Well, the story's REALLY winding down now. Next chapter is the final chapter, but because I have a thing for even numbers, I'll probably throw in an epilogue. Then I have a one-shot I plan to throw up at some time, and I'll start a new story.
But let's not get ahead of ourselves. Without further ado, I present Chapter 10: Deliberate Daring
Lacus took a deep breath, savoring the early morning air, light with dew but fresh as the new day. She smiled, stepping out of the supermarket holding a bag of groceries that contained eggs, milk, and bread and some jam, which she was on her way home with. Her thoughts wandered off in the direction of a certain boy that used to blush a lot, and still sort of did, who was currently, sleeping on her couch.
Lacus glanced at the watch on her right wrist, certainly not she expecting him to be up. She always had been an early bird, and grateful that the local supermarket opened early... about 6:40am to be exact.
Stopping buy a stand to purchase some flowers, she turned and fumbled around to get a bill from her bag... then promptly dropped her groceries.
"There...There's no way..."
Athrun had been taking an early morning walk, unable to sleep well since the events of yesterday. About to head to a cafe to grab a quick coffee, he halted midstep and he caught a glimpse of some rather distinctive pink hair. He waved to her, but she didn't appear to notice... instead she... Dropped her groceries? What the-?
Taking a quick look at the road to check for cars, he hurried over to help her.
"Lacus? Lacus!" He called, and watched as she slowly bent down and picked up a copy of the newspaper. "What's wrong? Did something happen?" Athrun finished, still unable to read the headline of the paper.
"Athrun... Did Cagalli say anything to you... did you hear anything. by any chance. Did you catch word of what they talked about?" She stumbled on her words, recovering gradually from shock. Athrun shook his head, now steadying the groceries he had re-gathered. Lacus passed the paper to his silently.
And Athrun dropped the groceries again.
Cagalli moaned and rolled over in bed. Somewhere off in the distance a phone was ringing... okay technically the phone right beside head on the bed stand was ringing but in her sleep filled state, it may as well have been miles away. Deciding to let her answering machine get it, she... made a huge mistake as only moments later the voice of her frantic brother thundered through the speaker.
"CAGALLI! GET YOUR BUTT OUT OF BED RIGHT NOW AND TELL ME WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!"
She shot up straight as an arrow and turned to her bedroom door. Moments later, instead of waiting for Cagalli to open the door, with his new found knowledge of the key hidden in the plant, a charging Kira splintered through her door.
"CAGALLI!"
"Kira calm down! NOW WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT'S HOLY COULD HAVE POSSESSED YOU TO BREAK INTO MY APARTMENT, WAKE ME UP AND YELL AT ME! IF ANYONE HAS YELLING RIGHTS-!"
"IT'S ME!" Kira hollered back.
Lacus stood patiently too the side, then handed Cagalli a newspaper that in bright bold letters had the following headline in capital letters:
"CAGALLI YULA ATHHA THINKS I'M A LIAR"
Then underneath:
"Obvious enough for you? Article continued in the school newspaper."
Cagalli's mouth dropped open and she fell backwards… Thank goodness she was still in bed.
"Athrun's gone to get a copy of the school newspaper. So what happened yesterday?" Lacus asked.
"Well uh... he said he was editor and stuff. I thought he was lying! And just… making up stuff! Like a boast!" Cagalli protested. Kira slapped his forehead with his palm.
"Cagalli even I could have told you who he was. How could you NOT know?"
She frowned. "But I heard you say you didn't know him."
"I didn't get a good look at him. From that distance he could have been anyone." Kira explained. "But just give me a decent look at his face and I would be able to tell..."
The doorbell rang and Lacus went to answer it, while Cagalli ushered Kira out of her room so she could get changed. Athrun entered Cagalli apartment and promptly thrust the school newspaper into Lacus' eager hands. The headline on this read:
"Dean's list student doesn't believe me who I am. - Article by the Editor."
Athrun flomped onto the couch and tilted his head back, closing his eyes as if suffering from a migraine.
"Shoot me now..." He muttered. Lacus hurried over to comfort him.
"Athrun... it's not that bad. I mean... so he's more forward. That doesn't mean that he's asked Cagalli out yet... nor has she accepted."
Kira stared speechless at the paper. Suddenly Cagalli stormed out of her room, further damaging that already horribly battered bedroom door. Lacus quickly shut up, while Athrun quickly regained composure. Snatching the paper out of Kira's hands, her eyes widened.
"What the hell... WHERE IS THIS GUY! I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!" She screamed. Kira shrugged.
"Probably at the school newspaper's office."
Cagalli immediately ran out the door disregarding the calls of Lacus and Kira. Athrun slumped back again.
"This is horrible..." He muttered, after she was safely gone.
"Athrun..." Kira started.
"No, no NO. Don't you 'Athrun...' me... you've had it easy! Random guys weren't declaring their love for Lacus on world renounced newspapers when you asked her out. Love of-"
"That's enough Athrun." Lacus spoke sternly. "Now make up your mind. If you feel that you can't go through with the bet anymore, or you've lost all will, then say so."
Athrun paused for a moment then opened his eyes and looked at them.
"I'll take the dare I guess..." He mumbled.
Kira blinked in disbelief. "Clearly you haven't heard about the time she dared Sai to out outside to the public gardens stark naked, and sing a rendition of "I'm a little teacup" while dancing the salsa and playing maracas... then get down on bending knee and propose to the oldest woman he could find, which was at the time a 78 year old woman taking a walk with her husband."
Lacus' eyes grew wide, and she cracked a smile. "You're kidding..."
Kira's grin stretched. "Nope. I love telling that story." He turned to Athrun whose face color resembled sea algae.
"O-okay then. Never mind. I suppose the dare is out of the question."
"Don't worry man." Kira smiled, patting Athrun jokingly on the back. "I promise that I won't make you do anything like that."
"But Cagalli and Ahmed are getting pretty close... I mean he's so damn forward." Athrun mumbled worriedly.
"I don't think they're moving fast enough, so that he'll ask her out before the bet ends." Lacus noted thoughtfully.
"Considering the bet ends in about 3 hours... I'd have to agree." Kira smiled.
Athrun lifted his head looked up at the two, their beaming faces urging him to press forward. He managed a weak smile. "Thanks guys..."
Kira and Lacus stepped into the hall, on their way to buy more groceries, leaving Athrun to wait for Cagalli to come back alone, so he could do some serious thought sorting.
"Well that was fun." Kira grinned.
"Think they're suspicious?" Lacus wondered.
"Of us? Naw."
"Okay then. So now that we have that power, what should we do?"...
"Hmmm...Why don't we..."
Cagalli tore down the street, fuming. Since her picture was in the paper too, it seemed like just about everybody in the city was turning to look… no…. stare at her. Furiously, she kicked down the door into school newspaper's office, her eyes darting around on high alert.
"WHERE. IS. HE!"
Several frightened administrators turned to look at her. One was even holding up a black folder portfolio as a shield.
"We... we don't know! A-Ahmed… He's on vacation!"
Cagalli glared.
"Really! It's the truth! He just phoned last night and told us to print something, sent it over and we printed it!"
Cagalli's eyes flashed dangerously. "You mean… you would print something just because he told you to! Without even LOOKING at it!"
"H-He's the EDITOR! We don't have a choice! It's our job! He'll b-be back though! By the time school starts! He'll be back! Oh gawd please don't hurt me!" She raised the folder a bit higher. A few people had ducked under the table.
"Dammit!" Cagalli kicked a chair across the room and tore open the door, leaving behind devastation not unlike that of a hurricane...
"I'm never stepping foot outside my apartment... EVER AGAIN!" Cagalli moaned, her face buried in a couch cushion. Lacus patted her back.
"It'll die down. It's just the initial shock." She assured. Meanwhile, Kira was off to the re-reading the article for the hundredth time. Athrun watched Cagalli from across the room.
Suddenly, Kira nonchalantly glanced at his watch.
"Oh! Will you look at the time!"
Athrun looked at Kira. Cagalli lifted her head. Lacus hid her eyes…
"The bet's done! See? Let's see... none of you have anything going on?"
Athrun shook his head. Cagalli buried her head again.
"I lost..." She wailed.
"No no, not at all. You tied. So according to the rules..." Kira whipped out the document. "Lacus and I get to dare you guys."
Athrun's eyes widened. He had completely forgotten about that! No wonder they kept pushing him to hang in for a tie! But what were they planning?...
Krai rubbed his hands in anticipation. "Athrun, I dare you to ask someone out... by the end of the week. When classes starts." Athrun gaped at him. Kira knew perfectly well how he felt!
If I'm going to ask someone out... There's only one person I want to...
Lacus turned to Cagalli. "Cagalli, I dare you to go on a date with whoever next asks you out. Doesn't matter who it is, the next person that asks you out, you MUST accept."
Cagalli almost fainted. Athrun felt a lump gather in his throat. They MUST be joking...
Kira and Lacus smiled, clearly proud of what they had accomplished.
A Few Hours Ago... In a very familiar hall.
"Why don't we...Just dare them to date each other? Isn't that what we were originally planning?" He wondered.
"Kira! That's much too obvious! Besides I have issues with that method now." Lacus protested.
"Oh?"
"Yes... imagine if you were forced to date someone. Even if you realized you had feelings, you wouldn't admit to it. They have to realize it themselves, and be coerced into it... which shouldn't be a problem. With a dare each, we're more then capable of holding that power."
"So then... I can dare Athrun to ask out 'someone he really cares about' by the first day we return to classes." Kira suggested.
"Good. That's good. We're not suggesting Cagalli, but this way he'll have to accept his feelings. As for me... I will force her to accept the offer of anyone who asks her out, eliminating the chance of rejection. I don't think Cagalli would reject him, but the girl may panic and say something that she doesn't mean."
Kira and Lacus grinned and nodded. "This WILL work!"
"Fine." Athrun sighed. "I resign myself to fate. After all, I don't have a choice, now do I? I accept your dare."
Kira nodded, clearly satisfied. "Great!"
"Cagalli?" Lacus prodded. The poor blonde turned at her.
"Lacus... I thought you were my FRIEND..."
"I am. This is for your own good. Be happy YOU wouldn't be proposing to someone naked while dancing the tango in public." She chuckled.
Cagalli raised an eyebrow. "How do you know about that?... And it was the salsa, not the tango. You need two to do that." She smiled at the memory "All right then. I accept the dare too. I'm not backing out, I never do."
"Then it's settled. The bet's conclusion: WE WIN!" Kira grinned, with Lacus joining him in chanting the last two words. Athrun and Cagalli exchanged a look, and raising and eyebrow and crossing their arms.
How long have they been planning this?...
Athrun Zala walked down the halls towards the classroom, stoically. Classes had resumed and, as his oh-so-considerate best friend Kira kept reminding him...
"You haven't finished the bet yet! What are you going to do! I gave you an entire WEEK! And you won't be rejected, you know that."
Athrun sighed and turned to him. "It's different Kira. I don't care whether she'll accept one date or not. There' more to it."
Opening the door, they waved and walked towards Lacus and Cagalli who were already standing by their desks. The four of them took their seats and began lightly chatting, until:
Ahmed walked through the door. Kira was the first to notice, and had no idea how to react. After noticing her boyfriend had apparently forgotten how to blink, Lacus followed his gaze then covered her mouth quickly, stifling a gasp. Athrun heard the almost inaudible gasp and gaped for a moment, before quickly switching the direction of his gaze. Cagalli observed the start chain reaction by her friends then, upon observing the catalyst, stormed over.
"YOU! WHERE have you been!"
"On vacation." Ahmed shrugged. "It was spring break... cut me some slack." Cagalli wrung her hands with frustration, when suddenly, Ahmed pulled her elbow.
"Um hey, could I talk to you for a second? Like... over there?" He stammered, pointing in the general direction of a corner. Lacus watched in horror. Athrun clenched his hands under his desk.
"It's like watching a train wreck..." Kira muttered. Yet the oblivious Cagalli nodded and followed. Athrun tensed slightly, but maintained a smile, while Kira and Lacus gave Athrun an apprehensive glance. They watched Ahmed and Cagalli talk, Ahmed seeming to be fairly forward, but still blushing and Cagalli nodding. When suddenly... they heard those dreaded words spring forth from Ahmed's mouth.:
"Hey Cagalli... I hope you don't hate me now... that you still like mea little..." He tried to smile at her. Cagalli answered him with a glare.
"LIKE YOU! After what you pulled, I don't want to be within a 10 foot radius of you!"
He laughed. "Well that's going to make dating a bit hard..."
Cagalli blinked. "Huh?"
Ahmed mustered up a silly grin. "So... you wanna go out this weekend?"
So the bet has concluded ladies and gentlemen, and it's a tie! But, uh oh… Kira and Lacus' plan has backfired! What will happen! Will Cagalli break her dare, or accept Ahmeh's date? Andwhat about poor Athrun!
No hints about the next chapter this time… like I said the next one is the chapter that was intended to be the true ending. A brief epilogue will be posted though, so I can get a nice even number for my first fanfic. -
Once again, many thanks to my much loved reviewers:
Taminemoon, Taraneh, kaurama-kasuki, MyouseiSeed, daisukechibi, animemistress419, Digital-Dragon-Master, kura52, anon, transmobilesuit , stuntsheep, FormerAurora, Susan, xXDarkgrlXx, clumsy kelli, IYGU, ANONYMOUS, RoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, Crazy Destiny, Kandida, gseedlover, koali alolao, Cagalli Yula aTHHA, Smoke-Angel, MissKT, thunder sister, Ivory Nightshade, Michoyo Hikari, BlackCrya, peachy, Yukari-chan, asga, ninofchaos
Thank you all for you continued support. It's good to see that people are actually reading this fic and thinking about it. I certainly didn't expect anyone to remember all the rules (I don't really myself… sshhhh), but the ones that you did need to remember I reiterated.
As a final end note: I've started making an outline for my next fic, so here's a brief teaser.
Title: Waiting On You
Preview:
Athrun thought he was just having an ordinary day, about to drink an ordinary coffee at what appeared to be an ordinary café. Too bad his waitress wasn't so ordinary… Athrun&Cagalli centric.
"Okay. How's it going?" she asked conversationally.
"Hm? Uh... okay."
"Well that sucks."
"How so?"
"Because why would you put up with an okay day when you could be having a great one?"
No idea when this thing is coming… but you get the idea. I hope you guys will go check it out though.
Until next week,goodbye!