A/N: Ok. Read my bio for info.

CONTEST IS BEGINNING TUESDAY APRIL 5TH, 2005. CONTEST WILL END THURSDAY MAY 5TH, 2005. ALL VOTES THAT ARE CAST AFTER MIDNIGHT OF MAY 1ST WILL BE UNACCOUNTED FOR.

(Please read bio for rules on the contest and what exactly the contest is about)

Chapter Eight

Quistis sat on the couch opposite Irvine, placing a small piece of chocolate into her mouth. They were watching a horror movie and every single time that masked man showed up on screen, she jumped a few inches off of the couch. "Must you make noise every single time he comes on?"

She turned and looked at him dead in the face. "I get frightened easily."

Irvine began to laugh as a commercial came on. "You? Frightened? Please. You are the strongest woman I know."

She blushed and hung her head. "Barely. I get terrified by the simplest things."

She watched one commercial when she suddenly felt a strong arm wrap around from behind her. She turned around and saw Irvine sitting there, holding her against his chest. "Well. If that's the case, then you can depend on me."

She blinked and stared at those blue-violet eyes. "Why are you holding me?"

"Keep you safe from the bad man."

She laughed and pushed herself off and away from Irvine. "Listen. The only thing you need to do is to just sit there and give me back up when I need it. I appreciate it very much, but its ok."

Irvine sighed and looked at her. "Why won't you just give in Quistis? It's not like I'm a bad person. It's not like you're too good for me. It's nothing like that."

"We're on a mission, Irvine." She stood up and walked over to her bed. He groaned loudly and fell, sprawled out on the couch. He started to say her name, but before he could get a syllable out, she whispered loudly enough so that he could hear, "Ask me when we get through this." She sat on the bed and looked around the room.

Squall walked into the lab that was underneath the presidential palace. Two scientists led him over to where the body was at. "When you're done, just let us know."

Squall nodded his head and placed the white briefcase onto the ground. He pulled off the white sheet and stared blankly at Senator Garai. His face was entirely pale. Squall slowly gulped down a breath of air and placed on a pair of gloves. He opened the mouth of the senator and sniffed slightly. The only scent that was on his breath was alcohol. Squall sniffed once more. Brandy? Squall knew that the Senator liked to drink wine. But brandy? He sniffed once more. The smell was awfully familiar to him. He pulled a cotton swab out from his briefcase and slowly swished it around the inside of the Senator's mouth.

He grabbed a plastic baggie and placed the cotton swab inside of it. he sealed the baggie and placed that back into his briefcase. "Odd...no cuts or bruises." He pulled the sheet down some more and looked around curiously. Sure enough, the way the Senator died was a mystery. One doctor walked in and looked over at Squall.

"Can I help you?" the doctor called out. Squall spun around and flashed his ID badge."If you're curious as to how he died, we believe that he was drugged."

Squall blinked. "Why wasn't anyone told of this?"

The doctor smiled brightly walking over to Squall. "Miss Rinoa has requested it."

"Rinoa? Why?"

He shrugged and pulled the sheet back over the Senator. "I have no clue. I believe for the sake of the privacy of her family. Most people don't tell others how their loved ones die. Stirs the press a bit too much for their tastes."

Squall nodded and he grabbed his briefcase, closing it and locking it, and walked out of the lab. "Thank you doctor."

Quistis walked outside into the courtyard. Irvine walked behind her, his brown trench coat trailing behind him. He whispered into Quistis's ear, "What are we doing out here?"

She turned and looked back at him. "Keeping an eye on Seifer."

She walked further into the courtyard, Irvine keeping his distance from her. Quistis walked over to a man bent down towards the ground. He turned around and his jade green eyes lit open. "Qu..."

She placed her finger up to his lips. Irvine walked closer and tipped his hate to the blonde haired man. "Priestess Masako requests a meeting with you."

"Priestess Masako?" he asked, his eyebrows arching with curiosity.

Quistis spun around, the cherry blossoms in her hair dancing in the sky. Seifer turned to his boss who simply nodded his head. Seifer shrugged and placed the wires down on the ground. He jogged to catch up to Irvine. "Hey. Long time no see," Irvine whispered.

Seifer frowned. "Why is she being called Priestess Masako?"

Irvine smiled and winked at him. "Doing a lil mission on the side for good old Cid. We just have to ask you a few questions is all."

Seifer shrugged and followed the 'priestess' into the conference room. She removed the headdress and placed it down onto the table. "Sit," she commanded.

Seifer rolled his eyes and sat down. "Why do you need me for questions, Quistis?"

She leaned against the table and frowned at him. "What are you doing here, Seifer?"

"Well, I was working, seeing as how the only person who will hire me is Laguna."

Quistis opened her mouth to rebuff and argue. She closed her mouth and blinked, cocking her head to the side. "Laguna gave you this job?"

He nodded his head. "It ain't much, but it keeps me well hidden. No one here even looks our way."

It was Irvine's turn to say something. "Our?"

Seifer sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fujin and Raijen are here with me too. Fujin is working as a secretary and Raijen is one of the cooks. Laguna decided to be nice to us and tkae us in. Why am I here now?"

Quistis sighed and held her head. "Senator Garai was assassinated."

He chuckled. He chuckled that same chuckle he always did when he was being accused of something he didn't do. "So, automatically, you suspect me?"

Quistis sighed and pushed herself off of the desk. "Not really automatically. Quistis here saw you in the courtyard and saw you smoking and coughing."

Seifer raised one eyebrow at her. "So, I'm a killer cause I smoke and cough and work here?"

She shook her head, embarassed. Slowly, she began to explain the situation to Seifer. He grinned as Irvine started to snore. Quistis quickly smacked him to wake up. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Irvine opened the door and smiled at Squall. Squall walked in, seeing the blonde haired man sitting there in front of Quistis. "Quistis?" he called out as he saw her head down. Seifer turned around and gave Squall that cocky grin.

Squall held back his anger as he saw Seifer stand up. "Quis, is it ok if I go now?"

"Sure, Seifer. Sorry..."

Seifer walked past Squall, their shoulders grazing each other. Irvine shut the door after he walked out. Squall looked at Quistis in a slightly disturbed way. "What was that about?"

"Laguna hired him and his lackies. Quistis feels pretty dumb automatically accusing him."

Quistis looked up at Squall, her face bright red. He walked over to her and placed the briefcase down. "Irvine. Go get Laguna."

Irvine shrugged and walked out of the conference room. Quistis placed a hand on her head and her eyes slowly danced up to Squall. He sat down in the same chair that Seifer had sat down in. She finally regained her composure and looked at Squall. "So?"

"So what?" She looked down at the briefcase. "Oh! Right...he smelled like brandy." She blinked and gave him a hard look. "He hates brandy. For as long as I've known him, he's never drank brandy. The doctors down there say that he died from poison and that Rinoa knew this and requested for it not to be told."

Quistis blinked again. "She said that she didn't know how he died."

Squall rubbed his temples and closed his eyes as the door opened. Laguna's voice rung out into room. "What's up?" he asked casually as Irvine shut the door.

Quistis stood up and walked over to Laguna. "Thanks for telling us you hired Seifer and his posse..."

Laguna blushed and rubbed his neck. "Yea. Sorry about that. Irvine filled me in on the details. I felt bad for the poor guy. Not being able to get a job and all..."

Squall blinked and looked at his so called father. "You hired him?"

Laguna shook his head. "Squall! Don't get angry or upset!" Squall's face turned into a hardened rock aged for a millenia. Laguna paused and looked at Quistis shaking her head no. "Nevermind..."

Squall turned and closed his eyes towards Quistis. When he reopened them, Quistis gave him a soft look, easing him out of the pain and headache called Laguna Loire, incompetent President of Esthar. Quistis sighed and stood up, walking to the door. "We have no suspects, the clues are all jambled up in one big mess, and there's one day left," she sighed out. She opened the door and walked out, looking back at the trio. "I'm going to the room."

Irvine looked on as Squall stood up and grabbed her headdress. He turned to face the other two. "We can do this, right Irvine?"

Irvine nodded and walked over to him. "We're just going to have to try a hell of a whole lot harder. Laguna...by any chance can you stall this ceremony tomorrow?"

Laguna shook his head, the black hair falling in front of his face. Squall shrugged. "We can do this. I know we can. Let's catch up with Quistis."