Chapter 25

She waited patiently in the shadows for an opportunity to present itself. She was ready to strike. Her back pressed firmly against the wall, she moved her head ever so slightly, allowing herself to peer around the corner, hoping that her target was looking in the opposite direction. She was in luck. She hadn't been spotted. She breathed a sigh of relief. Any mistake now could jeopardise her entire mission. Any false move, and she would be back to square one.

Footsteps.

She tensed slightly.

"Somebody's leaving," she thought, panicking. There was no time to hide, no time to avoid being seen. Adrenalin taking over, she made a split second decision, and threw the gil she had in her pocket on the floor, before getting onto her knees and frantically sought to retrieve them. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the young man walk past her without a second glance. "Good thinking," she whispered, congratulating herself. "He didn't suspect a thing."

She picked the remaining coins up from the floor, and resumed her position on the wall, surveying the occupants of the room.

"I could make a run for it," she thought, buoyed by her success in avoiding being seen as suspicious. "If I could just make it behind the first set of shelves…" She focused on the pig-tailed girl behind the counter. "But if she sees me, everything's ruined." She moved a little further down the wall, feeling braver now than ever before. She knew that if the girl turned around, she would be spotted, and that would be the end of it, but it was worth the risk. She was now within earshot, and could hear exactly what was being said.

"You'll find it on the second shelf to your right, third shelf down," the girl replied to a question posed to a first year cadet.

"Where can I find a book on the theory of time compression?" an older, more studious looking cadet asked.

"Let me see," the girl responded, entering the search on her computer. "I'm sorry but the only book on that subject has already been issued to an Irvine Kinneas. It should be back later today."

Surprise registered on her face. "Irvine gets those kind of books out. What a science geek." She couldn't help emitting a slight chuckle, and had to clamp her hand firmly over her mouth to stop herself from being heard. "Get a grip of yourself girl. You're on a serious mission."

"Could I take these three books out, please?" a young student asked.

"Certainly," was the reply. She took the student's ticket and scanned it though the computer, before stamping the books with the date.

It was then that the opportunity presented itself.

The pig-tailed girl accidentally dropped the stamp on the floor, and bent down to retrieve it.

"Now's my chance," she thought, adjusting her sunglasses before she moved away from the wall into full view of the room. She took one deep breath, before sprinting towards the girl, placing a small metal object on the desk next to her without being noticed, and then changing direction towards the nearest bookshelf. Glancing back, she saw the girl beginning to pick herself up off the floor. "I'm not going to make it," she thought. She made a desperate attempt to dive behind the shelf, just managing to avoid being seen. She quickly sprung back to her feet, thankful that this section of the library was deserted and nobody saw her tumble to the floor. "Success!" She pulled the receiver out of her pocket and flicked the switch to on.

"I can't believe there's another five hours left on this shift," a voice whined. The reception was a little crackly, but she could still make out everything that was said perfectly clearly. She recognised the voice as that of the pig-tailed girl. "Great, she's finally talking to her colleague. This is what I wanted to hear."

"Hey, Elaina, are you seeing that guy again tonight?"

"So that's her name. This is getting kind of interesting."

"Huh?"

"You know who I mean. What was his name...?" she pressed.

"Oh, you mean Zell."

"Finally, we're getting into the good stuff."

"Well, I don't know. Our date last week didn't exactly go well. He took me to a fast food restaurant, and then ate so many hotdogs that he threw up."

"Ewww."

"It was worse than that, he threw up all over that brand new dress I bought."

"No."

"Yes. I mean, he's sweet and all, but I don't want a repeat of last week."

She was so wrapped up in listening to their conversation that she didn't notice anybody creeping up behind her.

"Hi, Selphie," Irvine said, a little too loud for her liking. "What are you upto?" Selphie jumped in shock, and turned to face him.

"Ssssshhhhh," she commanded, pressing her fingers to her lips. "They're gonna hear us."

"Who?" he asked, clueless of what she was planning. "And what exactly is up with the glasses. I mean, they're really cool and all, but indoors in the middle of winter? Are you feeling alright?"

"Of course I'm feeling alright," she hissed through clenched teeth. "I'm in disguise."

"Disguise?"

"I'm on a very important reconnaissance mission, actually," she replied, with a hint of satisfaction in her voice.

"You mean you're spying on people again?"

"I wouldn't call it spying exactly. It's more like intelligence gathering."

"And you've been stealing from the technical lab again haven't you?" he asked, motioning towards the receiver.

"Borrowing, Irvine. I've been borrowing from the technical lab." She tried her best to look offended.

"Did you get permission?"

"Well…sort of." He glared accusingly at her. "Well, okay…not exactly. There was nobody there to ask permission from, so I borrowed it. I had every intention of giving it back."

"So you stole it." Running out of arguments to use against him, she pulled her tongue out, and expertly steered the topic of conversation around.

"So, what are you doing here then?" she asked as a group of girls walked by and formed a group against the wall, a little further down from where Selphie and Irvine were talking.

"Erm…I was just…erm…bringing a book back for Squall. He forgot that he had this book about…erm, customising weapons out, and he, erm, found it under his bed this afternoon, and then…well, I bumped into him in the corridor, and he asked me to drop it in for him, so here I am." He breathed a sigh of relief.

"You mean you're bringing back your book about time compression aren't you?" she asked with a very smug grin on her face. She knew she'd caught him out.

"What…ah, no, not at all. You wouldn't catch me reading anything like that," he stuttered, his cheeks turning beet red.

"Oh, really science boy?" she teased. Just at that moment, the group of girls let out a collective giggle loud enough to attract the attention of somebody in the car park, never mind at the desk nearby.

"I'll just go and sort them out," a voice from the receiver said. Selphie sprang into action.

"Quick, look like you're reading something," she ordered, picking a book of the shelf and thrusting it into Irvine's hands. She put the receiver in her pocket, and began to study the shelves, closely, her back turned to the girls so that she couldn't be seen.

"Girls, if you're not going to remain quiet, you'll have to leave," Elaina commanded. The girls all nodded in unison, and promised faithfully that they wouldn't do it again, before returning to the front desk.

"Phew, that was close," sighed Selphie. Hearing this, the girls proceeded to look over towards the pair. Their eyes caught something, and they began to stare openly at Irvine.

"Can't resist me," he whispered smugly to her. He had only just finished this sentence, when each of the group collapsed into fits of giggles, which soon graduated into hysterical laughter. Some of them were pointing towards the book that was clasped in his hands. He turned it around in order to look at the front cover, and almost dropped the book in sheer disbelief, and his face turned crimson with embarrassment.

"Selphie," he hissed. "You gave me 'The Biology of the Female Reproductive System?'"

"It was the first one I picked up off the shelf," she protested innocently.

"Yeah, I'm sure it was. You just want to ruin my reputation. Look at them, they all think I'm some kind of pervert or something." She was laughing far too hard to reply.

"Alright, girls. That is it. Leave," Elaina barked, striding over to their location. The girls paused, still pointing and laughing at the very embarrassed Irvine. "NOW!" she bellowed in a tone which caused them exit the room immediately. She then turned her attention to Irvine. "And you, Kinneas. You should find some more suitable reading material."

"He still has a lot of questions that he needs answering," Selphie told her, in that fake understanding tone of voice that only the nurse at the infirmary had perfected.

"Well I would suggest that you look for those answers somewhere else," she said, before returning to her position.

"Great, Irvine. Now you've blown my cover," Selphie muttered indignantly.

"I blew your cover. You just completely embarrassed me." She couldn't control the giggles again. "Alright, that's it. You're going to get it." He chased her furiously out of the library, barely hearing the shouts of "Don't run, WALK," from behind him.

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"Rin, are you in there?" he shouted as he knocked at her door. He mentally cursed himself for being late. He said he would meet her after lunch, but instead, he had gone straight to the training centre, as he always did when he was worried. There was something about concentrating on fighting, and on staying alive that made him feel much more focused in general. This time, though, it hadn't worked. It was late afternoon, now, and he didn't have any better idea of things than he had at the start of the day. He was confused, and today, no amount of soul searching could cure it, and so he found himself at her door.

"I've changed," he thought, wryly. It was not so long ago, that he would have laughed at anybody who said he would be at somebody's door, seeking solace, and seeking advice. It had taken him a great deal of courage just to put one foot in front of the other and walk down the corridor towards her room, but he had done it. He might have had to take the long way around, but he had done it. He believed himself weak for taking this course of action, but there was nothing else for it. He felt sure of it now.

"Rin?" this time he shouted louder. "Rin?"

"Hey, Squall," screamed Selphie, careering around the corner, closely pursued by Irvine. They skidded to a halt, just yards from him. "Are you alright, Squall? You look terrible."

"I was just looking for Rinoa."

"You told us you were coming here hours ago," Irvine pointed out.

"I know what I said," Squall snapped. "Sorry, I didn't mean to…" he apologised.

"Yeah man, I know." Irvine just shrugged it off. "Anyway, we bumped into her before. She said she was going for a walk."

"She looked kind of glum if you ask me," Selphie chipped in.

"Where was she?" Squall demanded in a harsher tone of voice than was originally intended.

"She looked as if she was heading for the ballroom, but that was quite a while ago," Irvine replied.

"Thanks." Squall tried his best to look apologetic for his behaviour, before building up all the courage he could muster and setting off after Rinoa.

"I need to tell her what I intend before I have the chance to think it over and back down."