This is my fourth Star Ocean fic. Hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean. Rub it in my face, why don't ya!

Chapter I: Puffy Pink

It was a normal day in Castle Aquaria. The weather cast a feel-good mood, and everyone was happily carrying out their day. Fayt, Sophia, Maria, Nel, Albel, Peppita, and Mirage were at the dining table eating breakfast. Where are Roger and Cliff, you say? Well, I was getting to that.

The Klausian and the Menodix were in a guest room scheming. They were planning a prank specifically for Albel. A couple of days ago, Albel nearly killed Cliff. The day before, he had shaved part of Roger's hair with his katana.

Flashback

"Albel... Albel..."

Cliff was trying to wake up the warrior. Albel was tired and refused to wake up.

"Albel wake up! It's past noon!" Cliff urged.

He began poking at the stubborn Elicoorian. Slowly, Albel opened his eyes to see Cliff RIGHT there in his face. He pulled the covers off and reached for his katana.

"Get away from me, maggot!"

Cliff barely escaped the sword, which had been aimed at his neck.

"Whoa, dude! Cool it!" said the blonde at a fuming Albel.

"Get out of my room!" Albel yelled furiously waving his sword.

"I was only trying to-"

"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"

Cliff ran out as fast as he could down the hallway hearing a slamming door. As he went downstairs, he heard a series of swearing from the room.

Another flashback

Roger walked down the hallway staring at the statues of women as he did. At the other end of the hallway, Albel was cranky and heading nowhere in particular. Their paths crossed.

"Hiya, Albel!" greeted Roger.

His reply? Albel swung at Roger with his sword. At first he didn't aim low enough and merely knocked off the helmet. Albel tried again. What happened next happened so quickly it made the Menodix's head spin.

The crimson-eyed warrior sheathed his sword and continued on his way. Roger stared at the ground. A clump of hair lay still on the floor, brown hair. He hurried over to the water that ran through the castle to look at his reflection. His messy brown hair was now shaved, but still messy.

"You...," he stuttered. "You... YOU RUINED MY HAIR!"

Flashbacks done!

And that's how all of it began. No one really liked Albel's crankiness in the morning, but this time he'd gone too far. So his punishment was to be humiliated.

During the night when everyone was soundly asleep in their rooms, Roger crept inside Albel's bathroom, took his shampoo, and poured something in it that would take effect the next morning. He quickly left as soon as his job was done. Cliff and Roger headed for bed chuckling uncontrollably.

The next morning, the two hurried over to Albel's room carefully eavesdropping by the door. They concealed their laughter awaiting their prank to be carried out.

Inside the room, Albel shed his clothing and stepped into the hot shower. He stood for a minute waiting to wake up. Then he reached for his shampoo. As he washed, he noticed the scent of strawberry in the air. He ignored it and kept on.

Soon, everyone was down in the dining hall enjoying another lovely breakfast by the cook. Cliff and Roger arrived just as everyone else started to dig in.

"Where's Albel?" asked Fayt as the two sat down.

"Oh, him?" said Cliff.

"He's going to be a little late. But believe me, it'll be worth it," Roger said trying to hold in his laughter.

Albel made his appearance a few minutes later. Everybody stared, dropping their utensils and letting food fall from their open mouths. Albel's hair was pink! PINK! The blonde extensions were now a light carnation. The black portion of his hair was a dark pink. Judging from the look on the face, he knew.

"What happened to your hair?" asked Peppita.

He didn't answer. Nobody else bothered to ask. Fayt was too shocked to speak. Nel was silent. Peppita, Mirage, Maria, and Sophia quietly giggled. Cliff and Roger on the other hand were nearly falling out of their chairs laughing.

"All right, which one of you fools did it?" Albel grumbled. "I know it was one of you!"

The girls continued to giggle. Fayt was still shocked. Cliff and Roger were rolling on the floor barely able to breathe. As far as Albel was concerned, he wasn't going to get an answer.

So he left. The rest of the day, he stood in the shower vigorously scrubbing his head with his fingers trying to get out the pink. He didn't get any results. Not only that, he was all pruny, so he finally got out.

Albel stayed in his room the rest of the day. As he went to bed at night, he swore to find out who did this to him. Also, he made it a priority to find out why he smelled like strawberries. He didn't like nice smells. They only degraded his reputation.

And with that, he went to sleep.

Done with Chapter I! Was it any good? Well, I'll be putting the next chapter up soon. Please leave a review. Hope you enjoyed! Chapter II is coming soon! (That almost rhymed.)