MY LIONHEART – CHAPTER 2

A Different Light

Rinoa awoke the next day with a headache. She groaned, pulling the pillow over her head. Then she noticed bars of light coming from her window. She immediately pulled off the sheets and looked at her clock.

8 o'clock? Oh no! I'm late already! She thought. She scrambled out of bed, took a quick shower and got dressed in five minutes flat. She stumbled out of her room without time to make her bed and halted for a moment, clutching a small piece of paper in her hand. She shifted her bag straps and looked at the paper closely.

History? 3-2-14? I don't even know where that is!

Then suddenly she heard a click and a woosh. She stood there and she saw the dark-haired stranger exit his room. He was wearing black pants, a white shirt that clearly showed his muscular frame. He held his jacket and stopped to put it on.

"Excuse me." She said, calling after him. He turned around and looked at her with the same expression and finished putting on his jacket. He stood there, waiting for her to say something.

"Er… Sorry but can you show me where this class is?" Rinoa said as she handed the stranger the piece of paper. He looked at it and gave it back to her.

"…Sure." Was all he said. He walked first and Rinoa walked beside him. "Block 3. Level 2. Class 14"

"Oh. Okay! So that's what it means, eh? Haha… Erm. You're not going down for breakfast?" Rinoa asked, trying to start a conversation.

"…I'm not hungry." He said simply, avoiding her gaze.

"Ah, I see. Same here. I'm not a morning person either." She said and she chuckled, expecting him to do the same.

But he just kept walking with no hint of emotion.

"What's your name?" Rinoa asked as she quickened her pace to keep up with him.

At first he didn't answer but then he turned his head slightly towards her and said "Squall."

"Squall…?" She repeated, expecting his full name.

"Leonhart."

"That's a nice name!" Rinoa said cheerfully.

Squall didn't say anything and kept walking.

"You don't talk much, do you?" She said, frowning.

"…Whatever." He said. They reached the classroom and Rinoa sat down in an empty space. Squall sat down, sitting not too far away from her.

God, he's rude. He didn't even tell me we were in the same class!

"Hello." Rinoa heard a slurry voice call out from behind her. She turned around and she got the shock of her life as her face was inches away from a stranger's face. She jerked her head back and almost yelped. The blonde stranger smirked at her. He had his right arm leaning on the back of the chair and he held out his other hand and held hers. "The name's Seifer Almasy. How nice to finally meet you, angel Rinoa." He said and he kissed her hand.

Rinoa blushed, remembering that she had painted wings on her blue attire. Seifer smirked even wider. She noticed that he had a scar across his face. She also noticed how incredibly handsome he was and she started to get even more shy by the minute.

Squall, who was sitting not far from them watched Seifer in action. He stared at them for a moment as Seifer coolly put his arm behind her and then held her. He saw her shifting in her seat but Seifer's hand stayed there. Squall glanced somewhere else and got out his textbook from under the desk when the lecturer came in. He eyed Seifer and Rinoa again and had a sinking feeling in his heart.

What is this I'm feeling? Squall thought to himself. His emotion felt distant and new but it was vaguely familiar at the same time. He shook his head slightly, trying to focus on History. But every ten minutes or so his glance would automatically focus on the two and he didn't know why. Seifer still had one arm around her and he kept whispering into her ear and she looked like she enjoyed his company. When the lecturer gave out handouts that are supposed to be shared with two people, the two sat even more closely to each other and Rinoa kept giggling throughout the class. This sight made Squall uneasy.

At the end of class, Squall exited the class with an uneasy feeling as he saw the two walk out the door side-by-side. He shook his head again, dwelling in denial.

"Alright! I'll see you later!" Rinoa said cheerfully as she and Seifer parted ways. She smiled to herself, walking in a daze. Squall walked up behind her, keeping his distance as both of them walked towards the dormitories.

Rinoa heard footsteps behind her and she coolly turned around and saw Squall.

"Hey Squall." She said as she smiled. She stopped in her tracks for a while and waited for Squall to keep up. Then the both of them walked together, side-by-side. She looked at him again, and then she noticed something.

"You and Seifer have the same scar." She blurted out.

Squall looked taken aback a bit but then his facial expression became neutral again. "So?"

"Is it okay if I ask why?" She said, giggling.

"…He gave me this scar, I gave him that scar." He said, looking disgusted.

"You guys got into an argument…?"

"We were training. That wise guy thought otherwise."

"I see." Rinoa thought. She smiled to herself, knowing that she got more words out of Squall than anyone else in the Garden.

"Hey, let's go down to lunch, shall we?"

Squall looked at her in an unfazed way and nodded simply.

"Alright! Let's go then!" She said cheerily

"Uh, Rinoa?" Squall said. Rinoa stopped in her tracks. For some reason when Squall said her name, she felt something inside her but she didn't know what.

"Err… yeah?"

"The cafeteria is this way." Squall said, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh." She said, blushing. "Right. Well… Let's go! I'm starving." She said as she followed Squall towards the cafeteria.

She and Squall sat at a table. Squall went over to buy some food for both of them when Rinoa noticed that Selphie, Quistis and the rest were waving at her, motioning her to join.

"Hey guys!" She said, beaming on all of them as she approached them. Then Squall came from behind her, holding two plates of food. The table became silent suddenly upon his appearance. Rinoa couldn't decipher why.

"Hello Squall." Quistis smiled. "Want to join us?"

"Yeah, Squall! Don't you ever get tired eating in your room?" Selphie said, jumping up and down on Irvine's lap.

"You know each other?" Rinoa asked.

"Yeah. We're all from the same orphanage." Zell said, chewing on a steak bone.

Suddenly Rinoa felt sorry for Squall; knowing that something hurt him really bad in the past made Rinoa feel that way. She saw him in a different light that day.

"Oh." Rinoa said, trying to say something. "Come on, Squall. Let's join them."

Squall stood there motionlessly and then preceded sitting next to Quistis. Rinoa sat next to Selphie, directly opposite Squall. Everyone kept quiet for a while then the bickering between Zell and Irvine started up again. Rinoa sighed, thankful that everything was back to normal.

After they ate, they parted ways and Rinoa found herself walking side-by-side with Squall. They walked towards their room and Rinoa said goodbye as she skipped towards her own room. She took out her key card, swiped it and the doors slid open.

"Hey." Squall said just before she entered her room. "Stay away from Seifer. He's bad news."

Rinoa felt hurt by his comment and gave him a small, pained smile. "I'm sorry to say this, Squall but I know Seifer. He's a good guy. I can take care of myself, thank you very much."

Squall looked at her with a worried look and shook his head. He swiped his own key card and disappeared into his room. Rinoa still had her head out the door, confused about the conversation they had. She stepped back and let the doors close.

Why is he so concerned of my safety? Maybe he likes me…? Aw, Rin! Stop thinking like that! You're so paranoid.

Rinoa chuckled to herself for no reason at all. She got ready for bed and fell asleep the moment her head touched her pillow.

Hikari Reika: Yes, another boring chapter. I like to write long chapters but I'm scared that it's too long for anyone to read. Sighh. Bear with me, I'll promiseI'll make this fic good.