Comments: Thank you so much for your support everyone. I know I'm not the nicest of authors because I'm a lazy ass who doesn't update often, but I thank you for still reading anyways. Love you!

I really really really want to update RIGHT now, so I'm going to skip replying to everyone's reviews, but know that all were read and that everyone of them just made my day. You are the BEST!

Enjoy!

Chapter 8

Visions of a couch potato

Doctor Kadowaki stood up abruptly, gasping, as she saw the former cadet walk slowly into her office badly bruised and bloody. She remembered seeing the longish light-brown haired man coming into her office several times in the past, but never had he presented himself in such a… savaged state.

The man, whom had been staring blankly to his left until that moment, glanced at her with a bored expression, his grey eyes emotionless. Summoning up her best scowl, the Doctor strolled over to him.

"What have you gotten yourself into this time, Squall?" she sighed. The doors to her office swished open once more, revealing a scowling Seifer Almasy, who appeared to be in a very similar state than the SeeD commander, if not worst.

"Yo, I was fuckin' talkin' to you, Ice Cube!" the tall man spat, poking Squall behind the shoulder roughly with the tip of his Gunblade.

The longish chestnut haired man simply furrowed his eyebrows as he continued to stare at the Doctor, as if silently ordering her to start attending to their injuries as soon as possible so he could simply get the hell out of there already, or fear sudden death by his hands.

The middle-aged woman groaned in despair, grabbing Squall's arm and pulling him to one of the infirmary beds. "I should have known it was something like this! Why do I even bother treating you two anymore? I know you'll just come back with the same wounds not a month later!"

Squall let himself fall down on the bed, sitting with his elbows against his knees and face resting against his palms. The lump of a boy shifted under the immaculate covers on the mattress to Squall's right, sitting up slowly.

"Commander!" he squeaked, his eyes widening in a horrified manner.

The bushy haired man glanced up slowly, raising an eyebrow at the cadet, whose eyes were moving back and forth across the many injuries adorning his pale features.

"I'm so sorry; this is all my fault!" the dark haired cadet exclaimed, shaking his head. Squall ignored him and hid his face back inside his palms while Dr Kadowaki proceeded to unzip his leather jacket to inspect his injuries.

"Don't sweat it, kid… he started it…" a low baritone said from behind the curtains.

The injured youth glanced up, startled. Seifer pushed the curtains apart and strolled over to the third bed, smirking down at Squall.

The SeeD commander glanced back up at the cadet, raising one of his eyebrows, cynically. "You must be Zack…" the stormy eyed man straightened up, raising his arms to let the Doctor remove his jacket completely.

Squall ignored the gasp coming from Zack as he assumed his eyes had fallen on the deep gash on the skin of his bitten collarbone. He sat quietly through each sting of the disinfectant the Doctor rubbed against his wounds none too gently. He had gone under these procedures a thousand times before and was more than accustomed to them. Dr Kadowaki stitched the large wound above his collarbone instead if using any curative magic because the effect of magic weakened your natural physical resistance to pain or injuries… or so the Doctor had told him a hundred times before. Squall simply believed that this was her way of showing her discontent with his and Seifer's attitude. She had always proceeded this way before after each of their fights.

She bandaged all of Squall's more serious wounds and finally stood up when the elderly woman ordered him to.

"Seifer, you idiot!" Zack barked, glaring over at Seifer, who had thrown his trench coat on the chair beside his bed, his Gunblade resting neatly on top of it, and was now laying comfortably on his bed, eyes closed, arms folded lazily behind his head his many injuries seemingly unnoticed.

The large blond opened an eye, looking at Zack from the corner of his eyes. "Hey, like I told you… he started it…" and with that, he closed his eye, smirking. "Besides, I'm a victim too here… or maybe you didn't notice just how badly bruised I am, right now?" he whined sarcastically.

"I will need to discuss with you, once you've completely recovered," Squall told Zack, completely ignoring the other man's comments, which had obviously meant to irritate him. The Commander had finally gotten the perfect chance to get rid of the bane of his existence… but had refused, without even knowing why, once the Headmistress had suggested the solution. Not only had he done this, but he'd also taken the blame to assure himself that the arrogant man would not be expelled.

He would never hear the end of this.

"I'll register you for an appointment and we'll meet as soon as possible," he instructed, looking at Zack over his shoulder as he reached for his leather jacket.

"See, Zack? My appointment went perfectly well…" Seifer began, smirking at Squall. The Commander put his on jacket, careful not to damage his bandages, turned around completely and strolled out of the infirmary.

Oh yeah, he would definitely never hear the end of this.

-----------

The next day, Squall found himself forced to stay in his quarters doing what he most despised in this world.

Nothing.

Xu had ordered him to take several days off, partly because he simply looked like shit and because she had a wicked sense of humor for she knew perfectly well how to punish her Commander, even though she'd never had the opportunity to do so before now. Squall strongly believed - was almost certain even - the woman had even taken pleasure in the "honor" that was being the first person to punish someone with such a flawless personal file as of today. Somehow, his numerous fights with Seifer had never before gotten him in trouble… other than his own injuries, that is. Perhaps Cid had been a little soft with him after all...

Sighing, the brown haired young man shifted atop his unmade mattress.

This wasn't like him.

He always made his bed. He wasn't lazy and never before had he ever stayed in his pajamas for any other reason than to sleep.

Blame him... but god damn his body hurt... oh, Hyne, it fucking ached...

Squall groaned both in pain and annoyance, shifting onto his stomach as he pushed his face deeply into his pillow.

And now he was becoming foul mouthed too.

This definitely wasn't like him.

Fuck, next he'd be watching TV, pigging out on a bowl of chips and drinking beer.

But his body just throbbed so bad...

He moaned again, now shifting back on his sore back, nearly feeling the urge to sob at the terrifying mental images.

He was going to kill Seifer – no - Xufor daring to restrain him to this...

Whenever he could walk again, that is...

In his agony, more psychological than physical it had now become, he wondered how he had ever managed to come back to his quarters, or more importantly how he could ever have allowed Xu to force this upon him. He would be forever traumatized by the visions of his becoming a couch-potato.

Distantly, he heard the hydraulic doors of his quarters, then followed by those of his room, swishing open, but before he could even react, Zell's grinning face had appeared much too closely above his own.

"BOOYA!" he suddenly shouted, without even distancing himself of Squall's face, which caused the latter to shove his palm roughly against his opened mouth as he thrust the

blond's head away from him forcefully and sat up sharply, all the while attempting to ignore the burning of his every muscle. Through his longish, disheveled hair, Squall scowled up at the bumbling man before him, whom had already began swatting the air cheerfully as he grinned down at his friend wolfishly. Zell continued his fighting movements for several moments as the young man sitting quietly on the bed continued to glare more and more fiercely at him, perhaps hoping that the furious gesture alone would disintegrate the martial artist.

Apparently, his plan wasn't very effective because Squall drew a long, ragged breath, vainly trying to calm his extremely volatile temper only minutes later. "Stop that!" he snapped impatiently.

His grin widening, Zell lowered his fists to his side. "I heard about your fight with Seifer by Dr Kadowaki when I handed one of the kids over to her. She warned me that it was bad, but DAYUM, you look like HAYULL, man!"

Squall's stormy scowl deepened murderously, both at the mention of the events of the day before and Zell's annoying attempt at the retarded accent. The tattooed martial artist quickly brought his hands before himself, defensively,

"Calm down, dude..." the scowl simply deepened further and Zell took a fearful step back, hands held up in defense and glancing around the room nervously as if searching for the quickest path of escape. A light seemed to dawn upon him as his baby blue eyes quickly glanced back at his friend. "How about I make you coffee, eh?"

Surprisingly, the flame inside Squall's grey pools somewhat diminished and he slowly stood up from his bed, making his way into the kitchen, followed closely by his spiky haired friend.

"What do you want, Zell?" he grumbled as he reached the counter of his kitchen, grabbing the electric kettle there harshly and filling it with water to boil. It was instantly pulled away from his hands by Zell's strong grip. Squall glared at him but the blond's smile simply widened once more.

"Aaaaaw, are you pouting?" he mocked.

The SeeD commander simply sighed in annoyance and walked back to his room, feeling quite self-conscious, if not vulnerable, in the presence of another when still dressed in his long sleeved and legged, black pajamas. In fact, he blamed the clothes for making the morning - no, the entire day - so unbearable.

Death to the cursed pajamas!

Ha...

Squall nearly laughed aloud at his pathetic train of thoughts, just as he slipped on his daily attire.

He glanced at his... pouting... reflection and scowled at it for proving Zell right. When he made his way back, he was greeted with the sight of flustered Zell whom was frantically blowing at a steaming cup of coffee. Squall raised an eyebrow at him mockingly, before sitting down at the table in front of his blond friend where his own cup awaited. Sighing contentedly, he gulped down the dark, burning liquid.

No milk, no sugar… just how he loved it.

He almost closed his eyes in contentment as the substance poured down his throat, warming his insides as it traveled through his system and relaxed his every tense muscles, almost soothing his soul from all his earlier torments, (he was a caffeine addict, so what?) when his regained state of peace was abruptly destroyed by loud, slurping noises.

Out of his appeased daze, his stormy eyes shot towards the sitting young man in front of him, glaring viciously. The hyperactive blond didn't even notice as he continued to slurp down his undoubtedly saccharine coffee, eyes closed. He downed the entire contents of the cup in one long swig, sighing loudly and putting back the mug heavily on the table as he finished.

Squall's heated stare did not relent, but Zell had yet to notice it as he glanced around the room, fanning his hand in front of his face quickly.

"Whew!" he whistled. "Man, is it hot in here or what?"

Squall heard the distant voice of his conscience in his mind, shouting a long string of enraged curses Zell's way, but of course, his body remained motionless as he sat there, simply able to glare reproachfully at his friend, when really, he wasn't even sure he could call him that, considering the fact that his every impulse only demanded that he stranglekickbashsliceramtearbashagainstalwall him…

Zell yawned, stretching widely and adopted an almost lecherously rude posture sitting on his chair with his legs widely spread and his upper arms and elbows slumped backwards against the back of the chair, as he finished extending his limbs. Squall could almost visualize the scratching of balls coming soon. He shuddered… and hoped to Hyne he better not be right.

"So, ganna tell me what happened with Seifer?" Zell asked cheerfully as Squall eyed him in disgust.

"We fought," he answered bluntly.

The short blond man took an amazed expression, eyes and mouth widening in surprise. "No shit," he said sarcastically, his expression falling to an annoyed one. "I meant what caused the whole thing, wise guy."

Squall blinked at him, staying silent for several seconds before adding. "None of your business."

Zell suddenly stood up, banging his fists against the table. "Come ON, man! I just made you coffee and this is how you repay me?" the blond whined childishly in a high-pitched tone unfit for any man.

Squall blinked boredly. "I never asked for any…"

Zell pouted angrily shoving his hands in his backside pockets.

"Tch…" he began pacing in front of the table, muttering angrily as Squall stared at him, almost amused.

"So, did you woop his ass good?" Zell asked excitedly, stalling in his pacing. Squall stared blankly at him.

"Come oooooon give me some details here, you know, the juicy bits!" the light brown haired man looked away, sighing with disinterest and folded his arms across his chest.

"Dude, why'd you wanna make it so private, anyways? The rivalry between you guys isn't exactly hushed business, and, if you hadn't noticed, everyone's talking about you guys already because half the students saw both of your bloodied asses walking back to the infirmary yesterday."

Underneath his crossed arms, Squall's hands tightened into fists. Why couldn't that annoying brat leave him alone? Couldn't he just see he was trying to forget the events of the day before ; how, even now, he was forcing every image of the brutal fight not to resurface because he hated himself for feeling the rush of adrenaline inside his veins begin to boil once more?

This was all Zell's fault…

Wait, now it was Zell's fault?

Groaning, Squall laid his elbows against the table, taking his face in his hands and rubbing his palms against it.

He'd gone from lazy, to foul mouthed and now to childish.

He usually hated thinking so fucking much… but today was the worst he'd ever experienced.

Would suicide be considered cowardly of him?

He suddenly felt a repetitive thudding against the top of his head and as he spread his fingers to glance up through them, he saw that Zell had walked to his side and that it was the blond's knuckles knocking against his head he had felt.

"Knock knoooock! Someone still in there?"

Squall squatted the hand away sharply, glaring up at the man whom would soon find himself to be very dead.

It wouldn't be his fault really; the bastard was truly asking for it.

Squall briefly wondered if the new term "thoroughly annoyed homicide" would convince the jury that he simply couldn't have helped it… completely out of his control…

Squall shook his head desolately, standing up from his seat and turning his back to his once-called friend. "You're annoying… go away," he said in an uninterested tone, not even paying any attention to the shorter man as he walked towards his room.

"What you say? HUH!" Zell began angrily. The SeeD Commander felt even more irritated by the shorter man's outburst; Zell always felt everything with a maddening intensity. He needed to deal with him quickly, before he caused permanent damage. Squall looked over his shoulder, glaring.

"Go away. Just leave me alone." With that, the stormy eyed young man continued towards his room. This was the best way to make him leave quickly; ignore him.

"You know what I think?" Zell suddenly exploded just as Squall had reached the door to his room. "You're obsessed, baby, that's what you are!" he exclaimed, pointing his finger sharply at his friend. The SeeD Commander looked over his shoulder once more.

"You both are; Seifer and you…"

Squall's jaw twitched, but he otherwise remained expressionless.

"Both one 'n the same, 'cause really, there ain't any difference between you and him… not much anyways."

Squall's eyes narrowed. Zell smiled knowingly.

"You're in denial. You won't admit it, but I bet you that you probably enjoy these fights as much as Seifer does; you crave them… you won't run away or ignore him, because you don't want to! You love it too much…"

Squall stared at the blond man for several moments, struggling with all the thoughts, memories and emotions that Zell's words had evoked inside him and began racing through his mind so fast that he couldn't even begin to recognize any of them.

"Whatever…" he finally dismissed calmly, turning around and walking back inside his room, leaving the enraged blond behind.

He might have never been able to ignore Seifer Almasy…

…but he sure as hell could ignore this blondy…

---------

Seifer walked out of the infirmary wearing a satisfied smirk. He was dressed in those awful, uncomfortable Garden uniforms; had four more useless classesto attend to after lunch time; had nothing better than hot-dogs to eat (and Hyne only knew how much he despised the greasy fuckers) but somehow, it all didn't seem so bad today.

Oh no, nothing had ever quite seemed to lighten his mood just as well as Zell Dincht's grimacing, furious expression always had, because, as much as hot-dogs disgusted Seifer, he would more than kindly buy the last remaining ones if, say, aforementioned Chicken Wuss were right behind him in line for the Cafeteria and was just dying to eat them.

And that's what he'd had the pleasure to do today.

Seifer brought one greasy hot-dog to his mouth, swallowing it down as quickly as he could manage, wanting the torture to end as soon as possible. His smirk did not vanish though as he once again pictured the short blond man in his mind, struggling to punch him once he had noticed that Seifer had bought the last of his precious hot-dogs.

It hadn't been Seifer's fault really. He was well aware what infirmary food tasted like and even hot-dogs were better and Zack, who was still imprisoned to Kadowaki's care, needed to be fed. The tall man had had no choice but to buy them… for the dark haired youth's sake. He was still just a growing boy, after all! Seifer's entertainment at Zell's anger had absolutely nothing to do with it...

The memories of Zack's assault were far away from his mind now.

Ah, the wonders of the Patented Angry Zell Stance… it could do wonders to the soul. Seifer almost felt the urge to recommend the man on starting his own therapy sessions.

He chuckled softly at the mental images as he continued to make his way through the bumbling crowd of students in Garden's hallways.

Three days had passed since his meeting with the SeeD Commander. He was still bruised, but he'd lived through much worst. Seifer had gotten his fair amount of thorough ass kicking in his time as Ultimecia's Puppet. He remembered his last one at the hands of Squall and scoobies - now that one, he'd felt for months.

The tall blond reflexively brushed his tongue against his teeth, smirking.

That injury's sure ganna be a bitch for a looooooong while, Squally…

Seifer made his way to towards the stairs leading to the elevator, deciding to take the long path towards the dormitories. Just as he passed a bench near the fountains, he stopped, deciding to enjoy his amusement a little while longer. Letting himself fall lazily on the cushioned benches, arms sprawled widely against the railing behind them, he stared at the crowd of students walking back and forth before him.

Somehow, in his several weeks back at Garden, the cadets had become accustomed to his presence and had learned to ignore him, or at least, tried to act as if they did. The emerald eyed man wasn't so easily fooled, but he was quite happy that they'd all finally stopped staring at him. He had trouble controlling his temper enough as it was, they couldn't have expected him to endure much more, even if he was supposed to act properly because of that wretched promise he'd made to Xu; it wasn't his fault if the brats were so annoying.

He really was an idiot for being so determined to become a SeeD.

Pride and honor definitely sucked.

Pity he actually reeked of both of the damned things.

He glanced at his surroundings, at the fish designed fountains behind him, at the wide, tall walls of Balamb Garden that were so familiar to him. He let all the loud noises of the bustling students around him, the rush of water, the chattering voices wash over him, closing his eyes. Sighing contentedly, he laid his head back against the railing.

Hyne, he was so glad to be back. No matter what every one else could say or think, he was back where he belonged… home…

The fact that he hadn't realized until now was probably included in the attributes of The Idiot he reminded himself he was. He enjoyed his moment of peace, engulfed in the presence and sounds of hundreds of others for several moments, his mind devoid any thought or emotion other than happenings around him. He was most comfortable in crowded places like this, his thoughts drowned by the ruckus. He'd come to appreciate silence in the last months after Ultimecia's demise, but noise and large masses would always remain more enjoyable. They reminded him of the person he had once been; boisterous, loud… alive…

He was still most of those things, but sometimes, he could almost feel the corrosion of his personality. He hated being lost, but whenever he allowed himself to think properly, he felt his mind trapping him in an irresolvable labyrinth.

He felt as if he could have spent the rest of day here, might have even forgotten to go to his classes even, if it wasn't for the strange tingling he suddenly felt upon his face. He felt… watched? Strange… the students never stared at him so directly, and this definitely felt very direct.

Frowning angrily, he straightened his head, already cursing the annoying brat that had dared disturb him before he even opened his eyes.

And then he did open them.

And he was even more annoyed.

He was greeted with the sight of a young, raven haired, Asian woman, squatting down to his eye level, her warm brown eyes staring interestedly at him as she smiled with the same, sweet grin that always seemed to be plastered across her face.

Seifer raised an eyebrow smirking. "And here I thought the whole "Psycho Sorceress' Knight" phase of my life had scared all those groupies shitless already…"

The cheerful girl straightened up, hands folded behind her back and head cocked to the side. Seifer knew he would feel the urge to murder the woman growing inside him in a few seconds as he noticed the very discrete mischievous glint of her brown orbs.

"Gee, Seifer… from my point of view, you sure looked like a nice lackey. Just thought I'd stop by and see if you were still unemployed…"

Yes, he could definitely feel his murderous intents flowing through him like wild fire now, coming back to life from their long, almost seven months sleep. His rage only kept multiplying at the woman's expression; how could she keep such an innocent and sweet façade?

The girl was evil, adorable or not…

And she was definitely playing one of her dirty magic tricks, sorceress hypnosis-thingy, because, for the life of him, Seifer could only glare up at her silently as she continued to smile down at him.

They stared at each other for a few moments, until finally, Seifer's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Just how long do you plan on staring at me?"

She shrugged, grinning. "As long as it takes…"

Seifer raised both eyebrows before laying his head back against the railing, closing his eyes once more as he smirked mockingly. "Now, we've been through this before, Rin," he sighed. "Sorry, babe, but no matter how long you're going to wait, I'm never gonna have sex with you…"

Seifer felt a sudden satisfaction at seeing the petite woman's ivory cheeks suddenly flush in anger as her hands flew from behind her, to rest on her hips as she stomped her feet heavily on the group. Before he could react, her right foot had swung upwards and he could not stop the painful blow from knocking the part of his body where the bitch knew he was most sensitive…

… his left knee…

Choking down on a long, loud, miserable groan, he bolted up straight on his seat, but he resisted the urge to draw his leg up and fold it against his chest, holding his knee up to his face as he sobbed against it because of the searing pain that was now pulsating in the length of his entire body, like a resonating burn. For one of the few times in his life, he truly despised being tall and cursed to hell his early and long growth spurts; they were the reason for the weakness in his knees. Why the hell had he ever dared sharing his most embarrassing secret with this wicked entity of the underworld?

Seifer emerald eyes refocused in front of him as the pain finally dulled slightly and glared up at Rinoa's warm brown eyes. He could see the right corner of her lips twitch slightly, as if repressing a smirk.

See?

Evil…

"Will you just fuckin' tell me what you came here for?" Seifer finally growled, no longer able to keep his arrogant façade as the annoyance and pain won over his restraint.

Rinoa's smile widened happily. Seifer had a feeling he would be regretting this.

The Asian young woman suddenly turned half around, staring down at Seifer over her shoulder.

"Walk with me?" she asked innocently.

Seifer frowned in thought. He had two options; 1)stay here and suffer at the woman's sadistic tendencies - commonly known as sweetness - until he exploded and gave in to her request anyways, and that, only after he'd been unable to stop himself from committing several homicidal acts… or 2) accept the woman's proposal and STILL suffer the sadistic tendencies, but with a hope of eventually being released of the unbearable torture once she'd had what she wanted.

Somehow, these choices didn't seem very fair to him.

Seifer groaned angrily. "Fucking hell…" and he stood up, glaring down at the much smaller woman as he passed her and continued walking forward. He heard a cheerful cooing noise behind him before Rinoa joined him, walking beside him.

They'd reached the Quad's fountain when the raven haired girl finally spoke.

"I heard about what happened with Squall," she stated more seriously, stopping her footsteps. Several of the passing students gave them strange looks, continuing on their way out.

Seifer's steps faltered slightly a few paces away in front of her, smirking. The woman frowned angrily at him, seeing his expression as he turned to face her.

"… So?" he scoffed. "I sure as hell hope you didn't rush over here to comfort me over it…" he cocked his head to the side in mock thoughtfulness. "… although, puberty boy might need it."

Rinoa rolled her eyes. "I was already on my way here when Zell called me; we've kept contact ever since I left for Timber, after the break up."

Seifer's smirk widened. "Hyne help us, there aren't only Knights anymore, but Sorceress' Messengers too; you planning on creating your own mail service, soon?"

Rinoa's hands were raised to her hips again. "Will you shut up, just for a sec? Jeez, you'd think he'd get enough of hearing himself talk…"

Seifer folded his arm against his chest, staring down at the woman haughtily.

"It's not really surprising, you know… it's not like you guys haven't fought before-" Rinoa glared at the tall blond's derisive snort. "- but what Zell told me doesn't make sense. I'd really like to know what the hell's going on."

For some reason, Seifer suddenly felt even more irritated. He would have usually taken every chance he'd gotten to be able to brag about "how badly" he'd kicked the Commander's ass three days ago… but now, he wanted to strangle everyone for wanting to stick their noses where they didn't belong. What the hell did it matter? They fought… they both ended up bruised… the end. Was there something so entertaining about their fights that everyone needed to know about? This was his and Squall's rivalry… for no other to understand.

Seifer frowned in confusion.

Woah… had that seemed a bit possessive?

Of course not… why the hell would he have been possessive about something Squall-related.

Why did things have to be so messed up when it came to Leonhart?

"How the fuck is this any of your business, Rinoa?" Seifer snapped before he could even stop himself. Holy fuck… did I just say that?

Apparently Rinoa's reaction was much similar to his own train of thoughts, from the shocked expression that suddenly graced her serious expression. She gaped at him for several moments before smiling… amused?

"What?" he snapped, her smile unnerving his already volatile temper.

"Have you been spending more time with Squall since I last saw you?" she teased.

"I thought the ass kicking would have been enough to answer that stupid question," he grumbled, turning around to finally start walking again, this time, towards Garden's exit. He heard Rinoa's quick, small footsteps rushing to catch up with his long, hurried strides.

"Heeeeeey,wait up!" she whined as Seifer reached down the last step of the stairs just before the fountain. He glanced at her over his shoulder in annoyance before turning around sharply and waiting for her to catch up as he dug his hand inside his uniform jacket for the pack of cigarettes he always hid there. His nerves definitely needed it; he doubted tearing off a woman's head with his own hands would look well on his record, even one as vice and merciless as this one.

Just as he'd lit and taken the first drag out of it, she finally stepped in front of him, slightly out of breath. The young Asian woman stared strangely at the stick in his mouth.

"You know those things are bad for you, right?" she merited a murderous glare for her question. She shook her head, smiling at the man's antics.

"You've changed, Seifer…" she said quietly, staring away from him and off in front of her.

Seifer simply raised an eyebrow questioningly, doubtful. She smiled, seeing the action out of the corner of her eye.

"Zell also spoke to that student, Zack, after trying to get something out of Squall…" she glanced back up at Seifer, smiling as she saw the man's expression becoming slightly more serious.

"The Seifer I used to know never was an evil bastard; an insufferable, arrogant asshole, yeah, but you were never bad," shegrinned mishievously at the man's snort."Still, I never would have thought you would have defended and taken care of Zack, the way he described to Zell …" her dark eyes fogged, a gentle, fond smile gracing her lips, as if reminiscing good memories. "Well, maybe you've always been that way, since you did rush all the way to Timber for me, when you found out only three SeeD members had been sent to help our cause." Her smile faltered then. "And then your nightmare began… because in a way, if you hadn't come for me, you might never have fallen under Ultimecia's control."

Seifer almost felt terrified at the hidden guilt he could feel behind the woman's words. She couldn't feel this way. How could she even think such things for someone like him? He was just about to slap her back into some sense when the woman shook her head forcefully and looked up at him, smiling.

"But enough of that… I was still really, pleasantly surprised when I heard what you'd done for Zack. You'd known me for some time, before you actually did this for me, but this guy… you've only known him for a few weeks, right?"

Seifer nodded quietly, taking the last drag of his cigarette before letting it drop to the ground and stomping it on it gently.

"That's why I think you've changed. You're still you and that's to be expected from a stubborn idiot like you, but I think everyone's glad about it; all those that have been able to see you again as of yet, that is…"

Seifer felt a sudden warmth spread through his chest and almost felt embarrassed. "What are you; a counselor, now, or something?" the tall blond mocked snidely, to hide his strange emotions. He hadn't ever felt anything similar to this before and he didn't like it one bit.

Rinoa punched his chest softly, drawing his attention back to her face.

"Oh no, I'm much worst, Almasy…" she said, smiling evilly. "I'm a friend…" she almost whispered, her smile filling with warmth.

The tall man felt an unbearable sting in his eyes and a clenching in his chest as he stared down at Rinoa's dark, trust-filled orbs. He would have liked to hate her at that moment, to feel the urge to hurt her, but none of those emotions came. She must have been using her Sorceress-hypnosis-thingy again, because for the life of him, he couldn't look away. The slight burning in his eyes became unbearable and finally woke him from his trance as he turned away from her abruptly.

For Hyne's sake… what next? Was he going to hug her silly?

He shuddered and rubbed his palms against his eyes.

Much better now…

He ignored the soft chuckles comingfrom behind him.

"So, what happened with Squall… did it have anything to do with what happened to Zack?" Rinoa enquired gently.

Seifer found himself nodding before he could even stop himself. "Do you know why those bastards beat him up?"

Rinoa hesitated for a few seconds. "Is it true that he's gay?"

Seifer nodded once more. "I wanted the fuckers that did this to him out of Garden as soon as possible before I dealt with them myself, so I invited myself into Squall's office." His fists tightened on his sides. "Ice Cube acted like he usually does; like he didn't give a flying fuck that a mere kid nearly got killed for being his true self. I got really pissed and did what I usually do; said what I had to say to piss him off… the results? Well, you and I both know them…" his serious expression was suddenly broken by a lecherous smirk. "…unless you'd rather have a closer look at my ass to see more properly."

"Don't flatter yourself…" Rinoa grimaced in disgust. She then sighed. "And for the record, I doubt Squall didn't care. These procedures, no matter how importantly they need to be dealt with, still have steps, rules to abide to, Seifer… he couldn't just kick them out or act like you would have done; he's the Commander of SeeD forces."

Seifer turned around roughly, emerald eyes livid. "The fucker didn't care…" he hissed furiously. "He acted as if the whole thing wasn't worth his time; so I woke him up by reminding him that he and Zack weren't so different," he added with a note of sadistic satisfaction in his tone.

Rinoa blinked up at him, suddenly less calm. "You what!"

Seifer lowered his face closer to hers. "Wouldn't you know that personally?" he whispered, smirking.

Rinoa glared threateningly at him, pushing him backwards as forcefully as her slender arms could manage. "You really are a fucking idiot, Almasy!" she snapped.

The large young man blinked, surprised.

Rinoa didn't cuss. Ever.

Hyne, was he everin deep shit.

"Do you even know what goes through Squall's mind every God Damn day? Can you evenstart IMAGINING just how much he struggles not to go insane half of the time?" she nearly shrieked. "Seifer, no matter how much you think you understand, you obviously don't, because you would have known that Squall wasn't unaffected to Zack's situation. He probably forced himself not to be, because… to him, what would be the point? What would it bring anyone to allow themselves to feel rage? Do you think that it would help Zack; do you think that breaking doors and tearing apart everything you can put your hands on would help Zack feel better?"

Seifer stared at the angry woman, listening through her furious, yet worthwhile tirade quietly.

"Being led by rage and hate simply lowers you down to the level of those people you despise; the ones who almost killed Zack. Acting cool and calm, to try and understand and take the best decision was what Squall was trying to do, Seifer! He doesn't want to care about other people, because he's had it fucking hard in his childhood! You out of all people should at least know that much. He doesn't want people to rely on him because he doesn't know how to act… but he's trying…" Rinoa inhaled deeply and Seifer almost thought she was about to calm down, when she began again, even louder and angrier than before. "And the only thing you managed to do is bring up another thing to fuck around with his head!"

Her words almost felt like a sharp knife digging forcefully through his heart. Had his words affected the other man that much? He hadn't seemed very affected… yes, he had thrown himself at him and they had begun fighting more savagely than they ever h - oh…

Realisation felt like a second sharp knife slashing through his abdomen harder, deeper this time.

He didn't want to think about this. He didn't want to feel guilty… he wasn't. The sinking feeling crawling up his chest was just… was just…

Nothing!

He wasn't feeling anything! Squall had deserved every god damn word that had escaped Seifer's mouth. So what if he never thought twice before speaking? It didn't matter! It wasn't his problem! He'd never taken back his words and he wouldn't do so now.

Unless you counted the time he'd apologized for his actions the day he had surprised Squall and Laguna in that indisposing position. But that wasn't the same… Squall hadn't deserved anything he'd done that day.

Squall was his rival, nothing else.

He hadn't even realized that he'd been staring at the ground, eyes wide, for several moments, fists painfully tight on his sides, when he felt a soft grip on his forearm, squeezing it gently yet firmly.

"You know what you need to do, Seifer," Rinoa said, no longer any traces of anger in her voice, only compassion.

Squall had understood him completely that night, several weeks before, when Seifer had cried on his shoulder, unable to contain the pain he'd restrained for months; the guilt, the fear, the self-hatred because of his sinful actions by Ultimecia's side he'd locked inside his heart had finally flowed free. He'd let Seifer have physical contact, warmth; he'd let him feel that he wasn't disgusted, that he didn't fear him, no matter how much he despised being relied on; no matter how uncomfortable he felt to physical closeness; no matter what Seifer had done to him in the past. He'd let Seifer feel that in the end he was still there… his trusted rival…

Squall had confided his secret in him. He'd shared his fears and feelings in return, perhaps to show him that they were equals. Their enmity could not remain if one felt weaker than the other. They'd never spoken about it ever since, but they had quietly agreed that even after that, their relationship would stay the same; the only stability in both their lives.

Had he betrayed Squall now? By acting like he had three days ago?

Seifer roughly shook Rinoa's hand off his arm.

Why was he thinking all of this?

He didn't care.

He hadn't done anything wrong.

Squall deserved it.

Seifer turned away from Rinoa and straightened his head and shoulders, regaining his usual proud posture.

"I don't know what the fuck you're talking about, Rinoa. Leonhart deserved all I said and did to him… everything," he hissed, without so much as looking over his shoulder as he walked away. The bell echoed through the Garden just as he reached the Gates that led inside. For once, he was looking forward to attending classes.

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TBC

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Author's note : OH MY GAWD! SQUALL AND SEIFER ARE SOOOO STUPID! Right? I bet that's what you're all saying right about now lol. Yes… they are… stupid, stubborn, proud men! What ever will we do with em…

Any suggestions? Should we spank them? Tie them up by their feets?

Or even better… leave them locked up in a room together… naked…

MWAHAHAHAHA!

You know, I really like writing Rinoa like this. I never hated her in the game, like so many people did. I mean, sure, she was annoying with all her trying to get into Squall's head and make him talk... but she was a nice person. I like making her do evil things... or just writing Seifer's thoughts on her. This whole chapter was just so awesome to write!

Anyways… I hope you liked this!

See you soon, hopefully!

Please review!