To my reviewers: xD You're all so great! Reading your reviews is the ultimate happiness. :starry eyes: Ah-hem. I couldn't help but smile at all the comments about how this looks like a Squall/Zell story. Don't be fooled! Rest assured, my dears, this is a Seifer/Squall fic. If it were S/Z, at this point, that would just be too obvious. I mean, it's pretty easy to tell there's going to be some at least, one sided Zell x Squall, but puh-lease...I am in no way a Zell-shipper. But I do like him a bunch, and I'm glad you all think Zell is so cute! o.0 (Also, I apologize to the one who didn't like Irvine's character...:bows:)
Special thanks to Angels-Obsession for being the only reviewer to review on all three previous posts...hope you come back again:offers you homage:
Random, Badly-Timed Disclaimer: All of the characters used by name in this story are pwn'd by Squaresoft O.O
Side notes: No, Coach DoomTrain is not a train. So keep those images out of your heads...xD And later you'll meet band director Mr. Ethan Levi and Drama teacher Mrs. Cara Buncle...well, if I told you that I'm not using any true OCs for my teachers, would you look closer and see my evil? (puns R fun.)
Also! My head is just about exploding from me trying to figure out Squall and Rinoa's family situation! xD I should have organized this before I started writing! D: Buuuut...I think I'm figuring it out. Just, forgive me for kind of really, really screwing with FF8's original story in that respect. But, you see, I had to change things around a bit. Just remember, this is a fanfic, so please don't give me a hard time about it...n.n;
And am I to blame if that's the way things are?
-Machiavelli
Dancing In Drag
Chapter 4: So He Is Untitled
A "cool beauty" would have been the best way to describe her. Exactly 6 feet tall, her pale skin and slender frame moved across the floor smoothly, as if her feet were coated with ice. Mesmerizing eyes of all shades of blue looked as if a single glance could freeze anything over in less than a second. Impossibly long hair, cerulean blue, fell all the way to graze the floor. She wore chic, city-esque clothes, a light blue feminine suit-top and a darker blue skirt that fell a little over her knees. Even her lips, which parted to speak with even pleasantly cold breath, were painted in a dark, imposing shade of blue.
Squall couldn't help but stare at his Social Studies teacher. Everything about her and her room was so white and blue that he was starting to feel like he was drowning, or about to fall into a deep depression. Didn't her whole environment make her feel sad?
"You're the new one?" Icy cold eyes froze Squall in place as long, slender, cool hands touched his bare shoulder. He tried not to flinch. She had a strong French accent, but it wasn't obnoxious. If anything, it was seductive.
"Yes."
Dark blue lips curled up in a whimsical smile as she pulled her cold touch away from Squall.
"Please, call me Madame Shiva."
The taciturn brunette nodded slowly and went to take his seat. This classroom had single seats, and he found one that was to his liking in the last row, in the last column. Pulling out paper and a pen (taking extra care to make sure it wasn't a blue one,) Squall leaned forward and pressed his forehead against crossed hands, closing his eyes for a moment.
Soon the classroom started filling up and the bell rang. Squall opened his ears, not caring to do the same with his eyes, and listened to a cool-breathed "Back-to-school" monologue commence.
He blinked his eyes open, forehead still against his hands and face still facing downward. The cool voice was starting to work its freezing magic on his brain, and he was only brought back when he felt the eraser end of a pencil prod his side. He turned his gaze sideways.
"Hey," was whispered at him quietly, and Squall's lips turned downward in a dismayed frown. Cowboy hat tipped up and amused, crystal blue eyes studied him.
Squall only turned his head away, frantically trying to bring his mind back to the monologue (though it mattered not to him whether he got any of it, honestly, he was just trying to be too busy to be bothered by the cowboy.)
"C'mon sweetheart. You know you'd rather be talking to me than listening to that hag, so go ahead and indulge yourself."
Thin lips curled upward in a tight smirk and Squall's gaze angled back at him with a sharp glare, silver flickering over blue like sparks of electric ice. Squall tightened his own lips in a stiff line and refused to speak to the auburn-haired young man. He got, then, another poke in the side.
"Come on, honey, smile for Irvy?"
Squall huffed and turned his gaze away again. This could definitely count as harassment.
Men, Squall thought to himself, they can be so ignorant. He didn't want to look at this imbecile, let alone smile for him!
Suddenly, Irvine was leaning almost out of his seat and was way too close. He leaned his mouth close to Squall's ear with a smirk.
"If you don't show some lovin', we might just have to tell everybody about your little secret..."
Turbulent silver-blue eyes flashed to glance at the cowboy, flashing like an ice storm. Turning his gaze to stare ahead, frowning fiercely with uncertainty evident on his face, Squall swallowed the shocked dry spot that had lumped up again and refused to look back. Instead, he unclenched his teeth to make his speech intelligible.
"What...secret..." He almost growled, and Irvine smiled innocently.
"You know what I'm talking about..." He raised an auburn eyebrow and leaned back from Squall's ear to watch his face.
"No...I don't..."
"Oh, but you do," he said, careful to keep his voice low. Squall glanced back at him carefully and dubiously, crossing his arms across his chest.
"I don't...go ahead and tell me."
The foggy-blue-eyed cowboy frowned and looked pensive for a moment.
"Honey, I'm not sure if I should say something like that in public..."
Squall massaged his face and his calves crossed and uncrossed themselves again. He turned his gaze back at the thoughtful cowboy beside him.
"You don't know any secret."
Auburn eyebrows rose in amusement. "O'course I do."
"No, you don't. You can't say because you don't know."
"Sweetheart, you and I both know that this is too dark a secret to be said aloud," he tried lamely. Squall's eyes flickered in annoyance as he set his hard stare upon the other.
"Try me."
Irvine frowned again and stared back into vexed angel-eyes.
"Listen," he started, trying to make another excuse, but Squall had already figured out the trick. The brunette was about to tell him to lay off when, suddenly, a cold wind seemed to hit them both.
"Please, excuse! Monsieur Kinneas! Miss Loire! Is there a problem?"
Irvine quickly slunk back into his chair and Squall looked away, mumbling. The blue ice queen folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at the two before continuing her lesson. Squall's legs crossed again. Of course, his auburn-haired nuisance wasn't about to leave him alone for more than a minute.
"Loire...hmm..."
Squall's expression darkened exceptionally and he drummed his fingers in his lap. Refusing to embarrass himself again, the brunette kept his hardened stare on his teacher instead of giving Irvine the glare that he direly wished to.
"Mighty lovely name, it is," Irvine continued, not in the least put off by Squall's ignoring him. "I wonder what name goes before it."
The smaller brunette's scowling lips twitched as he restrained himself from hissing back a smart comment. His frown got even harder, and he drummed his fingers on his lap a little faster.
"You're not going to tell me, are you..." the persistent cowboy feigned a rather repulsive pout. "Well, lovely, I guess I'll just have to call you sugar 'n spice...unless Loire-honey is good for you."
Drumming fingers stopped and clenched into a fist as Squall shot him a sharp glare, and he forced himself to unhinge his stiffened jaw.
"Loire is not my name."
Crystal-blue eyes widened in interest. "Well, sugar, I don't know any but your last name," he said, amused.
"It's not my last name."
Irvine lifted his chin to stare down with a crooked grin, folding his arms across his chest and leaning back in his chair.
"If you say so, sweetheart. What do you like to be called?"
Squall sneered, not looking back at the auburn-haired young man.
"Nothing. Leave me the hell alone."
Irvine flinched as if he had been hit. "Ouch, darling, that burned," he drawled. The angel-eyed brunette shook his head and leaned slightly away from the side that the cowboy occupied. For about five minutes, Squall was left in peace, and he was finally starting to relax a bit. Of course he should have known better.
"Tell me your name..."an annoying little voice, and another poke in Squall's side. The brunette let out a soundless sigh, heaving his chest with a large breath. His un-amused stare, not once focused on his predator, was enough to say that he was not going to say anything to the cowboy.
"Oh, I see..." Eyes of hazy blue narrowed slightly as he spoke, "...you must be the type that only tells her name after sleeping with a fellow...well, my bed is always open for business, darling,"
Squall's hand twitched.
Don't react to him...that's just what he wants you to do...
"I can understand if you're a little shy, doll, but you don't need to hide. I mean..." the cowboy took on another cryptic smile and lowered his voice a little, "...there ain't no way you're cherry..."
Then, without warning, Irvine reached out a well-formed hand and set it on Squall's knee. Slowly, he climbed it upward until his fingertips touched the hem of the denim skirt.
The cowboy leaned closer, wearing a devilish smirk.
"Am I making you nervous?" he whispered quietly, playing with the hem of the skirt.
Squall's hand twitched again.
5...seconds...to the kill...
"MONSIEUR KINNEAS!"
Squall froze, and Irvine jerked back immediately, wearing the classic "deer-in-the-headlights" expression. Frigid, impossibly cold eyes froze icicles through the caught cowboy.
"Already you cause trouble in my classroom! I can not expect any more than this nonsense from you?" A gut-twisting, ice cold glare continued boring into him. "If you can not keep yourself from pestering behaviors then you obviously can not be trusted to sit next to Miss Loire!"
The irate blue woman turned her gaze over her classroom quickly, and then glanced back at Irvine. "Switch seats with Monsieur Seagil." She pointed to a dark-skinned young man in the center of the second row, seated next to a fair-haired, fierce looking young woman with an eye-patch. The teacher then smiled apologetically at the eye-patch girl.
"My apologies, Miss Sefid, but I must request that you keep an eye on your friend," she said. The girl only grunted and nodded with a little irritated sigh.
The dark-skinned, lithe-bodied young man picked up his bag, which still retained the pleasant beginning-of-the-school-year lightness. His nearly black eyes seemed to hold a secretive smile as he walked back to take Irvine's seat as the cowboy reluctantly strode to the front of the room. He gave off a bit of an eccentric vibe, but Squall figured anybody was better than Irvine.
As he took his seat, the dark-skinned young man smiled at Squall. Silver-blue eyes studied him quickly and carefully, not seeing any semblance of an ulterior motive. Squall gave him an acknowledging blink before turning his gaze back to watch Madame Shiva and listen to her lesson. Turning to follow suit, the other warm-eyed young man kept the diminutive smile on his face.
Squall was not bothered again for the rest of class.
-o-0-o-
"I didn't know Laguna had a daughter."
Silver-blue eyes widened slightly and the brunette turned to stare at the dark-skinned young man as the class was being dismissed. Irvine was being kept after class to have a "talk" with Madame Shiva.
"Who..."
The dark boy smiled warmly and his eyes flickered in the same way, comforting like a warm fireplace during a snowstorm.
"Kiros Seagil the Second," he said, holding out his hand.
Squall didn't take the friendly offer, but watched the young man tentatively instead
"How?" He asked with an uncertain frown, knowing that the boy would understand what he was referring to. The boy smiled again and dropped his hand, seeing that Squall wasn't going to take it, and started walking out of the classroom slowly, with Squall at his side.
"My dad," Kiros explained, "and Laguna, have a lot of business together, and sometimes Laguna and Raine come over to our place for dinner. Actually..." he laughed shortly as they walked out the door, "they're over a lot. I thought you looked a lot like him, but I knew you had to be his daughter when Madame said your last name..."
Squall frowned and looked away. Kiros didn't seem to notice, but they stopped walking for a moment.
"Where's your locker?" Kiros asked, glancing down the hallway.
"Over there..." the brunette mumbled, only paying half attention. Kiros followed him to the nearby locker, where they were nearly bulldozed over by an energetic blonde.
"Squall!" Zell called, and Squall nearly jumped out of his flip-flops (not that it would have mattered, seeing as the tiresome sandals were struggling to stay on his feet anyway.)
"U-um." Squall offered him a lame little smile, still a little shaken, and opened his locker, taking out his English textbook (distributed before the school year.) This, Kiros did notice.
"Oh, you have English? Me too. Let's go together," he said with that same warm smile.
"Oohh! Squall, hey, I have English now, too! I'll walk you."
Zell's pure blue eyes and Kiros' warm, dark brown ones met for a split-second. Squall looked away with an estranged frown.
"I'll be fine..." he mumbled, walking away slowly. Of course, the dark young man and crested blonde followed him anyway. They did have to go in the same direction, after all.
"So...um...Squall? Your name is Squall, right?"
The brunette kept walking as Kiros came up on his right side, Zell on his left.
"Yep," he said lightly.
"Squall Loire," Kiros said mostly to himself. "pretty name. I wonder why Laguna and Raine never brought you to dinner..." Dark eyes fell to stare at Squall inquisitively. "Heck, I wonder why they never even mentioned you..."
Squall gave him a cryptic, kind of scary little smile that said: I would stop talking if I were you.
"I wonder why," the silver-blue-eyed brunette repeated quietly, dismissing the topic completely. Kiros smiled and looked away, allowing it to be dismissed. Zell watched in utter confusion as Squall wondered off-handedly if Kiros ever frowned. Hell, did he even not smile?
There wasn't much room for further discussion, as Squall walked, for the second time, into the English classroom of four long, unfurnished walls.
"Hello, students," Edea's intense yellow eyes greeted the three as they walked into the room. "Please make yourselves comfortable. Class will start in a few minutes."
There were plenty of empty two-person desks open, so Squall just took the seat he had occupied during homeroom. Zell and Kiros just stood there silently, and he wore a tiny smile as he could practically feel them silently arguing over who would sit in the empty seat.
If they only knew he was not "Squall Loire the pretty girl." Then he likely wouldn't have people so eager to be his friend. Men, Squall thought to himself, they can be so shallow.
"SQUALLY!"
Suddenly, Squall was caught from behind by a throttling embrace around his neck, and a young woman's small frame deposited herself in the seat beside him before Zell or Kiros could. Laughing brown eyes watched his shell-shocked expression and her small hand gripped his tightly.
Kiros and Zell watched, completely perplexed. Rinoa noticed this and turned her gaze slightly, offering the two blank-faced young men a tiny, victorious smirk.
"R-Rinoa," Squall breathed, adjusting the now crooked bra, and she turned back to face her step-brother with a bright smile. "Don't...don't do that!"
She giggled and squeezed his hand before letting it go, nodding and spinning in her seat again to glance over at Zell and Kiros, who still hadn't seemed to have gotten the message.
"She's mine!" she said, kissing Squall's cheek, "So don't you dare lay a finger on my sweetheart." Rinoa wrapped her arms around his bare shoulders protectively and her dark hair grazed his skin slightly, staring up at the two with a dark, hard frown.
Zell's expression could only be described as incredibly comical. Blue eyes flickered in confusion; wide as saucers as his mouth was opening and closing soundlessly, like a fish out of water. Kiros only watched with a hugely wide grin, mouth twitching as if he was forcing himself not to laugh. Squall's face grew hot and he squirmed out of Rinoa's arms, looking away.
"She doesn't love me anymore!" The dark-haired pixie-child wailed, and suddenly her face snapped into a huge smile at Zell and Kiros. "Just kidding! I'm his sister." She winked.
Life flickered back into Zell's face as he let out a breath. Kiros' perpetual smile actually seemed to die a little.
"Whose sister?" he asked.
Squall and Rinoa blinked, and silvery blue angel eyes looked panicked for a moment.
"Rinoa!" he hissed. She blushed slightly and glanced at him apologetically.
"Um, I meant to say 'her.' Her sister."
There was an awkward silence and Kiros nodded, the same smile creeping up his face again.
"Well, I'd better find a seat. Nice to meet you, Miss and Miss Loire," he said cleverly, walking off to find one of the last empty seats.
Squall and Rinoa shared a glance at his comment.
Zell looked disheartened, but spotted a certain lofty, strong-looking young man sitting by himself.
"Hmm...Well, bye, Squall!" and he ran over to take the seat beside the other boy as class started.
"Dude, I haven't seen you at all today," Zell whispered to his friend with a boyish grin. The well-built, dark-skinned young man grinned back.
"Zell...If Fujin wasn't already sitting over there, I'd have to kick you outta this seat, ya know? I think she likes me, ya know..."
Zell gave him a comically dubious stare.
"Rai...don't tell me you still haven't dropped that weird lingo? And..." blonde eyebrows, short and cut off, fell down in a demure grin, "...you are delusional. Fujin has made it too clear that she's hated you since 9th grade."
Fujin, the silver-haired young woman, was watching them like prey, as they talked during class, and Raijin gave her a little wave and a goofy grin. She glared at him icily and turned away in a huff.
"She's head-over-heels for me, ya know," Raijin said with an elated sigh. Zell rolled his eyes.
"Yeah," the crested blonde replied sarcastically, "I know."
-o-0-o-
"MISTER KINNEAS."
Irvine forced himself not to recoil from the booming voice.
"Hi there, coach."
The tall, looming figure blew his whistle and all the young men that were about, doing various activities, gathered around him. Irvine shifted uncomfortably in his knee-length exercise shorts and white t-shirt.
"TARDY ON THE FIRST DAY, YOU ARE. RUN FIVE LAPS AROUND THE GYM, YOU WILL. AND REMOVE THAT HAT, YOU MUST."
Reluctantly parting with his cowboy hat, Irvine feigned his unsuitable pout and set it safely by his things.
"Okay, Coach DoomTrain."
Coach DoomTrain turned to face a tall blonde who had just run in.
"TARDY, YOU ARE AS WELL. RUN LAPS WITH KINNEAS, YOU MUST."
He shrugged as Irvine got a head start on his laps. A lofty, long-legged and strong young man, it wasn't difficult at all, but his even taller, blonde friend caught up to him quickly and jogged at his side.
"Well, mister braggart," Seifer started with a smirk, and Irvine huffed, "how did your class with 'sugar 'n spice' go?"
"Wonderfully," Irvine replied with a scowl, and candy-green eyes glanced at him quickly, narrowing in a little frown.
"Irvine..."
"What?" he asked flatly.
"You didn't do anything stupid, did you?" He gave his friend a dubious frown as they rounded the corner of the gym.
"Course not," the auburn-haired young man replied shortly. Seifer sighed soundlessly.
"...You did."
"I didn't do a thing wrong," Irvine retorted, narrowing crystal-blue eyes. "Cat's in the bag already. You might as well give up."
The lofty blonde's nicely-shaped lips stretched across his face in a huge, wide grin.
"Irvine," he laughed, "what the hell did you do this time?"
"Just shut it, sheriff," Irvine scowled. The blonde's baritone voice entertained a deep laugh and he fell a little behind.
"Oh man, you're rich," the tall blonde laughed. "I guess we know she's not into the direct approach, am I right?" He nudged Irvine in the side, and the cowboy ignored him.
"I bet she didn't even tell you her name," he joked, and when the other didn't reply, his grin fell a little. "Oh."
"Dun' matter. You'll have worse luck."
"You think?" Seifer's breath heaved a little as they finished a third lap, "I don't know. Ice princesses like her usually just take a little manly, laid-back charm. I think I can do it."
"Feh...right." Irvine smirked darkly. "Don't lose sleep over it, cowboy," he assured, "I'll get her. No need for y'all to start making plans."
"Yeah..."
But Seifer's mind was already somewhere else, thinking of this new "ice princess." He wasn't really sure if this was just another competitive thing, to prove his worth against Irvine's. That this gorgeous young woman was so untactful, almost as if she had no experience with being so wanted, was interesting to him. But more than what the cowboy was after; and cheesy as it sounded, he was fascinated by her eyes. That and her ability to so easily ignore him. Sure, it sounded conceited, and it definitely was, but he was honestly good-looking and he knew it. Seifer always welcomed a challenge, and though he said with such conviction that he'd be able to get her, he knew it wouldn't be easy. But he was determined to find out more about her, even if it was already becoming a frivolous obsession.
Sometimes he was silly like that.
-o-0-o-
Quistis was, by no means, an emotional woman. She was not easily fazed, and not easily impressed. Most things didn't even catch her interest.
This, however, was something else altogether.
"Ah...?" Thin, well-formed blonde eyebrows rose to the height of her forehead, partly hidden behind the two long tufts of hair out of her bun on either side of her face. Full, pink lips fell slightly open as she stared at her room's newest occupant. "You're...Squall?"
The brunette blinked his gaze down and to the side with a little nod. Quistis watched in amazement, and walked over to stand close to him, lowering her voice.
"You look...you look very...nice." she said, eyebrows still up.
He didn't say anything.
Elsewhere in the dance studio, emerald-green eyes shimmered from the remains of tears and of interest, watching Squall intensely. Hair, styled to flip out at the sides and roll in the back, brown like milk chocolate, held its place stiffly as she turned her head away. Something about this new girl, perhaps the hardened stare, the messy dark brown hairstyle, and the way this new girl held herself or those surreal blue-silver eyes...
Something about it was familiar to her. She could have sworn she had seen this new girl before, when she had gone to school in Trabia. It was a ridiculous, uncanny resemblance to someone she once knew...though the one she knew, she knew very distantly and not well, it would be hard to forget such an enigmatic presence.
"Squall..." she whispered to herself.
The only thing that bothered her was that the Squall she had known...had been a guy.
-o-0-o-
Note: This. Is. Not. A. Kiros. X. Squall. Fic. Kiros does not like Squall in that way, Kiros was not flirting with him, and he never, ever, ever will. Kiros (actually Kiros Jr. This is the real Kiros' son) is just interested in getting to know Laguna's "daughter." Seriously, why the hell would I make this an Everybody x Squall fic? I mean, our antisocial cutie just isn't the one for everybody! That would be unfair. :
GUYS! I am so sorry! I just realized how very little Seifer/Squall interaction is actually happening here. Like, none, period. But you see, I was unfortunate enough to have scheduled Squall's classes with Seifer in the last three classes, and none in the first three, which is what it is so far. There will be Squall/Sei-Sei. I PROMISE! ;-;
Fujin Sefid and Raijin Siyah. In Farsi, Sefid means white and Siyah means black. Can anybody see a side-romance here? Oh-ho-ho.
ROFL. O.O COACH DOOMTRAIN! And he's like, YODA! If this bothers anyone, just tell me and I'll edit it to make it more normal. O.o
Review, because...I love you:D If you love me too (or at least my story...) then drop me a line...I'll adore you forever:also offers all her PS memory cards: Oh wait, you don't want those...I have really sucky save files...xD