A/N: *tearing her hair out* AHHHHH! Should be studying, but I'm typing fanfic instead! Actually, this has been done since finals last year, but my comp was being demented and wouldn't let me post. Honest! Gomen nasei! *bows frantically and repetatively* GOMEN NASEI! *Ahem* Should be studying my math, since I'm stupid at math, but I'll do that all day tomorrow. Honest! Okay, anyway, let's hope this works out....here it comes!
Once again, // are for thoughts.
Lantis stared into space, mouth slightly open and eyes wide. Lost in thought, he was blanked out completely. He couldn't help but review the events of the past few days. So many things had happened...the fencing match, most importantly. Seeing Ferio and the others again had been enough to put him in a daze for a long time, without even throwing Eagle or those new girls into the mix. //Eagle...// Lantis felt a slight burning sensation as a blush crept up his face once again. The memory of Eagle holding Lantis in his arms kept playing through the ebony-haired boys head. He shook it off, shaking his head as if to refuse that it happened at all, but he couldn't make the blush go away. Then, another thought pushed its way in: Hikaru. That skinny little red-haired girl at the fencing match. The memory of her smiling face kept forcing itself into his mind, though he couldn't figure out why. Lantis tried to pushed that one out of his head, but then the thought of Eagle tried to force its way back in. //No!// He pushed all thoughts of Eagle back out. "Okay, concentrate on Hikaru. Hikaru." //Hikaru...//
~*~
Eagle opened his eyes blearily, attempted to focus on his alarm clock, and failed. He tried again, squinting his eyes. "Oh," he said aloud. "7:02." Eagle rolled over and wrapped his arms around his pillow, curling up into a little ball to go back to sleep. "SEVEN O TWO?!?!?!?!" Eagle threw himself out of bed, promptly tripping over his bookbag. He tried to avoid falling and succeeding only in stepping on his cat's tail. The aforementioned cat let out a hissing shriek that was loud enough to wake the dead. Eagle whirled around. "Oh, sorry, Kage!" he cried out as he turned, stepping backwards and tripping over his fencing bag. Grabbing frantically for something to prevent the inevitable fall, he managed to grab on to the curtains, still falling over and tearing them down with him, accompanied by a loud riiiiiiiiiiiiiiip as they rent in two. Eagle sat on the floor, long legs stretched out in front of him as he stared at the mess he created. "Oh. Shit." Quickly, he scrambled to his feet (nearly falling again) and pulled on the first pair of pants he yanked out of his drawer. Pulling open the drawer he kept his shirts in, he slowly realized that laundry day had been Saturday, and he had missed it. "SHIT!" Eagle bolted into his sister's room and tore open her drawer. She borrowed his shirts often enough, he was sure there would be one in there.
"Eagle, what are you doing?" Tori was still in bed, but was half sitting up and looking at him with unfocussed eyes.
"I need a shirt, Tori! You've got to have one of mine in here!" he said frantically, rummaging through her drawers.
"Yeah, I think one of your black t-shirts is in there." With that, Tori flopped back onto the bed. Eagle dug through the t-shirts. //Success!// Pulling the black shirt out of the drawer, he turned and pounded down the stairs, calling thanks to his sister over his shoulder as he went. He bolted out the door, shirt in tow as he jumped into his car. //Shoot, no wife-beater either. Now I have to show up at school half-naked!// Gunning the car out of the driveway, Eagle's last thought was that he hoped Lantis at least would appreciate the show. //The sad thing is, I'm only half kidding about that!//
~*~
Lantis, Geo, and Zazu were clustered outside the school building. Lantis checked his watch impatiently.
"Dammit! He's got a total of two minutes before he's offically late, and I'm going to class."
Geo grinned. "He's been later. Take it easy, he'll be here. Probably driving dangerously."
"As usual," Lantis agreed, sighing in exasperation.
"And he'll have forgotten something," Zazu added.
"As usual," both Geo and Zazu chimed in together. At that moment, Eagle tore into the parking lot, nearly taking out the stop sign (which he ignored completely) and three students.
"And heeeeeeeere's Eagle." Zazu grinned as he watched Eagle do a kamikaze turn into his usual parking space, yet ending up perfectly parked on his first try. As Eagle climbed out of his car, it became instantly obvious what he had forgotten: his shirt.
"EAGLE!" Zazu hollered, "PUT SOME CLOTHES ON! FOR THE LOVE OF *GOD*, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"
"Shut up, Zazu," Eagle growled as he took the steps two at a time. "I have a shirt with me." He looked at Lantis, whose eyes were lowered more than usual. What's he looking a-Oh my *GOD*, is he checking me out?!?!" Lantis was indeed looking at Eagle's shirtless state, and the look in his eyes made it obvious he had more than curiousity about the situation on his mind. Suddenly, he seemed to notice both what he was doing and the fact that *Eagle* had noticed what he was doing. His head snapped up and his eyes widened with shock, staring momentarily at Eagle. When Eagle smiled brightly at him, Lantis averted his eyes, a blush spreading up his face faster than Eagle could manage to trip and fall.
"You've got clothes?" Geo asked. He sighed in over-exagerrated happiness. "Thank God!"
"Shut up, Geo," Eagle snapped. "I grabbed one of my shirts that Tori stole from me." He quickly pulled the black shirt over his head. "That's funny, it feels tighter than usual...a *lot* tighter. You think maybe it shrunk?" Eagle slowly realized that his friends were in hysterics. Even *Lantis* was laughing. "What?!" he asked, slowly noticing that strange, nervous feeling that he usually only felt when his pants were unzipped while he was in the middle of his debate speech and everyone knew it but him. He looked down at his shirt. "OH MY *GOD*!!!!!"
This shirt was *definately* not his. It *was* black, but it was much shorter than his was, and skin-tight. Across the front, the words "Sex Kitten," were inked in red. Lantis, Geo and Zazu were now howling with laughter as other students began to take notice.
"SHIT! GUYS! WHATAMIGOINGTODOOOOOOOOOO?!?!?!?!??!?!" Eagle grabbed Geo by the collar, shaking him frantically and jumping up and down. Geo laughed, gently removing Eagle from his collar.
"I don't know, Eagle. I guess you're going to have to deal with it." The bell rang for class and Geo, Lantis and Zazu began heading in. Eagle stared after his friends for a moment before running to join them.
"DEAL WITH IT?! I CAN'T *DEAL* WITH IT! MY SHIRT SAYS 'SEX KITTEN' ON IT! I LOOK LIKE A FREAKING TRANSVESTITE HOOKER!" It was only then that Eagle realized how loud he was. Again. Slowly turning to look around him, he saw every student and faculty member in the hallway staring at him. He could feel his face turning bright red. Turning back around, he dropped his head against Lantis' chest with a light thud, burrowing into the taller boy's shirt. "I wanna go home," he whimpered.
Blushing bright red, Lantis put his arms gingerly around Eagle's slim shoulders. "It's okay, Eagle. No one's gonna care. Anyone who makes fun of you and truly means it isn't really your friend, and you don't have to care what they think."
Eagle looked up at Lantis, smiling gratefully. "Thanks, Lantis." The ebony-haired boy blushed furiously. "We better get to class," Eagle said, not wanting to let go of Lantis. He pulled away reluctantly, shouldering his backpack again. As the boys began walking to class, the comments began.
"Whoo hoo, *hottie*!"
"Rowr! Sex kitten!"
"Hey, Eagle, you open for business?"
Eagle whimpered again. When they turned the corner, a group of girls caught sight of Eagle in the shirt and let out excited shrieks. A girl with curly brown hair passed out from a nosebleed. Geo grinned at Eagle.
"See, Eagle?" he said as the girl came out of her unconcious stupor, "I guess there are some perks to the shirt."
"Yes," Eagle responded, grinning. "Maybe I should get some leather pants to go with it." At the leather pants comment, the girl passed out once again. Geo shook his head, grinning.
"Come on, Sex kitten. Let's get to class."
~*~
The bell rang for last period, and Lantis bolted out the door after Eagle, who had quickly made his escape. "Hey, Eagle!" Lantis jogged out the doors of the school towards his friend. Eagle turned around. When he saw who was calling him, his face softened into that oh-so-familiar smile.
"Hi, Lantis! What's up?"
"Well, I was going to go see Ferio and the others, and I wanted to know if you wanted to come."
"I'd love to!" Eagle replied cheerfully. "That is, if you're sure you'd want me to," he ammended hastily.
"Definately!"
"Great!" Eagle laughed evily. "I'm driving!"
"Oh kami-sama," Lantis groaned as he slid into Eagle's car, making sure his seatbelt was tight as could be, "What am I getting myself into?"
The cd began playing, the loud scream of Ozzie Osbourne cutting through the air. "ALL ABOOOOAAARD!" Eagle laughed mainiacly, gunning the car and tearing out of the parking lot, wind whipping through his hair as he began singing loudly along with "Crazy Train."
~*~
"Where *is* he?!" Lafarga demanded impatienly. Clef sighed.
"I'm sure he'll be here shortly, Lafarga!"
"Yeah, calm down, sweetie," Caldina admonished him, swatting his arm gently. The tall blond's face softened as he looked at his girlfriend.
"Sorry, Cal. I just...I don't like him leaving Cephiro High and then just expecting to take up where he left off as if nothing happened."
"I'm glad he's back," she responded, "I think he's sweet."
Lafarga's eyes flashed in mock jealousy. "Sweeter than me?"
She laughed. "Aw, you're not sweet!"
"No?" Lafarga shot back, grinning. "Then what *am* I?"
"You? You're an animal!" Caldina teased.
Ferio sighed, looking out the window. Outside the fast food restuarant, the rain poured down, soaking the people outside and pounding on the cars. A silver Rayearth pulled into the parking lot at top speed and turned haphazardly into the nearest parking space.
"Wow," Ferio said absentmindedly. "Wish *I* had a car like that!"
"Very snazz," Clef agreed, loudly slurping the last of his soda through a straw.
"It's not so impressive," Umi said, looking at it skeptically. Being rich herself, not much could impress Umi. From where he was seated next to Umi, Ascot turned and peered out the window.
"Hey, isn't that the car that rich kid owned? You know, Lantis' new friend, the klutzy one who beat Umi?" Umi glowered and Ascot turned bright red and sweatdropped.
Ferio looked closer. "Now that you mention it..." At that moment, the passenger side door opened and Lantis stepped out. "Here he is!" Ferio cried, excitement in his voice as he bounced childishly up and down in his seat. Then, the aforementioned "rich kid" slid gracefully out of the other side of the car with none of his usual klutziness. As opposed to the casualness of Lantis' jeans and varisty jacket, Eagle was dressed to the nines in what was obviously, for *him*, "casual wear": crisply pressed khaki pants and a white button-down shirt completely undone, exposing his wife beater. Laughing loudly, the two entered the restaurant.
"Hey, guys!" Lantis said, eyes sparkling still with the laughter from a moment before.
"What's *he* doing here?" Lafarga growled under his breath as he stared at Eagle.
"My sentiments exactly!" Umi added, folding her arms across her chest and glaring. Lantis slid easily into the booth across from Ascot and next to Clef.
Eagle stood near the table, staring down at the unfamiliar faces, which were all staring back at him. He smiled broadly. "Hi."
"Hello again, Eagle," Clef smiled back. "Won't you join us?"
"I'd love to!" Eagle slid easily into the booth, right across from Umi and Hikaru. Eagle smiled. Umi glowered.
"Hi, Eagle!" Hikaru grinned at him. "It's nice to see you again!"
"It's so nice to see *you* again, Miss Hikaru Shidou!" Eagle laughed. "How have you been?"
"Oh, I've been fine! I'm so happy you came *too*! I wanted to see you and Lantis again so very much!"
"I'm glad to hear it! I wanted to see you again, too!"
"Really?!"
"Really really!"
"Wow!"
Lafarga rolled his eyes. "Geez, don't get too close, you'll go into sugar shock," he muttered. "OW!" The last part came when Caldina kicked him discreetly under the table. "So, where's the *rest* of the posse, hmmm?"
Eagle turned to look at Lafarga, still smiling from his exchange with Hikaru. "Hmmm?"
"What?" Lafarga mocked.
Eagle stared, confused. "*What*?" he asked. Lafarga rolled his eyes again, laughing softly in disbelief at Eagle's obvious confusion. Eagle stared at him for a moment before it seemed to hit him.
"OHHHHHHHH, you mean Geo and Zazu! Oh, they're probably off killing each other somewhere."
"Nice." Lafarga scoffed. Eagle gave him a weird look, nudging Lantis with a look in his eyes that clearly said 'what's up with *this* guy?'
"So-" Eagle began, turning back to Hikaru.
"-So what's with the outfit, Eagle?" Lafarga interrupted. Caldina attempted to shush him, but Eagle turned, looking confused again.
"What do you mean?" he asked, looking down at his clothing.
"Why are you so dressed up?"
Eagle was obviously lost. "...dressed...up?"
"Well, it just doesn't seem to fit in here," Lafarga continued, indicating the fast food restaurant around them. The unspoken message was obvious: You don't belong here. The whole table was silent. Eagle seemed to understand now that Lafarga was making fun of him. "I..." he looked down at the table. "I...I just..." He stood up. "I'm sorry." Turning, he began walking briskly towards the exit, obviously upset, bumping into a bus boy and knocking him slightly askew.
"Hey, watch it pal!" the bus boy yelled after him. Eagle simply walked on, straight out the door and to his car, but he didn't get in. He pushed himself up onto the hood and sat in the rain; back hunched and staring at the ground, he cut a very forlorn figure.
The table was silent. Lantis stared out the window.
"Well, thank you, *Lafarga*!" he said finally, voice angry. "I better go."
"No!" Hikaru jumped up. "I'll go get him. We don't want you to leave yet, Lantis. I'll bring him back in." With that, she turned and ran out the door, crimson braid flying behind her as she went.
~*~
Eagle stared at the rain as it made patterns in a shallow puddle. Long strands of silver-blond hair, soft and shining as wet silk, fell into his eyes obscuring all vision but what was straight downwards. If he let the tears well up in his eyes, everything blurred, painting a picture. Like the silky grey a mirror would be, he thought, if there were nothing to reflect in it.
"Hey."
Eagle jumped at the sound of the soft voice behind him. Turning, he saw Hikaru. He turned away again, pulling up his knees and folding his arms across them. "Hey."
The red-haired girl came to stand next to the car. "Mind if I join you?" Eagle shook his head, chin resting on his arms. Hikaru gently climbed up on the car next to him. "You sure do have a nice car."
"Yeah?" Eagle let out a bitter laugh. "All it does is confirm everything that guy Lafarga was insinuating. I'm just a spoiled little rich kid. I cry and get whatever I want."
"That's not the way I see you." Hikaru interrupted. "At all." Eagle glanced at her and then turned away, concentrating on the rain again. "Do you know what I see, Eagle? I see one of the nicest, most interesting people I've ever known."
"You don't know me." He said, voice monotonic.
"Yes I do!" she insisted. "I see the way you act with people. That's enough. The way you always seem to know and understand what a person is feeling like...how nice you were to Lantis at the fencing match, and to all his friends, even though they were rude and unwelcoming." Eagle slowly turned and looked at her, a hopeful look in his eyes, as if he desperately wanted reassurance, *needed* it. "And I can see immediatly that you're interesting." she continued. "You've got this bubbly personality, Eagle, it just keeps brimming over so that it can't be concealed! You can be such a klutz, and then move with such grace when you're fencing, or when sliding out of a car or sitting down at a table. You have this savoir faire that just exudes from your every movement...except when you're tripping or falling down, of course!" Eagle couldn't help but laugh with her. "Don't ever let anyone tell you you're something you're not, Eagle." she said softly. Eagle smiled slightly. "Thank you."
Hikaru smiled back. "No problem. Now," she continued, "what do you say we go have some food?"
Smiling slightly, Eagle reached out and brushed the soaking wet tendrils of red hair out of Hikaru's eyes. "Sure thing." Sliding off the car, he bowed and offered her his hand. Giggling, she accepted, sliding off the hood and taking his arm as he offered it. Eagle tried to hold back a smile as he adopted an air of false snobbery, trying to make Hikaru laugh. It worked. The sight of skinny Eagle with his nose in the air trying to look cool and failing (due to the fact that he was soaking wet, hair driping in his eyes) was too much for Hikaru to take. She burst out laughing.
"Oh, think I'm funny, *do* you?!" Eagle growled in mock anger. Without warning, he grabbed Hikaru around the waist and hoisted her, shrieking, into the air before dumping her uncerimoniously over his shoulder.
"AHHH! Eagle! Put me down!" she cried, laughing and gently banging her fists against his shoulder. Eagle's only response was to laugh maniacly and continue inside, Hikaru kicking and laughing the whole way.
~end of part 9~
A/N: Heheheheh....Eagle in leather pants and a skin-tight T w/ the words "sex kitten" on it? Rowr. Heheh. In case anyone was wondering, the curly-haired girl who kept passing out was supposed to be me. Lol, yay. I hope that if I'm ever in a situation like that, I won't be passed out so long that he'll escape. I want to be able to jump him. Muahahahaha. Yeah, anyway, they're starting to fall for each other. Awwww...so cute. *singing* CAAAAAAAAAN YOU FEEEEEEEEEL THE LOOOOOOOOOVE TONIIIIIIIIIIGHT? *stops* Okay, enough of that. I just loooooove Eagle/Lantis shonen-ai sooooooooo much! MKR is the first anime I ever saw (thank you *MARCY*!) and I was in love w/ Eagle instantly, and he and Lantis are just so cuuuuuute! *goes mad w/ squeals* Okay, stopping now. I mean, as much as I like Hikaru (I've been compared to her only too often), she just can't have Lantis. LANTIS BELONGS TO EAGLE AND EAGLE ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, in anime. Otherwise, he's Marcy's (lol). Still, that's the first shonen-ai I ever saw in anime, and now I'm obsessed. None of my friends ever liked shonen-ai, until *I* got them obessed. MUAHAHAHAHA! I remember telling Marcy about how Zagato and Innova obviously had something going on, and she refused to believe it. She actually thought it was gross. Now she agrees, and loves it, lol. YAY! SHONEN-AI FOREVAH! Okay, I'm sounding totally teeny-bopper. Not that there's anything *wrong* with teenyboppers...it's just not me. Sorry, I've been studying Trig *all* *day*, and I'm so *DAMN* SICK OF IT!!!!!!!! I HATE *MATH*!!!!! Oh well, almost done. Must leave now..no more to type, and I'm rambling. Sayonara!
Thanks to:
MARCY!!! (what a surprise, right? Yeah, sure it is.) For introducing me to anime, and Eagle and Lantis and all the PRETTY shonen-ai!
Rachel (aka Quillow here @ ff.net) Just for being there for me all the time and putting up with me and all my random bullshit. Love yay! === (heheh....supposed to be "love ya" but it's another random typo from another random moron {being me...again.})
Once again, // are for thoughts.
Lantis stared into space, mouth slightly open and eyes wide. Lost in thought, he was blanked out completely. He couldn't help but review the events of the past few days. So many things had happened...the fencing match, most importantly. Seeing Ferio and the others again had been enough to put him in a daze for a long time, without even throwing Eagle or those new girls into the mix. //Eagle...// Lantis felt a slight burning sensation as a blush crept up his face once again. The memory of Eagle holding Lantis in his arms kept playing through the ebony-haired boys head. He shook it off, shaking his head as if to refuse that it happened at all, but he couldn't make the blush go away. Then, another thought pushed its way in: Hikaru. That skinny little red-haired girl at the fencing match. The memory of her smiling face kept forcing itself into his mind, though he couldn't figure out why. Lantis tried to pushed that one out of his head, but then the thought of Eagle tried to force its way back in. //No!// He pushed all thoughts of Eagle back out. "Okay, concentrate on Hikaru. Hikaru." //Hikaru...//
~*~
Eagle opened his eyes blearily, attempted to focus on his alarm clock, and failed. He tried again, squinting his eyes. "Oh," he said aloud. "7:02." Eagle rolled over and wrapped his arms around his pillow, curling up into a little ball to go back to sleep. "SEVEN O TWO?!?!?!?!" Eagle threw himself out of bed, promptly tripping over his bookbag. He tried to avoid falling and succeeding only in stepping on his cat's tail. The aforementioned cat let out a hissing shriek that was loud enough to wake the dead. Eagle whirled around. "Oh, sorry, Kage!" he cried out as he turned, stepping backwards and tripping over his fencing bag. Grabbing frantically for something to prevent the inevitable fall, he managed to grab on to the curtains, still falling over and tearing them down with him, accompanied by a loud riiiiiiiiiiiiiiip as they rent in two. Eagle sat on the floor, long legs stretched out in front of him as he stared at the mess he created. "Oh. Shit." Quickly, he scrambled to his feet (nearly falling again) and pulled on the first pair of pants he yanked out of his drawer. Pulling open the drawer he kept his shirts in, he slowly realized that laundry day had been Saturday, and he had missed it. "SHIT!" Eagle bolted into his sister's room and tore open her drawer. She borrowed his shirts often enough, he was sure there would be one in there.
"Eagle, what are you doing?" Tori was still in bed, but was half sitting up and looking at him with unfocussed eyes.
"I need a shirt, Tori! You've got to have one of mine in here!" he said frantically, rummaging through her drawers.
"Yeah, I think one of your black t-shirts is in there." With that, Tori flopped back onto the bed. Eagle dug through the t-shirts. //Success!// Pulling the black shirt out of the drawer, he turned and pounded down the stairs, calling thanks to his sister over his shoulder as he went. He bolted out the door, shirt in tow as he jumped into his car. //Shoot, no wife-beater either. Now I have to show up at school half-naked!// Gunning the car out of the driveway, Eagle's last thought was that he hoped Lantis at least would appreciate the show. //The sad thing is, I'm only half kidding about that!//
~*~
Lantis, Geo, and Zazu were clustered outside the school building. Lantis checked his watch impatiently.
"Dammit! He's got a total of two minutes before he's offically late, and I'm going to class."
Geo grinned. "He's been later. Take it easy, he'll be here. Probably driving dangerously."
"As usual," Lantis agreed, sighing in exasperation.
"And he'll have forgotten something," Zazu added.
"As usual," both Geo and Zazu chimed in together. At that moment, Eagle tore into the parking lot, nearly taking out the stop sign (which he ignored completely) and three students.
"And heeeeeeeere's Eagle." Zazu grinned as he watched Eagle do a kamikaze turn into his usual parking space, yet ending up perfectly parked on his first try. As Eagle climbed out of his car, it became instantly obvious what he had forgotten: his shirt.
"EAGLE!" Zazu hollered, "PUT SOME CLOTHES ON! FOR THE LOVE OF *GOD*, PUT SOME CLOTHES ON!"
"Shut up, Zazu," Eagle growled as he took the steps two at a time. "I have a shirt with me." He looked at Lantis, whose eyes were lowered more than usual. What's he looking a-Oh my *GOD*, is he checking me out?!?!" Lantis was indeed looking at Eagle's shirtless state, and the look in his eyes made it obvious he had more than curiousity about the situation on his mind. Suddenly, he seemed to notice both what he was doing and the fact that *Eagle* had noticed what he was doing. His head snapped up and his eyes widened with shock, staring momentarily at Eagle. When Eagle smiled brightly at him, Lantis averted his eyes, a blush spreading up his face faster than Eagle could manage to trip and fall.
"You've got clothes?" Geo asked. He sighed in over-exagerrated happiness. "Thank God!"
"Shut up, Geo," Eagle snapped. "I grabbed one of my shirts that Tori stole from me." He quickly pulled the black shirt over his head. "That's funny, it feels tighter than usual...a *lot* tighter. You think maybe it shrunk?" Eagle slowly realized that his friends were in hysterics. Even *Lantis* was laughing. "What?!" he asked, slowly noticing that strange, nervous feeling that he usually only felt when his pants were unzipped while he was in the middle of his debate speech and everyone knew it but him. He looked down at his shirt. "OH MY *GOD*!!!!!"
This shirt was *definately* not his. It *was* black, but it was much shorter than his was, and skin-tight. Across the front, the words "Sex Kitten," were inked in red. Lantis, Geo and Zazu were now howling with laughter as other students began to take notice.
"SHIT! GUYS! WHATAMIGOINGTODOOOOOOOOOO?!?!?!?!??!?!" Eagle grabbed Geo by the collar, shaking him frantically and jumping up and down. Geo laughed, gently removing Eagle from his collar.
"I don't know, Eagle. I guess you're going to have to deal with it." The bell rang for class and Geo, Lantis and Zazu began heading in. Eagle stared after his friends for a moment before running to join them.
"DEAL WITH IT?! I CAN'T *DEAL* WITH IT! MY SHIRT SAYS 'SEX KITTEN' ON IT! I LOOK LIKE A FREAKING TRANSVESTITE HOOKER!" It was only then that Eagle realized how loud he was. Again. Slowly turning to look around him, he saw every student and faculty member in the hallway staring at him. He could feel his face turning bright red. Turning back around, he dropped his head against Lantis' chest with a light thud, burrowing into the taller boy's shirt. "I wanna go home," he whimpered.
Blushing bright red, Lantis put his arms gingerly around Eagle's slim shoulders. "It's okay, Eagle. No one's gonna care. Anyone who makes fun of you and truly means it isn't really your friend, and you don't have to care what they think."
Eagle looked up at Lantis, smiling gratefully. "Thanks, Lantis." The ebony-haired boy blushed furiously. "We better get to class," Eagle said, not wanting to let go of Lantis. He pulled away reluctantly, shouldering his backpack again. As the boys began walking to class, the comments began.
"Whoo hoo, *hottie*!"
"Rowr! Sex kitten!"
"Hey, Eagle, you open for business?"
Eagle whimpered again. When they turned the corner, a group of girls caught sight of Eagle in the shirt and let out excited shrieks. A girl with curly brown hair passed out from a nosebleed. Geo grinned at Eagle.
"See, Eagle?" he said as the girl came out of her unconcious stupor, "I guess there are some perks to the shirt."
"Yes," Eagle responded, grinning. "Maybe I should get some leather pants to go with it." At the leather pants comment, the girl passed out once again. Geo shook his head, grinning.
"Come on, Sex kitten. Let's get to class."
~*~
The bell rang for last period, and Lantis bolted out the door after Eagle, who had quickly made his escape. "Hey, Eagle!" Lantis jogged out the doors of the school towards his friend. Eagle turned around. When he saw who was calling him, his face softened into that oh-so-familiar smile.
"Hi, Lantis! What's up?"
"Well, I was going to go see Ferio and the others, and I wanted to know if you wanted to come."
"I'd love to!" Eagle replied cheerfully. "That is, if you're sure you'd want me to," he ammended hastily.
"Definately!"
"Great!" Eagle laughed evily. "I'm driving!"
"Oh kami-sama," Lantis groaned as he slid into Eagle's car, making sure his seatbelt was tight as could be, "What am I getting myself into?"
The cd began playing, the loud scream of Ozzie Osbourne cutting through the air. "ALL ABOOOOAAARD!" Eagle laughed mainiacly, gunning the car and tearing out of the parking lot, wind whipping through his hair as he began singing loudly along with "Crazy Train."
~*~
"Where *is* he?!" Lafarga demanded impatienly. Clef sighed.
"I'm sure he'll be here shortly, Lafarga!"
"Yeah, calm down, sweetie," Caldina admonished him, swatting his arm gently. The tall blond's face softened as he looked at his girlfriend.
"Sorry, Cal. I just...I don't like him leaving Cephiro High and then just expecting to take up where he left off as if nothing happened."
"I'm glad he's back," she responded, "I think he's sweet."
Lafarga's eyes flashed in mock jealousy. "Sweeter than me?"
She laughed. "Aw, you're not sweet!"
"No?" Lafarga shot back, grinning. "Then what *am* I?"
"You? You're an animal!" Caldina teased.
Ferio sighed, looking out the window. Outside the fast food restuarant, the rain poured down, soaking the people outside and pounding on the cars. A silver Rayearth pulled into the parking lot at top speed and turned haphazardly into the nearest parking space.
"Wow," Ferio said absentmindedly. "Wish *I* had a car like that!"
"Very snazz," Clef agreed, loudly slurping the last of his soda through a straw.
"It's not so impressive," Umi said, looking at it skeptically. Being rich herself, not much could impress Umi. From where he was seated next to Umi, Ascot turned and peered out the window.
"Hey, isn't that the car that rich kid owned? You know, Lantis' new friend, the klutzy one who beat Umi?" Umi glowered and Ascot turned bright red and sweatdropped.
Ferio looked closer. "Now that you mention it..." At that moment, the passenger side door opened and Lantis stepped out. "Here he is!" Ferio cried, excitement in his voice as he bounced childishly up and down in his seat. Then, the aforementioned "rich kid" slid gracefully out of the other side of the car with none of his usual klutziness. As opposed to the casualness of Lantis' jeans and varisty jacket, Eagle was dressed to the nines in what was obviously, for *him*, "casual wear": crisply pressed khaki pants and a white button-down shirt completely undone, exposing his wife beater. Laughing loudly, the two entered the restaurant.
"Hey, guys!" Lantis said, eyes sparkling still with the laughter from a moment before.
"What's *he* doing here?" Lafarga growled under his breath as he stared at Eagle.
"My sentiments exactly!" Umi added, folding her arms across her chest and glaring. Lantis slid easily into the booth across from Ascot and next to Clef.
Eagle stood near the table, staring down at the unfamiliar faces, which were all staring back at him. He smiled broadly. "Hi."
"Hello again, Eagle," Clef smiled back. "Won't you join us?"
"I'd love to!" Eagle slid easily into the booth, right across from Umi and Hikaru. Eagle smiled. Umi glowered.
"Hi, Eagle!" Hikaru grinned at him. "It's nice to see you again!"
"It's so nice to see *you* again, Miss Hikaru Shidou!" Eagle laughed. "How have you been?"
"Oh, I've been fine! I'm so happy you came *too*! I wanted to see you and Lantis again so very much!"
"I'm glad to hear it! I wanted to see you again, too!"
"Really?!"
"Really really!"
"Wow!"
Lafarga rolled his eyes. "Geez, don't get too close, you'll go into sugar shock," he muttered. "OW!" The last part came when Caldina kicked him discreetly under the table. "So, where's the *rest* of the posse, hmmm?"
Eagle turned to look at Lafarga, still smiling from his exchange with Hikaru. "Hmmm?"
"What?" Lafarga mocked.
Eagle stared, confused. "*What*?" he asked. Lafarga rolled his eyes again, laughing softly in disbelief at Eagle's obvious confusion. Eagle stared at him for a moment before it seemed to hit him.
"OHHHHHHHH, you mean Geo and Zazu! Oh, they're probably off killing each other somewhere."
"Nice." Lafarga scoffed. Eagle gave him a weird look, nudging Lantis with a look in his eyes that clearly said 'what's up with *this* guy?'
"So-" Eagle began, turning back to Hikaru.
"-So what's with the outfit, Eagle?" Lafarga interrupted. Caldina attempted to shush him, but Eagle turned, looking confused again.
"What do you mean?" he asked, looking down at his clothing.
"Why are you so dressed up?"
Eagle was obviously lost. "...dressed...up?"
"Well, it just doesn't seem to fit in here," Lafarga continued, indicating the fast food restaurant around them. The unspoken message was obvious: You don't belong here. The whole table was silent. Eagle seemed to understand now that Lafarga was making fun of him. "I..." he looked down at the table. "I...I just..." He stood up. "I'm sorry." Turning, he began walking briskly towards the exit, obviously upset, bumping into a bus boy and knocking him slightly askew.
"Hey, watch it pal!" the bus boy yelled after him. Eagle simply walked on, straight out the door and to his car, but he didn't get in. He pushed himself up onto the hood and sat in the rain; back hunched and staring at the ground, he cut a very forlorn figure.
The table was silent. Lantis stared out the window.
"Well, thank you, *Lafarga*!" he said finally, voice angry. "I better go."
"No!" Hikaru jumped up. "I'll go get him. We don't want you to leave yet, Lantis. I'll bring him back in." With that, she turned and ran out the door, crimson braid flying behind her as she went.
~*~
Eagle stared at the rain as it made patterns in a shallow puddle. Long strands of silver-blond hair, soft and shining as wet silk, fell into his eyes obscuring all vision but what was straight downwards. If he let the tears well up in his eyes, everything blurred, painting a picture. Like the silky grey a mirror would be, he thought, if there were nothing to reflect in it.
"Hey."
Eagle jumped at the sound of the soft voice behind him. Turning, he saw Hikaru. He turned away again, pulling up his knees and folding his arms across them. "Hey."
The red-haired girl came to stand next to the car. "Mind if I join you?" Eagle shook his head, chin resting on his arms. Hikaru gently climbed up on the car next to him. "You sure do have a nice car."
"Yeah?" Eagle let out a bitter laugh. "All it does is confirm everything that guy Lafarga was insinuating. I'm just a spoiled little rich kid. I cry and get whatever I want."
"That's not the way I see you." Hikaru interrupted. "At all." Eagle glanced at her and then turned away, concentrating on the rain again. "Do you know what I see, Eagle? I see one of the nicest, most interesting people I've ever known."
"You don't know me." He said, voice monotonic.
"Yes I do!" she insisted. "I see the way you act with people. That's enough. The way you always seem to know and understand what a person is feeling like...how nice you were to Lantis at the fencing match, and to all his friends, even though they were rude and unwelcoming." Eagle slowly turned and looked at her, a hopeful look in his eyes, as if he desperately wanted reassurance, *needed* it. "And I can see immediatly that you're interesting." she continued. "You've got this bubbly personality, Eagle, it just keeps brimming over so that it can't be concealed! You can be such a klutz, and then move with such grace when you're fencing, or when sliding out of a car or sitting down at a table. You have this savoir faire that just exudes from your every movement...except when you're tripping or falling down, of course!" Eagle couldn't help but laugh with her. "Don't ever let anyone tell you you're something you're not, Eagle." she said softly. Eagle smiled slightly. "Thank you."
Hikaru smiled back. "No problem. Now," she continued, "what do you say we go have some food?"
Smiling slightly, Eagle reached out and brushed the soaking wet tendrils of red hair out of Hikaru's eyes. "Sure thing." Sliding off the car, he bowed and offered her his hand. Giggling, she accepted, sliding off the hood and taking his arm as he offered it. Eagle tried to hold back a smile as he adopted an air of false snobbery, trying to make Hikaru laugh. It worked. The sight of skinny Eagle with his nose in the air trying to look cool and failing (due to the fact that he was soaking wet, hair driping in his eyes) was too much for Hikaru to take. She burst out laughing.
"Oh, think I'm funny, *do* you?!" Eagle growled in mock anger. Without warning, he grabbed Hikaru around the waist and hoisted her, shrieking, into the air before dumping her uncerimoniously over his shoulder.
"AHHH! Eagle! Put me down!" she cried, laughing and gently banging her fists against his shoulder. Eagle's only response was to laugh maniacly and continue inside, Hikaru kicking and laughing the whole way.
~end of part 9~
A/N: Heheheheh....Eagle in leather pants and a skin-tight T w/ the words "sex kitten" on it? Rowr. Heheh. In case anyone was wondering, the curly-haired girl who kept passing out was supposed to be me. Lol, yay. I hope that if I'm ever in a situation like that, I won't be passed out so long that he'll escape. I want to be able to jump him. Muahahahaha. Yeah, anyway, they're starting to fall for each other. Awwww...so cute. *singing* CAAAAAAAAAN YOU FEEEEEEEEEL THE LOOOOOOOOOVE TONIIIIIIIIIIGHT? *stops* Okay, enough of that. I just loooooove Eagle/Lantis shonen-ai sooooooooo much! MKR is the first anime I ever saw (thank you *MARCY*!) and I was in love w/ Eagle instantly, and he and Lantis are just so cuuuuuute! *goes mad w/ squeals* Okay, stopping now. I mean, as much as I like Hikaru (I've been compared to her only too often), she just can't have Lantis. LANTIS BELONGS TO EAGLE AND EAGLE ALONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Well, in anime. Otherwise, he's Marcy's (lol). Still, that's the first shonen-ai I ever saw in anime, and now I'm obsessed. None of my friends ever liked shonen-ai, until *I* got them obessed. MUAHAHAHAHA! I remember telling Marcy about how Zagato and Innova obviously had something going on, and she refused to believe it. She actually thought it was gross. Now she agrees, and loves it, lol. YAY! SHONEN-AI FOREVAH! Okay, I'm sounding totally teeny-bopper. Not that there's anything *wrong* with teenyboppers...it's just not me. Sorry, I've been studying Trig *all* *day*, and I'm so *DAMN* SICK OF IT!!!!!!!! I HATE *MATH*!!!!! Oh well, almost done. Must leave now..no more to type, and I'm rambling. Sayonara!
Thanks to:
MARCY!!! (what a surprise, right? Yeah, sure it is.) For introducing me to anime, and Eagle and Lantis and all the PRETTY shonen-ai!
Rachel (aka Quillow here @ ff.net) Just for being there for me all the time and putting up with me and all my random bullshit. Love yay! === (heheh....supposed to be "love ya" but it's another random typo from another random moron {being me...again.})