Laguna sat at his computer terminal, his hands flying over the keyboard. A web browser appeared on the screen, bearing Balamb Garden's search engine. Blue-green eyes narrowed as long slender hands hit several keys, and the words `Iris Bardok' appeared on the screen. Laguna hit the `Enter' key and leaned back, watching the screen intently.
For a few seconds, the terminal hummed slightly as a sign it was searching, and a screen of search results came up. Laguna scrolled through the results, but found nothing. There were plenty or Irises, but not an Iris Bardok. He sighed and leaned back. He was just about to shut down the terminal when something caught his eye. Juniko Bardok.
Zell's eyes filled with delight at the sight of a tray laden with hot dogs. He gave a cheer and snatched one of them. The girl Irvine had identified as `Iris Bardok' leaned over to him.
"Any barbecue sauce on it yet?" she inquired.
Zell's face fell a little. "No, have to find some."
"Good."
With that, Iris snatched the hot dog from Zell's grip, and before her friend could protest, she started eating it at an impressive speed. The only reason Zell could beat her in terms of speed-eating was the fact that Iris refused to let her table manners to sink to Zell's level.
"Junikoooo," Zell wailed. "That was mine!"
Iris grinned and grabbed another hot dog from the tray.
"You know what they say, the only thing better than your food is someone else's. Cheer up, there's plenty left."
Zell grumbled and reached for another one himself. This time, he made sure that nobody could snatch his food from him while he devoured it...
Laguna returned to the presence. The name `Juniko Bardok' was still on the screen, seemingly a little bolder than the other names. Laguna clicked the link. Immediately, a small page of stats came up.
Juniko Bardok
Occupation: A-rank SeeD
Birthdate: Unknown
Age: Suspected to be 18
Age enrolled at Garden: Suspected to be 5
Height: 6'0"
Eye colour: amber
Hair colour: brown
Specialisation: unarmed combat and sword combat
Other: gunblade, chain whip, nunchaku
Special features: strands of white hair at the front.
Disappeared three months after the downfall of Ultimecia.
Laguna's eyes narrowed. Juniko/Iris's disappearance did explain why he hadn't seen her around. This file was obviously out of date. Ultimecia's downfall had been a little over two years ago - which would make Iris about twenty years old.
Laguna leaned back and closed his eyes. So far, it looked like his theory was right. He recalled the last night. He had got a good look at Iris, and had noted a certain resemblance between her and Squall. Though she smiled frequently, the few times she had slipped into a neutral expression her face had automatically slipped into a slight pout, similar to Squall. She even seemed to have that same habit of not moving her head much during conversation, just her eyes flicking around the table. She also had a similar build to Squall, though she was quite a bit taller. Her hazelnut locks even fell in the same way Squall's did. And on the frequent occasion that she smiled, she revealed a toothy grin and deep dimples. And then there were the amber eyes. It really didn't seem likely to be a coincidence.
Alia left her classroom, humming a merry tune. She had finished a whole day of lessons without annoying any of the teachers, so she felt quite proud of herself. She was tempted to swing the arm which was carrying her books, but that would probably cause them to scatter across the floor. So she settled for whistling instead of humming.
"Hey, Liko!" a male voice called from behind her.
Alia stopped and turned around. She caught sight of a familiar grey trenchcoat and head of short-cropped blond hair. Seifer briefly waved as he walked towards her.
"Class finished already?" he asked as he reached her.
Alia nodded.
"Yup," she said cheerfully. "I'm going to put my books away, and then go find the others. Wanna come?"
Seifer laid his arm around her shoulder.
"I'll come for the first half of the excursion, but you'll have to convince me to help you find the others," he said.
Alia grinned happily. Usually it wasn't too hard to convince Seifer, since he didn't mind mingling that much any more. She swapped her books to her other hand and slipped her free arm into Seifer's trenchcoat and around his waist.
On the way to Alia's room, a few heads turned at the sight of the couple. A group of girls they walked past whispered excitedly.
"Look, there's the jerk and his girlfriend!" - "I wonder how Squall can trust him around his sister! I certainly wouldn't."
Alia could feel Seifer stiffening a little. She caught the eye of one of the gossips and stuck her tongue out at her. The nameless gossip glared indignantly and pointed it out to her friends. Alia sent them a cheeky grin and a little wave. Seifer relaxed again, and Alia heard him chuckle to himself.
Seifer stopped outside Alia's room as she deposited her books. She came out again and looked at him inquisitively.
"So, you coming?"
Seifer grinned down at her, a touch of his old evil smirk showing in it.
"What are you going to do to convince me?" he teased.
Alia grinned back. "I'll babysit Raijin for an hour," she coaxed.
Seifer chuckled.
"Not necessary," he said in a quiet voice.
During their short conversation, he had moved closer to her, and she could hear his breath clearly. Alia grinned. She knew very well what would come next. She put her arms around Seifer's neck just before he leaned down far enough to kiss her.
Alia let her fingertips tickle the nape of his neck. She had to reach up very far to do that. It surprised her that Seifer didn't break himself in two every time he kissed her, since he had to lean down very far. A mental image of Seifer bent double came into her mind, causing her to giggle involuntarily.
Seifer broke the kiss and raised and eyebrow at her.
"I'm glad you find me kissing you so funny," he said in a slightly hurt voice.
Alia laughed and hugged him around the waist while resuming her position snuggled in the crook of his right arm. That way, his right hand could cup her elbow. There were some definite advantages to being short.
Seifer grinned and dropped his `hurt' act.
"Come on, let's find your posse," he said, and they made their way to the cafeteria.
They found Squall sitting at one of the empty tables, practically buried in paperwork of some sort or another. The only thing missing is a pair of tiny glasses, Alia thought and giggled. An image of Squall wearing Headmaster Cid's glasses and suit had popped into her head.
"I don't even want to know," Seifer commented at her giggling antics.
"Don't worry, it's completely harmless," Alia assured him. "Don't you think Squall would look cute wearing Headmaster Cid's suit and glasses?"
Seifer snorted.
"Let's go tell him that," he suggested with an evil grin.
"You just wanna torment my bro," Alia mock-accused him.
Seifer looked down at her with a mock-shocked expression.
"Me? Never!"
They both laughed and made their way towards Squall, who was sitting with his back to them. Seifer separated from Alia and tiptoed up to him.
Suddenly, he dramatically slapped his hands onto the table and leaned over, supporting his weight on his hands.
"You know, old enemy, all work and no play makes Squall a very dull boy," Seifer greeted him.
Squall flicked his eyes up to Seifer without moving his head, lips slightly pursed. Alia sidled up next to Seifer again, and noted that the result of that was a disapproving expression remarkably similar to the one Headmaster Cid sometimes wore. She grinned from ear to ear.
"And all play and no work makes Seifer a real jerk," Squall retorted drily.
"What? No `whatever'? Who are you, Headmaster Cid in disguise?"
Alia succumbed to fits of giggles.
"Not quite," Squall answered, his tone remaining extremely dry. "I'm the Disciplinary Committee in disguise."
He waved Seifer's file in front of his nose with a devilish grin.
"Only two more times to be caught T-boarding, and you'll be forbidden to have one on the premises before becoming an instructor."
"Hey!" Seifer snatched for the sheet of paper, but Squall was faster.
Alia eyed the pile of paperwork curiously.
"Have you got your hands on my file?" she inquired.
"Let me think..."
"Does it hurt?" three voices inquired promptly.
Seifer and Alia blinked simultaneously. If they had been anime characters, they would have been very dot-eyed.
"Only very rarely," Squall answered their question calmly. "It gets less every time."
However, Seifer and Alia were a lot more interested in the pair of feet which stuck out from a bench on the other side of the table.
The owner of the feet turned out to be none other than Iris Bardok, wearing a sleeping mask.
"What are you doing here?" Seifer demanded incredulously.
Iris slipped her sleeping mask over her head.
"May I inform you that I was here first, Soap-man?" Seifer glowered at the nickname. "I was trying to catch up on some Z's, and I was overdue for babysitting Squall."
Seifer turned to Squall, grinning evilly.
"Awwww, poor baby Squawwy, wanna dummy?"
"Shaddup."