A/N: I would like to apologise again for the looooooooooooong wait. Can't divulge all the details, though. Anyway, Happy Chinese New Year for those who celebrated it out there. Enjoy the story, folks!

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Chapter 25: High Tension

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Yzak's heartbeat raced. He could have killed the guy in front of him, if he really wanted to. But, he just could not. He got his own reasons for not ripping off the man's head and kicked it around.

What a stubborn man…He cursed, discharging a gob of spit. It landed on the greasy concrete floor.

"Just forget about the race, Kira!"

"Shut up already!" Kira shouted back at Yzak. "What happened to you? You screwed up your own breakfast this morning?"

After blurting out his piece, Kira resumed his attention towards repairing a customer's bike and pretended as if Yzak was not there.

Yzak clenched his fists. Well, he could bully him like he always did, make him kneel and plead…just to make him bowed to his words…

"Please!" Yzak suddenly prostrated in front of Kira. "Please forget about the challenge! Think about Fllay!"

The brunette knitted his brow. "Now, how in the hell Fllay got something to do with this?"

Yzak sat up again. "Don't waste your life away, Kira." He breathed in a serious tone. "Fllay loved you so much. I don't want you to lose your life."

Hearing that, Kira put down his spanner. He stood up and stared at Yzak.

"I've my own reason to challenge your group, Yzak. No thanks for all your worries. Whether I will die or not, it's not your business." He wiped his greasy hands and headed into the workshop.

"Kira!" Yzak promptly stood up. "If you keep on acting like that, don't expect any mercy from me!"

"Fuck off, Yzak…" He faced his so-called nemesis. "Go away."

With that, Kira disappeared into Fioleur's office. That was a major humiliation for Yzak. He took Kira's spanner and threw it into the workshop. A loud clang was heard but no one was bothered to come out.

"DAMN YOU, KIRA!" Yzak shouted at the top of his lungs. "IF YOU LOVED FLLAY SO MUCH, DON'T BE LIKE THIS!"

At the same time, the unexpected happened. The usually tough guy Yzak was gone, only to be replaced with a teary-eyed one. He quickly wiped it off, fearing that someone would see him like this.

"Damn it, Kira…if you die…if you die…Fllay will…"

Kira heaved a deep breath and sat down on a little stool. His heart was in turmoil; hearing Yzak like that troubled him. But, he couldn't back off from what he had started. Suddenly, his handphone rang. Kira lazily reached out for it. It was Meyrin. Kira rolled his eyes, almost in a reflex manner.

"Yep, it's me."

"Hello, dear…how's my sugar doing?"

"Don't call me that, Mey." He told her sternly.

"Why? There's no harm in calling you that. Remember…who am I to you in the past?" The girl chuckled from the end of the line. "Now, now, don't give me a cold treatment…remember what have you promised to me or you'll suffer the consequences…"

Kira sighed again. "I know, I know…" He answered weakly. "I'm busy right now, so don't bother me, okay?" Then, he quickly ended the call.

BANG! Kira slammed his hand down to the table in front of him. Feeling the pain, he let out a roar of anger.

His plan was ruined. He never thought such a simple plan could be ruined in a blink of an eye. Again, it was supposed to be straightforward: he planned to make Athrun's minions to stop pestering his boss with a race. Then, by racing, he could get his revenge for his past humiliation in Yzak's hands if he won. Alas, humans could only plan…

Unexpectedly, Yzak had known Fllay and on top of that, the two of them were together in the past! Then, out of nowhere, Yzak pleaded him to drop his challenge. Worse, Meyrin knew about Kira's challenge and decided to jump into that opportunity to break herself from Athrun's bond. Why she can't do it on her own and instead relying on him, Kira shouted angrily.

"That bitch is so desperate! Even got the nerve to point that fucking gun ay me!" Kira got up and knocked down the stool where he sat on.

Poor Kira. If he followed Yzak's words, he would put his beloved's life in jeopardy: Meyrin threatened to kill Fllay if Kira refused to comply with her orders and Kira knew she wasn't joking. It was an irony; Yzak wanted to spare Fllay from losing Kira but Kira would lose Fllay if he went against Meyrin.

And that drove Kira nuts.

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Meanwhile…

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"His RX-Z is ready." Shinn declared with pride. "Tip-top condition. Minor modification here and there. Just kill me if he lose." A grin was plastered upon his face.

"Don't say that. It's bad luck." Dearka lightly knocked his head. Then, he snuffed his cigarette and walked towards Kira's new bike.

"Lemme hear it." He signalled for the key.

"Here you are." Shinn tossed him the key and Dearka neatly snatched it before it fell to the ground. Then, the tanned blonde brought the bike to life. Its roar was majestic, fit for a champion.

"Fucking nice…" Dearka pressed the accelerator, feeding more oil to the two-wheeled machine. He was in a pure ecstasy, just from hearing its roars and grumbles.

"With this, Kira will win…" Shinn chuckled.

"Yeah…" The other man smiled back.

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At the same time, at Kira's home…

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"Oh, it's you, Stellar…" Cagalli casually gestured to the teen, asking her to enter the house.

"Why are you not working?" The little lady enquired as she removed her shoes. She looked a bit tired.

"I'm skipping work today." Scratching her head, Cagalli answered without any hint of remorse or embarrasment.

Suddenly, Stellar stopped in her tracks. "Wait a minute. Why am I talking to you, you liar!" She gave the other blonde a cold stare.

"You still holding grudge over that?" The older woman gave her a perplexed look. "Come on, I just forgot about it, okay? It was unintentional-"

"Anyway, a promise is still a promise. And you forgot about it. Just nice." Stellar answered her cynically and then walked away.

Cagalli just rooted to where she stood. "She's too old to be upset over not going to a funfair…" While mumbling and sighing, Cagalli closed the front door and made her way inside the house.

In the meantime, Stellar was busy searching for her sis, who apparently didn't hear her calling.

"Onee-chan!" She called again and again. Then, she entered the kitchen and went towards the back door. Stellar quickly opened it. Finally, she found the person she was looking for.

"Onee-chan! Stellar was calling for you!" She fumed. However, her tone changed when she laid her eyes upon Fllay.

"You looked pale…what happened?"

"Oh, nothing…I'm fine…" Fllay tried to shake he off. "How's school?" The redhead changed the topic.

"Look, Fllay." Cagalli suddenly emerged from Stellar's behind. "Why don't you rest and leave all that veggie alone. I'll do it for you."

Stellar shared Cagalli's sentiment and looked at her sister worriedly.

"I'm okay…" The cherry head tried to assure her lover's sister.

"You're not." A straight-forward reply and it was not a lie.

"I have to...do this, Cagalli. You can't cook." A retort flew out from Fllay's mouth, without thinking about the consequences.

Fortunately for the redhead, the blonde was cool today. "Alright, that's enough. Fllay, follow my lips carefully: .." Then, she paused for a dramatic effect before continuing, "NOW".

Sighing in defeat, Fllay made an effort to get up. Her movement was slow. Cagalli offered to help but Fllay politely refused. Bit by bit, she made her way towards the living room.

"What's wrong with Onee-chan?" Stellar lightly squeezed Cagalli's hand. A look of worry was on her face.

"Don't know. I asked her to go to the clinic but she refused. Hmm...even my nagging won't work on her. But, I did give her some medicine to get rid of her fever-"

THUD!

"What's that?" Stellar's eyes bulged.

Without delay, both were running to the source of the loud sound. The sight they found was horrifying.

"Onee-chan!" The teen rushed towards her sister, who lay motionless on the floor. Cagalli quickly checked Fllay's temperature and to her shock, it was above normal.

"What the fuck is happening here?!" Hurriedly, she left the two siblings to reach for her handphone. Her first choice was Kira. To her dismay, he couldn't be reached.

"FUCK!" She screamed in frustration. But, it was not a good time to get angry. Frantically, she dialled another number. She tapped her foot impatiently while waiting for an answer.

"Yup, Mwu's here…"

"My god…" Mwu muttered in disbelief as he laid his gaze upon the deathly pale Fllay. In one quick move, he raised her and carried her in his arms. While on the way to his truck, Mwu breathed this to the worried Cagalli:

"You're lucky…I was on the way from fetching my girlfriend from her workplace."

"I'm sorry for troubling both of you…"

"Nah, it's okay…"

Then, Cagalli noticed someone emerged from the left side of the white truck and left the door opened.

That must be his girlfriend…She thought. A brown-haired woman, still in her office lady suit, looked worried as she watched the drama in front of her.

However, Stellar stopped dead in her tracks when she saw that woman. The girl looked distressed as she traded eye contact with her.

"Stellar?" Cagalli called out to her. "What's wrong?"

"That's Mama…" The little teen trembled.

"Snap out of it, you brat!" Cagalli, losing her patience, violently shook the young girl. "There's no way that woman is your mother!" She hissed.

"I'm not lying!" Stellar shouted back at her while snapped her hands out from Cagalli's grasp. "It's her!"

"That's enough!" Mwu blasted at the two. "Missy is sick here! Cagalli, you come with me to the hospital!" Then, he turned his face towards the other woman.

"Murrue, you take care of that little girl over there…"

His girlfriend nodded firmly but managed to slip a warm smile to him.

Shock came down upon Stellar when she heard this. Before she could protest, Mwu's truck already left the compound and quickly disappeared from her field of vision.

She was confused, furious. To make the matter worse, the older woman said something that made her blood boiled…

"Don't worry…" Murrue patted her head. "That girl will be okay…"

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Meanwhile...

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"Your orders are clear: if Kira loses, you'll kill Fllay." Meyrin produced pictures of the intended targets and put it on the table. "If he wins, just kidnap that girl and bring her to me. I'll give you the signal."

"Yes, madam..." A man, quite tall, and with a cap partly hiding his face, nodded lightly. He was about to left the room when Meyrin called him again.

"You sure you can do this?"

The man smiled mischievously. Only then, he left for good.

Meyrin slowly sank into her comfy chair and released a sigh of satisfaction. Slowly, she reached for her handphone and opened the picture folder. A picture from the past popped out on the little screen.

"I'm looking forward to being with you again...Kira."