Author's Notes: A big thank you to Lia, my beta reader.

THANKS also to those who reviewed: ritachi, wellduh…, koyuki-hime, lightyearsaway, Centurious, Warp Ligia Obscura, Allie Night, XxLilyNGxX, Maryam Khanoom, GodNo127, Attharun, White Shadow, and silvermoon123.

FanFiction (dot) net's reviewer reply feature will be used for replies.

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Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it. I own Mikhail and Henrik, though. And technically, Rusty's and Miguel's personalities are (sort of) mine as well. So, hah.

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Chapter Six – Welcome to the Twilight Zone

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"Hey, are you coming or what?" Yzak asked as soon as he noticed that Dearka and Rusty were still lounging on their respective beds.

Dearka looked up from the magazine that he was reading and shook his blond head. "Go on ahead. It's still a bit early."

Rusty gave a sheepish smile. "I still have to finish my assignment in Mil-Strat."

Athrun gave a noncommittal shrug and exited the room, Nicol following suit. Yzak remained behind, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. "Since when did you two get along?"

"Didn't you hear us? We're here for totally different reasons," Rusty answered promptly.

"Whatever." Then he snarled. "If I ever see you anywhere near my belongings, I'll skin you alive." With that final threat, he closed the door behind him.

Dearka let out a breath he realized he had been holding. "I thought they'd never leave!"

Rusty scrambled out of his bed and rushed to Yzak's. He let out an evil laugh. "Now, we'll finally discover what's inside that pink basket!" He reached under the bed and pulled out the mysterious thing. After a cry of triumph, he deposited it on Dearka's bed, which was beside Yzak's.

Rusty grinned deviously and reached for the lid – when Dearka's hand shot up and stopped him. "Wait a minute, I feel kind of bad doing this to Yzak," he confessed.

Rusty scoffed. "Come -on-! This is our chance! We failed the first time but Nicol's not with us anymore! No one's going to tell on us. Argh, for god's sakes, don't you feel a tad offended?"

"Why the hell would I get offended?"

"You're Yzak's best friend, right? And yet he didn't tell you about this? Where's the trust in that, huh? Where's the love?" Rusty finished dramatically. Seeing the weird look that Dearka gave him, he smiled sheepishly. "Let's pretend I never said the last part. So, are you ready?"

Dearka smirked naughtily and nodded, completely forgetting about his earlier hesitation. He could almost taste the blackmail in the air.

They each took a deep breath and lifted the lid…

…only to find out that it was locked.

They both groaned at the same time. Looks like the contents of Yzak's pink, plastic basket would have to remain a mystery for another day.

"Who'd have thought that Yzak had brain's enough to lock it?" Rusty commented, half-jokingly.

Dearka glared at him. "And who'd have thought that you didn't even think about it?"

After they got over their 'defeat', they decided to finally go down. It was nearly time for their morning drills with Miguel (That sounded like a talk show!). When Rusty reached for the doorknob, he twisted and turned it and pulled it but nothing happened. "What the heck…? It's stuck!"

Dearka pushed Rusty aside and kicked the door but still, nothing happened. "Shit!"

Then, they heard faint laughter and voices behind the door.

-

"So… let me get this straight," Miguel began, with slight incredulity evident in his voice, "You were late because both of you got locked inside your quarters?"

Dearka crossed his arms and snarled. "Do I have to repeat it!"

Rusty nodded, the expression on his face unusually deathly serious. "I think it was those guys from Charlie-Two… I overheard one of them say Mikhail's name." His eyes narrowed menacingly. "Nobody tries to make a fool of me and gets away with it… Nobody."

"Yeah, nobody but us," Yzak snickered.

Rusty glared at him.

"But…Mikhail plays by the rules!" Miguel exclaimed. "That seems like something that -I- would make my cadets do, not Mikhail. Between the two of us, he's the good cookie!"

"Maybe they acted on their own accord," Nicol suggested helpfully. "Or maybe it wasn't the Charlie-Two squad at all; Mikhail's not an uncommon name."

Miguel sighed. "I guess… But, I'll still talk to Mikhail about this later."

Rusty was quick to react. "And make us look like we ran to you for help? HELL NO!" He crossed his arms and pouted childishly. "It was bad enough having been sort of saved by one of them."

Miguel stared at him in disbelief. "Someone from -their- team -saved- you!"

"Don't remind me," Rusty answered sulkily. "And I said he 'sort of' saved us! Sort of! He just opened the door for us!"

"What difference does it make?" Miguel snorted. "Two members of my team – my OWN team – got saved by a member of the enemy! How embarrassing is that?" He gasped dramatically – and somewhat sarcastically. "I may have to move to another PLANT! Oh, the shame, the –"

"Oh, shut up," Rusty muttered dryly.

"Grow up for a second, will you?" Dearka asked warily.

"And I suppose -you- could show me how?" Miguel retorted sarcastically.

Nicol stepped in between Miguel and Dearka. "Guys, come on… let's stop fighting and start planning!"

"Nicol's right, you know," Yzak added wisely. But anyone from a mile away could see that it was just an act. It was Yzak, after all. 'Yzak' and 'wisely' did not belong in the same sentence. Sure enough, he smirked at Dearka. "So… who's the dumb guy that saved your asses?"

"The black-haired one," Dearka muttered sulkily. "He's in a few of our classes."

"Wait, I just remembered… There aren't that many black-haired Coordinators around here…" Rusty pondered on it for a few seconds. And then his eyes lit up in recognition. He turned to Athrun. "Hey, Athrun, haven't we seen that person before? I remember you talking to him a few days back."

Athrun shrugged ambiguously. "Was I? I don't remember."

"He said his name was Henrik."

Athrun just shrugged again.

Miguel flashed him a suspicious look. "You aren't fraternizing with the enemy, are you?" He let out a breath of exasperation. "Athrun! For all we know, he could be sent to figure out our secrets!"

Dearka rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Secrets? What secrets?"

"We haven't got any secrets to begin with, bastard!" Yzak snapped sarcastically.

"Hey! Stop calling me bastard! My parents were married when they had me!" Miguel exclaimed. Yzak always called him a bastard and it was getting really old. Maybe he should tell Yzak to look for more insults?

"Very funny," Yzak muttered darkly.

"Why, thank you." Miguel smirked. "I wasn't even trying, you know." As soon as the words left his mouth, however, he realized that he had heard that phrase from his evil twin brother. He stuck out his tongue disgustedly. "Remind me to never use those words again!"

Dearka rolled his eyes. "Whatever." He crossed his arms. "Listen, Miguel, when are you planning to make us practice drills?" He shrugged. "I was just wondering."

"I knew it," Miguel answered quietly. "I knew it."

Yzak snorted. "Well, that's a surprise."

"You're all ganging up on me!" Miguel pointed at them accusingly. When he was met with five incredulous stares, he broke in to laughter. "Aw, I was just kidding around." He reached for his pockets and pulled out five disks. He waved it tauntingly before throwing it at each of them.

Nicol caught it just in time before it fell on the dewy grass. "What's this?" He turned it over on his hand, looking for labels or anything of the sort.

Miguel was smirking, looking mighty proud of himself. "Watch those and tell me what you think next meeting." He glanced at his wristwatch and gave them a sloppy, mocking salute. "Dismissed."

With that he walked away without a backward glance.

The five of them looked at each other.

"Did he just give us homework?" Yzak asked dubiously, breaking the silence.

-

Until lunch time, they were still pondering the mystery of Miguel actually giving them some sort of assignment. They sat at their usual table currently discussing a very important topic – one that could very well determine their future with the military.

Rusty chewed his food thoughtfully and then swallowed it. "I still think it's some sort of prank."

Nicol shook his head. "I don't think so. He seemed kind of serious this morning." He flashed them an apologetic smile. "And I was thinking… maybe we've offended him or something?"

Dearka and Yzak exchanged meaningful looks then burst into laughter. "Miguel has the thickest hide on the planet!"

"With an ego to match…" Athrun muttered under his breath. His chin was on his arm and was looking at his food, playing with the carrots and corn kernels.

Nicol mentally noted that Athrun had been brooding since the past few days and had seemed even more distant. He poked Rusty in the ribs and the latter replied with a nasty look. Nicol pointed at Athrun with his fork discreetly.

Rusty shook his head and motioned for him to leave Athrun alone.

Yzak shot both of them weird looks. "What the heck are you gesturing about?" he asked suspiciously.

"Hey! I just remembered!" Rusty blurted out, ignoring Yzak's question. "We've only got one-and-a-quarter weeks left before the exhibition!"

"Ugh… Are you doing a countdown? Don't remind us," Dearka replied dryly. "I think it's just better if we just quit right here and right now before we make total morons out of ourselves."

Yzak snickered. "Oh, I don't know about that. You and Rusty seem to be doing just fine with looking like total morons without anyone's help." He let out a guffaw. "Honestly! Who the hell would get locked inside their own rooms!"

"There was outside help, mind you!" Rusty retorted. "Literally speaking," he added sulkily. Then, he threw a pea at Yzak. "Although I wonder… what the hell was that Henrik person doing in our floor? As far as I can remember, Charlie is one floor below us," he mused.

Yzak threw a carrot at Rusty before replying. "Who knows? Maybe he's a member of the Athrun Zala-Loves-Lacus Clyne fan club and was snooping around for some 'Athrun-mementos'."

Dearka sniggered while Rusty frowned. On the other hand, Athrun's head suddenly shot up and he stared at Yzak with an unreadable expression on his face.

Yzak smirked. "Ooh… I see you're finally awake. And all it took was Lacus' name? I have to remember that," he said mockingly.

Athrun ignored him and stood up, muttering something about having finished his lunch. He left the lunchroom without looking back. Yzak grinned triumphantly.

Nicol had an uncharacteristic frown on his face. "Okay, something's just totally wrong this day."

"Number one: Dearka and Rusty getting along and getting locked up in our room," Yzak wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

Rusty threw a corn kernel on Yzak's direction. "Number two: Miguel -actually- giving us homework," he pitched in.

Dearka threw Yzak, not a piece of his food, but a disgusted look which then changed into a teasing one. "Number three: -Athrun- walking out, and not -Yzak-… Yup, something's wrong alright."

Yzak's reply was a pea-projectile which hit Nicol in the eye.

"Ow!"

Rusty snickered. "You -do- have a bad aim."

-

Athrun walked briskly along the corridors of the residence hall. His eyes were looking straight ahead, his posture rigid, but his mind was on other things.

His conversation with his father a couple of nights ago was still on his mind. The things that his father said… He couldn't believe it. He knew his father had changed when the tragedy happened but last night, his father was…-different-.

Honestly, he didn't know whether to believe it or not, or to feel flattered or offended.

The corridors were empty, as most of the cadets were eating lunch. Athrun's footsteps were light and soundless, so he was a bit startled when he heard sounds coming from the corner stairwell. He slowed down and pressed his back on to the wall. He strained his hearing and he recognized Henrik's voice and Mikhail's.

"Are you sure, Fousche?"

"Positive, sir… Is that all? Sir?"

"Listen, Henrik, was it? If you hear about anything, anything at all, don't hesitate to inform me. Is that understood?"

"Sir, yes, sir."

"Dismissed."

Athrun heard footsteps and he quickly ducked into one of the rooms. He closed the door behind him softly and pressed his ear to it, in case he heard something more. But there was nothing else, only the sound of footsteps fading into the distance.

He sighed and straightened up. And that was when he realized just what kind of room he had entered. The pink tiles and the brightly-lit bulbs surrounding the mirror was enough indication. Apparently, in his haste, he had ducked into the -girl's- bathroom.

He felt his cheeks heat up. Fortunately for him though, it was empty. He was about to exit it when he heard giggles coming from outside. He distinctly heard one of them say something about 'going to the lavatory'.

He panicked and left with no other choice, quickly entered a stall. Just as he had locked it, he heard the door to the bathroom swung open and the sound of the giggling intensified. Through the slits near the hinges, his heart sank when he saw that it was the same girls that had cornered him days ago.

"He's just so cute!" Giggle, giggle.

Swoon. "Miss Lacus is really lucky to have him!"

"I wonder if he's a good kisser?"

Three high pitched squeals.

The last comment set Athrun's cheeks on fire (and made his ears hurt). He silently prayed that if he got of this alive, he swore that he would never eavesdrop on a conversation in a stairwell ever again…

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The instructor glared at him but otherwise said nothing as Athrun entered the classroom. He surmised that maybe he got off easily because it was his first time being late. With a disgruntled sigh, he proceeded to make his way towards his assigned seat.

"Where'd you go?" Rusty whispered to him as soon as he took his seat.

"Bathroom," Athrun whispered back, his cheeks heating up again. He concluded that girls really spent half their lives inside the bathroom. He had waited for the giggling girls to go out of the bathroom before he did but it took longer than expected. And that was why he was late. He fought the urge to groan. Of all the rooms in the building, why did he have to pick that one?

"Do you have a fever?" Nicol, who sat on his left, muttered worriedly. "You're red all over."

Athrun shook his head. Rusty and Nicol exchanged dubious looks but left him alone anyway and went back to listening to their instructor. He sat up straighter and began to take notes. After awhile, he scratched the back of his neck – a sign that he was uneasy.

He couldn't shake off the feeling that someone was looking at him. He glanced at his squad-mates but it wasn't them. Rusty was staring on empty space, Nicol was taking notes, Dearka was flirting with one of their female classmates, and Yzak was actually -listening intently- to the lesson.

Thinking that it had to be his other classmates, he pretended to get something from his bag and as his bangs hid his eyes, he looked around and searched for the culprit.

His eyes roamed the whole lecture hall swiftly until it stopped on a black-haired boy, sitting stock still. His lips curled up in a tiny smirk when he noticed who it was. Piercing, blue eyes were staring daggers at him.

'Bingo.'

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It had been a long day and all five of them were more than happy that it was about to end. But before they went to bed, they remembered Miguel's disks and decided to watch it (but not without a generous amount of protests coming from Rusty and Dearka). They (Rusty, Dearka and Yzak, that is) bullied Nicol into letting them use his laptop.

As Nicol was setting it up on the center table, Dearka asked jokingly, "Who's got the popcorn?" and he was promptly smothered by three different pillows.

They gathered around it, somewhat curious about the contents of the disk. After all of them had settled down, Nicol inserted his disk. A few clicks and Miguel's face appeared on the screen with the usual smug expression on his equally smug face.

"Hello, my minions!"

"What the fuck is this about!" Yzak demanded.

"Don't I look great on T.V. or what? I was actually asked to star alongside Lacus Clyne on her debut movie but I declined. I told them, I'd rather serve my country first."

Athrun produced a little disapproving sound at the back of his throat.

"Well, let's get back to business before Soldier-Boy decides to sabotage me. Watch the next clips, morons, because that's the next important part, second only to my handsome face. Anyway, remember to take note of the preparatory commands, the commands of execution and, of course, the actions that accompany those. Watch the techniques carefully, especially when handling the rifles, okay?"

Rusty turned bewildered eyes to the other four. "Wait… Is he actually teaching us?"

"Through this?" Dearka asked, with mixed awe and doubt on his voice.

"It seems that way," Nicol answered amiably.

"Now, I'll be running a commentary while you watch the clips. Oh, and Soldier-Boy, you're not in the field so don't go shocking your mates by snapping a salute at me, got that? Now, let's review the basics. The proper way of saluting is with the fingers of your right hand properly extended…"

Athrun covered his mouth with his hands to hide the smile tugging on his lips.

-

The next morning was, as usual, greeted by the sound of the 'Reveille.' Athrun and the others were all bleary-eyed, having spent the whole night watching the disk that Miguel gave them. But for some reason, Yzak was even more surlier than usual, and his hair was not as straight as it was yesterday. And instead of glaring at them, he was glaring at his pink basket. They all ignored it, however, not wanting to upset their teammate more and they all assumed that it was just the result of not having a good night's sleep. And so, all of them slept all throughout breakfast, not caring at the slightest if they missed it or not.

At precisely ten minutes before seven, they all proceeded to the field for their morning 'breaks' with Miguel. Upon reaching there, however, the saw something that made their jaws drop open in surprise. (Except Athrun though, he never 'jaw-dropped'. No, sir. But his eyes went wide, indicating that he was surprised as well.)

There, in their usual spot below the shade of the oak tree, was none other than Miguel looking fresh and ready (not to mention, sober). He was smirking at them. Anyone, even a preschooler, would say that he was gloating.

Yzak scoffed. "What are you looking so proud for? You just did your job, which I might say was long due?"

"Is that any way to talk to your superior?" Miguel mock-asked. "Anyway, come on you lazy bums! Fall in!"

There were grumbled complaints from Rusty, Yzak and Dearka as they went into their standard formation – a single, horizontal line in front of Miguel.

"So, what did you think of my disks?" Miguel asked them, as soon as the muttering died down.

"It was okay and I learned a lot, much more than I can say for your -actual- lessons," Yzak answered. Afterwards, he snarled. "By why couldn't you have taught us during these times, not at night!"

Miguel whistled. "Someone's having a bad-hair day," he muttered dryly. Then, he sighed. "Come on, you lug-heads! Can't you even sacrifice one measly night? You always go to your classes refreshed and awake unlike your fellow cadets because I give you time to relax! Sheesh! You'd think I'd get a thank you for that, but 'NOOOOOoooooOOOOOoooo."

There was silence after that. No one spoke, not even Yzak (although he was itching to yell at Miguel for that 'bad-hair day' comment). Honestly? They hadn't thought of it that way. They were thinking more along the lines of, 'Cause you're either feeling lazy or hung over.'

Nicol, ever the polite and sensitive one, stepped forward to apologize. "Sorry, Miguel."

Miguel let out a snort. "Hey, I was only kidding with the last part, but the first part is mostly true. We're Coordinators. We're supposed to be superior – fast learners. I wanted you to concentrate on your other subjects than learning drills and military code and conduct! I wanted you to know each other, get close to each other, learn to watch out for each other.

"War isn't just about fighting enemies," he continued, uncharacteristically serious. "It's also about protecting your friends. Sure, I can teach you how you should always follow your superiors and how to understand commands, but what good's gonna do that to you if you don't even care for your own squad? We're not morons and heartless bastards like those gun-men from the EA."

Athrun took a deep breath. But before he opened his mouth to ask for permission, Miguel interrupted him. "Ugh. There you go again, Soldier-Boy." He rolled his eyes. "Even though I'm pouring my heart out here, this is still a free country. So what have you got to say?"

Athrun unclenched his fists and raised his head to look at his 'superior' straight in the eye. "Build friendships, you say. But, we're going out to war. There's not even a guarantee that every one of us will make it out alive."

Miguel returned his gaze and was silent for a moment. Afterwards, a scowl marred his features. "Have you been hanging out with my brother? I told you to stay away from him! Geez, no one ever listens to me!" He snorted. "Didn't I just tell you that you should also learn to watch out for each other? It's your job to protect, dimwit!"

"But, aren't we fighting for our homeland? Our loyalties lay on our homeland, not with our fellow soldiers."

"And I thought you were smart. Listen to your words, Athrun! You mean to say, your fellow soldiers aren't part of your homeland?" Miguel retorted.

After staring at each other down, Athrun finally broke eye contact and sighed resignedly. "I understand, sir," he muttered.

Miguel rolled his eyes, yet again. "I told you to drop the 'sir'. It makes me sound old!" He turned to the others. "So, any more questions?"

Dearka raised his hand. "Just one."

"Okay."

"What the hell have you been drinking?" Tan, blond, and handsome demanded incredulously. "You sound high!"

Yzak mockingly added, "He must be a spy sent by the E.A.! You're doing a bad job impersonating Miguel, shit-head."

"And I thought he was sober!" Rusty laughed, joining in.

Miguel huffed exasperatedly. "See! I start talking seriously and you do this. That's the last time you'll ever hear those bullshit crap from me!" He shot a glare at Yzak, Dearka and Rusty, when the three still wouldn't stop laughing. "Aw, quit it already! Get back in formation! We're doing some practice for that friggin' drill exhibition."

Athrun watched in amusement, as Miguel joked around with his other teammates. Somehow, his words were also true. But Athrun still couldn't relax entirely. Yzak's comment had set his nerves on edge.

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Author's Notes: Now, we're moving along! Hehe. Okay, here's something. Can anyone of you guess what will be happening in future chapters? I think I've set up some mysteries here that will soon be unraveled. Just out of curiosity, have any of you spotted them yet? I'm also asking because I need to know if there is something unclear about the plot that needs to be remedied. I think I've set up plenty of clues for you to discover… er… I just hope that I'm not laying it a little too thick.

Anyway, shameless plug. I updated SEED Monthly. Yes, after three months. Sorry. And, I posted a new fic. It's a serious, drama/angst multi-chaptered fic. It's Rey's biography, which is written by 'Shinn'. As always, it is non-yaoi. Please spare me the time and read it. I've put everything in that fic and it's one of the fics that I'm proud of. Thanks.

So, leave me a review and let me take a peek into those guesses, okay? I might reply with a spoiler…