The next day was a pure torture for the brunet. He was constantly in an absent state, staring into the void and wasn't listening to Rhythmi, who was trying to understand what the hell happened. But that only made him even more silent and withdrawn.

- Eh Kell, what's wrong? You're spacing out quite often....And where is Keith, this time? It's not his naptime, as far as I know...

The boy felt tears well up in his eyes as his breath hitched. His hands began to shake and his vision blurred. He had understood what he felt since last night: guilt.

- / He's not here. Keith is not here. He's mad at you. For Arceus's sake, you're an absolute moron Kellyn! It's your fault! All your fault! I'm sorry...Sorrysorrysorrysorry....!/

The teenager who was immersed in his dark thoughts jumped violently when Miss April placed a red object in front of him. It was an official Styler. Oh yes that's true. They were studying the "Voicemail" feature today.

He took the device cautiously and turned toward his blonde friend who was simply excited.

- Voicemail! Voicemail! Rhythmi here, can you hear me? If you can hear me, hit your Styler twice!

- <...E-Even without the S-Styler I can hear you p-perfectly....>

-...Oh. So we have to move away from each other, then!

Kellyn got up from his chair, nearly smacking into his desk along the way, and started to go toward the front door of his class. When suddenly, it swung open revealing Mr. Kincaid who seemed to be in a VERY bad mood.

- Please excuse my intrusion Miss April. I would like to speak with Keith for 5 minutes.

The students looked at each other incredulously as the red-hair went to meet the man. Her gaze was indescribable.

- Keith is absent today. But, may I know what you want with him, Mr Kincaid?

- We found out this morning that our stock of Stylers was stolen. And you say he's been absent since this morning?

Immediately understanding what the teacher was implying, Kellyn and Rhythmi were the first to react.

- Mr Kincaid! Keith may be a prankster, but he's not a thief!

- < Aren't you the one who t-told me not to suspect anyone w-without concrete proof?!>

Everyone was surprised to see the brunet lose his temper so brutally, to the point that even the adult even took a step back, as if he had sensed something dangerous. However, he quickly put himself together.

-...Maybe. But our Stylers are still missing.

- So, I'll take care of getting them back. And please, stop wrongfully accusing my students.

The woman glared at the man, daring him to add any comment. The latter made a small tssking sound before leaving the classroom, followed closely by Miss April and the other students eager to help.

- Come on Kell! We need to find those Stylers and innocent Keith! Let's search the main building first, and if there's a problem, Voicemail, okay?

- < T-That's work. H-Hopefully we'll find him before Gel Man.>

The one with golden eyes giggled for a moment, giving a faint smile before going out to start her research. The brunet was left alone for a moment, and took a deep breath.

- / Let's go./

The teenager searched the building from top to bottom, searching everywhere with such ardor that one would forget the vegetative state in which he was 20 minutes earlier. He internally insulted some of his comrades at times because of the adrenaline, by the way.

He was upstairs when the official Styler's alarm jolted him somewhat violently out of his torpor.

- Voicemail! Voicemail! This is Rhythmi! Meet me quickly at the main doors! I found something!

- /Keith?/

The brunet, animated by a new hope, joined his friend in a rush, completely forgetting about the rule to not run in the hallways. But, he didn't care! The redhead was more important than that stupid rule.

- < Rhythmi!>

- Oh Kellyn! Over here! Janice found something!

The boy was a little disappointed, but he didn't say anything about it. He contented himself simply by greeting the school keeper with a wave of his hand.

- Hello my children, I wanted to ask you...Have any of you lost your Styler by any chance?

The teenagers looked at each other for a moment before the blonde answered:

- No why?

- Oh, because I found one of them in the yard. And I was just wondering who it belonged to, that's all.

- Do you think that...?

- < P-Possible.>

The student Operator smiled before turning back to the woman.

- We're investigating a Styler theft. So it's quite possible that it was our thief who lost it.

- A thief? Good Heavens!

- < D-Don't worry, we're taking care of it!>

The elderly lady gave a hint of a smile, and wished the students good luck as they went outside. Immediately Rhythmi's sharp eyes noticed a green object lying in the grass, so she rushed at it.

- Hey, Kellyn! Look at!

- < A-A second one?>

- And yet another one over there!

She pointed to the stairs leading toward the school gate, and indeed another device was there, abandoned.

- That leads toward the school's exit, right? I have a bad feeling about this....

But before the brunet could answer, a scream echoed, startling the two friends.

- Hey! COME BACK HERE!

- This voice...!

- /Keith....!/

The boy didn't wait for his comrade, immediately heading towards the redhead's voice. Good, so she wouldn't be able to see him smiling like an idiot. Kellyn landed in the small gap between the gate and the yard, and that's where he saw him. Keith, in all his glory, standing in the way of a man who was holding a whole bunch of Stylers in his arms.

- Huf huf! You could have waited for me Kell!

The teenager turned around seeing the blonde completely out of breath. He gave her a sorry smile before indicating the direction of his find.

-! Keith! There you are, you stupid idiot! We've been looking everywhere for you!

The oldest of the three finally noticed the presence of his two comrades but he didn't take his eyes off the man.

- Come and help me! This man took our Stylers!

As the last members of the trio began to approach, the panicked thief ran into the crimson-eyed teen who suddenly lost his balance. The brunet's body moved on it's own and went to meet his friend's. He caught him, not without difficulty, even nearly falling because of their difference in body size. Keith gave him a grateful look and used his shoulder to straighten himself.

- Thanks, Kell.

While the youngest gave him a reassured but sad little smile, a scream of terror echoed. It seemed like the man ran into the tree, and a Slackoth fell on him.

- It's heavy! I can't see! Help!

- Tss! Good riddance...

Looks like the redhead is colder than usual today. Feeling that he had some responsibility for his friend's behavior, Kellyn gently headbutted him.

- < D-Don't say that. E-Even if he did something wrong, he needs help. And a Ranger must always be ready to help, right?>

The older one remained silent as he watched the brunet capture the creature and then release it. That's when Miss April appeared, and started scolding the man.

The teal-eyed one then resumed his place next to Keith before tugging slightly on one of his sleeves. When the teen turned his head towards him, he raised his hands to speak except that the redhead prevented him by placing his forefinger against his lips. Gesture that made Kellyn blush, by the way.

- Not now. Later, alright?

The younger one nodded slowly, then concentrated a little more on the exchange between the two adults. A few minutes later, the 4 of them had gone to the teachers' room, and listened in religious silence to the principal's congratulations and encouragement. Even if there were 2 of them who were grumbling lowly, namely Mr Kincaid and Keith.

- Kellyn, Rhythmi. You both shone like gems today. It reminds me of an old word from Almia folklore: "Vatonage". It means "Awakening the Light eclipsed by Darkness".

The teenagers looked at each other, confused but said nothing, leaving the principal to continue his speech. Once all of this was over, the students returned to their class in order to finish their day.

The bell finally rang a few hours later, allowing access to the students' much-appreciated free time. Gathering his courage, Kellyn dragged his friend outside to a isolated corner so they could talk in peace.

- So...What do you want, Kellyn?

The redhead's cold comment made the brunet freeze and bit his lip.

- / Serve you right, you imbecile..../

The youngest took a deep drag before starting.

-...S-Sorry. I'm sorry.

The older teen's face contorted in shock. He couldn't believe his ears! Kellyn...Was talking?!

- I'm sorry. I-It's my fault...It was completely exaggerated....I-I...I shouldn't have lost my temper l-like that...I-I shouldn't have slapped you. No....Not e-even snapping at you, in the first place. You...Y-You did nothing wrong. You just wanted to help me...I-I...I understand if you don't want to f-forgive me. Who would want a friend who would snap at them over n-nothing...?...I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry....You...You can hit me, if that makes you feel better..

As he continued his tirade, the voice of the teal-eyed one began to be interrupted by sobs and sniffles. He could barely contain his tears, as his cheeks flushed scarlet with emotion. When he stopped talking, he bowed, his head low and avoided the other's burning gaze.

A heavy silence fell, making the brunet very uncomfortable. But he didn't complain, knowing that this situation was his fault. He felt a hand land firmly on his shoulder and pull him up. Kellyn kept his eyes lowered, thus not seeing the redhead's gaze, but he still saw him raise his hand.

By instinct the youngest's body tried to get into a defensive position except that he tensed his muscles so he wouldn't move and closed his eyes, waiting for the pain.

Pain that never happened. Instead, it was a soft, almost tender touch he felt on his cheek. He hastily opened his eyes, and stared at the crimson-eyed one, confused and lost.

-...K-Keith...?

- Shh. Shut up, Kellyn. Do you...Do you even realize what you just said?

The brunet tilted his head slightly to the side, not seeing where the redhead was coming from.

- You slapped me, that's a fact. But that doesn't mean I have to slap you back! What is this logic?

-...A-An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth...?

- NO!!

Kellyn curled up slightly under Keith's wrath who seemed to be searching for his words.

-...Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you...But tell me. You don't know anything about human relations, or what? Because your reactions are a bit extreme.

The teenager froze and turned his head, taking refuge in silence. A few seconds passed before the older boy started to panic.

- W-Wait....Y-You really don't know anything about it?

The youngest shook his head slowly and mumbled in a low voice:

-....A-Apart from my parents and my l-little sister....I-I never had...H-human relationships.....The other c-children found me weird. A-Adults didn't like me very much n-either....P-Pokemons were those who taught me e-everything....In the end...Rhythmi and you are my first friendly human relationship outside of m-my f-family...

The redhead stood there, stunned for a moment, registering what he had just heard.

-....Are you serious?

The brunet nodded before returning his shameful but sincere gaze to his interlocutor.

- This explains that.... In fact, you're just extremely socially awkward. At least, with humans. I had noticed that you had an easier time approaching a Pokemon than one of our comrades... But I blamed that on shyness. Guess I was completely off the mark!

Keith facepalmed himself, growling at his own stupidity. His friend was more or less a human who reacted like a Pokemon. Much more fearful, cautious, wild but also affectionate, loyal and impulsive. No wonder he hit him in the end.

- And on top of that, I tend to spell it out! I'm such an idiot!

Poor Kellyn no longer knew what to do, he had the impression of having done something stupid, again.

-...Forgive me Kell. It's not your fault. I was just too stupid to see that you functioned differently.

- B-But...!-

- No "But". *sigh*...We both have our faults in this story. Except that now I understand that it was just a big misunderstanding.

The redhead sighed before sliding the hand that was cupping the youngest's cheek into the brown hair. He then put their foreheads together, causing Kellyn to overheat slightly.

-...Listen to me carefully, okay? We started off in the wrong way, and that gave us this sticky situation.

The younger boy listened carefully, his pupils trembling slightly.

- You are you, I am me. We both work differently, sure, but that shouldn't stop us from getting along.

Keith cracked a smile, but he wasn't mocking or disgusted. Just...Sincere. The teenager found himself deeply troubled.

- We forget everything, and we start over?

Kellyn blinked for a moment before a shy little smile appeared on his lips.

-...W-We start over.

The two stared at each other before bursting into laughter. An innocent, crystal-clear laugh, breaking through the unease that had set in. The oldest was the first to regain his composure.

- My name is Keith Dazzle. Nice to meet you!

The brunet chuckled lightly as he tucked one of his locks behind his ear.

-....Kellyn Gungnir. Pleased to meet you.

-----------------------

Kincaid: *accusing Keith of stealing*

Rhythmi: *restraining Kellyn* No Kell! I know how much you want to kill him, and frankly so do I. But....I don't have the money to bail us out of jail!!

--------------------

Kellyn: *apologize by talking for the first time*

Keith:.....K-Kellyn, please. I-I accept your apology, so please stop crying....! *absolutely loves Kellyn's voice but also feels extremely guilty for making him cry*