Author's Notes: Alrighty! I must say this will be a first for me here, so don't horribly flame me or anything. I've tossed my joking to the side for a sec in exchange for a bit more serious, romantic tone. It's all for the great Fu-sama!! Anyways, I don't own FF8 or it's characters, I just use them for PROFIT! MWAHAHAHA..... oh wait I don't get paid for this? Damn it!
Torture Of The Heart~ A SeiFuu by none other then GoW
The sunlight rained down from the sky, blanketing the Garden Of Balamb a beautiful gold. Birds chirped merrily in the distance and the younger children of Garden ran about, playing gleefully in the warmth. A young girl looked around her at this beautiful scenary and smiled. The wind quickly whisped around her, blowing her long, silver hair with it. She took a deep breath, quickly adjusted her eye patch and adjusted her Zan as well. With that, Fujin Kazeno, age 14, went inside Balamb Garden for her first day of classes.
She took her first step inside the Garden slowly, as though she wanted it to be in slow motion. She had been waiting most of her life to be in Garden. After she had left home for...personal reasons, she had been hoping for a place to call her own. A place where she could be herself and not worry about others. That was when she heard the stories of the heroic SeeD and the many great things they had done. Fujin had figured that if she could become a SeeD and do those great things, then perhaps people wouldn't look at her oddly anymore. She learned to ignore the stares she got from other people, but it still got to her sometimes. Now, if she became a SeeD, then maybe they'd look at her as something else.... a hero. She was about to procede further when a blonde boy on a T-Board shot past her, yelling "YAHHOOOOO!!" as loud as humanly possible as members of Garden Faculty chased after him. She was so busy watching the on goings, she didn't notice that she was about to crash head on with another student.
*THWACK*
Fujin landed on her rear and held her head for a moment. She was about to apologize when the person she ran into quickly got angry.
"Jeez! Watch where you're going! That really hurt!"
The boy she had hit, who was easily 17, looked down at her with anger in his eyes. Fujin looked up at him and spoke.
"SORRY.."
The boy looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Why the hell are you talking like that? You making fun of me or somethin?!"
Fujin quickly shook her head no but the boy only gre angrier.
"You are really pushin my buttons girl!"
The guy was reaching down for her and Fujin was about to draw her Zan, when a person jumped in between the two. He looked to be about 15, and his short blonde hair seemed almost golden in the light.
"Leave her alone!"
The senior looked down at the two, and scoffed.
"No point getting in trouble over two little punk kids.."
And with that the 17 year old walked away. Fujin let out a breath she had been holding and looked up to see a hand extended to her. She took it and the boy helped her up.
"You okay?"
Fujin just nodded her head. She didn't need anyone else pointing out her vocal problems today. The boy smirked, light reflecting off of his emerald colored eyes, and helped her pick up her books.
"Good to hear it. You should watch it though. People here can be a really pain in the ass."
Fujin nodded again. The boy handed her her books and smirked again.
"Well I'm outta here. My class is about to start. I'll catch ya later. The name's Seifer."
That being said, Seifer quickly ran down the hallway to get to his class. Fujin smiled brightly. Her first day and she already had a friend. She was starting to think coming here was a great idea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fujin sat quietly inside the office of Headmaster Cid as he introduced all the staff members.
"And this is Dr. Kadowaki, the school nurse. Now that you've met everyone I'd like to go over"
A member of the Garden Faculty quickly butted in.
"Sir, I'm afraid you have a meeting to attend to."
"Oh dear.. well here's your schedule and welcome to Balamb Garden, Fujin. We hope to see you again as a SeeD someday."
"THANK YOU."
Fujin got up from her seat as two members of the faculty escorted her to the way out. She looked down at her schedule. 1st Hour: Magic Casting, Lv 2 and 3 Spells. She smiled to herself again. That class would be a snap. She already knew spells like Tornade and Flare, so she felt like she was ready for the challenge before her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fujin stood before the door to her classroom and she clutched her books to her chest.
'Just don't say anything and sit in the back. No one will notice you.'
She adjusted her eyepatch, which was feeling loose suddenly, and opened the door. As she entered, the room went silent and everyone turned towards her. She quickly walked up to the teacher and handed him the note the Headmaster had given her. He looked it over then smiled at her. He turned to the class.
"Class, we have a new student with us today. Why don't you introduce yourself?"
At that, Fujin began to sweat. She wanted to say "NO!" and just walk to her seat, but she didn't want to seem rude. Building up her courage, she opened her mouth and spoke.
"HELLO. AM FUJIN."
The looks on the faces of the students quickly turned to one of puzzlement. Fujin was growing slowly more nervous and she reached to adjust her eyepatch out of reflex. When she reached for it though, the string on it snapped and it dropped to the ground. The class gasped in unison at the scars across her eye. She covered her eye and quickly reached down to pick it up. That's when she heard a chuckle, followed by a full laugh.
"Jesus how freaky is that? Hahahaha!"
He continued to laugh as Fujin looked around the class in despair, as though there'd be something there to help her. Tears began to build in her eyes and she quickly ran out before she began to cry. Inside the class, the boy was still laughing and the class had begun to talk about the scary girl with one eye.
"And did you see her eye? That was so fre-"
The boy didn't get the chance to finish the sentence as Seifer Almasy slugged him in the face, making the boy collapse. As the teacher called the Faculty to remove Seifer, Seifer walked up to the front of the class and picked up the fallen eyepatch and pocketed it just as the Faculty grabbed him and pulled him out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fujin sat inside the library. Her tears had dried up as she had run there and she was grateful for it. She took a seat in the far back and slumped over until her head hit the desk with a light thump.
'What a horrible start... I just want to sleep now...'
Fujin slowly drew her schedule from her pocket and looked it over. She would be in the ladies' dorm, room 219. She got up and left in that direction. She didn't care that she'd be missing her other two classes for the day. She just wanted to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seifer looked up at the door before him. Room 219. He had to beat up Nida in order to find out where she was staying, but he finally managed to find out. He knocked on the door and waited. He ended up waiting for 10 minutes without a response before he started pounding his fist on the door.
"Hey! Ya in there or what?!"
Just as he was preparing to knock again, the door opened and Seifer toppled in, falling on a dazed and tired looking Fujin. He looked down at her in shock as he realized he had fallen on her... and his hands were on her...her... Seifer's eyes bugged out of his head and he quickly leapt to his feet and did something he had never done before. He apologized.
"Oh jeez I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to... to... well... that is...."
"ALRIGHT."
Seifer let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank god..."
Seifer quickly regained his cool composure.
"Well I was wondering if you were okay. I nailed that kid in the face for ya if it makes you feel better. You should have seen him fall. The blood shot from his nose like a friggin geyser!"
Fujin laughed lightly.
"OKAY."
"Alright.. well I was just checkin up on ya... I should go I guess. If I got caught in the girl's dorms they'd probably sign me up for more detention."
Seifer turned to the door and was on his way out when..
"WHY?"
"Huh? Why what?"
Fujin cleared her throat and spoke in a whisper, her words coming out somewhat slowly but clearly and with a delicacy to them that stunned Seifer.
"Why... did you.. help me?"
"Oh... well... I guess I just wanted to.. yeah..."
Fujin had a look on her face that told Seifer she didn't buy it.
"Alright alright! Just quit lookin at me like that!... I guess I can tell you. You'll keep my secret right?"
Fujin quickly nodded.
"Alright.. well I always wanted to be a knight. You know, like the stories. Fight the dragon and save the maiden sort of stuff!"
Seifer went into a dramatic pose as he finished, and Fujin couldn't help but giggle.
"What's so funny?"
"CUTE."
"I fail to see anythin cute! I'm going to be a knight someday I know it.. well I should go. You know, if you want people to start treatin ya with respect you should act more tough. The people here don't know ya so you can act how you want. Try being tough and they'll leave ya be, quoth the great Seifer. Well I'll c ya later Fu!"
Fujin watched him leave before she turned to the small mirror that she had brought with her. She looked herself up and down.
'Try being tough and they'll leave ya be'
Suddenly, the smile on her face was replaced by that of a cold, emotionless look. She reached inside a drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors. After a couple of snips, her long hair was gone, replaced by a tomboyish hair cut. Fujin grinned despite herself.
'They don't even know what tough means yet..'
Fujin reached into her suitcases of cloths and pulled out a pair of steel tipped boots she had been given to her a while back. She slipped them on, put on her eyepatch and pulled out her Zan.
'They don't even know...'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: Well that's it for now. If I get lots of good reviews, I'll be more then happy to continue. If you can't tell already, this will basically end up ending at the Ultimecia incident, but there will be nice little romantic scenes inbetween.
Next Chapter: He's big.. he's tan.. he's Raijin. And the next chapter is his first appearance! Also, it'll mark the beginning of an era as the Disciplinary Committee finally rises to power!
Torture Of The Heart~ A SeiFuu by none other then GoW
The sunlight rained down from the sky, blanketing the Garden Of Balamb a beautiful gold. Birds chirped merrily in the distance and the younger children of Garden ran about, playing gleefully in the warmth. A young girl looked around her at this beautiful scenary and smiled. The wind quickly whisped around her, blowing her long, silver hair with it. She took a deep breath, quickly adjusted her eye patch and adjusted her Zan as well. With that, Fujin Kazeno, age 14, went inside Balamb Garden for her first day of classes.
She took her first step inside the Garden slowly, as though she wanted it to be in slow motion. She had been waiting most of her life to be in Garden. After she had left home for...personal reasons, she had been hoping for a place to call her own. A place where she could be herself and not worry about others. That was when she heard the stories of the heroic SeeD and the many great things they had done. Fujin had figured that if she could become a SeeD and do those great things, then perhaps people wouldn't look at her oddly anymore. She learned to ignore the stares she got from other people, but it still got to her sometimes. Now, if she became a SeeD, then maybe they'd look at her as something else.... a hero. She was about to procede further when a blonde boy on a T-Board shot past her, yelling "YAHHOOOOO!!" as loud as humanly possible as members of Garden Faculty chased after him. She was so busy watching the on goings, she didn't notice that she was about to crash head on with another student.
*THWACK*
Fujin landed on her rear and held her head for a moment. She was about to apologize when the person she ran into quickly got angry.
"Jeez! Watch where you're going! That really hurt!"
The boy she had hit, who was easily 17, looked down at her with anger in his eyes. Fujin looked up at him and spoke.
"SORRY.."
The boy looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Why the hell are you talking like that? You making fun of me or somethin?!"
Fujin quickly shook her head no but the boy only gre angrier.
"You are really pushin my buttons girl!"
The guy was reaching down for her and Fujin was about to draw her Zan, when a person jumped in between the two. He looked to be about 15, and his short blonde hair seemed almost golden in the light.
"Leave her alone!"
The senior looked down at the two, and scoffed.
"No point getting in trouble over two little punk kids.."
And with that the 17 year old walked away. Fujin let out a breath she had been holding and looked up to see a hand extended to her. She took it and the boy helped her up.
"You okay?"
Fujin just nodded her head. She didn't need anyone else pointing out her vocal problems today. The boy smirked, light reflecting off of his emerald colored eyes, and helped her pick up her books.
"Good to hear it. You should watch it though. People here can be a really pain in the ass."
Fujin nodded again. The boy handed her her books and smirked again.
"Well I'm outta here. My class is about to start. I'll catch ya later. The name's Seifer."
That being said, Seifer quickly ran down the hallway to get to his class. Fujin smiled brightly. Her first day and she already had a friend. She was starting to think coming here was a great idea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fujin sat quietly inside the office of Headmaster Cid as he introduced all the staff members.
"And this is Dr. Kadowaki, the school nurse. Now that you've met everyone I'd like to go over"
A member of the Garden Faculty quickly butted in.
"Sir, I'm afraid you have a meeting to attend to."
"Oh dear.. well here's your schedule and welcome to Balamb Garden, Fujin. We hope to see you again as a SeeD someday."
"THANK YOU."
Fujin got up from her seat as two members of the faculty escorted her to the way out. She looked down at her schedule. 1st Hour: Magic Casting, Lv 2 and 3 Spells. She smiled to herself again. That class would be a snap. She already knew spells like Tornade and Flare, so she felt like she was ready for the challenge before her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fujin stood before the door to her classroom and she clutched her books to her chest.
'Just don't say anything and sit in the back. No one will notice you.'
She adjusted her eyepatch, which was feeling loose suddenly, and opened the door. As she entered, the room went silent and everyone turned towards her. She quickly walked up to the teacher and handed him the note the Headmaster had given her. He looked it over then smiled at her. He turned to the class.
"Class, we have a new student with us today. Why don't you introduce yourself?"
At that, Fujin began to sweat. She wanted to say "NO!" and just walk to her seat, but she didn't want to seem rude. Building up her courage, she opened her mouth and spoke.
"HELLO. AM FUJIN."
The looks on the faces of the students quickly turned to one of puzzlement. Fujin was growing slowly more nervous and she reached to adjust her eyepatch out of reflex. When she reached for it though, the string on it snapped and it dropped to the ground. The class gasped in unison at the scars across her eye. She covered her eye and quickly reached down to pick it up. That's when she heard a chuckle, followed by a full laugh.
"Jesus how freaky is that? Hahahaha!"
He continued to laugh as Fujin looked around the class in despair, as though there'd be something there to help her. Tears began to build in her eyes and she quickly ran out before she began to cry. Inside the class, the boy was still laughing and the class had begun to talk about the scary girl with one eye.
"And did you see her eye? That was so fre-"
The boy didn't get the chance to finish the sentence as Seifer Almasy slugged him in the face, making the boy collapse. As the teacher called the Faculty to remove Seifer, Seifer walked up to the front of the class and picked up the fallen eyepatch and pocketed it just as the Faculty grabbed him and pulled him out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fujin sat inside the library. Her tears had dried up as she had run there and she was grateful for it. She took a seat in the far back and slumped over until her head hit the desk with a light thump.
'What a horrible start... I just want to sleep now...'
Fujin slowly drew her schedule from her pocket and looked it over. She would be in the ladies' dorm, room 219. She got up and left in that direction. She didn't care that she'd be missing her other two classes for the day. She just wanted to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Seifer looked up at the door before him. Room 219. He had to beat up Nida in order to find out where she was staying, but he finally managed to find out. He knocked on the door and waited. He ended up waiting for 10 minutes without a response before he started pounding his fist on the door.
"Hey! Ya in there or what?!"
Just as he was preparing to knock again, the door opened and Seifer toppled in, falling on a dazed and tired looking Fujin. He looked down at her in shock as he realized he had fallen on her... and his hands were on her...her... Seifer's eyes bugged out of his head and he quickly leapt to his feet and did something he had never done before. He apologized.
"Oh jeez I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to... to... well... that is...."
"ALRIGHT."
Seifer let out a sigh of relief.
"Thank god..."
Seifer quickly regained his cool composure.
"Well I was wondering if you were okay. I nailed that kid in the face for ya if it makes you feel better. You should have seen him fall. The blood shot from his nose like a friggin geyser!"
Fujin laughed lightly.
"OKAY."
"Alright.. well I was just checkin up on ya... I should go I guess. If I got caught in the girl's dorms they'd probably sign me up for more detention."
Seifer turned to the door and was on his way out when..
"WHY?"
"Huh? Why what?"
Fujin cleared her throat and spoke in a whisper, her words coming out somewhat slowly but clearly and with a delicacy to them that stunned Seifer.
"Why... did you.. help me?"
"Oh... well... I guess I just wanted to.. yeah..."
Fujin had a look on her face that told Seifer she didn't buy it.
"Alright alright! Just quit lookin at me like that!... I guess I can tell you. You'll keep my secret right?"
Fujin quickly nodded.
"Alright.. well I always wanted to be a knight. You know, like the stories. Fight the dragon and save the maiden sort of stuff!"
Seifer went into a dramatic pose as he finished, and Fujin couldn't help but giggle.
"What's so funny?"
"CUTE."
"I fail to see anythin cute! I'm going to be a knight someday I know it.. well I should go. You know, if you want people to start treatin ya with respect you should act more tough. The people here don't know ya so you can act how you want. Try being tough and they'll leave ya be, quoth the great Seifer. Well I'll c ya later Fu!"
Fujin watched him leave before she turned to the small mirror that she had brought with her. She looked herself up and down.
'Try being tough and they'll leave ya be'
Suddenly, the smile on her face was replaced by that of a cold, emotionless look. She reached inside a drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors. After a couple of snips, her long hair was gone, replaced by a tomboyish hair cut. Fujin grinned despite herself.
'They don't even know what tough means yet..'
Fujin reached into her suitcases of cloths and pulled out a pair of steel tipped boots she had been given to her a while back. She slipped them on, put on her eyepatch and pulled out her Zan.
'They don't even know...'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Author's Notes: Well that's it for now. If I get lots of good reviews, I'll be more then happy to continue. If you can't tell already, this will basically end up ending at the Ultimecia incident, but there will be nice little romantic scenes inbetween.
Next Chapter: He's big.. he's tan.. he's Raijin. And the next chapter is his first appearance! Also, it'll mark the beginning of an era as the Disciplinary Committee finally rises to power!