Disclaimer: So this is another story arc that I thought would be fun to do. What is it you may ask? Just read and see for yourself! Have fun and feel free to laugh as much as you want!
Also, please read my notes at the end to tie up some loose ends.
NOTICE: These drabbles stories contain Lightis and some other couples depending on the story, and are in no particular order, nor do they tell a specific tale of just one story. Some of the drabbles might have a second part in later chapters, and if readers become fond of a certain drabble story, that drabble might have the chance to become a new full story.
CHRONICLES
Chapter XXIX: Star Players
Rating: T
Genre: Friendship, Humor
Characters: Noctis, Lightning, Gladiolus, Prompto, Ignis, Serah, Fang, Vanille
Pair: Lightis (Friendly rivalry, developing friendship, developing crush), hints of Prompto/Vanille
Notes: It was no disguise; it was just the way things were. Yet there were many who are unable to see past the hood. But he did.
CAUTION: Crazy Lightning Farron fan girls.
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The loud commotion of a ball being dribbled around the smooth wooden floor along with the high-pitched squeaks of sneakers greeted Noctis as he entered the school gymnasium.
He smiled to himself as he entered the gym; it was still empty save for one person who was busy practicing shooting some hoops.
This was a usual routine to Noctis; arrive in the gym early before anyone else and practice a bit. But now there was always someone beating him here in this little school sports arena. As always, that person was wearing their usual hoodie with the hood up over their head.
He watched as the teen in front of him dribbled the basketball before running over the hoop, leaps into the air and dunked the ball.
Noctis was impressed; this student was the only one who managed to match his athletic prowess. He moved over to the benches and dropped his bag there beside his fellow athlete's. Making his way over to where the little practice session was, he rolled his neck and warmed up before he made a move.
As the athlete threw the ball towards the basket, Noctis moved, dashing over and jumping up to catch the ball before it landed into the hoop.
"Hey Farron!" Noctis greeted with a smile, twirling the basketball on his index finger. The hooded teen huffed and grabbed the ball from him. "Caelum." A deep but feminine voice greeted.
Noctis grinned slightly. "Feel like doing a little one-on-one?" The teen in the hood sighed before walking over to the bench to grab a towel.
Noctis watched as the hood came off, revealing lovely pink silky hair and electric-blue eyes along with a stoic expression on a heart-shaped face.
Lightning Farron wiped the sweat off her head and neck before grabbing her water bottle and chugging down the cool liquid, re-energizing her body.
She pulled her hood back up over her head and turned to Noctis. He smiled at her and tossed the ball to her. Lightning caught it and started dribbling as she and Caelum walked into the middle of the floor.
Farron and Caelum were the school's best athletes; both matched each other in every sport they participated in, turning them into—surprisingly—friendly rivals.
They both were competitive and strove to win every match and beat one another; but in the end they respected each other's talents with sports. Though neither of them was on close friendly terms, they were not enemies either. Farron kept to herself most of the time except with her sister and her few select of friends.
Noctis however was slightly more social but hung out with only three other boys. Before Farron's arrival Noctis had dated a few girls but neither of them ever particularly caught his eye until the arrival of tomboy Lightning Farron.
Immediately it was obvious she did not like to mingle with the other girls and liked to wear the boys PE uniform, much to the coach's dismay. Farron also wore a trademark white hoodie over her PE uniform; her choice of clothing not doing her toned figure any justice.
Surprisingly, despite how popular Farron became due to becoming a star player alongside Noctis, not many of the school's population knew of her gender being female, much to Noctis' amusement. But Caelum knew from the start what she was. Ever since then he had his eye on her, viewing her as a worthy rival and perhaps someone he would like to get to know better.
She was another reason why he enjoyed coming into the gym earlier than others; she was always there before Noctis was and it gave Caelum the chance to talk to her. However, his IQ seems to drop slightly whenever he tries making conversation. Fortunately, Farron never seemed to notice.
Noctis stood in front of Lightning, ready to block her way to the hoop.
She dribbled the ball a few more times before running around him, but he caught up and attempted to prevent the shot.
Lightning moved around him gracefully, while her right hand dribbled the ball. Noctis reached out to steal it from her and nearly stumbled when she avoided the move.
Caelum tried his luck again, and this time the ball was his. Lightning went after him as he went for the shot. He jumped and threw the ball but Farron was quick as her name suggested and smacked the ball in another direction.
She ran for it and dribbled it once again.
Noctis smirked and the little match began again. It took several minutes and still neither of them had managed to make a shot.
Both star players seemed to have yet again matched each other. Noctis laughed as he bent over to catch his breath. Lightning seemed to smirk in amusement as if knowing what he was thinking. "You're definitely good." Noctis complimented, handing the basketball to her. Lightning placed it down beside their bags. "Thanks. You're not so bad either, Caelum."
"Call me Noct."
"… Call me Light."
Noctis smiled to himself; he knew Lightning only allowed someone to refer to her as Light when she was sure she could trust them or if she found the person worth knowing or befriending. He felt lucky all of a sudden.
"So, Light…how's practice treating you? The coach still complaining about your uniform?" He asked, not sure how to start a conversation with her. It was easy with other girls, but Farron was an entirely different story.
Lightning shrugged. "He's not complaining as much. But other than that, practice if fine. And with you?" "Yeah, it's good too." Noctis replied, feeling a little sheepish. Why was it so hard to talk to this girl?
"Hey Caelum…"
"Hm?"
"Make yourself useful and count my pushups."
Noctis blinked in surprise then laughed lightly then nodded. "Sure thing." Lightning got down onto the floor to start her pushups while Noctis kneeled beside her to count for her.
He could not help but admire how strong her back looked despite the baggy clothing that was covering it. Though he wished she wore the girls PE uniform just so he would be able to see her long legs, he actually liked seeing her as she was. There was something about Lightning that made her seem so majestic in his eyes.
Noctis had to remind himself that he was counting and tried to focus on doing so.
Once Lightning reached her fifty-sixth pushup, the school bell rang, signaling for gym glass to start. The pair ignored the loud ringing and continued the counting and pushups.
Lightning stopped when she reached her sixty-ninth pushup then got to her feet. She nodded thankfully at Noctis and he smiled, blushing slightly.
Suddenly, he was shoved to the side and nearly hit one of the benches.
Noctis glared at the culprit; a blonde girl with purple eyes. He growled at her. "What the fuck, Fleuret!" The blonde gave him a snobbish look as she moved closer to Lightning. "Out of the way, loser! I have no time for you, only him." When she looked over to where the hooded teen was supposed to be, nobody was there.
Noctis turned and found Lightning moving up to sit on a higher bench, away from the other students. He jogged over to join her; Lightning did not seem to mind either.
The coach blew his whistle and the students scurried over to the benches and gave the man his full attention.
"All right kids! Today we'll be doing some actual play here! So…who's excited to shoot some basket?" Coach Amodar announced. The boys but very few girls yelled excitedly. The coach chuckled. "That's the spirit! But first, as always, let's have a demonstration shall we? Farron! Caelum! Care to do the honors?" He asked, looking up at the two students who sat at the top, far back.
Lightning and Noctis looked at each other then got up and walked down to meet the coach. Amodar picked up the basketball they had been practicing with earlier and turned to the star players.
"All right you two; show them what you got!"
He tossed the ball into the air and immediately Noctis and Lightning went at it. They moved around the floor like expert players that it awed every one of their classmates. The boys hooted at the face off and the girls swooned at the dreamy sight of two athletes going head to head with each other.
Stella sighed. "I want him, Lexi…" She said. Her posse looked at her, puzzled. "Who? Caelum?" The blonde scoffed at her friend. "No! The one with the hood!"
Lexi looked back at the floor. "You mean Farron? Don't know much about him…" She mused to herself while Stella seemed to go into a swoon. "Farron… Hmm… What's his first name? Do you at least know that?" "Well…" Lexi thought for a moment then snapped her fingers, "Oh yeah! It's Lightning! Lightning Farron." Fleuret stared upwards as if watching angels dance around. "Lightning… Such a fitting name for someone so…hot and mysterious."
"Question."
"What Lexi?"
"Why Farron? What's wrong with wanting Caelum?"
"Please! Don't you see how Caelum acts around him? I think he's gay or something."
Lexi blinked several times. "How do you know? Maybe it's just one of those weird boy brotherhood thingy…"
"Come on! Didn't you see how google-eyed he was when looks at Farron? He is most likely gay!" Stella insisted. Lexi mused to herself; she wondered about Farron was well. Not much was known about him except that he was Caelum's equal in sports.
Amodar blew his whistle and the two star athletes stopped their demonstration. "Alright class! Now you all try it yourselves!"
The students jumped up and ran onto the floor and started asking each other to be on their teams. Lightning and Noctis returned to the benches and sat down.
Amodar grinned at them. "You looked good out there! I'm starting to think you two might make a good team during of the school's sports week." "Thanks coach." The pair mumbled in unison.
The coach chuckled then turned back to the other students.
Stella smirked and fixed her uniform shirt before making a move while Lexi just watched from a safe distance as her partner approached the boy in a hood.
The blonde cleared her throat, trying to catch the hooded boy's attention. Farron was still staring ahead at the floor where the other students were starting to play against each other with Coach Amodar watching over them.
Fleuret frowned and cleared her throat even louder. She caught Caelum rolling his eyes in annoyance and glared at his back. Suddenly, Farron moved and she prepared herself to say something but stopped when she saw a plastic cup of water in her face. Farron handed her the cup of water without a word, intending to silence the throat-clearing. Noctis snickered at this and shook his head in amusement.
Stella glared at him again but accepted the water, staring at Farron's strong-looking back in awe.
She made her way back to Lexi and smirked. "He gave me a cup of water!" Lexi blinked again. "Um…that's nice. Why is that a good thing?" "You dummy! Can't you tell? He's concerned about my well-being; he probably thought I had a bad cough and gave me water to cool my throat…" She swooned again and dreamily drank the water.
Lexi pouted. "Lucky…" She mumbled. Fleuret smirked smugly. "I know."
After a moment, she spoke again. "Lexi, I swear I am so going to make that Farron boy mine."
Gym class ended without a hitch.
Now during lunch periods, Lightning headed to the school cafeteria where, no doubt, her sister was waiting as always.
She found Serah sitting at the usual table. The younger Farron spotted her and waved her over. Lightning allowed a ghost of a smile to creep onto her lips as she approached the table. "How was gym class?" Serah asked, taking out their lunch from her bag. Lightning shrugged as she sat down. "Same thing, different lessons." She said tiredly.
"I made chicken curry for our lunch; your favorite!" Serah announced, proud of her unsurpassed cooking skills. The older Farron chuckled and dug in immediately.
"Well, look who it is! The star of the school!" An accented voice said. Serah smiled in greeting at the newcomers. "Fang! Vanille!" The two new girls sat at the table with their lunches in hand. Fang turned to the hooded Lightning. "How's it going, Super Star?" Lightning rolled her eyes and continued eating. Vanille giggled. "Really Lightning, don't you ever take your hood down? Nobody will ever get to see your pretty face." "I like having it up." Lightning said simply.
"C'mon! If you keep wearing it that way, people will start thinkin' you're a boy!" Fang joked but Serah cleared her throat and leaned in to whisper into her friend's ear. "They already do." Fang's eyes widened. "Really?" She whispered back. Serah's nod was all the confirmation Fang needed.
Lightning ignored the little exchange between Fang and her sister and merely continued wolfing down her lunch.
Noctis stared at the girls' table, not entirely paying attention to Prompto's cheerful chatter. Ignis noticed his friend's distracted expression and followed his gaze.
"Farron again?" Ignis asked. Noctis chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, pretty much." "Then why don't you go talk to her? I know you're a real lady-killer but ever since she came you've been acting like a virgin boy." Gladiolus commented with a light joking tone.
Noctis frowned. "I just hope she might at least let me know her more even though I was…well, let's just say she hates horny bastards." "Girl's got high standards?" Prompto asked, suddenly curious.
"Well you don't seem to be like that anymore, Noct. Perhaps she might learn to like you now." Ignis encouraged the dark-haired athlete. Noctis nodded to himself then stood up. The boys followed suit as their friend walked over to Lightning's table.
"So…are we like…one of the only ones who know that Farron is a chick?" Prompto asked. Gladiolus pat his friend's shoulder. "Pretty much."
Fang, Serah, and Vanille stopped their laughing when they noticed the group that approached their table. Serah tapped her sister's arm and nodded at the boys.
Lightning turned to look and sighed. "What?" Noctis blushed. "I was wondering if…I…we…could sit with you?" When Lightning did not respond right away, Noctis began to worry if he had sounded too forceful or straightforward.
Suddenly, Farron gestured to the empty chairs. "Fine." Noctis smiled thankfully and sat down beside her. Prompto seated himself beside Vanille and grinned. "Hey there!" "Hello." Vanille replied politely. Ignis and Gladiolus took their seats with Fang between them and Serah between Lightning and Gladiolus.
"So…what brings you boys to this side of the cafeteria?" Fang asked, looking at Noctis' friends suspiciously.
"Just wanted to say hi." Prompto chuckled, glancing at Vanille. Lightning noticed and rolled her eyes. Noctis cleared his throat and tried to change the topic.
"So…Lightning…are you planning on joining the martial arts club?" Caelum mentally punched himself for the lame conversation-starter. However, Lightning did not seem to mind. "Actually…yeah, I am." "Another sport, again Lightning?" Vanille groaned. Fang laughed. "Typical Light."
Lightning rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for actually having a hobby, unlike you two."
"Ouch!" Fang joked, making Vanille giggle. Serah pat her sister's shoulder comfortingly. "They're just teasing, Light. You know that."
"Well I'm glad you're joining. I'm planning on doing the same thing." Noctis stated, smiling at Lightning. His rival smirked at him knowingly and the gang sensed a friendly competition coming on. Typical competitive star players…
Stella stared at Farron all the way from her table. Lexi sat down beside her with her lunch in hand. "So there's this summer sale and the clothes are just so cute! What do you say? Wanna come with?" She asked her blonde friend. Stella blinked. "Hm? What did you say?" She continued to stare at the mysterious hooded boy known as Lightning Farron.
Lexi sighed. "Farron again? Stel, he must have dozens of girls wanting him! It won't be easy getting his attention!" "I know that, Lexi. But you know me; I have a plan." Fleuret said confidently. Her friend sighed and poked at her food.
"Well… I hope it works out for you, Stella. Really." For some reason, Lexi felt like she was missing something here about Farron but she shrugged it off.
Stella started glaring at the redhead and black-haired girl who sat at the table with Farron.
Lexi noticed and saw the girl with strawberry-blonde hair. "Uh…Stel, that girl with pink hair is Farron's sister." Fleuret blinked. "He has a sister?" "Yep."
Shrugging, Fleuret continued to glare at the two other girls who sat with Farron. Once again, Lexi was ignored but she merely took it all in stride and began to eat her lunch.
After lunch, Stella stalked around the lockers with Lexi in tow as usual. "Tell me what we're doing again?" She asked. Fleuret scoffed. "I am waiting until Farron passes by this way, and when he does, I will grab his attention!"
As predicted, Lightning Farron walked down the hall way with his backpack slung over down his back. Noctis walked beside him, talking about the martial arts club and Farron listened, clearly as interested in what Caelum had to say.
Stella dusted herself off, straightened her uniform and fixed her hair. "Watch this Lexi; I learned this move from a magazine and movie. It works every time."
Lexi watched as her friend walked down the hall, towards Lightning. She waited until she was close enough then flipped her long hair in Lightning's face, intending that the move would make the hooded boy attracted to her scent and make him curious.
Lightning blinked and reared back slightly at the sudden feel of hair slapping her face. Noctis gaped in surprise and puzzlement. "You okay?" He asked and Lightning nodded. "What was that about?" She asked out loud, rubbing her face clear from the itchy slap.
Noctis chuckled at her. "An admirer maybe?" His friendly rival hit his shoulder and shook her head at him. "Unlikely. Besides, that perfume was too overwhelming. Whoever it was should cut back on using perfume, or at least that kind of brand." Noctis laughed at her words.
"This coming from someone who dislikes being girly?"
"Serah forces me to smell the perfumes she wants to choose from whenever she can't decide. My nose had its fair share of such stench."
"Interesting…"
The duo continued on their way down the hall and out of the school building, all the while talking about joining the martial arts club.
Stella struts back to where Lexi stood and smirked victoriously. "And that is how you get a guy's attention!" "Um…" Lexi looked over the blonde's shoulder. Fleuret frowned. "What? What?"
"Farron just said your perfume was too overwhelming and that maybe you should stop using that brand." Lexi answered, having heard Farron state opinion to Caelum right after Stella did her little 'guy-catching trick'.
"What? Too overwhelming?" She sniffed herself. "Hm…maybe he likes sexy scents then. Perfect."
"Figures you can't get a guy to look at you." A mocking voice said. Stella scoffed as her rival. "Fuck you Ivy! Farron will see me and take me out as soon as he does." Ivy flipped her dark hair and snorted at the blonde. "Bitch please, Farron will take me out once he sees how great I am and you a worthless little cunt."
"Oh really? Well Farron just so happened to be concerned about me when I started coughing in gym class and gave me a cup of water, so hah!" Fleuret retorted. Ivy glared at her. "Bah! That's nothing! I can get Farron to touch me if I want to!"
Lexi watched the argument, feeling slightly awkward. Perhaps it would be a bad idea to go after Farron; after all, nobody ever saw his face. But she supposed that was what drew the girls in; Farron was just so mysterious and noble-looking. Lexi blushed; she could not deny that she too thought Farron was hot and mysterious. But the only clue as to what he may look like under the hood was his little sister, Serah.
Lexi imagined a boy with sharp features and stunning eyes with powerful muscles underneath all that baggy clothing…
"Farron is mine, slut!"
"On the contrary Bitch, Farron is my destined soulmate!"
Lexi leaned back against the wall, too immersed in her own obscene daydream of the mysterious star player Lightning Farron, no longer able to hear the heated argument between Fleuret and Ivy.
I had so much fun writing this chapter. A friend of mine thought up of this kind of story idea so I decided that maybe it might make a good story!
To clear things up:
Lightning is NOT disguising herself as a boy nor is she intending to.
She dislikes wearing the girls PE uniform because it shows too much leg (contrary to her original Final Fantasy XIII outfit which shows off much of her legs).
Lightning prefers wearing the boys PE uniform because it is much more comfortable to her, and her hoodie is her favorite outfit so she tends to wear it in school all the time.
She likes wearing her hood up just because she merely likes it that way so not many people at school had seen her face.
She is seen without her hood when she needs to shower in the locker rooms or it is seen down only if she needs to wipe her sweat off, but somehow people only manage to see her back when she wipes her face.
Lightning, along with Noctis, likes to stay back after gym class so they end up being the very last ones in the gym which means nobody saw Lightning for what she really is in the girls' shower room.
Because of her baggy choice of clothing (boys PE uniform and her hoodie) nobody could see that she has breasts.
Noctis and his friends knew Lightning was a girl because he managed to catch her with her hood down.
Lightning and Noctis were not particularly close but they do not dislike each other and in fact they are impressed with each other's moves. In this chapter, Noctis actually finally makes an attempt to befriend Lightning completely.
I remember how the Lightning fans (including myself, admittedly) keep saying how attractive she is that even women would want to be with her. I decided to play with this fact and see how it would look when Lightning is (unknowingly) stalked, chased, and sought after by girls.
I also thought that, even though Noctis is also a popular athlete, I decided to give him a break from being the one who is always the most desired and give Lightning a chance to shine at being the one who is "Mr. Popular". But Noctis does have a fan base in school still like Lightning.
Trivia: For those of you who remember Lightning's birthday chapter (Chapter XVII: Stroll with Me), you will remember Lexi is the girl who got punched by Noctis after she insulted Lightning.
Now she is playing as the third wheel flunky/sidekick character to Lightning's biggest fan, and is also a fan of Lightning herself. Ivy is another character who is a thorn in the side much like Lexi but had not yet got the chance to annoy people.
I hope that clears up any confusion. But if there are still some things that are unclear, just ask away and I will answer your questions to the best of my ability in the next chapter I upload!
Until then…
