Eagle looked at his watch. He didn't want to be left with
his thoughts any longer. Great, he thought, I still have an hour until
I meet the guys at the food court…
By the "guys", he meant Zagato and Innova…the two
people from Jonan High that he had met after the little "scene" with Presea,
and the one called Sierra, as Zagato and Innova explained to be a fencer from
Jonan when he held a troubled expression, at the fencing gym. They had made
plans to meet again later, talk, and get to know each other a little better.
Zagato had said he would bring his brother with him.
***
"It's only noon," Mrs. Shidou said to Sierra and
Presea, "Why don't you two girls get to know each other a bit?"
The two girls looked at each other, with expressions of
uncertainty. Presea was the first to speak… "Um…do you want to go to the
food court?"
Sierra smiled faintly. "Sure, how about in an hour?"
She felt nervous… What am I going to find in her… Me?
"Sounds like a plan," Presea said, her voice a little
shaky. In this girl…will I find another me? Or an opposite? "Alright,
I'm going home to change, see you later…Sierra."
"You too," Sierra said. "Presea."
***
Emeraude laid down on her bed and looked at the ceiling.
She saw stars. Stars she had put there to remind her of the skies beyond the
boundaries of her room. Beyond the boundaries of the solar system…
She had always loved studying the planets and wondering
what was beyond them. Sometimes she'd even dream about exploring them. But
this afternoon, she just looked at those stars at her ceiling, certain things on
her mind. She soon took her eyes away from her "stars" and looked out the
large window and the sliding door that lead to the most beautiful balcony, which
she used for star gazing, and whisper, "Zagato…"
Why do I keep thinking about him? What's so special
about Zagato? Emeraude asked herself. She thought hard but no answers came
to her. She couldn't figure it out. She knew she liked Zagato.
Possibly…love? Real love? She had never felt like this before. Every time she
heard, talked about, saw, or did anything related to Zagato, she felt all warm
and fuzzy inside. What's so special about him?
I need some fresh air, she silently said, still
lying down on her bed. I definitely need some fresh air…
***
Zagato hauled the last of the furniture to the room. After
sport games or matches of any kind, Coach La Farga always needed someone to
carry the equipment from the gym, back to the McKinley equipment storage. As
usual, Zagato volunteered to do the heavy work. Unfortunately, he was the only
one today, along with Coach La Farga. Lantis had a commitment so he couldn't
make it to the so-called fencing match today.
It was good, though. If
Zagato had been able to do whatever he wanted this very minute, he would have
probably gone to Emeraude's house to tell her how he felt about her. He had to
prevent that from happening, just until he knew how she felt.
Am I ever going to find
out? He had to work to get done, but he couldn't help it that he still had
thoughts…of Emeraude, his co-captain, the girl of radiance as well as beauty,
the girl who had showed concern for her friend this morning. Emeraude…would he
dare to ask her to the dance?
Lately, she had been acting strangely around him. I
wonder if I did something wrong…he thought, concerned, hoping that he
didn't. But whatever it was, he hoped it wasn't bad…
"Are you done?" Coach La Farga asked him, his voice as
expressionless as ever, as usual. Zagato's coach was never really that type of
person to show emotion in public.
Zagato nodded. "I'm done hauling everything."
"Great," his coach said. "That's enough for today,
I can do the rest."
Zagato blinked. Usually Coach La Farga assigned more work.
Although, Zagato couldn't help noticing he looked a bit distracted. Maybe it
had something to do with the Social Studies teacher, Ms. Caldina Brooke.
Zagato said good-bye to his coach and exited the gym. He
walked to the plant resort, where Lantis volunteered to garden and
"rebuilt". It wasn't time to meet with Innova, and the one from McKinley
High, Eagle Vision, yet. He just wanted to relax for a bit. Besides, Lantis is
bound to be done planting seeds and flowers soon. Zagato needed company before he can be called officially insane.
***
Presea Masters looked at herself in the mirror. One minute
she had been a girl with no problems except getting a date, but now…now she
was on a mission to get to know Sierra, her twin. Yes, her twin. I
just don't know what lies ahead anymore, she said worried, I used to
know what I wanted, what paths to take but now… Now it's not the same…
She took out her clothes from the closet, and tied her hair
in a low bun. Presea decided she was going to be herself today. Herself, the
girl she couldn't find at the moment of shock, the moment of explanation given
by her mother's two best friends.
She looked at the clock. Fifteen minutes 'til their
meeting time…
Good luck, she wished her reflection in the mirror, You'll
need it…
***
Lantis looked up from his work and squinted because of the
sun's radiant light. From afar, he saw Zagato walking towards him. When Zagato
finally reached him, he greeted his elder brother, "Hey."
"So how's your planting coming along?" Zagato asked
him.
"Pretty good," Lantis smiled. His brother never really
got why he was planting in the middle of February. It was for the plants to grow
on their own when they feel that the time is right. Miracles can happen.
Flowers could be blooming at this very moment…
Lantis suddenly remembered his brother's match, "How
did the fencing match go?"
"Didn't happen," Zagato said as he shook his head,
"Sierra, Emeraude, Umi Ryuuzaki, and I decided to postpone it."
Lantis looked at his brother with a curious expression.
"Umi Ryuuzaki? You mean, that girl who's said to be the best fencer
of McKinley High?"
"Yup."
"Why did you guys cancel it? Was there a problem?"
Zagato smirked looking as if the most amazing thing had
happened for the reason of the postponement. "Yup, you better believe it…but
I'm not gonna tell you now, go to the food court with me and Innova and
we'll explain it to you. This guy, Eagle, will also be there. Innova and I met
him from the match."
"Does he go to McKinley High?"
"Yup," Zagato answered.
With that, the two brothers walked to the food court in
silence…
***
Sierra sat down at the corner table and waited for her
twin. She was early, but she couldn't help it. That's what happens to Sierra
when she's nervous…she goes in a mad rush. Finally, she saw…
"Presea!" Sierra yelled. "Over here!"
Presea hurried to the corner table, her hair bun jumping up
and down. She smiled at her twin, sat down next to her, and said, "So what do
you want to order, Sierra?"
"Hm…" Sierra pondered, "I think I'll have a
sushi…"
"Sushi? Sounds good…" Suddenly, Presea made a
face…"As long as it doesn't have raw fish in it…"
Sierra eyes lit up. "I hate raw fish! I don't really
get why Emeraude loves sushi with raw fish…"
"I know, Umi likes raw fish, too!" Presea said smiling.
"By the way, that's the girl who has pale blue hair, and she's the captain
of the fencing team for McKinley."
"Oh, don't worry," Sierra laughed, "We were
"formally introduced" right before you opened that warm-up door room of the
gym and gave us the shock of our lives!"
The twins talked and laughed together as if they've been
friends forever. Through their differences, they found similarities of the same
traits, likes and dislikes. Both were too distracted by their conversation to
notice Zagato and Lantis walk in, both brothers unaware of the identical pair…
***
Umi got up from the park bench and stretched her arms. She
yawned as she started walking, she wasn't particularly going anywhere, but as
soon as she got up, she saw a familiar golden haired girl…It's the one of
Jonan High's captains…Emeraude…
She walked towards Emeraude and greeted her. "Hi,
remember me from this morning?"
Emeraude smiled, her eyes clearly said that she did. "Uh
huh, of course, I do! But…um…I don't know your name…"
"I'm Umi Ryuuzaki of the McKinley fencing team," the
pale blue haired girl said. "It's Emeraude, right?"
"Yes, I'm one of the captains for Jonan's fencing
team…"
Emeraude sighed as she said something out of the topic of
their introductions, "I really have to go eat somewhere, I have a craving for
sushi. Care to join me?"
"Sushi? Sure! Beware, though, I loved sushi with raw
fish!" Umi laughed.
"Really?? I do too! My friend, Sierra, doesn't like it
much," the blonde said. "Sierra's your friends twin…or so those two
ladies said."
"I guess twins think alike," the McKinley Captain
smirked.
They entered the food court, unaware that in the same
restaurant, the identical set, the two brothers, and Innova appeared to be
there.
"Excuse me," a guy with white-blonde hair said to the
two ladies as they entered the door.
"Eagle?" Umi asked wide-eyed. "What are you doing
here?"
"Just meeting some friends," Eagle responded, smiling
as always. "By the way, is…uh…is Presea going to the dance?"
"She doesn't have a date yet so…we'll just have to
wait for someone to ask her," the sly blue haired girl hinted.
"She doesn't have a date yet?" Eagle said, his face
lighting up. Umi could tell that Eagle tried to keep his expression as
unemotional as possible, but so far, it hadn't worked.
"Nope."
Not long after Umi's answer, the two parted and said
good-bye. Emeraude held an interested look on her face. "What was that all
about?"
Umi smiled. "Just a guy that Presea is nuts over…" Or
maybe beyond that…
***
Eagle searched for Zagato's table. Where was it? He
looked at the corner nearest to the ordering booth and finally located it. As he
approached the table, he saw Zagato, Innova, and a young man that shared the
dark hair color Zagato has.
That must be his brother…He soon arrived at the
table and smiled. "Hey."
"Hey," Zagato and Innova said in unison, it seemed like
those two were best friends. However, Zagato's brother did not say anything.
He simply just stared at Eagle for a few seconds. Finally…
"I'm Lantis, Zagato's younger brother," he said.
"Eagle Vision, right?"
Eagle smiled. "Yeah, it's Eagle, although that's just
a nickname everyone calls me."
The four guys chatted and soon the subject of the
"scene" this morning came up…
"Zagato," Lantis started, "didn't you say you guys
were going to tell me why the fencing match was cancelled?"
Zagato turned and faced Innova and Eagle. "Should we
really tell him? Maybe a little suspense might be good for him…"
His younger brother waited patiently, not taking in the
joke. Zagato, obviously noticing this, laughed, "Really, now, Lantis. You have
to loosen up a bit."
Lantis smiled and waited. Soon they told him the whole
story. The younger of the two brothers, Lantis, concluded the story with a
"You're-kidding-right?" look. But before any of them could tell him it
wasn't a joke…
"Innova," a lady from the counter yelled, "would you
mind if I asked you to take sushi to the far corner on the other side of the
restaurant?"
"No problem," Innova replied to the lady but to the
other three guys, he said, "Be right back."
Innova took the sushi tray to the farthest corner in the
opposite side of the food court and he nearly dropped the tray when he saw who
was there…
Sierra and Presea Masters...
***
"So what was that piece of paper you gave that guy after
the match today?" Presea asked, listening intensively.
Sierra blushed. "Well, it's like this—"
"Here you go, ladies," a familiar voice set down a
sushi tray on their table. Sierra looked up and saw Innova. She turned away
hoping to hide her redness as Presea pretended to wipe her lips with a napkin to
prevent herself from laughing.
"Enjoy your meal," the azure-eyed guy said, and then
left.
Presea finally uncovered her mouth. "Well! That was interesting…" she grinned. "You were saying…?