Cram Session

Sunday 11:00 AM

Squall snuck into the Secret Area, taking great pains not to be seen. He was still in the "disguise" of sorts, but even if the teachers tried their hardest not to let the knowledge of the theft out the story would be running rampant around Garden soon, and Squall had to make himself scarce.

"Hey Squall- what's with the getup?"

The question had been inevitable. Squall explained while setting out the other things he had taken- paper, notes, pencils, and the like, knowing that more questions were being raised.

"It's so I won't be recognised- I had to get something, and I didn't want anyone to know it was me." Zell opened his mouth to question, and Seifer smirked, but both stopped and stared as Squall displayed his recently aquired expresso machine.

Fidgeting under the mute stares and unspoken questions, Squall merely shrugged and said, "I broke into the Teacher's Lounge."

Sunday 11:15 AM

When Seifer and Zell finally stopped staring at Squall in reverent awe, everyone at last began cramming. They had agreed not to use the JavaTwitch until nightfall, when they would really need it. Therefore, everything started out normally. Notes were compared, books were forcibly digested, and the snacks were snacked upon. (Zell had been forced to ration the hotdogs, because Seifer insisted that no more munchie runs were to be made, and that he wanted some too.)

Even after nightfall, when the coffee was brewed and everyone had drank a cup, things were serious and somber.

It didn't last long.

Sunday 10:27 PM

A study break.

Pillows and cushions had inevitably been brought along so that the crammer wouldn't have to sit or lie on the hard ground of the Training Center. The ground was a bit rocky, though, so several pillows were needed to make a good soft seat.

When Seifer asked Zell to toss him another pillow, Zell had tossed it innocently. He hadn't meant to throw it so hard, nor had he meant it to smack Seifer in the face. The caffiene had perhaps affected them all quicker than they had imagined, because Seifer didn't get angry at Zell, but he did throw another pllow at him.

Zell threw the pillow back at Seifer, accidentally hitting Squall. Squall threw a pillow at Zell, and Seifer threw one at both of them.

Things went downhill from there.

Within minutes, all three SeeDs, dignity and rivalry forgotten, were immersed in one of the bigest pillow fights in Garden history. Feathers were everywhere- Zell actually started choking on one when he started laughing. He coughed it up, and rejoined the fray. Squall and Seifer, who had been gleefully hurling pillows at each other, immediately threw pillows at Zell. Zell started hurling them back, even tossing them into the air and spiking them with his fists, sending explosions of feathers across the room.

Sunday 11:17 PM

The three SeeDs collapsed, exhausted and laughing, to the now feather- strewn floor. Eventually, they picked themselves up again and tried to resume studying in earnest.

They failed. Again.

Sunday 11:34 PM

Seifer had started humming.

Squall was leaning over a large textbook, taking notes in his even, neat handwriting. It looked a bit jittery, though, but not enough to really notice. He glanced up, looking wordlessly at the humming Seifer. He glared. The sound was reverberating through his head and making it hard to concentrate. He absently flicked a feather off his shoulder as he returned to his studies, ignoring the numerous feathers in his hair and hat. His subconcious was already working overtime trying to find a way to bury the memory of the pillowfight. He sighed softly, and started trying to find his place in the text.

Zell started humming along.

Squall grit his teeth. This wasn't helping.

Simultaneously, Zell and Seifer started murmuring the words. As the tempo started to pick up, Squall realized what they were singing. And the fact that it was one of his favorite songs wasn't helping at all. Unconciously, he started humming, then murmuring the words.

Before long, they were all singing. Seifer had taken the low parts, Zell the high (though he really had to stretch it), and Squall the middle ground. It wouldn't cross theier minds until much, much, later, when their subconciousnesses had given up on trying to bury the memories, that they would consider just how odd they must have looked. Squall raised his voice as the song continued.

"I see a little silhouetto of a man..."

It wasn't until they'd gone from Bohemian Rhapsody to Sad But True, White Wedding, Hungry Like the Wolf, and finally to Unforgiven did they attract some attention. It wasn't that Fuujin had trouble sleeping- it was that she'd recently aquired a new roomate, one that didn't yet understand the rules. Specifically, not to chatter at Fuujin. But instead of educating her, Fuujin instead decided upon a late-night training session. She wanted to get away from the bubbly, chattering girl before she did something that might get her expelled. Like send her flying out the window. And to the cold pavement far, far below. Fuujin repressed a smile at the thought. Suddenly, she frowned, scarlet eye glinting with confusion. She could hear singing... Fuujin pressed forward into the undergrowth, trying to locate the source. The closer she got, the more she could swear that she recognised those voices. Of course, the very idea that Se- Fuujin pushed aside a branch, and stopped speechless (well, more so than usual).

The Secret Area was a mess. In the middle sat a supply of snacks laid out on a red checkered cloth, for all the world like a springtime picknic. Feathers were everywhere, as were scattered papers and an assortment of books. Seifer, Zell, and Squall were lounging about, holding forgotten textbooks and singing at the top of their lungs. Zell was playing an air guitar. Squall was still wearing Irvine's hat- it now had a feather in the brim as well. All three voices sung together in surprising harmony;

"What I've felt, what I've known...!"

Fuujin covered her mouth with one hand, staring in a mixture of shock and horror.

"You label me, I label you, so I dub thee unforgiven...!"

Very slowly, Fuujin edged backwards, away from the clearing, Once she felt she was far enough, she broke into an all-out run back to the dorms. She didn't stop until she'd reached Rajin's room. Thankfully, his roomate was absent. She slammed her fists against the door.

"OPEN!"

The door opened immediately, and Rajin hurriedly stepped aside as Fuujin bolted into the room, forcing the door closed behind her. She then stood in the center of the room, shaking and hugging her arms to her chest.

"Hey, Fu! Like, what hapened, ya' know!"

"HORROR. THE HORROR..."

The three boys never noticed. Which is probably a good thing.

Monday 1:07 AM

The singing had finally ended sometime after Zell's voice broke, during the middle of an Aerosmith song ("Sing with me, sing for the year, sing for the laughter sing for the tear! Sing with me, just for today, maybe tomorrow the good Hyne will take you awaaaaaaa-ack!"). By then they were all sobering up, so another dose of coffee was in order. And it was so.

Study resumed without further incident. Yet.

Monday 2:38 AM

Seifer was restless. He hated just sitting here! And he hated that the others didn't seem to have much trouble sitting still. He wanted to get up and run, fight, whatever! He wanted to do anything but study.

And, because the caffiene and lack of sleep had marred his decision-making capabilities and logic processes, Seifer stood up and walked over to where Squall was sitting. Squall jus sat there, bent over whatever book he was currently attempting to read. Seifer cleared his throat, and Squall looked up, a questioning expression on his face. Seifer tapped him on the shoulder, then bolted. He yelled over his shoulder,

"TAG!"

And, because Squall's decision-making abillities were also damaged, he was up and running for the nearest victim- Zell. Zell's eyes widened, and he threw the book he was holding at Squall to distract him as he lunged away. Unfortunately, though the book tripped Squall, he managed to snag Zell's ankle as he hit the ground. He immedaitely rolled away, with a yell of "YOU'RE IT!"

And thus, the chase began. Eventually, of course, they returned to the Training Center, but not before managing to wake up several students and teachers with their yelling and footsteps. Most shrugged it off as a dream, but a few who thought they recognised the voices would spend the rest of the night awake and paranoid.

So would the next people to clean the exterior of the Garden, who would spend days wondering why in holy hell there were footprints all over the roof.

Monday 4:57 AM

Quiet was restored once more, the sounds of pages turning and pencils scratching the only exceptions. Not to say that they were studying, per say. Seifer was making an army of paper planes, giving them names and numbers on the wings, then tossing them out the window. He was apparently aiming for a nearby tree- in his mind, it was probably a docking hangar. Several planes had landed safely for refueling, with more on the way.

Zell, on the other hand, was trying to teach himself how to make paper origami. A small zoo was building.

Squall was seemingly still at work, taking notes. Until you noticed that he wasn't writing facts, so much as drawing chibi anime versions of Rinoa, Quistis, Selphie, Irvine, Zell, Seifer, Fuujin, Rajin, Headmaster Cid, Edea, and all the GFs.

Lil' Bahamut was even holding a stuffed dragon plushie.

Things continued in this vein for quite some time, and the clock ticked onward, counting down to 8:00.