Author's Notes – Okay, I'm really going to do my best and get things moving forward with the fic, however, don't think for a second that just because Squall's trying his best to accept being in public with Rinoa that everything's going to go downhill, 'cause I assure you, it wont. Just think of it as another stepping stone with its' own set of problems/rewards.
Anyways, regardless of all that, I will still keep the same quality and tone, so don't worry about me rushing things just for the sake of advancement. (That's just the sugar-coated way of saying that I'm going to take forever to get anything written.)
…Oops, that wasn't supposed to be in the author's notes…Damn!
Before I start, please note that I've bumped up the rating for this fic just in case the additional swearing and stuff in this chapter warrants the change. However, since I'm not really sure if I really needed to change it, if it can still be covered with the original K+ rating, just tell me in a review and I'll change it back. Thanks!
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Chapter XI – Enduring the Void
"Well… I think I have to get back in there…Thanks again for the wonderful evening… Bye…"
After he'd heard those soft, yet reluctant words escape from the lips of Rinoa's tickled-pink features only a few minutes prior, walking alone felt like an icy cold shot of pessimistic reality. It would be a couple of antagonizing days until she'd come back, and the fact that she didn't even want to be there in the first place didn't help any. Hyne, he missed her already.
Walking further, Squall hastened his pace along with his train of thought, the faster things went, the more notions swirled in and out of the mental loop; most of them focused on how he was going to deal with the idiots at school and how he wasn't going to have a first-period partner for three days. Then, when he'd come to think of it, everything seemed to come back to Rinoa in one way or another.
Squall gave his head a fervent shake.
'Whoever said love is painful was dead on.'
'-HONK! HOOOOOONK!'
The teenager jumped back onto the sidewalk as a transport truck rocketed past the otherwise-deserted crosswalk. Leaning against a lamppost, Squall was very glad that his sole concern at the moment was catching his breath.
'Hyne, that was close…'
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In the dead of night, otherwise known as three in the morning, without much regard towards stealth or finesse, Squall entered the somber house. Two seconds later, his actions cost him dearly as he stumbled over some carelessly discarded boots and fell flat on the floor with a resounding clatter. Somehow, the fall made him feel more in common with the father who he allegedly shared half his genes with.
A dim light flooded the entrance and the aforementioned father was now in the view, holding the corresponding light switch. Squall eyes widened.
'…So much for not caring.' He lamented on the floor before getting up and brushing himself off.
"Where were you Squall? It's past three already!" Laguna insisted worriedly, in a particular tone ill-fitting to his usual carefree demeanor.
"…Out."
"Squall…" He gave the teenager a rare look of concern mixed with puzzlement, "…It's not like you to pull this kind of thing so late at night and quite frankly, I'm a little scared. What's gotten into you?"
"…Nothing." He added dismissively.
"…So it isn't because you were with Rinoa?" Laguna inquired dryly. Squall gave him a perplexed look.
'…Somehow that exact tone he used sounds extremely familiar……'
"…"
The adolescent left and went upstairs.
Following a couple dozen of steps and a soft 'thunk' of the mattress later, Squall found himself on top of a bed and covers, head swirling and breath shortened. Moments later, when the vague stupor had lifted and stopped enveloping him entirely, that's when he had finally registered that he was in his room.
However, it didn't register for long as sleep's call was far too powerful, far too soothing, and far too…seductive to resist…
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'BEEEP! BEEEP BEEEP! BEEEP-'
'Whack!'
'Bee…p.'
Squall hazily let one eye drift open before slowly letting the other follow suit. With his eyes now opened, the immediate sight of that particular alarm clock became incredibly nauseating. Rolling over, he groaned miserably.
'………Just shoot me…'
Without a second thought, he let his eyes close for the tiniest moment.
"-Squall, get up now."
-Make that a grossly microscopic moment.
"…What?" The teenager grumbled. Laguna let out a sigh of exasperation.
"..I knew you'd be like this in the morning…" He mumbled under his breath before talking at a normal level. "Come on Squall, get up. You chose to come home extremely late, you have to suffer the consequences, come on…now…"
"…Mmf.." He argued incoherently from under the comforter.
Laguna let out yet another sigh. "Okay, you leave me no choice then…"
'Swoosh!'
Seconds later, Squall felt a little colder, namely because the comforter had just yanked off with little warning. Then, he felt something abruptly and forcefully hit him to make up for that coldness. Looking down, he saw a random set of clothes pooled by his stomach. Looking up, he met the same regard his father had a couple of hours ago; the one which displayed the still-unfamiliar look of foremost worry and utmost concern. A subtle sheen glazed his green eyes and a slight quiver presented itself at the corners of his mouth.
"Don't worry about the bus today, just get yourself dressed." Laguna said rather listlessly. "…I'll be driving you to school instead."
After his father's soft footsteps left for the outside of the room and the soft click of the door had permeated his ears, Squall moved towards the edge of the bed, got up slowly and began to fiddle with the clothes he had within his grasp.
At that moment, he felt like absolute crap.
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"Is there anything you want to tell me?"
A sigh escaped. The view of the traffic jam ahead wasn't a pleasing one to say the least, especially when it enabled a perfectly undesired opportunity for tell-all confessionals. Squall lowered his arm from resting on the window ledge.
"…Well?"
The adolescent shifted again. "…Like what?" He weakly stalled.
"-Like what happened last night." Laguna answered in exasperation. "Please don't play dumb with me, you know better than that."
"…No, there's nothing." He blatantly lied. When the traffic cleared somewhat and the flow of cars moved once more, a wave of relief washed over Squall.
"…Squall," He addressed to his son, despite the fact that he was intensely focused on the road ahead. A pang of foreboding hit the said son as he looked over in trepidation.
"When I first found out that you were going out with Rinoa, to be honest, I was thrilled… well not for myself obviously, but still, just hear me out here. I thought that you would finally get yourself out of that rut you've seemed to be in for the past well…uh…past…-Nevermind, let's just say long while."
Squall's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. '…What's he getting at?'
"Regardless of that… I did see a change, a quite surprising one actually. As of late, you seem to be getting more defensive, you're not sleeping very well, and dare I say it… you're getting a lot bolder. …But last night, it kind of put it all into perspective and that's what's been honestly scaring me. You're changing so fast and I can't seem to keep up anymore."
Laguna sighed briefly. "-Then again, maybe this is just an old man talking here. It's been so long since I've been your age that I can't quite remember if this is one of the things that all teenagers go through at some point. Either way, just promise me that you'll be cautious, okay? I don't want to ever lose you Squall because… because I don't think that I could… handle something like what happened to your mother and sister all over again."
The passenger seat lightly creaked as its' occupant readjusted himself a little. Squall sat in pure disbelief at that moment, never had he seen this side of his father. It was the goofy, bumbling and light-hearted side which had always prevailed before, and not this serious, worried and vulnerable side. A couple of seconds later, the teenager took a moment to swallow what he'd just been told, and once it sunk in, he accordingly lowered his gaze.
"I've… really been an ass lately, haven't I?"
Judging from the muffled laughter, Squall assumed that his father was most-likely grinning ear-to-ear from his blunt comment. …Or perhaps it might have been due to the fact that he rarely said those kinds of things aloud.
"Don't be so hard on yourself Squall; you're more than entitled right now. Everyone has to go through a couple of rough patches as they get older in life, and right now, you're just experiencing another one of those patches."
"Hm."
"Good, now that that's settled, I have another question for you."
In idle curiosity, Squall tilted his head towards his father; almost overlooking the fact that he'd parked the car into one of the school parking lot's spots already.
"When you chose to ignore my question earlier, was it to leave Rinoa out of this?"
Now the teenager was completely thrown through a loop. For the umpteenth time this morning, his father had never ceased to amaze and bewilder him. No longer capable of proper eye contact, Squall looked away. Another sigh escaped.
"…I thought that you were going to blame her for everything, and dismiss her like some bad influence." He admitted in a harshly subdued tone. "…That's why I didn't say anything."
Laguna let out a singular, mirthful chuckle. "I figured that much. You must really care for her to do such a noble thing."
Instead of turning a violent shade of red like he thought he would after his father's remark, Squall simply nodded nonchalantly and tried his best to maintain some composure as he calmly opened the passenger door and left without so much as a sound.
As he neared the school's side entrance doors, Squall heard the undeniable crunching noises underneath his boots from trudging over the snow-sprinkled ground, but what he hadn't heard was the usual crackle of tires rotating over the same element-coated parking lot behind him. Hazarding a guess, he took a glance backwards.
Sure enough, as luck would have it, his father was still rooted in the same spot, only this time, he was sitting merrily with a bright, beaming grin through the windshield, looking as if he was in no hurry to move an inch forward any time soon. Squall swiveled his head back towards the school in front of him and groaned.
…So much for the serious and civil conversation with his father.
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Several minutes and trivial announcements later, Squall found himself in the school gymnasium, fully clad in his gym wear, ready to do nothing in particular. A genuine bored look was etched all over his otherwise sleepy features, and for the first time ever, he could have cared less about today's lesson. But sadly enough, the teacher thought otherwise as he approached him for Hyne-knows-what.
"Mr. Leonhart, I've been informed of Miss Heartilly's multiple day absence so I pulled a few strings and arranged a substitute partner for you." The teacher informed him oh-so-eloquently, making it blissfully aware that he didn't notice Squall's lack of interest altogether. "You'll be partnered up with Mr. Almasy for the next few days, so be on your best behavior. I don't want to see any trouble coming from you two, okay?"
Squall yawned and issued a void, "Whatever."
Then, if at all plausible, Seifer approached his previously-indifferent figure as if he was on cue. Drifting his sights upward in order to exchange the customary glares, Squall felt a reactive jolt course through his entire system and the intensity of his stare waver a fraction. Then, without hesitation, the blond seized this chance like there was no tomorrow.
"Are you missing something Squally-boy?"
Squall gave him another cold, piercing look before his deflective counter. "No. …Why should I?"
"Hm. I don't know," Seifer elaborated sarcastically as they moved away from the others, "-maybe it's because your little partner isn't here, or dare I say girlfriend?"
'Ignore it, ignore it…'
"…Not saying anything are we? Scared to admit that you actually care about someone for a change? Or are we just getting all touchy-feely?"
Squall clenched his jaw stiffly to prevent any sound from escaping.
"Admit it, I'm right. You've grown soft haven't you?" The taller adolescent jeered incessantly with a huge smirk growing wider and wider. "Well if that's the case, why don't you trade in that gunblade and maybe get something more appropriate like a… healing rod, hm? Then you'd be able help all of us who can actually fight and stay on the sidelines!"
Right before Squall had even the notion to do something painful to Seifer, Mr. Janis mercifully cut in.
"Seifer, Squall, start warming up now!" The teacher shouted from across the floor. Seifer's smirk grew another fraction before he settled into a different look altogether, a look of ominous proportions.
"You ready to practice or do I have to warn the teacher that you'll need to visit the infirmary later on?"
Squall mirrored his dirty look back at him. "Just shut up and start, I'm tired of hearing your trap go on and on."
Always wearing the same smug look, Seifer slung his Hyperion over his shoulder and took a few paces backwards while Squall had swiftly geared himself into an offensive position, gripping his Revolver tightly and eyeing his opponent meticulously. He wasn't going to let him pull any fast ones now, not after the barrage of unsettling slurs he'd unleashed beforehand. Sooner than expected, Seifer broke the heated silence.
"So, I take it your offense, lover boy?"
Ignoring that last bit, Squall shot an irritated answer back.
"…What does it look like to you?"
"Fine, what ever you say Squally…"
Right after the last word had left his mouth, Seifer charged forward with a descending overhead strike, effectively catching him off-guard and leaving him no time to think. Luckily for Squall, his reflexes acted fast enough to crudely block the surprise attack with the broad side of his blade, but for some reason, Seifer wasn't transitioning into another attack as he kept on pressing his blade forward, leaving the other to put more force into his counter to keep it away from his already-scarred face.
"-What the hell are you doing?" The shorter of the two spat. A sadistic grin now formed on the other's face.
"Well, if you want to be on the offensive, you have to earn it. C'mon Squall, I dare you. Try to earn it."
'Well, if you insist…'
With one smooth movement, Squall deftly used Seifer's weight against him by suddenly halting his counter with a quick crouch down and out of the way. Then, when the blond stumbled forward as predicted, he swerved around to his unbalanced right side, hooked his opponent's legs with one of his own and tripped him with minimal effort.
…And unfortunately for Seifer, when Squall tripped him, he fell hard. Then, as if that wasn't enough, Squall had also made a point of the situation with the point of his blade directly hovering inches over the back of his head.
"…So does that count, or do I have to make you bleed Seifer?"
Tilting his head slightly to talk, Seifer immediately responded. "I don't know, you tell me-"
Within a fraction of a second, the once-thought defeated teenager had smartly turned the rest of his body sideways and sprung his right leg forward to hit a forceful and well-placed kick to Squall's shins, causing him to buckle slightly and lose the confining position he had him under. During the moment Squall had folded a little, Seifer lost no time and got back up. But even with his momentary advantage, he didn't capitalize on it. Instead, he just stood there with contempt.
"This is what happens when you underestimate me Leonhart, and don't you forget it."
Gritting his teeth somewhat, Squall returned to a normal standing position in hopes of not making the situation any more humiliating than it already was. Luckily for him, most of the class was still in their own little worlds, solely focusing on nothing other than their individual practicing and for that, he was thankful. However, when a shrill noise came from the teacher's whistle had diverted all of the attention, Squall was even more thankful for that.
"Okay, that's enough practice for now, lets' start on something different! So everybody stop and come over here!"
Walking calmly as instructed, in spite of the minor aches flaring up near his soon-to-be-bruised shins, the blue-eyed teenager kept a close eye on his so-called partner; something didn't sit right in the pit of his stomach today.
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"So what the hell are we supposed to do again?"
Squall sighed. This was going to be the fourth and final time he'd attempt to repeat the teacher's first combination of the day to the inattentive blond; the little patience he had possessed before had already whittled down to non-existence in roughly two minutes. The sole factor for this depletion was because he knew that Seifer was just playing stupid just to make things aggravating for him, but miraculously enough, that still wasn't the most infuriating aspect about the situation.
That particular award went to the fact that he couldn't do anything about it. The teacher wouldn't let him ignore him, nor would he let him tape his mouth shut.
"For the last time Seifer, the defensive combination starts off with a duck, and when the other guy stumbles, you get up fast and slide to the right, drop down, trip them and make sure they can't get away while they're on the floor."
Seifer snorted. "Okay… if that's what it is, then what's the point? You should be the first to know that it doesn't work."
Squall groaned in response; as much as he hated to admit it, he did have a valid point.
"I give up. …Take it up with the teacher, it's not my problem."
"Nah, that'd take up too much effort on my part. Besides, a small change would fix the problem easy."
The shorter adolescent shot him a skeptical look.
"…What? Do you have a profound fear of not following what the teacher says or something? C'mon, even you know that this tripping shit doesn't work."
Squall rolled his eyes and distanced himself away from the crowd again. "…Whatever. Just get it over with."
After a second or two of preparation, they both were at their respective sides in the designated far corner, and waited to start this practice of sorts.
"Okay," Seifer started to shout, "-start with the downward strike and go from there."
With one last grumble, Squall gripped the hilt of his weapon tighter and, without a single thought, he charged forward as told. Within a second, he had already raised his Revolver over his head just to bring it down swiftly near his opponent's head. However, it didn't connect since the broad side of Seifer's blade was blocking it from his face.
Then, a twinge of familiarity smacked him as hard as he fell when the blond stopped his counter and ducked down to the side – even more so when he suddenly felt trapped under a point of pain searing into his upper back.
"Works better now, wouldn't you say?"
'-Don't let him win, there's a way out of this…there has to be.' The pinned teen mentally screamed with undying resolve. Although, after several uneventful moments later, his hope of escape was dashed as Seifer felt the redundant need of verbally pointing it out.
"Well, it looks like my little adjustment was a success since I haven't seen an attempt from you yet, or did you just stop trying because your little Rinny isn't here to back you up?"
Fueled on a mysterious charge that he didn't have before, while currently downplaying the fact that he had a blade dug into his back, Squall used all the grit and audacity he had to shift sideways until the blade was no longer at a confining angle. Then, when he was at a good position, he got up, smartly using the tip of his Revolver as a support.
Then, for the second time in a row, Seifer hadn't tried to take advantage of the situation as he simply stood there with yet another look of contempt.
"Well, I must give you some credit there Squall," He intoned sardonically, "I didn't think you had it in you to nearly mutilate yourself just to get out of that. The Squall I knew would have reluctantly drawn a line of reason back there."
Then, as if his words were the sole indicator, Squall finally registered the warmth and stinging of the blood sticking to the back of his now-airy shirt.
"Heh. Maybe I should mention your girlfriend more often. With reactions like these, who knows? Perhaps you'll give me more of a challenge."
Right after that taunt, something must have ultimately snapped inside of Squall's mind because next thing he knew, the taller teenager was somehow brought down to his height. Then, a fraction of a second later, he realized that it was his own hand gripped around some of his shirt which had dragged him down to his level.
"I've had enough Seifer, and I mean it." He hissed dangerously to his face. "I don't want to hear a single word about her come out from your mouth, nor do I want you to talk period. Got it?"
His grip loosened and Seifer was free to be at normal height again.
"Why should I? You don't own her."
Then, he was brought back down to Squall's height once more, now peering into the whites of his eyes.
"Because." He started off coolly, contrary to what his fierce grip was conveying. "…She's not here to defend herself."
This time, Squall didn't let go when the blond spoke.
"Squall, Squall, Squall…haven't you noticed that I wasn't talking about her directly?"
The other teenager sharpened his glare. "…What do you mean?"
"I was only stating the fact that she isn't here, nothing more." He answered as suavely as someone in his situation could be. "You're the one whose brain's going into overdrive imagining all these different insults towards her."
'Damn, he's right…'
"Fine." He grit through his teeth as he released him for the second time. "-Just don't piss me off."
Seifer smirked as he adjusted his collar. "Wouldn't dream of it."
Before anything else was said, or done for that matter, the shrill whistle went off again, signifying that they all gather near the teacher to learn the next technique. Although when both teenagers were over there, how everyone managed to miss the gaping, bloody tear on the back of his shirt was beyond Squall.
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After the teacher had shown them the specific movements for the new combination and after they all parted off to go and do them, Squall was relieved that the technique hadn't uncannily matched one of his previous tactics again. Instead, it consisted of a sideways block deflecting the according sideways slash, then it shifted into an upwards swipe to knock the other blade away, and then the defender went forward with an advancing side strike to the unguarded torso and back with another advancing strike delivered to the other side. It was simple, but effective if done properly. If being the key word in that statement, since Seifer was starting off on that side in this particular combo.
"-Ready?"
Squall nodded.
No sooner had he done that, the Revolver-wielding teenager went forth with the first step, now aware of Seifer's penchant for starting quickly. As he moved forward with the first slash, he was pleasantly surprised by the lack of adjustments in his opponent's counter, as he opted to do exactly what they'd all been told to do.
During the next set of movements, Squall was once again amazed by his accuracy and technique in delivering the upwards and advancing strikes. Suddenly, a sharp pain to his side proved this new improvement false.
With a brief look downward, Squall saw a noticeable crimson blot outline a fresh, but shallow cut above the right side of his hip. Immediately, his attitude went south as he returned to his former position and gave his now-sedentary 'partner' an incredulous look.
"What the hell are you trying to achieve here?" Squall shouted acidly. "Are you deliberately trying to get me angry? Or is it that you have no aim whatsoever?"
Seifer rolled his eyes. "Oh yes Squall, that's just it, I have no aim." He replied in an overly sarcastic and tired tone. "Even after all these years of wailing on you, the truth is that I have no hand-eye coordination at all… Maybe I should just trip over my own two feet while I'm at it… Hyne, can you seriously be that stupid?"
Squall maintained his stance although he was mentally berating himself right now.
'…Smart move there, genius. Why didn't I notice the hints in his behavior earlier? Of course he was trying to provoke me! How stupid could I be to not notice that? Ugh…'
"Going to open your mouth any time soon? I don't have all day you know."
"I don't owe you an answer Seifer. Lets' just continue practicing again, okay?" The shorter teenager retorted stiffly. "This time, I'm the one on the defense."
The blond smirked. "You're not one to admit it when you've said something stupid, are you?"
The glare set in Squall's eyes intensified ten-fold. Following suit, Seifer's smirk did the same.
"I guess that's an answer in itself." He drawled smugly as he distanced himself in preparation.
After he took his final step backwards, Seifer had already started to run back towards his initial spot near Squall. As the taller teen unleashed his first side slash, the lack of intermittent time hadn't short-changed Squall as he countered it without fail. Then, despite the excessive force he used to follow through for the upward swipe and his uneven and ragged breathing thereafter, Squall had neutralized the rough edges in his performance and had achieved both advancing strikes without sign of any blunder or further injury. However, the same couldn't be said about the second time around as he completely missed his cue to block the first offensive swipe altogether.
Fortunately for Squall, the mishap had only grazed his bicep and hadn't affected him much when he continued with the next move, seeing as Seifer hadn't relinquished his advance afterwards – not that he had expected that much from him.
Although he'd redeemed himself by pulling off the last combo strikes in a respectable fashion to dearly compensate for his completely screwed-up beginning, the sporadically-injured teenager had noticed that he was once again going through the movements quicker than before, striking harder than necessary at times, with even his breathing coming in fast, irregular spurts despite his overall efforts in trying to regulate everything back to his usually-controlled state.
'Why can't I seem to shake this… this…abnormality in my form? This isn't like me at all; it's not even the same sort of occurrence I used to get when I practiced with Rinoa-'
'Rinoa…'
'Upward Swipe.'
'Why can't I control myself anymore?'
'Advancing Strike. Second Advancing Strike.'
'Is it from this …seething feeling?'
'Wait, since when have I ever let myself get this angry?'
'-Block. Upward Swipe!'
'No! I am NOT losing my grip on this! Not now!'
As his thoughts interjected themselves amid each and every move, his state increasingly worsened as he come to realize that his best attempts at regaining personal control were failing him indefinitely, especially when he knew that this all pointed to the same conclusion, one which he wanted to avoid. Then, if that wasn't enough, Squall noticed the particular presence of a new and unsettling glint emanating in Seifer's jewel-green eyes, which only meant one thing–
He noticed this as well.
In an abrupt decision, based off of pure suspicion, Squall shifted his upwards strike into a two-handed high block using the broad side of his blade. Immediately, his suspicions were founded as his opponent brought down his blade exceptionally hard. As the sparks flew everywhere, Seifer's expression twisted into one of sadistic satisfaction.
"You're afraid that you've already lost your precious control, aren't you?" He stated mockingly, clearly enjoying every moment as he watched Squall's face writhe with his previously-hidden anger. However, this was no where near the end of his self-indulgent jeers.
"Ashamed of letting your anger override your actions?"
"Embarrassed by your suppressed urge to give in to my provoking just so you can hurt me?"
After this verbal assault, Squall was twitching badly enough whereas he looked like it was taking all he had to keep a predominantly-neutral face.
"Give it up Squall, I'm right on all accounts, and you know it. But don't you just hate how I can get under your skin like that-"
Then, just before the blond had finished, Squall had finally broke his personal silence.
"Stop it! You know nothing!" He snarled, slamming the other teen hard against the gym's concrete wall, not caring about the spectacle he was creating in the process. Seifer however, hadn't seemed fazed by this at all.
"No, I think I do know Squall." He affirmed coolly. "Piece by piece, your emotional self-control is slipping away from you and you hate the fact that it's far beyond your grasp. When I slashed your face, you lost it, when I said that you passed your exam only because you were doing stuff with Rinoa, you lost it, and right now, when I toyed with your head, you lost it again. Now, if you were in my position, what would that tell you?"
"…Absolutely nothing."
Seifer shook his head derisively. "Then why are you holding me against a wall?"
Squall slackened his hold on him altogether and took a large step backwards. He still maintained his glowering expression however.
"That's what I thought. But in case if it didn't get through your thick skull-"
Now it was Squall's turn to be slammed against the concrete wall. This time, however, had also involved a sickening thud.
"-The bottom line is that one day, your beloved strangle-hold over your emotions is going to go flying out the window and the strangest part about it is that you're going to like it, you're going to like it so much that you'll never want to go b-"
The blue-eyed teenager had cut him off brutally when he somehow managed to swap positions with him.
"Take…it…back." He growled between laboured breaths, keeping him immobile with his blade inches away from his throat.
"Now why should I do that? You know for a damn fact that I'm right, you just can't admit it for some Hyne-forsaken reason that's beyond me."
Instead of folding like he did last time, Squall kept his position firmly…and that's when Seifer pulled out his trump card.
"What about Rinoa then? Are you planning on being a cold and indifferent bastard to her too? Well, if that's the case then I don't know what the hell she sees in you… Not that you ever deserved her in the first place-"
A quarter of second later, Seifer was no longer pinned against the wall. Instead, he was momentarily staggering away from it, clutching the left side of his face with one hand as he held his gunblade with the other; he'd just been on the receiving end of one of Squall's punches.
After recovering from his initial bout of dizziness, Seifer had blindly swung his Hyperion in his rival's direction to create some distance and regain some lost leverage. However his plan hadn't worked since Squall hadn't jumped back to like he normally would have done. Instead, in a brave and potentially reckless move, he had ducked down to dodge it, got up and used his own blade to hit Seifer's towards the wall. The prolonged advantage Squall had over Seifer lasted until the latter had rushed forward and painfully connected with a right elbow, hitting him square in the nose, causing him to fall down backwards.
But if the prior events had indicated anything, his rival's advantage hadn't lasted long neither. When Squall used both of his legs to forcefully boot Seifer's, the momentum involved had pushed him back and had enabled Squall to get back up and regain his lost ground. At this point, they were both on an equal plane, no advantages to be seen or heard of.
At the same moment however, despite the leveled skirmish they were now facing, the stakes were immediately heightened when, out of the corner of Squall's peripheral vision, he caught the very interesting sight of the other people in the gym running to approach them, presumably to break up their fighting. Feeling deviated from his normal self, Squall did something he knew he was probably going to regret later on, but it was a something that still deemed necessary.
After he delivered a flurry of lightning-quick hacks, Squall had effectively forced a constantly-blocking Seifer past a rarely-used side door, spilling out into a virtually-abandoned, old and dusty hallway, temporarily ridding themselves of the others who threatened to impede on what still needed to be done.
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Following a full two seconds after they'd passed through the doors, the innate atmosphere of the area had changed for the worst with their presences, multiplying the established sense foreboding that the dingy, narrow corridor already had to offer. More specifically, this had occurred when Squall heard his own words spill freely from his mouth in a voice much unlike his own, ultimately setting the bar for what was to follow.
"Think you're going to get away with only a black eye after all the bullshit you put me through today? Ha. Fat chance. I'm not that forgiving."
As he finished his little outburst, he wasted no time to force Seifer down the hallway as steel clashed with steel. But as he pitted his forcible slashes against his antagonist's equally-formidable blocks, nobody was gaining any leverage by any means.
But then, one Squall's agile hacks had knocked the whole balance of things off, causing his opponent's previously-unscathed self to don a newly-carved gash along his left side, flecked with the minor presence his blood circling it. …Not that Seifer could have afforded the luxury seeing it as well as feeling it at this present moment. Instead, he unleashed a visibly pained horizontal swipe to shoo Squall away as he kept his free hand cradled over the open cut, and this time, he actually succeeded in sending him away.
However, the success hadn't lasted long as Squall ran back to close the gap, causing their blades to closely force against each other at mid-torso. Then, after the quick flick of his rival's wrist later, Squall found himself faced dangerously close to his perpendicular blade, threatened by the gruesome possibility that the blade would make short work of his jugular if he moved as much as a fraction closer.
Knowing he had the advantage, Seifer grinned evilly. "Watch your step Squall, the next one could be your last if you're not careful."
Just as Squall was about to back up to escape his confinement, Seifer shoved him into a wall right after he swiveled his blade so that it now pointed diagonally instead of ruler-straight. However the dangers hadn't lessened at this point since it was now his own blade which threatened to slice open his chest if he didn't exert a sufficient amount of force to keep it away from himself.
'No… It can't…ugh…end…like…this…'
In an act driven by the unprecedented amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins and carried out in pure daring, Squall impressively slid his frame towards the left in attempt to escape the hold. However, a hot, searing pain across his shoulder prevented him from getting out cleanly; his abrupt getaway had caused Seifer's blade to tear into his shirt and flesh in the process. But despite his newest injury, Squall had no option in his head but to press on. It wasn't like his adversary was going to stop the duel just to give him time to recover.
Soon after, his blatant common sense proved correct when he had to swiftly block his rival's charged diagonal swipe.
But regardless of his best efforts to maintain his counter, fighting started to prove more and more difficult for Squall. The fresh cut across shoulder had weakened his basic ability to hold his gunblade properly. Plus, seeing as it was a generally heavier weapon, the alternative methods he could explore were far and few in between. However…
A split-second later, the shorter teenager had rapidly ducked out of the way to swivel around to Seifer's backside and delivered a precisely-aimed boot to the back of his knees, triggering them to buckle and his five inch height advantage to disappear. Then, as he moved along with his recently-formed plan, Squall secured his blade near his opponent's throat.
"Had enough Seifer, or do I have to make you bleed some more?"
Despite his bleak position, Seifer still retained his cockiness to respond sardonically. "You never cease to surprise me Leonhart. Before, you never would have struck me as the bloodthirsty type. Or did you let your inhibitions go?"
"…No." He replied tersely in a tone reminiscent of his normal behavior.
Then, out of nowhere, Squall heard a different a strange new voice altogether, a female voice.
"…Squall?"
He turned back with a single irrational thought running through his head. '…Is that you Rinoa?'
Once he'd seen nothing but the dark and empty hallway, he turned his head back. Then, it was at that very moment that he'd realized that he'd unwittingly let go of Seifer when he had carelessly let himself try to find the source of the voice.
'WHACK!'
Suddenly, Squall's entire world turned black.
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"He's your responsibility, it was your class! You shouldn't have paired him up with Seifer Almasy if you knew that they had a volatile history with each other!"
"Well how was I supposed to know that they were going to do that? I had explicitly told them at the beginning of class not to pull any thing funny."
"They're teenage boys for God sakes! They don't always listen to authority you know!"
"…Fine. But, what do we do about this?"
"The only thing we can do."
"You mean…?"
"-Precisely."
After slowly rousing from his slumber in a colourless and sterile environment, which had undeniably belonged to the infirmary, the sound and shadows of two men squabbling on the other side of the closed divider curtains had immediately caught Squall's attention, namely because they were talking about him and what had happened today. The bed-ridden adolescent felt his throat burn as he took in a gulp of air.
Followed by a few moments of unnatural silence, the divider curtains had opened and a sole figure had emerged through them.
It was Mr. Janis. His facial expression looked visibly marred with an undertone of shame and mass quantities of guilt as he approached his bedside. Squall let his eyes open a sliver more.
"…I take it you heard some of that didn't you?" The dark-haired teacher inquired rather somberly. The teenager nodded back quietly.
"Well then, I might as well get this over with quickly. As of today, you've been officially… released from my class."
Squall bolted upwards. "…What?"
"Trust me Squall, I didn't want to release you from my class but… the school principal feels that you and Seifer pose too much of a threat to the well-being of the other students in the class and to yourselves to stay enrolled in it."
The teenager gave him a look of disbelief. "But…how…why are we both getting kicked out when Seifer–"
"–It's because you had the power to stop when you continued. I understand your argument but, the principal doesn't want to keep 'emotionally unstable' students in the S.D class with all of the potential dangers involved and… since it's been the third time that something like this has happened between you and Seifer, can you really blame him?"
"No, I guess not." He sighed. "But…what will happen to Rinoa?"
"There's a more than likely chance that she'll be assigned to Seifer's former partner."
After a few moments had passed, the teenager kept his silence when the teacher finally left through the materiel divide just as Dr. Kadowaki came through it from the other side. After she'd taken a quick glance at the clipboard present in her hands, the good doctor started reciting his current condition.
"Okay, I've looked after all of your wounds Mr. Leonhart and I am most certain that none of them will leave any noticeable scars. However, with that being said, I expect you to take good care of yourself and to take it easy for once, you understand?"
"…Yes ma'am."
"Good, then after you've changed into your regular clothes which are in that bag your instructor put on the nightstand over there, you are free to leave for the office where your father and the principal are waiting for you. I'll just leave you to change now."
"…Okay."
After Dr. Kadowaki had left, Squall proceeded to slide off of the side of the infirmary bed and take off the torn excuse of a gym shirt he had on now for what was going to be the last time. As he laid it on top of the pure white mattress, he couldn't help but notice the large patches of dried blood, rips and just about every stupid little imperfection that today's mess had caused. All of a sudden, he couldn't look at it anymore, and opted to focus his energy on searching through his bag to find his untainted set of clothes. Two seconds later however, he failed miserably. He had looked back.
'Dammit Seifer, I shouldn't have let you get to me…'
Shortly after he got back to the task at hand, Squall found his clean set and had changed into it in no time. Then, once everything had been put away and he was ready to leave, he took a moment to sit down on the bed's edge.
'Rinoa… this would have never happened if you could have been here. Hyne, I don't know how am going to explain this one to you …or to anybody for that matter. This wasn't like me at all…'
Then, without warning, he flopped down on top of the mattress and therapeutically covered his eyes with his hands.
'Two more days…just two more days.'
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End of Chapter Comments – Okay, it's been a very long time since I've written a proper fight sequence so I hope that it had worked out nicely. But if it didn't, or if anything's bugging the hell out of you guys, just tell me in a review. Actually, now that I think about it, it's been awhile since I've put out a 7000 plus chapter, hasn't it? …Or since I've actually …um… updated for that matter.
Uh, you can ignore that…
-Emerald-Latias
