takumi stretched his arms above his head, happy to be outside even if he wouldn't say so. The whole group had spent the last several hours indoors to escape the rain. There was a slight mist in the area still, but the storm had passed on to find other victims to torment. "I won't warn you about her again, you understand. I won't be blamed if you fall for someone just based on outer appearances." Takumi said suddenly, his tone serious.
"Takumi, you're starting to scare me. Raja is a nice girl! I know, I've seen her!" Kai bit his lip, not wanting to argue with his friend over a girl--not again. And yet he couldn't help it. Perhaps he didn't know Raja that well, but he at least knew that she wasn't what Takumi said she was.
"I know she is." the Kingdra sighed. Takumi thought of her then, that bright face, that kind smile--then, the look of pain on his older brother's face when he thought no one was looking, the way Hajime clutched his arm when he looked at Raja sometimes. There was an untold story there. Takumi would never want to pry into his brother's life (it's hardly worth the time, he thought) but he'd make judgements about it nonetheless. To him, it was impossible to separate the two truths: that Raja was gentle, and yet she was also the most violently destructive being that Takumi knew. That Kai couldn't see the second part would probably be his downfall, Takumi thought.
Well, it probably served him right, anyway.
The storm touched down again when they reached the next route, much to the annoyance to everyone who wasn't a grass pokemon. The sky darkened to the point where it was difficult to tell which direction they were headed, especially without the aid of the stars, so the group decided to stop for the evening. Julian created a makeshift house out of ice. It solved the problem of shelter, but it was made of ice, after all. Blaze, for one, couldn't handle the cold and left to find a good tree to hide under. The ice house was perfect for Kai, however. Despite being in human form, he found that he still kept his penguin temperature biases.
"...left...argument..."
Kai looked up and saw Takumi and Hajime discussing something serious in hushed whispers. When next to each other, the two of them really did look like brothers. The family resemblance was rather striking. It was rare that Hajime looked so serious though, so Kai was wondering what they were talking about when just then, Takumi walked over. "Hey, have you seen Raja?"
"W-why are you asking me?" Kai asked, blushing.
"Obviously because you're always staring at her," Kazuya said from across the floor. He was huddled on the floor next to Julian, trying very hard to not look like he was freezing to death--his attempt to look cool didn't quite work, however. For his part, Kai was rather irritated that even a mere acquaintance had noticed his fascination.
"Is there something wrong with that?" Kai snapped. He didn't understand why everyone seemed hell-bent on teasing him over his crush. Could they not themselves see how adorable she was? As he looked around, Kai couldn't help but notice Julian gazing at him. "What is it?" he demanded.
Julian didn't say anything. He merely stared, his big green eyes filled with an unvoiced question. Come to think of it, Kai couldn't remember ever hearing Julian say a word. The snover stared at Kai for a while, then wordlessly pointed outside the tent to the west. "Go," he seemed to be saying. No one else seemed interested in going out to find Raja, so Kai swallowed his gynophobia and went out into the storm.
The wind howled outside as it blew through the trees. The rain came down in torrents and it wasn't long before Kai lost his way, his clothing utterly drenched. How could Raja be out here like this, he thought, feeling more and more worried by the second. As he began to run, he felt himself slam into the tree trunks again and again, pain echoing in his bones. Strange, he thought. Even if it was dark and stormy, Kai had always been well-coordinated. Why did he feel so clumsy all of a sudden?
All at once it dawned at him: he was confused. Terribly confused. And it had been caused by an external force--an attack.
His battle-worn mind switched into fight mode and he focused his energy, snapping quickly out of confusion. Kai's mind instantly cleared and he realized he was heading in the wrong direction.
"Tch." He heard someone click their tongue, heard it very clearly, the sound dissonant against the whistling winds. "Damn, I thought you were Takumi. All you water boys look the same."
And then there she was: Raja. She stood before him then, the orbs on her head glowing and a hostile, menacing look on her face. He'd never seen her like this before. Just as he was about to switch out of battle mode and ask her to come back to the ice house, he sensed something incoming--quickly jumped to the right just as a bolt of lightning struck the exact spot he'd just been standing in. Of course--Raja was a Lanturn. A water pokemon that was also half electric. This was a problem. According to Takumi, Lorelei hadn't used Raja that much in battle. Conflictingly, Kai had also heard from Hajime that Raja was a very powerful pokemon with an incredibly offensive moveset. Hajime had no idea why Raja had been retired from use in battle, though Lorelei always kept her in the party.
Kai knew now that Thunderbolt and Confuse Ray were both part of that her moveset. He'd bring her home afterwards--for now, she had to be pacified. Perhaps if he hadn't already been on the offensive, he wouldn't have come to this conclusion first. Perhaps he would have tried harder to reason with her, to speak to her gently or even run away in embarrassment like he had before.
But for now, in Kai's mind all that was before him was a powerful opponent. He couldn't afford to lose. He ran towards her then, in a zigzag pattern to avoid her electric attacks. Electricity was one of the few things Kai was weak to and he couldn't afford to let her make a hit. He cast an Aqua Ring on himself as he did so to protect himself, and came at her with Metal Claw. Raja deftly jumped to avoid this attack, landing on a branch of a nearby tree. How was she already so used to her new body?
Raja began to laugh now, shooting another Confuse Ray at Kai before jumping down from the tree. He tried to roll out of the way, but it just barely grazed him and he felt his mind start to cloud once more. As he stumbled, he felt himself get hit with an electric attack, but it didn't hurt as he expected it would.
When he found that he couldn't move his limbs as efficiently, the horror set in: she'd used Thunder Wave, a paralyzing attack. Kai could still move, but he felt sluggish. Raja shot a Thunderbolt his way, which he just barely dodged. He ran off to the east, ducking behind a tree as he tried to recover and listen for her location.
"This feels nostalgic!" she called out to him. Raja was getting closer, jumping through the trees looking for him. All he could make out of her was her glow, the shiny orbs that had so attracted him to her at the beginning. "I paralyzed Hajime before, too, but he's not as resilient as you, I guess~"
"Why would you do that to your own teammate?" Kai cupped his mouth to make it sound as if his voice was coming from a bit farther away. When a bolt of lightning hit a nearby tree, he felt immensely glad that he'd done so.
"You know what, Kai, I don't like it when things don't go my way. It's not fair, you know. All I want is for people to be a little nice to me."
She was right above him now--he could feel it. Without replying, he used Aqua Tail, knocking her from the tree. That wouldn't be nearly sufficient, he thought, and hit her with a Metal Claw as she fell. Raja fired back with a Thunder Bolt, which hit Kai squarely in the chest. It wouldn't be enough to knock him out, though--this he knew. She hit the ground then, and he quickly lunged at her. They scuffled on the ground a bit, but he used Flail, the power of the attack boosted by his low health, and soon Raja was still. She stopped fighting back. He'd won. The lust for battle quickly drained out of him as he realized just what he'd done. "Raja... Raja!" his voice was nervous as he shook her by the shoulders.
"Nn..." She awoke, but the orbs on her head had stopped glowing. "Kai? Wha... What's going on?" Raja's brow furrowed for a few moments as she recalled what had just transpired between them. "Oh... I see. I snapped again."
"You... snapped?"
"Lately, all of my anger and sadness just bursts out at once. I can't control it..." Her eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry if I hurt you... So sorry..."
She sounded so weak, he thought, and cringed knowing that he'd caused it. "Why are you so sad?" For he realized then that even when she was smiling, she was a little sad. He'd been so dazzled by how cute she was that he hadn't bothered looking underneath the surface--hadn't seen what tormented her.
"I just really want someone to need me... Takumi told me to stay away from you, and I got so upset because you're the one who's been avoiding me and being mean to me..."
"Y-you're wrong!"
"I'm wrong?"
"I ... Well, I wasn't trying to be mean to you. I just don't know how to deal with girls... Especially..."
"'Especially'?"
"...especially cute ones..." he finished, feeling lame. To his complete and utter surprise and confusion, Raja let out a sigh of relief at his words. "What?"
"You don't hate me..." she said, sounding pleased. "I thought you hated me."
"I don't...hate you."
Raja drifted off into a peaceful sleep then, and Kai couldn't get any more answers out of her. Amazed at how comfortable he was in her presence despite how she'd attacked him, Kai scooped her up into his arms and carefully carried her back to the house.
Raja pulled him out out of the water, dried him off when he came out shivering. They sat in companionable silence for a while. "You know, the first time I blacked out, I attacked Hajime. I broke his arm. I think he's never forgiven me for it."
"I don't think that Hajime is the type to hold a grudge," Kai replied, meaning every word. "You're an important member of the team, after all."
"You're important, too, Kai."
"No way, Takumi can hold his own--"
She laughed and linked her arm through his, prompting Kai to turn bright red. "Your existence is important to me, Kai." Raja turned then and smiled at him. In his heart, Kai thought it was probably the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen.
『TITLE』 battlelust
『RATING』 PG-13
『CHARACTERS』 kai + raja, plus a bit of takumi, hajime, kazuya, and julian
『WORDCOUNT』 2,286
『NOTES』 for seisai! late birthday present? haha.
『SUMMARY』 how can a person be so gentle and yet so violent at once? and how can someone else love that person?