Lol, I guess it would seem kind of unorthodox that Seifer brought up his dad in the last chapter, but you see, the effect I was going for was Seifer was supposed to be trying to charm Squall by seeming sensitive, so he brought up the whole family issues thing to impress Squall or whatever, not to open up or nothing, but that's what he ended up doing without realizing. Seemed a little spontaneous, I know, and I'm sorry for any misunderstandings...;-;
Also, sorry this update took so long. I've been more into my piano lately, and besides, school has arrived...Fwee! I skipped our school AHS' first football game of the season just so I could come home and write this for you guys...well, that's actually a lie, but I totally would have if I could have. XD Ehah...it's the thought that counts! MOSTLY this took so long because my internet broke down early on Sunday, and it didn't come back for loooong time. Damn you, Comcast! May you burn in the fiery pits of Nicaragua! (err...did I say that right?)
I was also having a bit of a block on this story, but I'm figuring it out (I hope.)
Notes: Even though it doesn't make much sense, they are all in senior year unless otherwise specified (and none have been yet.) This has been done for the sake of simplicity and so that my brain doesn't explode. Same with the fact that every one of them is taking the core classes and two electives as if they were in 9th grade, you know...just so it wouldn't take me 5 hours to create the schedules so that they'd have enough encounters with one another. Omp.
Also, their schedules are a little blocky. Like, I have Fujin, Raijin, and Kiros with almost the same schedule, separate from the rest of the cast, so you won't see them much together with the others.
Sorry, after this took so long, there is so very little S/S going on here...just some advancing of the plot line...but there WILL be more happy fluffiness in the next chapter! Not very fluffy though, because that would completely kill the advancing plot xD
"I know your parents want you to be a doctor or a lawyer or such, but if those aren't your dreams, don't follow them. 'Follow every rainbow, until you find your dream!' Hey, what does come after Fa?"
-from squalmasy's yearbook
Dancing in Drag
Chapter 6: So He Holds Her Dear
"Come on, kids, let's all get reacquainted! Summer's over, so you all have to carry your weight around here, whether you want to or not."
Shifting a bit in his seat, the monstrous, dark-skinned bulk glanced to the side at his sitting mate with a bit of a dumb grin.
"This is gonna be fun, just us two partners buildin' things in woodshop...together, ya know," he said slowly, small eyes narrowing in a thuggish smile. The young woman next to him crossed her legs and looked away sharply, silvery hair flipping with the same briskness as she refused to acknowledge her new woodworking partner.
"Guh huh," Raijin's laugh made him sound...mentally challenged, to say the least. His grin widened and the girl dressed in blue frowned darkly at the sound of the infernal idiot that insisted on speaking to her at every given chance. Too bad he was just too stupid to get the message that she was not interested.
She impatiently tapped her fingers on the working counter and glared at nothing through her one good eye, waiting for their Woodshop instructor, none other than Ma Dincht, to instruct them further.
"I mean..." Raijin continued his ramble, so happily oblivious to the fact that Fujin really had no intention of listening, "It must be Christmas or something, coz I got blocks of wood, a saw, and a pretty girl right by me. If only Zelly could see this, he'd be jealous, ya know..."
Fujin's nose twitched and her mouth formed a bit of a dry smile.
What. A. Complete. Idiot.
Of course, she didn't speak, and he only continued to go on and on about things that Fujin would never in her life think once about, let alone twice. Fishing, electronic dictionaries, chocolate shaped like mushrooms, hairbrushes that are reminiscent in shape to a Cactuar.
"...Shut up."
Raijin stopped quickly, stared, and grinned widely. "This is going to be the best class! Every day we get to hang out, ya know?" He had totally missed the point and negative emotion of her request. It just flew straight past him.
Fujin blinked rapidly, head still turned away from the dark-skinned hulk, and a fair eyebrow dipped down in a light frown. Raijin was not stopping, and her mind was now riddled with pointless information that she couldn't help but register.
But, though she wouldn't admit it, chocolate shaped like mushrooms...was a pretty wild idea.
-o-0-o-
Squall hadn't been able to locate Zell before lunch ended, so he decided to not worry too much and just went to his 5th period class.
The room was dark, constituting perpetual morbidity, and it made Squall a little uncomfortable. All the windows were covered by thick shades; the room had been emptied of the school's standard fluorescent lighting and replaced, instead, by dim, low-power lights with red filters. The walls, ceiling, and carpet were all black. Even the furniture. It was difficult to distinguish anything, especially the teacher: a black silhouette sitting in a tall, eerie chair.
"Squall! Over here!"
Two voices, very different in sound, called out to him at the same time. He looked up and dark brown eyebrows fell flat as he recognized this situation.
Brown eyes and pure-blue met in an instant and narrowed at each other. Squall sighed. Of course he would end up having Mathematics with Rinoa and Zell. Of course.
"Aw Squall, please sit with meee!" Rinoa made a cute face.
"Come on, Squall, sit here, I saved you a seat!" Zell attempted to make a cute face.
Silver-blue eyes lowered to watch his tapping foot and he crossed his arms as Rinoa and Zell sent bad vibes across the room at each other. Partly entertaining, mostly a nuisance. Thankfully, (or perhaps not,) the teacher had arisen from his "throne;" most could tell by the giant looming shadow that darkened the room even further, and many were silenced.
"Miss...Loire," the tall, dark figure with an odd posture spoke, and his voice held a strange darkness to it that made Squall's insides twist with an explosion of morbid emotion, "You will be sitting there." A long, skinny finger with a strangely sharp nail pointed to the back. Squall, ignoring the feeling of death that had bubbled up inside him, and saw the seat he meant: not near Zell, and not near Rinoa, but...
The brunette's mouth twisted in disapproval and silver darkened somewhat over turbulent blue eyes. Irvine.
The cowboy's expression went in the opposite direction of Squall's; his wide, thin mouth pinched up in a quirky grin and his eyes brightened as he rose his smile to either impress or taunt him. Squall scowled slightly and glanced at his teacher to protest, but just looking at the instructor filled him with morbid, suicidal thoughts. He sucked in a shaky breath and turned to take his seat.
"Very well, then," the strange, dark teacher smiled crookedly and drummed his fingers against each other the way an evil genius would, "welcome to your mathematics course. I'm your instructor, Mr. Diablos."
-o-0-o-
Squall felt like he was about to break down and sob.
Honestly! The combination of Irvine's pestering and the dark, impossibly depressing room with lights the color of stale blood, was seriously something that could make you want to cry. Now Squall truly understood the full meaning of the psychology of painting a room. He was so damned depressed.
"You don't look so good, honey," Irvine whispered to him during the time they were given to work on their homework. He smiled slightly then. "But then again, you could never look bad..."
Squall only had enough life in him to shoot not even a half-hearted glare, but more of a quarter-hearted glare.
"Leave me alone..." he said, resenting immediately how whiny he sounded.
"Ahh," Irvine nodded slightly, understanding in those shadowed crystal-blue eyes, "I see. Diablos' room getting to ya?"
The brunette only blinked lazily and dropped his head into his arms on his desk, trying to block out the deathliness that floated around him. The cowboy chuckled.
"Well, if y'all are ever feeling a little down, you can always go to the warm arms of Mr. Kinneas," he suggested, holding his arms open for emphasis. Squall grunted slightly and turned his head away, glaring at one of the blood red, low-power lights that were making him feel murderous.
His legs crossed and uncrossed at the calves as Irvine continued to make tactless advances at him. For the most part, he ignored it, unless he'd have to climb out of his gloom to slap away one of the cowboy's wandering hands.
From the front of the room, green eyes, darkened incredibly by the lighting, watched the odd little scene between the two. An irked frown found the young man's face, and his eyes narrowed nearly to slits as he continued to watch until he felt a light tap on his shoulder.
He turned. "What do you-" And he stopped, going into his mind's reaches to turn the "charm" switch from off to on. He smiled slightly. "Hey."
Rinoa giggled. "What were you looking at?" she asked, her voice dripping with the message 'I'm so cute!'
Seifer's spectacular green eyes narrowed in a handsome, roguish grin. It is to be noted that his expression would not have been described as such, had he not switched on the "charm."
"Cowboy there is bugging that poor girl," he explained, voice forcibly smooth, "It's just so inconsiderate." He narrowed his eyes and frowned to show his "concern."
Rinoa grinned brightly. This guy was sensitive, caring, chivalrous, and damned handsome, to boot!
Seifer grinned back at her. All it took was his smooth-talking, and girls saw him as the perfect man.
'So easy to trick these little whores,' he told himself proudly. Ick. Sensitive and chivalrous, indeed!
Then Rinoa looked at "cowboy and poor girl." Her lips pinched into a smaller shape and dark brows rose thoughtfully.
"Gosh, that's my...sister," she said, touching her chin in concern, and carefully covering her almost slip-up. Candy-green eyes widened slightly at her and he turned to look in the direction Rinoa was looking, to be sure they were talking about the same person.
There was Irvine, sure enough, with a hand on Squall's shoulder, as the brunette slapped it away. Not more than two seconds later, the cowboy slid his gloved hand onto Squall's shoulder again, and it was slapped away, again. And he did it again. Slap. And again. Slap, slap. And again! Slap, slap, slap...left hook! Seifer grinned and started to count seconds. It was like watching pro boxing.
"That's your sister?" Seifer asked, lips quirked up in a little smile as jade-green eyes couldn't move away from the highly amusing scene.
"...Y-yeah," Rinoa's brown eyes were wide as well, as she also watched the two, a little embarrassed for Squall.
The blonde glanced to the side quickly to survey Rinoa more carefully. He frowned slightly. The two couldn't be related. Sure, both were incredibly hot, but...even Seifer's lazy mind could see a difference between their hotness.
He shook his head to himself, turning again to watch as Squall had folded his arms in front of his face as a form of self-defense and was attempting to kick Irvine with those slim, lovely legs that the blonde accidentally found himself staring at. Rinoa noticed this and gave him a dubious expression, turning back to face forward again, and clearing her throat.
Seifer blinked and turned back to her, grinning slightly, but not whole-heartedly.
"You two are honestly related, huh?" A blonde eyebrow rose and Rinoa turned back into her charming self.
"Yah! Well..." she frowned contemplatively, "Well, we're blood-related, so, that counts." She giggled slightly and nudged him in the side, nearly smothering Seifer in her flirtatiousness. He pursed his lips and mulled over her comment in his mind, then considered how very different this girl that claimed the other as her sister was from Squall. They were like...almost opposite.
"Hmp," Seifer shrugged to himself and faced forward again, straining to see in the dark room. Rinoa glanced to her side at the blonde, and studied him with her scrutinizing eye.
He was definitely tall; so tall that his head of nearly yellow hair caught much of the dull red light and looked almost pink. The darkness of the room made heavy shadows on his handsome features, making him seem kind of mysterious. From the side, Rinoa could only see his profile. His jaw was very...masculine; very square, and led up to a harshly rounded chin, past thin lips that, when he wasn't moving them, pointed down almost too much at the ends; a prominent, but not ugly nose, and subtle brow line where his forehead took a slightly negative angle and connected with the stray hair falling from his high hairline. Strangely enough, the accented shadows on his face brought attention to a very faded scar on his face, one that looked almost suspiciously similar to Squall's, only going in the other direction. It wasn't as noticeable as her brother's but that gave her a little chill anyway.
He was very handsome, and Rinoa knew it, too; there was something about Seifer that made him more, dare she think it, manly than most guys. Sure, being a man would constitute your manliness, but this was one of those...MAN guys...a Man man. Like, unlike Squall, if this blonde dressed in a skirt, he wouldn't look like a girl. He'd look like a guy in drag. He was definitely manly. Rinoa winced slightly.
'Man, all this thinking is giving me a headache.'
She giggled, and Seifer turned to glance at her inquisitively.
"What's funny?" He frowned slightly and blinked.
"Nothing, never mind," she said with a cute smile. He took on that charming smile again. The petite brunette felt her heart jump a little and her cheeks gained a lovely shade of pink.
Uh-oh.
-o-0-o-
"I think it's just great that we get to be lab partners!"
The blonde looked at him with a glow of supreme excitement in his eyes that Squall knew he should probably be very fearful of. He nodded slowly as Zell threw an uppercut punch into the air and grinned boyishly.
"Hey, come on, let's talk," Zell said, hopping up and down in his seat and staring at Squall intensely. "Senor Ifrit is the bomb! He's letting us just talk all class long!"
"It's...great," Squall said with a half-hearted little smile, still trying to recover from the gloom of Mr. Diablos' class. Soon enough, however, a different emotion had squirmed into him.
The chem. lab was not the standard white and black environment, but an unconventional explosion of red hues. The ground was an earth-colored tile of sorts, and the walls were painted almost like flames, licking up to the ceiling, which was painted black with little flickers of the burning red color spotted about it. It was ridiculously idiosyncratic. Absolutely strange.
And the whole redness of the room was making him rather...angry.
"That was sexual harassment, wasn't it?" He frowned and looked at Zell, who seemed to be hanging onto his every word, "It was. Harassment, I mean. That bastard's really got it coming to him. You saw it, too. I should go punch him again. Yeah, I should..." He narrowed silver-blue eyes and looked around the room, spotting Irvine in the corner chatting with Seifer and someone else, who was blocked from view.
Pure blue eyes blinked rather stupidly and a crooked grin crept up the blonde's lips.
"What's got into you?" he asked with a chuckle, and Squall blinked, his frown lessening somewhat. If this was the first day, only, then how in hell fire was he going to keep himself in tact through all these crazily eccentric classrooms for a year? He had not a single good teacher. Not one.
Madame Shiva, the overly blue ice queen; Edea, creepy gothic ruler of hell; Instructor Trepe, the whiny bitch-
'Calm down,' Squall told himself, frowning and closing his eyes for a moment.
Don't let the redness get to you. I will not let the redness get to me.
His anger was calmed for the time being. He was mildly surprised that their teacher wasn't a very angry person. Didn't his whole environment make him feel overwhelmingly mad?
"Soooo..." Zell wore a cryptic little grin and poked Squall in the side, causing the brunette to flinch a little, "I missed yah at lunch..."
A guilty expression flew onto Squall's face, and he frowned to cover it quickly.
"Yeah..." he said, quiet voice just barely reaching the blonde's ears, "I...was held up."
The crested blonde gave him a bit of a dubious expression, but not obvious enough for Squall to notice. He turned back in his seat, quieted; he didn't feel he should push his luck any further. Just being acknowledged by such a gorgeous-
Ack! He chided himself, She's just a friend! Just a friend!
Besides, he figured, it was only the first day. Usually the pretty new kids would find loserish friends and as soon as they were accepted as a regular part of society, the popular kids would always take them in-if they were hot, of course. Which Squall was. Totally hot. Very, undeniably-
Zell blinked, eyes darkened slightly. He chewed on his lip and glanced over at the brunette, who was sitting in a rather awkward position; not bent very forward to show off a flat stomach or with a straight back to show off a shapely figure like most girls Zell knew; Squall was sitting kind of stiffly, arms at his sides the way one would to hide something. And the brunette kept crossing and uncrossing bare calves. Why was Squall doing that so much, anyway?
"You...feeling alright?" Zell started tentatively, and silver-blue eyes flew to meet his gaze almost too quickly. A worried storm ran in them, and suddenly the brunette relaxed. The blonde's eyes widened incrementally.
"I'm--...yeah." Squall offered him another half-hearted smile.
"You just seemed a little out of it there...back ache or something?" The blonde cocked his head, perhaps to indicate an innocent inquisition. Squall frowned and fidgeted a bit.
"Am I sitting weird?" The brunette asked at length, frowning slightly and lips tightened. He couldn't start to look un-girlish now...he was almost through his first day!
Zell chuckled and scratched his face over the black crest, and the brunette was only mildly surprised that it didn't come off. So maybe it was a tattoo? It was difficult to tell. Then again, it really didn't matter...it was one of those frivolous things that Squall sometimes found himself obsessing over. He decided not to let himself think about it too much.
"Nah, you're--AGH!"
Blue eyes frosted with silver, snapped up immediately and his head spun to the blonde. There was a large, shapely hand that grasped painfully onto his spiky blonde hair, forced with a tight grip, and Zell was wincing. The gloved hand led to a long arm, up around a broad shoulder and large neck, to a horrifically smug face.
"So what makes you so special, chick-o?" Irvine leaned down, intimidating, and never let his fierce grip go off Zell's hair. "I don't think she really wants to be around the likes of you."
Zell's one eye was still shut and his face was strained, facing up as Irvine tugged him a little harder. Squall watched this, stupefied. Wasn't the blonde going to say anything?
"Hey. Let go of him," the brunette said, tone inflection indicating he was not amused, and wanted this to stop. Crystal blue eyes slowly came up to meet the stormy blue-silver eyes, sparking dangerously with electric ice. Irvine blinked.
"Damn, honey," he breathed, slightly wide-eyed, "If those ain't the loveliest eyes I've ever seen."
"Nghh..." Zell grunted, and Squall narrowed his eyes at the cowboy.
"Really got some expressive eyes, don't ya..." Irvine grinned crookedly, tugging Zell's hair just a bit more, but not moving his gaze from Squall's, "I wonder what they'll look like during sex-"
"Let him go." Squall hissed, face growing incredibly hot with a furious blush. The auburn-haired cowboy smirked and complied, dropping his painfully tight hold on Zell's head in one movement, and the blonde's face was slightly pink. He coughed slightly and gave Squall a glance that could either have been interpreted as apologetic or appreciative.
Irvine now leaned over Zell, coming closer to Squall. There was actually a small bruise on the cowboy's whittled cheek from where Squall had, surprisingly enough, landed a left hook on him in Math. He pursed his lips and glanced up at the brunette.
"Hold out your hand, honey," he said. Squall glared at him.
"No."
"I'm not leaving until you do," the auburn-haired cowboy's thin lips twisted up into a wry grin. Squall only glared at him for a while, and, seeing that he was serious, narrowed his eyes and held out his hand.
"Happy?"
Irvine's grin turned into a smirk. One of the cowboy's gloved hands came out from his pocket and he dropped something into Squall's hand. The brunette's delicate nose crinkled slightly. A screw?
"What?" He mumbled, giving the auburn-haired cowboy a dirty look. Irvine's smirk stayed firmly in place.
"Now you owe me a screw, sugar." A malicious spark flew up in his crystal-blue eyes.
Squall's face hardened and he scowled furiously, silver specks in his eyes twisting like icicles.
He could almost feel cowboy's repulsive breath on his skin, and shoved his hand (and the screw) right into Irvine's face, throwing him back. He tripped, but managed not to fall.
Zell watched with curious attentiveness, eyes of immaculate blue widened almost childishly. Squall glanced at him and he looked away meekly.
"Well, fine," Irvine, looking a little miffed, rubbed the bridge of his nose and smiled somewhat darkly at the brunette, "I guess y'all couldn't recognize a good man if it hit you in the face."
Silver-blue narrowed and a humorless, sardonic smile barely fixed his pouty lips.
"And obviously you wouldn't recognize rejection if it hit you in the face," he said in a low voice, "twice."
Zell nearly screamed in glee. Well, it wasn't often that he saw Irvine Kinneas get his ass owned by a hot chick. Not often, at all. Especially not one as incredibly hot as-
Dammit! He screeched to himself. Stop doing that!
Irvine looked slightly vexed then he shot back one last smirk before turning to walk back to Seifer and whoever was talking to Seifer in the corner, with the remark, "I'm looking forward to our next meeting, honey."
-o-0-o-
"Silly cowboy, Squall isn't like that!" Moderately long, soft hair was pushed gently out of beautiful sloe eyes, and Rinoa smiled slightly, leaning against the back wall where she had just been making idle chatter with Seifer.
Irvine frowned. "What do mean, 'Squall isn't like that?' And how do you know her?" He looked a little irked from before.
Seifer and the cowboy both watched her intently for an answer. She found herself at a loss for words for just a moment then used her number one tool for success in an awkward situation: The Rinoa Smile of Utter Cuteness.
"Gosh, I dunno what I meant," she said with a little giggle, batting her lashes just a little too obviously. "But that's my sister, didn't Sei tell you?"
Irvine blinked rapidly now, a genuinely interested look in crystal-blue eyes. "Your sister?"
"Yeah-huh!" She nodded vigorously, grinning cutely, and looking extremely childlike.
Seifer chuckled at her quietly, and a small smirk crept up the auburn-haired cowboy's lips.
"Say, uh..." he paused, indicating for her to give her name.
"Rinoa," she said with a tiny nod, staring at him to go on.
"Rinoa," Irvine continued, smirk growing slightly, and the blonde's jade-green eyes considered him listlessly, somehow knowing what was coming next, "there's a first-day-back party going on tonight at Almasy's place-"
"I'd LOVE to come!" The brunette said with a little jump and widened eyes. Irvine chuckled and Seifer narrowed his eyes at the cowboy, slightly annoyed. However, he took on his dazzling Man-smile again before Rinoa could notice.
"Don't forget to bring your sister, honey," the cowboy said suggestively, leaning forward to gently caress Rinoa's cheek. She withdrew a little and offered a small smile, then a bright one once she was out of Irvine's touch.
"Duhhh, I'd never forget her!" She said, chipper as ever, "I just love her. We're like, joined at the hip!" She touched her mouth and giggled. Seifer raised an eyebrow at the sloe-eyed girl.
"Yes, I can see that," he said, careful to hide the sarcasm just so that someone more intelligent might catch on. Squall was just about as far away as he could have gotten from Rinoa at that moment that would have been possible without him getting marked absent for class.
"Gosh, it's so great to meet such nice people," she said with a long, happy sigh, bouncing her back against the wall slightly and smiling brightly. "Don't say I said this, but Squall really had terrible luck making friends at all our old schools. He got beat up and stuff..." her face took on a bit of a sad expression.
One could say Seifer was a bit slow, but not completely dull.
"Wait...what 'Squall' are we talking about?" The blonde asked at length, and Irvine seemed to be in agreement with the inquiry.
Rinoa blinked, and her eyes suddenly showed a stronger awareness. She frowned.
"I...wait, never mind. There's only one Squall," she said quietly.
"You said 'he' got beat up," Seifer reminded, narrowing candy-green eyes in a slight contemplative frown. "What 'he' were you talking about?"
Irvine's crystal-blue eyes widened slightly more, as he obviously found the conversation very taking. Rinoa looked like a criminal caught red-handed, for some reason. She glanced away.
"Seriously..." she said quietly, sounding a bit disheartened, "It was a mistake. I'm kind of out of it today," she tried, offering a little smile as reassurance.
Seifer leaned back and folded his arms, narrowing electric green eyes and then sighing and shaking it off.
"Yeah, guess you are," he said. Irvine nodded slowly.
-o-0-o-
"No."
"What? Come on, pleaaaase? It'll be fun!"
"No."
"Pretty please with tuna on top?"
"No."
"Poo-weeeeeeese? Squalleeeeee?"
"..."
"Wah! Is that a yes?"
"...No."
Exasperated. Rinoa unwrapped her arms from around her step-brother's shoulders and plopped down on the couch with a big pout. Squall folded his arms over his chest and looked as big-brotherly as he could, considering that he was wearing a skirt and his eyes were lined.
"Rinoa," he said sternly; a strange sound when coming from his soft voice, "Monday night is not the night to be partying. I can't even believe you're going..."
Rinoa huffed and waved him off. "Aw Squall, every night is a party night! I can't believe you're NOT going!"
"I don't need to make myself look any more idiotic," he mumbled with a dark frown. His step-sister giggled and stood up, brushing herself off in a dazzling outfit: dark, seductive red color of stretchy tube top and black jeans.
"Honestly, now," she said, wagging a finger at him jokingly, "the crowd just loved you. I told you that you looked good, bro, and I mean it! Come on, it's not like you have anything else to do."
Squall looked up at her with that same frown. "Zell offered to show me downtown Balamb with his friend tonight."
Rinoa's dark eyes widened comically. "Rapists!" She yelped with a little grin. Squall scowled.
"Somehow, I doubt that," he mumbled and folded his arms protectively over his chest. She chuckled and shook her head to herself. His silver-blue gaze rose to watch her carefully before the brunette spoke.
"Just don't get in trouble," he said sternly.
"Gotcha!" She raised her hand to the side of her head and saluted him.
"Don't get wasted," he added.
"Sure thing!"
"Don't dance too close to anyone you don't know."
"...Right-o."
"If anyone asks, your name is Martha Stewart."
"...Martha Stewart?"
"And don't take any suspicious substances from-"
"Gee whiz!" Rinoa threw her arms up and sighed, rolling her dark eyes. "I get the picture!"
Squall sighed to himself, shrugging and looking down at his feet. The dark-haired young woman grinned and put her hands on her hips.
"What's wrong?" she asked, grin wide.
"You grew up fast," he said with a little smile, and she laughed out loud, hugging her step-brother tightly.
"Let's not forget who the older one here is." She grinned coyly up at him.
"Still..." the brunette frowned, looking slightly indecisive, "You keep calling me 'big bro;' you're practically giving me the right."
"Maybe I meant 'big' in a different way," Rinoa suggested, raising a dark eyebrow with a strange glint in her eye. Squall buried his face in his hands with a stifled laugh.
"Just leave before I start to cry," he said quietly, hiding his smile under his hands. Rinoa laughed aloud again.
"I hope you're joking!" She said with her cute grin, bending over tauntingly.
"I am, I am. Get the hell out already!" He gently pushed the hysterically giggling girl out the door, laughing as well and shutting the door quickly. He sighed with a smile, sliding down against the door and letting out a quiet chuckle, shaking his head to himself.
Now, he had to think of something to wear for the evening...maybe Rinoa's closet, he thought to himself with disdain, because she owned more pants than he did (since all of his were discarded so kindly.) Did she ever consider that girls wear pants, too, when she threw away all of his pants?
He sighed.
-o-0-o-
"Damn, Zelly, she's hot!"
The blonde blushed furiously and flailed for a split-second, pure-blue eyes wide as he gave Raijin the "ix-nay" look. Squall raised an eyebrow and frowned slightly at the massive hulk that was Zell's friend. He looked more like a bodyguard.
"Uh-"
"D-Don't mind Raijin! He's just a little slow, is all; he's really a great guy." Zell looked frantic, as if he was worried Squall would go psycho on his ass. This thought frustrated the brunette slightly. But only slightly.
"It's fine," Squall shrugged. He had managed to get into one of Rinoa's pants (as in, he was wearing them, you fool,) though they were all quite so tight! It was not a low-rider, so it worked when he pulled it so low that the hem rode very low, just to give him some comfortable room in the jeans' crotch. He had to wear a skirt over the jeans because of this, but his slim, non-existent hips made this task not too difficult. It was...an odd style, to say the least, but at least he didn't have his legs out in the open like before. He also, thank the gods out there, was able to wear his normal boots, though they did seem to highlight the outfit in a peculiar fashion.
Not that he really cared.
"Okay, then!" Zell grinned boyishly. "Looking great, Squall!" And his smile fell a bit. "N-Not that I was really looking, but, you know, it's hard not to sometimes--"
"It's fine," Squall repeated with a little smile. Zell nodded, slightly embarrassed. Happy Raijin was attempting to count the hairs on his hand and was failing quite consistently.
"Mm-hrmm..." the crested blonde cleared his throat. "You need to be home by when?" Blue eyes glanced up inquisitively at the brunette, and Squall stopped a moment to consider himself.
"Actually...it doesn't really matter. Whenever," Squall shrugged. "No curfew."
"Sweet," Raijin's low voice was almost like an earthquake whenever Squall heard it. It was difficult to ignore that low rumbling sound, and suffice it to say it was quite annoying.
Zell continued, letting the slightly shorter brunette step outside and lock the door behind him. "Well, then, we've got plenty of time to do stuff. Let's grab a bite and then Rai and me'll show you the city. It's so awesome at night! You'll love it."
"Sounds cool," Squall nodded, considerably more comfortable with denim protecting his legs.
"Lots of pretty lights, they go with the pretty girl, ya know." Rai added with a thuggish grin toward the brunette.
Zell and Squall looked at him and sighed quietly.
-o-0-o-
"Whoa..." Squall mumbled to himself. It was dark, and their motley little crew had just gotten out of a pizza parlor, a particularly delicious one, at that. It was dark but the moon wasn't visible quite yet; a star or two were up and indicated the coming of winter; days were getting shorter. The weather was beautiful, just like everything else about the gigantic city of Balamb. Huge towers were in the near distance and a beautiful harbor overlooking the ocean with a peninsula-type structure stretching out into the ocean with entertainment, shopping centres, and a Ferris wheel. Evening tour boats drifted along the dark shoreline, and romanticizing couples sat together on the edge of the pier, enjoying the warm ocean breeze. Everything about the city was fantastic.
Zell watched the brunette's expression with a wide grin. Yes, that was generally the reaction that new kids or visitors had when first seeing the city at night; considerably more beautiful than the city during the day, when businessmen were all working about. The evening was what Balamb was all about: piano bars and jazz clubs, strolling in the streets with the always beautiful weather, romantic sea-side rendezvous, buying cinnamon-sugar almonds and eating them at the top of the Ferris Wheel while looking down on the lights and the happy bustle...
"HOLY...! Zelly! We should buy that red clock, ya know!"
Squall and the blonde stopped, turning to stare at Raijin strangely. Zell rolled his eyes slightly. Yeah, Raijin, totally ruin the mood, why don't you?
There was so much going on, Squall almost felt dizzy. This had to be five hundred times better than going to some stupid party with stupid partying children.
They ended up just walking into random shops (mostly at Raijin's whim) but purchasing nothing for the salvation of meagerness.
There were a few things that Squall saw, however, that he felt an itchy gut feeling of extreme desire for. One thing was in the glass counter display of a rather occult, but strangely well-kept shop: a silver chain, well-secured, with a pendant at the bottom. The pendant was something that resembled the profile of a lion, with a cross from the bottom. It was the epitome of elegance...
Silver-blue eyes widened as he looked down at the tag. That was...a very...very...large number. He frowned and reluctantly turned to look at other things...cheaper things. He couldn't afford luxuries like that. Zell didn't miss Squall's longing look, however; and he also didn't miss the price tag. Sky-blue eyes widened as well.
Oh well, he sighed.
The other thing that Squall saw was a poster on one of the many well-established theatre institutions. Ah, theatre: art in itself. If Squall had more talent, he would have immediately joined a Thespian society...unfortunately, his talent was in dancing. Not that it was something he regretted, but to be skilled at dancing and acting...
Well, everyone has a right to dream.
In any case, he saw the poster for the play "La Boeme," something he'd read about when he was a bit younger and had always wanted to see. He frowned slightly. The performances didn't start for another two months. Honestly, why did they insist on torturing him so with these two-months-prior posters? At least, he figured, he'd be able to pay to see this. If he got a part-time job immediately and worked hard, that is. Caraway's and Laguna's child-support was only enough for them to make a meager living (when deducing the costs of Rinoa's high-maintenance lifestyle.)
But he would never ask Rinoa to stop buying clothes and whatever it was that made her happy. Because that's what he wanted for her...happiness and ease of living. He owed her and Julia that much, at the very least.
I...
...I don't understand.
Daddy? What's going on?
'Devil child! Now you'll ruin more people's lives! You're happy about it, aren't you!' Dark eyes...Malice. Anger.
Sobs...Fear and confusion.
What did I do? Daddy?
'Shh, honey...don't make this any harder for him...' Pale Blue...Pity. Regret. And...Love?
No...I don't think so...
"...all."
"Squall...?"
"SQUALL!"
"Ah!" The brunette jumped slightly, hitting his head against the wall and grunting, looking up at the panicky Zell, who was watching him with concern.
"What happened? You went all..." he made a strange gesture that Squall couldn't really comprehend.
"I-...sorry," Squall mumbled, rubbing his forehead. Zell didn't take this as a very good answer, obviously.
"You sure you're okay?" The crested blonde asked, resisting the urge to put a hand on the brunette's shoulder. And what a strong urge it was. Good thing he had learned very good aspects of self-control.
Squall only wore a brooding frown and rubbed his sore shoulder some. With one last glance at the "La Boeme" poster, he made to walk briskly away, the bewildered Zell and happily oblivious Raijin close behind.
-o-0-o-
HONK.
HONK, HONK.
Silver-blue eyes immediately fell upon the source of the obstrusive sound. It was well into the evening, about 10 PM, and the city of Balamb was ever-beautiful and ever-bustling. Squall hadn't even begun to feel tired, and, after getting over a little bit of a "mood," he had really been having a good time watching Zell and Raijin make complete fools of themselves, singing and dancing to the street performance music, and chattering blithely about this-or-that. Squall, for the most part, had remained silent, but not without a small smile on his lips as he listened to the two go on about nothing in particular under the glowing moon.
But then, there was honking. The brunette narrowed subtly-lined eyes and tried to see who was in the black convertible, honking their ears off. Before he could make out who was the driver, the car came to a parking space along the sidewalk near Squall, Zell, and Raijin, and, with one last honk, parked and hopped out.
"Hey!" Mister honky jogged over to them with those dark, perpetually laughing eyes glimmering pleasantly. Zell raised a blonde, somewhat cut off eyebrow at the lithe-bodied young man, and Squall blinked.
"Hi..." he said quietly. Pure blue eyes narrowed on Zell's face; the blonde recognized him as the other who had offered Squall a walk during school. His expression almost switched to "No Touchie!" but he held that more protective aspect of himself back, knowing that the brunette probably wouldn't appreciate it.
"Squall, it's wonderful to see you again so soon," Kiros said, smiling so warmly that Raijin (yes, Raijin) felt his insides melt into a puddle of goo. Zell was ignoring it well, and Squall was only just so indifferent as to evade the exploding friendliness.
"Yeah," the brunette agreed, though not openly so. The crested blonde frowned slightly, going opposite of Kiros' expression; somehow, his smile grew. If that smile ever happened to fall, none of the other ever caught it in its doing so. It was a bit of an eerie thing about the kindly boy, in all honesty.
"I take it these two are showing you around Balamb tonight," Kiros said with that endless undertone of complete fascination with life in general. Squall and Zell both nodded; the blonde more vigorously than Squall. The skinny dark-skinned young man grinned and folded his arms contemplatively, turning his hip out in one direction as if pondering something.
"Actually, I saw you guys a bit earlier," Kiros admitted with a bit of a guilty smile, "and I noticed you hanging around the theatre district..."
The brunette blinked those beautiful blue eyes, dotted with silver and looking very much like the starry night sky right above them. His slim fingers rose to delicately brush messily styled thin locks of brown, looking nearly black in the eve's moonlight, out of his face, and nodded. Zell had to force himself to look away and Raijin chuckled dumbly.
"Theatre..." Squall repeated, somewhat absently, and then he blinked again and nodded, watching Kiros with immaculate interest. "I was looking at some of the plays."
"Well I, for one, think its wonderful," Kiros replied with that warm smile widening just an increment, "that our generation has such tasteful young ladies in it. My dad gets really fantastic seats for the opera house and symphony orchestra a lot. If you appreciate the fine arts as much as it seems, you know, I'd more than gladly take you to see them anytime."
The angelic-eyed brunette looked down at his boots and then looked back into smiling sloe-eyes. A small smile crept up onto Squall's lips.
"Sounds great," he said quietly, genuinely excited about this opportunity. He was such a sucker for operas and symphonies. Of course, he also wasn't given the chance to see them too often.
Zell frowned and looked away, blue eyes a dangerous dark shade as he glared at his feet. Raijin gave a low whistle and laughed stupidly again.
And would this ever have happened, had they known he was a guy? Doubtfully. This was somewhat depressing to Squall.
"Well, I guess if that's all, you'd better get back to your business," Zell said, almost a bit too suggestively, hoping that Kiros had something else he was attending to that he had just forgotten about. Apparently, this either wasn't the case, or Kiros would rather blow it off to hang out with Squall. The skinny, dark-skinned young man smiled.
"Actually, I was just on my way to a little jazz club downtown," Kiros said, lifting an idle finger up and leaning in a bit, glancing at Squall. "Interested?"
"Jazz..." the brunette smiled a bit. A smile can say a thousand words.
"I've been there a couple of times," the other young man continued in a sunny tone, "it's actually not very well-known, so you won't have a lot of people in there. It's more of a cult thing; hard to come across it without being referenced. So far, though, the performances have been great."
"Oh..." Silver sparked over blue eyes as if electrified and the brunette leaned in. "Yes." He said it with an odd emphasis, an inflection that openly communicated his un-talkative nature but intense interest.
"Fantastic," Kiros said, smile growing ever slightly, "it's not far from here. Let's go."
Squall followed Kiros closely, soon walking at the dark-skinned young man's side. Zell and Raijin found themselves slightly left out, and the blonde's frown had neglected to go away.
"This wasn't the plan, ya know," Raijin observed, ever the smart one, though no particular emotion was held to his words.
Zell grunted slightly and wore a humorless smile.
"Yeah," the blond said dryly, "I know."
-o-0-o-
"Here it is. It's higher-class than the building lets on," Kiros added with a chuckle at Squall's dubious expression, holding the door open for the pale-skinned brunette.
There was a very, very low din of a very meager amount of people chatting quietly in the rather small little club. Dim lights subtly hung on the walls, distributed unevenly and creating a rather unreal lighting that seemed to be particular to this type of place. Nobody was on the lonely stage, and Squall watched the empty platform curiously as he lowered himself into a seat.
Zell and Raijin sat across from him, as Kiros was already seated at his side.
"It's a pretty cool place," Kiros started, trying to break into conversation. Zell was still looking a little caught up over some issue, Raijin was busy counting the lights, and Squall only nodded in a bit of a shy agreement.
Well, it wasn't often that he went to specialty music clubs. It was still a relatively new experience for him, especially at night without his mom or Rinoa. As cheesy as it sounded...he'd only been to the piano bar where his and Rinoa's single mom made a living. He smiled slightly, recalling the beautiful songs that their mother sang, as he and Rinoa, young teenagers at the time, would sit on the little bar's red couch, mesmerized and sometimes lulled to sleep by her angelic voice.
There was a song she had written herself, in expressing her undying love for someone who never really cared for her more than her body...
Squall frowned a little. Love...It was anyone's greatest weakness and undoing. And just the thought of her, singing her love song; so beautiful that Squall whole-heartedly had believed nobody deserved from his mother, made him just angry. How...despicable. How could any man be so horrible?
"Hey, do want a drink?" Kiros asked, interrupting the rising licks of anger in Squall's stomach with a relatively innocent inquiry. The brunette, however, only looked at him dubiously. Zell was giving Kiros a dangerous look that went unnoticed by the skinny young man, and Raijin was still counting lights.
"I don't drink," Squall mumbled, slightly put off by the offer. Kiros seemed a bit confused, then blinked and laughed quietly.
"I meant to ask if you wanted water or soda, or something," the dark-skinned young man said with his wide grin, and the brunette relaxed a bit, opening his mouth to reply, when suddenly the dim lights focused to the stage for a moment and then dimmed even more. He turned his head, attention stolen, and watched curiously as a low voice came out of some hidden speakers to address the meager audience.
"Ladies and gentlemen, it's wonderful to have you all here tonight," an impossibly low voice came over the speakers. "Tonight, as scheduled on our program, we have the most soulful of the soulful; the true rising star of saxophone. Performing for you...Balamb's own Ryan Griffin."
All eyes were on the stage, as this Ryan came out, saxophone strapped to broad shoulders. The lights were dim...too dim to see...
But as the saxophonist began playing, music that held such an innately true aesthetic soul and captured the attention of everyone immediately...
...The lights became bright enough to reveal honey-gold hair, an unmistakable angled face and eyes, so intense, so alive, so involved in his music and so...
...So impossibly, unmistakably, jade green.
-o-0-o-
XD OKAAAAY...Who saw THAT one coming from a mile away? Betcha you did! XD Aha, I'm so predictable.
I'm already working on chapter 7, so it won't take me as long for it, I promise. I was originally going to put a lot more into this chapter, but I figured I needed to spread it out a bit more. Interesting things will happen, believe-a you me. And don't think I'm going to go ahead and have that party at Sei's house happen without writing about it! Just you review, and you'll get more soon. (Yes, I intentionally pulled Sei away from his own party. So don't mark me for inconsistency!)
...wtf...did anybody get this whole family-thing? I mean, its seriously vague...I didn't even describe it...but that's how I intended it...just saying the whole story would be pretty boring, agree?
! Balamb is Chicago, mates! XD God, when we went on our Choire trip there, it was so damned beautiful. Chicago is the perfect city. Fuck California, Fuck it all! Chicago is the place to be, mates. It's just...inspiring. Perfect place for a musician, too. XD OMFG. Kiros...it looks like he's trying to charm Squall, doesn't it? Please, just believe me. There are no ulterior motives. When Kiros says something, everything he is implying is right in his words, period. Honestly! He just thinks its cool to meet someone who's into the arts, he's not trying to hit on Squall. XD
Don't you love that little scene between Squall and Rinoa? X.X Even though I would never pair them romantically; as siblings I think they're just so adorable. Oh, and...don't kill me for making Squall laugh! He laughs, just like everyone else! Nobody is capable of not laughing D: That would be foolish. OMG...Raijin is so dumb o.x