The Delinquent
These people are always worried about Squall, he needs to sort his shit out I feel!
Rinoa sipped on her hot coffee, watching the seemingly calm teenagers talk amongst themselves. She hadn't said too much, not thinking that she could really contribute to the conversation with anything other than how worried she was about Squall.
"Well today safely rounds off my ten most fucked up experiences." Quistis said light-heartedly as she took a seat on one of the stools beside the breakfast bench.
Everyone, other than Squall that was, was seated on one of them. They'd quickly got hold of the boys as soon as they'd returned to Squall's so that they didn't stay out half the night trying to find him.
"It wasn't that bad… other than the whole Rinoa getting kidnapped and stuff..."
"Zell shut the fuck up." Seifer groaned.
Zell glared at Seifer but put his head down in defeat after awhile, he always backed down to Seifer. He never backed down to anyone but he always managed to back down to him.
Rinoa clutched her coffee mug and silently made her way up the stairs, hoping that they wouldn't notice her absence. She didn't think that would be an issue though as she felt basically every pair of eyes there staring at her.
Rinoa quietly opened the door to Squall's room and saw him lying flatly on his bed, her face peaceful with a small smile tracing his lips.
She shut the door a little more forcefully than she planned to and glanced over at Squall to see him start to stir.
His eyes slowly opened and adjusted to the light. Rinoa took a seat beside his bed and he stared over to her, not saying anything. His eyes were focused intently on her face, almost the same way that they had been when he'd been fighting Lucas, but this time they'd lost a fair bit of there fervour.
"Squall…" Rinoa said softly, not actually wishing to say anything more.
He reached over and ran one of his hands down the side of her face, smiling slightly at the soft feel of her skin.
"What happened?" Squall enquired after a few seconds.
"You fought Lucas." Rinoa replied her voice still little over a whisper.
"Did I win?" Squall asked.
The question seemed somewhat stupid, he was there, he should know.
"Don't you remember?"
"I was fighting him somewhere else…" Squall trailed off.
He knew how insane that sounded, he didn't exactly want to go into details about it but he would never forget what happened.
For some reason it seemed to make sense to Rinoa though, the person that she'd witnessed fighting Lucas hadn't been Squall, at least not the one that she knew.
"Did I win?" Squall asked again, more concerned with how the fight turned out anyway rather than the lunacy of the situation.
Rinoa smiled and nodded, she was proud of him, even if it hadn't been him. He'd fought for her, for the second time. The first hadn't really been anything to be proud about but it was sweet nonetheless. She didn't have too many incidents lately that warranted the term "sweet" so she took what she could. For Squall, it was sweet though.
"That's alright then." Squall sighed as he closed his eyes.
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Ellone sat down in the seat that Rinoa had previously been located. She'd been waiting when they came in, Seifer carrying Squall's unconscious body over his shoulder. She was relieved to see that he was alright, even if he was a state.
The story that she'd been told made her think that they were pulling her leg but the conviction in there eyes had convinced her that they weren't. She was quite perceptive about how people were feeling.
"What a bunch of bullshit." Seifer scoffed.
"It's not, it's the truth." Selphie exclaimed.
"No more drugs for you three." Seifer continued.
"Go take a shit! It's true!" Selphie retorted.
"You said that this isn't the first time Squall's blacked out and had a story to tell afterwards." Ellone interrupted.
Ellone interrupting anyone when they were talking, whether it be an argument or a deep meaningful conversation, was an unusual and momentous occasion, even if it was a course of action greatly appreciated by almost everyone.
"Yeah, what was it the first time?" Irvine thought out loud.
"Something about seeds," Selphie continued.
"And it only really happened when he was inside the ruins?" Ellone said.
Everyone nodded, not really sure about what Ellone was trying to get at.
"I think that you guys shouldn't go there anymore. It sounds dangerous…"
"It's not dangerous Ellone! Sure it's pretty fucking shabby but as long as you're careful…" Zell began.
"I mean in the more spiritual sense. Something awful must have happened there."
"Then why the hell is it that Squall sees all of us?" Quistis interjected.
She'd remained fairly silent about the conversation. She knew that Ellone was interested in that whole spiritual nonsense, but she believed in facts and science. Everything could be explained… but she had had her beliefs tested today. She couldn't explain what she saw.
"I don't really know. Squall could just be associating the spirits that reside there with people that he knows. Just promise me that you guys won't go looking for trouble there?"
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"Where the fuck are you taking us?" Irvine exclaimed.
They were rocking along the busy streets of Balamb and heading to an area of town that none of them were too familiar with, other than Quistis that was.
"We're going to the library, I wanna find out what the fuck is going on with me." Squall stated.
He'd taken Rinoa, Quistis and Irvine to help him with this task, no way was he going to enter a library with Seifer, Selphie or Zell. That was just asking for chaos.
"What do you think you're ganna find?" Rinoa enquired.
"Fuck div I know, I just know that I need answers. I'm accepting this leave it alone shit." Squall replied.
"Maybe you should." Quistis chuckled.
"What was the first thing you did when your mum told you not to pick the scab on your knee?" Squall asked rhetorically.
They all knew the answer to that question, you picked it. Most of the time it bled like fuck and ended out turning into a larger scab than what had previously been located on your knee but as a kid you didn't really look at the long run.
It was curiosity and Squall had carried a lot of that same curiosity onto later life. Instead of asking why, he'd do it and find out why. The consequences of his actions usually determined whether it was a good or bad idea.
They pulled up outside a large brick building with large windows located all around it. Through the windows you could see the rows and rows of books, old people reading a book because they really had nothing better to do with there day and a group of lively teenagers doing school work.
"Fuck it." Squall snapped.
"What?" Quistis enquired.
"Those pieces of shit from school are here."
"What can they say? They're in the library as well." Rinoa scoffed.
Squall weighed up his options; he could leave, not willing to risk confrontation. He really couldn't be fucked and yesterday had been exciting enough. On the other he could just bite the bullet and go inside, fuck what they thought.
"Think Rinoa, today's Monday, there ganna be doing a school assignment." Quistis sighed.
"So could we." Irvine suggested.
"Oh yeah like there ganna believe that." Quistis retorted.
"Fuck those dicks; I don't care what they think." Squall said as he opened his door and strode confidently to the automatically opening library doors.
The others soon followed, not wanting to seem like they were embarrassed either. They kind of were though; each of them had reputations to uphold, bar Quistis but not even she had too much to do with such an educational place.
Nothing was really said though, Squall was already at the desk asking where they kept there old newspapers and everyone at the table ignored him. Surprising, considering the fact that they usually exchanged a few insults at each other before parting ways.
Rinoa and Quistis on the other hand didn't get away as easily.
They heard a wolf whistle which Rinoa was going to ignore until Quistis turned around.
"Hey there sweet thang." A brunette said cheesily. "Why don't you come ride a real man?"
Rinoa had a loud and abrasive "fuck off!" on the edge of her tongue but Quistis got in there first.
"Listen you seem like a really stupid person but the amount of times you've had Chlamydia I wouldn't touch you with a forty foot pole." She said elegantly, never faltering once. "You boys behave now." She said just as cheesily as the male had spoken.
Rinoa grinned and followed Quistis over to where the old newspapers were.
"How do you come up with that shit!" Rinoa exclaimed once they were out of earshot.
"I don't know, I think it's a gift."
The found Squall and Irvine already pulling out the dusty papers. They went back years, civilised society had been located on Balamb for quite awhile and that meant a lot of old newspapers.
"How do you expect to find anything with all these?" Rinoa said.
"Easy, jump on the computer and write SeeD." Squall replied.
"Have you never heard of gardening?" Irvine interjected.
Squall opened his mouth to say something but closed it again, not really having an answer to that. This was a pretty stupid plan.
'Maybe if we go back to the ruins I might be able to find out what year it was…' Squall thought, desperate for answers of some sort.
"What were they wearing?" Quistis exclaimed.
"Aye?" Squall blurted out.
"The people in your dreams, what were they wearing?" Quistis repeated.
'What the hells this bitch on about?' "I dunno fur coats… no… umm… fur lined jackets, that were too short, lotsa leather."
"Try to be a bit more specific, what were you wearing?" Quistis enquired.
"I just told you what I was wearing." Squall growled.
Quistis pleaded with her eyes for him to try, he closed his eyes and put on hand on his head, trying to think. He didn't really take much of an interest. He remembered Quistis's outfit a little but only because she looked funny, they all did, fucked up clothes.
"Fuck div I know, they had lost of belts and they carried weapons everywhere." Squall finalised.
"So there must have been some sort of war or something." Irvine suggested.
"Nah could have been leading up to one though. They started talking about retaliation cause someone killed the sorceress or some shit."
"A sorceress, that means that it had to be more than sixty years back. All the sorceress was captured cause they were deemed dangerous." Quistis piped in.
"Cant've been that long ago, their clothes were definitely weird but they were sorta wearable."
Squall thought for awhile, letting them bounce around a few ideas for awhile, he had to think. He didn't particularly want to go into one of those dream things again; things were getting too fucked up.
"Hold up!" Squall finally shouted, he cowered for a couple of seconds realising he was still in a library. Library ladies were scary in a freakish sort of way. "What if this assassination was part of that capture?" Squall continued.
"It's possible…" Quistis pondered.
"Let's just look." Irvine concluded.
Irvine's attempt at putting a little hope into an already bleak looking idea wasn't met with optimistic ears. But all of them had to recognise that it was really the only thing that they could do at this point.
Squall had to resign himself with the fact that he wasn't going to be able to go back to those ruins. Rinoa was his neighbour and was obviously going to be a bit more clingy than usual, that was something he had to come to terms with.
Speaking of which, he was still a little unsure about what they were, she knew that he had feelings for him, something he now knew she reciprocated but they hadn't exactly discussed it or anything.
Quistis began briefing them on what they should do, usually something that Squall would do but she was informally taking the reins for a bit seeing as Squall had gone into a bit of a daydream.
"Well Rinoa and I will go take a look at some of the computers; they've got to have something. You two can just search through the papers, but nothing before like sixty years." Quistis instructed.
Squall was a mixture of both disappointed and thankful that Quistis was taking away Rinoa. He wanted to be around her and everything but he didn't really want to face the uncomfortable "day after" with her. It was when you both sorta want to talk about what happened but in a way you want to just forget all about it.
Once Rinoa and Quistis were gone though he had to endure the oh-so painful what your friends have to say about it part, always one of the more difficult things to go through.
"So…" Irvine hummed out. "You and Rinoa eh…"
"Fuck up." Squall snapped.
Irvine smiled, he loved getting a rise out of people, especially naturally awkward people like Squall.
He liked to think of himself as more of a smoothie, someone who could cruise along quite happily.
"Get some did ya Squall?" Irvine continued.
Squall pulled down a large armful of old ass newspapers, choking a little on the dust that covered them.
He rolled his eyes and tried to ignore all Irvine's derogatory comments, he was of course one of the worst when it came to female matters. Seifer coming in a close second, then he'd have to put himself; lastly Zell was more of a congratulatory sort of person.
After about fifteen minutes of the most painful conversation Squall had ever gone through Rinoa and Quistis came running around the corner, a librarian screaming "Don't run!" after them.
"We got heaps!" Rinoa exclaimed, holding up a handful of printed articles in her hand.
"All we did was type in you're name and all this information came up." Quistis said excitedly.
"There's stuff on me too!" Rinoa said while clapping her hands.
Squall grinned and took one of the articles, his eyes scanning over it quickly.
It wasn't a big write up but the headline grabbed his attention.
"Balamb is Safe as Long as I'm Commander."
There was a small picture of his face with Quote; Squall Leonhart written underneath it.
Reading through the articles soon put most of the pieces together; all the blank parts were filled with information.
Squall Leonhart had been the Commander of a place called Balamb Garden, it was a military academy that trained teenagers in the art of combat. A select few were chosen to become the elite fighting force called SeeD, these people were sent out to fight wars for whomever could pay for there services, Anything that was desired of them.
Squall had fallen in love and married the sorceress Rinoa, a very controversial move on his part and it had been much mediatised.
After that there was a few years where there wasn't much said about Squall Leonhart but then there was an international conference with all the continental leaders. In this meeting the leaders decided that all Sorceresses' were to be quarantined, Squall flatly said no.
He said that if they took her then he would get her back by any means necessary. When the man with fully trained mercenaries says that, most people listen.
Three weeks after his statement was made Sorceress Rinoa was assassinated, needless to say Balamb began war.
Squall was found dead five months into his war, killed in a lone battle with someone, whoever that person was they were never found out.
After Squall was killed Balamb's fighting spirit dimmed and they were soon overtaken. Balamb was abandoned after awhile, it was then claimed to be the most haunted place on the entire continent.
"You mean to say we were hanging out in the most haunted place around?" Irvine exclaimed.
"In a way it's a little romantic." Rinoa muttered.
"You're fucked." Squall scoffed.
"No you dick! Just that he waged an entire war for this chick."
Squall raised his eyebrows but left it at that, he wasn't going to rain on her parade.
"I bet that was what we saw in the rain too!" Quistis said excitedly, "The Sorceress finding her lost love through Squall."
Squall sighed and began packing up the newspapers that were spread over the table. Now that the big mystery was solved he didn't have to worry about staying in the library anymore. Once that tedious task was completed they all made there way out, the sunlight was a little blinding at first but they soon got used to it.
"Me n' Irvine are ganna walk." Quistis stated once they were near the car.
Squall clenched his eyes together and moaned to himself quietly. He knew exactly what she was doing, this was a "lets get Rinoa and Squall alone so that sparks can fly" thing.
"It's on the other side of town!" Irvine exclaimed.
"We could use the exercise." Quistis seethed.
Irvine mouthed the word "fuck" before he smiled at Squall and Rinoa, his displeasure apparent in his wide eyes.
"I'll see you guys later." Irvine groaned.
"Call me tonight Rinoa." Quistis said cheerily.
Dunno if mediatised is a word but the computer reckons it is. I'm not terribly milfed about it anyway. Dunno if I used continental in the right text but as I said I'm not too milfed about that either.
Liked the chapter, hated the end. I was at the end of my little 'writing bubble' so it wasn't exactly Shakespeare.
Oh well, go make a cheese sandwich, you know you want one.