A whisper of sound was his only clue that someone was following him.
Trying not to alert whoever it was that he knew they were there, he continued to walk at the same pace. Taking a right, he turned onto the ramp that led into the dormitories. Following the hall straight, he heard a squeak, like the sole of a shoe on the tile floor of the Garden. He nonchalantly took the first left turn that he came to, heading in the direction of the upper ranked SeeDs' rooms.
He paused right inside the hallway and flattened himself against the wall, waiting to see if anyone came up the corridor behind him.
He waited tensely for a moment, holding his breath. Nothing happened. He stood for another minute, waiting.
As he turned around to continue on his way, he jerked back in surprise before he could even take a step. Quistis was standing behind him, her arms crossed over her chest.
"What are you doing?" she asked, a curious look on her face.
"I could have sword I heard someone following me," he explained, glancing into the hallway behind him.
She moved past him, peeing up and down the hall. There was nothing to be seen.
"I don't see anything Seifer," she said, quirking an eyebrow at him.
"There was somebody there," he insisted.
"Sure thing Seifer," she agreed patronizingly.
He shrugged it off, pulling her into a hug.
"I'm just being silly," he said ask she wrapped her arms around him. She nodded against his chest and he smirked.
"You ready to go to breakfast?" he asked, resting his chin on the top of her head.
"I'm fine right here," she murmured, tightening her arms around him.
Smiling, he held her closer, content to just stand there with her forever.
A yellow blur ran past the hallway they were standing in before turning and coming back to where they were.
"Hey guys, we were looking for ya'll," Selphie said excitedly.
"Hey Selphie," Quistis mumbled, her voice muffled by Seifer's chest.
"Ya'll are gonna come eat with us, right?" she asked the embracing pair.
Quistis pulled back and nodded. "Yeah, we're coming."
"Hey Selphie, you weren't following me were you?" Seifer asked as they moved out of the hall, back towards the center of the Garden.
The hyper brunette frowned, "Are you joking? No, I wasn't following you."
"Seifer, I thought you were over that. No one was following you," Quistis exclaimed.
"I was just checking," he defended himself.
They entered the Cafeteria a moment later and got in line. Selphie was first, then Quistis, followed by Seifer.
A hand tapped his on the shoulder, causing him to turn around. No one was behind him. He turned back to face the front, frowning.
Somebody had gotten in front of him.
At that moment, Quistis turned around to ask him a question. She saw what had happened instantly. Seifer was glaring at the unconcerned guy in front of him. If looks could kill, the Trepie in front of the ex-knight would be a smoking pile of ashes.
She gave him a look, warning him against making a scene. The cafeteria was really crowded and the last thing the students needed was to see a SeeD beating up a cadet in the food line.
Excusing herself, she brushed past the Trepie, who was staring at her in undisguised admiration, and moved back in the line to stand next to Seifer.
"Happy now?" she asked, smiling up at him as he glared at the guy in front of him. He nodded and smirked as the Trepie frowned, disappointed.
"You're a nut Seifer," she said slapping his chest as he pointed forward, signaling the Trepie that the line was moving.
He just smirked down at her, his arm comfortably around her shoulders.
There was no noise as Seifer made his now daily trek through the Training Center.
Since they had only been back from their mission for a few days, neither he nor Quistis had any SeeD work to do. She was back to teaching her classes and he had taken to going to train on a daily basis in the simulated forest provided for him. They were supposed to get a report typed up about their mission but it wasn't due to Squall for a few more days.
He heard a rustling in the bushes and turned in that direction, Hyperion held in front of him.
Instead of seeing a monster or a foe, he was surprised to see two SeeD cadets crouching in the bushes. They stared at him, wide-eyed, for a moment before bolting away from him.
"Hey, wait!" he called out, surprised.
The kids paid him no attention, continuing to run away from him without looking back. Shrugging the incident off, he turned to continue his circuit of the monster infested jungle.
Two more cadets were behind him.
Jerking back in surprise, he grabbed the shorter teens by their shoulders.
"What's up with you cadets?" he asked, shaking the terror-stricken youths. "Aren't you supposed to be in class or something?"
One of the boys nodded fearfully and Seifer released them.
"Well go on then, get going."
As the kids scampered away, he smirked to himself. He may have fallen from grace but he was back and still the toughest guy in the Garden.
Rounding the bend, he was surprised to see that Quistis was teaching her class in the Training Center. The two kids he had just set loose were sitting front and center, staring at her in rapt attention.
Those two kids were Trepies he realized, watching their behavior. Pieces clicked into place. They were stalking him. He had been right. First the person in the hall, then the guy in the cafeteria, and now these kids.
They were everywhere.
The kids in the class all turned to look at him as Quistis greeted him. She smiled at him, looking confused as Seifer glared at two of her students. She moved from the front of the group, hugging Seifer around the neck.
"You okay?" she whispered, standing on her toes to talk into his ear. His arms went around her and he nodded.
His eyes were drawn to the two kids as they glared at him again. He smirked and loosened the hug, pulling back to kiss her on the cheek. The two kids scowled and Quistis blushed.
She was looking intently at her boots when he pulled back.
"I'll see you later?" he asked quietly. She nodded and smiled up at him.
With a wave, he turned to walk off, noting as he did so, that the two Trepies were scowling angrily at him.
Seifer glanced around the corner, peering in both directions before he moved into the hallway. Quistis rolled her eyes and moved ahead of him. Rinoa was watching Seifer with an amused smirk on her face.
"You seriously think the Trepies are stalking you?" the sorceress asked, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.
He nodded distractedly. "They are," he affirmed.
Rinoa giggled, her hand coming up to cover her mouth as Seifer turned away from his surveying to glare at her.
"Sorry Seifer," she apologized, snickering. "I didn't mean anything by it."
Quistis was trying to hide her smirk as Seifer turned back around.
"You think I'm crazy too don't you?" he demanded, starting to get angry.
Quistis tried valiantly but couldn't keep her laughter inside. Seifer glared at her, laughing loudly while leaning on the cackling Rinoa. Turning away, Seifer stomped angrily down the hall.
As they watched his trench coat swing around the corner behind him, Quistis calmed herself enough to look contrite.
"We might have pushed him too far Rin," she said, peering after him.
"It's Seifer. He's the king of jokes and teasing and you think we pushed him too far?" Rinoa asked her incredulously.
Quistis shrugged.
"He seemed kind of hurt that we didn't believe him," she said, still looking in the direction the ex-knight had gone.
"Quis, Seifer doesn't get his feelings hurt," Rinoa waved her concerns off.
"He's more sensitive than he lets on," Quistis said in defense of her boyfriend, scowling at the still giggling sorceress.
Seeing the look on her friends face, Rinoa stopped laughing. "Quistis, I know he is. I heard all about his 'romantic dream' that summer we were dating. I was just trying to make you feel better about him leaving. I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything by it."
Quistis was still scowling so Rinoa tried again.
"How about we go find him and apologize," she offered, trying to appease her friend.
"That would be nice of us," Quistis agreed as she gave Rinoa a tiny smile.
Seifer could feel their eyes on him as he stalked down the corridor. They were behind him, in front of him, all around him.
Unexpectedly, a figure dressed all in black stepped out of the hallway in front of him. Seifer moved to go around him but he found himself blocked by the silent shadow before him. He glanced to either side and found that burly cadets stood at either elbow.
The Trepies had come prepared. He was alone and unprepared. He had been caught by a bunch of obsessive psychos.
And they were obsessed with his girlfriend. The mere thought made his blood boil. Before he could move away, he found his arms pinioned behind his back by the two gorillas beside him.
A blindfold was put over his eyes and he could feel himself being lifted.
"We just need to have a talk with you," a voice whispered into his ear as his body was carried away, leaving behind an empty, soundless hallway.
That's how Quistis and Rinoa found it when they came in a minute later.
AN:Sorry this has taken so long...school has become more and more busy each day...but today I had a day off so I wrote this...now I have to go read 60 pages for my literature class...its 2 AM...curse my procrastinating...