A part of Orin still wasn't fully convinced that he got in.
After all, his Big Sis could have easily scammed him. He had even mentally prepared himself to try again next year—especially since, up until yesterday evening, he hadn't even received confirmation of his eligibility to sit in the exam.
But now? Not only had he taken the test, he had cleared it!
"Yes!! You did it, Orin Murasaki!!" he shouted, pumping his fist and even hopping off the ground in celebration. "Hehehe, Nexus Academy—here I come!"
A few passersby gave him odd looks. Embarrassed, he coughed and dialed his enthusiasm down.
Pulling up the attached files, his eyes widened. "Shit—the flight's at 6:30 in the morning?! I barely have any time left—I have got so much to do," he groaned, already reaching for his phone to call a cab home.
Then he froze.
"…Crap. Now I have gotta explain everything to Brina."
He rubbed his forehead as the headache that had finally faded started to creep back.
"Haaah… I am already feeling drained before the talk has even started."
Instead of taking a cab, Orin walked to the bus stop—he needed the time to straighten out his thoughts. He had to come up with a convincing speech, because this definitely wasn't going to be easy.
Even after boarding the bus, he couldn't imagine a version of events where this ended peacefully. To distract himself, he shared the good news in the group chat, attaching a screenshot of the email and the plane ticket.
Orin smiled as his friends responded with dancing emojis and congratulatory messages.
Terri
"We'll be at your house at 4:30 in the morning."
Duplica
"Yeah! We can't throw a party right now, so the least we can do is see you off."
Kyle
"I'll be there too for sure! 👍"
Orin
"Guys, you don't have to drop me off. Won't you both be late for your university and school classes, Terri and Copycat?"
"And what about your shop, Kyle?"
Terri
"I'll manage. I should still make it to uni on time, so don't worry."
Duplica
"I don't mind bunking the first day. Please don't take this chance from me!"
Kyle
"Bro, I'll shut the shop for the whole day if I have to. How could I not see you off?"
"You guys..." Orin muttered, a soft, touched smile on his lips.
Orin
"Alright. But don't be late, I have to be at the airport at least an hour early."
"And I don't want to miss my flight."
A flurry of cheerful reactions followed, with the group bombarding him with excited questions. He chuckled to himself before typing:
Orin
"I'll talk later, I've reached home."
Standing up, he paid the fare by scanning the QR code—it was just 5 Pokédollars, pretty cheap.
He got off at the stop and started walking up the hill. It was dark now, but in the distance, Saffron City was bathed in golden light.
He reached the gate of the Murasaki Manor and stepped into the garden. The air carried a faint wetness—Mimi must have watered the plants recently.
Taking out his key, he unlocked the front door.
"I'm home," he called out with a smile.
"Mime mime!"
Mimi was sprawled on the sofa, watching TV. She gave a lazy wave in acknowledgment, her attention quickly returning to the screen.
"Onii-chan! You're back!"
Brina's excited voice echoed from the stairs. She skipped several steps half hovering, then launched herself like a missile straight into his chest.
"Argh! That was a solid Tackle attack," Orin groaned, playing along.
"Hmph! That's what you get for coming home so late!" she said, pouting as she looked up at him.
"Sorry, I was tired and ended up dozing off at the gym. After that, I went to get a haircut." He gently ran his fingers through her hair. "Where's Kaddi, by the way?" he asked, glancing around.
"He's making dinner," Brina replied, her eyes closed in bliss as she leaned into his hand.
"Oh… I need to talk to you about something," he said, giving her a slightly awkward smile. "Can you come with me to my room?"
"Oooh, is it a secret?" Brina asked, her eyes widening in excitement.
"No, nothing like that," he chuckled. "I will tell Kaddi and Mimi later, but I wanted to tell you first."
"Yay! I am the first!" she cheered, skipping ahead as they climbed the stairs together towards his room.
Once in his room, Orin set his bag aside and sat down on the bed.
"Come sit here," he said, patting the spot beside him. Brina obediently plopped down next to him.
He took a moment to gather his thoughts.
Brina had never really been apart from him—not even for a day. Even when he comes home late from the gym, she gets upset. He couldn't even imagine how she would react to him leaving for months.
Honestly, he wouldn't put it past her to paralyze him with a glare and lock him in his room… or just toss him into the pool until he changed his mind.
Looking at the cute, purple-haired girl sitting in front of him, he could already see the storm clouds brewing.
But still it wasn't the physical retaliation he feared—he could handle that.
What he really couldn't bear… was if she cried.
He swallowed, hesitating, and opened his mouth—already bracing himself for the worst.
"Oh! Nii-chan, how did the talk with Onee-chan go? Was she mad you were late?" Brina asked innocently, tilting her head.
"No, no—she wasn't mad. The talk actually went… pretty smoothly," he said, fidgeting slightly as the memory of her cold, red eyes flashed through his mind.
"See? I knew I did a good job calling you on time!" Brina declared proudly, puffing out her chest with a smug smile.
"Yes, you did." He chuckled and gave her a gentle grin. "Now, I have something important to tell you, Brina."
He took her small, soft palm in his own, giving it a light squeeze.
"You remember that important thing I had to attend today?"
"The big exam thing? The reason you couldn't go watch Onee-san's match?" she asked with a deep nod.
"Yeah, that one. Well… I passed the exam," he said, watching her carefully. "Big Sis had called to tell me that I made the cut. And that means your big brother is officially going to college."
He pointed to the Nexus Academy poster on the wall.
"It's called Nexus Academy. It's the best university in the world."
Brina's eyes widened in amazement, her red irises shining.
"Oooh! Nii-chan is amazing!"
"Heehee, yeah. But the thing is…" Orin paused, trying to make it sound grand, "The University is in a whole other region. I will have to cross a Big Ocean to get there."
"Ohh! How will you go there, Nii-chan? By a flying plane?" she asked, eyes sparkling with excitement.
"Yes," he nodded with a small smile. "They even sent me a plane ticket. I will be leaving tomorrow morning. I will take a plane, and after that… I will have to stay there for months so I can study and become super strong."
His expression grew somber as he looked at her.
"But that also means… I will have to stay away from home. Stay away from you… for a while."
He watched her carefully, then added quickly, "B-but don't worry, Brina! I will stay in touch and call you every day. It will be like I never left, okay?"
"Oh? That's good, then," Brina said with a cheerful smile, nodding.
"Eh? Good?" Orin echoed, baffled. His brain practically short-circuited at her nonchalant reaction.
"Brina, I am really going to Nexus," he said more seriously. "I won't be coming back for a long time. Are you really okay with that?"
"Yes," she said simply, patting his hand with a smile. "I know it's important to Onii-chan. So you should go and study."
Orin stared at her in disbelief.
This wasn't the reaction he had expected at all.
What happened to his clingy, dramatic little sister? When did she become so… reasonable?
Honestly, he was tempted to ask if she was really Brina—or if someone had swapped her with a Ditto in disguise!
---
"Things to Do at Nexus Academy"
Step 1: Get a Pokemon!
Step 2:
Step 3:
Step 4:
Step 5:
"Get a Pokémon first."
"If possible, get six Pokémons."
"Or... maybe I shouldn't limit myself to just six?"
Orin muttered to himself as he scribbled a plus sign next to the number 6 in his notebook. He had a habit of writing down his goals—hopes, aspirations—to help fix them in his mind.
He had tons of such notebooks. Many of them were filled with old, rough sketches of Pokémon he had drawn as a kid. Of course, now that he had a phone, laptop, and tablet, he had switched to digital for most things. But tonight, sitting in his desk chair with paper and coloured pencils, he wanted to get his head straight the old-school way.
After jotting down everything he should and could do at Nexus, his grin shifted into something a little more mischievous.
"And the most important thing after arriving at the Academy... get a girlfriend ASAP."
He circled and underlined girlfriend for extra emphasis. Then, smirking, he added a cheeky little "s" at the end.
"Maybe not just a girlfriend... girlfriends."
"Why not boyfriends too, Niichan?"
"Wha—fuck! Shit, you scared me!" Orin jumped in his chair, heart racing, as Brina's voice sounded right behind him. He slammed the notebook shut and turned around. "Wh-what are you doing here?"
"Onii-chan, you shouldn't just make girlfriends," she said matter-of-factly, completely ignoring his question. "You should make boyfriends too! That way you will have sooo many friends there!" She beamed, stretching out her little arms for emphasis.
Brina was wearing her favourite white pajamas with Slowpoke prints on them, looking as innocent and carefree as ever.
Orin stared at her, with a deadpan look.
Why the hell would he make boyfriends? He is totally straight, damn it!
And of course she skipped his question. She always did that. And also somehow, she always had a knack for popping up at the most annoying times—sometimes even when he was in the damn shower.
And getting mad at her? Only ever made it worse.
Honestly, it was one of the main reasons he couldn't even masturbate in peace in his own damn room. Any other hormonal 15-year-old boy might have exploded by now, but even Orin was starting to reach his limit. He desperately needed an outlet for all the frustration building up inside. Hence the desperation for a girlfriend!
He let out a long sigh.
"What are you even doing here, Brina? You should be asleep."
"I just wanted to check if you packed everything," she replied, skipping over to the two bags in the corner of his room.
"Mimi helped me pack," he said, setting his notebook aside. His lip twitched at the memory—Mimi had stuffed everything into an invisible barrier bag, only to misplace the whole thing. It had taken him forever to find it again.
"You are not taking your dolls?" Brina asked, glancing at the plastic container overflowing with plushies. "At least take these small ones," she added, pointing at the Pokémon figurines lined up on the shelf.
"I am not going there to play, Brina," he said with another sigh. Honestly, he wasn't even sure if he would have a private room for all his stuff. Most likely, it would be a shared dorm with limited space. Still, he had not forgotten to pack his Pokémon cards—there was no way he was going without them.
"Mou~ Niichan is leaving everything behind," Brina pouted.
Orin stood up and walked over to her, resting a hand on her head. "I am not leaving everything, okay? I will check the place out first, and if I get my own space, I will come back and bring more stuff later."
"Okay!" she said, her face lighting up with a big smile.
"Now go to sleep. If you want to see me off tomorrow, you will have to wake up super early," he said gently.
"Niichan… can I sleep with you tonight?" Brina asked, looking up at him with wide, pleading eyes.
He smiled knowingly. Of course she was feeling lonely now that he was about to leave. "Alright. Come on, let's get to bed."
"Yayyy!" she cheered, hugging his waist tightly.
"But—you brushed your teeth, right?" he asked in a serious tone.
"Yess! I did!" she nodded obediently.
Orin decided to take her word for it—he was too tired to double-check anyway. They lay down together and got comfortable.
"Good night, Brina," he murmured with a yawn, kissing her on the head as he extended his hand and flipped off the light switch with a thought.
"Good night, Nii-chan," she whispered sweetly, snuggling into his chest and wrapping her tiny arms around him.
The exhaustion of the day finally hit him full force. His earlier nap hadn't helped much, and the second he closed his eyes, he was out like a light.
Brina smiled softly, her face relaxed in the warmth of his embrace. She closed her eyes and drifted into peaceful sleep.
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