Shaun had surprised himself with how easy it was to be a little brother again, to let himself get teased and picked on and know that it wasn't meant to be mean. But he was stronger now, too. He was brave enough to pick back, smart enough not to need an adult to retort.

Sure, sometimes he still got nervous that he'd gone too far. He was still afraid at some point he'd screw up and Yusuke would decide he didn't want to hang out with him anymore. Rejection hung over Shaun's shoulder like the new Death, now that he'd accepted that the latter couldn't touch him here. Everyone left him sooner or later.

The thought made him even more miserable. A drip of ice cream ran down over his hand before he stopped it with his tongue, cleaning the edges of the cone. He doesn't pay any attention to Yusuke's exchange with his Lucario, but he glances at Maddie and Jack to see Jack fastidiously cleaning his fur, having finished his cone. The last bit of Maddie's disappeared in her strong jaws, and she looked up at him with a smile and a cheerful Snub!

For a second, it seemed like Shaun didn't even register when Yusuke addressed him again.

"Too much water," he said again, almost too quiet to be heard. "...Promise you won't make fun of me?"