Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed or its characters.
Attention: This chapter is over 7,400 words long… (is it me, or are the chapters getting longer?) Please be aware that I wrote most of this chapter yesterday so the grammar and/or flow of ideas may not be up to par. Also, Depending if I have time, I might come back to edit this, grammatically only. (I'm pleased with the ideas and layout.)
Love on Set
By: Orange Noel
Chapter Three
The loud piercing of an alarm clock was heard, but ceased when an unsteady hand slammed the snooze button. The figure in bed, undisturbed by the interruption, rolled over to sleep for another five minutes. There was, of course, a small shuffle to get into the right position again. Once the figure was settled comfortably in her bed, the bothersome alarm clock went off blaring again. And again the same hand slammed on the snooze button. This continued until the door bell rung. The figure in bed ignored that as well. The doorbell rang yet again. And again, and again, until the irritated figure in bed sat up, threw the comforter off her body, and stormed towards the front door.
Throwing the door wide open the blonde haired youth looked bleary eyed at her visitor.
"You're still not dressed yet, Cagalli?" Her brother had come to pick her up to drive together on set, in order to spend more time together. They often drove to places mutually, so this particular day was no different. However, this particular day was important, because today was the first day of filming.
"Wha?" She asked surprised, trying to make out the figure in front of her by rubbing her amber eyes.
"It's 7:50 already, we have to be on set at 8:00, remember?" At this moment the alarm clock began sounding again.
The young, half awake woman paused for a moment, then like lighting striking, she ran towards her room.
Approaching her alarm, she looked at the red fluorescent lights that blinked 7:51am. Screaming, she pulled the alarm clock out of the wall socket and threw it across her room in frustration. Kira who had followed her into her house watched, slightly worried.
"You know, you're only wasting more time by throwing that around. Get washed up and dressed, and I'll make you something quick for breakfast." He told the amber eyed youth and strolled into the kitchen while adjusting his baseball cap.
She looked at him leave her room and smiled. Ever since she learned about Kira's relation to her, she's been both surprised and pleased to have a twin. He was quite different than her and knew her for a short time, yet could understand her better than anyone else. "Perhaps it's a twin bond…" She considered out loud.
She shook her head and ran to get herself ready for the first day of shooting. She walked into the bathroom and a short moment came out dressed in a khaki pants and a red shirt. Scratching the back of her neck she yawned as she staggered into the kitchen to join Kira.
"Here." The violet eyed boy handed her toast with jam with a mug of milk. "It's not much, but you can get someone to fetch some more from the caterers. At least you can handle the first hour without an empty stomach." Grabbing his keys and her briefcase off the counter, he added, "You can eat that in the car."
"Thanks," She took a big bite of the toast, then a gulp from the milk before setting off towards the front door. With the toast in her mouth, she snatched an apple from her fruit bowl and pocketed it for later.
"It's a really short ride from here, no more than five minutes. We'll be right on time, alright?" Kira asked his sister who was going down the stairs behind him. He suddenly felt his hat being lifted off him. He turned to see his sister smirking around a piece of toast, because she had in fact, been the one who seized his baseball cap and now wore it proudly.
"Hey!" He replied, trying to reach for the cap. With the toast still in her mouth, she used her free hand to swipe at him, to prevent him from stealing it back Sighing, he admitted defeat and unlocked the car with the press of a button.
Once the beeping sound resounded, Cagalli jumped right in. Facing him, she watched Kira as he started the car, "I like this hat, sorry for stealing it."
Looking for oncoming traffic, Kira turned off the driveway onto the main road. "No, I don't mind." Chuckling, "But you look like a total guy in it."
The blonde girl hit his shoulder and yelled "I do not!"
"Hey, hey, I'm joking. Be careful here I'm driving." He waved one free hand in a 'calm down' motion.
The female youth did calmed down and let out chuckle as well. She did have a habit of dressing like a tomboy. 'It's not like I had a boyfriend to impress and all.' Mentally shaking her head, "Ugh, how can I be good at such a genre when I've never even been romantically involved… with anyone. It's confusing." She mumbled looking at her mug.
Her companion heard this and replied, "Because you know people well enough. Besides, I don't think any of your films are heavily romantic."
"Hmm, speaking about my films, you aren't nervous today?" She questioned, finishing off her milk.
Shrugging as he started to drive onto the main road, "No, for today's scene I'm hardly mentioned. I'd feel sorry for poor Lacus though."
Placing her empty mug in the cup holder and looked back at him and asked, "Oh yeah, how did your meeting go with Lacus."
Both simultaneously smiling and flushing, he replied with, "Well, I think."
She did not seeing his face as she was retrieving the apple from her pocket, "Only 'well'? Do you at least think you can work with her?" She took out the shiny red apple and took a bite of it.
Kira sighed heavily and his eye sight flickered towards her direction. "Yes, she's really nice and-"
"Has a boyfriend." She finished while chewing an apple bit.
"What?" He felt crushed and faced towards her not paying attention as he turned right from the main road into the set's parking lot. A car that was exiting the same parking lot sounded his horn as Kira drove in too close to the exiting side.
The tomboyish girl peered up from her apple and shrieked, "Hey, be careful!" She returned her attention back to the fruit, "You know that's why I didn't go to the meeting last night; a jealous boyfriend." She remarked simply.
"Athrun…?" Kira could only ask hesitatingly as he drove into a parking spot.
"Yep," Scuffing she added, "I mean seriously, it's just a movie I know you wouldn't take it past that." Looking at her watch, she said. "Ugh, hate to cut this conversation short" She said as she opened the door and got out, "but I have to meet Kisaka about the set; it has to be perfect you know. You better get into your dressing room. I'll see you." She waved to him and walked off.
Turning from the fleeting figure, he hit his head against the steering wheel and muttered, "Jeez, what the hell did I get myself into?"
A sapphire haired boy headed towards the dressing rooms. He needed to walk past the filming set, to get to where the trailers were outside. As youth was walking by, he was roughly pulled back.
"Who are you?" A tall tan figured inquired brusquely.
"I'm-" he was caught off when a familiar blonde haired figure approached them. Staring at her, he noticed she looked less professional on set, especially with the boyish hat, but she still managed to look like a woman. Setting a frown on his face, he made eye contact with her. "Good morning, Ms. Athha."
"Good morning to you too, Mr. Zala." The blonde shifted her sight towards the burly man who had restrained the younger man and asked, "Kisaka, what have a told you about violently retaining people?"
Letting go of his grip, he responded with, "Pardon. Old bodyguard habits."
Amber eyes closed, as the woman chuckled in mirth, "Well, I should've guessed." With her hand, she gestured to the set and commented, "The set looks excellent, but I want that coffee table on the other wall please?"
"I'll take care of it" And the man named Kisaka walked off to fix the error.
She took noticed of Athrun, "Nice to see you so soon."
"I wish I could say the same." He retorted.
The comment did sting a bit, but she ignored it, "I presume you're here to see Lacus?"
"Yes, I am." He replied swiftly.
"Well, unfortunately, she's incredibly busy today. And I can't hold off filming this movie for something so trivial. I get only a couple days of leeway which are only used for 'important' matters, thank you."
With that she turned to leave, but Athrun took hold of her wrist, much like the day before. "I need to talk to you. Kira… I just can't trust him."
Interested, she looked down at her hand and ripped her wrist from his grip. "Hmm? Well, I'm rather curious in this," She looked up at him and straight in the eye "extreme hate for my dear brother. So, why not let us talk this over lunch."
"Come on," Athrunstated, looking around the set then back to her, "I'm not stupid, if you have the time to have lunch, surely Lacus has time to talk to me."
"Well, you wouldn't know, because you haven't looked at the script, but the first scene we're doing strictly involves her. Besides, half of that time she's being primped up." Looking at her nails, "Where as, I'm just the image person, my assistant director and secondary assistant, god bless their souls, do a lot of my work."
"Fine, we'll meet at the café La Orange for lunch today at…" He glanced at his watch, "12:30pm"
"Make that 12:15pm, and it's a date-er, meeting" She stumbled.
Ignoring the slight heat on his face, he nodded and left the film site stiffly.
Trying to remove the blush on her face as well by cooling it with air with her hands, she walked on stage and yelled at some random, unsuspecting person about the set's appearance.
A young, cherry haired woman sat in a lofty chair while three different women primped her up.
"Asagi! Stop! Ms. Cagalli wants her hair to be down! Don't pull it up like that!" The red head cried, as she tried to restrain the other girl with her hands.
"But Mayura," The blonde replied, "I'm sure Ms. Cagalli would want to show off her beautiful face, right Ms. Lacus."
"Whatever Cagalli wants, I'm fine with it." Lacus responded simply and hoped not to cause a commotion between the two girls.
"There! See!" The red head said, pointing to Lacus.
"Girls, girls, calm down, you better hurry up, I need my time with her too," Said a blue haired woman holding up a costume. "I have to make some minor, last minute adjustments."
"Yeah, just hold on a minute, Juri." Asagi replied. She added blush to the pop star's face to finish off the make up job.
Lacus was turned around in the chair to face a mirror. Smiling she looked at her reflection, "It's beautiful, thank you girls, you put my tour make up and hair artists to shame."
The two girls smiled widely, "Thank you Ms. Lacus!" They said in unison.
"Finally, now Ms. Lacus, would you please put this on," The one with the pink frames placed an outfit which was in a dry cleaners bag into her arms. "And I'll just adjust it, alright?"
"Yes, just a minute" Lacus left to dress in her trailer's bedroom.
Fixing her glasses, Juri shifted her focus from the closed bedroom door to the other girls and began, "Did you hear that thee Athrun Zala was on set today?"
"What!" The blonde exclaimed, "I love him…"
"I love the movies he's done," Doing some arm motions, "My fave was that one kung fu movie he's been in…"
Juri smiled, knowing that both girls love Athrun Zala in their own ways. 'Like every girl around here.' She chuckled inwardly. "I over heard from Erica, the production manager, who said she saw him with Kisaka."
"Hmm, I wonder what he's doing on set. I hope he's not trying to make the transition from action films to romance ones…" Mayura said hesitantly, because she was a big fan of his action movies.
Asagi spoke up, "Don't you guys know? Ms. Lacus is his girlfriend. He's obviously come to see her."
The blue haired girl sighed as she looked upwards wistfully, "I wish I had a boyfriend like Ms. Lacus."
"Pardon?" A sweet voice questioned.
The three girls turned to see Lacus in the doorway of the bedroom, clad in a well fitted dress, which exenterated her small figure.
The girls admired their handiwork as Lacus approached them daintily.
Asagi answered, "Juri was just saying she heard that Athrun came on set today."
"Athrun's come?"
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Mayura, who was leaning against the wall adjacent the door, answered it. A women with shoulder length brown hair stepped into the trailer. "Ms. Clyne, my name is Murrue Ramius, and I'm the assistant director. We need you on set now."
"Yes of course," She looked back to the girls, "Thank you very much for all your work. And Juri, I don't think this dress needs anymore adjustments, you got my measurements perfectly."
The girl in question blushed and smiled at the praise.
"We hope you come to us for you hair, make up, and costume needs!" Asagi announced happily.
"Yes, of course. See you later." With a quick, "Goodbye!" Lacus was out the door, following Murrue to the film site.
The trailer was quiet for a minute until Asagi spoke up. "You don't suppose Athrun would do anything… er, stupid next time he comes?"
Juri looked confused, "What do you mean?" She inquired, as she looked towards the blonde youth.
Mayura declared what she knew about the film business, "Well, I've been in the business long enough to know two things. People hook up on set, and significant others get jealous. Especially guys."
Asagi nodded, "Yeah, you don't think he'll beat up Kira? Kira's too nice for that to happen to him." She pouted as she remembered meeting the boy at his audition.
"I doubt it, from the image I get from news and tabloids, he's not that type of guy." Asagi piped up.
"Yeah, I agree, just because he's a cute guy, who's girlfriend is acting in a romance film with an equally cute guy doesn't mean… oh wow, maybe?" The red head considered, while she placed a finger on her lip.
"Well girls, using our spare time we should watch out for anything… fishy." She giggled, before adding "We can be like spies or something."
Another knocking was heard at the door, Mayura opened the door yet again, to reveal, Erica Simmons, the production manager. "Girls, I got a phone call from, Delia, saying you're over ten minutes late! You want to ruin Cagalli's movie?"
"No ma'am, we're sorry," Juri said quietly for the group and they all quickly rushed off to another trailer.
Murrue led the pink haired pop star to the filming set. There stood a dashing young man with short blonde hair and blue eyes. Dressed in a casual looking polo shirt and khakis, he looked over his script.
When the two got close enough, the man focused his attention to the pair. Smiling, he closed his script and greeted them. "Hello, Miss. Ramius" Giving her a playful wink he turned to the younger woman "and to you Miss. Clyne."
Murrue smiled and faced the young girl, "Ms. Clyne, this is Mwu La Flaga, he will be playing your older brother."
She shifted her attention from the assistant director to the young actor, "I'm delighted to meet you." She shook his hand while smiling politely at him, "But please you two, call me Lacus."
"And just Mwu for me, alright?" He requested casually.
"Of course." She held her smile towards him.
Murrue brought the pair back on topic, "So you both read over the script and know this scene?"
"Yes, this is the scene where I find out about our parents death, and how I deal with it, correct?" Lacus clarified.
"Yes, exactly. I'll be guiding you through it." Turning to Mwu, "Remember, you're the protective brother type, you have to be there for her in her time of need. She utterly lost since she's had a better relationship with your parents than you have, considering you've been in military school since you were fifteen."
"Yep, I've read and rehearsed, I know."
"Excellent, shall we go on set now?" The brown haired woman offered while pointing to the living room set.
"Of course." Lacus replied and began to follow the older pair.
Suddenly there was a large crashing sound. The camera which was supported by a crane had broken off, tearing vital wires. Murruegawk with surpriseat the camera, which lay badly damaged on the studio floor.
"Is anyone hurt?" She questioned loudly over the commotion, using hand motions to quiet everyone down.
A man from the camera crew remarked, "No, we're all accounted for. What luck."
"What luck indeed," Murrue mumbled. Looking around, she lamented, "Get the technician here!"
In a split second a man in a blue uniform tapped the assistant director on the shoulder, "Already here boss, heard the crash loud and clear." He said holding up his equipment case.
The brown haired assistant director didn't waste anytime, and unchararistically bellowed. "Well hurry up, we can't get off schedule!" She followed him to the damage camera, running her hands though her hair to calm her down.
The technician looked over the camera, tinkering with the insides. He paused and face Murrue, sighing, he told her the verdict. "This doesn't look too good. I have to get replacement parts… They're special order. The earliest they'd get here is tomorrow, because our suppliers are from another country." Scratching the back of his head, he glanced back at the camera once more.
Extremely upset, she interrogated him harshly, "Why didn't we have these already ordered for backup!"
"Well, we do have the parts... but not for this particular camera and crane. Not only is it expensive, but this part is supposed to last for a long time… Only human fault, in the case of not securing the latches good enough, is the cause. We should've ordered more though, that's a mistake on my part. But we do have a tight budget…"
Sighing the woman patted him on the shoulder in understanding, "No, no, I understand, it would've been a waste to prepare for everything that went wrong. Don't worry; I'm the one who's going to get it from Cagalli, regardless." She groaned silently at her misfortune.
Sympathetic, the technician faced downwards. "I'll get right to it! Maybe we can get the part shipped here faster..." he said trailing off, and then ran off with tool case in hand to order the equipment.
Many people looked on to the scene, as Murrue rubbed the bridge of her nose trying to think up possibilities. Mwu came up behind and placed a hand on her shoulder. She shifted to meet his gaze.
"I guess we're off early, huh?" He asked in a humorous tone to ease the stress of such a situation.
The woman looked back at the damaged camera, then to the blonde actor and nodded. Stepping forward, Mwu's hand fell from her shoulder and raised her arms above her to gather everyone's interest. "Attention everyone," She began loudly. "Due to technical difficulties, we're postponing the filming today, and start up bright and early tomorrow." Turning to Mwu, she said, "I have to call Cagalli about this, excuse me."
Mwu nodded and watched her leave. At that moment Lacus came up beside him. "I'm sure Cagalli won't be so difficult, it's was an unexpected occurrence."
"Yeah." Mwu started as he shifted his attention from the retreating figure to the camera, "It's no one's fault really… besides, productions always have a few extra days for circumstances like this."
Lacus looked at the blonde man and nodded. She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. Circling around quickly, she noticed Kira standing behind her.
"Hey Lacus." He greeted polietely.
Surprised with his presence, she smiled and returned the greeting, "Hello Kira."
"I heard the announcement, I guess we got the rest of the day off." Smiling Kira added, "So it's not extremely bad news, right?"
"The kid's right," Mwu turned to the pair who were talking. "From such an incident we get a little vacation." Fixing his collar, he eyed the two, "I wouldn't be wasting such a break. The next few months are going to be tiresome."
"Thanks, we'll enjoy this break." Lacus smiled at the older man.
"Good," Walking off he raised his hand in a gesture to say goodbye and shouted out, "'Bye" before retreating into the direction the assistant director went in.
"Well…" Kira looked down at his feet he asked his female companion, "Want to get something to eat? It's around lunch time."
Her gaze left the older man and faced Kira. "Why not? I am getting hungry."
Kira smiled at the cherry haired girl upon hearing her answer, "Well, let's go."
The pair was interrupted when they heard three distinct female voices calling after them.
"Ms. Lacus! Wait for us!" The girls yelled as they ran to catch up with the pair.
"Oh?" Lacus spun around and saw the same three girls who were fixing her hair, make up and wardrobe.
Mayura reached them first and started the conversation, "We're starving, aren't we girls?" she affirmed.
Juri nodded while Asagi clutched her growling stomach and replied a "for sure."
"Well, were we just going to lunch, why don't we all get something together?" She said brightly.
Kira looked on the scene and his shoulders sagged. Lacus turned to him and he automatically straightened, "I'm fine by it." He lied.
"Well, let's go!" Mayura said happily and grabbed onto both Lacus' and Kira's forearms and proceeded to drag them out of the studio.
What the group didn't notice though, wasthe blonde hairedman watching their conversation. Shaking his golden,wavylocksaside to better his vision, hebegan to stalk after them.The manheld a camera in hand and began to stalk after them, though,he paused first to adjust his curious thick framed, white sunglasses.
The blonde youth walked quickly down the sidewalk, raising her wrist she looked at her beige watch.
"Hmm, maybe I should've agreed to meet at 12:30 rather than 12:15, I'm already ten minutes late." She wondered while walking down the quant yet busy street.
Glancing around, she noticed all the activities occurring beside her and wondered how a studio would end up in such a wonderful area, rather than a more industrial area.
She took another glimpse at her watch, she made note that she was now twelve minutes late. Smiling to her self she thought, "Put that ass in his place, thinking he's all high and mighty." With that thought she began cackling evilly. Some children who were walking beside her inched away staring at her confusingly.
Seeing the sign hanging out from the top of the café, which read, "La Orange", she began a light jog to quicken her pace, so she could sooner enjoy a nice rich cup of much needed coffee, and possibly a quick sugar fix.
As she passed the large coffee shop window, framed in orange, she read the painted letters of the café's name. Past the orange letters, she saw an irate man: Athrun Zala.
Inside the small café she was able to spot Athrun easily. She walked over to the table he was seated at.
Standing over the citrus colored table set, she explained why she was late, "On the way here, one of my big investors decided to call. Had to stop by somewhere it was quiet." Her voice held no apologetic tone whatsoever.
He scrutinized her as she sat down and waved down a waitress.
He glanced down at his cappuccino and took a swing of the lukewarm coffee beverage.
Once she finished ordering, focused her attention to Athrun, "Okay, now explain why you can't trust Kira." She asked pointedly.
"Straight to the point, huh?" He joked.
"Well, we're already behind schedule, and even though my assistant does a lot of my work, I still have to do some." She explained.
The waitress interrupted and placed a warm cup of coffee on the table. "Is that all?"
Putting a finger on her lip, she deliberated and a smiled grew on her face. "No, a nice slice of strawberry cheesecake, please." She told the waitress. "A really big slice."
The waitress took note of that and smiled and quickly retreated.
Cagalli's happy demeanor vanished once the waitress was out of sight, and turned to Athrun. "Explain." She commanded gruffly.
He was confused as to why she turned from pleasant to upset so suddenly but knew to ignore it for the sake to keep peace. After taking another sip from his drink, he continued. "Kira never told you that we went to the same high school and university did he?"
Pausing she looked at him intently, "No Kira hasn't mentioned much from either high school or university. Only that his time after school while he was here, and also his stay in Japan."
Athrun considered that many possibilities as to why Kira would keep his identity from his own sister. "Maybe he forgot? Or, he really is angry at me and just puts on a happy disposition to show that he doesn't care. Or-"
He was interrupted with his thoughts when he heard Cagalli murmur "So you knew him for that long… So much longer than I have… and I'm his twin." She was about to ask why, if they were friends for so long, that he couldn't trust Kira but he started speaking before she could articulate the words.
"How did you meet him, or know that he was your brother? Kira told me he was adopted but, I didn't think of the possibility of him having a sibling." Athrun implored
Forgetting her own questions, she smiled as her heart warmed at the memories. She thought, 'true, I may be a pain towards him, but I still love him.' She genually smiled for the first time in Athrun's presence. "My father, if you don't know him, is Uzumi Nara Athha, a retired government official. He donated a lot of money for a small community theater. It was opening night of that theatre and my father was an honorary guest. I attended as well, as his guest. You wouldn't guess who was staring in that particular production."
"Kira?" Athrun asked simply.
"Yes. The play was a modern version of Hamlet, to which Kira played Hamlet. I was impressed. Even my father, who's critical when it comes to dramatic performance, was impressed. The show was a huge success, and everyone raved about Kira." She smiled.
"He's a good actor, I'd give him that." Athrun nodded.
The blonde nodded her head as well, "We we're invited to the stage party afterwards. And my father was anxious to meet this "talent young man", as he called him. When we finally met him, my father started to act very peculiar… and…"
"And?" Athrun prompted.
Giving him a stern look as if to say, 'stay silent' and she continued, "And, up to that point, I never doubted that I was adopted, until… until that night. My father told me that I had a twin, and that he had been looking for him for quite some time, except that my twin's foster parents moved around a lot. Kira was looking as confused as ever until my father explained the situation. He even showed us a picture of both of us with our biological mother he kept in his wallet. I never even knew he had that…" She ended with a murmur.
Athrun peered down at his now cold coffee and perked up when she began again.
"We had a paternity test done that weekend, but my father was so sure… both Kira and I weren't, obviously. It ended up positive; he was right all along." She looked at him squarely in the eye. "The saddest part is, if fate weren't so nice, I probably would have never found out I was adopted or if I had a sibling. My father told me he didn't want me to worry with such things, thinking I'd do something rash to find Kira."
"Well," Athrun began, "it's a remarkable instance that you two found each other. I'm glad that he has someone around as supportive as you."
Looking up she smiled and replied "Yeah…"
Excuse me," Interrupted the waitress, "I'm extremely sorry for the wait, we ran out of strawberries and had send someone to the market. We didn't think it would take so long, but apparently they were having some sort of sale because they're in season…"She placed it down with a fork, "Consider this a complementary dessert for your wait. And I apologize again."
"Oh, I didn't even notice the time, but thank you anyways." Cagalli smiled and accepted the large piece of cheesecake.
With the fork that was given to her, she tore it open from its napkin confines and drove it deep into her cake. With a happy gaze in her eyes, she closed them and took a big mouth full of the sugary cake. Moaning, she opened her eyes and replied rhetorically, "That's good cake!" She proceeded to devour the cake.
Athrun could just stare as she ate her cake chuckling to himself. He pondered, "I haven't seen a girl eat like that in ages, Lacus is especially proper and other actresses have always wanted to make a good impression." Looking at her pat her chest to swallow a particularly big bite, he thought with a small chuckle, "I don't know… oddly, I find this endearing…"
Hearing the chuckle, Cagalli looked up. A blush painted itself on her cheeks in embarrassment but it quickly turned into anger. "What are you laughing at Zala!"
Looking at her, he smiled and shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing at all."
Huffing, her blush and anger diminished. She glanced outside the window and replied, "Just because I'm not proper and all doesn't mean-"
"No, no." He interrupted. "It's charming."
Another blush painted appeared, trying to smother it she diverted the attention off her and onto her cake. "Want a bite?" She lifted a fork full.
Looking down at the fork and back to her he shrugged, "Sure, I'll try some." Leaning across the table, he opened his mouth.
Mentally kicking herself, she thought, 'I got from one embarrassing situation to another. Stupid Cagalli!' She leaned over the table and stiffly she pushed the fork into his opened mouth.
Athrun closed his eyes as he relished in the flavor of the fresh strawberries and smooth cheesecake. "It's wonderful" and he opened his eyes.
During that time, Cagalli had taken another bite. She was so lost in both staring at his face and his proximity, that she missed her initial aim and gotten some cream on her chin.
She didn't notice the cream until male fingertips touched her chin to wipe of the sugary substance. Instantly her face burned and eyes opened in shock from the physical contact.
Athrun took in her flushed cheeks, and parted lips and inched his face closer to hers.
Entranced in the moment, she too, moved in.
The two met in a simple kiss.
"Oh, I know of this excellent little café called 'La Orange'. It serves the greatest sandwiches. You'll love 'em!" Asagi cried snacking on a chocolate bar to tie over her hunger until they were served with lunch.
Lacus smiled and giggled at Asagi's eagerness to eat a meal.
"Wow, aren't we lucky, girls, hanging out with the famous Lacus Clyne and Kira Yamato." Juri remarked dreamily and sighed.
"Now, now, I'm not really famous…" Kira began.
"Au contre, my friend." Mayura began. We're such close friends, that annually we travel together to Japan and Hong Kong to visit family our respective families." Slapping her head, "Those Christmas ads Kondensha makes you do are crazy. I'm surprised you got any rest… girls were talking about you non stop at all the magazine stands."
"Wow, you never told me you were that famous" Lacus replied, amazed.
Blushing, he averted his face away from the group, "Only around commercial holidays it gets a bit crazy. Also the start of every season doing shows. But other than that, I've had a pretty quiet life." Shaking his head, "Occasionally a crazy fan girl would cross my path… those situations are a bit crazy…" He scratched his head, trying to forget the memory.
The girls laughed at the poor boy's incident as they continued to walk down the sidewalk.
Mayura suddenly exclaimed, "There it is, right, Asagi? The 'La Orange'?"
"Sure it, come on!" The group continued to walk, but picked up their pace.
Upon passing the large window Lacus gave out a loud gasp. The other members of the group followed her eye line. And that eye line ended at the lip lock Athrun and Cagalli were partaking in.
"Oh my God…" Mayura gasped.
The pair broke apart and blushed. Feeling eyes on them, they turned to look out the window. The audience they had consisted of one's brother, and another's girlfriend.
Athrun in shock because of the situation stood from his chair and stared at Kira who had an unreadable expression. Lacus who was gripping onto Kira's sleeve looked on, shocked and more likely heart broken. Athrun made a movement to walk outside only to see a splash of pink hair and a running pop star. The other three girls who accompanied Kira and Lacus, followed after the pop star.
Cagalli stood dumbfounded in her seat, observing both Athrun at her brother. Staring between them, she felt the atmosphere to take a severe turn for the worst.
Suddenly Kira violently opened the door and stormed in. Walking in front of Athrun he threw a fist straight at his face. The sapphire haired youth grabbed at his sore cheek and could only stare back in shock at the other man.
"How dare you! Not only do you cheat on one of the nicest girls in the world, but you do so with my sister!" Facing Cagalli, he exclaimed, "You too, you knew, you knew and you still let it happened." Kira's eyes misted slightly in both disappointment and betrayer and ran out of the café leaving a pair of hurt youths in addition to the confused and upset workers of the café and it's customers.
Running in the general direction he assumed Lacus went, he rubbed at his eyes. He couldn't think straight and bumped into a blue haired lady. Looking up, he met the green eyes and pink frames of Juri. "Where is she?" He pleadedin a haggard tone from both the jog and confortation.
"She's right here, we're inside. I was asked to wait out here to see if you would follow." She explained and led him into the restaurant.
"Thank you." Kira responded, raking his hand through his hair.
Walking into a diner style restaurant Kira caught sight of the pink haired youth. She was neither crying nor sobbing. She just rested her head on her arms and held a vacant look in her eyes.
Approaching hesitantly, he placed a hand on her shoulder. She stiffed and turned to look. Her posture relaxed as she recognized him.
"Are you doing alright?" He asked softly.
She simply nodded and her eyes misted over.
Mayura looked at the pair and gave him a glass of water. "For your jog." Kira reached for the water with his injured hand, which did not go unnoticed by the red hair youth. Grabbing his hand, the tomboyish one of the group questioned, "Wow, you must've given someone some shiner."
"Yeah, by former best friend", he said angrily and took a swig of the refreshing water.
Lacus surprised, took look at his hand. After Kira lowered his hand, she took the glass from his hand, she examined it further, "You didn't hit…" she couldn't finish.
"Yeah. I just- I just couldn't let something like that go unpunished." Kira looked away, because of his rash action.
Lacus pondered out loud, "You're friends with Athrun?"
He turned to look at her when she asked the question, but when he answered, he looked at his shoes and shrugged. "A long time ago."
Looking down at her lap, using a sad tone, she expressed, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Shocked by this reaction, he sat down beside her and placed his hands over hers, knowing it was a comforting gesture. "Don't be, I wanted to. No one should be treated with such disrespect."
Lacus looked up and her eyes misted over and responded with, "Oh Kira…" She immediately embraced him.
The trio looked over the pair and could only smile. Asagi whispered to the other girls, "Let's leave these two alone." She winked to emphases her point.
Walking out of the old style diner, the girls began their steps down the street back to the studio.
"I wonder if Athrun survived…" Mayura asked, thinking back to Kira's injured hand.
"If Kira got such damage, I'm sure Athrun is by far worse." Asagi commented.
Fixing her glasses, Juri regarded the other girls, "I don't know if it's just..."
Cagalli sat there for several minutes at what occurred between her brother and the blue haired boy. The other customers had whispered about the incident for a moment, but most went back to their meals. Looking up to Athrun, she could see stagnant tears in his eyes which held betrayal. Throwing a couple of bills on the table, she grabbed his arm to lead him out the café.
"Come on, I'll have the on set medical crew look after you." She told him, leading him down the street back to the studio.
"Hey, Ms. Cagalli!" the blonde heard a familiar voice, she spun around and saw Asagi, Mayura and Juri, trying to catch up with them.
Athrun was shaken out of his stupor when he heard the yelling and looked at the trio. Upon recognizing them to be with Lacus, he gripped the sleeve of the closest on, who happened to be Juri. "Where is she?" He questioned sternly.
She while trying to get her breath back, stared shocked at the bluish purple hue which was appearing on his left cheek and didn't answer.
Athrun shook the poor girl when she didn't answer right away. The man asked again, more gruffly, "Where is she!"
Mayura got over the bruise and jog more quickly. She stepped in and pushed Athrun off, "She's with Kira, I wouldn't suggest you go after her, less you want another one of those" She pointed to his cheek.
Finally regaining her breath, Juri offered, "Ms. Lacus has yet to calm down, why not try tomorrow?"
Athrun was about to respond when Cagalli interrupted ignoring the pain that sprung up when Athrun seemed so concerned over Lacus, "Why did Kira do such a hasty thing?"
Asagi responded quietly with, "He wanted to protect Lacus' honor. She's very upset about this."
Cagalli felt guilty with that answer and looked away. The next statement that was said would ignited her fury.
"I lost her to him. I lost her over some stupid mistake!" The sapphire haired youth cried rashly.
Cagalli turned to see the upset face of Athrun. "A stupid mistake?" She bellowed and promptly slapped him on the face.
Athrun looked at Cagalli who was obviously upset. Looking at her angered expression, he could only stare back while he grab his much abused cheek.
"Jerk!" Fuming, she ran off back to the studio, her eyes slightly watering.
Athrun could only stand on the busy street, attracting more attention on the street than in the café. He ignored there stares and watch helplessly as the blonde director ran off.
Mayura spoke up, "For a man who's wanted by thousands of girls, you sure can't treat one right."
"Come on," Juri said, pity lacing her words, "We'll take you back on set to get you treated." The trio led the man back to the studio, following the trek led by Cagalli, passing by a black car with tinted windows.
Watching their movements was a man who was seated in that very same black car. In his hands he held, an expensive camera. He followed the group, as he pushed up the rims of his thick framed, white glasses up the bridge of his nose. He smirked as he fingered the camera, which he held close to him.
Bursting in, Cagalli harshly rubbed her eyes, 'It wasn't meant to be. It was a mistake." She thought sullenly. "He could at least not done it; taken advantage of me like that." She mumbled.
Walking in expecting to see her crew busy with work, she was stunned to have found no one but her assistant director and an actor she recognized, in an intimate embrace. Angered, her shout broke up the two. "What's happened!"
A light blush appeared on Murrue's face as she walked up to Cagalli. "I apologize Ms. Cagalli, I tried to reach you, but you were no where on set and your cell phone was turned off. There was some technical difficultly that will be fixed by tomorrow morning, so the shooting was postponed one day."
"Why does unlucky things like this happened to me" Cagalli questioned and rubbed her cheeks with her palms. "Very well, I'm taking an early night." 'I can't possibly think about this now, at a time like this.' She thought. As an afterthought she added, "Sorry for interrupting you two. Just make sure this," Gesturing to the both of them, "doesn't affect your work." And she stalked off.
"Got off easy?" Mwu answered, wrapping his arms from behind, around the brown haired woman's waist.
She sent a questioning look at the door to which Cagalli exited then turned to look up at the blonde man, "Yes. Something's wrong. She's usually so much more involved…"
Nuzzling her neck on the empty set, "Well, I wouldn't worry about it. If something is wrong, she'll tell you eventually, she's not the type to keep it in forever, right?" Smiling, he added, "Let's follow her advice and take an early night for ourselves too?"
Red again stained her cheeks at the hinted innuendo and squeaked a soft, "Sure…"
Together they walked off set, leaving the studio in darkness.
The sun was slowly setting down onto the horizon. Kira and Lacus spent the majority of their late afternoon at a park, which was a short walk away from the diner they ended up having lunch in. Tired from the events, Kira drove her home, making note to call Cagalli to take a cab home, since he was still in no mood to confront her. The young pair stood on stone steps of Lacus' home.
"Thanks again for treating me with the ice and this wrap," He pointed to his fist which was now wrapped in a ripped pink cloth. "I'm afraid I've made you ruined you're handkerchief."
"Nonsense, I have plenty more." She paused. "Thank you for helping me."
"I didn't really do much." Kira replied, pulling his shirt down in a nervous gesture.
"You really have. And I thank you for that." Lacus turned her attention to the sky. "You know, it's not so much that Athrun cheating on me that hurts. Sure, we spent a lot of time together… but" Her gaze fell back down to Kira, "It's the very fact of cheating, and mistrust." She sighed and pushed a strand of hair behind her ear, "That's what really got me upset."
"No, I can relate. Sure it was your boyfriend who did that, but I'm in the same boat." He glanced down, "It was my sister and former best friend…"
"Oh Kira…" Lacus' gaze softened and looked at him. Holding his hands, she reached up and gave him a peck on the cheek. "We'll both be okay. It'll all pass."
A blush stained his cheeks as he looked down at the pink beauty. "Of c-course." He stuttered.
"Well, see you tomorrow!" She waved cutely at him and entered her home.
Kira stood there a while longer, admiring Lacus' strength. He took one last look at her home, and wander off to the driveway to think about what occurred.
To be continued.
One liner about the next chapter: Mwu's old foe comes into the picture by revealing something incredibly scandalous... and it's about the main quartet? Whats to come! (I maybe made it a little too obvious in this chapter... feel free to guess. (') )
(A VERY Important and freakishly long) Author's Note:
Teehee, I wonder how many thought it was Kira and Lacus who kissed and Cagalli being pissed off about it. I tried to do something unlikely so I don't become predictable. Or maybe my move was predictable... Let me know! Er, eventhough this is mainly a KxL fic, and I did a AxC kiss scene, I felt that in this story that KxL are infact closer without a major kiss scene (You'll all see how Cagalli gets back at Athrun.. heehee..). Er, and the Mwu x Murrue hints are er, just there, just some added romance, er I guess. (I like this pair too). Oh, and adding Mayura, Asagi and Juri is fun, cause I have yet to read a fan fiction where they have an important part in it… and I really like these girls, they're fun to write!
I apologize for updating a day and a half late. I also apologize if there are any inaccuracies in grammar and spelling or just, er in general, because (like I said above) I wrote the majority of this story today, and yesterday (though, I developed the ideas these past two weeks). It's obviously my fault for the late update… Friday night I spent 6 hours watching anime, at my school's anime club (anyone in the Hamilton area, or around there… is welcomed to come!) This night was meant for writing… But yeah, sorry. Also, I grew incredibly lazy in my school work, thus, falling behind, so I had to devote many hours to catch up (that's why I went to the anime club showing, to calm me down, and it did work )
I'm afraid I will have to put this story on a mini hiatus, so I won't post the next chapter in the within the next two weeks, but I will post this month, sometime… I'm thinking maybe an extra week to write… at most? I'm incredibly sorry with this delay, but midterms and my driver's exam are coming up… Though, reviews do help! They prompt me into writing, or thinking up ideas for this story.
Which leads me into my next er, segment? Stats! I'm such a nerd cause I check this as often as my email… (coughfour times a daycough so I'm pleased to say…
Chapter Two Stats
Reviews: 19! (But 32 in all! Eeee!) This is freakin' incredible for me! Thanks to: KiraxLacus, ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justic, Inuyasha's Dark Angel, SeungLee, animemistress419, GATX-105B, Kali Kamiya, Maryam Khanoom, Servant of GOD, May Penguin, DarknessOverloaded, moi, Riley Mayori, HimeHikari, Kodoku, Michiyo Hikari, sucbyslacker, KiraFreedom, Heaven's Shield, and Mikaii41! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
I hope this sucky chapter gets just as many, if not more, reviews! Please, please excuse the poor style of this chapter… I was too rushed and anxious to update!
Hit points: 320! Wow! That's incredible! Either I've been checking up on my story too much, or there are actually people out there that want to take a second look at this story! Review please! Unless you're unsatisfied with the second chapter as well… sad face.
Faves: 14! Thanks to Crimson Blademaster , DarknessOverloaded , GATX-105B, haley21, Inuyasha's Dark Angel, Kali Kamiya, Maryam Khanoom , MBF-Strike Rouge, mikaii41, mustang24, scubyslacker, Sithums, Vanyel07, and ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice. I hope you'll still consider this a fave with this er, lower quality chapter (grammatically speaking of course, I worked hard on the ideas...)
Oh yes, to answer a specific question to moi (I heard that this was illegal on but I felt like I had to explain myself.) I'm really heavily playing on Kira's good nature disposition in the series, before he's actually involved in the war. Cause well, war changes a person; a lot. (Although I will use his war affected demeanor in relation to all the sucky things he'll go through, like some sort of connection.) I really meant for Kira to come off as 'playful', rather than cocky. I apologize if I didn't make it clear enough in my writing…
And to scubyslacker who felt that Kira was too bold, I'll work on toning it down, I think I did in this chappy, let me know what you think.
But yay for the comments! If anyone finds any other things like the one above, do bring it to my attention, cause I may go back and edit or try to explain my reasoning behind it.
I wish I could thank you all individually, but I don't want to do anything that's deemed 'illegal' on here. So I can just thank you all as a whole! You deserve so much more!
-End of the freakishly long Author's Note-