Not My Friends (Pokémon)

Daze

"I don't know if you can see this or not, Hau, but this is awkward as hell."

Gladion found himself at the Malasada Shop—again. This time he was only with Hau, who insisted he had to come with him as part of their "bonding" or some nonsense like that. He felt out of place and almost bolted before looking at Hau's face and deciding he couldn't afford to disappoint him.

Lillie was going to be visiting the next day, and Gladion had practically begged Hau to move their rendezvous to then since it would be less strange-feeling with his sister there. Hau had refused, replying sternly that the whole point was for him and Gladion to warm up to each other and that having another person there would ruin the vibe.

Gladion hadn't eaten his malasada at all. He ate, of course, but he wasn't really a fan of food, and he certainly didn't love food like Hau did.

On the other hand, Hau was almost done with his malasada, and he took such big bites of his malasadas sometimes that Gladion didn't doubt he'd finish it off in just one.

"Is it? I don't feel awkward at all." Hau beamed. "I really appreciate you doing this, Gladion. I mean, I want to be friends with you."

Gladion scoffed. "Yes, I picked that up."

"Aren't you excited to see Lillie? I miss her so much. I used to see her every day, you know? But now it's only for one week every month. It just...it sucks." Hau switched the subject for no particular reason. He was so jittery that his mind often wandered off into random places at unpredictable times, which didn't go unnoticed by Gladion. "Are you bothered by the fact that I used to, well, sort of have a thing for her?"

The fourteen-year-old narrowed his eyes dangerously. "What do you think? Anybody having a, as you say, thing for my sister bothers me. It's gross and weird, and if she actually does end up with them I'm going to have to watch over their every move to make sure she doesn't get hurt again."

Hau giggled. "You're making me happy that it's Selene that Lillie ended up with instead of me."

Gladion frowned. "What made you like her anyway?"

"Are you kidding? Lillie's an amazing girl!" Realizing he sounded just a tiny bit too enthusiastic from Gladion's glare, Hau smiled and lowered the volume of his voice. "She's one of my closest friends, and I was close to her even before I became close to Selene and Elio, much less you. She's just...something else. She's kind and brave and...well, beautiful, I guess."

"You can stop now," Gladion mumbled. "Are you really over her? You still sound like you're in love with her."

"No, I'm over her. You don't have to worry about me. You can just focus on bringing down Selene now." Hau took a gigantic bite of his malasada, finishing it off in one bite like Gladion had predicted. "It wasn't love in the first place, though. It was a crush. I thought I was in love, though, and I used to have daydreams about Lillie and I getting married, which is...really embarrassing to say."

"You seriously used to have daydreams of getting married to my sister?" Gladion winced. "That thought is not welcome in my head. God, you could've kept it to yourself."

Hau wiped his mouth roughly with a napkin, although he wasn't even close to getting all the crumbs and cream off. "Maybe, but that wouldn't be any fun! And anyway, Gladion, you can't pretend you never had a crush on someone."

Gladion felt his face get red, and he could feel some sort of humiliation burn through him like acid.

But as quickly as the feeling came, he realized he had no reason to feel that way.