A/N: This is a bit of an experiment on my part…I've always loved Gundam Seed AU fics, but I've proven incapable of writing your typical high school/college AU properly. So, I've opted for something a little less conventional. I'm not going to tell you exactly what I'm doing, but this won't be your typical high school AU. There are a few things you should know before reading this. First, this fic is not romance-based, but the pairings will be changing during it, so the pairings are not final. Second, characters will be acting differently according to the different experiences they've had—in other words, there's some OOC, but it's deliberate, and the characters should still be recognizable. For example, Dearka is a bit of a jerk here, because I think that without his experiences in the war, he would have ended up as a bit of a jerk. This doesn't mean I don't like him; I just feel his personality tends in that direction. Third, I know this chapter might seem kind of fluffy and maybe even a bit boring, but trust me, things will get more interesting soon. Please enjoy!
10/14/2013: Made a small edit to this chapter to avoid a continuity error, and also changed the characters and the description to more accurately reflect this fic's new direction. This story may end up being more atypical than I originally planned it to be.
Displacement
Chapter 1: Dreaming
Thursday, October 20, 7:30 AM
"In this quiet night / I'm waiting for you / forgetting the past / and dreaming of you…" Lacus Clyne sang softly as she sat on the edge of the concrete staircase that led to the doors of Glenn High School.
As she sang, she absently fingered a strand of strawberry-blonde hair. Her eyes, a bright, clear blue, reflected the last vestiges of sunrise that still streaked the horizon. The skirt of her white, sleeveless sundress caught the breeze just a little bit and floated around her knees.
Her boyfriend, fellow senior Athrun Zala, listened silently until she noticed his presence. "Athrun!" she exclaimed, surprised.
Athrun brushed a stray strand of dyed-blue hair out of his face. Wearing a loose, white dress shirt and jeans, he looked more like he was dressed for a magazine photo shoot than a school day.
"Don't stop singing on my account," he said good-naturedly. "That was a beautiful song, too. Where'd you hear it?"
"That brown-haired guy over there was singing it to himself, and it ended up getting caught in my head," Lacus said, pointing at a boy standing a few yards away, in the shade of a maple sapling planted near the walls of the school.
The boy's brown hair glinted in the early-morning light, his eyes only barely peeking out from below his unruly bangs. A baggy, lime green sweater hung off of his frame, along with a pair of rather beat-up looking jeans.
"Oh, that's Kira Hibiki," Athrun said. "We used to be pretty close in elementary school, but we drifted apart after his dad moved their family across the country for business in middle school. He came back about two years ago, but we never started hanging out again."
"That's a shame," Lacus said. "He seems like a very nice person."
"He is," Athrun said, almost nostalgically. "He's always been. But he's got his group of friends now, and I've got mine. Besides, he's dating Flay Allster, and we both know I can't stand her."
Flay stood near Kira, dressed in blue leggings and a pink blouse with a high collar and short, puffed sleeves. Her hair, the same brilliant red as the bricks the school was built from, was partly pulled back, while most of it hung loose around her shoulders. Her grey-blue eyes shone with amusement as she talked to her boyfriend.
"Me neither," a voice piped up.
Lacus and Athrun both looked up, startled, as a black-haired boy leaned against the railing of the stairs Lacus sat on. His red eyes, the same color as his sweatshirt, were full of amusement.
Then, suddenly, the boy lurched forward, to reveal a blonde girl standing behind him, her fist still clenched from hitting him in the back of the head. She wore a violet shirt with wide bell sleeves, and a calf-length white skirt. Her magenta eyes were almost visible sparking.
The boy was rubbing his head and scowling. "Geez, Stella, what did I do to deserve that?"
"Stella" scowled right back. "That was for butting into a private conversation!"
"It's all right, really!" Lacus said quickly, worried about the black-haired boy's safety.
"No, it's not!" Stella said firmly. "Shinn needs to have better manners. My name's Stella Loussier, by the way. I'm a sophomore, not a senior, so you probably don't know me. Oh, and he's Shinn."
"How did you know we were seniors?" Lacus asked, curious.
"You're Lacus Clyne," Stella explained. "Everyone around here knows about that music scholarship you got. And of course I'd know Athrun; he's the star of the baseball team."
"I wouldn't go that far," Athrun said, flushing slightly. "And besides, I have heard of Shinn. Asuka, right? You've made quite a name for yourself on the basketball team."
"I didn't know that baseball players even paid attention to that sort of stuff," Shinn said in surprise, earning him an elbow in the ribs from Stella. "What? I'm being honest. Especially since the ones who are most famous around here are the Hibiki twins."
"You didn't tell me Kira played a sport," Lacus said, glancing at Athrun. "Or that he had a twin."
"I forgot that you don't follow sports," Athrun said sheepishly. "I thought you'd at least heard of them. Kira and his fraternal twin, Cagalli, are the stars of the boys' and girls' soccer teams, respectively. Both of them have really good athletic scholarships for college."
"Oh," Lacus said distractedly, glancing again at the stick-thin brunette boy who was now laughing with Flay. There was something she really liked about him, though she couldn't quite put her finger on what it was.
To distract herself, she started singing again, more quietly this time, "In this quiet night / I'm waiting for you / forgetting the past / and dreaming of you…"
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Friday, October 21
7:42 AM
Stella was waiting at his locker when Shinn arrived at school.
"Guess what?" she asked, magenta eyes alight with excitement.
"What?" Shinn asked.
"My dance team is going to nationals!" she gushed, twirling around, right there in the middle of the hallway. The white skirt she wore billowed out around her calves, the violet bell sleeves of her shirt fluttering out like flags from her wrists. It was times like these that Shinn remembered why he couldn't stop staring on the day he met her.
"That's great!" Shinn said. "I guess you'll have more practices now, huh?"
"So, dancing is more important than homework?" Shinn asked, amused.
"Of course!" Stella exclaimed. "I'm not going to be a mathematician or a scientist; I'm going to be a dancer. So dance comes first."
Shinn laughed out loud. How could he not? That was just such a Stella thing to say.
"What are you laughing at?" Stella grumped, smacking him in the back of the head.
"Nothing, nothing!" Shinn said, holding up his hands.
"Yeah, right," Stella said sarcastically, but she was smiling.
The two headed together to their first class.
8:34 AM
Athrun listened absently as the AP Chemistry teacher went on and on about how important this next test was. He knew how important it was already, and now, he just wanted to get on with it.
At least there were some interesting distractions in this class. Two rows in front of him sat Lacus, her strawberry-blonde hair spilling over the back of her chair in thick waves. He let himself stare a little bit, since he was sure she was too busy listening to the teacher to notice his gaze.
He felt an elbow in his ribcage, and turned to see his friend Nicol laughing silently, amused brown eyes peeking out from beneath copper-colored hair. The boy's implication was clear, given the direction of his gaze.
I am not obsessed! Athrun mouthed, glaring at his friend. This argument had been going on between the two of them for quite some time. Nicol had been teasing him for the past few weeks, pretending to moan about how Athrun was ignoring him in favor of his girlfriend, and Athrun was getting sick of it. Sure, he spent a lot of time with Lacus, but Athrun was willing to bet that if Nicol ever actually got a girlfriend, he would do the same thing.
"…I'm passing out the tests now," the teacher finally said. Athrun noticed about half of the class breathing silent sighs of relief. After all, the longer the teacher talked, the less time the students had to do the test.
Athrun managed to finish the test in record time, and hoped with all of his heart that he'd actually passed.
Nicol seemed less optimistic. "There is no way I passed that."
"I'm sure you did fine," Athrun said absently.
"How would you know?" Nicol demanded.
"You said you wouldn't pass the last one, and you did, didn't you?" Athrun asked.
"Yeah, but…"
"He's right," Lacus said, breaking into the conversation. "You're very good at chemistry, Nicol. You should give yourself some credit."
"Hey, Athrun, your girlfriend just said another guy was good at chemistry!" Dearka Elsman, one of those who Athrun filed under the mental category of "idiot", called.
"Ignore him," Lacus advised.
"Believe me, I am," Athrun said.
"Geez, I'm beginning to think he can turn just about anything into something dirty," Nicol, who had the dubious pleasure of sharing a Civics class with Dearka, put in.
"I don't think you want to test that," Athrun said with a shudder.
Nicol and Lacus nodded in agreement.
11:23 AM
At lunchtime, Kira sat at his normal table and began trying to eat the probably rubber-based substance the cafeteria passed off as food.
"Hey, Kira, have you bought Flay anything for your anniversary yet?" Miriallia asked out of the blue, causing Kira to nearly choke on a bite of…whatever it was.
"I'll take that as a no, then," Miriallia said, before taking a bite of her turkey sandwich.
"Why do you want to know, anyway?" Kira asked irritably. Miriallia and Flay weren't even very close friends. Flay thought Miriallia should be more polite and Miriallia thought Flay was shallow. Not that Kira agreed with either of them. Miriallia was polite enough when she wanted to be, and Flay was perfectly capable of depth when it suited her.
Miriallia finished chewing, and then answered, "Because I know Tolle's going to forget about my present and I want someone around here to actually have a nice anniversary."
Tolle, who had just arrived at the table, scowled. "Hey, I might not forget!"
Kuzzey, seated across from him, just laughed, and was soon joined by Sai.
"Hey, what's so funny?" Flay asked as she sat down next to Kira.
"N-nothing!" Tolle said quickly.
The others rolled their eyes.
"We were just laughing at Tolle's ability to remember things…or, rather, his lack thereof," Sai explained. Although he and Flay had dated and broken up a few years ago, they had managed to stay friends. Kira was glad…he would have hated having to choose between Flay and Sai.
"Hey!" Tolle protested.
That only made all of them laugh more, Flay included.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Saturday, October 22
2:29 PM
"Why do you need my help to find Flay an anniversary present?" Cagalli demanded as she followed Kira through the mall. "I don't even like your girlfriend!"
"Cagalli, I asked you before to at least give her a chance," Kira said.
"I did!" Cagalli said. "She's too girly and she doesn't even like me!"
Kira just shook his head. "That's because she thinks you hate her—probably because you do! Can't you just get along?"
"No!" Cagalli huffed.
Kira sighed. "Well, then, do this for me. Please?"
"Fine, but why would you think I'd know what she'd want as a gift?"
"You're a girl. You know what girls like."
"Don't throw me in a category with her!" Cagalli fumed.
"Come on, Cagalli, you have to have some idea…" Kira pleaded.
Cagalli sighed. "Oh, fine. Girls like her usually like jewelry. Her favorite color is red, right? Get her a garnet necklace or something."
"Gar-net?" Kira asked, confused.
"It's a semiprecious gem," Cagalli said impatiently. "How did I end up with such a stupid twin?"
"Luck?" Kira suggested.
"Oh, shut up," Cagalli snapped, grabbing Kira's wrist. "The jewelry store is this way. Come on!"
"Thanks, Cagalli!" Kira said happily, as his sister dragged him across the mall.
"Don't mention it," Cagalli said. "Ever."
8:00 PM
The sunset shone on the surface of the ocean as the sea breeze ruffled Shinn's hair. The sand beneath him was pleasantly warm. And if there had been nothing else at all good about sitting on the beach, having Stella sitting right next to him would have been enough to make it perfect.
Her magenta-colored eyes were half closed as she leaned her head on his shoulder. "It's so beautiful…" she said softly. "Whenever I come here, I just feel so peaceful."
"Me, too…" Shinn said quietly, not mentioning that the only reason that was true was that whenever he came to the beach, she was with him.
"I'd like to just stay here forever…it's so perfect," Stella sighed.
"Mmm…" Shinn agreed, moving closer to her.
They lapsed into comfortable silence as the sun fell below the water.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
A/N: Thanks for reading! Oh, and bonus points if you know where I got the name of the high school from. Please review!