Gundam Seed is owned by Bandai/Sunrise, I don't own it.

notes: again football means soccer

Next chapter is one I've been looking forwards to so hope this one sets everything up well.

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Chapter 8: A Party Atmosphere

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The day went by briskly for Kira. His mind was mostly set upon the evening 'get-together'. Kira wasn't one to go out much, especially to any sort of parties. But there would be some friends at this one.

On the way to school he had invited along his sister, who was obviously trying to hide her excitement. Then there was the class with Mir and Tolle. The couple mulled it over for a minute but in the end decided that it all might be fun. They even called up another mutual friend, Sai, but he was busy that night.

Also going was Athrun but with some of his friends from the football team that Kira didn't really know.

And then of course there was Lacus. Kira was trying to not think much about her or else he would continue to hit up against walls in head on what to do next with her.

So the time was soon upon the brown haired man to figure out what he should wear that night. He pulled out some long sleeve shirts and some of his white button-up shirts, but nothing really stood out. Kira thought it over for a while and just chose another white shirt; much like he had on the other night at her house.

There was someone knocking on the door suddenly and loudly. 'It's probably Cagalli. Someone always opens the gate for her,' he thought to himself.

As predicted it was his sister. She was wearing a sleeveless shirt with a shirt skirt. But by her side there was a department store looking bag.

"Here I got you this," Cagalli said as she handed the bag to him.

"What the?" he blurted out as he set it down. From the inside Kira pulled out a black, long sleeved shirt. "Why did you buy me this?"

She gave him an angered look. "I'm trying to do you a favor. From the way you sounded earlier, it seems that you are just as excited to go to this thing as I am. Of course, I do have a boyfriend that will be there..."

Kira tried to change the direction of the conversation. "Well um you didn't have to go out and buy me anything."

"I saw it on the way home. And trust me, I'm sure that a young songstress will enjoy it," she added with a grin upon her face.

He looked back at her, not saying anything and not knowing anything to say.

"Ok now hurry up and change," Cagalli said, pushing him into his bedroom and closing the door.

"Alright alright," Kira said through the door. "But you know you didn't have to close the door for me to change my shirt."

"Yea I did because you need to change those pants also," she yelled back.

"What? What's wrong with these?" he protested.

"Don't even ask that question. You have got to have a better pair of jeans somewhere."

After Kira dressed himself up to the level that pleased his sister, the two went out to take the bus. They were heading over to Tolle's place to meet with Miriallia and Tolle. From there the four would take the bus rides over to Lacus' house.

The siblings arrived at the tall apartment building of Tolle. Standing outside the glass door entrance, Kira rang the buzzer next to the room-number.

An echoey voice asked: "Hey Kira?"

"Yea it's me."

"Alright we'll be down in a minute. Mir is messing with her hair... again... so hold on. Hey don't have to throw things at me." With that the voice cut off. Cagalli giggled as she imagined what had just transpired in an apartment above them.

The two stood quietly and patiently waiting for what seemed like five minutes. Eventually the couple came out from the building. Tolle continued commenting on Mir's excessive preparations as they walked to the bus, much to the wrath of his girlfriend.

The bus they rode on was not very filled. The four sat together with Tolle joking along the way.

"It's not like this for us guys, Kira. These women here have to plan it all ahead, get all their clothes out, put them on the bed and check each out one over and over again," Tolle said.

"I'm not sure that he fits into your categories then," Cagalli suddenly said.

Tolle looked first at her then at Kira. "What you secretly spend hours on planning what to wear?" he asked his confused looking brown haired friend.

Cagalli interjected once more. "Well not usually. But today, if you had seen his room, he had all his 'nice' clothing strewn out over his bed."

"Wait what?" Kira asked looking nervous.

"Ohhhh," Tolle said loudly, as if it was all coming together in his mind. "So getting all dressed up for someone special are we? I was wondering why you had a nice shirt on."

"Wait no... but... Cagalli got me this shirt," Kira responded, trying to cover his true intentions.

"Getting your sister to help you shop. That's a good plan, since she probably knows what looks better to a woman," Tolle continued, ignoring the plight of his friend.

The group continued to joke around for the rest of the trip. It did not seem to take long before they had traveled across much of the city. Everyone walked towards the house with some excitement, although the siblings was from a different source than Mir and Tolle. The couple themselves were more surprised by their surroundings.

"Alright this is the place," Kira said, stopping in front of the gate and hitting the buzzer on the console. He noticed Athrun's car was parked in much the same place it had been the other day.

"Oh my god, this is huge!" Tolle responded as he walked up.

Mir looked pensive. "Maybe we should of brought a cake..."

Cagalli let out a slight giggle. "Nah Lacus didn't want us bringing anything."

The gate slide open. Ahead the door to the house opened and there they saw a young woman with pink hair waving.

"Is that her?" Tolle asked.

"Yea," Kira replied, but a bit softer than he had intended. He casually walked forward, hoping no one noticed. The rest followed suit.

"Why hello everyone," Lacus said to them as they arrived at the door.

"Hey Lacus," Cagalli said as the two shook hands.

Kira just smiled and nodded, shyly. Lacus smiled back at him. "So are these your friends?"

"Yes this is Tolle and Miriallia," Kira responded, holding his hand out towards the two.

Miriallia shook Lacus' hand, saying: "You can just call me Mir."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Lacus said back.

Tolle scratched his head, commenting "nice house you got here."

"Why thank you," Lacus said to him with a smile. "Now come on in. Athrun and his friends have already arrived."

The proceeded in with Mir and Tolle continuing to be impressed. Athrun and his three friends were talking in a large living room area.

"Hello all. I'd like you meet my good friends Kira and his sister Cagalli," Lacus said to Athrun and friends. The siblings said two rather shy hellos to the group. "And over here are Mir and Tolle." The couple gave a much more enthusiastic greeting.

Athrun stepped forward to introduce his friends: Nicol, Dearka, and Yzak. They were all starters for the football team. But even with their infamy, Kira really didn't know any of them.

And so the party went on from there. For the most part the two groups of friends stayed separate. Lacus tried her best to get everyone talking to each other but most there were rather shy; except for Tolle but he was always around his Mir.

After a while Nicol found his way to the piano in the room and played for everyone, lightening up the mood some. Dearka and Yzak moved to the kitchen to watch a late night football game rerun on the television.

As Kira went to refill his drink at the bar Athrun walked up to him.

"So how are things?" Athrun asked.

"Good. You have a nice day?" Kira responded.

"Yea, another slow day. But it's good to get out like this." The two nodded in agreement as they took another sip of their respective drinks. "By the way, that's a different shirt for you. Never seen you wear something like that."

Kira let out a little laugh. "Everyone keeps saying that tonight. Cagalli actually bought it for me."

"Ah makes sense now," Athrun said.

"How was the big date by the way?" Kira pried.

"Oh it was fun. Guess I didn't really even know what to expect though. But she enjoyed herself which is the most important thing."

Kira nodded. "Why don't you go talk with her? I've seen you looking over at her."

"And abandon you here?" Athrun said as a joke

Avoiding his comment, Kira continue: "Athrun I know you want to."

"Guess so. You're a good friend," Athrun said, putting his hand on Kira's shoulder. "But I'm going to take up your advice and leave you now."

Kira smiled and stood up against the bar as his friend went off to talk with his sister. He looked around the room. Lacus, Tolle, and Mir all sat together on a couch, talking. That Nicol guy was playing the piano, seemingly lost in his own world. The other two football guys were off in the kitchen still. And now Athrun and Cagalli sat at another couch chatting.

Things were pretty peaceful at this party. Maybe it was the beers he had earlier to calm his nerves. Of course now he had been drinking some soda. Still, he felt quite relaxed.

'But I haven't even been able to talk with Lacus,' he thought to himself. Course he should have easily expected that with so many new people for her to meet at this 'get-together' she would not be alone much. He sighed. Maybe if he had been more assertive. Yet that was not who he was. This party was fun but it wasn't a situation he was used to. Maybe that's what was causing him to feel odd at that moment.

Kira looked over to his right and saw a sliding door to the outside. He decided to step out for a few minutes. Closing the door behind him, Kira walked over to the railing and leaned up against it.

The moon hung high but was very bright on this night. Usually the city lights blanketed the sky too much to see any stars but from Lacus' house he could make a few of them out.

It was tranquil outside. Unlike Kira's place, there were no noises of cars roaming around outside. No noises of the city to fill the background. The background here seemed filled more with the sounds of insects in the night.

This was nice and peaceful; something he was not accustomed to. Not since he was little. Not since before his life got complicated.

Behind him he heard the door slide open. Kira turned around then to see who was coming out. There stood the pink haired girl he had been thinking about a few moments ago.

She stepped forward and closed the door behind herself. "Do you mind if I join you Kira?"

"No.. no not all. Please," he said with a slight smile that came out when she was around him.

Lacus walked up to the railing and leaned against it next to Kira. Her eyes stared up at the moon, lost in the light. But he was still looking at her, lost in the light reflected from her.

They stood there quietly on the cool night, with the ambience of insect noise the only sound around and with no one else seeming to notice them.