Puppeteer | An AU

Chapter Five: Following Footsteps

Morning arrived, and Tamao was already ready to go to school with Sakura. Star'Gazer had dropped by last night, he was told that his friend was having a panic attack, but no one had gotten an answer from the older eevee yet.

Or at least, not while Tamao or Sakura was there. "Good luck at school, Tamao. We're having a guest over later today, so we might pull you out of school a bit early. Love you, sweetie." Aisuru gave Tamao a big hug before ushering him out the door. Tamao huffed and wished his mother a good day at work as he made his way to the bus stop.

Sakura just kept staring at Tamao. "What?" He asked, curiously as Sakura responded. "Yeah, you're right. Today feels like it'll be a good day." Tamao agreed as the bus driver wrote Tamao's name down on the list, Tamao making his way to the back of the bus.

The way to school went the same as it normally did. No one interacted with him, outside of the teasing of his peers, and some rude name calling. Not that it bothered him today.

Entering his classroom, Tamao saw someone new- a classmate. She was pretty. He looked at Sakura, who seemed to disagree with him. Once everyone filed into homeroom, the day began.

"Lovebug, may you introduce yourself?" The teacher requested, the new eevee standing up awkwardly in her seat. "Hi! My name is Lovebug! I'm uh, really looking forward to be here!" Lovebug introduced quickly and loudly, before sitting back down in her seat.

Tamao hummed. She seemed anxious, he wishes he could give her a hug or help her feel better. "Don't." Sakura said. Tamao looked at her, before nodding. It was clear Sakura didn't like her.

The teacher spoke up again. "We've had a change in curriculum as of late. All students from seventh grade up until ninth will be learning about evolution, as it's been an apparent issue that many eevee have been finding evolution stones and evolving too early on without any understanding as to what it means." She announced.

The bell rung, and class had officially began.

Tamao barely listened as his teacher began to drone on. "There are some different types of evolution. Special Evolution, and Permanent Evolution. The difference is, is that Special Evolution is used in regulated battles and by those with the special permits and equipment. Permanent Evolution is what we'll be focusing on today." 

"Permanent Evolution, sometimes referred to P. Evolution, or just flat-out Evolution, is not advised until you are at least in ninth grade, however, we cannot stop you if you choose to evolve early, as unfortunate as that may be. Considering you all are eevee in this class, you have eight evolution types in total."

Tamao started to lose focus on what the teacher was saying, opting to play with Sakura. Class was about halfway over anyways.

"Tamao, if that doll starts to be a problem, you'll have to put it away." The teacher firmly stated, as Tamao sent a quick glare to the teacher, before nodding. "Understood." He sighed, putting Sakura down on his desk and focusing on the teacher once more.

"Now, does everyone know what they want to evolve in to?" The teacher asked, as a few students raised their paws. Tamao watched as Lovebug shrunk in on herself, especially so when the teacher called her name. "Oh! Uh- I wanted to evolve into an Umbreon." She answered, as the teacher nodded.

Tamao was definitely intrigued. He had considered it before when Sakura shot him down to evolve into an Espeon. "No." Sakura says.

Nodding, Tamao reaffirmed that he wouldn't evolve into an Umbreon. He was just curious!

The rest of class, and classes to follow, went similarly. Tamao getting distracted by Sakura, then having the treat of her being taken away. It was scary. He didn't like the scary.

Nearing the end of class and closer towards lunch, Tamao got lucky that this class finished everything up quickly. He wanted to talk to Lovebug! She was pretty, even if Sakura didn't like her. He wanted to be her friend!

"Hi!" Tamao greeted. Lovebug squeaked but greeted Tamao back. "Hi." She echoed.

Tamao was so excited, maybe he could have another friend! "My name is Tamao, but you can call me Tam! This is my sister, Sakura!" He introduced, showing Lovebug Sakura. Lovebug grinned and greeted Sakura. "Hi Sakura!"

The two chattered away, asking each other about themselves and learning more about each other. "Want to sit with me at lunch?" Tamao asked, as Lovebug nodded. Sakura didn't like that idea. "Then we're friends now!" Tamao declared at Lovebug's agreement.

Sakura really didn't like that.

The bell rang again, indicating lunch had arrived. "Let's go!" Tamao giggled, grabbing Lovebug's paw and rushing her out of class. "Wait! I need to put my bag away!" Lovebug squealed, as Tamao released her.

Tamao waited as Lovebug grabbed her bag, the intercom crackling overhead. "Tamao Windrop, please report to the office, Tamao Windrop, please report to the office." The principal droned. "Awh man. I think that's my mom here to pick me up." Tamao groaned.

"Boo! Well, we'll just have to hang out tomorrow." Lovebug decided. She seemed a lot less anxious! That was good!

"Bye bye Lovebug!" Tamao exclaimed, before rushing off to his locker and grabbing his stuff, heading to the principal's office where his mother was waiting. "You ready?" She asked. Tamao nodded excitedly, waving goodbye to the secretary and following his mother out to the car. Tamao hopped into the backseat, excitedly hugging Sakura. "I made a friend today, and she's really pretty! Her name is Lovebug!" Tamao stated, as his mother sat in and started up the car.

The vehicle smelled warm. And like chicken nuggets. "That's great, tell me more," Aisuru commented, passing a box back to Tamao. She picked up food! And it was from his favorite place!

"Thank you!" Tamao thanked, before going on to ramble about his day and his new friend.