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Ingo was not at the festival.
Not that he wasn’t invited, it was just… well.
Festivals were. A lot. For him, at least. It didn’t help that he already felt so out of place, and he wasn’t sure being in an area full of people who already thought he was strange while sticking out like a sore thumb would be as fun as some had tried to make him believe. Maybe once, during the time before he came to Hisui, he might’ve loved large spaces full of loud people, but not now. The idea of being alone during all that made him shiver.
Doing most things alone made him uncomfortable, though. He always felt like he was missing half of himself, even when he was with others.
It’s not like he could complain. He had a job to do, and it would be bad to let something as silly as “feeling empty” get in the way of that. Plus, with being a warden, he always got to be around Lady Sneasler, and when he was in Jubilife, he was always with Miss Zisu. For some reason, something about the two of them made him feel slightly more relaxed.
(Maybe it had something to do with that man in white… He wasn’t so sure. It hurt his head just thinking about it.)
But, Lady Sneasler was a noble, and a pokemon, so she wasn’t allowed in the festival. On the other hand, Miss Zisu definitely had much more important things to do than hang out with Ingo the whole time. Sure, he got along well with the rest of the Pearl Clan, but he was certain none of them would want to spend the whole festival with him either. Same with Akari. So here he sat, alone, on a hill outside of Jubilife Village.
After a bit of staring off into space, he suddenly heard the sounds of light footsteps approaching him. He turned his head to see one of the wardens from the Diamond Clan heading in his direction. He recognised her as Miss Arezu, Lady Lilligant’s warden. How strange.
“Woah, didn’t expect to see anyone else out here. You’re Warden Ingo, right?” Arezu asked, after stopping to stand right in front of him.
“Correct. Sorry if I am in your way, did you need me to change course?” Ingo started to get up, as Arezu put her hands out in front of her in a motion to get him to stop,
“No! No, I didn’t mean it like that, you’re fine, I was just surprised to see someone else out here, is all.” She slowly put her arms behind her back, as Ingo sat back down. She shuffled awkwardly on her feet before asking, “Hey, would you mind if I sat with you?”
“Of course not. All aboard.” Ingo tipped his hat at the girl as she tried to stifle a giggle, before sitting down beside him. Ingo was used to people laughing at his strange mannerisms, but for some reason, hers didn’t feel as malicious.
“Y’know, you’re kinda weird,” Arezu ultimately said after a few moments of silence. After seeing Ingo slightly deflate at the comment, she was quick to amend herself, “I don’t mean it as a bad thing! I swear! Sorry, it just kinda came out like that. I like that you’re weird. I’m weird too. I like it.” at this comment, Ingo turned to look at her,
“Miss Arezu, you aren’t ‘weird’. I think you’re very pleasant.” Arezu blushed at the comment, before quickly looking back to stare at the Village,
“You can just call me Arezu, no need for the miss…” she started to rip at the grass around her feet, “and thank you. But trust me, I’ve had more than a few people not so politely tell me I’m weird for it to at least not be a little true.” Ingo watched as she placed the torn up grass on her knees, seeming to sort them in a way only she understood.
“Well, Arezu, I guess we’re both weird then. What a lovely duo that makes us,” Ingo nodded his head, while the red haired girl laughed. “Though, if you don’t mind me asking,” he turned to look at her, “Is there a reason you’re out here, instead of at the festival?”
“Ahh… well…” Arezu’s right hand stopped ripping up grass for a moment to scratch the back of her head, “I got kinda… overwhelmed? There was so much going on. I felt kinda sick,” she quickly turned to face him, “Not saying the festival is bad, it’s not, it was really fun while I was there, but the lights and the music and the screaming and the,” she threw her hands, as well as some grass, out in front of her, gesturing randomly in the air, “everything. It got a bit much. Y’know? It was a lot. I’m talking a lot, aren’t I? Sorry, I’ll stop now.” She quickly returned her hands to her knees. This time it was Ingo’s turn to laugh at her strange antics,
“That's quite alright. I understand, both the festival and the talking. No need to apologize.” he reached over to grab some of the clumped grass she had thrown, and placed it back on her knee. Seeing this, the girl startled before quickly wiping the bits of grass off her legs, frowning as they left grass stains on her leggings,
“Didn’t even realize I was doing that. Sorry. Man, Adaman’s not gonna be happy I ruined another pair of leggings…” She rubbed harshly at her legs in a futile effort to get the stains out.
“I don’t know why you keep apologizing to me. You haven't done a single thing worth apologizing for since you’ve joined me on this hill,” Ingo was still staring right at her, but now a hint of concern and confusion could slightly be seen on his usual poker face.
“Ahhh… wellll…” Arezu shrunk in on herself slightly, her hand seemingly going for the grass again before catching itself and returning to its place on her knee, “I don’t know.” She then quickly turned to look up at him, “Hey, you said you understood my thing about the festival, but I know you weren’t there, because everyone kept asking where you were, so I know you didn’t leave, because you were never there, so what did you mean by that?” Arezu couldn’t look him in the eye. He knew she was just dodging answering his question, but that was ok, he wouldn’t push it. He had a feeling he knew the reason why anyway. Being “weird” has a habit of making others around you upset, after all.
“I didn’t go to the festival for the same reasons you left early, simple as that.” he turned to look back at Jubilife Village. People asked about him? He hoped they weren’t too disappointed he didn’t show. The lights only seemed to get brighter as the night went on.
“Hm. Okay. Makes sense. I guess. Know your limits, huh?” she also turned to stare at Jubilife, as Ingo silently nodded his head.
The two sat in silence for a bit. Nothing but the occasional pokemon cry or yell from the village could be heard. It was nice. Ingo realized he felt more relaxed than he did all evening. He hoped Arezu felt the same way. He turned to look at her again, only to see she was already staring right at him,
“Hey, so, sorry if this is weird,” Arezu said, she was now tying two pieces of grass into a knot, “but, can I do your hair?”
“Oh, of course,” he reached up to take his hat off, before running a hand through his hair, “Any reason why?”
“Oh, no specific reason I just like hair,” she blinked. “I mean, I like doing hair. I’m a stylist. It’s like, my dream job.” She walked on her knees to sit behind Ingo, before taking out a comb she apparently had stuffed in her pocket.
“Oh! That's excellent!!” Ingo’s eyes lit up as he failed to notice Arezu flinch at his volume, “How wonderful! I’m sure you’re very good! And how impressive, you’re a stylist as well as a warden? Bravo!! I’m sure it's difficult to balance the two!”
“I like to think I am!!” She smiled brightly as she combed through Ingo’s mess of hair, being careful not to pull too hard, “And yeah, it can get a little difficult, but I love doing both, so it’s never really a problem! You help run the battle thingy in Jubilife too, right? With Zisu? I hear you guys over there all the time, so you’re kinda in the same situation.”
“Yes, and as you said, I enjoy both, so it’s never very difficult. It also helps that Lady Sneasler is very understanding. It sounds like Lady Lilligant is the same way.” Ingo nodded his head, making Arezu grab it and hold it in place.
“Mmhm. Thanks for letting me do this. It’s nice having someone get excited about the things you like,” she grabbed a bit of his hair as it fell onto his face, “Usually if I talk too long about it I get told to be quiet.”
“How unfortunate!” Ingo’s constant frown seemed to grow deeper, “I quite like when people are passionate about the things they love! It is a very good way to keep their cab going full speed!” He pointed dramatically forward, making Arezu giggle,
“I’m guessing that means something good.”
“Yes, of course! Keeping up with one's cab is very important for staying on the right track in life!” Ingo turned to try to look up at Arezu, before she once again grabbed his head and moved it back down,
“I don’t understand, but I guess I kinda get it. Well, thank you.”
“Of course!” Ingo clapped his hands together, “I believe sharing your joys with others is a very important part of life.” Arezu nodded, smiling.
“That being said, Ingo, do you have something like hair styling? Or well, I mean, something you’re really passionate about?” She grabbed some of the longer ends of his hair, and split them into 3 parts, then started to braid them slowly.
“I do quite like battling. That's something very special to me, and I feel like it was special to me even before I came to Hisui. I feel like there was something else important to me as well, but I can't quite remember what...” his voice trailed off before he gently shrugged, “But, battling, there is nothing quite like a good battle! Trainers and pokemon giving it their all, the rush of adrenaline! Simply excellent! Makes my heart race just thinking about it!” His volume seemed to rise with each word spoken as he got more and more excited.
“I see! Every time I hear you guys over at the training area, it always sounds exciting. I’ll have to come by and watch sometime!” Arezu’s smile grew even larger, “Well, hair styling doesn’t usually have all the added flair of pokemon battling, but I still get a rush when I do a good hairstyle, speaking of which,” she pulled something out of her pocket and opened it, revealing it to be a little mirror, before handing it to Ingo, “What do you think? You can't really see it, but I braided your hair in the back. You should come by and get it cut sometime! Or at least let me style it more often. Your hair is surprisingly soft.”
Ingo reached back and felt the braid, before looking into the tiny Mirror. His hair was neatly combed, and the front was swooped in such a way that it felt oddly familiar. Familiar in a way that made his head hurt, but his heart happy.
“Ingo?! You’re crying! Did I do something wrong??” Arezu was frantic as she reached out to touch his hair before retracting her hand multiple times. Ingo just laughed,
“No, no, this is… this is perfect. Thank you.” he wiped at his face before handing the mirror back to Arezu. She took it, before looking at him with a warm smile on her face,
“See, this is what I love about hair! I could make you that emotional just by styling it!! Isn’t that so cool?!” her hands were in fists as she shook them up and down in front of her, Ingo swore he could see faint sparkles in her eyes.
“Yes, I can see now why this is so important to you. Bravo! My hair looks excellent! I’ll be sure to come by to get my hair done more often!” He played with his braid for a bit, as Arezu moved back to sitting beside him, although much closer than she was before.
“Y’know Ingo, don’t tell anyone, but I’m glad I left the festival. This has been really nice.”
“Indeed. I’m glad our tracks intersected like this.”
He reached over to place his hat on her head, making the girl let out an excited gasp. He chuckled as she basically pet the hat out of pure excitement. Suddenly, a loud CRACK and a flash of light went off, signaling the start of the fireworks show.
And as Ingo stared up at the flashing lights of the festival fireworks, he realized he didn’t feel as empty as he did earlier.