Hideo recoiled back into the couch. Eris had always seemed composed and supportive, even if somewhat aloof. Hearing her scream like that, at him, caught him completely off guard.

He trusted Eris, but this went completely against what he knew about MATIAS SILPH . The Elite Four member that had supported him at his lowest point - attacking Eris, nearly killing Reiner, actually killing her father? It didn't make any sense. Something had to be up.

The stunned look on Hideo's face was mixed with confusion. What had happened between the two? Had that even really been Matias?

It was clear that Eris didn't even want to think about Matias. Pushing her any further for information was only going to end poorly. If he wanted to learn about what happened, he would have to go to the other end of this.

But he wouldn't tell Eris. And he'd be sure to be prepared when that meeting happened - if it really were all true.

Hideo let out a deep sigh, trying to compose himself. "A-alright," he stammered, "we'll leave him out of this. I'm…I didn't know he did that to you."

He hadn't even known she'd been injured like that - why hadn't anyone told him? Was he the only person she told about this?

"I'm sorry that happened to you, Eris." He'd have gone over to hug her, like she'd done when he lost his Ariados, but she'd already shouted him back from his first attempt.

Eris Halla

“It’s…it’s alright.” He could understand her having that strong a reaction from the mere mention of someone that tried to take so much from her.

He still wanted - no, needed - to find out more about what happened, why it happened. If it even had been the real Matias. But he wouldn’t get that from Eris. He didn’t want to make her think about it any longer.

But there was more to this: Eris telling him she wasn’t a good person? Hideo raised an eyebrow, now more confused than anything. “Eris? What are you talking about? What do you mean you’re not a good person?”

There was a brief pause: Eris wouldn’t have even mentioned that to him if she didn’t plan to elaborate. There was a lot he didn’t know, and he was starting to dip his toes into the unknown. He let out a sigh, before looking directly towards Eris (with closed eyes). “Eris, what’s going on? You can tell me. I promise I won’t tell anyone else.”

Eris Halla

Her voice was low. Someone else might have missed it.

But Hideo could hear it just fine. Her confession reached his ears without issue.

A few things became clearer to him at that moment: why she didn't have any issues living in Sootopolis after Rocket's takeover, why she'd seemed so distant with him at times.

Why she'd asked him if he'd stop her from hurting someone else.

A litany of questions ran through his head: how long were you part of Rocket? When did they recruit kids your age? What was it like working for them?

But he knew better than to ask those now. He didn’t need sight to read the room.

“Oh.” It was his immediate response, a quick word as he straightened his posture on his seat. There wasn’t a hint of anger in his face - rather, surprise.

With a small sigh, the look of surprise went away, replaced with a more neutral look. “Thank you for trusting me with that.” There was a short pause as he thought of something else to say. “And..that doesn’t make you a bad person, Eris. Just like being in League doesn’t make you a good person...”

Whatever her affiliation, didn't deserve the kind of violence Matias dealt to her. Or her father.

Eris Halla

No shock she was shocked by his response. Hideo knew well to steer clear of Rocket, that they had taken over Sootopolis and even the entire region of Kanto. He didn’t plan to go out of his way to work with them.

But at the same time, he hadn’t actually had a run-in with Rocket. They hadn’t actually caused him any trouble yet, and he knew for sure Eris hadn’t caused him any trouble.

“Well…”

He’d have to word it carefully: he didn’t want it getting back to his oldest sister that he knew she was in Rocket - or even reveal he had a sister in Rocket, if Eris were unaware.

“There’s…someone I’ve known for a while. Longer than I’ve known you. She’s also in Rocket, but she doesn’t know that I know that. She’s not a bad person, so I know for sure not everybody in Rocket is a bad person.”

“When she’s ready to tell me - if she’s ever ready - then I’ll be there to listen. So I’ve kinda already readied myself for it.”

A small smile found its way onto his lips.

“And you’re someone I can trust, Eris. You’re not a bad person, and being in Rocket doesn’t change that.”

He extended a hand out to her - but he didn’t approach. If she didn’t want him to get close, he wouldn’t move: she would have to come to him.

"You're my friend, Eris."

Eris Halla

MATIAS SILPH really had been the person she’d asked the hypothetical about. With what Matias had done (according to Eris), it was no shock that she’d wanted to kill him. He knew he’d seek retribution for the loss of a family member - maybe even the loss of one of his friends.

Had Mr. Ki even known why Matias had taken Eris? Did he know Eris was part of Rocket?

Hideo’s hand dangles there for a moment, before he lowers his arm to his knees. Eris hadn’t gone to grab it, and his arm would get tired if he just held it up. It would still be open, just lower than before, supported by his knees.

“I think trying to kill him was wrong,” Hideo bluntly stated. Even if he himself wanted vengeance for something, that felt too far. “There’s other ways to get justice for what he did. Rocket or not, kidnapping you and killing your dad for trying to save you was wrong.”

“I’m sorry he did all that to you, Eris.” He did want to get Matias’s side of the story too, but if Matias went that far…

He’d have to make sure he was well-prepared for that confrontation.

Eris Halla

A Dahlia For Your Thoughts

Hideo Kino & Eris Halla, sitting in a tree.

Suddenly.

The entrance to the treehouse flew open.

Light and wind poured into the secret base dramatically as the tallest of silhouettes to ever stand within the base appeared, cape flapping dramatically behind it.

It was brunch time... and Doug didn't have his usual 8-to-3 schedule. Because he was fired.

Discharged? Relieved from his duties? Whatever they had called it, it sure felt like being fired.

But life went on. Work on the dome continued, tasks to help the public kept pouring in, and a wealth of sudden free time was injected into his morning routine while military and AQUA found ways to fill in the gap.

BUT.

He felt self-conscious back at base camp, now that it was being remodeled to no longer be part gym anymore.

So... He was crashing the tree in the meanwhile.

"... I'm not being a third wheel here, am I?" He said casually as the entrance closed behind him, tilting a brow at the two pint-sizes.

There was a small exhale from Hideo - just some air blowing out his nose. “We…we wouldn’t let anyone get away with it,” he declared, “League, or Rocket, or whoever. If anyone tries to hurt you again, we won’t let them get away with it.”

He wouldn’t let them hurt anyone in their group. He wouldn’t let anyone get away with trying to do it either. He was gonna have to get some answers from Matias and-

Before he could finish that thought, the door slammed open, and Eris took a tight grip on his hand. Hideo jumped up, caught completely off-guard, though he held on to Eris’s hand as well - though before he could also panic, his Beheeyem was quick to notify him that it was someone familiar to them.

A moment later, he was quick to guess who among them would just kick the door in like that without saying anything. Of course, Eris saying his name confirmed it. “Doug…” Hideo repeated.

He couldn’t tell Doug about Eris’s affiliation with Rocket; he was a Kanto survivor too, and everything he’d heard Doug say about Rocket was damning. He didn’t know how Doug would react if he found out, so it was best he keep his lips sealed.

He had plenty to say about something else anyways.

“Doug, we need to talk.” His grip on Eris’s hand tightened as she began to sob. “When we were at the Tree of Life, we met with the Lake Trio again. And a couple of them marked me and Eris.”

Slowly, he pulled up the sleeve of his marked arm.

Eris Halla John Sullivan

A Dahlia For Your Thoughts

Hideo Kino & Eris Halla, sitting in a tree.

Eris reaction drains the color out of the young man's face.

"Uh oh." Doug said, eyes growing wide as he stared at the crying Eris, quickly marching up to the two kids with a worried look in his face. "Do about... what? Somethin' the matter?"

He kneeled before the two, looking between them in worried confusion.

Fortunately, Hideo took over... and quickly directed the conversation towards something that felt... unrelated?

"... Okay." He said after a moment, staring at the mark with some palpable confusion before looking at Eris. "Is that why Eris is crying?"

Priorities.