a/n: hey guys!

sorry it took so long...thanks to all of you sticking with me through these long gaps in updates...I was away for two weeks and I've been working alot since...

plus I've been lazy.

there are just too many good fanfics out there!

anyways I finally sat down and typed today! yay! (actually part of this was written before I went away...I just couldn't get my ideas flowing to finish it.

I hope its worth the wait! Engoy!

dislaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed/Destiny


By the time Athrun arived back at the field all the other seniors were gathered over by the bleachers. They sat in the front row facing Kira who stood, comenting on the day's tryouts. As he aproached they all turned to look at him.

"Athrun, we started without you" Kira said, all signs of his earlier rage gone, his face was once again calm and collected, "Did you enjoy your time with Cagalli?" He smiled jokingly at this, amused by Athrun's infactuation with the blonde-haired tigress. Athrun frowned slightly at Kira's amusment...was he toying with him? Testing him? If Kira could cover up his imotions so well then...What else could he be hiding?

"Athrun?" Kira asked, "Are you ok?"

Athrun was startled out of his thoughts by the obvious concern in Kira's voice. Could Kira really be that good of an actor? Had he just imagined the way Kira acted around Cagalli?

"Athrun?"

Athrun looked back at Kira, eyes laced with concern and curiosity. "Ya Kira...I'm fine."

"Ok..." Kira didn't look quite convinced but he jestured for Athrun to take a seat then turned back to the rest. "So..where were we?"

"We were discussing Adam Reid." Rusty reminded.

Athrun took his seat next to Nicol at the end of the row.

"He seem like an OK player." Dearka suggested.

"Good enough for a callback?" Kira proded, then he turned to Nicol, their current right side defenseman (a/n: if you forgot the position Reid is trying out for)

"I think he's good enough for another try."

"Ok..." Kira wrote something down on his clipboard, "Next...Josh McCabe."

Yzak snorted, "That goon couldn't aim a ball to save his life."

"No then." Kira smiled, Yzak's temper amuzing him. "Rey Za Burrel"

"For sure."

"He's good."

Kira smiled thinking the same thing...there was something about Rey that he couldn't place...but his skills were definatly up to par.

Kira sighed looking at his list, only two left.

"Ok...Shinn Asuka"

"His atitude should be enough for his rejection...he doesn't seem like he could be a team player." Yzak suggested, already haven grown a dislike towards the boy.

"Remind you of someone?" Dearka teased.

Kira chuckled, "I think we should give him another chance. His skills are incredible, he just may be the most skilled player to try out this year."

"Except us of course." Rusty assured.

"Some of us." Kira teased. Rusty gave a look of mock hurt prompting his friend to chuckle in amusement. Kira then checked off Shinn's name. Some of the other seniors may not agree, but when it came down to it...he wasn't even required to ask them, it was his choice. But once in a while he had to stand up for his desition , besides he saw alot of potential in Shinn.

"Now last but not least...Cagalli Yula Attha." As Yzak opened his mouth to respond Kira held up his hand, "Yzak because of your bias on this situation I have to ask you to reframe from saying anything to do with the fact that Cagalli is a woman."

"But thats an important factor! Sure she can play...but what about her size? Could she survive a game? Could she keep up with the rest of the team? Besides she is a brat and for sure would cause porblems within the team with her pig-headed atitude!"

"Now, now Yzak...don't take your fear of strong women out on Cagalli." Athrun chuckled.

Yzak glared but otherwise ignored him, "I'm against her joining, girls should stick to cheerleading and keep their noses out of sports."

"I wonder what Shiho would think of that." Dearka mumbled only to recieve a glare from Yzak.

"What was that Dearka? As I recall we still have some unfinished business." He growled.

Dearka visibly flinched, "Nothing."

Yzak smirked triumphantly, "Thats what I thought."

Kira cleared his throat, "Lets get back to Cagalli shall we? Athrun, what is your say on the matter?"

Everyone turned to look at Athrun. As Athrun looked at Kira he saw something like a challenge in his eyes. "I...I think that she deserves a callback."

Kira smiled, obviously pleased and nodded, "I agree."

Rusty stood, brushing the dust from his shirt, "So are we done? I have a date tonight and I need to go home and prepare..."

"Prepare? Rusty you sound like a friggin chick!" Dearka laughed, standing.

At this everyone laughed, everyone ecxept Yzak. He looked at Kira with calculating eyes and said, "I think we should give Orga Sabnack another chance." He watched as everyone froze, laughter dieing on their lips as their eyes darted to Kira to gaje his reaction then back to Yzak.

"I don't think thats such a good idea..." Nicol suggested nervously.

"No its not." It was Athrun who spoke up, speaking on Kira's behalf, "Sabnack has no concept for the concequences of his actions, if we let him get away with this then image what he'll do next time. To have a team we need trust, and I can't trust him."

"But we all know Dearka is in need of a backup goalie! And he's the best candidate. When we graduate next year the team will need a goaltender. Think of the team god damnit, not that stupid girl!"

Athrun visibly tensed at this but Kira just smiled. Athrun noticed that is was an empty, forced smile...but it was a smile none the less.

"No." Kira announced through his forced smile. Then he took his clipboard and turned to leave, "Same time and place tomarrow."

"Kira...don't be stupid!" Yzak protested.

"Leave it Yzak." Dearka placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. Yzak paused, Dearka was rarely serious so when he was it was in your best interest to listen, "It's not worth it man."

As Yzak watched Kira's retreating form he had to admit...maybe he should just drop it.


Shinn was hiding.

He had just seen the list that had been posted showing the callbacks and...he was on the list. Now most people would rejoice...he was that much closer to making the team...but that was the problem. Shinn hated being wrong. And if he made the team he would be wrong, and Luna would be right...not to mention he'd lose forty bucks.

Atleast he had dragged Rey with him. Now he wasn't alone in his suffering. That thought brought him a little consolation amidst his misery.

There had been many strange aspects about today's tryouts. Shinn hadn't been surprised to see that Kira himself didn't play, instead choosing to stand on the sidelines with his clipboard. Shinn had hovever been surprised to see Kira handing the tryouts over to his fellow seniors. Infact Kira himself had barely partisipated, only watched. That didn't however include his breif explosion at Orga Sabnack. The outburst had stunned the other players, nothing that they had ever heard about Kira had even sujested that he had a temper.

Shinn couldn't help but allow his mouth to pull up into a small smirk. Mabye this outburst would let people see Kira for what he really was. Not the perfect, kind, saint-like figure most saw him as but an inperfect, rich and incredibly human snob that Shinn had always known him to be. But deep down he knew that it wouldn't turn out like that. After a few days of gossip this event would blow over and Kira would be the school's hero once again. Especially in the shadow of the tryouts...the new team would be a much more exiting topic of discussion than one member's brief outburst. Shinn sighed in a couple days time he could be a topic of discussion...Shinn Asuka the Archangel's Academy's newest soccer star...oh to be adored...

He quickly shook his head, hoping to clear his head of these hopes. Hope wouldn't help. He knew from experiance that hope would only act to crush him later. Hopes and dreams only way you down and hurt you later.

Shinn Asuka had resolved to stop hoping many years ago, back when his family were stolen from him.

He reached into his pocket and his fingers closed aroung the small, pink cellphone that had been his sister's. The phone was slightly battered by countless bully's torments. SHinn had suffered much ridicule for carrying arounf the very girly device. He couldn't however bring himself to part with it. No matter what they said it had always been one of his most prized possestions.

None of the bullies knew about his family however. In fact his friends didn't even know...and he wanted to keep it that way. He didn't want to be treated differently becasue of his past. Sure they might be nicer to him, even feel bad about how they treated him...but he didn't need their pity. In Shinn's mind pity was a thousand times worse than the physical pain that he had to endure.

Luna was the most suspitios of the phone. On multiple ocasions she had questioned him on the subject but, seeing the pain it had casued him she had relented, dismissing it as the posetion of a girl from a relationship that had failed.

"SHINN! I heard the news!"

Speak of the devil.

Shinn turned with a graon to face Luna. He watched her sprint towards him and let her catch up...might as well let her get it over with. He closed his eyes as she closed in awaiting the inevitable gloating sesion.

It didn't come.

Shinn's eyes shot open in surprise as Luna rapped him in a vigerous bear-hug and he nearly had a heart attack when a high-pitched girly squeal of exitement escaped her lips. She looked up at the slightly-taller boy now, her eyes sparkling with happines, "I heard the news." she repeated, slightly out of breath. "Oh Shinn I'm so proud of you!" She beamed up at him and lifted up onto her toes to place a kiss on his cheek. Heat instantly flushed his face.

FInally he found his voice, "W-who are you and what have you done with Luna?"

She pulled back and playfully punched his shoulder (harder than she meant to in her exitement), "Don't be silly! I'm just exited that's all!" She beamed at him, giving him one final squeeze, "Now I'll see you later 'kay?"

"Later?" Shinn stopped rubbing his shoulder (it ached slightly were she had hit it) and looked at her surprised. It was the end of the school day and Shinn was headed to the second tryouts...oh no. Tryouts.

Shit.

"Luna you don't have to-"

But she was off down the hall, pausing to call over her shoulder, "You better start heading towards the field or you'll be late! I have to go get everyone! See you!" Then she was gone, bounding around teh corner and almost straight into a younger girl coming around the corner.

Shinn gulped...she'd said...everyone. Shit. What the hell had he gotten himself into?

He was starting to think this wasn't quite worth forty bucks.


a/n: well there it is.

don't be mad k? I know its short...

sorry

I just wasn't up to writing the next tryout...sounds a little daunting. If I don't update by thursday then you probably won't hear from me for ATLEAST a week (my grandparents are staying at my house while my parents are away and they are really noisy...something about the fact they could be reading over my shoulder at any moment doesn't exactly encourage me to write)

plus I'm going to buy Eclipse by Stephanie Meyer tomarrow and that will probably keep me busy for a while...(if you haven't read Stephanie Meyer's books you should! best books I've read in a while! Read Twilight first :P)

There you go now that my free add for Stephanie Meyer is over...

I also appologize for all the errors in my spelling...I don't have spellcheck right now 'cause I haven't installed a program with it yet :( again SORRY!

Please Review!

I NEED reviews! Things you like or didn't like, constructive critisism, flames, anything!!

bfos