picky was heading home early. his mother had called, saying he had a few friends over. picky was a bit surprised; seeing as he had considered some of ness' friends, his friends since he had met them previously and even hung out with them. claus was one of the coolest, though. pokey would've loved meeting all of the new friends - even if he wasn't the friendliest person.

speaking of his brother, picky hadn't seen him in a few years. humming, picky stuck his hands into his pockets as he made his way down the street. onett had settled down after the whole giygas thing. picky really didn't understand the whole gist of it, though. the fourteen-year-old was just happy to have his neighbor back. it got a little lonely when you were stuck at home with your mom, and the only person willing to talk to you was the girl next door.

as he stepped off onto the dirt road, his mind wandered to other things. so much had happened within three years. he was in high school now, his grades better than what was expected of a minch kid ( though he did tend to get distracted by tracy; pranking her was much more fun than practicing functions. ).

he could hear king barking as he got closer to the two houses that lived just on the outskirts of town. picky found it funny, how king always chased squirrels and never managed to catch one. striding past the yard, he went up to the gate that led to the white fence that wrapped around his house. he pushed it open, making sure to shut it and lock it behind him, or he'd be yelled at for at least half an hour for being ' lazy '.

picky could hear voices inside as he stepped up onto the porch. pushing the front door open, he kicked off his shoes and tossed them onto the shoe rack that sat by the door. pulling off his jacket, he hung it up on one of the hooks that were nailed into the wall and shut the door behind him before his mother could catch him with it open.

he could hear shushing in the living room. something in his gut said that whatever was about to happen, wasn't good. taking a deep breath, he stepped towards the living room and poked his head through the doorway.

there sat claus, paula, and ness. the three people he was closest to aside from pokey. he started to smile. were they here to help him carry out some sort of big, grand prank that everyone in onett would remember?

he stopped when he noticed the looks on their faces.

" what's ... going on? " he asked quietly, taking a seat next to paula on the couch. he sounded confused, watching as claus glanced at ness. he waited for someone to speak.

" how's your day been, picky? " paula asked quietly. it wasn't the normal tone she usually had - instead it was the voice she reserved for when she was talking to the younger kids at the preschool. he didn't like it.

" it was... good. listen, what's? going on here? somethings wrong... " the male stated, adjusting the collar of his t-shirt, before picking at his nails absentmindedly. ness looked tense, he noticed, not as relaxed as he usually was.

" nothings wrong, picky, it's just- " claus started, before looking out the window. picky tilted his head a little bit, waiting for him to continue.

but he didn't. ness cleared his throat, and picky diverted his gaze towards the other. the silence seemed to last for hours.

" picky, we haven't been honest. " he finally said. his voice was quiet, filled with some sort of emotion picky couldn't quite place his finger on. he could feel paula looking at him. he didn't want to see the look on her face.

" about ... what? " he questioned. he could feel his heart racing. he knew he bet that paula and ness could hear his thoughts too, and the panic that came with them.

" your brother. "

this came as a bit of a shock to him. he had thought pokey was living it up in fourside with his father, learning how to run a business, even though he was only thirteen himself.

" you mean he's- "

" no, he's still alive, it's just. he's ... done some bad things. " picky couldn't believe it. pokey may have been a little mean, maybe even rude when he could be. but his brother was still a good kid, despite lacking the love parents were supposed to give when raising their child.

" like ... what? "

" well, he...manipulated others starting with giygas. nobody knows how, but next thing you know... he's manipulating a whole village, and combining animal with machine. human, too. " ness explained.

" including claus. " ness looked away when he said this, staring down at the floor. picky turned his head in the direction of his friend, hoping it wasn't true. he had known that claus had some sort of trauma about a year ago, and that he was still getting over it. but pokey was the source of it all? his own brother, was the one who had hurt the one person he considered a close friend?

the pained look said everything.

picky felt paula's hand on his shoulder. it took everything for him to not pull away. he didn't want to be touched.

" and lucas told me, that he was trapped in the absolutely safe capsule. that was the last time he was seen. "

" the absolutely safe capsule?! jeff told me no one could leave that thing ! what if he dies in the- "

" he can't die. " he was interrupted by claus.

picky felt his heart sink. he'd ( most likely ) never get to see his brother again. he'd outlive him.

then he felt that anger surging to the surface. he was hurt, too. he had considered these people his friends, and they couldn't tell him what had happened to pokey?

" the .. reason we didn't tell you until now, was because we didn't want to hurt you, picky. "

hurt him?

picky stood up quickly, fists clenched. even though they couldn't see his eyes through his thick, blonde hair, they could tell that he was angry.

" hurt me? hurt me my - ! " he cleared his throat, swallowing back tears. " i'm not some little kid ! i'm a teenager now, like the rest of you ! you thought keeping this from me wasn't going to hurt me even more ? " picky spat.

ness looked hurt for a second, but picky didn't even care. he kept talking.

" and you ! " he sneered, looking in claus' direction. the redhead didn't look at picky. " i trusted you the most and you couldn't even tell me ? "

paula reached out for him, but he pulled away again.

" get out. all of you. especially you. i .. hate you. and i can't believe you'd do this to me." he snapped. he couldn't look at them for any longer.

he turned around, starting to leave.

" picky wai- "

" shut up ! " no one had ever thought that picky minch, the most relaxed out of the whole family, would be this angry. let alone shout at somebody. " i don't want to hear it. "

with that, he stormed out, past his mother who was eavesdropping, and upstairs to their- no, his room. he swung open the door and slammed it shut behind him. as soon as he collapsed onto his bed, which he had pushed into the corner so it sat right underneath the window that was adjacent to tracys', he began to cry.

not because of what was kept from him, but because he'd never see his brother again.

he had sobbed for what felt like hours. at one point, paula had come in, obviously deciding to stay behind to try and console him a little bit. she was silent for most of the time, though she did rub slow circles into his back.

but he didn't say a word to her. even when she stood, realizing that it was almost dark outside. when she said that she was there if he needed someone to talk to. as much as he appreciated it, picky really didn't want to talk to her. she didn't understand what it was like to lose one of the only people who really cared about you.

a while after she left, he slide out of his bed. his shirt was soaked with tears. he locked the door to his bedroom and switched off the lights. as he plopped down onto his bed, head pounding from all of the crying he had done, he glanced over at the house across from him.

it was no secret that ness was his neighbor. but his room wasn't right across; it was tracy's. tracy his younger sister, around picky's age. they had practically grown up together.

and her light was on. he could see her silhouette in the window, her head bent forward. she must've been reading. grabbing one of the pebbles that sat on his windowsill, ( he kept them there just to throw them at her window whenever he wanted to talk to her or just bother her. ) and sliding open the window, he eyed the window, raising his hand.

and then he threw it.

i would like to thank sol, kyro, and tea for this !

i appreciate y'all sm and the help and the idea i got

to write this in the first place !

xo,

polly.