[Edited]

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To you it seemed like sometimes people just didn't know how to appreciate sleep. Camilla certainly didn't; barging into the room you had just received and waking you up when you finally had a chance to rest longer than usually. "Y/N, I had no idea you got a room here! Why didn't you tell me?! Actually, I have something to tell you!"

You groaned at the sudden outburst of your best friend and turned around, burying your face into the warm pillow. Of course, it's not like you thought that would allow you to fall asleep again. The caramel haired female rushed over to your bed and jumped on top of you, probably forgetting that the two of you weren't children anymore. "Come on, don't be like that! Get up!"

"O-Okay fine, just-... I can't breathe!" You tried struggling your way out of Camilla's grasp and almost chocked. She got off of you right in time though, preventing that from happening. Small coughs escaped your lips as you sat up, clearing your throat as soon as you were done. The look you flashed the female wasn't exactly a friendly one. She should know that you'd get grumpy if waken up the wrong way and yet she still-...

"So, what is so important that you had to wake me up?" Yawning, you stood up from the bed in order to walk over to the closet. Choosing what to wear was no hard task, since you were obviously going to wear your knight attire. You slipped out of your night gown and into what had become your everyday clothes before returning to Camilla who seemed to be nervously twiddling her fingers.

"You will not believe what I did." The chestnut brown eyed girl started, causing you to roll your eyes as you expected to be told something dumb. So you were surprised to hear what she actually had to say: "I confessed to and even kissed Doni!"

"What?! For real? When?!" You almost chocked again, this time at your own spit. You needed to hit your chest a bit in order to recover. When had things escalated this quickly?! And Camilla was able to initiate it with someone like Doni? It was truly surprising, so you let the female tell you all the details while the two of you walked down the corridors.

Apparently, you were going to have breakfast with the rest of the princess candidates as well as a few knights. The others had been doing this ever since day one at the castle, and now that you had a room where to live in here too, you could freely join them.

A large table was fancily set in the dining hall, all girls already on their seats. Doni and Aaron were also in the room, the dark blue haired male greeted you immediately, you returning the gesture. The way the blond knight avoided looking your way when you arrived didn't go unnoticed by you and neither did his red face.

The only places that weren't occupied yet were the ones on Aaron's right and on Doni's left, since they were sitting one across the other. You rushed over to the dark haired male and quickly seated yourself next to him so that Camilla would have no other choice but to sit near Doni.

"Good morning. Did you sleep well?" Aaron asked, causing you to face him and lock eyes. Your gaze was soon deflected to his spiky hair which he had in the open, considering that one should take off headwear at the table. You didn't let yourself get too distracted by it and replied. "Morning.~ I did, it was really comfortable."

"I'm glad." That was the last thing the male said before Mrs. Jenny and three other maids brought the food. There were all kinds of things. They varied from moomoo-milk and cereals to bread and countless types of jam. The four women left as soon as everything was on the wooden table, and that made you notice that there were four men guarding the room. One of them happened to be Myron.

"Doni, can you pass me the Rawst berry jam please?" The chestnut brown eyed female sitting across you asked the male next to her. Having snapped out of his thoughts, Doni reached for the jar a bit too nervously and passed it to Camilla. She thanked him and somehow kept a conversation going without it getting awkward.

"Hey, have you heard from Camilla?" Aaron had leaned over to you a bit, whispering those words to you. The breath that hit your ear was a little ticklish, it even made your face redden slightly. "You know, the thing that happened between the two of them."

"Did Doni tell you about it too? I heard as well." You whispered back, gaining a suspicious glance from your best friend. She left it only at that, returning to chat with the blue eyed knight again. Aaron seemed to grin for some reason. "I've never given it too much thought, but don't you think they would suit each other quite well?"

"Yeah, they'd make a pretty cute couple." You giggled. It was a bit of a surprise to hear that kind of thing from Aaron, but that just meant that you were learning more and more things about him. The two of you remained on this topic, even if it made you feel a little like those aunts that like to gossip.

After having been called out by Camilla, complaining that one shouldn't whisper when in company, the two of you needed to change the subject. She was right of course, so you and the dark haired knight went back to eating and talking normally.

The maids had returned to clean up after everyone had finished eating. The princess candidates and Doni went to either training grounds or simply outside while Aaron was leading you to somewhere. "Where's Lucario?"

"He's outside with your Lucario. They seem to actually get along pretty well." The blue eyed young man replied. After that you asked him where the two of you were going. "Tomorrow's already the start of the grand mission, and you still need to meet Rouen and Kai from our division. We're heading to their rooms."

Before you could even say anything, a small, orange Pokémon came running towards you. It seemed as if the creature was fleeing from something or someone, and when it spotted you and Aaron, it jumped really high, landing right into your arms. Now that it was close, you were able to recognise that it was actually a cute Charmander.

"Whoa there-... Hello little guy." You quickly got a better grip on the fire-type Pokémon, careful not to come in contact with the flame on its tail. Both you and the knight had now stopped in your tracks, and he took a closer look at the creature. "I know you! You're-..."

"What are you doing with my Pokémon?" A sudden, deep voice caused you to look up, only to be greeted by the sight of a very handsome man. His hair was mostly brown, the tips were coloured red though and he had a mullet. His eyes had a rare golden color, but the oddest and probably prettiest part of him was his skin: Unlike everyone else's here at the castle, his skin was a shade or more darker.

"I-It came running in this direction, so I just caught it. I didn't mean to be rude or do anything to it!" You replied nervously, not knowing what exactly to say since the look the man was giving you was a bit scary. The brunet started taking steps towards you, making you notice that he also wore knights clothes. That meant he had to be one of the many working either in the first, second or third division.

"Is that so? Then I must thank you. I was looking for him." The golden eyed male said as soon as he was only two steps away from you, his expression softening. You were about to tell him that it was no big deal - Aaron seemed to have wanted to speak too - when the young man suddenly wrapped his arms around your waist pulling you close to him. Charmander had escaped from you just in time to not get squashed by your bodies. "W-What are-..."

"Thank you, really. You deserve a reward for saving my precious Charmander." The dark skinned man whispered, his deep voice sending shivers down your spine. He held you so close and firmly that your bodies seemed as if they were glued one to another, almost in an uncomfortable way. Actually it wasn't exactly comfortable. "Why don't you come by my room tonight?~"

"That's enough, Kai." Both Aaron and another man that appeared behind the brunet said in unison. So this guy was the first division's Kai you were supposed to meet?! You didn't know how you would describe him. The golden eyed young man pulled away a bit, showing you his poker face. His voice changed too; It was still deep, but sounded as if it had no emotion behind it. He spoke similarly to how Fotula did when she first got here. "I was just kidding."

You stepped back immediately, face red and heart racing due to the nervousness that had built up in that short moment. Aaron stepped to you, wrapping his arm around you as he tried to comfort you. "I'm sorry. Are you alright?" You nodded quickly, ensuring him that it was just unexpected and that there was nothing to worry about.

"I apologise on his behalf. He tends to mix up his work into other things sometimes." The other male that wasn't 'Kai' spoke, gaining your attention. Your eyes travelled to the mentioned man. He also seemed to have golden orbs, only that his right one was covered by a black eyepatch. His hair was raven coloured, his bangs covered most of the right side of his rather attractive face. He as well wore the usual blue knight attire, making him more recognisable.

"Really, it's alright." You waved your hands defensively, feeling more at ease when you felt Aaron's body warmth. It was indeed a different feeling you got from him and when Kai forced himself onto you. You couldn't guess why someone would get so extremely touchy-feely at first meeting though. This other man mentioned something about Kai mixing up work in this situation, so that got you thinking: What exactly is his work? A host perhaps? Since he is fairly attractive, then again, officially he was a knight.

"Yeah, she said she's fine so why are you dramatising so much. It's not like I did her or anything, I barely touched her." The dark skinned young man rolled his eyes, turning his face slightly to the ravenet who simply sighed. He wished Kai hadn't put it that way, since it sounded more wrong than it was supposed to, making you feel embarrassed too.

The Charmander you had held before jumped into his rightful owner's arms, nudging him with its small head. The knight with the eyepatch then placed his right hand on his chest, bowing slightly. "Let us introduce ourselves properly first: My name is Rouen Seiran, and this is my partner, Kai Mitsuhide. We are knights from the first division."

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Y/N L/N, a knight apprentice of division one." You also bowed a little, causing Aaron to retreat his arm. Kai wore an unreadable expression while commenting: "A female knight apprentice? I'm surprised you didn't quit yet." You didn't know if that was supposed to be a compliment of some sort. It certainly did not sound like one.

"We were on our way to the training grounds. Do you two want to do some joint exercises?" Rouen asked, glancing at you and the dark blue haired knight next to you occasionally. Aaron said he'd let you decide, and since you found this to be a good opportunity to get to know your comrades better, you agreed.

"Say, Sir Rouen, is it possible that we met somewhere before?" You couldn't help but ask while the four of you and Charmander were on your way outside. The man with the eyepatch thought about it for a moment before replying. "You are seventeen years old, correct? I am 27, so us being personal acquaintances is rather unlikely."

"Though it is possible that we have met at least once at the academy. Nine years ago and even at the time before that I used to be an official aura expert." The raven haired man added. Now that you thought about it, you were pretty sure that was the reason why the name 'Rouen Seiran' would always sound familiar to you. He was that man who inspected all students and told them what kind of aura they had.

The two of you were the only ones talking until you had finally reached the Pokémon battle fields outside. "What are we gonna work on?" Aaron asked, aiming the question more at Rouen than at his partner. Even if he did that, the glare was certainly sent to Kai - he was still bothered by what he had done to you earlier. "Kai and I thought of working with aura today."

"Y/N which techniques can you already master?" Rouen stepped a tad closer to you, making you aware of how much taller he was than you. There were three techniques if you weren't mistaken, and you were pretty good at using two of them. "The simple manipulation one and the transfer one." Was your blunt reply. The dark skinned male who was engaged in a staring contest with Aaron until then turned to you and dared to come closer as well.

"Both of the transferring techniques?" His voice was deep and yet so nice to listen to. You remembered that your mentor had mentioned that there were more than one, but his Lucario had said one of them was quite indecent. You shook your head and locked eyes with his golden orbs. "No, only the one in which you need to entwine your fingers with the ones of the other party."

"I'm surprised you haven't practiced the other one, especially when you spend so much time with Aaron." Kai snickered, piquing your curiosity. You were a little surprised to hear that even a man you hadn't met before knew that you and the dark blue haired knight would usually stick together a lot. That was actually a given since he was basically your superior and supervisor at work. "What exactly does the second technique involve, then?"

The dark skinned man smirked and once again wrapped his arms around you. With one hand he cupped your chin, raising it a bit so that you needed to look up at him. He leaned closer to your ear and whispered, his husky voice almost making you melt at the spot. "Simply put, you make out with the other person."

"W-What?!" You gasped, trying to push Kai away, but he was too strong. He meant the same making out that you thought of, right? And does this guy know anything about personal space?! "Quit it, Kai." Rouen sighed and hit the back of his partner's head. The brunet seemed to only listen to what the older said, given that he let go of you the moment he was told to do so.

"Is that really true?" You glanced at Aaron insecurely, a blush searing through your cheeks. Even though he was obviously jealous of Kai sticking so close to you, his face expressed embarrassment as he looked to the side. Rouen answered you instead. "Technically, what Kai said isn't wrong. A fast and probably even the fastest way to transfer aura to someone else is by french kissing them. And that involves ones tongue."

„Anyway, it sounded to me like you don't know about the locating aura technique. We'll work on that one if that's fine with you two." The raven haired man suggested, gaining nods from you and Aaron who had gotten next to you at some point. "I'll quickly explain what that method is about. The name already says it, but one uses that technique to locate other people or Pokémon."

"It is just as easy to master as the other two methods. You only need to close your eyes and focus your aura so that it flows into them. It may sound weird, but it's not painful. Actually, you won't feel a thing. Not physically at least." Rouen said, you carefully listening to everything. "Once you have enough aura focused, even though your eyes are closed, you will start seeing your surroundings, but mostly in black and white."

"Only bodies of humans and Pokémon will be cloaked in a color. The color will depend on what kind of aura the creature possesses. For example, if you were to see Aaron, then his figure would be cloaked in a turquoise color, given his Lucario aura." The ravenet added and seemed to be done with his rather short explanation. All that talk about focusing aura in ones eyes made you wonder about something. You accidentally blurted out your thoughts: "Why do you keep your right eye covered?"

"Know your place." Kai coldly said, gaining your attention. His face had been clearly emotionless a moment ago, but now it showed anger. You looked at him confusedly, not sure if you had crossed some sort of line. Rouen placed a hand on his partner's shoulder, telling him to not get so worked up about the matter.

"I lost my right eye in an incident a few years ago." The raven haired man replied to your prior question. You immediately apologised, also feeling compassion. But the four of you didn't talk much longer and started training until evening instead.

* * *

It was the middle of the night currently and while everyone else was probably in their rooms, Kai had exited his own just now. The dark skinned male walked to the door next to his, entering without even knocking. The room belonged to his partner, and it wasn't unusual for him to visit him out of the blue at any time. He was just surprised to find Rouen still awake at this hour. "Kai..?"

"Sorry, did I wake you?" The golden eyed man asked, making his way to the ravenet's bed. He seated himself on the edge of it and looked at his partner, their eyes having accustomed themselves to the dark. "No, I wasn't sleeping yet."

"What's with the sudden visit? Is something the matter? Or do you want to do that again?" Rouen questioned as he sat up, smirking at his last part. Kai simply stared at him with what Rouen liked to call his partner's puppy dog eyes. "No let's not do that today. You're tired."

Silence filled the room before Rouen's sigh broke it. He placed his one hand on top of Kai's, intertwining their fingers together while he brought his other to his partner's cheek, brushing his thumb against his bottom lip. Even though the dark skinned man didn't say anything, Rouen had a rough idea of what was weighing the other's mind. "It's because of what the newbie said, am I right? Y/N I mean."

"I can't help it! It just brought all the guilty feelings back. It's because of me you lost your eye after all..." Kai desperately said, holding the ravenet's hand with his own. He squeezed the hand that held his cheek, feeling comfort in the warmth of the other's body. Rouen rolled his visible eye without letting his partner notice before he leaned next to his ear, whispering something in a rough tone. "That's right. It's all your fault. You should be glad I even talk to scum like you."

"Did you really think I would say something like that?" Rouen pulled his face away upon noticing that Kai had started trembling. He wrapped both his arms around the shorter male, embracing him as he soothed the brunet. "You should stop thinking about that, let go of it. I'm here for you now, so stop worrying so much."

Kai inhaled the sweet fragrance coming from the ravenet as he squeezed him one last time before pulling away. The expressions he wore around his parter were ones he would never even consider showing to anyone else. Rouen was his special someone in many ways, literally his salvation.

The dark skinned man leaned forward until his lips brushed against the soft fabric of the ravenet's eyepatch. He kissed that spot as if to beg for forgiveness with that gesture, but Rouen really wished he could forget about the past. "Can we stay like this for a bit longer..?"

* * *

You moved around in your bed, struggling to find the perfect position, but you just wouldn't fall asleep. Tomorrow was the big day, and the realisation made you even more nervous about the matter. A sigh of frustration left your mouth as you sat up, rubbing your eyes.

You decided to take a walk and knowing that there was a balcony on the same floor, you headed that way. You weren't expecting anyone to be here at this hour, so you were surprised to find Aaron standing there, his back facing you.

He sensed a presence and turned around only to smile at the sight of you. You reciprocated the gesture before walking over to him. It was just so refreshing to see his fluffy hair out in the open, as well as him in casual clothes. "Hey Aaron..."

"You can't sleep either?" The young man questioned as soon as you stood next to him, another sigh unattractively slipping out of your mouth. "No... I just feel a little anxious, that's all."

"That's normal, considering that this is your first real mission." The dark blue haired knight commented, staring off into the distance. One could see the tree of beginning well from here. "Believe it or not, I also get nervous before grand missions."

"Really? It's sort of hard to imagine since you're always so calm and collected." You couldn't help but chuckle. Guess the number one knight in Rota can be insecure at times too. That made you wonder; How did he manage to gain that title at such a young age? He was only eighteen, one year older than you. You made a mental note to ask him about it some other time, since right now you were curious about another thing. "Say, have you already been in Grona before?"

"No, I've only had the chance to pass by it on missions, so it's my first time there too." The blue eyed male replied, turning his body towards you. He took both his hands in yours, and for a moment there he looked as if he was going to place a kiss on them, but he stopped himself before it was 'too late'. "Kai today... He didn't do anything else to you, right?"

You shook your head and watched the young man's expression soften, he seemed relieved for some reason. You told yourself not to get any weird ideas in your head, but when he acted like that he really made you think that he cared for you, more than he would for just his apprentice. "I'm glad..."

"Anyway, please don't hesitate to come to me when you have something troubling you. I would be more than happy to help you." It almost startled you when Aaron suddenly hugged you. You were frozen in place, but your cheeks were anything else but cold. Before it was too late, you placed your hands on the knight's back, returning his affection. "Let's try to get some sleep now, we need to get up early tomorrow."

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A/N: This chapter was kinda long... oh well^^ The part with Rouen and Kai was a little intro to their rather complex relationship :3 (Kai has in my opinion the 'best' backstory - be prepared^^)

The names of those two were Shodaikiri and Mitsuo in the first version of this book, if I'm not mistaken^^

I AM SO UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY OMG GUYS T_T CROATIA IS PLAYING IN THE FINALS AHHHH <3

Kai Mitsuhide:

Rouen Seiran:

Thank you for Reading!