"I'm telling you guys the truth! Why don't you believe me?!" Ash yelled, standing in front of Kimberly and Cole while they both were seated on the couch at his house. They just looked at each other for the third time in disbelief of Ash, before looking back at Ash. Kimberly was the first to speak.
"Well, it's not that were not believing you, but you have to admit it seems a little crazy to just take in like that." she explained to him. "A group of people dressed like firefighters, the city being frozen then suddenly change to hell, and then there's this 'Wildfire' thing. I mean, why not show us if you can do it?"
"It's... not that simple." Ash said with a small sigh, looking down a bit. "I've been trying since the incident today to do it, but it just won't work and I don't know why."
Cole stood up, placing a hand on Ash's shoulder before speaking as well. "Look dude, I don't want to make you feel even worse, but maybe you were just... daydreaming the whole thing. How else would you have ended up in front of a pile up of cars earlier?"
"I already told you, I didn't daydream it!" Ash yelled, pushing Cole away. "You know what, just forget it guys. I'm exhausted now and... you should just leave." He walked towards the stairs and went up them to his room, the door slamming shut. Both Cole and Kimberly waited a moment, but only Cole decided to leave at that time.
Kimberly walked over to the staircase and climbed up them to the second floor, walking over to Ash's room and knocking softly before speaking. "Hey, don't let Cole get on your nerves about it. It's just... really hard to believe you without proof." At this, the door swung open and Ash stood there.
"Proof... Ah, wait a minute." Ash rolled up the sleeve of his hoodie, revealing the bracer device from when Pyre put it on him. "You've never seen this before, have you?" Kimberly shook her head a little, then looked closely at it.
"What is it?" she asked him, looking up as she asked. Ash thought for a moment before shrugging.
"I don't really know what it is exactly, but is that proof enough that what I was saying was true." he asked her, though Kimberly still looked unsure.
"Well, I guess so... Do you mind if we hang out tomorrow, in case something like what you said happens again? If I see this girl for myself, then maybe that will convince me fully." Ash didn't need to think about it, nodding with a smile.
"Yeah, sure, that'll work definitely. Thanks Kimberly." he said, acting on his own and pulling her into a hug. It took a few seconds before Kimberly started hugging back gently, and then after sometime Ash let go, realising what was going on. He let go, clearing his throat in slight embarrassment. "S-Sorry."
"No, it's fine." Kimberly said with a small smile. "Well, goodnight Ash." With that, she walked back downstairs and left his house. Ash smiled a little as well, closing his door slowly.
Sleep didn't come easily for Ash that night, the image of that golem from the Catalyst Zone still fresh in his mind. He woke up about an hour after falling asleep, the room dark and cold for some reason. 'Wait, why is it cold?' he thought to himself as he looked around the room, finding his window open. He got out of bed and walked over to it, closing it completely. In the split second he did, the light turned on.
"Can't sleep, huh?" said Pyre after Ash turned around to see her standing there, her arm bandaged now. "Don't worry about it, it's probably better you don't sleep anymore anyway."
"H-How did you-" Ash began to ask, but Pyre cut in and answered him.
"How did I know you lived here? Did you really think that I wasn't going to keep my eye on you after what just happened?" she told him, walking over and sitting down on his bed, still watching him.
Ash just stood there, unable to come up with any reasonable thing to ask or say after this surprise. Then he remembered his earlier conversation with Kimberly and started speaking. "Listen, I wasn't sure if I should keep this thing a secret, but I may have told my two best friends."
"Hey, I'm not one to judge. Honestly, if I could, I'd tell everyone in the city about this, though not that they'd believe me anyway." she said, looking away with a slightly sad look before shaking her head and looking at him again with a smile. "What is it you're really asking?"
"I'm asking you for some help. My friend Kimberly wants to see you, and then she said she'd believe me." he explained to her, and Pyre simply nodded before standing up and walking over to him.
"Yeah, that's alright with me. Just say when and where, and I'll be there." she told him with a small giggle.
"How about tomorrow, around noon and at that park in the city centre?" he asked her.
"Sounds great. It's a date then." she said to him, giggling again at the small joke. "Just kidding, but I will be there." She gave him a smile, walking around him and opening the window again to climb out. Ash then remembered something from earlier today and turned to her before she left.
"Pyre, uh, earlier today before I appeared in the middle of the street, you said something and then something touched my cheek. You wouldn't happen to know what happened there, right?" he asked her. She looked back at him, shrugging a little and still smiling.
"How else am I supposed to thank the guy who saved the day?" she asked in return, blowing him an air kiss giggling once more and jumping out of the window. When Ash rushed over in surprise, he looked out the window and found that she wasn't anywhere in sight.
'Just who is this girl?' Ash thought to himself before closing the window and turning off the light in his room, going back to bed where he found a much more easier sleep.
