The annoying authoress' note at the beginning of the chapter: Oh yeah, I forgot to warn that the characters MIGHT seem a bit off character! Like Mwu's excessive hyperness and crap. One last thing and I'll shut up. In this story, I changed the family relations. Mwu is related to Lacus, Shinn to Kira, Stellar sort of to Lacus. If that bugs you readers, PLEASE tell me nicely and I'll fix it. That is all (goes to corner, shrivels and dies.)
Disclaimer: Sadly, I shall never own Gundam SEED. And never will! But enjoy the story!
Day 2 – The Targets
February second was a gloomy day, with the lightning storm raging outside and the trees swaying, and students getting whacked by random flying cans. In classroom C-8, which was the grade ninth, tenth, and eleventh grade math taught by Mwu, a scheme was being born. The teacher was currently sitting at his desk, deep in thought, his tenth grade Math class once again, uneventful and dead.
At least in his ninth grade class, he could make the freshmen nervous, and in his eleventh, he at least got some entertainment…
In his blank notepad, Mwu had currently written down two whole words: The Targets. He had wracked and wracked his brain for possible people that he could matchmake, but had come up with nada. Zilch. None. Nobody jumped up at his mind. He had even scanned his current class four times and none of them looked too appealing or promising. He could only wait till lunch to see if Murrue would be much of help. The woman had a more rational mind than Mwu did, and he was pretty sure she'd be able to come up with someone.
-
Lunch
"I'm sorry, but I've thought all through my senior class, but I haven't been able to come up with anyone," Murrue said apologetically, paying for a carton of milk and putting it onto her tray. "Partly because they've already got significant others."
"What? Murrue, I've been counting on you! You were my last ray of hope!" Mwu sighed dejectedly, paying for a can of Coke.
"What about Azrael? Have you asked him yet?" Murrue asked, sitting down at the teachers' table by the door.
"No, but what are the chances of him coming through for me?" Mwu asked wryly, stabbing his fork into his salad.
"Hello, Mwu, Murrue," Nicol said, smiling. He slid into the seat across from Mwu. "How's it going, Mwu? Any potential targets?"
Mwu shook his head. "Nah… I can't think of anybody! I've already asked Murrue, and I have no hope for Azrael finding me targets." He said.
"I'm not so sure about that," Aisha said thoughtfully, sitting across from Murrue. "He looked like he was having pretty good luck to me. He even told me to tell you that he found the perfect two people!"
Mwu sweatdropped. "Well, Azrael Murata, if what you told Aisha is right, I might just owe you my car!" he laughed. "Who are they?"
"OK. She's in your tenth grade Math, I think," Aisha began. "A perfect student, you cannot get her to get anything below an A, and I do believe she's the senior student body president."
"Lacus?" Mwu asked, mentioning his older niece. "Oh, wait no… she isn't the senior student body president…"
"Mwu!" Azrael called out, skidding to a stop by the table. "I can't talk for too long, but I'm sure Aisha's dropped a clue about who I found, right?"
Mwu nodded.
"It's Dearka Elthmann and Miriallia Haww," Azrael said excitedly, jogging off.
"Hey! Where are you going! Tell me more! AZRAEL!" Mwu said loudly.
"Can't! MY TREES NEED ME!" Azrael cried, rushing out of the cafeteria.
"Trees! Right!" Murdoch laughed, sitting down. "I assume you've got your first targets, Mwu?"
Mwu nodded eagerly, scribbling in his notepad. "Dearka Elthmann and Miriallia Haww."
"You've got a long road ahead of you then!" Nicol commented.
"I'd say Murata is as blind and stupid as you are," Rau chuckled. "Elthmann and Haww, eh?"
Natarle scoffed. "Have fun, Mwu, those two can't be anymore different from each other!"
Murrue gulped down her milk. "Now, now, have a little faith in Mwu… he isn't that bad," she chided.
"You lie very gracefully," Aisha laughed.
"What's going on?" Andy asked, amused.
"Mwu's got his first two targets," Murdoch explained.
"Oh? And who might they be?" Andy inquired, interested.
Murrue suppressed a grin. "Dearka Elthmann and Miriallia Haww."
"I have them for Home EC, I think, and let me tell you, you might as well roll over and give your car to Rau, Mwu," Andy chuckled.
"Yes, yes, Mwu, give your car to Rau," Rau nodded.
"I am not stupid, Rau," Mwu said wryly. "I'll pull this off, believe me!"
"Any others?" Natarle asked.
Mwu shook his head. Just as he opened his mouth, Yzak Joule, the son of one of the school board administrators, passed by, gritting his teeth. "My, my, Mr. Joule looks like he could use a girlfriend!" he grinned. "He can be my next target!" he cried out after a moment later.
"Who will you pair him up with?" Nicol asked.
"I don't know…" Mwu trailed off, twisting around to glance around the cafeteria.
-
"Oh, Yzak!" Dearka Elthmann grinned, flashing a thumbs-up, violet eyes twinkling with amusement as his best friend slammed down his tray, spilling over apple juice. The tanned boy flinched as Yzak sat down, ice blue eyes on fire, and the blonde haired playboy could have sworn he saw steams come out of Yzak Joule's ears.
"Err… are you OK, Yzak?" Kira Yamato asked worriedly. The brunette waved his hand in front of Yzak's face, awaiting a reaction, amethyst eyes eyeing the fork and knife clasped in the other teen's hand cautiously.
Yzak fixed his glare on Kira and the boy immediately retracted his hand, afraid Yzak would bite it off. Kira liked his hands intact on his wrists, thank you very much!
"Damn… Zala… beat… me… AGAIN!" Yzak yelled, eyes flaming, and silver hair standing on ends. He shook his fists and glared at the innocent Dearka and Kira. "Why must he be better than me! HUH? DEARKA, YAMATO! ANSWER ME! WHY!"
Dearka and Kira had hid under the table, praying one of their friends would come by and rescue them. But as their luck would have it, Yzak's sworn rival, and Kira's best friend, Athrun Zala approached them.
"Kira? Dearka? Why are you hiding under the table?" Athrun questioned, peeking under the table.
"Hide, Athrun, hide! It's Yzak and his evil hissy fits again!" Dearka said, covering his head.
"DEARKA!" Yzak shouted, grabbing Dearka by the collar and yanking him out from under the table with amazing strength. "HOW DARE YOU TURN ON ME! LOOK AT YOU ZALA, ALL SMUG! WELL, DAMN YOU!"
Yzak threw Dearka across the cafeteria, careless of where he threw the poor teen.
Athrun sweatdropped as he sat down beside Kira who had climbed out.
"And the stupid, damned woman beat me again!" Yzak hissed, crossing his arms, face contorted into a scowl. "I got beaten by a girl! I'd rather get beaten by you, Zala, a billion times before I get beaten by a girl!"
"I think Carys beat him at something," Kira whispered.
Athrun nodded. "Chill out, Yzak! It's only one loss, why are you so worked up about it?"
"Hah! Athrun, have you just somehow, gone stupid? It's Yzak we're talking about!" Dearka laughed, coming back with a big slap mark on his face.
"Dearka…." Yzak said warningly, raising his fist.
"Oh dear! Dearka, what happened?" Lacus Clyne asked, concerned. The pink haired, aquamarine-eyed princess sat down beside Kira, one her closest friend. She tightened her long pink ponytail and turned to Yzak, who was still fuming. "Yzak? Is something the matter?"
"Carys beat him," Dearka said simply. "I'll be fine… where's Miriallia?"
"HA! Look at you, pining after the teacher's pet!" Yzak sneered. "Who's pathetic now?"
"So you admit you're pathetic!" Dearka said. "And I'm NOT pining after Milly!"
"You're referring to her like you're actually her friend and you know what she wants!" Yzak laughed.
"Hey! I can be her friend!" Dearka yelled.
"Oh my…" Lacus giggled.
"Why can't we ever have a peaceful lunch?" Athrun sighed.
"There's Shinn," Kira pointed, waving his younger brother over.
Shinn, with his messy black hair and sanguine eyes, began jogging over to Kira, a paper bag in hand. Which was extremely useful, since after a second later, he slipped and slid to a stop beside his older brother, laughing nervously.
"Heh heh! Uh, hey guys!" Shinn pulled himself up and picked up his bag and set it down on the tabletop. "It's the third time today…"
"Um… Shin?" a sweet voice said from behind Shinn.
"Yeah? Stellar?" the flustered boy asked nervously.
Stellar Loussier smiled. "You dropped this when you slipped," she said, handing him his cell phone.
"Oh! Uh thanks!" Shinn said, ruffling his already messy hair and sitting down beside Athrun.
"Wasn't Music class fun?" Stellar asked. She flipped her short sunny blonde hair back, magenta eyes sparkling. She turned to her adoptive sister, Lacus. "What did you have?"
"I had PE," Lacus answered.
"Music class was fun, yeah!" Shinn answered, and Kira and Athrun snickered.
"FINE! I BET THAT YOU CAN'T EVEN GET MIRIALLIA AS A FRIEND BY VALENTINE!" Yzak yelled, slamming his hand down on the tabletop.
"GUESS WHAT? I CAN! SO I BET THAT I CAN GET HER AS MY DATE TO THE VALENTINE DANCE!" Dearka countered, slamming his own fist down on the table.
"WHATEVER! YOU DUG YOUR OWN GRAVE! YOU'RE ON ELTHMANN!" Yzak shouted, smirking.
"What happened?" Stellar asked, confused.
"Yzak said that Dearka couldn't even get Milly to be his friend," Athrun explained. "That got into a full-scale fight, and now they're betting."
"If I win, Yzak, you give me your new plasma TV," Dearka said, smirking, knowing how much Yzak loved his plasma TV. Dearka really wouldn't be surprised if Yzak kissed his TV goodnight…
"If I win, you give me your motorcycle," Yzak said, knowing perfectly well how much Dearka was attached to his motorcycle. He could even wager a bet that Dearka slept with the motorcycle and called it some wussy name like Betsy… and talked to it…
"Wow, isn't the stakes a little high?" Shinn asked.
"NO!" Dearka and Yzak chorused.
-
"Ah-HAH! I've GOT IT!" Mwu said, slamming his fist onto his palm. "I'll pair Yzak Joule up with Carys Walker!"
"Mwu, you're insane!" Murrue laughed.
"Why?" Mwu asked.
"They hate each other!" Azrael rolled his eyes.
The three teachers were in the lounge, having down time.
"So what? There's a fine line between love and hate, right?" Mwu shrugged, scribbling the names in his notepad.
Murrue and Azrael looked at each other and shrugged.
"Now… who will be next?" Mwu wondered aloud, tapping his chin with his pen.
Cagari Attha concentrated on the welding in front of her, determined to make it work. Her soft amber eyes were focused, and beads of sweat trickled down, and her messy blonde hair rested just below her shoulders. Her boyish clothes and equally boyish attitude made anyone mistake her for a boy.
"Very good, Cagari! You're the best female student I've ever had in all my years of teaching this class!" Murdoch complimented, looking at Cagari's handiwork.
"Thank you," Cagari said, grinning.
"And Athrun! Yours is very good as well!" Murdoch said, inspecting Athrun's work as well.
"Mine's better," Cagari said, crossing her arms.
"No one's arguing, Cagari," Athrun smiled, emerald eyes twinkling. He ran a hand through his midnight blue hair and sighed. "I'm so tired, studying for that Math test last night!"
Cagari rolled her eyes. "You know you'll pass, Mr. Zala," she teased.
Athrun turned a faint shade of pink. "How would you know?" he asked.
-
"Athrun Zala and Cagari Attha!" Mwu exclaimed, scribbling once again.
"You're getting there, Mwu!" Azrael nodded.
"It's obvious they like each other… Mwu, this might be your easiest match yet!" Murrue nodded.
"You just have to get Cagari to openly admit her girly feelings toward Athrun, and you're golden," Azrael said.
"But there's just one problem," Murrue pointed out.
"Oh yeah?" Mwu said.
Murrue nodded. "Yuuna Seyman."
"Cagari! I hope you're planning to go to that Valentine Dance with me," Yuuna said matter-of-factly.
Cagari scowled and mumbled profanities under her breath while the idiot continued to ramble about how someone like Cagari would only be fit for someone like himself. And all the while, Yuuna Seyman had failed to acknowledge Athrun's presence.
"Oh hello, Zala," Yuuna said distastefully. "Thanks for taking care of my Cagari till this time. But I think I'll keep her company from now," he declared, pulling Cagari along.
"Athrun-"Cagari started.
Athrun simply turned around, gritting his teeth and vengefully stabbing his pencil onto a blank piece of paper over and over again.
-
"Hmm… you do have a point," Mwu nodded. "But I'm sure that can be fixed."
"You have three targets already… who's your next two?" Murrue asked.
"I don't know…" Mwu trailed off, running through a list of people that could use a little matchmaking. He ran through a list of classes first: there was Science, Art, PE, Math, Metal Work, Drama, English, and Music….
Wait a minute, Mwu thought. Music…
-
Lacus Clyne, Kira Yamato Mwu wrote in his notepad.
The harmonious notes of Lacus' voice sent angelic echoes through the Music room, captivating its audiences. The pink haired girl was currently singing solo for a demonstration, while Nicol played the piano, with fluent grace. Kira sat in the front row, listening intently. He loved it when his best friend sang. It was soothing. And it also cleared his mind. When Lacus sang, Kira felt he could do anything, even run a marathon across the world a hundred times. He could think clearly and it calmed him down should he be angry.
"Very good as always, Lacus," Nicol praised as the class clapped enthusiastically.
"Thank you, Amarfi-san," Lacus blushed as she took her usual seat beside Kira.
"What he said," Kira grinned.
Lacus blushed, and her heart skipped a beat. "Thank you Kira, I'm glad you liked it,"
"Liked it? I loved it!" Kira said excitedly. "You're gifted!"
Lacus blushed a deeper shade of red, heart beating crazily, along with butterflies in her stomach. "Really? You think so?" she asked.
Kira nodded eagerly. "Definitely!"
-
"Oh yeah… they're a definite shoo-in," Mwu chuckled. "They'll be my easiest one yet! No one standing in the way!"
"Kira and Lacus, eh?" Azrael peeked over Mwu's shoulder, returning from getting more coffee. He took a sip and sighed happily. "Ah… Andy makes the best coffee I've ever tasted in my life! And to think that no one is taking it away from me…"
Murrue nodded, also returning from getting more coffee from the pot labeled Murrue ramius in Andy's writing. "I'd say… it's exactly like I've pictured my dream coffee to be!"
Hmm… coffee… Andy… food… Food!
"Ah-ha!" Mwu said triumphantly, adding the last names to his list: Stellar Loussier, Shinn Yamato
-
Andy popped a cinnamon sugar cookie into his mouth, savoring the bittersweet taste. "Hmmhmm… excellent, Stellar!" he nodded. "This is the best cookie I've tasted in a while!" he commented.
Stellar blushed. "It isn't that good, really," she said modestly.
"Whatever you say, Miss Loussier," Andy shrugged, going to check on the next batch of cookies.
"Umm, Stellar?" a muffled voice asked, tapping her shoulder.
Stellar turned around and gasped, startled. "Oh my Shinn! What happened?" she asked.
"It sorta fell on me and now it's stuck?" Shinn suggested, letting out an embarrassed chuckle.
Giggling, Stellar reached up and gently tugged on the pot stuck to her best friend's head, eyes twinkling in amusement.
Shinn flinched as the harsh fluorescent lights attacked his eyes, and looked down, only to turn beet red. Stellar's magenta eyes stared up at him, full of amusement. Smiling she stepped back, holding the pot out.
"Here you go," Stellar said.
-
"That's definitely a good choice as well!" Murrue nodded.
"Exactly!" Mwu nodded. "Now excuse me! This class, I start my scheming!"
At the exact moment, the bell rang noisily, signaling the start of a new class. Mwu raced out of the lounge, miraculously looking forward to the class. Murrue and Azrael looked at each other and shrugged, parting ways and going to their own classrooms.
-
A/N: Hmm… is this as easy as poor Mwu thinks it is? Oh and, I am SO touched and amazed by the amount of reviews I got for the first chapter! They were all very encouraging! THANK YOU!