I am so so sorry for taking so long! :C I have no excuses other than a shitty writer's block. I'm in an eternal writer's block. But all your other fabulous Seiner writers were updating like nuts, and I felt obligated to get SOMETHING out there!

So here's a shoddy chapter of Duality. I'll probably go through and edit when I'm more confident in my writing skills.

CHAPTER 12 - On Your Mark

I don't know where I expected myself to wake up, but it wasn't where I had woken up the following morning. It took me a while to realize where I was, what had happened, and why the fuck it felt like I got clubbed in the head with a metal baseball bat.

I tried once to open my eyes but had to snap them shut immediately afterward to ease the throb of my temples, so I tried to recognize my surroundings by feel and smell. It was very hard trying to think through my pounding headache, but I managed to discover that I was on a couch instead of a bed or the linoleum flooring of the bathroom. And that my pillow was warm, and sort of bumpy... A little uncomfortable, even, the pillowcase having the rough edge of... denim? I could hear faint breathing besides my own, from a few pairs of lungs... Must be other people in the room, probably still passed out.

I was piecing together what my "pillow" actually was piece by terrifying piece when I felt fingers thread through my gel-hardened hair. I stiffened, taking a deep breath through my nose, and felt the fingers pause against my scalp for a moment before rubbing against my cranium lightly. I felt my eyes flick up under my eyelashes and I let out a sigh, finding the feeling so soothing, distracting me from my pounding head and swirling stomach. I didn't really care where I was at that moment, and it took all I had to keep from purring...

I nearly stirred from my calm stupor when I heard a soft voice pipe up, faintly recognizing it. I frowned as the fingers quickly removed themselves from my hair.

"Still asleep?"

"Yeah, he had a pretty rough night..." The voice came from right above my head, and I could feel the vibration of it against my ear.

I froze, my breath hitching in my chest. I definitely knew that voice.

"Should we wake him up...? He has to go to work soon."

"Honestly, I don't think he'd be able to even think today, let alone walk. You guys won't miss an extra set of hands."

"But... He's one of our best, and today's going to be—"

He cut himself off, and although I heard no words silencing him, I could guarantee Seifer was glaring at whoever was talking.

"I-I'll tell Rufus, then."

"Good. Tell him Hayner will work through his next day off to make up for it."

"Hey! That's not— ow, fuck..." I plunked back down against Seifer's leg, my hands pressing firmly against my skull, as if to hold it together from the splitting headache I was experiencing. I blushed a little and looked up at a surprised Seifer and Zidane.

"So, you're awake."

I couldn't miss the light tinge of colour in Seifer's cheeks, or the fact that he didn't seem to meet my eyes.

"One could say so," I murmured huskily, pushing myself off the former bully's lap and curling into the couch. "But barely."

"Enough to get to work in twenty minutes?"

My head whipped around to find the nearest clock and I ended up moving a bit too fast. I felt myself moving sideways and expected my head to meet with the floor, but a firm grasp on my forearm kept me upright, although it felt like I was still falling.

From the corner of my eyes I saw Seifer glance at Zidane, who gave a shrug and sigh. "Yes, yes, I get it... I'll go tell Rufus that Hayner is incapacitated."

"S-sorry," I muttered, pushing my face into the nearest soft surface, which happened to be the back of the couch. "I shouldn't have had so much to drink..."

"No, you really shouldn't have," came Seifer's reproving tone. "Especially if you knew you had to work in the morning... Know your limits, chicken wuss."

"To be completely honest," I said, peeking over at the older blonde, who had taken his beanie off to ruffle his soft hair, "I completely forgot I had to work today."

"Which tells us all you are even more irresponsible," Seifer replied, raising his eyebrows at me as his beanie was shoved over his head again.

"Okay mother," I groaned, touching a palm to my forehead with a wince.

Seifer let that one slide, instead opting to change the subject. "I'm curious though... You don't really seem the type to drink until you pass out. Change of heart?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. He seemed to be prying... "If I said yes?"

"Then I'd sock you and call you a liar. Why did you drink so much?"

I looked away from Seifer's intense stare, my eyes focusing on the corner of a picture frame on the wall. "Just... To get my mind off of things, is all. Nothing big."

The infuriating supervisor only let out a hum that said anything but 'I believe you'. "Must be some big things on your mind," he said, looking down at his nails and biting off what I guessed was a hang nail.

I only gave him a deadpan stare and moved to get up, not really wanting to continue the conversation, yet my spinning head thought otherwise as it forced me to sit back down. I let out a low groan and pleaded, "Okay, they're pretty big. But I don't want to talk about them, okay?"

I kept my eyes closed tightly, my fingers pinching the bridge of my nose, and I heard another grunt of reply from Seifer.

"Well," he started, sounding a bit awkward. "If you... I don't know... Need anyone to sort of unload on, I'm here... Okay?"

I couldn't help but peek over at him and smirk, my eyebrows raising. He looked confused for a moment but then quickly flushed and he looked away, his hand moving up to his face in a way best described as 'facepalm'.

"If I ever feel the need to... 'unload'... I'll let you know," I said with a grin, laughing as Seifer pushed at my face with his own embarrassed half-smile.

"Shut up, lamer."

.x.o.x.

The sun was drooping in the late afternoon sky, signaling the end of another boring, uneventful day. Although it wasn't a bad day... Any day one wakes up in the lap of the one they're hopelessly in love with can't be a terribly bad one, right? After I had come down off my hangover, I ended up going to work, just so I wouldn't have to work through my next day off. Though I only worked the last half of the day.

Now I was standing at the edge of the Sand Lot, stretching out my legs and arms as I squinted towards the sunset. I could hear a soft grunt from a few feet behind me, of Seifer doing similar stretches. Now that my work day was over, it was time for our race, and I had to admit... I wasn't feeling as confident as I had been the following day. As I stole a glance at Seifer's nicely muscled calves, I felt like an idiot for even challenging him. Sure I was confident in my speed, but I had never really seen Seifer run. I just knew he was hella fast at delivering packages. What if he whipped me bad? How embarrassing would that be...

My sulking must've showed, because I saw Axel walk over and he clasped a hand against my shoulder, offering me an easy grin. "C'mon Hayn," he chided, giving me a look. "You know you're fast. Sure, Seifer's fast, too, but between you and I, I have more confidence in your speed."

That helped a little. Although I don't know why, but felt annoyed at Axel for choosing my side and not Seifer's. A little protective instinct, I suppose. Nonetheless I grinned back at Axel and thanked him, took a deep breath and watched the sun in it's slow descent, awed at

how it bathed the town in a soft orange glow. Warm. Perfect.

"I'm ready when you are," I heard Seifer say as he came up beside me, smirking. He had decided to wear race appropriate attire, with a snug tank top and a pair of cargo shorts. I looked him up and down, admiring the view with my own smirk and gave him a single nod.

I exhaled sharply and stepped up to the makeshift starting point, a shoddy line in the dirt made by Axel's shoe. Nerves were beginning to flow to adrenaline as I lowered myself into a ready position, and I forced myself to look ahead, even as I saw Seifer ready himself a foot to my left.

I would win, and I would make Seifer do whatever I wanted for a whole day.

As my face flushed red at the thoughts that only naturally filled my head, I hoped to God that Seifer wasn't looking at me.

"Alright, so you guys are going to run through Tram Common, up Station Heights, then through Station Plaza to get to Central Station doors," Axel drawled, obviously wanting to go home, yet Seifer and I both knew he'd stay to see who'd win. He was too curious not to. "Now get goin'."

I hesitated for a moment, unsure if that sorry excuse for 'go' was actually serious, but as Seifer took off in the direction of Tram Common with a startling sort of speed, I swore and ran after him. I caught up easy enough and allowed myself a grin, but as my rival glanced at me, he gave his own smirk and pressed on harder. I followed suit, and after catching up, he sped up again, which made me speed up even more. It happened quickly, so that by the time we entered Tram Common, we were going at full strength, and to my surprise, we were roughly the same speed.

He went under the arch while I dashed up the ramp where I usually skate boarded, and we both met up again after he leapt up the stairs three at a time. We ran along the Tram rail until the said vehicle came into view, where we then split. I went left, he went right, and after the tram was behind me, I could see Seifer just disappearing over a wall. Short cut.

"Fuck," I said breathlessly and pushed myself even harder, my legs already beginning to burn. I ran around the ice cream store in the middle of the 'Common and took a sharp corner, my legs feeling the ascent to Station Heights. I was almost worried that I wasn't going to be able to make it, and that starting off fast was a bad idea, but the thought of having to do whatever Seifer said for a day was enough to keep me going. I glanced into each alleyway as I bolted up the hill, passed kids playing ball, passed the job postings, and up the slope, where the usual guy was struggling to get a large crate up to the warehouse at the top. I would've stopped to help, but now was not the time.

I was gasping as I broke through into Station Plaza, but I was still giving it my all, and I was feeling quite confident. Seifer was still nowhere to be seen...

Just as I turned my head to look behind me, the older blonde leapt over a fence to my left, nearly making me stumble in surprise. We exchanged one glance, one nod, and one smirk. One straight line to Central Station. Locke waving an arm in encouragement.

I pushed myself to the limit, my legs and lungs screaming in protest. I was at the stairs, bounding up the concrete steps two at a time... Two, four, six, "SHIT—"

Next thing I knew, my knees and palms hurt like a bitch and Seifer was leaning against Central Station's glass doors, doubled over laughing. My face was beat red from both racing and embarrassment as I stared at him in bewilderment, very aware of my world collapsing around me. Seifer won.

Even worse... I would have won if I didn't trip up the fucking stairs! I let my head clunk down to the ground where I lay, a groan escaping me. "Fuck." I felt someone grasp my arm and begin to tug me up, but I remained limp, still moaning. "I lost... I can't believe it!"

"Get up, chicken wuss," Seifer said through his laughs, giving my arm another tug. "Don't be a sore loser."

I obeyed, wincing as I clambered to my feet, and gave Seifer the most poisonous scowl I had ever manifested in my existence. He replied by clasping a hand over his mouth and turning away, his shoulders shaking from poorly suppressed mirth. I wanted to kick him down the stairs...

"Seifer's the winner," Locke declared, rubbing it in my face even more. I flipped him off and turned as I heard Axel approach, huffing loudly.

"Shit... You guys... Are fast..." he gasped, slowing to a jog and stopping halfway across Station Plaza, doubling over and trying to catch his breath. "Who... won?"

"Who d'you think?" Seifer said, throwing me a cocky grin. "I'm not going to be beat by some lamer!"

I felt my face heat up and shoved at him, yelling, "Don't be a jerk! I would have won!"

"But you didn't, did you?!" Seifer replied, shoving me back with a smirk. "Have a nice trip?"

My jaw locked as I saw red, and I couldn't stop myself as I wound back and socked the man of my dreams square in the jaw. He staggered back a few steps, his hand clasping against his newly acquired injury as he stared at me with a mixture of shock and rage. "You are such an asshole!" I seethed, my hands balling into tight fists and my sides. I know I was being dumb and a sore loser, but he was being a cocky douche bag, and I wasn't going to stand for it.

Well, until he returned the punch, letting me have it right in the gut. I bent over double and gasped, then let out a growl and charged at him, bowling him over. We both toppled to the ground and I barely heard Locke and Axel's cries of protest as fists went flying. Yet Seifer, being larger and stronger than I, prevailed over me in my fit of rage, and before I knew it I was lying on my back, breathless, and he was straddled over my stomach. I writhed, but with my wrists tight in his grasp, I was going nowhere fast.

"I win again," he breathed, leaning over me. I stopped wriggling as a chill shot up my spine and was glad my face was already red, as I was very sure I was blushing. "And that means tomorrow will be hell for you, peon." With one last smirk, he let go and stood up, straightening his shirt and walking away.

As I pushed myself into a seating position, I knew he was very right.

I had lost the bet.

A/N: I lost the game.

Told you it was a shoddy chapter. Short and brief and messy. But I'll fix it later! And I will make the next chapter better! Please review!