nothing but trouble

"Don't you know the rule of thumb?" The old man asked, his belly joggling as he laughed heartily. "You should wait at least five weeks before asking a professor about a graded essay."

The timid freshman smiled embarrassedly.

"Forgive me. I'm just anxious to see how I did, that's all." Saria explained, fumbling with her short green hair.

"I'm sure you are, but there are many things that must be tended to before I take a thorough look at your essay. Please, go forth and focus on your other classes my dear. All will be completed in due time…"

Saria nodded respectfully and headed out of the classroom. He watched her leave, expelling a slightly irritated breath at her exit. It seemed like each day was set up for bad events to occur. A student had been attacked and the staff had been insistent on keeping the information on the low. To even think of discussing such matters with any of the students aside from the four that had been directly involved in the incident was heinous. Rauru turned, looking at the stack of papers on his desk. He felt so overwhelmed that he didn't even hear the door slam shut – though the sound was quite loud. Catching him in his most vulnerable moment, that pair of infamous, slender fingers began working their magic on his back. Massaging every kink and cramp, leaving behind nothing but serenity. His eyes rolled back into his head as he all but melted in the touch of the mysterious woman behind him. The scent of perfume invaded his nostrils, but before he could get too into the motion…

"N… Nabooru?" He questioned, breaking out of his daze. He recognized the perfume and knew that the female Gerudo had a not so stellar reputation. Her wits and intelligence were greatly admired, but the 'extracurricular activities' that she acquainted herself with when she wasn't working for HUTV was very much frowned upon.

"You caught me." She said with a smile.

"What…"

"Or should I say that I caught you." She put two fingers on his upper chest, trailing down slowly to his protruding belly.

"Is there something you need help w-with?" The old man stammered, backing away from her touch.

"Yes actually. It involves Karane…"

Rauru shook his head immediately, seeing through her plan instantly.

"No, Nabooru. Absolutely not. It isn't any of your concern, so you won't be getting an answer out of me."

"Please?" She batted her eyelashes playfully. "I just care about this school a lot. Don't you?"

"I do. And matters like this should stay small. The campus is riled up as it is. We have plenty of complaints from angry parents about the dorms. Can you believe that? How many of these so called 'adults' are still dependent on their parents for nearly every aspect of their life. The last thing we need is spreading the details of a personal incident around campus."

Nabooru sighed, undoing her ponytail and letting her long luscious hair cascade down her back. He didn't question the action, in fact he tried to pay it no mind. Soon, her hand was on the tube top that was doing a poor job of covering her body. She left little to the imagination as it was but when she undid her top, there was even more to see. She smiled at his flustered expression as she sauntered over to him in nothing but her bra and baggy pants. She was getting close, dangerously close, leaving the professor with no other choice than to back up until he was pressed against the wall.

"Perhaps we should create a new rumor then." She said, smiling. She was already naturally stunning, as were many of the Gerudos, but with her hair down instead of pulled up she looked even more ravishing than before.

"What do you mean?" he asked, though he had a concise idea.

"One about a history professor… And how he has an affair with a student…" She said, lowering her eyelids as she closed the distance that was left between them.

"Nabooru, we can't-!" He said frantically as her lips teasingly brushed against his.

"Don't worry. I locked the door." She said before initiating a steamy kiss.

Rauru felt his resolve begin to break, allowing the kiss to go on as she ran her hands up and down his body. She was good, so very good at what she did, and knew how to enjoy herself – or induce herself into a state of mind that made her believe she enjoyed what she did. Rauru was by no means attractive. He was almost fifty something years old, no wife, no ex-wife, no kids. Absolutely no one and nothing remarkable about him other than the fact that he worked at one of the most prestigious universities in the land. And now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place (literally) as he weighed which was more important – his desire or his career. Of course the latter was more vital, but he couldn't think with Nabooru's large chest rubbing against his.

Grunting, his pudgy arms found their way around her waist. It was sick, the perversity of it all. A student that wasn't even in his class and a professor that was much older than she was. He felt his shirt being unbuttoned as she lowered and broke the contact between their lips to plant a flurry of kisses on his neck.

"Tell me…" She murmured, "A name…"

"Nabooru…"

"Not that one." She whispered playfully.

"This is wrong."

"You don't really believe that." She said, sliding her tongue across his neck.

"Yes, I do." He insisted, his hands trembling around her hips.

"It doesn't feel like you do." She teased, eyeing his lower area, which seemed to have… hardened.

"I told you that –"

She silenced him with her lips once more, a bit infuriated at the lack of touching on his part. She grabbed his hands and lowered them from her hips to her butt. Much to her delight he gave her a tiny squeeze, making the process of weaseling information out of him a tiny bit more bearable. With her eyes closed she felt at ease with what she was doing. Not having to look at the man and be reminded that she hardly knew him as a professor let alone a friend, not having to remind herself of who she was with and how she was secretly repulsed with herself. She pulled away slowly, breaking the union between their lips, but still close enough for their lips to touch.

"Cawlin…" He murmured. "And Strich."

She pulled away fully. She was familiar with the two. She was one year their senior, and though she didn't like to pay much mind to the underclassmen – unless they were super hot – they drew attention to themselves as being delinquents, along with Groose, someone she was even more familiar with.

"You mean… they're the ones that hurt Karane?" Nabooru purred curiously.

"I've said too much." He shook his head, lurching forward to move her out of the way, but she pressed him back.

"No, no, no. I should reward you for providing me with such useful information…" She insisted, leaning in to kiss him, only this time it was even more sensual than before. His heart jolted when she shoved her tongue into his mouth, and he could feel her smiling against his lips as his hands found their way to her bra. He was a sad individual indeed, so virginal and in need of a woman's touch that he didn't even know how to unclasp it. She paid his feeble attempts at undressing him no mind, simply undoing the rest of the buttons on his shirt before sliding her hand across his torso. She inwardly cringed at the feel of his hairy beer gut but forced herself to continue their little session, hoping that if she did she would get more information. He was insistent on not telling her anything initially, yet it was so easy to put him under her spell. With a little more action, who knows what else he might reveal?

Alas, Nabooru would never be able to find out. Just as she was about to undo his belt buckle, the door to his classroom was knocked down with one powerful kick. Nabooru and Rauru pulled away from each other immediately, both frozen with fear at the prospect of getting caught in their moment.

Nabooru then gasped when she felt her long, voluminous hair being tugged backwards as her pursuant dragged her out of the classroom. Rauru on the other hand was as red as a cherry, hurriedly trying to redo the buttons on his shirt. Growling, Nabooru grabbed onto the person's hand and tried to pry it off of her head, but whoever was holding onto her was just too strong.

Letting out a shriek of frustration, she looked back to see who it was.

It was Ganondorf.

And he didn't look happy. At all. In fact, she wouldn't be surprised if he erupted like a volcano at that very moment. If looks could kill, her corpse alongside Rauru's would have already been decomposed.

"What are you doing!?" She cried, stumbling amongst her feet as she tried desperately to regain her balance. But he didn't respond, didn't halt, didn't even acknowledge the students that walked past them, pointing at Nabooru and her lack of clothing, and Ganondorf, the dean that everyone suspected she was having an affair with. The sight would certainly add fuel to the fire of rumors that had already been spreading amongst the student body. Nabooru groaned in pain at the way he handled her so roughly, so mercilessly. He didn't let go of her hair until they were in his office. He slammed the door shut, throwing her tube top at her face.

She put her top back on, her hands quivering as she secured it onto her body. He stared at her for a moment, wanting to admire her body that was devoid of any flaw, but at the same time disgusted with her and her actions. As soon as she put it on she didn't hesitate in swinging at him.

"You asshole!" She wailed, looking like a pathetic child with each punch she launched. "I was so close!"

"So close to what? Getting expelled?" He scoffed, not even flinching at her hits. His chest was like a solid rock and it was going to take a lot more force to be able to even inflict the tiniest amount of pain.

"No," she retorted bitterly, "Finding out what happened to Karane…"

"What?" He growled, grabbing her by the shoulders and ceasing her attempt at an 'assault.' "That's what this is about? Why you're flouncing around in hardly anything at all? So you could find out about a classified case?"

"Classified? It's all over the school website!"

"That doesn't change the fact that it's none of your fucking business!" He bellowed, pulling his hands away and stomping back to his desk, running his fingers through his own hair in anger and disbelief. He looked at Nabooru, who looked so angry and infuriated.

"How the hell did you even find out about where I was?"

"There are surveillance cameras all around campus and in the classrooms! What do you mean 'how did I find out?' Goddesses, are you stupid?!" He asked in outrage. His mind flashed back to when he had checked the monitor. He did that every so often to make sure no one was up to any suspicious activity, but he had been extra fidgety to watch out for violence, not wanting a repeat of what happened to Karane. He remembered his heart stopping and dropping into his chest when he saw Nabooru lock the door and saunter over to Rauru. He remembered how he didn't even stop to look at the rest of the video, already knowing of her intentions. With Nabooru, there was only one thing she wanted when she locked the door to a classroom. He knew she intended on hitting Rauru up with more than just 'a little chat.' His blood boiled at the thought of how fast he ran to Rauru's classroom with no regard to the other students as he pushed his way through them. The rage that overtook him when he kicked down the door and saw Nabooru's beautiful, long hair draped across her back, and how Rauru pathetically fumbled with her bra. If it had been Ganondorf that she was with, he would have already had her pressed against the table and…

No.

He grit his teeth, trying to push away the image of her body against that of the history professor's. But he couldn't. And looking at her now before him, more beautiful and emotional than ever, he knew why.

…

He was jealous.

"No, I'm not." She said, intent on defending herself. "It wasn't supposed to end like that. I was just having a little fun –"

"A little fun!? Do you think shoving your tongue down the throat of a man that's twice your age is fun?" His eyes were as wide as saucers now. "I hear what people say about you, and it's true. You're a harlot. Shameless and pitiful."

She stormed up to him, and he braced himself, ready to get slapped, but instead she fell to her knees as tears began streaming down her face uncontrollably like a waterfall.

He watched her, his heart aching as she wailed like a baby, unable to contain her emotions.

"The only person more disgusted right now than you," she said, struggling to catch her breath, "I-is me!"

He rubbed his forehead at the sight. It was pathetic. The little girl trapped in the body of an older woman, the poised and dignified temptress that every guy found irresistibly sexy… Was sobbing right in front of him. He didn't know what to do. His mind was telling him to give her a box of tissues and wait for her to calm down, but his heart was telling him to wrap his arms around her and calm her down himself.

His heart won.

He sat down on the ground in front of her, cupping her cheek and forcing her to look at him. He didn't even need to initiate the hug; she found her way into his arms as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"You're a fool." He murmured, stroking her hair with one hand while rubbing her lower back with the other. He knew that she liked it when he touched her bare skin, and though he also knew it was inappropriate, he didn't like seeing her upset. His mind drifted back to Rauru and how he had tainted Nabooru by feeling her up with his grubby hands. A surge of anger rushed through him at the thought of it. It was despicable.

"I know." She said, still crying softly into his shoulder. "It's your fault. You make me this way."

"It isn't my fault. This isn't a game anymore Nabooru. You're ruining lives. You're ruining careers."

"I wouldn't have to! If… If…" She stuttered, her grip on him tightening. She allowed herself to get lost within him momentarily. Being so close to him was like heaven. He felt and smelt much nicer than Rauru, than any man she'd ever been with really.

He closed his eyes, holding onto her even tighter as well.

"If you would just love me…" She eventually finished her sentence, looking up at him imploringly.

»°«

"Chu duty blows man." Cawlin whined, looking over at Strich who tried to stick some into his mouth. The action earned him a smack from Lana, who glared at him menacingly.

"Stop that!" She scolded, taking her bucket of jelly and carrying it over to a couple of other students, who then lugged the jelly off outside.

"Hmph. Why are you here anyways? Shouldn't you be telling those chumps in the library to keep their mouths shut?" Strich snapped.

"I got a few complaints… So I'm here now." Lana shrugged indifferently, though Strich could tell she was upset. "I don't really care. Community service is community service. As long as I'm helping out on campus I'm fine with whatever I do."

"Right…" Strich said skeptically, turning back to Cawlin.

Cawlin scrubbed relentlessly at the wall.

"Why the hell do we have to do this?" He asked, mainly talking to himself.

"Because you guys are delinquents." Lana said.

"I wish all of you would just shut up." Another voice said. It was soft spoken but there was a fair amount of sass behind it as well.

Ashei walked over to them with a bored look on her face, slamming down two buckets in front of them.

"Well that wasn't very nice." Lana said, "But then again neither are you."

Ashei rolled her eyes.

"You're one to talk. You've built quite a reputation as Mr. Gaebora's irritating assistant. But now that he has Ruto he certainly doesn't need you anymore."

Lana scoffed, standing up from her scrubbing to face the dark haired girl fully. Cawlin and Strich just smiled at each other before turning to get a good look at the show.

"At least I'm here on my own free will! I wanted to volunteer at the library, and even when they told me I couldn't anymore, I made the decision to come here to continue doing volunteer work! All of you guys are here because you're a bunch of delinquents!" She all but yelled at them, turning to point a finger at the two guys behind her as well.

Ashei shook her head.

"I'm here because I hate the patriarchy that denigrates women."

"You're here because you punched some idiot in the nose."

"He was a sexist, chauvinistic idiot. And I don't put up with bullshit." Ashei narrowed her eyes at Lana, who instinctively gulped. Even if the blue haired female had some fire in her as well, she knew that Ashei was notorious for being skilled in martial arts. It was natural, considering her father was a knight and she aspired to follow in his footsteps. He encouraged her to go to school, to be strong and smart, which was the only thing that kept her from going straight to the military out of high school.

"W-Whatever!" Lana stammered nervously. "Just don't cause anymore ruckus here. We don't need it…"

The raven haired female said no more, swinging her bucket around as she went to the bathroom to clean her brush.

"That was fun to watch. You should bicker more often. It makes for good entertainment." Strich taunted Lana, enjoying the flustered look on her face.

"Shut up and get back to work!" She said, grabbing her own brush and scrubbing the jelly away vigorously.

Strich pouted, looking back at his section of the dorm room and the jelly that was oozing out of it.

"I don't want to. It's too much." He said with a sigh as he started scrubbing unenthusiastically.

"I agree." Cawlin whined.

"You guys have enough strength to beat up a girl but can't scrub away some jelly? Hmph," Lana said with a shake of her head.

Strich's mouth formed into a wide 'o,' even Ashei who had just reentered and overheard Lana's outburst was slightly impressed. She smirked approvingly before going back to her side of the room.

"That was uncalled for." Strich muttered, looking undeniably guilty.

"It was most definitely called for." Lana retorted, "You hurt somebody. And when you're finally brought in for questioning you'll have to own up to what you did."

Strich frowned, choosing not to speak, simply scrubbing weakly at the wall.

There was a moment of silence while the four students stayed at their respective corners and tried to clean up the goop that was all over the dorm rooms.

Finally Lana crawled over to Strich, glaring at him. He looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"You're doing that wrong." She explained, grabbing his arm and placing it to the wall, practically scrubbing the goo off for him.

He blushed, not used to having a pretty girl hold onto him.

"Chu jelly is very," she grunted, "stubborn. And you can't just put in a minimal amount of effort and expect it to come out." The jelly finally slid off the wall, and right into the bucket that Ashei had given him. She smiled in satisfaction before standing up.

Strich watched her walk back, a star struck expression on his face as he did.

Cawlin took notice, but decided not to say anything about it.

"Hey, tweedle dee and tweedle dum." Ganondorf called out to them, standing in the hall looking at all the jelly in disgust. They stood up immediately, leaving Ashei and Lana to snicker at their nicknames.

"Yes Mr. Dragmire?" They both asked worriedly. They had been dreading this moment ever since they got back to school.

"My office. Now." He commanded, leading them out of the room.

Once they got to his office they were surprised to see Nabooru in there as well, standing in the corner rubbing her arm shamefully. She looked even prettier than usual, her hair was down instead of tied up in its usual ponytail. Cawlin and Strich bumped into each other staring at her, and it only served in making Ganondorf even angrier than he already was. Cawlin then noticed how puffy her eyes were and reached out to her worriedly.

"Nabooru are you okay –"

"Keep your hands to yourself." Ganondorf said a little too sharply.

The younger boys looked at him skeptically, their eyes darting back and forth at Nabooru then him.

Nabooru started walking towards the exit.

"I should leave."

"No. You stay. After you went through all of that trouble for two names, you're going to stay and get your rupees' worth in this matter."

Strich looked at Ganondorf, evidently alarmed.

"Mr. Dragmire… Is this… is this going on HUTV?" He asked in horror.

"Why? Does that concern you?"

"Please!" Strich cried out, fearful for the consequences of their actions. "It wasn't us! It was Groose! It was Groose!"

Cawlin sat there with a perfect poker face, though his fists clenched while his idiot friend teared up and shivered at the prospect of being in trouble.

"What?" Ganondorf asked, irritated by his babbling.

"Groose put us up to this! I didn't want to do it!" Strich said.

Cawlin smirked.

"Obviously. I did most of the work." He bragged.

"You beat up someone to the point where she was unconscious. That is absolutely NOTHING to be proud of." Ganondorf reprimanded him.

Nabooru stepped back, listening to the details thoroughly. Truth be told, she wasn't surprised. She knew more about the students than Ganondorf did, since she was one herself. Groose always had his two goons doing shady shit and causing mayhem whenever he could. He was known for being a bully, though not much was ever done about it, no doubt that it was thanks to the wealth and affluence of his family. It seemed like anyone with extra rupees to spare could get away with many things, which explained Ganondorf's position as dean to a prestigious school.

"I know that Groose can be a jerk sometimes, but this definitely went too far." She spoke up, walking over to the two boys. "Why would he ask you guys to do something like this?"

"It's because she threatened him!" Strich cried out, "She was going to tell the counselor what he did in high –"

"HEY!" Cawlin boomed, causing everyone to jump at the sound of his voice.

Strich looked back at his friend with a guilty look on his face.

"You need to shut up." He scolded.

Ganondorf crossed his arms.

"So that's it? Not going to follow up that outburst?"

"No." Cawlin said stubbornly.

"Okay." Ganondorf shrugged, leaning back in his chair. "How many more hours of community service do you have to do?"

"Twenty." Strich replied.

"Okay. Well, I want you guys to take that number and multiply it by three. That's how many hours you have to do now."

"What!?" They both exclaimed. They had been working endlessly in the dorms, scrubbing away whenever they didn't have a class to go to, and they had been so close to finishing up all their hours, only to get even more on top of that.

"Your messages with Groose are also now going to be monitored. Anything you send via the school website will be reviewed before it is sent to him. The appropriate response would be to cease communication with him fully, but that is beyond our power here. Be careful." He warned, "Your burly friend is already suspected of being behind all of the jelly that's infested the dorms."

"Really?" Cawlin asked, disbelief crossing his features. "No way. He definitely didn't have anything to do with that. I don't believe it." He mulled over Ganondorf's accusation, so engrossed in thinking of all the shenanigans the three of them got up to that he didn't notice Ganondorf and Nabooru shifting uncomfortably.

"Well… Believe it, kid." He said, thinking for a few moments before deciding to let them go. "One last thing. You are to stay three hundred feet away from Karane. It shouldn't be hard as you don't share any classes with her. Keep your distance, or you'll regret it. Now get out of my office." He said threateningly.

They nodded slowly, standing up and leaving.

As soon as they were gone Nabooru took one of the chairs they had been sitting in and pulled it up close to Ganondorf.

"I wonder what happened…" She said. "What do you think?"

"Perhaps a continuation of some petty high school drama." He said dismissively.

"So I'm assuming none of this can go to DMA?" She asked disappointedly.

"Absolutely not." He replied sternly, "You can't disclose any information on HUTV."

"Then what the hell was the point of making me stay and listen to you talk to them?"

"So that you would have no reason to try and sleaze your way into another staff member's pants."

Nabooru sighed.

"If I catch you doing that shit again, you'll really be expelled. And we'll no longer be on speaking terms." Ganondorf said.

"You don't mean that." She smiled at him affectionately. "You aren't ready to let me go."

He ignored that comment, looking away as his cheeks began to heat up.

"So, about Professor Rauru…" Nabooru mumbled guiltily and reluctantly, looking at Ganondorf's face for a reaction.

The older man stiffened, a twisted look of disgust on his face.

"He's sending in his resignation email tonight. Tomorrow morning by the latest."

Nabooru nodded solemnly.

"I see…"

»°«

Zelda paid the man his rightfully earned rupees, giving a gracious smile as she grabbed her food and headed over to the table where Pipit and Link were sitting. Shad was by her side, seemingly deep in thought, though Zelda wasn't sure of what.

"Um, Shad?" She asked, looking at him nervously.

"Yes?" He asked, broken out of his trance and paying attention to his friend.

"I would appreciate if… if you could keep the kiss a secret." She admitted shamefully.

"Oh! R-Right." He smiled nervously.

She sighed. He looked so guilty and it was truly a sad sight. He was probably so elated when he told Link, and there was no doubt that he would have been just as smug when he tried to bring the topic up with Pipit – who wouldn't be so happy about it as he was. In fact, both Link and Pipit would be less than pleased, for different reasons of course.

"Thank you." Zelda said, "I just don't want them to get the wrong idea or anything like that."

"Riiiight." He said coolly, though she could detect the doubt in his voice.

"Hey princess!" Pipit greeted Zelda flirtatiously, his mouth half stuffed with a sandwich. "Wanna sit over here with me?"

Zelda smiled at him while Link glowered.

"There isn't enough space." He said, looking away.

Zelda suppressed the urge to stick her tongue out at him and simply sat on the other side, next to Shad who flashed a victorious grin.

"Maybe next time then." Pipit frowned at Link, who shrugged indifferently.

"So, how's everyone's studies been going?" Shad asked, deciding it would be best to ease the tension with some conversation.

"Good." Zelda said.

"Eh." Pipit didn't look too interested in the topic at hand.

"Terrible." Link muttered, stabbing his fork into his salad.

"C'mon Link, Ancient Hylian isn't that bad."

"I have to put in a hell of a lot more effort than my other classes. It's absolute hell." Link said with a frown.

"I've always liked Ancient Hylian…" Zelda commented quietly, more so to herself since Link always seemed to grimace whenever she spoke.

"Really? Maybe you would be able to tutor him –" Shad suggested, but was quickly cut off by Link who was adamant on making sure that didn't happen.

"No." Link quipped all of a sudden. "I don't need her help."

"C'mon Link, there's no harm in sucking up your pride and getting a little tutoring."

"I know. I'm going back to kendo afterschool. Ashei agreed to help me." Link then took a sip of his drink, eyeing Shad for a reaction.

Shad simply nodded in understanding.

"I see…"

"Ashei?" Pipit looked at him, perplexed. "Who the hell is he?"

"She is just an old friend." Link replied with a shrug.

"Ooh… You sure she's just a friend? Is she purty?" He asked in a mocking tone.

"Yes!" Shad answered enthusiastically, surprising everyone.

Shad then noticed the weird stares and his tone slowly deflated.

"I mean… Is she Link?"

Link shrugged again, looking Zelda directly in the eyes as he chose his next words carefully.

"She's the nicest looking girl I know."

Perhaps Shad and Pipit didn't feel the blow at all, but that hit Zelda pretty hard. Her cheeks were flushed and her heartbeat had accelerated. She was embarrassed, and it stung even more seeing his immediate smirk of satisfaction when he realized his words had hurt her, just like he intended. Maybe they were no longer throwing direct insults at each other in front of their friends, but the passive aggressive jibes were just as damaging.

A few minutes passed by and Pipit and Shad continued to talk about school, shifting to other topics such as sports and academic competitions. Link, a naturally quiet soul, didn't put much into the conversation. Neither did Zelda, opting to eat her lunch silently and occasionally look up to give Link a death glare for how he had disrespected her.

"I'm gonna buy another smoothie. Wanna come with?" Pipit asked Shad in the midst of one of their engaging conversations.

"Sure!" Shad nodded happily, standing up. Not even looking down at Zelda, he and Pipit walked away quickly and eagerly.

Zelda sighed heavily, now even more agitated that she had to sit with Link alone. Link himself didn't look too happy.

Both of them were so uncomfortable that they decided to make up some lame excuse to leave the table at the same time.

"I'm gonna buy a smoothie too." Link said, wanting to find his friends.

"I… I was going to grab a snack for later." Zelda murmured, scratching her head awkwardly.

Link said nothing, taking the remains of his lunch to throw them away and signify that he was now finished with lunch, and leave Zelda to her own devices.

As he walked past her she pushed her chair out, unknowingly jutting the legs into the direction Link was watching. Not noticing in time, Link tripped, a plate of his food sliding off of his tray… and right onto Zelda's head.

He caught his balance and turned to glare at Zelda, to chastise her for being so careless. But of course he didn't when he noticed the mess in her hair…

She was frozen with shock for a moment, just a moment, until her entire being was heated with unimaginable rage.

"Zelda…" Her name came out from his lips so softly, almost apologetically, akin to how he had talked to her and treated her the night he took her home in his car.

But she wasn't having it.

It wasn't bad enough for him to humiliate her in front of his friends, even if they didn't realize it, but now he had to humiliate her in front of everyone in the cafeteria…? Not a single soul had missed the sight of food getting dumped on her head. She didn't even think before she turned back and took the paper plate off of her head, using it to smack him in the face.

"Zelda!" He growled, only this time it wasn't lacking in the aggression he had intended on using in the first place.

"You bastard!" She cried, "Why do you always treat me like this!?"

"It was an accident –"

"An accident?" Zelda asked, the sarcasm practically dripping from her voice. "Accident my ass! First you talk about how another girl is prettier than me, and then you had to dump food on me to be satisfied?"

"No!" He snapped, not paying attention to the pool of curious students that were now surrounding them as they argued. If they didn't know any better, one might have thought they were ex-lovers, judging by their banter. "I didn't mean to do that, it's your damn fault for pushing your chair out the way you did."

Zelda huffed, grabbing chunks of food on her head and throwing it at his face, enraging him even more.

"Well then that was your fault, for being an idiot!"

Before he could object or try to explain himself, a larger figure stepped between them.

"STOP!" He bellowed, causing them both to cower in fear.

Zelda whimpered when she saw who it was, knowing immediately that she was in big trouble.

Agahnim, one of the school's security officers. He was wide and tall, standing at nearly seven feet. He towered over every person he met. He had quite the loyalty to Mr. Dragmire, and made it his mission to stop any altercation that could lead to violence.

"Young lady," he swayed over to her, narrowing his pitch black eyes at Zelda in disdain. "There are many ways to resolve your issues with someone. Throwing food at someone is not the solution."

"He threw his food on me!" Zelda protested, to which Link wasted no time in interjecting.

"That isn't true, I –"

Agahnim didn't listen, taking note of the food on Zelda's head and glaring at the other male disapprovingly.

"Link… This is so unlike you."

"If you would listen –"

"Okay, answer these two questions, and then I'll hear what you have to say." Agahnim cut him off again as though it were second nature.

"Fine…" Link complied reluctantly.

"Was that your food?" He pointed at the food that was on Link's face.

"Yes." He answered, wanting to continue but knowing Agahnim wouldn't hear any of it.

"And did most of it end up on her head?" He then pointed at Zelda, who gave him the death stare.

He said nothing, simply nodding as he balled his fists up.

"Well then," he took out a notepad and started jotting something down. "I think that's all I need to know."

Zelda and Link both looked at each other, the animosity diminishing as they transitioned to a state of panic. While Agahnim was good at certain aspects of his job such as intimidation and getting students to comply with the rules of the school, one of his largest and most despised flaws was his habit of jumping to conclusions too quickly, which often got students into situations they felt they had no right to be in.

"You both are now required to do twenty hours of community service, cleaning up chu jelly in the dorm rooms."

Zelda and Link both felt their stomachs drop.

"WHAT!?"

He nodded, handing them both slips, and walking away briskly.

Link frowned. He had a suspicion that part of the reason Agahnim was so adamant about punishing every student with community service was because of a lack of volunteers at the dorms. But it was the last thing he needed. This was something was unnecessary, avoidable, and now he had another activity to add to his list of stressful things. And it was all because of…

Her.

He looked at Zelda, who didn't look too happy either.

She felt his cold stare and looked back, pulling food out of her hair. She bit her lip, turning to walk to the bathroom and rinse her hair out.

Link shook his head, deciding it wasn't worth it to stop and yell at her. He read the information on the slip before crumpling it up and throwing it in the trash.

A/N: WOAH THERE. Strich almost dropped a huge bombshell. I wonder what he and Cawlin are hiding? What happened between Groose and Karane? Guess you'll just have to stick around to find out. :)

So this chapter was very important. Yeaaaah. I gagged several times writing Nabooru's scene with Rauru. But hey, I've read worse. That was to show how far Nabooru is willing to go to attain information. *pukes* ANYWAY, Agahnim's 'punishment' for Link and Zelda has a huge part in the development of their relationship with each other. If you're expecting more ZeLink fluff like in chapter 4, then stick around and MAYBE I'll give you guys something. C: