Wow, thank you to all the reviewers. Just so there's no confusion, I'll try to update once a week. I'll get on with the story right now and address questions and additional comments at the end, as well as hand out my thank you's. Here's just a quick note though, in this story there is no such thing as a coordinator or a natural. Everyone's just like everyone else.
Italics are thoughts, underlining is for emphasis and bold is my own talking.
Cagalli got off the bus and walked down the street. After arguing with Kira for an hour, over whether or not he should take her shopping for new textbooks, he'd finally given in and let her go herself. The truth was his dorm and classes were all on the other side of the city, making it a half hour drive away from her, easily.
"He's a busy guy, and I can take care of myself." She smiled to herself. "And he's a great brother too... he deserves a break." Walking into the bookstore, she showed her booklist to an employee. After being directed to the section reserved for textbooks, she walked over there alone.
"Well at least I can't get lost here..." She chuckled to herself. Then the image of a certain chuckling, blue haired young man came to mind. Catching herself, she stopped abruptly.
After her first day, she'd gotten home and immediately took the liberty of memorizing the map of campus he'd given her, to make sure that she wouldn't have to ask him for directions and that when she did run into him, she would immediately know which way to run. Kira also gave her a tour of the entire campus.
"All those precautions, and I have no idea why. I guess it's the way he makes me feel..." she muttered. She had run into him a few times at first, despite her efforts to avoid him, and each time she ended up blushing furiously and sprinting down a hallway. He seemed to have this presence. The way he smiled and looked at her already made her uneasy. The glares from random girls watching them talk doubled the feeling.
But she had gotten better at avoiding him and was now proud to say that after a month in the city, she'd managed to avoid him completely for the past two weeks. Displaying a proud smile, she couldn't help but wonder how much longer she could hold out. Her thoughts were interrupted as she arrived at the bookshelf, looked up and almost fainted.
"What the hell! These books are all FOUR inches thick! And I need to buy FIVE of them!"
Kira stood, arms crossed, hesitant and yet eager, facing... a door. He was right in front of Lacus' apartment, yet found difficulty in just, knocking. "Raise the hand... that's it... now knock. Knock... KNOCK DAMMIT. AGH, forget it!"
He plopped down in confused frustration, careful not to be too noisy. Looking around him, he couldn't figure out what the problem was. He'd come to her apartment before to work on the project, why on earth was today different?
Then again, lately he'd felt increasingly anxious to confront Lacus. At the same time, every time she looked at him, he froze up. He felt comfortable with her, just not with confessing to her. How on earth do you tell a girl that for some odd reason, you don't just think of her as a friend anymore? How do you tell her that you feel sad, not when she's not with you, but when she's just not looking at you? He could talk to her about anything!
Just...
not...
THIS.
He buried his head into the palms of his hand with frustration. He planned to tell her today, had said the same this today morning that he had said for the past month "Today's the day. I won't cop out. I'll tell her for sure..." Looking up at the light on the ceiling he frowned.
"Okay... maybe not today. Not ready. Still need... more time." Taking a deep breath, he got up and turned to knock on the door.
"Because, she might not feel the same way..."
Athrun had just parked convertible when a certain blond haired girl carrying what appeared to be an enormous stack of books caught his eye. "It's been a while since I've seen her..." He thought, feeling a smile tug at the corners of his mouth.
He used to be able to see her at least once a day, but she seemed to have disappeared for the past two weeks. Just the sight of her now was able to make amuse him. She was starting to walk his way, but the stack of books hindered her vision, and she appeared to be stumbling a bit. Getting out of his car, he approached her.
"Need a hand?" He offered. Cagalli spun around and almost dropped her books. He reached forward and steadied the pile. "Long time no see."
"Mmhmm..." Cagalli mumbled, eyes locked onto her books. Judging by the sound of his voice, if she were to look up she'd probably find herself about an inch away from his face.
"Haven't seen you in a while. Haven't been getting lost have you?" He teased. But the physical distance, or rather lack of it, between them had him almost blushing too. In all honesty he had no idea what had come over him. He usually wasn't this forward, but something about her allowed him to be. Standing up straight, he took a step back and waited for a response.
Cagalli shook her head lightly. "Your map's done wonders for me." She replied. He laughed casually.
"Is that it? You aren't still using that map are you?" He joked.
"Huh? Oh no! I stopped a while ago. But I mean, for that first bit yeah I had to use it. Uh... yeah..." She trailed off. Her eyes were wandering onto the ground again, and she kept shifting her weight from side to side nervously. Feeling the awkward pause, Athrun spoke once more.
"Walking home?" He asked. She nodded again. Athrun took the top three books from her stack.
"These are pretty heavy you know. Hop in, I'll give you a lift."
Cagalli dropped her books.
"Wha- What!" she exclaimed.
"Hey, don't damage them before you've even used them!" He laughed, tossing the three he was holding into the back seat of his car, then reaching over for the ones she'd dropped. Cagalli stood there, stunned.
"Care to repeat that?" She managed to get out. He tossed the last two books into the back, walked back towards her, stood smack in front of her, then looked right at her.
"I'll. Give. You. A. Lift. You know, home. So you don't have to carry those." He grinned. "Yeah, she's definately an interesting girl..." He walked over to unlock the passenger side door. Cagalli shook herself out of her frozen state and jogged over to him. Placing her hand on the door to stop him from opening it, she turned towards him.
"Hey, hold on. I mean, it's nice of you to offer, but don't you think that... I dunno. I mean, you know." She struggled for words awkwardly. "Dammit, usually a guy would have a black eye and trouble walking if he were this cocky around me. Why do I keep blushing?"
Athrun blinked in mild confusion. "No, I don't. I don't see you for two weeks, I finally see you again, and you want to kill yourself carrying textbooks. Are you feeling okay?" He questioned. "Why am I forcing myself on her? I should just let her go. What am I doing?" Suddenly, he realized that he was overlooking something. "Oh no... Hey, Cagalli. Are you um... seeing, someone?" He asked. Now it was his turn to blush.
"What? Uh..." She was taken aback. "Where did that come from?" she wondered. "No, I'm not. But still-" She protested.
Athrun let out the breath he'd been holding. For some reason he'd felt like his life was on the line with that question. "Well then what's the problem? Hop in." He laughed, nonchalantly, swinging open the door for her.
"The problem, is that I don't think it's entirely appropriate for someone your age to be this friendly to someone my age! What are you, some sicko!" She blurted out. Immediately she clapped her hands around her mouth and braced herself. What she said was true, in fact, it had been bugging her this whole time. But something about him made her nervous, speaking so upfront.
Athrun stopped and turned slowly. "Care to repeat that?" He frowned.
Cagalli took a step back. "I think you heard me well enough..." She said in a tone, braver then how she felt. Athrun walked toward her, until their faces were inches apart. He looked directly into her eyes, seriously.
"How old are you?" He asked, realizing that he'd never known that.
"Ni-nineteen." She stammered, alarmed by his sudden actions. He blinked suddenly and stepped back, leaning against his car, a slight frown still on his face.
"What the... What age difference are you talking about? I'm nineteen too." He said, looking up and turning to face her with a look of utter confusion.
"Huh? You-you're nineteen? A little young to be a professor..." She returned his look. However, as soon as the words left her mouth he burst into laughter.
"Professor! What ARE you talking about? I'm a student!" He explained, after calming down a bit.
"Student! But... the professor seemed to know you so well!" She seemed unable to control the words coming out of her mouth.
"I was a summer research student, so I still work with him now." He explained. Cagalli stared in amazement, allowing herself to absorb everything she'd just heard. First, he's only 19. Then he's not a professor...
"Wait! Then... are you seeing, anyone?" She asked, desperate to understand what was happening. He shook his head lightly, still laughing slightly. "Oh geez, well you should have told me sooner!" She cried out, exasperated. She was too relieved to be embarrassed about her mistake. "Sure, I'd love a ride home. I live on Cypress." She smiled and walked towards the seat. After closing her door he slid in front of the wheel and began backing out of the parking lot.
"Well I'm glad we cleared that up. Is that why you've been avoiding me?" He asked, still unable to believe how long this girl had been under the wrong impression.
"More or less." She shrugged, choosing to ignore the fact that she still felt uneasy around him, and still felt like she was going to blush whenever he looked at her. He smiled, watching how relaxed she seemed to be now, with her head propped up against her hand, her elbow leaning on car door. Then a thought crossed his mind.
"Hold on. How old did you think I was?" He raised an eyebrow. Cagalli raised her head, took a good look at him and found his staring at her intently. Her cheeks lit up instantly and she swallowed hard.
"We'll talk about that some other time" She answered turning her head to face the window again.
Lacus opened her door and smiled. They were pretty much finished what was supposed to be a two month project, but Kira still kept rushing to finish.
"Alright, come on in. I think that we can finish it all up today." She said, stepping back to let him inside. Kira immediately rushed over and dumped the mountain of materials onto the couch.
"Thanks.. So, shall we get started?" He offered.
"So soon? Have you had anything to eat?" Lacus was still amused at how rushed he seemed to be.
"Uh, yeah well kinda. We can go eat later." Kira shrugged.
"Kinda? Come on, I'll make you a sandwich or something." Lacus frowned slightly and started for the kitchen. He blinked and followed her in.
"It's fine really. I'm fine. I mean..."
"Are you that eager to start working?" Lacus looked at him.
"Huh? Oh no, but I don't want to trouble you..." He trailed off and looked around.
Lacus gave him another smile. "How many times do I have to tell you that you don't trouble me? Even if you're trying to finish this project in half the time." She laughed. "Honestly Kira, I can't understand why you keep rushing." Kira looked at her and studied her face for a moment, before taking a deep breath.
"Maybe... I'm just trying to find excuses to spend time with you." He shrugged, almost blushing. Lacus stopped and turned slowly to face him.
"If you want to spend time, you don't need an excuse." She noted, handing him a plate.
"Oh... Well, it's nice hearing that." He said, pausing slightly after the first two words. They gave each other another look, then smiled and looked away.
"It's right here." Cagalli noted. Athrun stopped the car and suddenly just sat there. Though he had wanted to just drop it, it was still bugging him. Cagalli shifted nervously in her seat. "Why isn't he letting me go. Does he want to talk about something? Oh damn, there goes that blush. Spit it out man!" She took a quick look at him, and noticed that he appeared to be frowning.
"Really now…" He started. "How old did you think I was, for you to think that you had to call me 'Mr. Zala'?" Cagalli was taken aback, then thought about it and mumbled something. "Little louder please." He chuckled.
"Twenty... something. Twenty-nine maybe?"
"TWENTY-NINE! I don't look that old do I?"
"I don't know! You looked really professional!" She protested.
"But twenty-nine? Aw man... I'm not aging that quickly am I?" He sighed. People had often thought he was older, due to either his maturity or just his overall manner. But twenty-nine!
He resting his left arm on the wheel, proceeding to let his head fall onto it. Leaning towards him, she couldn't help but feel incredibly guilty. "Hey, I was just being stupid. I mean, you're not-" He suddenly looked up at her.
"You need a hand with those?" he asked, gesturing towards the backseat. Cagalli suddenly froze, looking at his face for a moment. She sat there for a moment, studying how calm and gentle features still grazed the mature face that she had once seen, until his face seemed to change a little.
"Why is she staring at me?" He wondered... "Do you?" He asked again.
Startled, her gaze snapped. "Did he notice my staring?.. What the hell? What am I saying! I wasn't staring!." Blushing, she quickly shook her head and smiled. "You don't… need help?" He blinked.
"No, I mean. Well no, I don't need a hand, and you don't look twenty-nine."
"Well that's good to hear. But you still thought I was at first, so I dunno. You're probably just taking pity on me." He grinned. She grabbed her books and gave him a last smile.
"Nope. You're definitely not twenty-nine." Opening the door, she waved good-bye and watched him drive away. Even after his car had disappeared from sight she stood there for a moment longer. "Athrun Zala… Just what kind of a guy are you?..."
Geez, another long update. I'm not sure whether I'll be keeping each chapter this long, but I tend to go on and on, so chapter length should be fairly consistent.
First of all, a big thank you to all who reviewed (HimeHikari, GATX-105B, asga, Genny-chan, des, stuntsheep, jenniferseedlover, MyouseiSeed, dark griffin, mariad, animemistress and koyou) Also, a kind thank you those who may not have reviewed, but still read. Though reviews are loved, thanks for reading anyways.
Just to answer some general questions:
There will we character development later on. Athrun's is coming next chapter, but there really isn't much. I tried to remove all aspects of who they are, in both social and political standing. All four became average people, living commonly. Then I just tried to figure out what would happen based on character. I figured, Athrun's more of the silent type that keeps to himself so he might be well-liked but still relatively reserved. So that's a part of it. There's a lot more on him in the next chapter though, so I won't say too much now.
As for Cagalli and Kira's living arrangements, because Cagalli transferred a year after Kira, Kira had already made living arrangements and was living in a dorm. Dorms are separated by gender (well, at least here they are…), so there was no possible way for Cagalli to live with Kira, hence she just got her own apartment.
Gah, I feel like I've been rushing Kira and Lacus. Just as a slight spoiler, they will end up together before Athrun and Cagalli do, since I feel like they are able to be more upfront with their feelings, and of course, in this story they have known each other longer.
Any more questions? Comments? Review and tell me what you think.