To Steal the Heart of a Thief {Pokemon Ranger Fanfiction} (Pokemon Watty Awards 2015)

Chapter 24: The Transformation of One's Self

(Third Person POV)

The only light source that poured into Rena and Rhythimi's dark dorm bathroom was the light that came through the crack under the door. A girl pressed her hands down on each side of the sink, tilting her head straight down with her eyes shut tight. The occasional stray tear rolled down the tip of her nose and splashed into the sink below. Her long, dark brown locks lay messily around her hands as she bent over the sink. Small, barely noticeable scars decorated her body from various attacks and fights over the years, although the freshest ones resembled bite marks from a certain Mightyena.

"I hate being so weak..."

She had never been sick a day in her life, for her immune system was far too strong. She trained her body ruthlessly to strengthen her muscles, that way she would never face an obstacle that gave her a challenge. She was trained to fight by her father (who was literally a ninja) in order to avoid encountering a person that she could not defeat. She forced herself to recover impossibly quick whenever dealt with injuries, somehow cutting the average healing time for a normal person in half. She carved out the emotions in her heart with a knife and threw them away, that way, she would never have to feel pain another day.

And yet, she found them slowly returning on no order of her own, and one emotion in particular had rendered her weak, and even a little helpless.

She lashed out in anger and backhanded Rhythimi's makeup box off of the counter, then slammed her fist down on the marble surface.

"I...I have failed you, father... And I have failed myself."

She hated today. Today was just a bad day. It was a painful reminder for Rena, and she also was dealing with a current painful problem on this very same day, four years later. She hated it because today was---

_________________________________

"It's Saturday, January 8th." Rhythimi cheerfully piped up, answering Ms. April's question. The blonde had been dressed in casual clothes, given that it was the weekend.

"Ah, right. Thank you, Rhythimi." The teacher smiled, sitting at her desk. She had been grading papers since early this morning, trying to catch up on her work before the next school week started on Monday.

"So, you wanted to talk to me about something?" Rhythimi raised an eyebrow with an awkward smile, trying to figure out why Ms. April had summoned her on a Saturday morning.

Ms. April distractedly shook her head, clearly tired from a lack of sleep. "Oh, sorry. Yes, I just wanted to tell you that midterm scores are in, and you passed with flying colors." Ms. April smiled happily at the blonde, watching her elicit the brightest grin ever in return.

"YES!" Rhythimi punched the air enthusiastically. "I knew I rocked that test!"

Ms. April simply chuckled at her student. "Yes, it would appear so." She picked up a stack of five student files, then handed them to Rhythimi. "Rhythimi, can I ask you to help me by filing these back in the file cabinet? I'm done recording these student's midterm grades."

"Sure!" Rhythimi hummed, spinning on her heel and skipping towards the door.

The blonde skipped all the way to the Teacher's Lounge, knowing exactly where the filing cabinet was. She had often helped out Ms. April with her work when she fell behind, trying to prevent as many bad moods for their bipolar teacher as possible. She didn't mind; the tasks she was assigned only took a few minutes anyways. And besides, Ms. April was perfectly capable of being a very scary person when in a bad mood, so it was best to try and prevent as many of those as possible...