of mistakes and switched bodies
-chapter one-
All eyes were focused on the commander of Balamb Garden as he walked through the hall into the SeeD dormitory. Singe marks on his face and clothes appeared to be the kind that often followed lightning magic, but thankfully he was able to continue toward the dorms without anyone caring to ask. The result of yet another session with Rinoa in the training center.
Rinoa didn't want to go into the training area alone and, of course, wanted Squall to accompany her. He agreed, knowing the T-Rexaurs had been a growing problem lately. Nearly all the students of the Garden had complained about the T-Rexaur population. Squall had to admit, there had frequent T-Rexaur sightings, more than the usual, but he had never considered that a problem. But, he knew, Rinoa hadn't learned how to control her powers very well and needed the training to perfect them.
Needless to say, out of 15 grats, she had beaten 9, hit him with a thundaga spell 5 times, and let one run away.
He was glad that the door to the dorm rooms were automatic. That way he didn't have to open them himself. Squall doubted he could even raise one arm after the past hour or so. Not a single T-Rexaur had showed up. It didn't help any that Rinoa insisted on apologizing every five minutes.
I wonder if someone would notice if I left Garden for a few days. A day or so of this is fine, but a week now? Squall thought as he entered his dorm. I wonder if I can convince her to use drawn magic like everyone else. The bed felt suddenly softer and much more comfortable than it usually did. A shower would feel good right then, but it had to wait. I haven't felt this exhausted since I was training for the SeeD exams. He corrected himself as he lay his arm across his forehead. No. Even then I don't think I felt this bad. His eyes closed as he tried to go to sleep.
A loud knock was heard. He didn't even bother to open his eyes or to answer. He didn't want to see anyone right then. Plus he'd thought everyone knew by then that he never answered his door. Another knock, this one slightly harder. At least they aren't like Selphie or Quistis. They just walk right in.
The third knock was harder than the second. Squall was sure that if they kept getting harder, the fourth or fifth would knock down the door. A voice demanded, "Squall, did you forget about our 'training' this afternoon?"
Seifer.
How had Cid talked him into letting Seifer rejoin Garden? He couldn't remember exactly. Somehow Quistis and Rinoa had something to do with it. Both of them had tried to explain that it was probably all Ultimecia's doing. He wasn't about to believe that. Seifer had acted differently for a month or so, but once everyone had accepted the fact that he was in fact enrolled back into the Garden, Seifer showed everyone that he in fact hadn't changed. He still beat up Zell when he had the change, probably just to prove that he could. In fact, Fujin and Raijin still tagged along right behind him like they had in the past.
The trio weren't the disciplinary committee anymore, which was partly because of Zell's influence. Or what little he had.
"Squall!" Seifer beat the handle of his gunblade on the door again. Squall sighed and reluctantly got out of the bed, opening the door. Seifer forced himself not to laugh at the sight, but it was hard. "Damn. Glad she's your girlfriend and not mine."
"Stuff it, Seifer." Squall glared. He grabbed the Lionheart from where it leaned against the wall and pushed Seifer aside, walking out the door. "I'm not in the mood so let's get this over with."
His rival smirked and rested Hyperion on his shoulder. "I can't believe you let her do that to you." Squall stopped and looked back at him. Seifer had changed some, but enough to show concern? "Whoopin' your ass is my job. Can't have someone taking my job from me, now can I?"
Squall sighed and turned to walk down the hall. He shouldn't have even thought that Seifer would change. "Do you want to train or not?"
"Every day it's the same thing. After your training sessions with Rinoa I can't get a decent fight out of you." Seifer commented as he began to follow.
Squall searched around in his mind until he found a comment that would definitely get Seifer out of his face. For a few minutes at least. He turned and looked at the tall blond. "What? Jealous?"
Seifer just stood there for a minute, his glare hard enough to melt ice. His grip had tightened on his gunblade. "Watch it, puberty boy. I may see you dead yet." He walked on, knocking Squall against the wall as he passed.
Squall just watched as he left. The training session between him and Seifer had been getting rougher than usual. Sometimes he would even find himself defending blows that would have killed him instantly if they had made contact. One wrong move would prove fatal.
He knew that under the cover of a training session would be the best cover for Seifer if he ever did decide to make the killing blow. He also knew that he was in no condition to be fighting with Seifer that day, either. Then why, Squall thought as his steps carried him further down the hall, am I training with him today? Should even call it training.