~Chapter four~
Headmistress Trepe was in her office when her assistant buzzed her, disturbing her
from her work.
"What is it Marina?" She said impatiently.
"It's Squall Leonhart on line one, video phone ma'am. Should I take a message?"
The timid assistant murmured.
"Do speak up in future Marina and no, I'd like to talk to him personally. Thank you."
And with that she hung up the phone and switched the videophone to line one.
"Any news on her yet Squall?" Quistis asked, her face creasing with worry as she
took in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth. He shook his head.
"We haven't found her yet, but we did find a pamphlet in her room. It was for
Balamb Garden and some of Kaddar's weapons are missing." He said sullenly. "So I
believe she may of headed there, she's not stupid so she wont enrol under her
name. I want you to keep an eye out for her okay?" Quistis nodded.
"I promise. Recently, we've only had a couple enrolments; two males and two
females. I'll check out the girls for you." Quistis promised. Squall murmured his
thanks and flashed her a ghost of smile before he ended the transmission.
Quistis leant back with a heavy sigh and pulled the two new girls files from under a
pile of paperwork, thanking Hyne she hadn't got around to filing them yet. Pressing
a button on the phone, she buzzed Marina.
"Marina I want Delia Mackenzie and Maki Genoa in my office by the hour's end."
Rolling her eyes for the third time in the past hour, Fureya snorted and stalked off
leaving Willard flirting with some blonde. She wasn't sure why, but lately whenever
her roommate stopped to chase some skirts, Fureya's hackles would rise and she'd
become curt and irritable. It bothered her almost as much as him flirting bothered
her.
In a typical female act, Fureya weaved through aisles of male clothing with a sulky
attitude. Whilst muttering under her breath, she didn't notice that Macen and
Garret had found her.
" . . . Hormonal male teenage who can never keep his hands to his self and is
always checking out that blonde and this brunette. Why I ought to." Fureya's
muttered ramblings trailed off as Garret and Macen exchanged glances. This was
odd behaviour to them, but they just shrugged it off.
"What's up, Furei?" Macen chirped, slapping her on the back and startling her out
of her muttering daze.
"Huh? Oh, hey." She blinked and stared up at them and noted the strange looks.
"What?" They looked at each other and shrugged again.
"I believe you were muttering about our skirt chasing friend." Teased Macen
wickedly, drawing a faint blush from Fureya who shrugged in reply.
"It's just. Err. He always scares the girls away." She mumbled as a cover up.
Garret nodded in agreement and stroked his chin in thought.
"You have a point." With a sigh he turned to face Macen. "We must quash him or
perish dateless." Macen nodded solemnly and glanced at Fureya.
"You in, Hanover?" He queried imperiously. Fureya felt a giggle bubble up in her
throat, but smothered it and nodded seriously.
"For the sake of our reputation. No, for the sake of every other male's reputation
at Balamb Garden we must quash the skirt chaser." Fureya said fiercely and struck
a triumphant pose.
"Are you talking about me?" A dry voice drawled from behind them. Fureya jumped,
startled by the voice and turned to face a smirking Willard. "I scare away all your
women?" He snorted in amusement and grinned. "You have to have women to
have them scared off." He stated and winked at them. "Anyway, it's time we head
back to Balamb."
And with that the four of them piled into the car and began the thirty-minute drive
home.
~*~
After finally satisfying the librarian, the pair of girls snuck out of the library.
"Man. I thought we'd never get out of there. Talk about ruling with an iron fist."
Moaned Vivienne as she pushed stray locks of hair behind her ear. Keladryie
grimaced in agreement as she stretched her numb legs.
"She's just a twisted up old woman." Yelped Kella as pins and needles set in.
"I do hope I didn't hear that fall from your mouth, Miss Almasy." Headmistress
Trepe stated primly as she came up behind them. "That would be considered
vulgar, and SeeD members are not vulgar." She chastised firmly and raised a
questioning eyebrow.
"No Headmistress." The girls chanted in unison, feigning innocent looks. Quistis
chuckled softly and shook her head before striding down the corridor.
"'SeeD members are not vulgar.'" Mimicked Keladryie sourly as she stalked into the
cafeteria. Grabbing a bottle of juice, she sat down at a table and pulled the lid off
of the bottle. Taking a swallow as Vivienne plonked into the seat next to her, she
made a face. Opening her mouth to speak, she was silenced by an arm falling
across her shoulder with a hand placing its self dangerously close to her chest.
"Why if it isn't my two favourite girls." Drawled a familiar voice. Keladryie grimaced
and turned to see Willard with his arms around both her and Vivienne. Shrugging
his arm off, she got to her feet and grabbed hold of his collar.
"You keep your hands to yourself." She hissed fiercely, a sneer curling her top lip.
Willard smiled lazily at her, mischief glowing in his dark eyes.
"You like it rough, do ya?" He prodded tauntingly. Keladryie responded by shoving
him backwards forcefully and watched as he stumbled back, knocking a table and
one of his friends.
"You watch your mouth, Trepe." She snarled. "Just because your mothers in
charge it doesn't mean you can control everyone like that bitch." Willard shrugged
and brushed some invisible lint off of his pants.
"Just because your father was right screw up doesn't mean you can act like a
grumpy minx." He stated coolly, watching her through his lashes. Keladryie turned
red with rage as the warmth of anger built up under her cheekbones.
"You know nothing about my father." She growled and picked up her almost full
juice bottle. With some force, she threw it at Willard. The bottle bounced off his
chest and onto Fureya's shoulder, spilling its contents all over the pair.
With that, Keladryie stormed out, seething with fury.
"Sorry mate." Willard said to a wet Fureya as she looked down at her shirt in
dismay.
"It's okay." She sighed and the pair of them went back to the dorm to change.
Fureya stripped off her shirt and threw it in the basket in the corner. Unlacing her
corset she sighed as she tucked it in a drawer and pulled out a clean one. She
couldn't put it in her washing basket, if it were found she'd never be able to
explain it. Laying the clean corset on the bed, she towelled of the remnants of the
juice with a sigh. Just as she picked up the corset, her bedroom door flung open.
"Furei!" Called Willard as he entered. Fureya swung around her grey eyes saucer
wide as she stared at him. Naked from the waist up, she had never felt so
exposed. "Hyne." Stammered an uneasy Willard as he took in the form of his best
friend. "You.. You're a girl!" He stuttered as he took a step back. Fureya blushed
and turned around.
"Let me dress and.. And Ill explain everything." She mumbled lamely as he nodded
and exited, shutting the door behind him.
Fureya let out a string of curses and slid her corset into place, tying the laces up
tightly. Pulling on a clean shirt she took a deep breath and opened the door.
Standing in front of him, she paused not sure where to start.
"Who are you and why are you disguising your sex? Balamb Garden approves of
both male and female warriors." Willard questioned softly, his confusion burning
brightly in his eyes as he studied her face.
"My name is Fureya Leonhart." She swallowed recklessly and looked him in the
eye. "As the daughter of Squall Leonhart and younger sister of Kaddar, I was
nobody. I was never good enough but I've beaten Kaddar many times! Everyone
flocks around my brother and my father, they tell me to give up and that I'm just a
girl! So I ran away here and became a boy, I even cut off my hair." To her shame
tears dripped down her cheeks. Willard stared at her for a long moment.
"Squall's daughter? Of all the possible roommates I could have, I get one who
broke my nose when I was twelve." He murmured, a mischievous glint in his eyes
as he ran his finger over the tiny bump in his nose. Fureya smiled through her
tears and sniffed.
"You can't tell anyone, okay?" She hiccoughed. "Promise?" She stared up at him
her eyes silver and pleading in her pale face. For a moment could see a frightened
little girl and the look in her eyes tugged on his heartstrings.
"I promise Fureya." He said softly and hugged her quickly. "Now come on, the guys
are waiting for us." Fureya grinned and wiped her eyes.
"Oh wait." She said suddenly. "What was so important you had to barge into my
room anyway?" Will looked at her meekly.
"I was wondering if you took the last chocolate bar. I was going to rough you up
about it too." He said cheerfully. Fureya looked at him dubiously before laughing
and the pair left together, pretending as if nothing had changed between them.
~*~
Monday afternoon and they were back in the re opened training grounds. Well
technically not in it, but in the special room that had been added in recently to
accommodate such lessons.
"Today children, we shall have a demonstration. According to my knowledge, Miss
Almasy and Master Trepe consider themselves so advanced in their weapon
studies that they can show off." She stared pointedly at the pair. "Almasy. Trepe.
Arm yourselves now and prepare to demonstrate the skills you have accumulated
over the years." Weapons Mistress Kumara's voice was like a whip, lashing through
the air. Sighing softly, the pair armed themselves and prepared to begin.
"After you have finished your demonstration. I have a room full of weapons that
require cleaning and a room that requires sweeping." She said smugly. "Now I want
the rest of you to gather around, sit comfortably, and call out the flaws in the
fighters technique as they happen. And afterwards you may have the afternoon
off while this pair clean." Mistress Kumara declared tartly. "You may begin."
Keladryie glared at Willard, blaming him. He just responded with a lazy smile,
knowing it was going to be an interesting afternoon.
Headmistress Trepe was in her office when her assistant buzzed her, disturbing her
from her work.
"What is it Marina?" She said impatiently.
"It's Squall Leonhart on line one, video phone ma'am. Should I take a message?"
The timid assistant murmured.
"Do speak up in future Marina and no, I'd like to talk to him personally. Thank you."
And with that she hung up the phone and switched the videophone to line one.
"Any news on her yet Squall?" Quistis asked, her face creasing with worry as she
took in the fine lines at the corners of his eyes and mouth. He shook his head.
"We haven't found her yet, but we did find a pamphlet in her room. It was for
Balamb Garden and some of Kaddar's weapons are missing." He said sullenly. "So I
believe she may of headed there, she's not stupid so she wont enrol under her
name. I want you to keep an eye out for her okay?" Quistis nodded.
"I promise. Recently, we've only had a couple enrolments; two males and two
females. I'll check out the girls for you." Quistis promised. Squall murmured his
thanks and flashed her a ghost of smile before he ended the transmission.
Quistis leant back with a heavy sigh and pulled the two new girls files from under a
pile of paperwork, thanking Hyne she hadn't got around to filing them yet. Pressing
a button on the phone, she buzzed Marina.
"Marina I want Delia Mackenzie and Maki Genoa in my office by the hour's end."
Rolling her eyes for the third time in the past hour, Fureya snorted and stalked off
leaving Willard flirting with some blonde. She wasn't sure why, but lately whenever
her roommate stopped to chase some skirts, Fureya's hackles would rise and she'd
become curt and irritable. It bothered her almost as much as him flirting bothered
her.
In a typical female act, Fureya weaved through aisles of male clothing with a sulky
attitude. Whilst muttering under her breath, she didn't notice that Macen and
Garret had found her.
" . . . Hormonal male teenage who can never keep his hands to his self and is
always checking out that blonde and this brunette. Why I ought to." Fureya's
muttered ramblings trailed off as Garret and Macen exchanged glances. This was
odd behaviour to them, but they just shrugged it off.
"What's up, Furei?" Macen chirped, slapping her on the back and startling her out
of her muttering daze.
"Huh? Oh, hey." She blinked and stared up at them and noted the strange looks.
"What?" They looked at each other and shrugged again.
"I believe you were muttering about our skirt chasing friend." Teased Macen
wickedly, drawing a faint blush from Fureya who shrugged in reply.
"It's just. Err. He always scares the girls away." She mumbled as a cover up.
Garret nodded in agreement and stroked his chin in thought.
"You have a point." With a sigh he turned to face Macen. "We must quash him or
perish dateless." Macen nodded solemnly and glanced at Fureya.
"You in, Hanover?" He queried imperiously. Fureya felt a giggle bubble up in her
throat, but smothered it and nodded seriously.
"For the sake of our reputation. No, for the sake of every other male's reputation
at Balamb Garden we must quash the skirt chaser." Fureya said fiercely and struck
a triumphant pose.
"Are you talking about me?" A dry voice drawled from behind them. Fureya jumped,
startled by the voice and turned to face a smirking Willard. "I scare away all your
women?" He snorted in amusement and grinned. "You have to have women to
have them scared off." He stated and winked at them. "Anyway, it's time we head
back to Balamb."
And with that the four of them piled into the car and began the thirty-minute drive
home.
~*~
After finally satisfying the librarian, the pair of girls snuck out of the library.
"Man. I thought we'd never get out of there. Talk about ruling with an iron fist."
Moaned Vivienne as she pushed stray locks of hair behind her ear. Keladryie
grimaced in agreement as she stretched her numb legs.
"She's just a twisted up old woman." Yelped Kella as pins and needles set in.
"I do hope I didn't hear that fall from your mouth, Miss Almasy." Headmistress
Trepe stated primly as she came up behind them. "That would be considered
vulgar, and SeeD members are not vulgar." She chastised firmly and raised a
questioning eyebrow.
"No Headmistress." The girls chanted in unison, feigning innocent looks. Quistis
chuckled softly and shook her head before striding down the corridor.
"'SeeD members are not vulgar.'" Mimicked Keladryie sourly as she stalked into the
cafeteria. Grabbing a bottle of juice, she sat down at a table and pulled the lid off
of the bottle. Taking a swallow as Vivienne plonked into the seat next to her, she
made a face. Opening her mouth to speak, she was silenced by an arm falling
across her shoulder with a hand placing its self dangerously close to her chest.
"Why if it isn't my two favourite girls." Drawled a familiar voice. Keladryie grimaced
and turned to see Willard with his arms around both her and Vivienne. Shrugging
his arm off, she got to her feet and grabbed hold of his collar.
"You keep your hands to yourself." She hissed fiercely, a sneer curling her top lip.
Willard smiled lazily at her, mischief glowing in his dark eyes.
"You like it rough, do ya?" He prodded tauntingly. Keladryie responded by shoving
him backwards forcefully and watched as he stumbled back, knocking a table and
one of his friends.
"You watch your mouth, Trepe." She snarled. "Just because your mothers in
charge it doesn't mean you can control everyone like that bitch." Willard shrugged
and brushed some invisible lint off of his pants.
"Just because your father was right screw up doesn't mean you can act like a
grumpy minx." He stated coolly, watching her through his lashes. Keladryie turned
red with rage as the warmth of anger built up under her cheekbones.
"You know nothing about my father." She growled and picked up her almost full
juice bottle. With some force, she threw it at Willard. The bottle bounced off his
chest and onto Fureya's shoulder, spilling its contents all over the pair.
With that, Keladryie stormed out, seething with fury.
"Sorry mate." Willard said to a wet Fureya as she looked down at her shirt in
dismay.
"It's okay." She sighed and the pair of them went back to the dorm to change.
Fureya stripped off her shirt and threw it in the basket in the corner. Unlacing her
corset she sighed as she tucked it in a drawer and pulled out a clean one. She
couldn't put it in her washing basket, if it were found she'd never be able to
explain it. Laying the clean corset on the bed, she towelled of the remnants of the
juice with a sigh. Just as she picked up the corset, her bedroom door flung open.
"Furei!" Called Willard as he entered. Fureya swung around her grey eyes saucer
wide as she stared at him. Naked from the waist up, she had never felt so
exposed. "Hyne." Stammered an uneasy Willard as he took in the form of his best
friend. "You.. You're a girl!" He stuttered as he took a step back. Fureya blushed
and turned around.
"Let me dress and.. And Ill explain everything." She mumbled lamely as he nodded
and exited, shutting the door behind him.
Fureya let out a string of curses and slid her corset into place, tying the laces up
tightly. Pulling on a clean shirt she took a deep breath and opened the door.
Standing in front of him, she paused not sure where to start.
"Who are you and why are you disguising your sex? Balamb Garden approves of
both male and female warriors." Willard questioned softly, his confusion burning
brightly in his eyes as he studied her face.
"My name is Fureya Leonhart." She swallowed recklessly and looked him in the
eye. "As the daughter of Squall Leonhart and younger sister of Kaddar, I was
nobody. I was never good enough but I've beaten Kaddar many times! Everyone
flocks around my brother and my father, they tell me to give up and that I'm just a
girl! So I ran away here and became a boy, I even cut off my hair." To her shame
tears dripped down her cheeks. Willard stared at her for a long moment.
"Squall's daughter? Of all the possible roommates I could have, I get one who
broke my nose when I was twelve." He murmured, a mischievous glint in his eyes
as he ran his finger over the tiny bump in his nose. Fureya smiled through her
tears and sniffed.
"You can't tell anyone, okay?" She hiccoughed. "Promise?" She stared up at him
her eyes silver and pleading in her pale face. For a moment could see a frightened
little girl and the look in her eyes tugged on his heartstrings.
"I promise Fureya." He said softly and hugged her quickly. "Now come on, the guys
are waiting for us." Fureya grinned and wiped her eyes.
"Oh wait." She said suddenly. "What was so important you had to barge into my
room anyway?" Will looked at her meekly.
"I was wondering if you took the last chocolate bar. I was going to rough you up
about it too." He said cheerfully. Fureya looked at him dubiously before laughing
and the pair left together, pretending as if nothing had changed between them.
~*~
Monday afternoon and they were back in the re opened training grounds. Well
technically not in it, but in the special room that had been added in recently to
accommodate such lessons.
"Today children, we shall have a demonstration. According to my knowledge, Miss
Almasy and Master Trepe consider themselves so advanced in their weapon
studies that they can show off." She stared pointedly at the pair. "Almasy. Trepe.
Arm yourselves now and prepare to demonstrate the skills you have accumulated
over the years." Weapons Mistress Kumara's voice was like a whip, lashing through
the air. Sighing softly, the pair armed themselves and prepared to begin.
"After you have finished your demonstration. I have a room full of weapons that
require cleaning and a room that requires sweeping." She said smugly. "Now I want
the rest of you to gather around, sit comfortably, and call out the flaws in the
fighters technique as they happen. And afterwards you may have the afternoon
off while this pair clean." Mistress Kumara declared tartly. "You may begin."
Keladryie glared at Willard, blaming him. He just responded with a lazy smile,
knowing it was going to be an interesting afternoon.