Hello and welcome to my first mini-series fic! I was inspired from a Kingdom Hearts terraqua fic (let their feelings grow by choi_kimmy on AO3) in which, as the summary stated "where everyone else finds out that Terra and Aqua are in love with each other before they even realize it themselves." As usual, I thought of Ruby and Sapphire, and I wanna write my own version so bad. After telling the author about it and figuring out which necessary characters, I was able to write this. I hope you'll like it~

Also, this entire series is dedicated to irokonn! Thank you so much for everything, friend ;v;

Thank you, HummingbirdAnimagus#3021 from discord for reading this before I publish this, and of course, to Nue for suggesting a better title!

PS: No, this is not the other multichap fic I'm talking about XD

Time Period: Takes place in RS during their training in Mirage Island.

I. Courtney

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Young love is such an intriguing concept. People could easily be fooled and sometimes, one could use it as their advantage.

And that's what Courtney did when she observed how that boy, Ruby, looked at that girl he was training with.

Her goal for following him in Mirage Island was simple: she wanted to get the orbs for herself so she could stop her boss' nonsense.

She loved seeing the world burn in front of her, but this was too much. She didn't think it would lead to world domination.

And in order to stop her boss, she needed those orbs and maybe some extra help. She went on her own days ago and thankfully, she managed to gather some information about the said boy.

The boy's name is Ruby. He just turned 11 years old last July 2nd.

He's the son of Norman, Petalburg City's Gym Leader.

He used to live in Johto but moved to Hoenn weeks ago. He is now residing in Littleroot Town with his mother.

That is, until he ran away.

She observed him and that girl from afar; he had great potential as a battler. She could use him to stop her boss' insanity.

"Ow!"

Courtney stopped chewing her bubblegum, and looked at Ruby and that girl with him. She saw the girl held her hand as she winced in pain. Ruby tried to go closer but the girl backed off. It wasn't until he held her hand that she stopped avoiding him. He looked at her hand and told her to sit with him.

The girl followed, a blush sneaking on her cheeks, and sat beside Ruby on the grass. Courtney couldn't help but smile at how cute the girl looked. She looked so flustered and was trying so hard to keep herself together.

But what caught her attention most was how Ruby looked at the girl. His eyes were soft. It was hard to describe all the emotions piling up in it but she could see that Ruby deeply cared for the girl.

His smile was different; it was so warm and genuine. Who knew that a brat like Ruby could form a smile like that?

And all it took was that brunette beside him.

Courtney continued to watch Ruby bandage the brunette's hand then proceeded to sew the holes from her gloves. The smile on Ruby's face lingered and the emotions in his eyes never changed.

Courtney suddenly noticed what feelings those eyes conveyed: love.

She couldn't help but smirk. Ruby is in love with the girl with him. She knew it. No friend would give that kind of look and smile to their friends unless they like them romantically. She sighed and popped her bubblegum.

She now knew how to convince Ruby to join her.

It was plain and simple; all she needed to do was threaten her. And then Ruby would be at Courtney's beck and call. This is way too easy. Courtney thought and went deeper into the forest. The smirk on her lips didn't fade.

Very short but yeah. Next chapter will be next week! Thank you for reading!