Hear the beating
Author: Nekocin
Genres: Mild Drama for this chapter
Warnings: see previous chapter, short chapter though.
Additional notes: see previous chapter
Disclaimer: Gundam SEED doesn't belong to me.

4.

I heard about people doing strange things when there is either a moon eclipse or a full moon at night. Strange things like perhaps changing into creatures of night, acting out of character or do superstitious stuff like hanging garlic in front of their bedroom's door, dropping grains in front of their bedroom entrance and that sort of thing.

But never have I heard about people doing strange things when it is raining outside. Costumers kept coming in, ordering inhuman digestible portions of ice cream—in other words 'way too many'.

I was forced to handle the whole counter—typing down the orders, giving unsure costumers some pointers and pass the ordered ice cream personally. Usually when it's one of the busiest times of the season, boss would assign tree people to handle the counter, while a fourth is supposed to take orders from the costumers at the very back of the queue.

However, since it was not one of the busiest times of the season I got stuck doing everything by myself behind the counter. As for where my co-workers had gone to... they were all at the back, either trying to fix one of the ice cream makers or trying to make presentable ice cream delicacies as soon as possible, or even lazing around.

Boss really should buy a new ice cream machine. The costumers were getting impatient. Which brings me back to my actual thought—people do strange stuff not only when there's a full moon or a moon eclipse, but also when it's raining buckets outside. (Who in their right mind eat ice cream when it is this cold?)

Even Lacus (she is not really out of her mind though) had ordered a lot of ice cream.

That's really bad. Does that mean that I'll be also getting a huge appetite once I go home? Or does that mean I'll stuff myself in the ice cream maker just so I can have all the ice cream for myself? That is really disturbing.

Fortunately, she only ordered ready-made; 4 large ice cream cakes (with chocolate, mocha and strawberry cream on top and thin layers of mint cream flavor in the middle), one onion ice cream (uh—it is onion flavored and I heard it is very healthy or something—), 250 ice cream soda (with lots of whip cream and cherries on top), 500 Passion Fruit or Orchata (weird name, but it's a Popsicle made of orchid flavor or something) Popsicles and ten ChoCho Popsicles (they are like the Chocobars only in Popsicle form).

I might never know how she would eat all of them in one go without gaining any extra weight. What will she do with all these ice cream anyways?

"It's for Kira's friend's birthday," Lacus had answered my unasked question. She must have noticed the curious look I was secretly giving her.

"Oh. When is it due?"

"The day after tomorrow. I hope all can be done by that time," Lacus gave me a sad smile that--for some reason unknown to me—looked sad.

"I hope so too. Mr. Waltfelt will probably buy a new machine tomorrow so I'm sure all will be done before the party begins. Who will pick up the orders?" Fishing out a pen from under the counter, I tore a piece of paper from a random notebook.

"That would be-," She was about to mention a name when doubt crossed her face, indicating her indecisiveness. "—I was thinking of asking Athrun to pick them up; he is the only one with an air-conditioned car. But that doesn't sound like a good idea—will you have deliver then instead, please?"

I blinked.

"Uhm—sure, just tell me where and I'll see if boss would lend his car,"

After scribbling the address on the note sheet, I gave Lacus a cheeky grin. "But that will cost you extra, Lacus,"

She responded with a resigned smile and put down the extra fee. "I didn't know you could drive, Dearka,"

"Who said anything about me driving? I haven't started my driving lessons yet," I feigned.

Bewildered, Lacus bit her lip. "But, you said you would see if Mr. Waltfelt would lend his car to you—Then how are you supposed to deliver them?" She peered suspiciously at me. "You aren't planning to go on foot, are you?"

"Of course not, by the time I've reached your house everything would have melted along the way,"

Lacus looked horrified. "So what exactly are you suggesting? I can't follow you,"

"Don't worry. I'm just doing my job as best as I can,"

"—it's just that this birthday—this birthday is very important!" Her words came out helplessly.

"Don't worry too much about it, Lacus. I know what I'm doing. I'll deliver them in top shape!" I reassured again.

I had never seen her this down before--well, maybe down isn't the right word for someone like Lacus. Someone who is polite, cheerful and sincere that it is almost impossible to believe that something could make such a person feel defeated or just down. The birthday party must be very important to go all dramatic over it, I suppose.

Huh? Hey, wait a second! Does that mean the day after tomorrow is—no, it couldn't be Athrun's birthday—Lacus' new boyfriend's birthday? That Yama-something-something his birthday? What's the guy's name again?

"Is it that guy's birthday?"

"That guy? You know whose birthday it is?" She regarded me with surprised eyes.

"You sort of gave me a hint," I couldn't suppress the teasing smile from appearing.

Lacus blinked. "I did? You have probably met him here. He truly adores Flavorite's ice cream,"

It was my turn to blink. I had met him before? When?

"If you have any problems with delivering just call me and I'll send someone to pick you up," She gave me one last smile, bid me good night and left abruptly.

It was still raining buckets outside, but at least only a few costumers were seeking for more ice cream.

By then I noticed my limbs were numb and heavy like lead. I crumbled on the tiled floor and slumped my shoulders for a second, before stretching and cracking my sore body. I resumed my position behind the counter and watched over the parlor until it was time for me to get off work.

Dang it! I forgot to bring an umbrella with me. Where's that jacket when you need it? Sighing, I watched the rain wet the outdoors continually.

Once home, I found mother waiting worriedly on the stairs, brooding. Her eyes were instantly focused on me as soon as I had stepped inside while saying the usual "I'm home".

Mother immediately fuzzed over me, helping me peel off my wet clothes and pushing me to the direction of the bathroom, all the while scolding me.

"Dearka, please be more responsible. You didn't take your umbrella to work. You didn't call me to pick you up. You didn't have your raincoat on. I was worried sick about you. Now, go take a warm bath before you catch a cold, Dearka. We'll continue this matter when your father gets home," She reprimanded me, before I could apologize for my forgetfulness and gave me no room to interrupt as she pushed me into the bathroom.

I sighed and nodded obediently.

"What do you want to have for supper? Chicken soup? Ginger Plum Chicken? Sweet and Sour Chicken with Pineapple? Lettuce wrap with Chicken and Hoisin sauce? Hot and Spicy Chicken fajitas with chili peppers? Hot Chinese Chicken? Teriyaki Chicken?" Mother counted off her fingers excitedly. I immediately noticed the pattern all over again, my eyes twitched.

"Chicken—all of them have chicken, mother. Why only chicken for supper? Why not something different for tonight? Black bean and Chili Garlic Beef for example? Or Garlic Prawns? Or Grilled Salmon with Plum sauce? Or Sizzling Steak with Oyster sauce? Or Cashew beef? Or Stir-fry Mix veggies? Or Beef Kabobs in BBQ Charsiu sauce?"

She smiled at me before pointing out in a matter-of-fact voice. "Everyone knows that when someone is sick, Chicken dishes can help!"

"But—I'm not sick, and that only applies to chicken soup and leek s-," I abruptly sneezed. Bad timing.

Mother huffed, gave me another reprimanding glare before saying, "Chicken it is," and closing the bathroom door behind her.

I hate chicken. There is always chicken included in mother's menu and every day there's a new pack of chicken—drumsticks, feet wings, chest, whole, you name it—in the refrigerator. Blegh. I had enough of them. Maybe I should convert myself to a vegetarian.

Sighing for who-knows-how-many times, I peeled off my last clothing and stepped into the tub. Mother would likely be seeing me off in raincoat, scarf, and jacket under an umbrella tomorrow night.

Where did I put that jacket again?

During supper, mother excitedly rattled on and on about something one of her friends had experienced on a trip to some unknown island, while serving chicken soup to father. He didn't seem to mind her rattling, just nodded in acknowledgement and made noises behind his throat as if he was truly interested—which he was not.

From my side I could see his right eye twitch, his eyebrows knot together and the ends of his lips tug in a grim line. It meant he was trying to block away mother's chatters. I wonder how he could sit there with a supposedly straight face as mother's speech heightened in speed and tone, while she was doing everything at the same time. He was really a born actor I suppose.

After serving the chicken soup in father's plate, Mother disappeared into the kitchen.

"Dearka, when you are married to a woman for over sixteen years, you will pick up stuff along the way," It seemed father had noticed me staring at his face, though I had no idea what he was trying to tell me. Don't tell me they are going to marry a girl into the family...

He gave me a rueful smile. "Your mother is upset,"

"Oh," Pause. "Why?"

"She was just telling me the problems in her own way,"

"Really, father?—I didn't follow," I confessed sheepishly.

Father gave me another rueful smile and looked up at the ceiling as if it was so fascinating that he could pick out the right words to say something wise to his only son. "Me neither," father confessed at last.

—what?

I blinked stupidly at him. "But you were nodding and making uh-huh noises, so—you at least understand, right dad?"

Father looked down at his plate and rubbed his chin. "I overheard it beforehand. When I got home, your mother had just received a call from one of her friends' friend—don't ask me who-,"

I swallowed the who-question.

"The call had upset your mother gravely. Something about someone's son who died and something about a mourning party," Father continued.

I nodded. No wonder mother hadn't lectured me yet.

"That boy--," father wrinkled his forehead, looking upset too. "—he died so young. He was like you. Still in high school. He's probably around your age and an only child. The news had shaken your mother,"

Oh. I think I could understand why mother's upset.

Even though we didn't personally know 'that boy', whom father was talking about, mother was probably reliving the times when she feared I was not going to make it with my weak heart. The times she had constantly lived in fear that her only child, me, was going to die. The times she had shed tears, had worried, had prayed—
Those had been the most horrible times for mother, for father and for me.

Mother came back, serving some large chicken dish. Her eyes were suspiciously red in the corners, but she still held on to her straight and cheerful face. Why did it feel as if mother is the better one in acting than father?

"Oh Dearka-darling, I just remembered something-,"

I hate that darling stuff. My left eye twitched out of habit and I made a face.

"Now, now, Dearka. Don't scowl at me like that or you'll end up looking grim-faced like your father—only twenty years younger," she teased (father grumbled) and held out something to me. I just noticed why she had been hiding in the kitchen for so long. Not only had she been trying to hold back her tears in the kitchen, she was retrieving a bag as well.

"What is it?" I managed cautiously and accepted the bag. Father grunted something, while mother let out a proud, and yet immodest laugh of sorts behind the back of her hand.

"I just remembered getting that from this cute girl while you were at work," She stated nonchalantly, but still grinning.

"What girl?" I wondered blankly and peeked into the bag.

Mother clicked her tongue disapprovingly at me. "You didn't gave to hide it from your own mother, Dearka. So don't be shy and please do tell who your cute girlfriend is,"

I slid my arm into the bag and took out—something made of jeans-material. "Girlfriend? I don't have one—Hey! It's my jacket! I was wondering where I had put it!"

Mother did not look impressed with my answer for she started bombing me unnecessary questions all unrelated and irrelevant to whatever girl she was talking about. "When did you meet her? Are you hiding her from us because you are planning to elope? How romantic! But why elope when we have nothing against your relationship? Where is she from? What does she do? When will you introduce us properly? When will she come over to eat?"

All my answers seemed to be unsatisfying. And Mother did not leave me alone with her prodding until the end of the supper.

I had no idea who this cute girl my mother was talking about.

There was a small card in one of the pockets of my jacket, saying '-Thank you for lending this to me-' in very neat handwriting. No signature at the end, though.

It's by then I remembered the -other- night—the night when I gave this girl my jacket. A smile tugged on my lips.

"Cute girl, huh?" And I thought about her—what's her name again? Oh yeah, Miri-al-lia. She had the most beautiful azure eyes I had ever seen. 'Pretty' suits her better, I suppose.

I wonder how she knew where to find my house.

Oh well.

The next afternoon, I made sure that I brought my jacket with the smell of fresh soap, which Miriallia had probably used, lingering in the air along to work.

"Hello, I'm (mumbles)," A distinct voice rang in my ears, though, thoroughly overpowered by the sound of my heart throbbing as if I had run a marathon within five minutes.

I felt my lips stretching into a hesitant but confident smile. "I sit right next to you,"

A blur of a figure was staring back at me and nodded. "It's nice to meet you, (mumble)," Another distinct voice echoed in the room, assuming it belonged to the blurry figure.

"And you are?" I found myself asking and stretching out a friendly hand.

There was a long pause before an uncertain hand reached out to shake mine. "—I'm-," The sound was cut off.
I could only hear the quick thudding of my heart in my ears.

"What?" I asked aloud.

"I said my name is-," Incoherent mumbles followed afterwards.

"I'm sorry. What is your name again?" It seemed like I had said the wrong words for the hand was abruptly pulled away from mine and the blurry figure turned his attention elsewhere.

I felt a stab of disappointment within me, which did not ease the quick pace my heart had decided to pump—Hey! Wait a second—did I just call myself (mumbles)? What?

I woke up with a racing heart, confused and disoriented.

- END 4 -

TheNekoTalks:

1) Sorry for the crappy intro. You don't wanna know how the opening part of this chapter looks like in my notebook.
2) I speak from experience. I swear every time it rains, people—the customers—crave cold stuff. Even my sister craves for something cold when it rains; ice cream is her main target.
3) Onion ice cream does exist. I've read it twice, one in a local newspaper (I like to be very well informed of the local happenings—unlike some people my age) and the other in Ontwaak! (A Jehovah's Witnesses' magazine; I like reading these magazines, not only because it is a spiritual magazine, but also because these magazines discuss General Knowledge which I find fascinating). Though, I myself have never tasted it.
4) URGH! Too much OoC-ness. Sorry about that. They are both talking about different people.
5) Uhm... the names were taken from a Lee Kum Kee recipe book (you can also check their website at LKK(dot)com). Some of the names were altered to fit the joke.
6) The portrayal of Dearka's father came from Naruto's Shikamaru's father. That guy is so—so, lazy and somehow still wise. As for his mother, she's portrayed after the imaginary woman in my mind after reading this sociology study book.

(I feel like I've killed off most of "Hear the Beating" audience with my long absence)
I'm sorry for not updating this one—I was stumped when I tried writing part 4 a month ago and then I wallowed in pity because the tension of 3rd semester is getting onto me.

Truthfully, I'm really surprised that this story is well-received seeing the reviews (about 9 to 10 reviews per chapter; my highest is about 3 or 4 per chapter and sometimes 1 or 2, even if the story is an arc)—usually my first stories are bad starts and not really well-received, so I'm really grateful to all you reviewers! :hugs: I love each and every one of the reviews I get.

I like to thank (and bow down to):
tennisprincess15 - :blush: Thank you! I hope you'll still like it!
Yes, PoT is great! I love the fillers. Seeing your account name, is it safe to assume you're also a fellow-PoT fan? I apologize for this chapter's lateness, please forgive me.
Thank you for reviewing:3

sworDieXeQtion - :blush: Thank you! Ah, Vivian Xu—she's a Taiwanese singer, right? I like Aisha, even though she has limited appearances. Thanks! :blush: Truthfully, I did pick that song randomly and the other reason why it fits is that the 'Moment' song was repeatedly playing in my head while I worked on this chapter.
:3 Yeah, that part about mistaking Nicol for a girl was intentional—I just had to put that comment in there, even though I like Nicol. (By the way, who's Nicol's seiyuu anyways? From a seiyuu database I found out it's Mami Matsui, but then I heard from a friend it's Paku Romi. So which one of them is actually his seiyuu? :don't know much of Japanese characters:) Thanks! Then I hope I won't be annoying anyone with my babbling... I apologize for this chapter's delay, (you're so nice to a newbie like me) I hope you can forgive me. Thank you for reviewing:3

ailiricxxz - Ah, don't worry about short reviews! I read over every review anyways! Now that you mentioned it... Miriallia -did- come out OoC. Sorry about annoying you with that part, it's supposed to be like—Lacus and Kira are trying to cheer her up, but in her depression she mistook their caring for something else. And since I'm using Dearka complete with 1st person PoV, he's watching her anger in third person view (ack! Sorry for not being too precise) and is surprised that she could be that scary (think of it like in the GS series when she attacked him with the knife). No offense taken, I'm a realist myself; that's why I didn't make them fall in love at first sight (my arc stories have all that) with 'strangers'. I hope that clears everything up and if not... I'll revise the previous chapters and change the thoughts a bit or add something to make it more logical. I apologize for this chapter's delay, please forgive me.
Thank you for reviewing:3

An1391 - Oooh, thank you for your kind comments! Before I first started with writing this, I really, really like Yzak and :laughs: that's probably why he gets the most wonderful scenes (well, in my opinion anyways). Dearka seems to be a normal guy—so shy and all (in the series, at least). After reading an interview article featuring GS creator (about Dearka's seiyuu having a too gentle voice and all), I really tried to make Dearka a gentle person. The part about finding the box was only added after I typed down the original chapter with some changes here and there; I thought it was just too cute to be left out. I apologize for being rather slow with this new update; I hope you'll forgive me.
Thank you for reviewing:3 :hugs back:

moi - Thank you! Your review is the longest! Oh yes, it is, but then again I'm afraid I've to burst that bubble sooner or later—because I'm actually trying to make Dearka a gentle person.
Aa, I'm glad I'm not the only one thinking that! They're both so gentle and they both love to play music!
Andrew and Aisha are really a nice couple in the series—I felt sad when their relationship ended tragically. Oooh, now that you mention the man-to-man talk that sounds like a good idea for the upcoming chapters (Ahahaha :laughs nervously: I'm trying not to ditch all my stories... and yet I did with some of them :sweatdrops: Since I'm quite busy with school and watching as many anime series I could find, my life is like a race track. Writing is fun and seriously mentally-challenging. Hopefully I won't ditch this story half way).
But it would be a nice plot to entwine all pairings around DearkaMiriallia—each getting a nice portion of action time, right? Which as you said, would ruin the whole story since it's written in 1st person. Now that you mention it :hangs head:, I'm such a bad fan. I couldn't come up with an AthrunCagalli story or plot bunny in the beginning (this is my number one favorite pairing, DearkaMiriallia going second, mind you)—most of them are really badly worked out (and they will never be published anywhere on the net). Anyways, writing side fics seems like a good idea. I've already written two; one needs to be posted after some checking and the other needs to be typed, though they are in a matter of fact very short drabbles :sweatdrops: (Aa, so many questions—your line of thinking might work. I'll try them out—but they might not come out the way you want :sweatdrops: But I'll TRY!
Ohohoho, Kira and Cagalli are so clueless—writing clueless people is fun!)
Yes, Yzak's character is actually a hard one to grasp, right? I've read an interview article featuring the GS creator saying that Yzak wasn't supposed to be a hot-head (but a gentle person); Seki Tomokazu's angry shouts made Yzak look like a hothead. Not that it's bad, mind you.
Don't worry about jumpy reviews. I, myself, write jumpy reviews (I tend to write 100-plusses word reviews, telling the author about my thoughts and stuff). :cries: I apologize for updating this so slow... I didn't know how to write out chapter 4... please forgive me.
Thank you for reviewing:3

Dokter Kiba - :blush: Thank you! :blush: I was worried he came out a bit OoC in the last part. After reading your review, I'm really relieved to hear that he's all right. Sometimes I tend to give some minor characters some more interesting character interaction—Nicol doesn't really get much attention in some fanfiction, so I decided to make him at least amusing somehow.
Thanks! Andrew is a nice character! As mentioned before, I really love that guy's voice! :swoons:
Oh oh oh, I thought no one was going to get that one (it seems as if I've hidden so many little hints without noticing myself and then when I intend a little info to be known, I put it into a sentence and made it invisible instead of visible :sweatdrops:). Kira does really strike me as a gentleman (not counting the part where he and Fllay had -done- it in the series.), doesn't he?
Yes, yes—Yzak is so cute! :looks back at her previous chapters: Geh! I can't believe I made him so cute that I want to bite him. Here's your next update! I apologize for the lateness, please forgive me.
Thank you for reviewing:3

Orahiko - Thank you! I'm glad you like Nicol. I was worried I did something wrong with him in the last part. Ack! Sorry, sorry, sorry about that one. I'll change it as soon as I can. I really never thought about that until you mention it—it does. :sweatdrops: (How could I do such a thing! I'll go save Nicol's name's virtue!)
I'm a fan too, though I tend to be fan of almost every anime, character, song, story, manga I stumble upon (—though you didn't need to know that, right? sorry)
:blush: Thank you. I hope I don't disappoint you.
I apologize for my lateness, please forgive me.
Thank you for reviewing:3
In reply to your review in "Third":blush: Thank you for taking your time reading the one shots. And thank you for loving Hear the beating. Hmmm, you are right. I can see Nicol as a helpful, sensitive person who is determined to do his very best. Oh, sorry about the reference. I was once a very passionate Gundam Wing fan a few years ago and now the love for that anime series has mellowed a bit. Nicol reminds me of Quatre Raberba Winner, the Sandrock pilot in Gundam Wing. He is the only male character out of all the other main male characters that has a female voice actress, Orikasa Ai, voicing him. Nicol has a female voice actress playing for him in the Gundam Seed series (currently I'm not sure who exactly the voice actress is... Paku Romi or Mami Matsui). Both Quatre and Nicol have a sort of fondness for music. Quatre loves to play violin while Nicol plays piano. See the relation? I'm glad you're trying to find that out.
More Yzak praise :cries happy tears: I feel like an unconscious Yzak-fan. I'll sign up for the Yzak-fanlisting as soon as possible :am not joking: Yes, yes, that's how I see Yzak too. Drabbles are usually easy. In my case, they have been a nightmare, probably because I was trying to break free from my writer's block. The original ice cream drabble wasn't supposed to end like that, but I'm glad I changed the end—it was cute. Oh yes, of course I need to keep the relation of Third and Hear the Beating strong. :blush: These stories are my first tries in this fandom. Thank you for reading and reviewing:3

Komillia - :blush: Thank you! :blush: I'm glad you like it! (I'm confused... how is it lucky for you because there are more chapters to come?)
I see. 1st person isn't really my usual style when it comes down to writing multiple-chaptered fics—I only use this style in my one-shots. Thank you for your kind comments! :blush: I'm trying to do good with character portrayals since I felt like I'm much too fast on the dialogues (which tends to annoy me; I really admire those writers with good description skills, they can really describe stuff so beautifully that I'm motivated to write extra long reviews to their stories and force myself to go up to their level). Dearka was neither an easy nor a difficult person to portray—it's more like writing him with caution, because I don't really know what guys his age think off; I'm a girl) Ahahaha, having read so many kind comments about Yzak's character I'm starting to feel like the story is going out of control—Dearka is supposed to be the main character! (Maybe I really should write another GS story with Yzak as the male lead.) Not that seeing Yzak this cute is a bad thing—the video games-idea is actually brought up because my brother likes playing video games, my cousins also (all of them are teenagers except 2, who are above 20 now and still play video games)—so I thought it could be something to add to their boy-ishness. If I'm wrong, I'll refrain from writing about the games... :sweatdrops:
I apologize for my late update, please forgive me.
Thank you for reviewing:3

Ray Ludi Crous - :blush:... so many nice words about my first work... :blush: Thank you for your kind comments! :blush: I'm glad you like the story and enjoy the here-and-there funnies. :hearts: I also hope that the next few chapters will be as enjoyable as the previous ones!
Don't worry about asking too many questions... but depending on the questions I answer either vaguely or to the point. Well, let's see... most of your questions are quite logical and I like how your line of thought went. It's only safe to say that the original story plot is really Dearka having received Tolle's heart and the rest of it are just spoilers (...sorry, can't answer everything).
:lol: Thank you! Even though I'm not sure what kind of threat you have in mind, I really appreciate you trying to make me update faster. (In this case, I wrote the rest of part 4 after reading your review, because I was depressed when I went on-line just to wallow in pain—a classmate I admire because of her outgoing character and blunt humor, has indirectly insulted me about my obsession with anime that day . So thank you!)
I apologize for updating this late, please forgive me.
Thank you for reviewing:3

Thank you for reading! I apologize for the long notes (I told you I tend to babble my way around; the next chapter I'll just stick with writing the names) and for being late again!

.:Nekocin:.