Yep, I am back with more stories. This one is an AU, modern setting. You know, normal highschool students, no monsters or magics, and such. I'll continue my other fic sometime in August, hopefully.

Final Fantasy Type Zero along with its' characters belongs to Square Enix

"Hold this, mmkay? " Cinque ordered, handing him a plastic bag loaded down by shirts and skirts she had just bought.

Trey didn't know quite what he did that was so horrible in a previous life to deserve what he was going through now. But, whatever it was, he was pretty sure it had been absolutely criminal. He made sure to take it with his right hand, which was already holding two large bags. This way, it balanced out with the five smaller bags he was precariously holding in his left hand.

Why he was holding these bags, Trey wasn't sure of. Maybe it had something to do with him being a huge sucker when it came to being a gentleman. He sighed. Damn. The one changeless attitude that was naturally born within him... it just had to be manners towards ladies, didn't it?

Following Cinque's quick lead, Trey glanced around the mall corridors, looking for some sort of salvation. He had gone in with Cinque, Jack, Queen, Machina and Rem just an hour ago. Trey had thought he was going to be safe. But then, Jack and Queen had managed to slip into a sports store, and disappeared, chances are to find as much gear as they could. Machina, ever the sneaky bastard, had grabbed onto Rem, and had snuck away before anyone had noticed.

Not that Trey wasn't happy with Machina disappearing. His black haired friend wasn't so coward anymore. It had been a year since they were put in an elite class, with Machina and Rem being the latest members. He wasn't trying to be a matchmaker or something, but he (and everyone else in Class Zero) was kind of ticked on how slow Machina's making a move, so all in all, this is a plus. He did, however, worry about how safe Rem would be. Machina was, after all, a normal, hormonal teenager, who had a well-hidden porn magazine in his room. Then again, Rem would probably smack him if he tried anything silly.

However, this predicament left him with Cinque. Now, in any other situation, Trey was positive he could handle being alone with Cinque. But, this wasn't any other situation. This was Cinque, not in the class. This was Cinque, not on the lacrosse field, playing with Deuce and the others. This was Cinque, not singing something beautiful at the school festival. This was Cinque... in a mall. This was her home.

Trey did not stand a chance.

When they had noticed they were alone, she'd turned on him, and Trey had known the true meaning of fear. She had tilted her head, swiped some brown hair away from her pretty face, smiled brightly, and had said, raising her already sweet voice an octave higher, "Trey will accompany Cinque shopping, right?" The only way she could've made it worse was to bat her eyelashes outrageously. Fortunately, Cinque didn't take it that far.

She didn't have to. Trey was already a beaten man, and he knew it. He had simply smiled, and mumbled out, "Of course, Cinque."

The next thing he knew, Cinque's hands were practically bag-free, while his was being bogged down, a lot.

Damn his stupid gentleman instincts!

Cinque suddenly grabbed onto his arm, and started dragging him along to keep up with her. He stumbled along with her. It was all Trey could do not to fall flat on his face. She stopped for a moment to choose a store to go into, and he took a breath, wondering if he could sneak away without her noticing. He doubted it.

She snatched his arm again, and Trey sighed, groaned even, as he was yanked along. Cinque, apparently oblivious to his discomfort, made a beeline to a particular store. Trey looked up, and blinked. The wise blonde gave one glance at the looming store in front of him before turning to the beautiful young brunette next to him. He stared at her in disbelief.

"Cinque, this is a joke, right?"

She, of course, merely shook her head in ignorance.

Before his eyes was an extremely large and popular brand name store that girls loved to buy from but for the typical adolescent guy, it was a storehouse full of the unknown and feared. The store was like a giant pink monster, feeding off of guy's masculinity and pride. It was… the lingerie warehouse.

Two feet in front of the dreaded entrance, the blonde could practically feel his testosterone level lowering just by standing near it. He panicked, opened his mouth to voice his objections, but was horrified when all that came out was a desperate gasp. Even his legs didn't seem to be cooperating. His partner tilted her head in curiosity, eying Trey as if she was watching a koala dancing.

After a series of throat-clearing, Trey gathered enough power to express his opinion. "I… don't even know what to expect from there! A-And Cinque, I'm a guy!"

Typical Cinque, she didn't seem to get what was wrong. She smirked like a cat, tugging at her friend's orange hoodie's sleeve. "Cinque needs a pair of new panties. And Cinque wants this brand."

The color in Trey's face was drained. If they were to grab another bag of skirts, shirts, or even stockings, he had no objection, but this? He preferred to fight a hitman with bare arms, thank you very much. He crossed his arms and shook his head. "Too much information, Cinque. Too. Much. Information."

"Let's go~!" She pulled the blonde's right arm and started to drag him in until he suddenly stopped her.

"Cinque! I'm a guy!" He insisted, acting as if his gender was the ultimate excuse and reasoning for his reluctance to enter the store.

The brunette pouted back. "Cinque does not ask Trey to come so Trey could just wait outside."

"N-nevertheless, Cinque! I am a guy!"

Cue Cinque pulled her puppy faces. Usually, Trey would only sigh and follow her, but this one was different story and different situation altogether. Blushes on his face were there as usual, though.

"L-Listen up, Cinque! This store in front of us, in fact, is one of the most famous store that sell the highest quality for—"

"…Okay, then."

Trey was sure his 'What?' was definitely too loud for his liking, but he did bad job in hiding his surprise when Cinque backed down. The said girl gave a sigh, a little disappointment clearly audible with the huff.

"Cinque will go inside, then. Trey can sit somewhere."

Thanks heavens.

At last.

He nodded in approval as Cinque turned her back on him and stepped inside the store. FINALLY! With a sigh of relief, Trey scanned the area for a bench, which he spotted in no longer than ten seconds. As he sat there, he could feel all of his lives are coming back inside. Best feelings ever.

He rested his chin on his hand and stared restlessly at the entrance of the lingerie's shop and wished Cinque took her time for this one. He wasn't going to joke: He was goddamn whipped. Of all seriousness, why did he agree to go here? Why did he agree to help Cinque shop? Hundreds of whys flashed in his brain as he relaxed himself on the wooden bench. No, he shouldn't think all of that and enjoy the rare holiday he got here.

Speaking of which, how's Machina doing with Rem, he kinda wondered.

His thought about his friend's romantic progress was put on a hold when suddenly a loud, girly screams erupted from the direction he stared for awhile. Trey was alarmed and stood from his seat. He couldn't tell if Cinque joined the scream or not as it was obviously not just one girl screaming. Did something happen inside there?

Which put him in the edge once again: Whether should he enter or should he not. On one hand, that was something that he could help, maybe. On the other hand, though…

Oh well, might as well.

Just when Trey about to went inside the store, another shriek followed.

"PERVERT!"

Cue Trey approaching the store faster. He didn't know what kind of freak would do this in the broad daylight, but he'll make sure that this pervert—

"T-This is all misunderstanding!"

-Learned a lesson or two. Okay, wait a minute. Is it just him, or he recognized that voice?

Before his brain could do all the processing, a brunette slipped by the crowds of humans in front of the store. He did a double take at this. Really, is it just him, or he recognized that face? The short, chestnut hair… The sharp eyes…

No mistaking it, it was Eight.

…

…Maybe he should just sit back for now. That's probably—No, that's definitely the wisest choice now.

As Eight was chased by securities and screaming like a little girl covered in tarantulas, Trey couldn't help but ponder of the reason why the martial artist lover is here. Let's see… Eight, lingerie warehouse, mistaken as a pervert… Hmm, Trey couldn't grab a bright spot here. He couldn't put the two and two together.

Or, he was missing something here.

"Trey! Trey!"

Once again, there goes his imagination. Trey looked up at the source of the voice, which was Cinque's. On her hand was a bag, probably full of girl's underwear that Trey didn't even bother guess. That was the lesser surprise, though, as the bigger one was there was Cater to her left, carrying a bag with the same logo as Cinque's on its' surface.

Okay, he definitely grasped the situation now.

"Hello, Cater." Trey smiled a bit. "What a coincidence to find you here."

"Hey, pretty boy." Cater being Cater, grinned back. "Enjoying yourself, I see."

Barely. And that was still an understatement.

Trey was about to let out a scoff and a remark, when Cinque cut him again by giving Trey yet another bag to carry. If he were to get a Gil for every time Cinque 'enslaved' him, he would have already be a millionaire by now. But what could he do, really? He just couldn't say no to Cinque, especially when she flashed that happy, Cheshire smile.

"If you were going to go shop here, you could at least go with us together." Trey explained to Cater while sorting Cinque's goods on his side. "Jack and the others are here too."

"It can't be helped." She shrugged in response. "Just call it an emergency. I did something… wrong yesterday and I end up having fewer clothes than I should be."

Trey's eyes widened, as in REALLY wide. Okay, calm down, Trey… Calm down. Did Cater just said that she wasn't wearing—

"Pervert." Cinque pouted, cutting Trey's thought.

-E-excuse me!

"Don't tell me, Trey…" This time, Cater's voice sounded more venomous than before. Trey didn't do much justice to cover his hormonal side, though. All he could say was either an inaudible sentences, or unexplainable phrases. Cater sighed at his actions. "Ugh, you're no better than Eight!"

"PARDON ME-!"

Six eyes quickly darted over to the side to notice in their surprise that Eight was there. Looking around him, Trey couldn't find a single trace of Eight's chaser, so he could conclude that the brunette lost them somewhere before reaching this place, then. It went without saying that Eight looked more exhausted than ever, of course.

"Eight~" Cinque cheered, very much oblivious to Eight's situation. "Heya~"

Eight didn't feel like answering it, though. His eyes were locked at Cater. Cater was grinning ear to ear much to his delight, though.

"You didn't even tell me that place is exclusively for females!"

"Well, but now you know, right? Problem solved."

"I really, really dislike you so much right now, Cater."

Trey couldn't help but facepalming right now. He quickly made a mental note: Eight wasn't quite sharp when it comes to things like this. Eight grumbled one last time at Cater before he sat down next to Trey.

"Oh, come on." Cater put her bag down and poked at her partner's cheek, smiling amusedly at him. "Little Eight's angry~"

Cinque giggled at that and Trey couldn't help but chuckled as well.

"Whatever." Eight growled. "Go away."

While Cater knew that Eight mean no offense, Cinque didn't take it as well as Cater. She pouted again, her seriousness showing in this situation. "Fighting is a no-no!"

The blonde man watched in amusement. Cinque was never the cleverest or the most diligent in their class, but her innocence was definitely outstanding. One might address that part of her as naïve, but Trey found it cute, which added up all of her cuteness that was already there.

That's why he could never take his eyes off her.

The brunette male just scoffed thought. He usually took Cinque more positively, but in his state, he was not in the zone, alright.

"Come on, Cin. Eight's just tired." Cater crossed her arms, flashing a secret smile at Eight, which didn't go unnoticed by Trey. "Let's just get something, shall we?"

"Oh, right!" Cinque beamed. "There's this shop that sold beautiful dresses! This way!"

And then she dragged Cater away quickly, with everyone else including Cater herself dumbfounded.

Typical Cinque. Trey thought, letting a smile formed on his lips. Always have a surprise for us.

That's that, Trey guessed. At least he could rest a bit more and he got a company this time. "You're on a date with her, Eight?"

"As if." Eight claimed between his breaths and his panting. "She practically dragged me to come with her. You saw it, she trapped me!"

A soft chuckle escaped Trey's mouth. Eight and Cater… Those two always have the best of relationships, whether it was platonic or romantic. He was more inclined toward the romantic, though, considering all of that. "She wanted your company, Eight."

"I am not too sure about that." He grabbed Cater's bag, pulling it closer toward his legs so that it didn't disturb other people's walk. Eight indicated the bag at Trey, which surprisingly Trey nodded at. Certainly, that was a possibility that Cater only wanted Eight to carry her bags. Just like how Cinque treated him.

Funny, since that was what usually a girlfriend asked her boyfriend to help for.

As if they shared the same thought, both blushed at the same time at the comparison of their imagination and the reality. Trying hard not to embarrass each other, they looked at an opposite direction.

Seriously, if they were to stare at each other with that faces, it would look too gay for their taste.

"Found him!"

What?

Both Trey and Eight moved their head to gaze straightly at the three securities in front of them.

"And he has an ally with him!"

One of them was pointing at Trey, specifically Trey who was holding Cinque's bag, which consisted of bras and panties. Trey, dumbfounded, pointed at himself, muttering a small 'Me?'.

"Goodness! What a low life!"

…Okay, Trey didn't like this revelation.

On his side, Eight said something like 'Whoops, gotta go' or such and jumped through the bench to ran away, leaving Trey with bags full of women's underwear; both Cinque's and Cater's.

Trey hated this revelation.

"Come with us, young man." The middle aged police ordered him. "We've got some question—"

Desperate times called for desperate measures. Trey copied Eight's action and gone at the same direction as his friend.

"They are running away, after them!"

Some holiday today was.

Review, kay.