"Haha, relax, Yzak. I think you'll be better at shooting than Athrun."
"That doesn't count for much when half the class thinks the opposite!"
Dearka ignored Yzak's super super angry glare with much difficulty. "That's because they don't know that you'll still hit your target even with your temper—"
"My next target is you if you don't shut up!"
"..."
"... Uh, well, maybe the results will be more conclusive when you guys take the exam?"
"..."
"I mean, who knows! Maybe you'll officially come out on top because Athrun gets a fever or something." Dearka laughed nervously.
"..."
"Just a week until the marksmanship exam, eh?"
"A week to chill and practice, yep. But before you know it, it'll be here."
"It's hard to believe we'll graduate next month. Good luck on the exam, you guys."
"I don't need your luck, pretty boy!"
Nicol turned out to be strong enough to restrain Yzak on his own.
"Eh? Athrun, you're pretty red. Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Shiho. It's nothing."
"You're sure you don't have a fever?" Yzak turned the corner in time to see his classmate put a hand on Athrun's very, very red forehead. "Athrun, you're burning! You took the exam with this kind of fever?! You should be resting!"
"I—"
"You're coming with me to the nurse's. That feels like an extremely high fever!"
"Hey, Rusty, do you know where Athrun is?"
"He called in sick. Has a 41-degree fever, apparently."
"41 degrees?! I hope he's all right."
Dearka dragged Yzak outside before he could wreck the academy.
"HE ALMOST BEAT ME!"
"Whoa, dude, shouldn't you be happy that yo—"
"He was THIS close to beating me! AAARGH!" And he did it while he had that 41-degree fever! I'm gonna murder him!
"I'm not good at horseback riding or painting either, you dolt!"
"Wh—uh... You're better at shooting than him, right? You were top of the class for marksmanship."
"That's because Athrun had a damn fever the day of the exam!"
... Oh. No wonder Yzak was so pissed that day...
AN:
I forget where I read it, but I once saw a dialogue of some sort (manga translation? drama CD translation?) about the rivalry between Yzak and Athrun. If you've read it as well, you might recognize the painting/horseback riding bit xD The dialogue mentioned that Athrun had a fever when he took the marksmanship exam, hence why Yzak was top of the class for it while Athrun was second (dunno where I read that either; maybe wikia?).
Also, Shiho is just a very worried friend here. I just couldn't see anyone else doing it xD;
41 degrees Celsius is 106 degrees Fahrenheit. I figure that shouldn't be fatal for a Coordinator xD