Spiders are friends

All Míngzé wanted was a coffee with the slight hope that it would help him stay awake through the remainder of his lectures. His eyelids felt heavy and he wanted nothing more than to sleep. But he could not skip more lectures as he was already far behind on them.

However, when he entered the cafeteria it was chaotic. People were screaming and panicking. He quickly stepped aside when he saw a silhouette coming his way, followed by a lot more. “Excuse me what—” Míngzé tried, but everyone was too busy running away while others said there was no reason for panic.

The pup in his arms was also growing restless with everything going on and was struggling to get out of his arms. “No, stop it,” Míngzé said to the small houndour, but he only struggled harder against his grip. With no other choice left he bent forward and the small thing jumped out of his arms. If he had not done this, it would’ve fallen out of his arms and maybe hurt himself.

“Wait, stay here!” Of course the creature did not listen and instead hobbled away towards someone laying on the ground. A soft bark sounded, which was the only indication he had of where the pup had run off to. The pup pushed its wet nose against the other person’s hand before barking once more.

With the pup running away Míngzé had no other choice but to follow him. Luckily for him the creature was barking so he could easily find him. “Stop it, there is no—” half way through his sentence he swallowed his words and a deep frown formed on his forehead. Was there someone sitting on the floor? A voice sounded, confirming his suspicions.

The shooting stand… “Do I know you?” he asked as he could not remember what the other was talking about. They had met, but too much had happened since that he had forgotten the smaller things that happened before. “He is,” he then answered the question.

Dai jumped back the moment something small, yellow and fast ran by. He pressed his ears against his head and a low growl vibrated from his throat. Whatever that thing was had only scared him, but the growl was not very impressive. “Dai,” Míngzé gave the pokémon a warning, which was enough for the small creature to turn around and place itself at his feet.  

Míngzé slowly shook his head. “Sorry, he’s young and still has a lot to learn.” While growling was not that bad, he did not want it to get any worse. For now he was still a pup, so this was the time to teach him how to behave well. But right now that was beside the point. “What are you doing on the ground anyway?” Míngzé asked, confused but he already held out a hand, wanting to help the other back onto his feet. There were enough chairs, no reason to sit here in the middle of the path.

Right. He remembered that day. Míngzé looked at him like he just received a slap in his face. That had been one of the first times Qiān had disobeyed him and it only got worse after. “How could I forget,” he muttered with a deep sigh. Perhaps this was his que to walk away and leave him behind. “Then it’s a good thing he’s not here right now.” While Míngzé did not blame this man for anything, it still left a sour taste in his mouth.

Maybe if the situation had been different, he would’ve turned around and left, but now he stayed. If the other needed help, he would offer it as everyone else had left for some reason. “What could possibly scare so many people at a school? Are exams going to be early this year?” he asked, confused. That did not make any sense. “Sounds like it must’ve hurt, you good?” Given the way the other was talking it sounded like he would live to fight another day, so he was not too worried.

Míngzé braced himself to pull the other back on his feet. Once that was over and done, he crossed his arms over his chest and simply watched him. Then the question came and Míngzé raised an eyebrow. “I’ll take that as a compliment and pretend you think I look smart,” he said, even though there was a hint that the other had offended him. “No, I’m a student, just like you.” Why he even had to clarify that was beyond him.

Meanwhile Dai was approaching the other again, back fully stretched as he tried to keep as much distance as possible while still being able to sniff him. He was not as confident as before now that this man was standing up.

As he was standing still now, having a conversation, Míngzé held his cane closer to him by resting it against his shoulder. Without Qiān who had acted as a guide dog for him, it was something he needed to get around. He hummed softly. “I’m sure to let him know.” No, with the struggles they were already facing he was not going to say this to him.

Something had scared all those people, but even this man who had been here when it happened did not know what had done it. “Strange.” It was a rather unsettling idea that there was something here scary enough to scare all these people. “There must’ve been something, people don’t just react like this. You sure you don’t see anything out of the ordinary.” Maybe this was his cue to get out of here too. Luckily for the other he did not get hurt too much. “Perhaps you should sit down for a moment,” Míngzé offered.

Míngzé had tried, he really had, but this one was simply impossible. No one really liked getting called old. He knitted his eyebrows as the other continued talking. “Yeah, no, no idea how I can turn that one into a compliment,” he said with a sigh. At least now he knew he looked old apparently. A fun fact to know.

It only got stranger as something was called a special pikachu. “Is what a special pikachu?” As far as he was aware, there were no pikachu’s close. For a moment he looked around, hoping the light in here was powerful enough to help him, but sadly enough not.

People did not freak out over nothing, not like this anyway. There must be a reason why everyone ran, safe from a few people. Yet if he had to believe this man, nothing happened. “Nothing? Absolutely nothing at all made those people freak out?” Míngzé asked in surprise and it was clear he did not believe it. Was it something the other had done? He did end up on the ground after all. The other did listen to his advice to sit down. Míngzé followed the other towards where he sat down. He hummed in acknowledgment that yes, it would probably suck. “Do you need some ice or something?”

Míngzé raised an eyebrow as the other spoke and he could not help but roll his eyes. “I think everyone prefers compliments over getting called old.” At least now he knew. Which was not really what he wanted to learn that day. Another thing he could add to his lists of worries. Thinking about it, maybe he should start a list.

Apparently they were now talking about Dai, presumably because he would not know what other pokémon else. Dai also fits the description. The other’s conclusion made him blink a few times in surprise. “An Eevee?” Míngzé asked in surprise. Meanwhile Dai moved back to his side to hide behind his legs. “It’s a Houndour and definitely not an Eevee.” Míngzé gave him a stranger look. It was not weird for people to not know every pokémon species, but he assumed most knew what an eevee looked like.

The only thing that made Míngzé worry for a moment was the mention of Dai’s tale. At first he did not think much about it, but then he looked down at the pokémon at his feet. “What do you mean, what happened to his tail?” Carefully he lowered himself to a kneeling position and held out a hand until he felt Dai’s wet nose. Did something happen he was not aware of?