By RobertDogwood@aol.com
Edited by Vick330
Chapter Four
Of Betrayal and Trust
By the following Sunday, there wasn't a woman in the Garden who hadn't heard of it, including the kitchen staff and dining room employees. It had even reached the upper echelon where Xu resided; she didn't tell a soul, but it caused her grave concern.
And then it happened. A fifteen year old female student told her boyfriend. Predictably, it traveled like wildfire through the men's dormitories, with some bad jokes and sniggering accompanying it.
On the next Sunday afternoon, Squall was preparing to leave the cafeteria where he had been entertaining some visitors. It was yet another part of his job which he found vaguely distasteful. Already in a rotten mood, he overheard two male upper-classmen, conversing behind a huge potted plant near the doorway of the cafeteria.
"Did you hear that apparently the Commander is too quick on the trigger?" one young man asked.
"At least as far as Rinoa Heartilly is concerned," the second one answered and began to laugh.
As the first male upper-classman joined in with his laughter, Squall nearly lost touch totally with reality as massive doses of adrenaline fueled his rage. The next thing he knew, he was on the other side of the potted plant, his gunblade drawn and his finger quivering dangerously close to the trigger.
"You two have exactly one minute to confine yourselves to quarters for the next week, or I will bust you in rank to the day you entered this institution!" Squall screamed at the two utterly shocked upper-classmen, who stood with their mouths agape.
"Yes, sir," they both managed to mutter and then sprinted from the cafeteria, in an effort to quickly remove themselves from the presence of the madman with the large gunblade.
With his entire body still shaking with rage, Squall carefully put Lionheart away. As he glanced around the cafeteria, he noticed that people present glanced away when he made eye contact with them.
That worthless slut! Squall thought as he strode from the cafeteria, determined to locate Rinoa.
As the enraged man quickly moved through the corridor, with his face set in a murderous rage, students and SeeDs alike leaped from his path.
Remembering that Rinoa spent her Sunday afternoons entertaining that effete rich boy out by the front gates, Squall headed in that direction. Observing Rinoa and her visitor sitting on a blanket in the grass, laughing and talking, only fueled Squall's irrationality as he began to run towards them.
Looming over Rinoa, his body momentarily blocked out the rays from the sun and she glanced up from her conversation.
"You worthless bitch! How many people did you tell?!" Squall bellowed.
Rinoa flushed heavily and attempted to answer, "Squall, I-."
"How many?!" Squall repeated in a shriek.
Tears began to roll down Rinoa's face and her lips quivered as she attempted to speak again.
Squall reached down suddenly. His fist curled around Griever, which hung beside her mother's wedding band on a necklace around Rinoa's neck. He then pulled so violently that the necklace was torn off, the wedding band and bits of chain scattering an all directions.
"You don't deserve to wear this anymore, you whore!" Squall snarled.
When Rinoa began sobbing in earnest, Ashley made a sudden move to comfort her.
Drawing Lionheart and holding it over Ashley, Squall warned, "Don't make any sudden moves, asswipe."
"It's Ashley," the man replied with quiet dignity.
"It's asswipe to me, and let me give you some advice. Don't trust her, she'll betray you."
With that, Squall turned and began to retrace his steps, still clutching Lionheart in his right hand.
Shortly after, Squall sat in his office and sighed. The room was large, as befitted his rank as Commander. He was angrily going through papers, messily strewn over his desk, when a knock came at his door.
"Go away," Squall called out. "I'm busy."
"Squall, it's Quistis. I need to speak with you, it's important."
"If it's about Rinoa, you can forget it. Don't bother coming in," Squall answered.
"No, it's not about Rinoa," Quists replied, opening the door. "It's about you."
"Me?" Squall responded, the surprise evident in his voice. "What about me?"
Quistis stepped toward Squall and remained standing in front of his desk. Quistis felt that she needed the psychological advantage of standing over him.
"By the way," Squall said off-handedly, "I need you to tell Rinoa that her presence is no longer desired at this facility."
"Squall!" Quistis protested.
"What? Are you gonna say I can't do that? She only has been here on our good graces, you know that."
"Squall," Quistis attempted to explain, "Rinoa only told Selphie and me and that's only because we begged her to. I don't know how all those people found out!"
Squall rose to his feet with some alacrity, while slamming his right hand down hard on his desk.
"I don't care how many she told, Quistis! They all know now, and I want her out of here! How am I supposed to command people who have lost all respect for me?"
"Squall," she answered quietly. "People have lost respect for you because of the insane way you have been behaving, not because of anything Rinoa said or didn't say."
The blonde woman noticed that Squall's eyes had taken on a dangerous glint of anger.
"Quistis, I have a ton of paperwork to do tonight, and I have to entertain the leaders from Dollet tomorrow. I have no more time to spend with you discussing my personal life. Now, good night," Squall insisted, dismissing the instructor, while reseating himself.
As he looked back at his paperwork, Quistis replied in a firm voice, "No, not good night until I've said what I came here to say."
The dark-haired man stood up again, his face a mask of frozen rage, his eyes mere slits in his face.
"Quistis, this is a direct order from your commander. You are to leave my office immediately or face serious consequences," Squall snarled at the blonde woman.
"You're not my commander anymore, Squall," she replied softly. "This thing with Rinoa has caused you to lose your confidence in yourself and therefore your sense of proportion. You're placing yourself in grave jeopardy. You're only a shadow of your former self."
"Quistis!!" Squall thundered. "Not one more word!"
"Good night, Squall," she said coolly as she left his office.
Shaking with rage, Squall reseated himself and continued with his paperwork.
