Noin and the Telemarketer

Faster…faster…faster!

Noin dashed along the artificial surface, feeling as though she was going to float right off the ground with the sheer momentum of her speed. But for all her effort, it simply wasn't good enough—she could see a blurred figure out of the corner of her eye getting closer…She wasn't going to make it in time…Everything seemed to be stretching out...

A sharp whistle brought her down to earth with a bump, and she stopped running, leaning over with her hands on her knees, and panting. Her racing partner was leaning against a fence, rubbing a towel over his face.

"The winner is Mr. Peacecraft, by half a second," said a man with a stopwatch.

Noin nodded over at Zechs as she went over to her bag and got out her water bottle. "You're still as fast as ever."

The blonde-white haired man took a drink from his own bottle, looking slightly silly with a towel draped over his head. "You've gotten faster, though. You almost beat me."

The two of them gathered up their things and ambled out of the track area, conversing quietly.

"The bunker project that Relena is doing is coming along well. At the rate work is progressing, we should be done with all the buildings in section 4 by the end of the week."

"Really? Last time we talked, you said you wouldn't be finished until around the end of the month."

"Relena…has been enlisting new workers. Our force has practically doubled."

Noin wasn't blind to the subtle smugness in Zechs' voice. "Enlisting, eh?"

"Mmm." The corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

He seemed about to say more, when the opening notes of Just Communication tinkled though the air. Noin blinked at him. "You or me?"

"You. I have Tooi Yoake on mine."

The black-haired woman dug through the contents of her gym bag, finally unearthing a cell phone. There was a sticker on the back depicting something that looked suspiciously like a chibi, pale blonde-haired, blue eyed person…but she covered it with her hand quickly before Zechs got a good look at it. Smiling apologetically at him, she moved away a few feet to take the call.

"Hello, this is Noin."

"Hello, miss," said the female voice on the other end. "Did you know that this is the 75th anniversary of Konezumi Toys? In honor of this occasion, they've commissioned a special, once-in-a-lifetime offer doll. It can be yours for the simple price of $7.99, plus shipping and handling."

"Oh really." Noin glanced back at Zechs. He was staring around at the scenery, and didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry. "And what does this toy look like?"

"It's been modeled after the mascot of Konezumi." The woman's voice changed slightly, as if she were reading off a list. "Stands approximately 7 inches tall, does not move, does not fly, does not talk, no batteries required."

"I see." Noin glanced back at Zechs again. And smiled slightly. "How soon do you ship?"

"We can ship it overnight for an additional $2.99."

"Perfect. I'll take it." She gave the woman her account number, and hung up, stifling an entirely out-of-character mischievous chuckle.

~~The next day~~

"What did you call me here for?" asked Zechs curiously.

Noin smiled. "Remember my birthday, when you got me a Badtz-Maru doll?…"

"I'd thought you'd forgotten about that…" mumbled Zechs, looking away. Then he looked back, slightly worried. "What about it?…"

"This is revenge." And she handed him a box.

He opened it slowly, as if he was afraid it might bite him. Knowing Noin's revenge, it just might. Finally, he unwrapped…

…a plushie. Of a rat. With a big grin, and even bigger sunglasses. He blinked.

Noin laughed. "Serves you right. Next time maybe you'll take Relena's advice on buying gifts."

A/N: *twirls a blender idly on one finger* I got a prize! My thanks to aquajogger. *grin* The Konezumi Toys company doesn't exist—I made it all up. *goes into lecture mode* The name "konezumi" is made of 'ko' – 'child', and 'nezumi', 'rat'. So I guess you could translate it as the Baby Rat Toys company. *laughs* What do they call young rats anyway? Ratlings?… 0_o *cough* Never mind. ^_^U On another note, for those of you who don't know, Tooi Yoake (Faraway Dawn) is Zech's image song. ^_~

Ah, reviews. They make everything so wonderful… ^___^ I never thought so many people could like what I write. ^-^ Amazing. In addition, thanks to Berserker for reading through this before I posted it. *hugs* Well, take care, all, and see you in the next chapter! And remember: reviews are like candy. Some are sweet, some are sour, but we can never get enough of them!

Next up: Catherine!