Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed and Gundam Seed Destiny or any of its characters.
A/N: Chapter didn't turn out exactly how I wanted(in the effort of trying to make it longer) so let me know if there are any concerns. Another chapter down. Hurrah! Thank you so much for all the support. :D
Can anyone recommend a chapter title with the word "Spring" in it?
Lastly, please leave comments. Big thank you!
A Terrible Beauty: Chapter 7: A Touch of Fall
"That's the one, Kira. Isn't it beautiful?"
"Don't be silly. Another gift won't do. This is perfect and so very romantic." ...
"Don't underestimate the power of love so easily. I'm sure this necklace would be here waiting for us." ...
"Promise you'll buy it for me?" ...
With the necklace hanged around on her neck, Flay studied herself in the mirror as the past promise drifted across her mind. She wondered how Kira would react when he sees her wearing this. Would he be jealous? Would he feel regret? Would he be hurt?
"Flay, are you ready to go? The coach is going to bench me for sure if I don't arrive in time for the preparations," Sai explained, shouting to her from the hallway of the first floor.
Still not quite mentally prepared to face Kira, Flay glanced at her reflection and frowned.
"If you're in such a hurry then why don't you just go on ahead? I could always go together with Meer and the others!"
"Sorry, can you repeat that? I didn't hear what you said!"
Sighing with defeat, Flay shook her head. Why does she always have to be so damn understanding of others? "I said I'm coming!" Flay threw everything into her oversized bag like lipbalm, digi-cam and phone, all the stuff she assumed she might need for the day, and then made her way downstairs, but not before making one quick final adjustment by squaring the rhinestone sunglasses over her hair.
00000
Inter-High elimination.
Seconds later, the loose ball sailed into the air. The opposition reached the ball first, only to lose it shortly to Yzak on a slide-tackle. Yzak sprinted with the ball a few yards, gallantly dodging two defenders; then suddenly free, he turns and made a pass to Kira who quickly prepared to shoot from twenty yards out. A clear goal. That was, until the ball ricochets off the corner of the crossbar where Athrun quickly volleys and with a flawless bicycle kick, sends the ball spearing into the net. The score was now 4-1.
Team supporters went wild; fangirls also.
"Kyaaaaaa! Athrun, I so love you!" Meer in her crop jacket, shirt and jeans, one of many who was in-love with Athrun Zala from afar, screamed, instantly jumping out of her chair again.
Flay grounded her heels on the bleacher and clamped both hands together. The late autumn morning sun beating down on all of their head. She was positioned in-between Stellar and Meer: Stellar to her left, Meer to her right. Lunamaria occupied the other seat next to Meer while Miriallia was taking pictures of the game with her club members elsewhere. Flay hadn't seen Lacus or Cagalli in the crowd yet, but she was certain the two were together.
Eventually, Kira missed another shot— his third one— while Athrun took-up the slack and shot another clean goal. 5-1. It was a sure win now.
"Kyaaaa! Athrun, you're so cool!" Totally infatuated and totally converted into an Athrun Zala fan too, Lunamaria began to jump and scream along with the rest of the girls in the crowd. The cheers went through her head, and though Flay would never hate Meer or Lunamaria for it, she couldn't quite muster a strong positive emotion because the only emotion filling her was of concern.
Kira isn't in his best performance. He almost never misses a shot at twenty yards unless blocked by a goalie. So what happened? She knew that pink-haired bimbo would be no good for him.
"Flay, are you, okay? Does Flay not like the game?" Stellar whispered, probably from noticing her unusual silence and the disquiet look on her face.
Flay smiled at Stellar. "I'm all right. It's probably just the heat getting to me." Flay slipped on her sunglasses, not so much to protect her eyes, but to hide them.
Stellar nodded slowly. "Stellar brought water..." she said as she began rummaging through her backpack. "And cookies. Stellar baked these herself," the girl added, generously handing her both.
"Thank you. I'm already feeling much better."
"If Flay needs more, Stellar has a bag full, okay?"
00000
By the time the game was over, she had made up her mind to find Kira. So instead of heading out the front exit together with her friends, Flay made her way to the backrooms wandering around carefully.
She tried not to think about how awkward it would be to check up on him.
Admittedly, this was not the best time to worry over her ex, but she hoped he was all right and not feeling too down. She also hoped that his team was not giving him a hard time by scolding him. G.S High did win after all. And if they knew Kira like she did, they'd be aware that Kira was fragile when it comes to receiving criticism.
Flay started her search at the lobby where she had asked for directions, then followed and looked at the signs. When finally she found the room. What she hadn't anticipated was finding Yzak's girlfriend, the team manager standing in the doorway, watching down the hall. Not Kira. Disappointment soared as Flay realized this.
Shiho Hahnenfuss was a five foot six, fit, proud, practical and stoic. She wore her dark chestnut-brown hair into a high-ponytail everyday and never let it fall in a cascading waterfall down her back. Flay knew her own body was curvy and plump in all the right places, but no diet in the world would ever make her look svelte as Shiho did.
The pretty brunette spotted her approaching.
"Hey, nice game wasn't it?" Shiho turned her attention to Flay, but not without a smile. "You here to see Dearka?"
Guess, this wasn't untrue. Flay nodded thoughtfully. "And you? What are you doing out here? Shouldn't you be inside celebrating with the team?" She asked, moving imperceptibly toward the wall and positioning herself next to the girl as to wait out with her.
"Boys only," Shiho conceded grudgingly. "The guys wouldn't let me in even though I've seen them with nothing on more than I had initially hoped for," the girl blurted out.
Reigning in the imagination, Flay stopped and stared at Shiho for a moment. Now this was exactly the kind of things that you don't casually go telling classmates about!
"How... very unfortunate of you..." Flay replied.
This made Shiho threw back her head and laughed, her irritation quickly turning to amusement. At the same time, two to three players had begun to argue about some arrangement behind the closed door, although Flay couldn't understand anything from the garbled but heated conversation.
"Precisely though most girls wants my job though," Shiho shrugged. "That's a very pretty necklace you're wearing by the way."
Flay's eyes flicked open at this. She had forgotten that she had been wearing the pendant today. And the subject, thought, critical mistake stirred perplexing thoughts inside her all at once that she couldn't help but bit her lips, feel her stomach twist in a knot, and during that moment sorely wished she'd snubbed Shiho moments ago and walked away when she had the chance.
Oh God, what would Shiho think if she knew the truth? Understandably, Yzak had only bought her this necklace out of pity but still... What would Shiho being Yzak's girlfriend think of it? Of all the topics in the world... of all the things she could notice... Why on earth did Shiho have to choose this necklace!?
"Oh, this." With her fingers, Flay lifted the blue gemstone around her neck with a smile as if to proudly brag. "Dearka gave this to me. It was really romantic of him really. It was the night of our first monthsary when— Darling!"
The door opened with a swift click and Dearka rushed out with his duffel bag, withdrawing from the confrontation and looking weary.
Still not Kira.
"Bastard, come back here! I'm still not through with you yet!" Came Yzak's obvious voice from inside.
"We've won. Give us a little break and some credit, Jesus..." Dearka argued back before shutting the door behind him. He shook his head before looking up again. Suddenly realizing that the girls were there, Dearka switched on the grin. An honest to goodness, very boyish grin. "Babe!"
Charm came easily to Dearka, and he flashed his smile while he untangled himself from all the negative energy.
"Hey, I missed you. Did you cheer for me?" Dearka picked up, walked over to Flay his partner, planted a swift kiss on her forehead, and then lovingly encircled both his arms around her from the back; all for show. And Flay followed through by nestling herself against him until his chin rested on top of her head. They stayed like that for awhile.
"You know I did." Flay nudged Dearka flirtingly. "I was just showing Shiho here the necklace you gave to me on our monthsary," she explained.
"My gift. Right. Right." Dearka pretended to understand even though he had no idea what she was talking about because there was no monthsary nor a gift.
Another voice interrupted them.
"Dearka! If you don't get your lazy butt back in here, I swear to God, I'll—"
Yzak's vision moved from girlfriend, best friend, to best friend's pretend girlfriend.
With Shiho there, Yzak's bark of anger quickly turned into a simple frown when he stepped out into the hall.
Flay's eyes connected with Yzak's, both excited and fearful, and she felt like she'd been kicked in the gut. Where the urge came from she didn't know, but she leaned forward. Her body stiffened and then relaxed through still in Deaka's arms.
"Congratulations!... For winning the game."
"It's only just the first elimination." Yzak snorted and shrugged carelessly as if the whole idea was unneeded.
"Doesn't matter." Flay's heart thudded. "No, I mean, argh, that's not the point! I just wanted you to know you were really great out there... I mean, not as cool as my darling of course!" She said in sudden realization. "But still great. You've trained the team well." God, she wished Yzak would just take the complement already so she could shut up.
Lifting his chin, Yzak finally answered. "Right. Thanks for supporting the team."
"Well, seems like Flay and I should be going. See you guys around."
Flay's eyes popped when Dearka suddenly reached out and grasped her hand, pulling her along with him as he made his swift exit. Hold on. Did Dearka just use her as another excuse to escape Yzak? She'd confirmed her suspicions later when Dearka completely cools off.
….
"Did you know Dearka bought Flay a necklace?" Shiho told Yzak while watching the couple off.
"Yeah, so?" The male snarled while the female glanced at him from the corner of her eyes.
"Why don't you ever get me anything?"
"Why would I buy you anything?" Yzak was blunt, if nothing else. He turned with a shove and stalked back toward the changing room seemingly in a bad mood again.
Following, Shiho shrugged. She lowered her voice so only she could hear. "Cheapskate."
00000
Dearka raised both eyebrows in disbelief.
"Wow," he began. "What was that?"
Flay was leaning against the paneled back wall. The trees outside have all gone bare then, ready for the coming cold season.
"What?" Flay replied, looking-up at the blond a matter-of-factly. She was the one who was supposed to be in shock, not him. If it weren't for Dearka suddenly dragging her out like that then she wouldn't be here literally emailing an apology to Yzak with the need to tell him where the two of them had run off to.
Message Sent.
"That! With Yzak back there." The male pointed out. "Congratulations? You were great but not as cool as darling? Where did that come from?"
Flay spun her head to the side, a guilty flush staining her cheeks. Dearka was tarrying in front of her, staring so intensely at her face for answers that Flay couldn't help but protectively cross her feet at the ankle, arms across her chest. A lock of hair had fallen over her eye, and she itched to brush it away.
"I was just trying to be nice."
"To Yzak? Since when?" Dearka tipped his head. "What's going on? I left you with Yzak for a day then the next thing I know the two of you are getting along... Not that I'm saying getting along is a bad thing."
"Yzak... he acts cold and strict, but he is not unkind."
"Of course Yzak's nice. He wouldn't be my best friend if he wasn't. Wait." Quick to piece together thought one and two, Dearka exploited a wide grin. "He, did something nice for you, didn't he?"
Flay twisted and looked away from Dearka for the second time. The lie sounded pathetic even to her. "Nothing happened."
"What did he do?"
"Nothing!"
Still utterly convinced that something did happen, Dearka slowly drew closer to her, his fingers never breaking contact with her shoulder blade and whispered more gently, "What did he do?" She must have looked seriously bewildered because he added, "He took you out shopping, didn't he... Offered to carry your bags?" He leaned even closer to her then, only a breath away to her face, leaving her staring helpless at his seductive gaze while he brushed her hair away, gaining access to the small gold jewel that rest right above the curves of her breast. "Could he have brought you this necklace... said because it matched perfectly with your eyes...?"
Damn. Damn! The man could read her like an open book! How much should she tell him? How much did Yzak tell him!? Was he intending to kiss her? Instinct kicked in and Flay's heart began to pound in dread from Dearka's closeness.
"Did he lean-in like this, pull back your hair, and whispered how much he likes you?"
Orrrr... It could also be that Yzak had told his best friend nothing and Dearka could just be making wild accurate guesses, she realized. But there was still no denying that Dearka was literally leaning awfully out-of-bounds close to her.
"I… Um..." Flay forced herself to speak calmly. "Can't see him, Yzak, doing this, can you? I mean the open flirting..."
Finally, Dearka paused for a moment, his expression thinking before giving a disappointed nod. "Yeah, you have a point."
"Get off of her, Dearka! Remember rule three and four?"
Flay jumped at Yzak's voice as did Dearka, then she breathed a sigh of relief and took this chance to slip out and made her way to the other male as Dearka moved off.
"Yo Yzak, you have such great timing as always." The blond beamed innocently at his buddy in spite Yzak never once did look pleased at any of their shenanigans.
Eager to change the topic, "Did you find anything about Kira and Lacus?" Flay intercepted Yzak, a little breathless. By now, she should have known Dearka well enough to anticipate what was coming, but the thought of Dearka hitting on her like that and she still falling for it made her whirl. Again.
"None. No news. No anything. Nothing," Yzak answered while sternly glaring at Dearka.
Damn. Kira and Lacus were getting sneaky, thought Flay.
"I think it's about time we call it quits," Yzak added and Flay stiffened as he said this.
"What?" Flay frowned. She knew what Yzak meant but there was no way she was giving up now. Why should she? Why should she let Lacus win? Why did have to bring this up now? "No way, Dearka and I have work too hard on this image to just quit. I love Kira and I promised Dearka."
Yzak glanced at her and frowned. "There hasn't been anything new since the movies... How long are we going to keep this up? We're wasting valuable time and..."
As Yzak went on, Flay couldn't help but frown as well. That— the movie had only been two days ago! And she wondered if there really was no news of Kira and Lacus or Yzak just wasn't trying hard enough to get information. Maybe she could indirectly ask Meer and Lunamaria to do some gossiping for her instead.
"... not once has Kira has left Lacus' side. Besides, Dearka'll live with or without Miriallia." Yzak continued.
"Hey!" Dearka commented somewhat wounded.
"So you'll just allow me to break my promise to Dearka?"
"If it'll give him more time to focus on the games then, yes."
She hoped her refusal to respond told him exactly what she thought of his logic. And to think she was starting to get the impression that he was a nice guy— a new ally who surprisingly made her feel good about herself. She couldn't be more wrong about him. What he valued most was his self-interest.
They glared at each other for several seconds. Flay's misery settled in deeper. It's not like she enjoyed playing pretend all the time. While Dearka's without a doubt good company. Pretending to be together and interfering with Kira and Lacus was still work, no matter how you looked at it. But she didn't know any other way to get Kira's attention. Flay's eyes dropped.
Yzak's belligerence had faded when he finally spoke again. "I'll give you five more days to try and snoop around." His sternness trailed lamely into silence.
Surprised, Flay took a quick step forward. "A week at least!"
"I said five!" His eyes narrowed.
"Hey, don't I get a say on this? Guys? Don't just ignore me." Dearka added from the sideline.
With a sense of inevitability, Flay gave Yzak a bright, false smile. "Fine, five days then." No worries. "I'm sure it'll be all right. Kira and Lacus can't keep to themselves forever, you'll see."
