Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Gundam SEED, Gundam SEED Destiny, or any of the characters related to the show.

Cagalli woke up early the next morning and started getting everything ready. She knew Kira wouldn't be able to do much, if anything, so she wanted to do everything she could to make it easier. She even made some breakfast, which was putting together some simple buttermilk pancake mix, and leaving a note for Djibril to cook himself. She figured that her and Kira could go without breakfast for today; it would make things easier and faster for the both of them.

When Kira did finally wake, he was in agonizing pain. His body was quick to heal, but the damage dealt the night before by Djibril was too much for his it to handle. Kira was pretty sure that along with the dozens of cuts on his back, he had some nasty bruises on stomach, a split lip, some cuts on his face, and a few broken ribs. Kira used all his strength to stand up, but he could barely do that.

Cagalli walked in as he was trying to get up, and quickly rushed over to help him.

"Kira! Don't push yourself you are injured. You shouldn't even be going to school today."

Kira smiled at her, giving her that smile that he only showed her, and said, "I know, but it would be riskier to be home and have Djibril finding me. Who knows what he might do."

"I know, but how are we going to get you to school?"

"Don't worry about me, Cagalli. I will be fine. We can walk like we normally do." The truth of the matter was that he had no idea how they were going to make it. He could barely stand up, let alone walk, and there was no way he could wear his backpack with all the gashes on his back, and his broken ribs.

"Fine...but I'm not happy about this. You know that right?"

"Yeah, I know. But right now I need to go make breakfast."

"I already took care of that, don't worry. I really don't want you pushing yourself."

"Alright then, let's get going so we can make it to school in time."

"Yeah, I would agree, except first we need to get your uniform on you first."

"Heh heh, that would probably help wouldn't it?"

"Yeah."

Cagalli helped Kira put all his clothes on since there was no way he could do it alone in his condition. After that they walked out the door, and started heading to school. It had been a miracle that they had even gotten down the stairs. If it was that hard to walk down the stairs, Cagalli had no idea how they were going to make it all the way to school.

Cagalli had Kira's arm around her shoulder and her arms around his waist, trying to support him enough to walk. She was also carrying her and Kira's backpack since Kira couldn't do it himself. They had walked like this for a block, and then Kira couldn't walk any further. He was breathing hard, and even though he wanted to push on, Cagalli knew it was too much for him.

"Kira, you can't do it. It's too far, there is no way your body can handle the walk to school."

"Cagalli...I'm fine...Re-Really."

"You're lying, and we both know it."

"Alright...yo-you win.

Cagalli knew she had to think of something. They needed a way to get school, more for Kira's safety than anything. Then Cagalli remembered.

Flashback

Lacus looked at Kira and said, "Give me your hand."

Kira complied, and she wrote something on top of his hand. "That is my cell number. If you ever need me, or even if you just want to talk, call me. Got it?"

End Flashback

That was it. They could call Lacus. No matter how much Kira didn't want to bother her, they had to. It was their safest way to get to school. She knew that Lacus cared for Kira, and that she would have no problem coming to pick them up. Besides, it might help Kira realize how much Lacus cares for Kira Cagalli thought.

Cagalli grabbed Kira's hand, and what she found did not please her. Half the number had been washed away by blood. Great.

"Kira, do you remember Lacus's cell phone number?"

"Why?"

"Just yes or no here Kira."

"Um...yeah."

"Good. Now what is it?" And with that she pulled out her cell phone.

"1-754-639-4857"

Cagalli dialed the number as he spoke. "Kira, you better be right on this one."

The phone rang twice, and then there was an answer from a sweet voice. "Hello. Who is this?"

"Lacus, it's Cagalli. Sorry if I woke you up, but Kira and I need your help -"

"No we don't! Wh-What are you doing Cagalli!" Kira yelled. Cagalli gave Kira a look that said 'shut up,' and he did just that.

"Oh my. Well I would love to help if I can. What do you need?"

"Well, we need a ride to school..."

"Oh, well of course. I can do that. I will be at your house as soon as I can."

"Um…well we aren't at our house. We are about a block down the road. If you could just pick us up there...that would be great."

"Oh my, of course Cagalli. I will see you in a couple of minutes." And with that, they each hung up their phones.

"Cagalli, you shouldn't have done that. What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking of a safe way to get you to school. You know you can't walk the whole way, even with my help, we are out of the range the busses, and you can't be left at home with Djibril. Calling Lacus was the only way."

"Bu-But what are we going to tell her? ...I hope you have an excuse."

"Well...I...uh...was hoping we could maybe figure that out while we wait for her..."

"Cagalli! She can't figure out about Djibril. As great as it would be to not have to live with him...we could get sent to a more dangerous foster home...or worse...split up."

"I know Kira, we will think of something..."

"Yeah, well we gotta come up with something fast."

"Well...you could always say you were playing baseball and slid over a stick?"

"Oh man that is so bad!"

"Well I haven't heard you come up with anything good!"

"Yeah" Kira paused. "Well I guess if it's all we can come up with then it will have to do." Right as Kira said that Lacus pulled up in her pink Lexus. 'Great, she isn't going to believe a word I say. But I guess at some point, she is going to find out.'

Lacus pulled up to the corner. She could see Kira leaning against the tree. It was as if he could barely stand up himself, and then she noticed the four gashes in his face. They weren't too deep, but it was odd that there were two sets of two parallel cuts. She wondered what could have caused those weird marks. And why did he look so pale and weak?

"Here, let me help you to the car Kira."

"No...I'll be fine. I don't want Lacus to see how weak I am. She can already see something is wrong, but she doesn't need to know how much." Kira said as he used all his strength to limp over to the car."

Cagalli nodded sadly and headed over to the car and got into the back seat.

When he got to the door, he opened it and stumbled in, nearly falling on top of Lacus. Lacus threw her arms out to try and stabilize him. Her left hand caught the front of Kira's right shoulder, but her right hand caught Kira left side, right on one of his cuts and a broken rib. Kira hid his face from Lacus and gritted his teeth in pain, stopping himself from screaming aloud. Cagalli watched this from the back seat and cringed, thinking how badly that must have hurt for Kira.

"Oh my, Kira are you alright?"

"Yeah...I-I must ha-have tripped on something." Kira ground out through the pain.

"Are you sure, you looked like you were having trouble walking" Lacus said as she began driving towards the school.

Kira started to hunch over to escape the pain from resting his back on the backrest of the car seat, and responded, "Um...yeah, I was playing baseball with my da-dad, and I-I hurt my leg...when I dove for a ball..."

"Is that how you got the cuts on your face too?"

"Um...ye-yeah, I hit a stick when I dove. It was some really bad luck I guess."

Lacus gave Kira a skeptical look. She was not buying any of this, but there was nothing she could do. Kira didn't trust her enough yet to tell her what really happened, so for now she would have to believe it.

Cagalli noticed the look; she was going to have to talk to Kira. She was on to him, but go figure. She was his only friend, and within one day she had made Kira accept that. She obviously connects with Kira very well.

"Oh Kira! Guess what?" Lacus exclaimed excitedly.

"What?" Kira had no idea what Lacus was so excited about.

"Well today, you get to meet my friend. He is also participating in the transfer program. His shuttle arrived late last night." and with that she began tell Kira all about her friend, which took most of the car ride. "Oh I just know you will love him Kira."

For some reason when Kira was listening to Lacus describe her friend, he kept feeling a twinge of jealousy in his heart. He knew that Lacus was important to him, and couldn't help but wonder if this guy was her boyfriend. Maybe that was why he was jealous he thought. But it is better if she is with a guy that can give her what she deserves, not some broken and beaten boy who needs to be put back together.

They all got out of the car and grabbed the bags. Kira slung it over his right shoulder, the side of his body with the least wounds, trying his best to carry on like normal. Yet it was just too much with all the strain on his weak body. The broken ribs, bruised abdomen, split lip, dozens of cuts, Kira was having a lot of trouble to say the least.

Lacus noticed that some sweat was dripping down Kira's face, and he had some shallow breathing. She couldn't understand what had happened. He was perfectly fine the day before, and now he looked to be on the verge of death. He was in way too much pain for sliding on a "stick."

Kira looked over at Lacus. "Hey, Lacus. Thanks for the ride. I-I really owe you one. Anyways, I am... I am going to walk Cagalli to class. I will see you in Ms. Ramius's cl-class ok?"

"Oh yeah. See you then." She responded absently. Lacus was deep in thought, but with Kira walking his sister to class, she could use this chance to find Athrun. She quickly pulled out her cell phone and dialed his number.

"Yes Lacus?"

"Oh hello Athrun. I was wondering if you were at school yet..."

"Um... yeah, I just walked in through the front doors... why do you ask?

"I need your advice. Hold on, let me come meet you okay?"

"All right."

"See you in a minute Athrun." And they both hung up their phones.

Lacus quickly ran to the front doors of the school. As soon as she opened them, she saw Athrun standing there waiting. She ran up and gave him a quick hug. It made her feel better knowing he was here. She knew he could really help her out with Kira. After her talk with Athrun the previous night, she realized that she wanted more than just a friendship with Kira. She wanted to be everything to Kira. But first she needed to figure out what was going on with Kira.

"Athrun! It's so good to see you. Look I really need your help again."

"What happened this time."

"Okay, here is the deal..." and Lacus explained the whole situation from when she got the call from Cagalli to when she called Athrun. "...And I don't know what to do to make him trust me!" Lacus almost screamed in frustration. Lacus never lost her calm exterior, but this was driving her crazy, she wanted to help Kira so much. Every time she looked in his eyes, she could see that his exterior belied the sadness in his heart. She could see that he was trying to protect himself by hiding his true personality. And when she hugged him, she could almost feel all his pain, all of his suffering, and all of his sorrow. It tore at her heart to see Kira like that. She may have only known him for a couple of weeks, but she couldn't help it, she loved him. She felt a connection to him, it was as if she could never leave him even if she tried.

"Okay first you need to relax. I know you have had some simple conversation with him, and that has not turned up any answers. It has gotten you closer to him, but given you no answers. Maybe you need to look into other sources. He has no other friends, but what about teachers? And didn't you say he had a sister? Maybe they can tell you something, especially his sister."

""Yes, it is just that I want to help Kira so badly and I don't know how. I do believe many of the teachers have a soft spot for Kira, so I will try talking to them." Lacus paused for a second to think about Athrun's words. "As for Kira's sister, I think she will be loyal to Kira and probably will not say a word. So far she has not divulged any thing Kira would not say. I will still try though. Thank you for all your help Athrun." Lacus finished with a sweet smile.

"Lacus, I am always here for you. Anyways, I look forward to meeting this Kira kid."

"Yeah. I'm sure you two will get along great. Which reminds me...do you have your schedule?"

"Um...yeah, I just got it from Principal Durandal. He handed it to me as he was leaving. He said he wouldn't be back for a while, and then he said something really weird."

"You mean Principal Durandal took a leave of absence. Maybe he is taking a nice vacation with his family... Anyways, what did he say that was so weird."

"He said this, 'Remember this: Names do not always express the true characteristics of the person who holds it, for each name is not always theirs."

"That is really weird...wait, do you think that has anything to do with Kira?"

"I doubt it. I think the guy was just joking around."

"Oh, well if you say so. You were the one that heard him say it, maybe some emphasis was lost in translation."

"Yeah, I could have sworn there was a hint of sarcasm in his voice Lacus."

"Well anyways, please let me see you schedule."

Athrun handed over his schedule, and Lacus looked it over.

"Oh Athrun this is great, you have all the same classes as Kira and I except for two. You have a free period when we have math, and you have your advanced math class when we have sewing."

'Oh, well this should be fun then.' "I'm glad I will get to meet Kira right away then." And with that, the two of them headed towards social studies with Ms. Ramius.

While Lacus was talking with Athrun, Kira "walked" Cagalli to her class. Kira was still too weak to walk far by himself, so he had to rely on Cagalli's help.

"Kira, you're not going to be able to walk to your class from my room. Let me just walk you to your class, that way I will know you have made it safely."

"Yeah, I guess you're right. Alright, to my classroom then."

"Yeah. You know you are going to have to tell Lacus soon. Especially cause I don't think you will be able to walk to the rest of your classes...so you are probably going to need her help."

"No! Look Cagalli, I will be fine. She doesn't need to know what happened because... because I don't want her to worry okay. The less she knows...the better it is for her."

"Kira you know you have let some people in to your life, and it looks like Lacus really cares about you. I would suggest telling your friend you're problem."

"But... but... I don't w-want to see her getting her hurt" Kira mumbled as he was becoming short of breath from all the walking.

"I know Kira. But you can't always stop that. And you never know, knowing more about you might actually protect her."

"I just can't tell her Cagalli... I jus-just can't do it." He didn't want to burden Lacus. She didn't need to know his problems because he was right, it would be dangerous for her.

"Kira..." 'Kira, why are you so stubborn?' Cagalli thought.

They arrived at Kira's classroom door. The two stopped right outside the doorframe so people wouldn't see Cagalli supporting her brother. She let go, and turned to Kira. "Remember Kira, Lacus is your friend. She cares about you and wants to help you. I know she is sincere and she wouldn't do anything to endanger you or her."

"I know..." Kira said disbelievingly. "Well, I will see you at lunch Cagalli." And with that he started heading into the classroom, using whatever he could get his hands on for support. He was always looking for something to lean on because his body was so tired and sore that he couldn't hold his weight up. It was especially tough since he couldn't take deep breaths with his broken ribs constricting his diaphragm.

Kira walked in the room and used the desks for support. He arrived early enough that most of the students weren't there, however he did notice Lacus in by her seat talking to a boy with dark violet hair and sharp green eyes. Kira sat down in his desk and turned to Lacus. Kira wasn't exactly sure what to do, but he figured he should at least say hi since he was there. "Hey Lacus-" Kira was cut off by Lacus and spared of trying to figure out what else to say.

"Oh my! Kira I didn't see you there. When did you get here?"

"Um... just a sec-second ago. I didn't have much else to do after walking Cagalli to class."

Lacus wondered at his statement. How was he able to walk Cagalli to her class and make it all the way here when he could barely walk the couple of feet from the tree to her car? She turned to look over at the doorway, and she could have sworn she saw Cagalli walking away from the room. "Well I look forward to seeing Cagalli at lunch today." Then she realized something. "Oh my gosh, where are my manners? Kira, this is my friend Athrun who I was telling you about."

Athrun stood up and walked over to Kira. Athrun reached out his hand and said, "Hello Kira, I'm Athrun, Athrun Zala. Lacus talks very highly of you. I'm honored to be able to meet you."

Kira felt something unknown to him in his heart from Athrun's comment. 'Lacus talks about me?' Kira thought. Kira started blushing and quickly looked down. "It's nice to meet you too."

Then Athrun noticed it. The cut on Kira's face. It intrigued Athrun. What could have caused such a perfectly parallel gashes? They didn't look natural, but he couldn't think of anything that could have caused it. "So Kira, those are some interesting cuts. How did you get them?" Lacus got a little nervous at that question. She wasn't sure how Kira was going to respond, and she hoped he wouldn't reject Athrun as a friend for it.

"I was playing baseball with my...d-dad, and I slid for the ball and scraped my face on a stray stick that was lying on the ground. You know how it goes..."

"Oh yeah. I hate it when that happens. You slide, and then you realized too late that you are going to hit something. It's the worst." Yeah, except there is no way that a stick could give him those cuts. Though as odd as the cuts are, I am sure the explanation is even weirder...

"Um...yeah." Well even if he didn't believe it, at least he is leaving the topic alone. Lacus was releasing a sigh of relief. She could see the relief that passed over Kira's face when Athrun responded. Athrun had played it right, knowing exactly what to say. She still wished that Kira would open up though. But there wasn't much Lacus could do. She tried everything, she talked with him to try and open him up, she gave him her cell phone number so he could call her if he had problems, and she even hugged him to give him comfort. Nothing seemed to help, but she wasn't going to give up. Lacus noticed that Ms. Ramius had walked into the classroom. She remembered Athrun's advice and decided that she would try talking to Ms. Ramius any other teacher she could find.

Ms. Ramius had heard from Mu and Andrew about the newfound friendship between Lacus and Kira. She was so happy for Kira, and hoped that the friendship blossomed. She had also heard about Kira's sister. She found it weird that Kira never talked about her, but then again Kira seemed to only talk about schoolwork and that was really only to his teachers. Kira never associated with anyone else as if he were afraid that letting people in was dangerous. So what made him accept Lacus? Did she not take no for an answer? Or is there more... does he like her? Right now she had to teach class, and unfortunately for the students it was a full lecture period.

Ms. Ramius lectured the class over the history of the EAF, and put almost all the students. She even noticed that Kira was starting to close his eyes from the lecture. She started to wonder if she was really that boring. Kira never fell asleep during her lectures. He never showed any hint of boredom on her classes before, so maybe her lectures had finally reached a new low. The only two people who seemed to be paying attention were Lacus and Athrun, Athrun more so than Lacus because Lacus seemed to be constantly glancing at Kira. Well, at least he has a loyal friend she thought. Maybe it was because they were the new students and hadn't had to suffer through as many lectures as the rest of the kids.

Lacus noticed that Kira was struggling to keep his eyes open through the class. She was hoping he was just tired and he was using the lecture to catch up on sleep, but something in her mind kept yelling at her. It was like she could almost feel it was something.

Kira knew he was in trouble. He was having so much trouble breathing he couldn't focus on anything but keeping consciousness. But it was getting increasingly difficult from all the pain in his body. He was trying to listen to Ms. Ramius's lecture, he actually was finding it quite interesting, but by halfway through the class he wasn't even listening to a word she said because he was so focused on trying to stay awake. Near the end of the class he had actually passed out for a second and his head lightly fell on the desk, so nobody noticed. However, he regained consciousness and jerked upwards. He felt his back scream in pain and had to bite his tongue to stop himself from screaming. Tears were in his eyes from the pain that was running up his back, and he prayed that nobody noticed.

Lacus, who had been watching him like a hawk, noticed his sudden movement when he regained consciousness. She also saw the tears in his eyes. Now she was really worried because she knew there had to be something seriously wrong for Kira to be in this much pain. Lacus turned over to get Athrun's attention, and noticed that he was watching Kira as well with sharp analyzing eyes. He looked up a little to see Lacus staring at him. He gave her a sad look, trying to communicate his sympathy and worry to her. They both knew something was wrong with Kira, and they just had to keep a close eye on Kira. Before either of them could think anymore about the subject, the bell rang, signaling the end of class.

Kira jumped a little at the bell, and once again his back was screaming in pain. He couldn't take much more of this, and he knew it. He was beginning to wonder how he was going to make it through the day.

Cagalli was in her first period class. It was political science with Mr. Rau Le Creuset. Cagalli, like Kira, usually sat in the front of the class so she could get the best notes. On her left was Shinn, who was sleeping. On her right was Nicol. Behind her was Stellar, who spent more time watching Shinn then anything else in the class. Cagalli usually paid close attention, especially in Mr. Le Creuset's class because he would always ask kids who were sleeping or day dreaming hard questions about the topic he was lecturing on. Today, however, she couldn't focus. She was so worried about Kira. She was wondering how he was going to make it through the day. He could barely walk on his own; she didn't know how he would make it to the next class. The worry was eating at her heart and she couldn't focus on class.

Le Creuset, who was giving a lecture, noticed that Cagalli wasn't paying attention. She always paid attention and always got some of the highest marks in his class. She was one of his favorites, though in his teaching style, that did not amount to much of anything. He was known to be one of the toughest teachers, and got many bad reviews from students, as well as many calls from parents asking why he was "picking" on their child. Today, he was feeling nice though, so he decided to ask Cagalli a simple question. That way she could get the answer, and it would hopefully get her to pay attention to his wonderful lecture.

"Now, Miss Cagalli, would you be so kind as to tell me about the Bloody Valentine Incident on February 14th, Cosmic Era 70?"

Cagalli didn't even look up when he called her name. Her eyes went wide, and she could only think of Junius 7, her home plant. It had been destroyed the year after her parents were killed in the Blue Cosmos terrorist bombing. Cagalli couldn't remember much about the incident itself, but she did remember that it was that incident that had caused all the problems in her and Kira's life; it was the reason Kira was suffering so much. "It was the destruction of the PLANT, Junius 7," she said with deep sorrow in her voice. "It was due to an attack led by Blue Cosmos, when a nuclear missile was launched at the PLANT."

"Why thank you Miss Cagalli..."

The sadness in her voice had not gone unnoticed by Rau. 'Oh my, well it seems that I have found a troubling topic for the young Cagalli Djibril. It was odd to hear her anger when she mentioned Blue Cosmos, though. Her father is the vice president of the terrorist group, and the leader of LOGOS. How interesting. I will have to delve more into this subject of interest.' And with that thought, Rau decided to leave Cagalli alone after touching on what seemed to be a very sensitive subject.

Cagalli sank back into her worried state after the question. She was so worried about her brother that even the pain of losing her parents wasn't having much effect on her. Cagalli's friends also noticed this behavior and were a little worried about their friend. She was usually very attentive, happy, and cheerful. Sure she had a fiery attitude, but this wasn't it. She looked positively depressed.

Soon the bell rang and Cagalli's friend came up to ask what was wrong.

"Hey Cagalli, you seem so sad. What's wrong? Do you want to talk about it?" Nicol asked.

"Yeah, you weren't even paying attention in class." Shinn added.

"Shinn's right, you always pay attention. You can tell us, we are your friends." Stellar added.

"Um..." Cagalli paused. "It's nothing. I am just worried about something. But hey, lets get to class or else we will be late."

"Alright, but its all open ears over here if you need to talk Cagalli." Nicol said before they all started to packing up their stuff and heading to class.

A/N: Please read and review. Any kind of review is accepted.