Squall lay in his bed looking at the ceiling in his room. His eyes were unfocused as his mind was a million miles away replaying the events that lead to his current mood. Unconsciously, his lips were pulled back in a pensive frown. It had been three days since the incident and he was still brooding over it. To think they call me stoic, I have feeling. I can even name the emotions that I felt as they pulled off their little plan. The first thing he felt was embarrassment as his friends laughed and teased him. Secondly he was overcome with was fiery anger. A testament to the fact was the need of Garden to restock the Training Center since he had virtually killed everything. The only monsters left were juveniles, and they were hardly worth the effort to fight as they could barely defend themselves. Now after all of that, he was only feeling on thing, a strong desire for them to pay. Vengeance was what he was after and when Squall Leonhart sets his mind to something, beware all who stood in his path.
An hour later after constantly cycling through various options of retribution and he finally came up with something. Sitting up in bed, he walked over to his computer, sat down in the chair and checked his SeeD bank account. There was plenty of money on his credit card. Logging online, he pulled up several Estarian boutiques. After browsing around several sites he finally found the items he wanted. He quickly added them to his online shopping cart.
After double-checking his order, he clicked proceed to checkout. Once he finished he chose to have the items shipped overnight. Good they'll be here by tomorrow afternoon. He started to rise from the chair only to remember he forgot one last item. Oh well, I can at least buy that in town. My plan is perfect they won't suspect a thing, especially coming from me, but I'll need some help if I'm going to pull this off effectively. Operation Payback: Quistis, Selphie, Rinoa, Zell and Irvine is soon to be underway.Pulling on his jacket, he decided to make a quick trip to Balamb to visit Ma Dincht.
Before going to Zell's house, Squall stopped in a local general store. He quickly made his way to the hair care products section. Let's see, I'll need some Black Dye and Red Dye. He quickly picked up some semi permanent Maniac Panic Raven and Vampire Red.
Paying for his purchases, he quickly set off to his next destination.
Knocking on the door, Squall didn't have to wait long for Ma Dincht to answer the door. "Oh Squall how good it is to see you. Is my boy with you today or is it solo visit?"
"I'm alone."
Gesturing to the couch. "Well take a seat and tell me what's on your mind, I can tell something's bothering you."
Squall's eyes narrowed slightly, he wasn't quite sure what it was about her, but she could always tell when something was wrong with him, Zell or anyone else that she met. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he took on a more neutral expression and told her of the Gang's last stunt.
"Okay I see, I don't suppose telling you that I could take the lot of them over my knee would sooth you dear?"
A firm shake of the head was her only response.
"So you're obviously up to something."
She greeted by a rare grin from the usually stoic young man.
"I plan to change several aspect of myself in order to make them think that I've changed into a completely different person, someone who is very unstable. It'll put them on the edge and allow me to further exact my revenge."
The lady of the house was silent for a minute, but then started to laugh lightly to herself. "Well Squall honey, I won't tell you that it's wrong. I will tell you I'm intrigued and I'll help you out as best I can, but I'm only doing this because you're a sweet young man and I don't want you to draw back up in your shell. Now you have to promise to come by more often so I can see you and put some meat on those bones okay?"
"Sure."
"That's a good boy." Standing up she went to the kitchen and came back with a plate of cookies and a glass of milk. "Now you eat that tell me what you need."
Squall looked at the plate and then the older women before him. Her motherly tone isn't lost on me. If I don't eat these cookies she'll probably make me stay for dinner and then I'll never leave her until I'm overstuffed and ready to explode. Munching on a few cookies, he began.
"I need some help dying my hair. Zell told me you used to help do his hair all the time before he started wearing it back to his natural color."
"That's no problem dear, what colors do you have in mind?"
"I want to dye my hair black and dye the tips red."
"I suppose you'd like to do it as soon as possible?"
"Yes, if you don't mind."
"No no dear, it's fine. How about you help me around the house and I'll dye your hair for you after dinner."
Well, it looks like I won't be getting out of here to later on this evening, but then again I'll be one step closer to completing my goal so it's worth it.
"That'll be fine."
Hours later found a pleasantly full Squall with freshly dyed Raven black hair that contrasted nicely with the Vampire red tips. He was standing in front of the mirror admiring Ma Dincht's work and was stunned that she did such a great job. It was perfect.
He thanked her once more before hitting the road back to Garden.
Walking in a lazily down the Garden hallways, Squall ran into his long time rival Seifer. He gave a cool nod of greeting as he headed on his way. Seifer returned the nod, and called out briefly. "Something must have riled you eh Squally-boy, or else the Training Center wouldn't be empty." Squall turned around regarded his rival before giving a light shrug. "Whatever."
Once inside his dorm room, Squall changed out of his clothes and made a quick list of extra accessories to order from online. The brief walk from Balamb to Garden gave him plenty of time to think of ways to better sell his devious intentions.
Satisfied with himself, he stretched out on his bed and slept peacefully. A grin formed on his unconscious form, fore shadowing Squall's growing excitement.
The next morning Squall washed and dressed quickly before making his way down to the cafeteria to grab a quick breakfast. Sitting at his usual table in the back, he ate his pancakes and sausage, with a can of soda pop on the side. It was weird habit that he picked up after a lost bet with Seifer. He didn't really mind, seeing as he got the caffeine he needed without the bitter taste of coffee that he disliked. Looking up from his plate, he watched the door waiting for his friends to come in. Sure enough, Zell came bounding in first, with Selphie not far behind. She was dragging the Galbaldian Cowboy while Quistis chose to walk in well behind the trio as if she wasn't with them. They each grabbed a tray and stocked it with their usual entrees before sitting down at the table with Squall. I wonder what they have to say about the hair. He had to stop himself from running a hand through his hair self-consciously as the gang gawked at him.
Zell was the first to break the silence.
"Whoa Dude, what'd you do to your hair? It's wicked!"
"Wow Squall, it's really different but cool, if only a little bit on the …"
"Dark, is the word I believe you're looking for Selphie."
"Thank you Quistsy, yeah it's kind of like cool in that doom and gloom sort of way."
"Selphie darling lay off the poor guy will ya, we haven't seen in for less than five minutes and you're we're all ready criticizing him." Turning to look to Squall in the eye. "I for one think it gives you character."
"I must say it adds a quite a bit of dramatic effect."
Squall nodded his head in recognition to all of their comments. "I just felt like trying something different." Done with his food he decided it was best to leave. "I have to be going, see you later." With that he walked out the cafeteria and into the library to set his second part of the plan into action.