Hiya, thank you for those that have read my fic up to now and thank you Alex Ikari for reviewing last chapter and to answer your question, the pairings of this fic includes AxC. But I have to say, before you turn your head away in disgust, that the barrier that exists between the two in the series does not exist here in this ficlet. Let's see what type of mess I can cook up...(evil grin)

There are AxC moments in this chapter along with some other moments, but know that I don't believe in rushy feelings between the two, so don't expect anything TOO lovey-dovey. However, I did try to make...erm...romantic moments between two other characters. I'm afraid I didn't do them justice. (jumps off a bridges)

Anyways...

Chapter rated T

DISCLAIMER: I am nothing, I will becoming nothing, and I own nothing. Suing nothing will result in nothing. Let's save the legal process for another lifetime, kay?

Chapter Three: Encounters, Round Two

School wasn't that bad. In fact, it might have been enjoyable. The students were friendly, the workload was easy, and the teachers were kind. Yeah, it wasn't bad. No one questioned him beyond the basics, like 'what's your name' or 'what grade are you in" and the answers he gave seemed to settle their curiosity just fine too. There might've been a few well-informed teachers; they gave him glances and such, but no biggie. They could've been surprised at what a 'jewel' they managed to snag in their class than well-informed.

Athrun Dino could definitely be a new shinning star at his new and shiny school.

As nice as that sounded, it is definitely something he will be avoiding in becoming. He turned down offers at clubs, or invitation to parties that guaranteed him a 'nice place to be' in his school. Lay low, he thought, just lay low.

When school was dismissed, he promptly walked out, ignoring the trailing girls that wanted his attention. Well, he didn't exactly ignore, it was more like, he didn't notice. Nothing new really; his body might've hit puberty, but his mind certainly didn't. Or at least not in the form of raging hormones, as some would deem it.

He walked home to his new apartment. Again it wasn't bad, nothing wonderful, but not bad. After clicking his door shut, he found himself having two hours to spare before going to his first job as a waiter at a restaurant named Tiger's Choice. His teachers didn't assign him homework, something he found wonderfully new and nice, so he didn't have much to do except for staring at the ceiling and twiddling his thumb. As nice as that prospect sounded, the moment he started, he found his mind being bogged down by oppressive thoughts.

Two hours passed by with Athrun's mind running around in circles, drifting between memories and guilt. The lumpy couch he was sprawled on didn't do much for the headache that started to form, snipping away at his nerves and rendering his patience useless. He sat up and held his head, making a mental note to buy some Tylenol or aspirin. Groggily, he stalked to his bathroom to brush out a disgusting taste that formed, and began dressing in his waiter uniform.

Great. She was late. Again.

Two damn times in the last month.

Detention was spent scrubbing furiously in the girl's restroom overlooked by merciless janitor. She didn't get to talk to her fellow detention-ee, he was working his part in the boy's restroom. The janitor was only satisfied when Cagalli's fingers were rubbed raw, and when the toilets could have been doubled as an eating bowl. As soon as she was dismissed, Cagalli raced home, showering quickly in her now clean shower and changing into her waitress uniform. Everything was accomplished as fast as possible, but no matter how much she speeded through the sidewalks, or how many people she knocked over in her rush, she was still thirty-minutes late.

Cagalli cursed her temper, if only she hadn't blown up at that Asuka guy, if only-- resentfully admitted--she didn't need anger management, and Goddamnit, if only Kira hadn't left. None of this would've happen if he hadn't left!

Cagalli sighed, as much as she liked blaming him, she felt guilt swimming sickeningly in her stomach, threatening to hurl the contents she doesn't remember consuming.

"Late again, Ms. Yula? I'd hate to fire such a popular waitress; I think regulars are starting to form just to see you." Mr. Waldfield good-heartedly called as Cagalli checked in. She stared at her employer, surprised he didn't fire her on the spot. He really was nice.

He had good-natured blue eyes--one eye actually--and a nice mop of brown hair that merged quite well with his dark-brown skin. Just by his demeanor one could tell he was a lady's man but coupled with his good looks and irresistible charm, it wouldn't be surprising that a good bunch of ladies--or guys--came just to see him. However, a rumor that circulated for while around the employees said that his girlfriend died recently. How? They could only speculate, but it'll be a while before he can finally throw out his broken heart and find a new one, if the gossips are correct. Too bad for all the nice looking ladies, they seem to enjoy laughing at his jokes as he tended the bar.

"Ah, yeah, sorry. I had detention." Cagalli said as her attention shifted from Mr. Waldfield's face to the floor, she didn't hear the last part of what he said over the restaurant and the distance. The employer quirked his lips up. The youth, he mused. "I'll let it slip but I think Table Six over there is ready." He pointed to a table in the far corner with a glass he held in his hand. There two boys around Cagalli's age sat, they had turned their gaze from her the moment she glanced over.

Before Cagalli turned to leave, her boss added, "Oh yeah, we have a new waiter. Give him a hand if he needs, he shouldn't be too hard to miss." Mr. Waldfield smirked slightly, and turned back to attending the bar, and to a nice red-head who seemed ravishingly thirsty.

Cagalli pulled out a notepad she used to take orders, and more or less, ran to Table Six. She wanted to show she was someone to keep, or get a pay raise. "Are you ready?" She said while plastering on a cheesy smile. Make them feel welcomed, she thought. Scared would've fitted better. "Ah, yeah, can I have salmon burger with fries as a side, and root beer please?" The boy who wore a black cap that read in green letters 'phr34k', asked. He didn't seem to think that Cagalli's smile was scary, maybe even...charming? "I'll have a steak burger with fries too, coke's fine." The second boy had brown wavy hair that fell just above his eyes, Cagalli instantly recognized him as a co-worker's boyfriend.

Cagalli wrote down the orders. "Miriallia's shift doesn't start till later." she said casually. Miriallia was a fellow employee around Cagalli's age and the two became fast friends. Cagalli even pulled a full favors, seeing as how her bathroom at the time was still a mass of black ooze. Miriallia introduced her boyfriend when he walked her to her job one day, but Cagalli couldn't quite recall his name...Towel...Toad...Pole...

"Really? Damn, I thought she started earlier...and it's Tolle, incase you forgot. Your Cagalli right? I think my friend wants to say something..." Tolle looked toward his friend with a slick smile and sly eyes. Phr34k started blushing violently and returned Tolle's smile with a 'damn you bastard' glare. Tolle leaned back in laughter, making Phr34k's blush spread like the plague.

All of this seemed to have went 'whoosh' over Cagalli's head, who decided she lingered long enough. "The food will be ready in a bit." With that, she walked into the kitchen to place the order while Tolle shoved his fist into his mouth, trying suppress his laughter but failing miserably when his friend, still trying to recover from the take over of the Dreaded Blush, gained a crossed-eyed look to his eyes.

Cagalli dropped the new order in the kitchen. She grabbed two cups and began filling both with ice, one with root beer and the other with coke. Weaving through the tables again, she placed the drinks at Table Six, and left for a table full of bubbling teenage girls before she could make idle chit-chat, much to Phr34k's dismay.

"May I take your order?"

The Tiger's Choice was set up so that each waiter or waitress had certain areas to tend. On quiet days, this worked very well, but when the restaurant was as full as this, there were a lot more anger and impatience faces on customers. This was not the case for the group of bubbly girls; the group of girls actually waited on purpose.

Hmm, does a certain young, blue-haired waiter ring a bell? Too bad, even if this table was his turf, he was too busy tending to a lady that wore too much jewelry and was covered with perfumed that screamed 'I'm-trying-to-conceal-my-bad-BO' on the next table over. But it didn't stop the girls from trying to get his attention, ignoring a waitress who had a short fume, and was only trying her best to get a little more money.

"Waiter!" A shrill voice called, it was a brunette from the group of teens, trying to gain the waiter's lovely attention. "We're ready!"

The poor boy smiled meekly and held up one finger, trying to signal that he'll be there in one moment. His headache from earlier had vanished, but he could feel another oncoming.

Cagalli felt something pop as she turned her head in anger. She tapped her foot slightly and thought on leaving all this mess to that oh-so-popular waiter. She could wait on other tables, in fact that'll probably be the best, dealing with hyper, superficial wanna-be adults wasn't exactly her cup of tea. A pair of couples caught her eye and just as she was about to walk over, she made the terrible mistake to glance at the new waiter. A fuse exploded.

"YOU!"

Athrun turned his head at the loud scream and found that it was directed at him by a pair of very miffed, amber eye. Cagalli stormed up to him, clucking loudly in her high heels and causing quite a bit of air to blow under her, flapping her skirt. This caught many male lookers. She remembered slightly to mind her language, little kids where around and not mention, very ready-to-complain parents.

"YOU'RE THE ONE THAT---THAT---" Athrun opened his eyes wider, a memory of how he tackled a girl a month ago surfaced and he fearfully glanced around. The words she was screaming were more than suggestive, and to his luck, several people began murmuring to their companions, some even took out their cell phone ready to dial those magic numbers, and a few boys cracked their knuckles menacingly preparing to jump in if needed.

He felt heat rising to his cheeks at the implications and tried to think of the fastest way out of this sticky situation. "Could you quiet down? You're causing a scene." Bad move. Cagalli is not someone to quiet down, even if she was causing the whole world to turn their heads. "WHAT? YOU'RE THE ONE THAT TACKLED--" -Gasp- "ME!"

This was followed by more hushed whispers and the fore mentioned boys raised slightly, Tolle and Phr34k included. The girls who previously tried to get Athrun's attention suddenly looked scandalized, to think that they could've gotten themselves--themselves...the brunette started crying.

"YOU ALMOST--MFPH!" Having felt the impending doom looming just above his head, Athrun, who was desperate, did the unthinkable and grabbed Cagalli while placing one hand over her mouth. This caused more stirs and the boys jumped up, completely ready to pounce. Slowly backing away, he dragged a kicking Cagalli with him towards the kitchen, while giving the, 'I'm harmless, I can't be evil' look to anyone who would've cared. Their boss, who seemingly popped out of nowhere, decided to calm the crowd down and promised them a satisfying explanation once he sorted things out.

"You two, back room."

Shinn stretched, rolling the kinks from his stiffened shoulder, a complimentary gift from a certain blonde. The janitor finally gave his nod of approvement and allowed Shinn to pack up. He doubted he'd want to see another bottle of bleach ever again and began to think up plans to dump all cleaning responsibility on his roomie.

Not being able to conceive satisfying plan, he decided he'll cruise around campus for awhile, maybe an inspiration will hit. He walked through the empty grounds of the Minerva Academy and entered the North building. As he opened the door, a blast of cool air met him and he welcomed it with much relief. Wasn't fall supposed to be only three weeks away?

The hallways were deserted, but there seemed to be a noise echoing, bouncing off the walls before slowly fading. Curious as to what the noises were, he decided to follow them. It didn't take long for him to figure out the mysterious sound: Giggles. Giggles of pure joy and delight, it captivated him, driving his feet to find the source. He stopped in front of the auditorium. The doors were propped open and inside, a single girl could be seen dancing, as light and fluid as the dusts that cling to filtering sun rays.

Shinn never really cared much for the 'culture' of dance, nor the art. However seeing her dance so purely, and so innocently, it had fascinated him, urging him to enter the auditorium, just so he could see for himself the miracle of dance that she brought forth. Her steps never faltered, but it couldn't have been staged. Nothing like that could have been staged. There was a feeling of wild joy, something primitive but sophisticated at the same time.

He edged closer, as quietly as possible, not wanting to disturb the water nymph. Water, yes definitely water. Her movement flowed like water in a creek, lapping slightly but ever so graceful. He stopped at the front row and found the figure surprisingly familiar. It was the girl from the afternoon, the one he ran into, but instead of wearing the regulation school uniform, she wore something entirely different. The long, lacey skirt added wind to her movements and the sleeves fire. It twirled and spun with her, it enveloped her but to only have her sprang out a moment later with her fluid grace.

Beautiful.

Shinn felt himself pulled even further to point where he found he wanted to accompany her. Though he never had a talent for dance, he felt that with her, he could probably accomplish anything. A voice shook him out of his stupor.

"Hey, Stellar! What are you doin'?" A figure appeared stage left, a ruffian sort of guy with sky-blue hair that stuck up at odd ends. He had a child like innocent that was masked by rough-boy appearance. Stellar stopped abruptly, turning to look at the newcomer while panting slightly. She tilted her head and looked at him with big, inquiring eyes. The ruffian smiled something that could have been a smirk. "Neo's lookin' for ya."

Suddenly, Stellar's eyes, face, and everything else perked up, looking delighted as she ran to the boy. "Really?" Blue hair nodded, but turned his head towards Shinn, noticing the outsider. He walked down center stage, taking strides with a hint of cockiness and protectiveness.

"What the hell you want?" He demanded, towering over Shinn with the help of the stage.

"Nothing, can't I just walk around the school?" Shinn replied sarcastically making sure he was heard.

The boy glanced at Stellar over his shoulder, and eyed Shinn. "Eh? Is that so?" He jumped like a predator and landed smartly on his feet a little bit away from Shinn with his hands deep in his pants. He was also not in uniform.

"Yeah, something wrong with that?" Shinn raised his voice a little, angry for being questioned. This didn't go by unnoticed. The boy gave Shinn a real smirk, and took his time in closing the distance between the two until they were only a foot apart. The smirk vanished from the boy's face and he gave Shinn a stern look in the eyes. "Don't even try."

This caught Shinn by surprised. Try what? He gritted his teeth and clenched his fist, ready to fight back but before he could, the boy retreated, jumping back onto the stage. Stellar, who watched the confrontation emotionlessly, smiled when blue hair walked up and followed him eagerly off stage.

Shinn watched the two disappear and wonder what the hell that guy's problem was. He exited the auditorium, and headed in the general direction of the gym. Even if the encounter had left much to be desired, he still felt an elated type of feeling floating in his chest, something he hadn't felt in a long time.

Lost in this feeling, he almost didn't hear a voice call from behind.

"Shinn!" A girl a year older than Shinn ran forth, catching him by surprise. "Lunamaria!" She had short magenta hair, and big lavender eyes framed by long eyelashes, a very jubilant face that spoke volumes of her outgoing personality. Though her hair might make her seem tomboyish, she was anything but that. Her figure didn't leave very much to be desire, her (hitched) skirt revealed long shapely legs and the school shirt showed just enough to interest any guy. Her appearance was perfect, but the way she walked, the way she tried to smile spoke even deeper than her portrait appearance.

Shinn smiled at his friend, but inquired in serious voice, "How's your sister?" The dark circles didn't slip past him, as much as Lunamaria tried to cover them with concealers.

Lunamaria returned with a smile, happy at his concern. "She's doing pretty well actually, but she's going to the hospital tomorrow for a check-up. Mom can't go, and Dad...well...you know how he is." Shinn nodded, not pressing the subject further.

The two began walking; matching each other's steps perfectly. "I was thinking of heading to the art room, care to join?" Lunamaria said casually when they came to a split in the hallway, one direction heading towards the art room and the other to the weight room. Shinn didn't pause to think.

"Sure."

"WHAT!"

"Yup, caused quite a scene too."

"No way! And I missed it, damn should've taken the earlier shift!"

Sitting around the bar was Tolle, Phr34k (identified as Rusty), and Miriallia, the later having a damn good laugh at the expense of a very red Athrun and a-not-so-red Cagalli. The mishap that happened hours before, settled quickly when an embarrassed Cagalli apologized for causing an uproar and that it was nothing to worry about, to which Athrun's group of fangirls started smiling and returned to trying to get his attention once more. (Oh, he couldn't have been a, you know...).

"If you're gonna take the late shift, can't you at least help in closing?" Cagalli yelled. It was almost nine, the time which the mall closed. Athrun and Cagalli was moving around, putting up chairs and mopping the floor. Cagalli still felt a bit mad over Athrun for tackling her, but it simmered down a notch, leaving her able to work decently enough with him. At the moment though, her anger directed more at her friend, who threatened to fall over if she didn't straighten up.

"Yeah, yeah, I will." She wiped some tears from her eyes, and grabbed a rag, working her way to the tables that didn't have chairs on top. Cagalli grumbled and returned to cleaning the floors.

Mr. Waldfield's head popped from behind the kitchen door. "Hey, you're going to have to leave now. Sorry, closing time." He told Tolle and Rusty, jabbing a thump to the exit. "Okay, see ya." Tolle jumped down from the stool he was sitting on, and walked to Miriallia placing a peck on her cheek. Rusty looked away from Cagalli and mumbled a 'later' as he followed his friend's back.

"Alright, you guys can go home now, I'll close up."

Cagalli yawned bodily while stretching; the idea of bed floated into her mind but was quickly put out when a big wind called Responsibility blew. Homework sat happily at home, waiting to be finished. Feeling slightly grumpy, she dejectedly checked out and barely waved good-bye to a beaming Miriallia.

After having exited the mall, she walked to the nearest bus stop and flopped down on the bench still in her uniform, or more importantly, a skirt. Eyeing the damn thing, a futile attempt to make the material cover to her knee ended in unsurprising failure. She looked at the other occupant of the bench; her skirt was even shorter than Cagalli's! It never failed to amaze, how someone could wear something so short and still look comfortable, especially when it's cold.

Cagalli wrapped her arms around her body and entwined her legs together to capture some warmth. Summer wasn't over yet, but fall was only weeks away, the trees even showed a little sign of early foliage. Cagalli sniffed when a frigid wind blasted her way. Orb was tropical, winter being no more than a mild spring, but when it did become cold, she was never in anything less then a pair of nice, warm pants and a thick coat, and definitely not a skirt.

An on-coming shiver disappeared when she found herself draped in a snug jacket. The jacket smelled oddly like a mix of deep-fry, grease, and a masculine scent of... masculinity? Cagalli brought her golden eyes up and it fell on emerald eyes that hovered over her.

"Ahhh..."

"You looked cold."

Athrun smiled kindly as he stood up straight and took to standing a step away from the bench. Cagalli mumbled a muffled thanks, enjoying the pleasant sensation that the jacket brought but realizing all over again at how high her skirt was. Moving slightly, she tried to subtly fix herself; she wasn't the only one. The girl to the right did the same, but she decided that her skirt wasn't short enough and scooted forward, hiking the skirt up and making thonged bottom taste bitter metal.

The few minutes before the bus screeched to a halt remained in silence, and it was silent on the bus too as they sat a few seats apart. She already returned the jacket, and they found no use in exchanging words. It wasn't until she had a frowning suspicion that he was following her, had they exchanged words, with her once again yelling.

"Why the hell are you following me?" Cagalli stomped around, the bus was long gone, and they had already walked a good distance. Yet he was still behind her, walking a few paces behind.

"Because I'm going home." Athrun replied, not even taking the time to stop, and continued walking at his normal speed.

"What...?" A sudden realization hit her, so maybe THAT'S why he was so nice at the bus stop..."You couldn't be a--a--perv..." Cagalli trailed off at the end but Athrun did manage to get part of the last word. His face flushed, and contorted with the mix emotion of surprise and disgust.

"What the hell? I live in King's Apartment, which is located down further down this road!

"YOU STALKER! THAT'S WHERE I LIVE!"

Athrun couldn't believe it, the girl standing in front of him were throwing wild accusations at him, calling him various perverted name when he had kindly lend her his coat, lest she freeze to death. "How the hell does that make me a stalker? So we live in the same apartment building, big deal! All that means is that we are both cheap bastards!"

Cagalli stalked forward and was about to retort when somewhere above, a window slammed loudly open, causing the two to jerk their heads up.

"DO YOU LOVE HER OR NOT? JUST SAY SO ALREADY! I HAVE TO FREAKING GET UP AT FOUR IN THE MORNING AND I DON'T NEED TWO INCONSIDERATE ASSHOLES SCREAMING OUTSIDE MY WINDOW! UGGH, DAMN PEOPLE THESE DAYS!" The window slammed violently shut and a few brick stones fell, dropping loudly onto the broken pavement.

The two 'inconsiderate assholes' looked at each other. Athrun busted out laughing and Cagalli muttered a stifled 'whatever', reminding herself that a nice, big pile of beautiful homework still needed to be done.

There was a rustling behind her, it creaked the leaves under, and shook the trees above. Cautiously, Miriallia called out.

"...Tolle?"

No answer.

The sky was pitch black, and the moon hung somewhere above, hiding behind tree trunks and green leaves. When Miriallia had returned home earlier that evening and changed into some comfortable clothes, she received a text message on her cell from her boyfriend. GO 2 DA BK OF SCHL. She wasn't exactly quite sure what he wanted, but she complied and snuck out of her house. Her mother was asleep and the school was only about three blocks away, not far. That was thirty minutes ago.

Miriallia turned to leave.

"Where ya going?" The suddenness of the voice made Miriallia jump, but she relax the moment she recognized who it was. Dressed in what he wore at the restaurant, a pair of black jeans and a white shirt, was Tolle, throwing her a lazy grin. "You scared the hell out of me!" Miriallia all but screamed at him.

Tolle winked while smiling and pulled grabbed her arm, leading the way to his car. "Sorry, couldn't resist." She wasn't exactly mad at him; in fact, he wouldn't be Tolle if he hadn't done that. Probably one of the reasons why she loved him so.

"Where are you taking me?" Miriallia asked when he motioned for her to get in his car, a Volkswagen, and blinded folded her. He shot her the ever elusive grin and drove off, not bothering to answer. Miriallia smiled, she'll see when she gets there she supposed. They drove in silence, enjoying the warm presence of each other as they drove away from suburban lights and into the less inhabited part of town. After about ten minutes of driving, Tolle stopped his car and got out, motioning for Miriallia to stay put. Moving his way around the front of the car, he opened the door to Miriallia's side and bowed low like a royal escort, holding out his hand to his lady. Miriallia stepped out with his help, enjoying the cool breeze. Tolle slowly unwrapped Miriallia's eyes, allowing her to view the site before her.

"...Tolle..."

A small oval table stood before them, draped in the most expensive table cloth Tolle managed to swipe from home. Two elegant chairs sat at the ends of the table and three candles were perched on the center of the table, ready to be lit. Tolle grabbed Miriallia's hand, guiding her to a chair and seated her. Before sitting himself down, he pulled out a small basket Miriallia didn't notice hadn't noticed before and placed it in front of her. Miriallia wasn't exactly sure what to make of all this, she gave Tolle a questioning look and he could only smile. "What, did you forget already Milly? It's our two year anniversary since we started dating."

Milly frowned, with all the mess going around home, she'd completely forgotten. She mumbled an apology for not getting anything, but Tolle understood. He always did.

"Open the basket." Tolle urged as he lit the candles one by one and sat down opposite of her. The wrappings crinkled as she slowly unraveled it, revealing a dolphin, a dolphin necklace to be exact. Miriallia's words got caught in her throat as she stared at the necklace. Dolphins...dolphins are her favorite!

"You don't like?" Tolle teased. Milly jumped up and ran around the table, giving Tolle a bear hug and kissing his head like a mother would do to a baby. That was enough of an answer.

For a while they remained sitting at the small table, talking in gentle ease as the candles melted and as the moon glided across the sea of stars.

Math taunted her through a plasma screen. Living in this day and age meant that without a personalized computer that didn't have wireless world-web accesses, screwed over you are. Pulling together some funds and recent paychecks, she got herself not a top-of-the-line, but will do model. While in some schools, a written request could be made for text books and printouts, the Minerva Academy was only for the 'rich and the power' so found no use for old-fashion textbooks. They did have a printing machine but it was electronic textbooks that students worked out of.

Cagalli furrowed her brow, trying to decipher the language known as numbers but it seemed no matter what source she tried to use, the language remained a mystery to her, like the mystery of why Swiss cheese has holes She slumped in defeat, the digital clock on her PC read eleven, and she still had some wordy chapters to read through for literature. Maybe it'll be better to ask for help...

Getting up in a huff, she ejected the floppy and slipped some slippers on. It seemed that a certain waiter lived not only in the same apartment building, but right next door too. She was extremely desperate, and desperate people do desperate things. He didn't seem too mad when they last left each other at the doors of their apartment, she might be able to wiggle out some help from him, and if he was a stalker, she'll just punch the lights out of him if he tried anything disagreeable. All worth it if it meant she could finally sleep.

After stepping out into a dimly lit hallway, she locked the door behind her (she didn't trust the scraggy looking men lurking further down the hall) and knocked on his door, calling out lightly, inquiring if anyone was wake.

Athrun, who was in the kitchen preparing a late night dinner, turned around when he heard a knock and a voice. He frowned, late night visitors aren't usually good...

The knocking continued. Before opening the door, he looked through the peep hole and found a distorted version of the girl next door. He gripped the doorknob and opened the door warily. A floppy disk was shoved into his face. Refocusing his eyes, he read scrawled out words: 'Stupid math'. He shifted his attention to the figure holding the floppy, she didn't meet his eyes, instead finding a nice patch of floor to stare at.

Before he said anything, the blonde began talking. "I need help, can't figure out stupid calculus..." Calculus...maybe she wasn't a nitwit after all.

"Ah, sure. Just pop it into my computer. Actually I was making some ramen, want some?" Athrun moved aside and allowed the blonde in while pointing to a desk that was only higher than the floor by a foot or so. The blonde nodded. "Alright, I'll be done in a bit."

Cagalli watched him retreat back into the kitchen and settled on a cushion in front of the PC. She was surprised, the PC was a new model, one that only came out month or two ago. She inserted the floppy and pulled up the files. Peering around, she discovered that his apartment was in a much better condition then hers. The wooden floor looked like it had been recently cleaned and the walls were painted white instead of being subjected to terrible clashing wallpaper of disgusting colors. There was even a special room for the kitchen!

Before Cagalli could do further investigation on her alleged 'stalker', he reappeared from the kitchen and placed in front of her a bow of freshly cooked ramen. Just as Cagalli was about to dig in, a thought occurred, "I don't know your name." Athrun froze as he was about to take a humongous bite. True, during encounters earlier, she only referred to him as 'you', 'him', 'bastard'...and some other words while he avoided addressing her altogether. The subject of their names just never popped up.

"Athrun Dino." He said giving the same name he had all day. "And yours?"

"Cagalli Yula."

Athrun nodded and bite into yummy goodness.

Okay, thanks for reading down to here! I hope that the characters weren't too OOC that made you want to cringe in fear/disgust. Updates won't be for a few days, I wrote the first three chapters together before posting up the first. Well, from what I can tell...

Next Chapter: Shinn's rommate and Lacus's reason for visit revealed! (as if you guys didn't figure out already -.-)

Please tell me what kind of job I'm doing (constructive please :D) and send in a much appreciated review:D