Edited version of Chapter 1 I hope ASUCAGA fans would love this one ^_^

(last edited: 12/24/12)

NOTE

Kira and Cagalli's surnames are Hibiki
Miguel Aiman is their cousin

Chapter 1: Unexpected Turn of Events

Her arms were crossed in front of her chest in irritation as she sat uneasily inside a soccer stadium. Why was she sitting there in the first place, when in fact, she could've stayed home?

Simple.

Her mother, Via Hibiki, gave her three choices.

a. Stay at home and help Manna do the chores (Because more than half of their maids had the day off).

b. Go along with her parents (Via and Ulen Hibiki) to a ballet recital

c. Tag along with her brother and cousin to watch the PLANTs Soccer play offs.

Of course, the first choice was easily disqualified from her alternatives. That only left the hard decision between B and C.

If she chose B, she might end up sleeping. She didn't really see 'girls wearing tutus and dancing to a slow song' rather ENTERTAINING.

If she chose C, she would be spending the next hour with her two (cough) idiotic (cough) brother and cousin, in a stadium, screaming their lungs out to support whatever team they were supporting.

And apparently, such was happening since she so 'eagerly' chose C.

Yells were coming from different directions. Left, right, up, down. And apparently, some of the loudest came from her left and right—from the right, her brother, Kira Hibiki , and from the left, her cousin, Miguel Aiman. Both were so engrossed in the game, Chanting continuously the phrases "Let's go ZAFT!" and sometimes, "Let's go Zala!" she would often raise her eyebrow once she heard them 'chant' this. What the heck was Zala? And how the heck were they enjoying themselves? The players looked like little ants form where they sat! Seeing that there was no other means of amusement rather than watching the game, she decided to make the most out of it.

"Kira..." Cagalli looked at her brother who was standing from his seat in anticipation. Quite frankly, he wasn't hearing anything. Who could with so many loud shouts from everywhere? Rolling her eyes, she turned to ask her other companion. "Miguel..." But the blonde boy too, was on the edge of his seat.

Infuriated, she huffed and was ready to scream when she noticed that the once chanting of "Let's go ZAFT" turned to angry screams of "Red card!" and "Take that idiot off the field!". Even her two companions, who, just moments ago, had wide smiles on their faces, suddenly had gritted teeth. "Guys? Are you two okay?"

"That bastard kicked Zala!" Kira Hibiki muttered in response.

Cagalli followed Kira's gaze. There were players form one team huddled somewhere while their opponents seemed to restrain one of their teammates from engaging in a fight.

She peered curiously at Miguel, who also had the same angry look "Miguel? What's happening?"

Miguel Aiman, who had heard his cousin, was about to reply; when something unexpected occurred.

Everyone started going over to the field. One of them successfully packed a punch to one of the players, which in turn, made another fan angry, resulting in an ugly exchange of fists. Everything was looking quite scary. People were all going to the field. The Riot patrol was not enough to stop them.

Cagalli, in order to avoid the people who were punching each other near her seat, ran to any safe part she could see. After a few minutes of frantic running, she finally caught sight of the exit. She rushed towards it, hoping to reach it safely

Lady luck was not on her side. Just as she was nearing the exit, she literally found herself in the middle of a brawl. About 10 men were going at it, accidentally blocking her path from all directions. As she tried stepping back, she felt a wall right behind.

She gulped. This was not looking good. Not only did the men block any signs of an exit, the wall made her predicament ten times worse. If the Neanderthals continued with their fighting and shoving, she might find herself pushed to the wall while their fight continued on.

Her knees buckled in fear. It was the first time she experienced something so life-threatening. So threatening that she found herself confessing every sin and thinking of every possible apology to all the people she loved! As she placed both arms on the sides of her head, she braced herself. She was even attempting to guess the amount of pain she would be in.

Just seconds later, she watched in horror as some of the men started shoving their opponents on the wall, a pair was even right beside her! She gulped. She most certainly did not want to experience the beating that the man beside her was having. Her dread continued as more of them continued to crowd towards her, effectively shielding anything from view. She was a short girl, easily unnoticed by the towering men.

Then without warning, she watched as an adult man's body came racing towards her. She closed her eyes; the possible pain she might feel was unimaginable.

Before that could happen though, a warm body suddenly pressed against hers. Cagalli, who was too scared to open her eyes, could feel some thrashing directed towards her—or in this case, them. The stranger was clutching her tightly at the waist, receiving all the pain from the brawl.

After what seemed to be forever, she felt someone pull her away from the wall and into the middle of the soccer field. Feeling that she was far from the fray earlier, the blonde girl opened her eyes to see someone staring straight at her. "Are you okay Miss?"

Cagalli gaped at the said person. She was too flustered to even notice anything other than colors...She was still too fazed to see clearly, and for some reason, she couldn't talk straight. But amidst that, she managed to stutter.

"I...I-I'm fine…"

"That's good to—" He was suddenly cut off. Cagalli could hear as her 'saviour' seemed to be struggling.

As the noise of the arena finally registered, she realized that the man who saved her from utter pain was gone.

She didn't even get to ask his name. All she remembered…was the dark shade of blue.

Still in total shock, she tried stranding up and was relieved to hear two familiar voices.

"Cagalli! " Kira Hibiki shouted as he literally pushed aside everyone blocking his way. He immediately hugged her tight, obviously relieved. "What happened to you? Are you alright? Gosh! We were worried!"

"Hell yeah he was worried!" Miguel added as he placed a hand over Cagalli's head.

Cagalli smiled at her brother and cousin's antics. Now that she was with them, she felt more ate ease—amidst the fact that they were standing amongst people practically ripping each other's head's off as they speak. Placing a hand over Cagalli's shoulder, Kira eyed the exit. "Let's get out of here!"

I was about to make the goal to finish off the game. I quickened my pace, preparing to make the winning kick-Until someone suddenly kicked me in the shin. Before I knew it, I had already hit the grass on all fours.

Before I could recover, I could already hear the audience in the uproar.

...

I knew this wasn't going to be pretty.

"Athrun? You alright buddy?!" Dearka Elsman , our Goalie, was the first to approach me.

I merely nodded and tried to stand up with his help. As if the anger of the fans was not enough, the other team had to hit one of our players again! Yzack, along with Nicol and some others made their way to the said fight to stop them. But as they did, someone from the stands suddenly made his way to the field and punched the player who kicked my shin earlier.

This triggered the riot to begin. People started running to the fields, obviously angered by the brutish behaviour of the other players.

Our team made its way to the nearest exit. Unfortunately, a brawl was happening there too. The whole field was packed with people punching each other.

"Dearka! lead the team to the other exit! I'll be looking if there are still others!"

"Sure! C'mon Yzack!"

"What do you think I'm doing?"

I quickly scanned the whole place, hoping that none of my teammates were caught in any fight. As I finally decided to head for safety, a group of men caught my eye.

They were fighting near a brick wall, some of the men already pushed against the wall as they received punch after punch. I may be hallucinating, but I swore that a girl was against the wall too. I made my way towards them, shocked that indeed, their she was cowering amid the brawl.

The people, who were apparently, pummeling each other to death, couldn't even notice how close they were to harming her. From where I stood, I could clearly see that she was too scared to move. Turning back, I ran towards the affray and made my way towards the girl. As I reached her, she had her hands at the sides of her head. Before I could come any closer though, the brawl had already escalated. Men were being pushed right where we were.

My eyes widened as a large man's body came tumbling right towards her. Without much of a thought, I ran towards the scared figure and wrapped my arms around her; just in time too. The man had just hit both of us, effectively crushing us against between him and the brick wall.

I felt the impact of the man's body in full force. His back had hit mine forcefully. If the wall was not there, I would've toppled over. More thrashing happened as I effectively protected the girl from being crushed. I couldn't help but imagine if this girl would survive the crushing force I was feeling now. My back was starting to ache as the idiots continued punching the man behind me, not caring even if me and this obviously frightened girl were in the way.

It seemed like it was never going to end, my back was ready to give up. I managed to look at the girl in my arms who was still trembling in fear. I was glad when the idiots paused for a moment-maybe they got tired or one of them just gave up-I immediately carried the girl with me while I examined the surroundings in hope to find a safe place to settle in. I pulled her body tighter and carried her towards the open field. She still had her eyes closed. I guess she must've been really scared.

"Are you okay miss?"

I didn't get an answer immediately. She slowly opened her eyes after I asked and it seemed like she wanted to burst out crying. But she didn't. Instead, she managed to stutter in reply. ""I...I-I'm fine…"

I smiled. It was a nice feeling being able to help someone out; let alone save them. "That's good to—"

I was about to finish when two pairs of arms were suddenly hooking my elbows. I heard one of them shout my name before being literally dragged away. I could only blink continuously as the girl disappeared from sight.

My eyes widened at this realization.

What will happen to her? She's a girl for pete's sake!

Struggling relentlessly, I managed to break free from Dearka Elsman and Yzack Juole's grasps. I detached myself from them and realized that it was in vain. I was already inside the protected locker room, away from the riot. I couldn't help but glare at my two friends "What the hell was that for?!".

"We saved your butt Zala!" Yzack retorted angrily. The rest of the team could only watch as we exchanged some heated words. After all, they rarely saw me angry.

"I didn't ask to be saved!"

"You could've gotten mobbed out there Athrun! You were standing like some civilian in the middle of the soccer field! So don't you get angry at us!" Dearka too, added. He was quite serious, a far cry from the typical Dearka everyone knew.

I was fighting a losing battle. Sighing, I slumped myself on the steel bench, clasping my hands on the sides of my head in frustration. "I know…but…that girl!"

"What girl?" Nicol Amalfi, who was actually listening, asked.

"There's this girl I saved. She's alone out there again!" It surprised me how much I cared for this strangers welfare. It was something along the lines of survivor's guilt.

"That's just another one of your fan girls Athrun." Heine Westenfluss, who just emerged from the showers, said as he opened his locker.

"I don't really care…You should've seen how scared she was." I could remember how it felt when she was trembling as I held her. How she looked so scared to even move. Yet for some reason, I couldn't remember a thing about how she looked.

"Athrun Zala you wolf! Do you have the hots for this girl?!." Dearka said along with a grin, only getting a glare from me in response.

"Kidding! just kidding!" He chuckled before continuing. He knew very well not to piss me off when I was stressed. "Knowing people here, she might've reached the exit already. Quit worrying!"

Amidst Dearka's attempt to comfort me, I still couldn't shake off the feeling of worry for this girl. I was sure that the image of her trembling form will never leave my head until I finally see her safe and sound. It's as if I've placed a personal responsibility for her on myself.

My frustration only increased when I realized that there were thousands of blondes in the PLANTs alone.

…How the heck do I find her now?