AN: Okay, so I am posting this for my friend Muddy Writer. This is a collab fic between her and me. So we hope, from the bottom of our hearts, that you enjoy this story that we made up. Enjoy.
Switching Sides
Chapter 1
"The New Students"
A military man shuffled around a darkened room adorned with exquisite mahogany boardroom table and elegant black chairs for meetings, thinking about his plan for the nth time.
Suddenly, he heard soft footsteps and stopped from his dizzying walk. High Commander Cid Aulstyne smiled viciously to himself; the time has come for his plan to be put into motion.
"You called for me, sir?" a voice of a young woman with a sable tresses came in, half of her face hidden in the shadows.
"Yes, yes. You leave tonight," replied Cid in a voice of authority.
Silence dropped like a cannon ball; everything stayed still and those present in the room, the two of them, seemed to be holding their breaths.
"You are ready to go, are you not," asked Cid with a raised eyebrow and he could feel the hesitation and anxiousness the young lass was emitting.
"Y-yes…" She answered like a whisper but then easily shook off all of her uncertainties and uneasiness away. "Yes," she answered with more conviction this time.
"Good," a full wicked smile now appeared on his thin lips.
"Ne~ where does Santa go after Christmas?" Cinque, a pretty orange-haired girl, asked innocently while cocking her head to the side. "Hm, doesn't he go hibernating?" Cater, a red-head, answered, "You know, considering he is big and fat like a bear!" And so, went on their discussion.
Far behind them, Trey was giving Sice another torturous lecture, making her cover her delicate ears in an attempt to block it out.
"Would somebody please shut him up?" The young woman with white hair in ponytail cried out. "No, no. It's far from over yet," Trey, the blond haired youth, said and so went on the torture of Sice.
Way on top of the rows of chairs on the right most side of the classroom, when you are facing it in Kurasame's point of view, the King of the class does not care about what was unfolding before him. Staring what was beyond the window seems to be interesting for him but if one is observant enough; he could be seen stealing glances on Sice's predicament, clearly amused.
The childhood friends, Rem and Machina, are talking about some secret issue that concerns about the war or them. Whatever it is, nobody knows for sure but Rem does shyly look away from Machina from time to time and Machina's awkward coughs could be heard.
Nine, with him improperly sitting on the top of his chair, looks pissed enough to eat someone alive. Apparently, his 'entertainment' a.k.a. the Class President, Queen, was nowhere yet to be found.
"Dammit!" was only one of the many curses he muttered under his breath.
Jack and Eight both have a matching pair of sly grins on their faces and mischievous glints in their eyes that could only mean one thing: they are thinking of hundreds, no, make that millions of ways to flip the girls' skirts. Seven was eyeing them with a dangerous glare and was readying her trusty whip for any oncoming attacks.
Ace sighed; such is the normal scenario in Class Zero, who was supposed to be acting like the elite students they are but at times, they come out like big babies.
He was readjusting his glasses and was about to continue reading when he caught sight of Deuce, a pretty young woman with dark brown hair that glistens under the golden sun.
She was listening to Cater and Cinque's discussion about Santa's whereabouts after Christmas as if anyone cared but them.
Santa could go to hibernation as long as he wants yet, he has to make sure he delivers Ace's presents. Else, Ace is going to hang Santa by his big bowl of jelly. Nothing is sadder that seeing your stockings empty on Christmas it seems.
Deuce gave a big yawn under her hands; Ace frowned at this. She seems to be tiring herself a lot these past few days and he does not like it one bit. Wait, what?
Sensing someone's eyes training on her, Deuce turned to the general direction of Ace. Seeing him watching her, the Class Number Two gave the Ace one of her heart stopping smiles. Not even minding the effect it has on him. He reddened like a tomato. Reminded he still has to stare at her looks, uh, read his books, he awkwardly turned his attention away.
Ace inwardly sighed. He remembered Deuce was tagged by almost everyone as 'dense'. "And stubborn too," he added quietly to himself.
"But that's one of the things I love about her." He added to himself again. Wait, a minute, love? His eyes widened as soon as he realized what he just said. No, no, no, no! He cannot fall for the new student. She just arrived here and he wants to make her feel welcomed, but not thatkind of 'welcome'. Ace didn't want to come off as a creep. All of a sudden, he remembered the day Deuce arrived in Suzaku Peristylium.
Ace and the rest of the members of Class Zero were waiting at an airship hangar for the new students' arrival. Recent enrollees were about to arrive at around eight in the evening.
Ace merely stood there, quietly observing his classmates as they interact with each other. Nine was trying to get on Queen's nerves again and Queen is very close to snapping.
Trey was began his long lecture on how the new students, especially the girls, might look like. It was also annoying the hell out of Sice, characterized by her face palm and covering of her ears. King watched Trey and Sice with his arms folded across his chest, looking nonchalant but was really entertained with the white haired girl's situation. Any more and she might just bang her head on the wall.
"Arghh! This is torture!" She yelled but as usual, Trey paid her no attention and continued on talking.
Jack and Eight were creepily eyeing Seven, Cinque and Cater as if they were both planning on flipping their skirts anytime soon. Technically, they could not have even a midget size of peek of Seven's panties since she was wearing shorts underneath her skirts. Very practical huh? Whatever the case is, Seven had her whip ready to protect Cater and Cinque from Jack and Eight's filthy hands.
Abruptly, they all heard the whirring of the engines of an airship. They all look up to the dark starless sky, only to see the airship, carrying the new students of Suzaku Peristylium, landing.
Everyone lifted their arms to shield their faces from the dusts that the airship had generated.
The doors opened and one by one, fresh students came pouring out. All of them were pretty much excited for having been attended a prestigious school that only a few had a privilege to do so.
Ace paid them equally no heed, but the last three students that came out got his attention completely.
Two of them were walking as a pair. The man was wearing Class Zero's standard uniform with an elegant cloak. He had dark hair, green eyes and is seemingly overprotective of his girl partner.
The woman he was with also had dark locks but Ace couldn't exactly say what color her hair was. It was already dark and the grounds did not have a proper lighting. It also appears that she shared a close relationship with the boy. She, too, was in Class Zero's standard uniform. But the lone student, however, made Ace dropped his jaw to the ground.
Her hair was of brown sable that fell just a few inches off her shoulders and is tied to a half-ponytail, sparkling green eyes and a body that any girl would kill for. She is also already wearing the academy's standard uniform, well specifically, Class Zero's standard uniform.
Ace's heart started doing laps on his chest and kept on staring at her as if the girl would disappear the moment he take off his eyes on her.
However, he was snapped out of his silent admiration when Professor Kurasame and Queen passed by him in order to talk to the new arrivals.
"You must be the new students from Concordia. I'm Professor Kurasame and this is Queen, the class president of Class Zero." He introduced himself and Queen in a formal yet commanding tone.
The girl looked slightly nervous but still held her beautiful smile. The boy and the other girl however, simply kept themselves calm and had no signs of nervousness. Kurasame approached the other girl first.
"May I ask what your name is?" Kurasame held out his gloved hand to her.
"R-Rem Tokimiya, sir." She replied nervously as she held on to her partner's hand. Kurasame nodded his head and approached the boy.
"Machina Kunagiri, sir." He answered as if reading Kurasame's mind.
"Are you related to Izana Kunagiri?" Kurasame asked him curiously.
"My brother, sir," The boy, Machina, replied. Kurasame nodded once more and approached the last girl, whom Ace regarded as an angel that Etro sent for him to feast his eyes upon.
"Hello, Kurasame-sensei, Queen, I'm Deuce," the petite girl made herself known while bowing slightly to both Kurasame and Queen. The professor gestured for her to stop bowing and she did.
"Well, Deuce, Machina, Rem, these are the other members of Class Zero." Kurasame pointed where Class Zero was currently situated and as if on cue, Jack and Eight immediately walked up in front of the girls to introduce themselves. When they landed in front of Rem, however, Ace could notice that Machina looked really pissed at Jack and Eight, but Rem simply squeezed his hand reassuringly.
Deuce and Rem shook each of their hands and laughed nervously at their goofy grins but before they could scare them any further, Seven and Cater immediately pulled Number Eleven and Number Eight away from them.
"Please forgive Jack and Eight for their behavior." Queen said apologetically as she butted in and looked at the two sternly who only widened their grins. "Idiots," she muttered under her breath.
"It's alright." Deuce replied softly and with a smile that almost made Ace faint. Rem nodded in agreement.
Kurasame then ushered the three new students to meet their fellow classmates one by one, who lined up according to their class number. Rem, Machina and Deuce exchanged smiles and salutations with their comrades.
When Deuce stopped in front of Ace, however, he was gob smacked until King nudged him in the ribs.
"H-hi," He said with a sheepish smile, still captivated by her features.
Deuce smiled back at him and that's when the effects started kicking in. Ace felt blood rose up to his cheeks and his heartbeganto race in his chest.
"Hello, I'm Deuce." She held her hand out to him. "I'm Ace." He introduced himself and shook hands with her. But, oh my Etro! Her hands were the softest he ever held!
"Well, Deuce, Machina, Rem, I'm pretty sure you're tired. Why don't you let me show you to your rooms?" Queen suggested after their introduction and the three of them nodded. At once, they grabbed their duffel bags and followed Queen to the dorms. The other girls followed suit while the rest of the boys looked on at them in amazement.
"So that's the new kids," Jack said approvingly, "Never thought the girls would look that hot though." He pointed out as he massaged the back of his neck.
For the first time, Ace agreed with what Jack said. But instead of saying it, he simply nodded. Others did too.
"Get back to the dorms. It's past your curfew." Kurasame ordered, breaking their enthrallment. Heck, even King was piqued with interest. The boys of Class Zero followed the orders and walked back to the dorms. As they headed back, Ace was thinking of Deuce while the others loudly discussed their arrival.
'I got to get to know her.' He thought to himself.
But, that was weeks ago. So far, Ace's progress has been a big fat zero. As he was reminiscing, however, he didn't notice that he was staring at her yet again. Machina sat beside him, unnoticed
"See something you like?" Machine said coolly. Startled, Ace jumped out of his seat and fell on the floor. He liked Machina as a friend honestly but at times, he's very mysterious and won't seem to leave Rem alone.
"The hell? When did you get there?" Ace's eyebrows were knit together in slight irritation at Machina who only rolled his eyes and shook his head.
"Well, while you were staring at little miss new student over there, I jumped at the chance to try and scare the shit of you. You're into her, aren't you?" Machina asked with a mischievous glint in his eyes.
"Wha? No…no…nah, I- I'm not into her." Ace stood up, took his seat and looked away from Machina. To be honest, he doesn't even know what he feels about her. One part tells him he has feelings for her and the other says they're better off as friends.
Machina scoffed at his response. "Yeah right. The more you say no, the more you're telling me yes." He replied smugly.
"Oh yeah? Says the guy who can't even ask his childhood friend out on a date." Ace mocked. Once again, Machina scoffed.
"You got that wrong, dude, I just did." Machina replied arrogantly as he sat on a chair with his hands behind his head. "Yup, sat right beside her and asked her for a date in town."
"Whatever." Ace rolled his eyes and right on cue, the bell rang. Frantically looking and noticing that Deuce has already left the classroom, Ace stood up instantly, grabbed his things and ran after her, not even minding to take his glasses off.
"Hey!" Ace called after her. Deuce turned around and saw Ace running towards her. "Oh, Ace. What do you need?" She asked, tilting her head in curiosity. Ace blushed. He always finds it cute when she does that.
"Uh…would-would you…uh-"stammered the Class Ace. Damn, why is this so hard?
This time, Deuce straightened her head again but the look of curiosity never left her face. "Yes…? What is it?" Deuce asked with that killer smile of hers. Despite the smile making his heart rate go insanely fast, Ace managed to calm himself down.
"Would," Ace sighed and straightened himself out. "Would you like to take a walk around the school with me after lunch? We have an hour and a half break anyway," He paused. "So…do you want to?" Truth to be told, Ace was very nervous as if his life is at stake here. He hoped that she would say yes anyway.
"Um, it is not a date, right?" Deuce tilted her head to the side again. Ace swore if she keeps on doing that, he might faint in front of her.
"Uh," He nervously cleared his throat. Apparently, he just got friend zoned. "No, it is nothing like that. Just a friendly walk."
Scratch that; by saying 'friendly walk', he just put himself in the friend zone.
"Okay. I'd love to," smiled Deuce as she answered.
"Great! Just meet me then at the courtyard." Ace could feel himself replying with a wide smile despite the fact he just got himself friend zoned; he just simply can't believe she said yes.
"I'll see you around then." Deuce turned to walk away.
As she did, Ace's stare bore into her being. But after a few feet away from him, Deuce turned around.
"By the way, you look cute with the glasses." She added prior to walking away completely. By then, the Class Number One was having a heart attack.
He can't imagine a girl as hot as Deuce would say something like that to him. But, she did and if his heart rate was a human being, it would cause a tear in the time-space continuum; yes, it was going that fast.
He turned around and saw Machina standing there, arms crossed and looking impressed but was nearly laughing. Now, it was Ace's turn to look smug.
"Beat that sucker," Ace said with pride. "I've asked a girl I barely know on a date faster than you asked Rem. Plus, she said I looked cute with the glasses."
"What do you mean date? She just friend zoned you."Machina replied offhandedly. Ace's smug look melted away straightaway after Machina mentioned that.
"Oh, shut up! Just because you got a date with Rem and I don't have a date with Deuce, doesn't mean you have to act like an ass," cried Ace grumpily as he walked away. Yet, when he was a few feet away, he turned to face Machina.
"But who's to say I won't try and snag her before someone else does?" He then continued walking to the cafeteria.
"Still, not bad. You actually got her to go somewhere with you. At least that's progress." Machina muttered before following Ace.