A New Beginning

Chapter 12: The Rumours (Part-01)

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"L-let's do it here," May meekly said.

"Are you sure? Wouldn't it be more comfortable inside the room?" asked Ash.

"It's fine. I don't want to make a mess of the bed."

Ash nodded in understanding as he spread the blanket on their balcony.

After getting comfortable enough in their position....

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"Lets dig in!" May excitedly said as she took huge bite of the handmade sandwich.

Ash gave Pikachu his pokefood before eating his curry.

It's been five hours since the competition ended.

Ash and May returned to the dorms together. They took their respective showers and had well earned rest. May visited his dorm and asked hoping if he had anything to eat. Ash hadn't bought anything from the cafeteria, so he decided to make something with the few items he brought from the supermarket a fews days prior.

Currently, both of them decided to sit in the porch and eat while enjoying the late afternoon view.

"Yumm, this is really good," the girl said, delightfully.

"Here, try the curry," Ash urged. May took a spoonful of it in her mouth as her widened.

"A-amazing! You are really good at this Ash. You should cook more," she motivated him, nodding constantly in approval. The boy just smiled and awkwardly played with his spoon.

"Well, I am not an expert or anything. My friend Brock is a master at this, and I happened to pick up a few things during our travels," he truthfully said.

"He studies here too, right? If so, then do introduce me to him sometime."

"Sure."

"But you really are a quick learner! If I am not exaggerating, you could honestly improve a lot if you cook more. Every girl likes a guy who can cook!" she said with a wink.

"I see. You too?"

"Of course!" she replied, before blushing a bit. "I-I mean, that is most girls preference in a man," she mumbled and continued eating.

Ash didn't say anything else as he took out his phone which had been silent for a while.

"....oh?"

"Hm, something wrong?" asked May.

Ash unintentionally made a sound. For a moment there, he thought that he took someone else's cell phone, because the number of calls and messages were on par with that of a celebrity. There were messages from his friends and other acquaintances that he met today. Professor Oak and Brock had called him. But the rest were completely unknowns and randoms. Invitation to groups and friend requests were pending. In total, 122 messages and 29 missed calls in just a few hours.

Oddly, Ash noticed that most of them happened to be girls.

Seeing Ash's face, May quickly took a peek at his screen. After a while, she started giggling.

"You have to get used to it Mr. Popular. After this competition, there will be lots of attention on you from all years," she said.

"I.....can see that. I swear it wasn't this many when I went to take a shower," he mumbled and scrolled through the messages. A particular text caught his eye.