Ad Infinitum
Disclaimer: All the characters mentioned in this story…ok, fine. Not all (i.e. Zen, Zanita, yadda yadda.) But most of the important characters and places mentioned in this story are property of SquareEnix, so RESPECT them.
A/N: Heehee. Sorry. Thanks a bunch, guys for your reviews! I absolutely love and revere every single one of them. Sorry about being while with Chapter 4, but finally…here it is. Enjoy.
Chapter 4: Claims to Fame
But there's a full moon risin'
Let's go dancing in the light
We know where the music's playin'
Let's go out and feel the night.
Harvest Moon, Neil Young
She was tapping her foot impatiently and twirling a strand of that long, silky, shiny – Aw, crap, quit! You're making me nauseous! – hair. Not a good sign. He motioned urgently to Lia to hurry; but just then, he caught sight of Zanita as the crowd around her cleared a bit. He heaved a sigh of relief, and slowed down to a normal pace.
He winced as he saw Zanita and now Zen (who had just joined them) also wearing looks of exasperation. Her back was to him, but he was willing to bet her look could fry him on the spot faster than Ifrit himself.
Reaching her, he clamped his hands quickly over her eyes, giving her absolutely no time to react. "Guess who?" he cried out in an annoying, sing-song voice, as Lia let out a little giggle beside him.
"You're late." Her voice was cold. Darn. He was hoping she would have forgotten. Letting his arms fall back to his side, he looked sulky.
"Like a little boy caught playing blitz in the mud," murmured Zanita to herself, with an amused smile.
"I'm sooooo sorry, Your Highness Lenne, Your Majesty," he said sarcastically, going on one knee as a 'loyal subject' would. He noted gleefully that Lenne looked pissed-off. She loves me, she really does! Standing up, he let out a victorious little chuckle.
Suddenly, as he exulted secretly, he received a bang on the back which nearly sent him flying. Oof. "Yo, Shu', who's the babe?" Zen's voice was low, interested and obviously meant to be heard only by him. But by the look on Lenne's face, she had obviously overheard, and was very interested in what he had to say.
"Yeah, Shu'. Tell us," she said snarkily. Is it just me or does she sound a teeny-weeny bit…mean? He glanced at Lia, who was now swooning over the "really, really big men!" on either side of the entrance to the Zanarkand National Blitzball Stadium, while Zanita watched her curiously.
Shuin cleared his throat. "She's damn hot, eh?" He elbowed Lenne in the ribs, just to rub it in and irritate her more. "Darling, do you know what that means? That means she makes me wanna swear every friggin' second I see her and hot damn! Have you seen her when she's no-"
"I don't know," interjected Lenne quickly, before the conversation got too intimate or perverted for her liking. Her face was slightly pink. Shuin smirked at her knowingly, and after glaring at him poisonously, she turned away. Shuin pulled a face at her behind her back, but was quickly forced to erase it as she turned unexpectedly around again.
"Hey, Shu'?" He eyed her warily. Why does she sound so….nice?
"Yeah?"
"What time do the Abes start warming up?"
"Oh, about six forty fiii…" His 'five' trailed off as the colour drained from his face, and his eyes widened. Numbly, he glanced at his watch – the expensive, water-proof, always-accurate prototype G1 model – and nearly fainted dead away.
7:07 PM.
Stuffing the tickets into Lenne's hands, he broke away at a sprint. "Shit! Shit shit shit shit! Shit!" Who cared if everyone was staring at him fearfully, or if he was rudely colliding with every unfortunate soul in his path? Coach will bite my bloody arse for this!
"Good luck!" called Lenne after him, maybe a bit too cheerfully.
"I bloody well hate you!" he called over his shoulder. As he entered the stadium, the only sound ringing in his ears above all the din was that of Lenne's cheeky laughter.
Zen shook his head disapprovingly at Lenne, whose laughter was tumbling out raucously and helplessly. "You're so damn mean to the poor guy, I bleed as a fellow man." She straightened up, her bout of laughing over for the moment.
"Zen, he totally deserves it!" Zanita caught them both unawares.
"Yes, he totally does!" exclaimed Lenne, still smiling widely. "He is so…" She trailed off absently.
Zen subsided, defeated. He couldn't possible hold his own against two. He ran his fingers through his now bright green hair and scowled. "Women." Lenne and Zanita exchanged amused looks, and then chuckled together. As if it had all been on cue. Zanita walked over to Zen, and gave him a big hug and a peck on the cheek, as Lenne turned away grinning.
Seeing Shuin's latest girlfriend still bleating rapturously about the statues nearby, Lenne decided to go talk to her, and leave the lovebirds behind her alone for a while.
Zen and Zanita were two of Shuin's best friends, and Lenne had first met them on hat long ago night of Shuin's first pro blitzball game with the Abes. She smiled absently as she remembered how shy of and intimidated by them she had felt….
The thought of meeting Shuin there itself had been scary, and had completely relied upon Yunie completely to sustain her while meeting some of his other 'pals' but…
"Yunie finked out," Shuin told her, rolling his electric blue eyes. "She really hates blitz, doesn't she?"
"I'm going to kill her," muttered Lenne darkly.
"You're as mean as you look, huh?" He grinned at her teasingly, as she transferred her scowl from the absent Yunie to him. Do not be rude to your host, do not be rude to your host. ..he's giving you the tickets and you will be polite and grateful, do not be rude to your host…he'll help you get to Midel, do not be…
Impulsively, she grabbed his arm, as the crowd pressed in. "Thank you so much for the tickets, Shuin! He nodded doubtfully at her unexpected response. And then her attitude changed completely. "So now I don't have to feel guilty if I kill you, do I?" she asked plaintively.
At that, he laughed out loud. "Make that meaner than you look!" he snickered. And then he sobered down. "Come on and meet my pals."
She hesistantly followed him, doubt and fear crashing within her. Indeed, the odd crew that greeted her only made it worse. There was a boy with electric blue hair, and eyes to match. There was a glint of metal above his eyebrow; he had a forehead piercing. Lenne shivered. And his clothes! They looked liked they'd been severely tortured – all rips and patches and threads.
Holding his hand was a beautiful girl with an extremely thick mass of auburn hair and fiery green eyes. The only intimidating thing about her were the cool stares she bestowed upon them and her knee-high black leather boots that looked like they were itching to kick somebody.
In almost strange contrast with them was a blonde belle, with pink pouty lips and a clear, creamy complexion. Her eyes were constantly innocently wide, and as blue as Shuin's. She was dressed in a pretty – rather exposing, Lenne thought – flowery dress that was probably better suited for a sunny-day picnic than a blitzball game, but…
"That's Zen" – pointing at blue-haired –"and Zanita" – obviously Zen's girlfriend –"and my girlfriend, Aily. People, this is Lenne; the girl I told y'all about?" The introduction itself left Lenne feeling queasy and nervous. What if he told them bad things about me? She wouldn't put it past him. And he had a girlfriend? Lenne wasn't quite aware of that deflated feeling somewhere within her; or maybe she just ignored it.
"H-hi, all," said Lenne, slightly timidly. Shuin, Zen and Zanita all grinned at her, while Aily merely stared at her hard. After Aily's silent assessment of her was complete, Aily opened her mouth.
"Whatever." Obviously, Lenne had failed. She then turned to Shuin and whinged. "Come oooon, Shuin, like, I wanna sit down! My feet hurt, I've been standing around for aaaages!" Aily had a nasal, whiny voice and even Shuin suddenly looked sheepish and uneasy at her rudeness as he took her hand.
"Um, Lenne…Zen and Zanita will bring you in- I gave them your ticket, ok? Have fun and all-" Aily was tugging at his hand impatiently.
"Let go of my hand!" she squealed, and Lenne watched in disbelief, with a heat rising within her. "You're ruining my nail-art! It hasn't dried yet!" She and the hastily apologizing Shuin disappeared into the blue shimmer of the arched entrance. On either side of the arch, the circular screens displayed the names of the teams playing – "Zanarkand Abes" on the left and "Dromadian Duggles" on the right.
Suddenly, Lenne felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to find Zanita smiling at her kindly. "Just ignore that bitch," she said calmly. And then dropping her voice, she muttered, "They're all morons like that." Lenne knew this latter was not for her, and so she gave no sign she had heard it. Lenne immediately felt better, and she knew that she was going to like Zanita very much – and Zen.
Zen chuckled, and spoke to Lenne for the first time. "All his girlfriends are like that." Zen and Zanita both chuckled. Lenne looked a little surprised.
"You say all like he has a million," grinned Lenne.
"She usually changes each week. His longest was…a month, I think. And the shortest about two days max.," explained Zen with a devilish grin. Lenne gaped at him for a minute, and then she threw a disapproving frown in Shuin's direction.
"That's just wrong!" she said stiffly.
"He sure has some kinda taste," Zen offered by way of response.
"That boy has the worst taste in girls, and that's probably why he hasn't found the right one yet," said Zanita rolling her eyes.
"Heh, right one." Zen was now grinning…goofily.
Zanita gave him a cool stare, and Lenne giggled. When they heard her, they both turned their faces towards her expectantly, but she waved them off with a blush. "Oh, nothing! Shall we go inside now?" The entrance had officially opened, and the crowds were pushing in. However, she let it out as they walked towards the entrance.
"What a cute couple!"
Lenne grinned at the memory. Once more, she glanced back at Zen and Zanita. Turning back, she sighed a little wistfully. It was always like this at Shuin's games; Zen and Zanita, Shuin and his flavour-of-the-week….and Lenne. Gooseberry Lenne.
It was true she loved Zen and Zanita like an older brother and sister, and Shuin was one of her best friends (she realized now that perhaps she had had too few of those). They never made her feel left-out or alone (consciously, anyway), but sometimes she couldn't help feeling that way. And sometimes Shuin's girlfriends were extremely mean to her; Lenne often (but not always) too good-natured to reciprocate. It did rankle, though.
Suddenly, a shriek pierced her solemn reflections. "It's Lenne! Ohhhhh my GOD!" And before she could blink, Lenne was surrounded by a sea of people all clamoring to talk to her, or waving bits of paper and pens in her face.
Three concerts and a few interviews after her break into the music industry, Lenne was getting accustomed to this. She enjoyed being not recognized for as long as it lasted; but after that she was always willing to please her fans, no matter the irritating wrist-ache after signing so many autographs!
"I can't take very long now, you know, or else I'll miss the blitzball match!" she explained, while quickly and expertly scribbling her name down onto the little pieces of scrap paper whisking into her face at every turn.
"Is it true you're seeing Shuin of the Abes, Songstress?"
Almost something of an overnight sensation, Lenne had been unanimously dubbed "Songstress" by all the leading news tabletoids, magazines and even the harshest of critics had had his heart softened by her voice. Unfortunately, now, this question was being asked unanimously by them too.
"No, I am not," Lenne sighed out patiently. "I swear, if I was in love, you'll hear me proclaim it from the dometops, and I wouldn't deny it! Shuin and I, we're just friends…in fact; his girlfriend's right there."
It cannot be denied that Lenne felt a gleeful kind of satisfaction when some of the crowd scurried over to Lia's side to interrogate her.
When the crowd's finally dispersed, she walked up to Lia. "Hiya!" she said brightly.
"Hello," came the short reply. Lia was still staring at the stone statues intently. Lenne looked at them too.
"These stone statues were built to symbolize the Twins- you know, the twin disciples of Yevon. It's said that the Twins were great warriors, who fought with spears- yeah, that's why they got those spears- amd it's said that they were like, the creators of blitzball, too," muttered Lenne absently, touching the knee of the huge statue in front of her. "Apparently, the Twins were Zanarkanese, so we're very proud of them!" She smiled.
Lia was now staring at Lenne with her mouth open. "Like, WOW! How'd you know all that?"
Lenne shrugged it off with a grin. "No big deal- to become a Summoner, you have to memorise all this stuff. Most of it's pretty boring!"
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Lia eagerly. "It's really cool! I wish I could be a Summoner, too! Except that the priest-dudes aren't really all that nice, are they?" She wrinkled up her nose with distaste.
Lenne giggled. Lia seemed really nice, for a change. Maybe Shu's evolving…"No they're not; they're all bald and boring, actually." Lia giggled, too.
"Oi! Seňoritas! The entrance is open so c'mon!" called Zen to them. Sure enough, the shimmery aquamarine light which blocked people from entering was now gone. Eagerly, Lenne made her through the grand entrance into the coliseum-shaped stadium.
All around her people were pushing, shoving, laughing with anticipation.
She could feel it too; her pulse was racing. Blitz time…
"I'm not gonna kick your ass now, boy, coz' it's almost time for the game. But I will give you bloody hell after the game. For now, just do good," Coach told him gruffly. Almost weak with relief, he wiped away the sweat from the back of his neck.
Midel – Shuin was still finding it hard to believe he played alongside Midel, his absolute idol – gave him a smile from the especially reserved stands for players not playing. Midel had fractured his wrist, and he would not be playing this game.
Shuin scrambled into the water canal that ran around the area of play, to get over the first cold shock of plunging into water. Leaning his head back against the side, he shut his eyes and cleared his mind, as he did before every blitzball match.
Irritatingly enough, it was Lenne's laughter that kept echoing in his mind.
03.Outta my head, dammit!
02. Thecrowds were stamping and cheering.
01.Shuin's eyes flew open.
00. He dove into the spherical area of play.
C'mon, Abes! C'mon Shu'! Give us a goal! Lenne watched eagerly as the electrical orb that activated the water sphere and the grid lines and the big score-showing screen rose up and sent out tendrils of its purple charge. Overhead the roof slid apart, allowing the starry skies to peek through.
"Zanarkand Abes 0 – 0 Dromadian Duggles" read the screen.
The horn sounded, and players from both teams hurtled into the gigantic water sphere; Duggles in yellow and Abes in blue.
A blitball appeared on a yellow grid dead centre of the sphere, and the centre player for the Duggles took his position opposite Shuin, who played centre for the Abes. Come on, Shu'! GET THE BALL! The buzzer sounded and the screen flashed "Blitzoff".
The ball flew into the air and Lenne screamed loudly (along with everyone else) as Shuin grabbed the ball with that annoying grin on his face.
"Yes, people! Shuin has done it again. Playing only his seventh game for the Abes, this young lad has proved himself a valuable member to the team. No..haha! Scratch that; one of the team's star players. Only seven games; and he's already got an astonishing eleven goals under his belt. Come on, now, Zon…you have to admit he plays like a pro.!"
"He is a pro.! Mark my words, people, this Shuin will be the Abes' pride, if he already isn't. He is one helluva sensation! I can only ask; where the hell has he been all these years?"
"COME ON SHU'!" screamed Lenne at the top of her voice, as he speedily swam near the goal. Almost as if he'd heard her, Shuin looked directly at Lenne and…winked. She booed angrily as a Duggle came to crash into Shuin just as the all also hurtled towards him.
But Shuin was equal to that, and he cleverly feinted downwards as the Duggle missed and was thrown forwards uselessly. Swimming up again at the speed of light, he caught the ball deftly. Lenne saw him take a deep breath and realized with a jolt of thrill that he was about to shoot.
"You can do it! SHOOT, SHU'! Shoot!" She was almost hoarse with shouting so much, but she was having the time of her life. You only live once, right? She didn't notice the looks of amusement from Zen and Zanita, and those of bewilderment from Lia, who couldn't understand how the gentle, lady-like girl from outside had been transformed into this…monster.
With a series of elaborate twists and spins in the water, Shuin shot. Lenne watched with bated breath; more bated than when she watched Midel, although she didn't quite realize, promising to kill Shuin if he missed. If you miss after all that showing off, I will stab you in the gut! You don't dare, not after all those unnecessary moves…c'mon…c'mon…Her thoughts had taken a vicious tangent and she was making dark promises.
The buzzer sounded, and the scoreboard clicked.
"Zanarkand Abes 1 – 0 Dromadian Duggles"
The right side of the stadium erupted in cheers, while the left sank into sulks. Shuin leapt high above the sphere and turned a somersault in the air. Show off…Silver droplets of water whisked from his hair and glistened like beads on his face. Touching his index finger and middle fingers to his lips, he blew a kiss towards where….Lenne sat in the stands.
Lenne's breath caught. Wha-?
Behind her, though, Lia exploded. "I love you too, Shuin! WAY TO GO!" Lia blew a loud and rapturous kiss back to him.
All of Lenne's breath came whizzing out again, despite the fact that her chest was still tight. Not to you, you fool…To Lia. What had she been thinking? She didn't quite understand why her smile faded away and why she suddenly stopped cheering. Or why her head felt heavy. Or why she felt so…cheated.
Uneasily, she smiled. I've seen him with his girlfriends before…I've even seen him kiss them! What's happening to me all of a sudden? It's almost like I'm…eww…jealous of Lia. Oh, Yevon, ew. Shaking her head at the very thought, she laughed out loud. Someday though, my Prince Charming will come with me to a blitzball game too. Giggling slightly now, she resumed screaming. I'm just tired.
"C'MON ABES! KILL THE DUGGLES! C'mon, Shu'!"
