Eighteen year old Lenne Braska peered at the blackboard before quickly taking notes. Her Creative Writing teacher, Mr. Maechen was very strict- not letting anyone leave his classroom until all the notes were taken. Lenne had ambled into the classroom, tardy due to Advanced Choir class being packed with newer singers. She wasn't able to talk to her instructor until after class. The brunette quickly scrawled the remaining notes into her notebook, her writing still legible despite writing so fast. As the final bell rang, and the rest of Mr. Maechen's next class sauntered into the room, Lenne turned in her notes. "Here." She uttered as the old scholar took her notebook. She was about to turn away when Mr. Maechen stopped her.
"Miss Braska, wait.." Her Creative Writing teacher said as he hastily wrote on her late pass. He stopped himself, and stared up at her through his glasses. "I'm sorry, what room were you headed to? And which teacher?" The elder man questioned since he had to write down that particular information.
"Room E 108. Mr. Highwind.." Lenne trailed off, and waited for him to continue issuing the tardy slip.
At that, the old man was taken aback. She couldn't mean the legendary Blitzball player, Shuyin Highwind- could she? Room E 108 was the Physical Education room, and the last name Highwind wasn't common around these parts of Zanarkand. "Right. Off you go!" He said distractedly after handing the brunette the small piece of paper.
The songstress gingerly took the ripped up piece of parchment from him, and hurriedly exited the classroom. She scurried as fast as her legs could carry her, dreading being late to Mr. Highwind's class- it was the third time this week! She sucked in a mouthful of air, and breathed heavily before running through the hallways, and down the stairs. WHY did Mr. Maechen's room have to be A 220- upstairs and one of the furthest to the P.E. class? It just wasn't right; all odds seemed against her! Knowing her luck, the other girls would laugh at her for being tardy again. Sweat trickled down the brunette's body, as she sprinted the rest of the way to the gym. Once there, she opened the door and was greeted by many stares. Then, quite a few of her classmates snickered meanly, and one girl in particular - Kanna Black howled with laughter.
"You really are hopeless," She said while pointing and laughing at Lenne.
Lenne looked to where the raven haired girl was pointing, her school uniform! 'I was in such a rush I didn't have time to change!' She thought worriedly. It was mandatory for any students to get dressed before coming to the gym, since the locker-rooms were being rebuilt.. (There wasn't quite enough space or lockers in the changing room yet.) The brunette turned on her heel and ran, bumping into her teacher in the process and stopping short.
Upon seeing Mr. Highwind return, most of the girls quieted down - all except Kanna. "Miss Black," Shuyin addressed her icily with a glare before continuing in a threatening tone, "We've discussed this. Do NOT bully fellow students, unless you would like to go to the Principal's Office." This would be the LAST time that horrible student bullied Lenne!
That shut Kanna up. She stood there, dumbfounded. This was the first time a teacher had stopped her..
Lenne looked up, her light brown tear-filled orbs meeting kind blue ones. "Th-thank you.." She mouthed, grateful that the blonde Blitzball Coach stood up for her. A few stray tears fell down her face, and she sniffled.
When he saw her briefly crying, Shuyin had to repress the urge to hold her in his arms. Instead, he patted her shoulder comfortingly before saying softly, "It's okay." Seeing her this frail really did hurt; the Blitzball Ace had been Lenne's long-time friend, and had feelings for her ever since their early childhood. Since he was her twenty-two year old Physical Education instructor, and a Blitzball Coach, he couldn't exactly express his fondness for her in any way. Still, a part of him longed to protect Lenne, and see her smile from the heart- as she had often done as a child.
Mr. Highwind came back to reality, and cleared his throat loudly. He turned around so he was in front of Lenne and the other female students couldn't see her sobbing. "Well, now that I'm back and I've taken roll-call. Let's get started!" He called, gesturing towards the spherical pool and the other student's understood, seemingly excited to jump into the cool water to play Blitzball. He blew his whistle, signaling the start of their practice game.
The songstress coughed behind Shuyin, startling him. "Shuy-... Mr. Highwind?" She asked, her voice monotonous and unhappy.
"Yes, Lenne?" The Blitzball Coach questioned promptly, as he spun around to face her.
The Choir student shifted uncomfortably, her eyes downcast. "If it's not too much trouble- could I sit out today?" She requested sadly.
Now, Shuyin was at a loss of what to do. The songstress had sat on the bench, out of the pool all the other times simply because he'd given in. On one hand, he wanted her to stay away from the other girls since they picked on her. Then again, there were only so many times he could allow this to go on before the teachers caught on that he had a soft spot for her.. "I'm sorry, Lenne. How about today you at least give practice a try?" He implored.
"All right," She reluctantly agreed. Then, she gasped. "The tardy slip.." She mumbled, voice barely audible. It must have slipped from her hands when she was about to run out the room.
"You were late again?" Shuyin questioned, concern etched onto his features. Lately, she wasn't making it to class on time. He sighed before stating, "I'm afraid I'll have to see you after class, Miss Braska." He wouldn't give the Choir student detention, simply because if she was near him too long, he might not be able to control himself. After all, he's loved her for over twelve years. Or, maybe he'd loved her all along? Shuyin shook his head, as if to shake away the thought of Lenne being with himself, but that didn't do any good. He briefly imagined lightly pressing his lips against the songstress's. Then, said brunette's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"- Please, I can't stay after class!" She wailed. Lenne felt mortified, to say the least. She didn't want to become tardy to Foreign Language! Besides Choir, Al Bhed was one of the other only classes that interested her. Last semester, Lenne passed it with soaring grades, and while her teacher Ms. Fabool was lenient with her, she feared another tardy might land her in detention.
"Then I must see you after school." The words escaped the Blitzball coach's mouth before he could stop them. He covered his mouth too late, his previous words earning a loud gasp from the studious girl.
"No, please-" She began to plead, but was cut off by him.
"You're staying after school in my office, Lenne and that's final." Shuyin replied in a husky voice.
"But I have to practice my solo for the Choir concert after school!" The brunette practically shrieked.
The blonde contemplated what to say next for a few moments, before he thought of a compromise. "After practice, you must come straight to my office." Shuyin insisted.
"Thank you, Shu." The songstress whispered happily. She offered him a half-smile, causing him to turn away.
'She called me by my nickname!' The Physical Education instructor thought, a light blush creeping onto his cheeks. It had been so long since he'd seen her smile, he couldn't handle her cuteness. Not to mention, she grinned for him! He silently vowed to make her feel happy as often as he could. "You can sit out today." He said, his back still turned to her.
The brunette just beamed happily at him, and embraced him from behind.
This action caught Shuyin off guard, and he tensed up immediately. "Lenne, not now okay? Students might see us…" He mentally told himself, 'Why should I care if anyone sees? She's the one I love; we should be able to hug whenever we want!' Then, the other thought he dreaded ran through his mind, 'But she's still my student. If we do such things, we could both get into trouble!' The blonde sighed miserably, disliking that his love interest had indeed pulled away.
"I'm sorry, Shu- uh… Mr. Highwind. It won't happen again, I promise!" The songstress responded nervously. A part of her ached to hold him close again, but she wouldn't do such a thing anymore since it made him uncomfortable. She walked off towards the benches, and once she was there took a seat. Lenne then averted her eyes from Shuyin to her classmates in the sphere pool. She watched them, and pretended to be interested in their practice match. The raven haired girl was being a show off, making sure to use as many special techniques that she could as soon as she got her slimy hands on the ball. 'She must be trying to impress someone. But who?' Lenne thought bitterly. That was when she saw Kanna stare longingly at Shuyin, and then it made sense.
Lenne honestly felt sickened by it all. She had to get away right now! To her relief, the bell rang at that moment and she was the first one out the door. The Choir student had no time for the other girl's harsh glances and words, and she didn't feel like facing her enemy after seeing that go on. She rushed through the crowded hallway, not caring if she accidentally bumped into anyone. The songstress continued sprinting to her next class, breathing heavily from running so fast.
She was in front of the Al Bhed teacher's room now, and she gingerly reached out her hand for the doorknob. Once she pulled it opened, she discovered the classroom empty. She ambled to her desk and slid into the seat, gasping in mouthfuls of air. She covered her face in her hands and didn't even look up when she heard the door open a few times. Some of her fellow students glanced at her curiously, and most of them left her alone. That was when the brunette felt someone lightly tap her shoulder. She heard said person clear their throat loudly. She recognized him at once. It was Tidus, Shuyin's younger brother…
"Hey, Lenne. Is everything okay?" The Blitzball team Captain questioned, his voice dripping with curiosity.
The songstress removed her hands from her face and lied, "Everything's fine!" She forced herself to grin at him, and he backed off.
Tidus knew Lenne better than she thought he did. The songstress would only smile that way if she wasn't okay. It was a bittersweet smile, one that he caught on to right away since he's been her longtime friend. He could never ask her what was wrong- it just didn't feel right. The older blonde teen sincerely hoped she would feel better soon, though.
As the rest of the students made their way into the classroom, it didn't go unnoticed that their teacher wasn't present. Some of her fellow classmates took this opportunity to goof off, a girl named Calli drew their instructor, Rikku as a Chocobo, Clasko turned on his portable radio and started dancing, Elma and Lucil were making out, and Tidus and some of his Blitzball teammates were kicking the ball to each other. Lenne stifled a laugh at their obnoxious behavior, her earlier troubles forgotten.
All too soon, their Al Bhed teacher entered the classroom. When she saw her students doing such things she cried in a firm voice, "Stop that!" Her students weren't listening, so she yelled, "Don't make me get Mrs. Farron in here!" Her students quieted down when she mentioned the angry pinkette Lightning. "That's much better!" Rikku responded cheerfully. She proceeded to explain today's lesson, and Lenne listened intently.
As always, the class would have to write in Al Bhed, but instead of deciphering and speaking the sentences Ms. Fabool wrote, they would write their own. "Now I want you all to think long and hard before writing! The sentences have to be school – related!" Rikku said enthusiastically. A few students groaned their disproval, and their Al Bhed instructor smirked.
Right away, Lenne went to work jotting down a few of her ideas. So dfu vyjuneda lmyccac yna Lruen yht Ym Prat. (My two favorite classes are Choir and Al Bhed.) Dra mepnyno ec ymfyoc xiead yht hajan lnuftat. (The library is always quiet and never crowded.) E ys eh muja fedr so Pmedwpymm daylran, Crioeh. (I am in love with my Blitzball teacher, Shuyin.) The songstress hastily erased her third sentence and wrote something else: So maycd vyjuneda cipzald ec Lnaydeja Fnedehk. (My least favorite subject is Creative Writing.) 'There, that should do it!' The songstress thought happily.
The other students continued to moan and groan about writing very little, while Lenne was seemingly finished. The Choir student made her way to her teacher's desk and asked, "Will you take a look at what I wrote?"
The Al Bhed teacher gracefully took the paper and looked it over. "These are all really good! Since you're finished, how about you continue writing?" She said with a smile, offering the paper back to the songstress.
"R-right." Lenne answered, as she received her parchment. She sauntered back to her desk, and wrote down quite a few more ideas, taking up the entire page. Then, she flipped it to the back, and continued to scrawl her ideas onto the paper. Sweat trickled down her face, and she wiped some of it away with her hand. 'NOW, I'm done!' The brunette thought ecstatically. She got up from her seat, and handed her paper in to Rikku, just as the bell rang. The Choir student gasped and looked at the clock, 'I've been writing too long!' Was her innermost, frantic thought. "Well, how is it?" She asked impatiently.
"These are wonderful! You did an excellent job, Lenne." Rikku responded cheerfully, and truthfully. "I'll grade it, and you'll know just how good you did." She said with a wink.
The songstress nodded and hurriedly exited the classroom. She couldn't be late for Choir rehearsal!