A/N: Ugh! Finally! The last chapter of Shuffle 2! I swear, with the kissy feely stuff between Shiho and Yzak in this chapter…it just made me want to stick my finger down my throat and rid my stomach of that nice bagel I had this morning. But I didn't, cuz that was a good bagel. Lol, but honestly, it really was painful to write. THAT'S WHY I AM SO DONE WITH SHUFFLE FOR NOW. I may make a shuffle 3, but I'll have to change a lot of my ways for that! Lol! Annyyywaaayy…I looked back at the date on this chapter and it was, believe it or not, dated February 2, 2006. That is so sad. Well, enough of that. Here's the last creepy chapter of Shuffle 2. So say BYE BYE!

CHAPTER X- NEW LOVE, MORE HOSPITAL

VISITS & ATTEMPTED SUICIDE

The weekend came and Dearka began to recover. No longer in critical condition and final awake, he could have visitors. I'm sure you can guess who his first visitor was. Nicol, of course.

"How are you feeling, Dearka?" Nicol asked as he entered his hospital room. He turned his head to look at him, and was he ever bandaged.

"Well, let's put it this way; I've seen better days," Dearka answered with a weak smile. Nicol smiled back sweetly then sat down at his bedside. "Has Yzak been bothering you?" Dearka asked suddenly, his tone serious.

"Oh no, not at all. However, he did seem rather upset when he learned… what happened to you…" Nicol answered quietly. "He really cares about you, Dearka… and no matter how much he tires to hide it, it still shows so clearly…" His words were so soft and solemn.

"Nicol…" Dearka said slowly, lost for words.

"It's true. The two of you will always be like brothers… it's an invisible, unbreakable connection that silently forms over time and just because you say it's there, doesn't mean it is. That's why, I feel, Dearka, that we can never really be 'brothers'… Yzak was right…" Nicol whispered.

Dearka's heart ached. All around him, his friends were crumbling… Yzak, Miriallia and Nicol… they were all in pain…

"Dearka, I really need to ask you something…" Nicol's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Sure, go ahead," he replied slowly.

"Who… who did this to you?" he asked, his eyes deep with emotion.

Dearka looked difficulty at him. "Well… I'm not too sure… I can't really remember…" Dearka lied though he knew well how he's sustained his injuries. This whole 'Tolle' thing was getting out of hand and he knew as long as he was still breathing, Tolle would continue to go at him until he was no longer.

"Well, then… it remains unexplained…" Nicol said simply. "But I'm worried… what if it happens again?"

Dearka looked at him and sighed. "Let's just hope it doesn't…"

The Next Day, At the Jule Residence, 4:00p.m.…

Saturday was another gloomy day. It was pouring rain and thunder sounded and lightning flashed. Yzak had barricaded himself in his room and refused to come out. Eventually, Ezaria just got tired of trying to convince him to come out. So she left to go visit a friend across town with Allaya.

When they had gone and all was silent (except for the frequent crash of thunder outside) he'd plunged deep into thought. Life was so empty… you go to sleep at night, wake up in the morning, go to school, sit though detentions and boring classes, then at lunch hour you have this whore following you around; constantly wanting to make out with you, then you go home to a family with no one of the same gender as you and get ten calls all half an hour apart form the whore that follows you around at school. Does that sound like fun to you? To top that all off, your best friend presently hates you. Just try going through that everyday.

As Yzak sat on the bed with a pocketknife in his hands, just musing, a single word came to mind: Suicide.

It made his heart race. Did he really want that? Or did he just want to remain feeling trapped in his own life? It wasn't that difficult to choose.

With no presence in his eyes, Yzak held the pocketknife in front of him for a moment and thought.

More lightning suddenly flashed outside and as it did, the blade of the knife flashed with the light, almost taunting him to do it.

"Maybe it's best..." he thought darkly.

At the Hahnenfuss Residence…

Shiho, who was in the middle of writing an extremely frustrating essay, stopped when she felt an unpleasant pain jolt through her.

"YZAK! IT'S YZAK RUN TO HIM YOU IDIOT!" That irritating voice in her mind screamed.

Without a second thought, she jumped up and ran out the door. The Jule mansion was just a block away and due to that fact, she might be able to save a life.

Back at the Jule Residence…

Just as Yzak was about to pull the knife across his neck, (that's a good boy! hahaha, god I'm mean) the door flew open and the next thing he knew was he was pinned down on the bed, Shiho on top of him and the knife on the floor.

(Here's where the touchy feely crap starts, feel free to skip...)

Yzak looked from the knife to her in disbelief and she stared back at him with tears in her eyes.

"Don't you ever do that again!" she cried cuddling to him and letting the tears roll down her cheeks. His eyes darkened. "We're even now…" he muttered, "A life for a life… now get off and get out…"

Her heart ached at his words, "Oh Yzak!" she cried, frustrated.

Shiho just continued to cry, on and on, unable to stop.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she felt Yzak's arms wrap around her. Shiho looked into his face in disbelief. "Yzak…" she whispered, lost for words. She could hardly belief it, but she was seeing his sensitive side… His tears continued, streaming down his cheeks. He turned his head away from her and let out a weak whimper.

"Yzak…it's okay…you cry if you need to…I'm here for you…" she whispered, holding him close to her. His eyes opened and he looked at her painfully.

"Yzak…" she cried softly, more tears forming in her eyes. It killed her. It was so heartbreakingly horrible to see him in so much pain.

As one last bit of comfort, Shiho wiped his tears away and then kissed him passionately. And this time, he did kiss back. (IT'S SO GAG WORTHY!)

When she broke it, she whispered gently "Please, let those emotions go…I'll be here as long as you need me…"

He pulled her even closer and let his tense body relax. With a quiet sigh, Shiho began to softly stroke his hair. He closed his eyes and more tears came. Was he falling in love with Shiho? No, he couldn't be…but…she actually cared about the way he felt…maybe he'd been looking for love from all the wrong people. Here's something he thought he'd never be thinking about…

His emotions were just beginning to get a little bit too confusing for his liking…helplessly, he just cried. As he did, Shiho continued to comfort him and wipe away ever tear that he cried, and kissing him softly while whispering gentle words. She couldn't help but think, you'd never see Yzak Jule like this. Never.

After an hour of crying out five years of bottled emotions, Yzak slipped into sleep, completely exhausted.

Shiho continued to stroke his hair while silently debating whether to leave or stay with him. In the end, she decided to stay. At least until Ezaria came home.

(No more kissy feely crap, athankyou)

The next morning at the Amalfi residence…

Sunday morning was the beginning of a beautiful day. Unlike the day before, the sun shone brightly and there was not a cloud in the sky. But in the Amalfi home, sad soft piano music was played by a sad, sad little boy. (I'm sorry, I just had to put that in there…it makes me laugh!) You could always tell the way Nicol was feeling by the piano music he played.

His mother, Romina, had been extremely concerned. Nicol was always looking at the bright side of any situation. You'd rarely, if ever see him so depressed. So deciding enough was enough, she went to confront Nicol about his recent depression.

"Nicol!" She called over the music.

He stopped playing and turned to look at her. "Oh, hello Mother," he said sweetly.

She smiled sadly and sat down beside him at the piano. "Nicol…" she began, "Is something bothering you?"

A terrible sadness filled his eyes. "Well…I've been a bit depressed ever since…Fllay and I went our separate ways…and Dearka got hurt really badly for some unknown reason- oh, and since Yzak punched me…"

"Yzak did what?!" Romina cried in disbelief.

"It wasn't that hard," Nicol lied. "And it didn't hurt that much."

Suddenly, she pulled his face closer and brushed her fingers under his left eye. A skin tone powder started to come off and beneath she could she his black eye.

"Nicol! Why do you hide things like this from me? Lying is wrong!" She cried.

He looked away. "I just didn't want you to be upset…"

"I hope you don't still hang around that boy!" She went on.

"I don't, Mother…don't worry," he said quietly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go for a walk. I need to…think." With those final words, he got up and left.

Romina watched him go, heartbroken. He sure was changing…

In the park with Nicol…

Nicol sighed as he walked through the park. Life just seemed to totally suck now. But the beautiful park really helped to relax him.

Just off to the side of the path was an amazing beach. The ocean sparkled marvelously with the morning sun. Nicol smiled.

He stopped dead in his tracks when he heard the voice of a girl, singing. He knew the words. They were for that sad, sad song he played on the piano.

Nicol ran down onto the beach and looked around. About ten meters from where he stood, sat Lacus Clyne. She did truly look troubled.

Concerned, Nicol went to her.

She stopped singing immediately when she realized he was there.

"Are you all right? That song is quite depressing…so…do you feel sad?" Nicol asked shyly.

"Yes…my boyfriend recently broke up with me…well…I recently broke up with him. I'd rather not talk about it…" Lacus said sadly.

"I understand," he said, sitting down beside her. "I just broke up with my girlfriend…"

They were quiet for a moment. Nicol broke the silence: "You have a very lovely voice."

She smiled at him "You're so very kind."

"That song you were singing…I can play it on the piano," Nicol said softly.

"You can? That's such a great talent to have! I think it's wonderful," Lacus said sweetly.

He blushed. "Thank you."

With a giggle, Lacus looked into his eyes. "Oh…you have very beautiful eyes…like a sunset…"

He blushed even deeper and just managed to choke out: "Everything about you is beautiful."

She giggled again and then wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. "I think everything about you is adorable."

He blushed even deeper if it was possible. They both smiled, feeling the happiest they ever had in a long time.

At Kira and Cagalli's "PLACE", 12:00 pm…

In his room, Kira was STILL fast asleep, meaning it was one of his smart days – because obviously, he wasn't up earlier skipping around the house singing about how great it is to be awake, and making everyone want to put a bullet or two through his skull.

As Kira slept, his mother came marching up the stairs. When she reached Kira's room, she kicked the door open and screamed "KIRA!"

He screamed with shock and fell out of bed.

"WHAT ON EARTH IS THIS?!" She demanded, shoving his IQ test results in his face. "It says you're mentally retarded!"

He groaned. "I don't get it either…sometimes I just can't remember things…"

That's when she remembered The Super Coordinator-…thing…Because of an experiment that had gone horribly wrong, Kira altered between super stupid days and super smart days.

Her eye twitched. "Remind me to tell your father he's sleeping on the couch tonight. I'm going to go phone the school and get you tested. On a BETTER day." With that, she was gone.

Kira frowned. "What the hell is "a better day" supposed to mean?"

A/N: Praise the lord! I am finally done with Shuffle 2! Let me just point out some things about the whole Yzak thing…one, he'd never cry in front of Shiho because he has too much pride and two, he'd never try and kill himself because HE LOVES HIMSELF TOO MUCH! Ok, just so you know about that. Lol, thanks. That's all for Shuffle 2! Bye!

-MPK