Partner or Lover Chapter 5: Lunchtime Bash
(Rewritten: 1/08/04)
A pair of light blue, sparkling eyes fluttered open, then immediately shut
because of the bright light shining through the window in the room. The blue
eyed boy groaned as the light hit his eyes. He turned around, wondering where
he was, and he felt something pressing into his side.
He looked over and saw a pink haired girl sleeping peacefully right next to him. Her ears twitched every now and then, giving her a cute look. His blue eyes widened as the boy thought, 'What is she doing in my bed!? And sleeping next to me no less?' The brown haired boy pulled his eyes off of the sleeping girl and looked around "his room".
'Wow, wait a second. Where is my room? And what am I doing in the recreation… OH MY GOD! I remember! I came here to meet Kizna and…' His blue eyes widened in remembrance and he glanced back towards the girl in his arms, a grin on his face. He brushed a strand of hair off of Kizna's face, and kissed her softly on her forehead.
Kizna started to stir, and her eyes fluttered open. Her
hand went up immediately, to shield her eyes from the bright light. "Uhhh…" Kizna groaned. "What time is it?" she asked, slowly
starting to rise. The brown haired teen pulled her back down and wrapped his
arms around her, preventing her from leaving.
"Zero," she whined in a slightly annoyed tone.
"Don't worry, we still have time before the others get up. It's only six
o'clock," said Zero, leaning back onto the tree for support, after he sat
up.
"Only six? Zero, Saki and Ikhny will be up by now," said Kizna,
jumping to her feet.
"What? You're telling me that you
girls get up at six in the morning every day?? Gosh, what are you people? I
can't even get up in the morning, let alone at six," said Zero as he was
dragged along the floor of the recreation room, with Kizna pulling on the back
of his shirt. "Okay…I'm coming… just let go of my shirt please," Zero
asked as Kizna let go.
"Come on Zero. The other's will be up anytime soon!" Kizna stated
impatiently. She grabbed his left hand
and pulled Zero down the hallway in the direction of their sleeping quarters.
She gave Zero a quick kiss on the cheek and then pushed him inside his quarters
and ran down towards hers, not wanting the girls to be awake before she was
back.
She opened the door quietly- so that it wouldn't make any noise and wake up the
others- and tip- toed inside, heading towards her bed. Just when Kizna was
about to slip in under the covers, Saki murmured something in her sleep making
Kizna jump in fright thinking the girls were awake.
Kizna turned around at the sound of Saki's voice and
calmed down once she realized that Saki was only talking in her sleep, and made
her way back into bed. She was grateful that the girls were still asleep;
otherwise they would question her till no end, to find out where she was. She
slipped underneath the covers and turned over onto her side, falling into a
comfortable sleep without worries about having to get up a few hours later for
class.
After a few hours, Kizna got up and saw the time; it was almost time for lunch, so she decided to go get dressed, then wake the girls.
While Kizna was getting her clothes ready, Saki woke up but didn't let her
presence go noticed. Kizna went into
the showers and Saki woke up the rest of the girls. She gently nudged Ikhny awake and once the brown haired girl was
awake, she went into the room beside theirs and woke Wreka and Tukasa up. Both girls came over to Saki's room.
"Is everyone wide awake?" Saki asked.
The three other girls nodded.
Saki continued. "Kizna went into
the shower, now it's time to plan."
"So, what's the plan?" asked Wreka while she tried to rub the sleep
from her eyes.
"Um… I don't have one yet, but when I think of one, I'll let you
know," Saki replied, grinning sheepishly.
Everyone groaned in response. "How about asking the guys when we
meet them for lunch?" she asked.
The girls agreed with her.
Kizna finally decided to come back out and stepped out of the showers. She saw that Wreka and Tukasa came over to
her room and she greeted them. She had
a towel wrapped around her body and she went over to her bed to get her clothes
out.
"The bathroom is free now. You two can go take a shower whenever you want," Kizna said to Ikhny and Saki. They both nodded.
"We should get ready too," Wreka said as Tukasa and Wreka got up and left.
"What was that? Why did they come over?" Kizna asked.
"Oh, they just wanted to ask me something. Don't worry about it," Saki replied.
'They must have been planning something again,' Kizna thought as she nodded towards Saki.
The five girls got ready and headed out to the mess hall for lunch. The boys
met up with them in front of the mess hall, Hiead lagging behind, not wanting
to be seen with them. Ikhny noticed
this and averted her eyes.
"Now let's some nasty cafeteria food!" Zero said, laughing. Kizna just shook her head and dragged him to
the food line.
"Hey Kizna, can you get food for Clay and I? That is, if you don't
mind," Asked Saki, while Clay went to their usual table.
"Sure Saki."
The rest of the candidates went to the table following
Saki and Clay and told Zero and Kizna they'd be back in a bit to get their
lunch.
While in line, Zero took Kizna's hand in his, but she pulled back. He looked at
her with a questioning glance.
Kizna bit her lip in frustration.
"Zero, not here. Our
friends might come up and find out about us.
But I have a plan to get them back for spying on us," said Kizna,
getting an evil look in her eyes. "But, we can't act like we're
together."
Zero groaned in response. He backed away from her slightly, and stood behind her in the line.
The rest of the candidates and repairers- minus Hiead- turned around and looked
back at the line. They saw Zero backing
away from Kizna. The only reason they
came over to the table was to leave Kizna and Zero alone in line for a while. Since it looked like nothing was going to
happen, they decided to go get their lunch.
Tukasa got up and dragged Wreka with her.
"Don't worry you guys, we'll get your lunches." Said Tukasa, as Ikhny
ran up to join the two girls.
The three repairers slowly made it to the lunch line as they kept a close eye
on the pink haired repairer and her partner. The three girls went to the back
of the line and started up a random conversation to keep themselves from
getting bored.
"Look, Hiead is looking over here," Wreka exclaimed, motioning over at the
silver haired teen. Tukasa and Ikhny
turned to look over at him and he glared at all three girls.
"He sure has an attitude problem," Tukasa said
silently. Ikhny looked down to the
floor, with a forlorn look on her face.
"I think people can change when put in the right circumstances," Ikhny quietly whispered.
"Do you really think so?" Tukasa asked.
"Now you listen here Ikhny. I don't want you going and messing with Hiead's head. That will just make things worse between the two of you. It isn't very good at the moment and I don't want you to get hurt." Wreka said, making sure what she had said got into Ikhny's head.
Hiead watched the candidates and the repairers as he stood in a corner,
evaluating them all. He stared at the brown haired repairer- his partner-
wondering why she had such a sad look on her face. Hiead grimaced and growled.
'I don't need to worry about anyone else but myself.' Thought Hiead, as
his thoughts drifted away from his partner. He looked around, his eyes landing
on Kizna and Zero. 'I don't know how that girl stands Zero. He's such an
idiot. Can't do anything right.'
Hiead glared daggers at Zero and turned away from him, heading back to
his room, since he lost his appetite.
Zero felt a chill go down his back; he felt someone was staring at him. He
turned around, his blue eyes sweeping the mess hall for the source of the
shivers. Zero's eyes landed on Hiead
and he saw Hiead throw a glare at him, turn around and walk out of the mess
hall. Zero's eyes narrowed a bit, wondering why Hiead was in the mess hall if he
wasn't there for lunch. 'Gosh! He's so hard to figure out. Why does he have
to be so cold all of the time?'
"Maybe because he had a rough past, and to prevent himself from getting
hurt again, he covers it up with the "tough man" act," answered
Kizna.
" What? How did you know what I was thinking?" asked Zero,
bewildered. Kizna giggled in response.
"Are you telepathic or something? …Great, now I can't stay near you!"
Zero exclaimed getting a fearful look on his face. Kizna shook her head at him, laughing.
"Because you said it out loud silly. You should really stop talking to
yourself." Said Kizna, grinning when she saw the surprised look on Zero's
face. Zero frowned a little, but didn't
say anything.
"I'll be back Kizna. I'm just going to talk with Hiead." Said Zero,
preparing to leave the mess hall.
"You are not going to start a fight or any thing are you?" Kizna
asked. Zero shook his head implying
'no'.
Kizna smiled. "Zero, whenever you go and talk to Hiead, you always get in
a fight. I don't want to see you hurt. Just leave Hiead alone for now."
"Don't worry, nothing's going to happen to me. You don't have to
worry. I'm just going to talk with
him." Said Zero, grabbing her hand and giving it a little squeeze to
reassure her. "How about this, you get me lunch and I'll be back in time
to eat it?" Said Zero.
Kizna narrowed her eyes. "One thing that I am not is a maid… You
can get you butt back here and you can get your own lunch mister." Said
Kizna grinning at him.
"Oh, so you'll get lunch for Saki and Clay, but not me?" Said Zero;
pouting once he noticed that she was playing.
"I don't have four hands Zero. I can't carry everyone's lunch back,"
said Kizna. "Why don't you ask Ikhny? She's back there in line." Kizna pointed to where Ikhny was and then
looked over at Zero for his answer.
"But I can't ask her to get my lunch. That's just not right."
"Ok then, ask her to get Saki's lunch for me and I'll get your lunch. Okay?"
"Yeah, that's fine. I'll see you in fifteen minutes. If I don't come back by then, something has happened to me." Said Zero, jokingly.
"Fine." Said Kizna, sighing.
Zero went up to Ikhny and asked her if she could get Saki's lunch while Kizna
bought his lunch. She agreed and Zero walked out of the mess hall. He went up
to Hiead and stopped him.
"Hey Hiead." Zero said in a serious voice.
"Get your hand off me Enna." Said Hiead, giving Zero a cold
look. He shrugged Zero's hand off his
shoulder.
"Listen, I just want to talk to you.
Why were you in the mess hall if you weren't going to get lunch?"
asked Zero, staring at the back of Hiead's head, waiting for a response.
"It's because I saw your ugly face."
Hiead snapped. His back was
still faced towards Zero and when he didn't hear Zero say anything, Hiead
decided to explain himself. "It's none
of your business Enna. Now back off!" said Hiead, turning around quickly,
to face Zero.
Zero looked at Hiead, wondering what Hiead would do to him. Hiead's red eyes bore deep into Zero's icy blue ones as fire lit up in the cold red eyes. "I don't even know why you're here at G.O.A. in the first place Enna. This isn't a place for weaklings like you. You have to be tough if you want to stay in G.O.A. This is no child's game." Hiead growled, grabbing a hold of Zero's uniform, throwing him back onto the floor.
Icy blue eyes flashed with fury, as Zero pushed himself off the ground and
charged at the lithe form of Hiead, who was currently walking away. "You're going to pay for that comment. I didn't come here to fight, but it looks
like you want me to fight. If you
wanted to, you could have just asked!" screamed Zero, as he threw a punch
at Hiead, hitting him square in the back.
Hiead crashed onto the tiled floor, only to jump up and charge at Zero for
revenge. "Enna, you shouldn't have done that!" said Hiead, in a
threateningly low voice. Hiead's hair slowly started turning bluish green as he
charged for Zero. Zero had an EX-
reaction too, turning his hair from brown to bluish green. Soon, only blurs could
be seen, the two teens moving too fast for the naked eye to see.
----
Kizna was standing in line, when she got a bad feeling, just like a sixth sense. She decided to check on Zero, having a bad feeling about leaving him and Hiead together, alone. After all, this was Hiead he was talking to, and who knows how long Hiead can keep his patience.
Kizna started to walk out of the mess hall when Tukasa,
Wreka and Ikhny spotted her.
"Hey Kizna! Where are you going?" asked Wreka.
"I just want to check up on Zero. Hiead is outside, and I don't want them
getting into a fight again." Said Kizna turning around and walking out of
the mess hall.
"Wait up Kizna!" said the 3 repairers as they chased after Kizna to
the hallway.
Kizna got out into the hallway a few seconds before the other girls, but that
was enough time for Hiead to pummel Zero.
Kizna looked over to the two blurs moving around the hallway in a death
waltz.
"Zero!" said a shocked Kizna.
Zero stopped moving for a second, startled when he heard Kizna's voice
in the hallway. Hiead took this chance
and threw a punch at Zero's face, sending him sprawling onto the floor in front
of Kizna.
"Zero, are you alright?" asked a worried Kizna. She bent down and
cradled Zero's head on her lap.
"Uhhh...did someone catch the number on that car?" Replied Zero
groggily.
"Zero this isn't funny! Come on!" said Kizna, now becoming a bit
scared.
"Arghh… Don't worry, I'm all right." Zero said, sitting in an upright
position.
"Good. I was starting to get worried for a second." Kizna stood up
and glared at Hiead. "All right,
what did you do this time?" asked Kizna, knowing fully well that it wasn't
Zero that started the fight this time because she had his word for it.
"Back off! This is between Enna and I." Hiead snarled.
Kizna stood up to face Hiead. "Look, I know you might have had a terrible
past, or something that shook you up and made you this cold, but it's not a
good enough reason to bully the people around you! Zero did nothing to you and yet you take out your anger on
him!" screamed Kizna, trying to get some sense into the now sliver haired
boy.
Zero looked on amused, because Kizna never stood up to Hiead like this
before. By now, the other three
repairers were out in the hall witnessing the fight between Kizna and
Hiead. Kizna was fuming by now and with
all that anger boiling in her veins, she walked over to Hiead and slapped him
across the face.
Five pairs of eyes widened in shock, surprised at what Kizna had done. Three
belonged to the girls, one to Zero, and Hiead was startled himself.
"Listen you! You should learn how to treat others better, including your
repairer. If she didn't repair your
pro-ing, you wouldn't be anywhere by now! Remember that!" yelled Kizna.
She turned around and stomped back into the mess hall to get her lunch, with
Zero and the girls right behind her.
Hiead was still getting over the shock that a girl would hit him. He thought that no one, a girl that is,
would have the guts to stand up to him. His eyes narrowed a bit, while what she
said played over in his head. 'She's right, without your partner you
wouldn't have gotten this far.' Hiead thought subconsciously. His veins boiled at that thought. "What am I thinking? I must be going
crazy. I alone have made it this far! I
don't need any help from anyone, I'll become a pilot myself!" said Hiead,
talking out loud by mistake.
A few people, who were on their way to lunch, gave him strange glances, and
continued on their way. Hiead just glared back at them, and walked back to his
room to release his anger on something.
----
Kizna walked back in line, this time staying long enough to get her lunch.
Saki watched the four girls and Zero walk back into the mess hall. She just happened to look that way and saw them coming back in. She frowned and got up from her seat. She strode over to the group and asked them, "Where were you guys? The last I saw, you guys were in the lunch line?" She had a confused look on her face.
"Yes, we were for a while. Then Zero went out to talk to Hiead. I had a funky feeling about it so I went out to check on Zero and Hiead. The others saw me and decided to come along. Apparently, Zero and Hiead got into a fight-"
"Hiead started it!" Zero interrupted. Kizna gave him a long side-glance before getting back to Saki.
"So, once everything was settled –"
"Kizna slapped Hiead!" Wreka exclaimed as, once again, Kizna was interrupted. Kizna shot a glare at Wreka.
"You did?" Saki asked with an awed look on her face. Kizna groaned.
"So what if I did? He was being an arrogant jerk!" after a second she added, "sorry Ikhny." Ikhny just nodded.
"So, like I was saying, once everything was settled, we came back in here. Now we have to get our lunches." Kizna finally finished.
"Ok, then I'll come along with you guys. I want all the gory details…" Saki said. The other four girls gave her weird looks.
"Hey Kizna, do you think you can get me lunch?" Kizna nodded and Zero went over to the table where the other three boys were sitting and started up a conversation.
The other four girls followed Kizna, getting their lunches and their partner's lunches in the process. On one side of the table that could seat twelve, Zero was on one side with Kizna right beside him. Ikhny was next to Kizna followed by Wreka and Roose. On the other side of the table across from Zero, Clay sat in the seat with Saki right beside him, which placed her right across from Kizna. Yamagi sat beside her and Tukasa followed so that she was sitting in front of Roose, across from Wreka.
While the nine teenagers picked at their food, they made some idle talk to pass the time and soon they were all done with their lunch. Zero stood up suddenly, walked up to the trashcan, threw his trash in and walked back to the table, this time, not taking a seat. He stood at the head of the table waiting for something.
"What are you waiting for?" asked Clay. "Are you planning on going somewhere?"
"I'm going to the pro-ing hanger to get the pro-ing ready for tomorrow.
Anyone want to come?" asked Zero.
"It's pretty banged up from yesterday's fight and I know Kizna is coming
with me to do the repairs," he said shooting Kizna a glance.
"Sure I'll come with you guys. How badly is your pro-ing damaged?" Clay asked.
"Pretty bad. He lost an arm and he managed to get a couple of holes in it too," Kizna said, sighing.
Clay's eyes widened. "Damn… I think I'll come along, just to make it move faster. Otherwise you might be there for a couple of days…" He said turning to Saki. He got a nod from her, indicating that she would come along with them.
"We need to go get our pro-ing's repaired also…" Roose said looking at Yamagi. He nodded.
"Right then, everyone going to the pro-ing hanger now?" Zero asked, eyes wide in excitement. Ikhny nodded. "All right."
Zero sat back down and waited till everyone finished their lunch, and passed the time by starting up a conversation with Clay about the various different planets and asteroids around the galaxy. Soon, Clay got into the dynamics of rotating objects and all the kinds of forces acting on such things like G.O.A., Zion, and other various objects in the universe.
Soon the conversation became one sided and Clay went off on a tangent, talking about the laws of motion. "You know, it is very interesting. You see, there is such a thing called a centripetal force that is acting on Zion, and G.O.A. this very moment, making us accelerate towards the sun… except –" Zero tuned him out and groaned as he rested his head in the palm of his hand.
"Come on Kizna. Hurry up with your lunch."
"Don't rush me! Or I'll stuff this food down your throat!" said Kizna
a slightly playful voice. Zero gave a funny face looking at the food.
"No thanks, one time is enough for me." He said.
Clay kept talking to Zero about the laws of motion while Zero kept tuning him out. Lucky for Zero, the rest of the candidates and repairers were finally done with their lunch so the group could finally get going towards the pro-ing hanger.
Once on their way to the pro-ing hanger, Wreka pulled on Saki's shirt sleeve and whispered into her ear, "So what's the plan?" Saki's eyes widened as the conversation that took place in the morning rushed back to her. Saki pulled Clay to the back and let the rest of the girls take care of Kizna.
She asked him for a plan. Clay, being the genius that he is, thought of something on the spot. Saki, who was now walking beside Wreka, whispered the plan into her ear and Wreka casually went up to Tukasa and told her the plan. The group arrived at the pro-ing hanger and entered. Kizna, Tukasa and Wreka got straight to the repairing. Roose, Yamagi and Clay hung out in a corner as Kizna dragged Zero over to his pro-ing and they started repairing.
That just left Saki and Ikhny by themselves. Saki nudged the other girl in the side and indicated for her to come closer. Ikhny bent her head down so that Saki's lips were near her ear. Saki told her of the plan and then ran up to Kizna and Zero and asked them if they needed any help. Zero nodded desperately and Saki helped with the repairs.
After about an hour Roose's pro-ing was finally fixed. Wreka came down from the elevator-like-crane that she was on and let out a sigh as she wiped the sweat off her face. "Well Roose, you're pro-ing is all fixed!" Wreka chirped out.
Roose smiled. "Thanks a lot Wreka. You guys, how about we take a break and come back some other time?" Roose asked, directing his question at the other repairers.
Yamagi nodded and under his breath, whispered, "I'm getting really bored in here too…"
Zero nodded and pleaded with Kizna to take a break and come back for the pro-ing later. After arguing with her for about five to ten minutes, Kizna gave in and they all left the hanger.
Once out in the hall way again, the group wandered aimlessly for a bit. Clay tapped Saki lightly on the shoulder and
indicated something up ahead. Saki
turned her head and smiled. As she was
walking, Saki "accidentally" pushed Kizna from the side, making her
land on Zero, who was walking right beside her at that time. Both blushed a
bit, but didn't show any other emotions.
They continued walking.
"Hey! Lets all go to the-- aahhhh!!" screamed Zero as he was pushed into a near by closet with Kizna following right behind him. They both landed hard on the floor, and the door to the closet shut behind them, locking them inside the closet.
"That was your great idea that Wreka has been telling me about?" said
Yamagi, between fits of laughter. "That was pathetic!"
"I know it was, but it was the best I could think of in such short
notice." Said Clay, making sure the two in the closet wouldn't hear him.
"But we have to let them out before lights out. Otherwise they will be
spending the night here... and knowing Zero, he will bang on the door till it
breaks down…" Said Ikhny, backing away from the door of the closet. Kizna
started banging on the door to let them out, but it was useless. They were
locked in there. Then Kizna got an idea.
"You guys forget that I'm a repairer! I have everything I need right
here!" Kizna shouted to the rest of the repairers.
"Damn, I forgot about that." Said Clay. "But not to worry, I got it all covered." He pressed the pad
lock on the door, and set it to open when it was two hours before lights out.
Until then, the door wouldn't open.
"Hey Saki, how would we know if they got together or not? I mean, there
are no cameras in the closet or anything, and I don't want to wait here for
another 3 or so hours, leaning against this door to hear anything either."
Said Wreka, turning to Saki for an answer.
"We will know when they come out. They would be acting different if
anything happened. We'll just have to
wait." Said Saki. "For now we
just have to make up an excuse." Saki said looking at Wreka.
"Hey, sorry about that Zero, Kizna. I accidentally fell and didn't mean to
push you two into the closet." Said Wreka.
"Yea, and I'm really sorry you guys." Said Roose, trying to act like
he was sorry. "My foot accidentally got caught and closed the door."
Yamagi was snickering behind him, laughing at the pathetic excuses they came up
with.
"Zero and Kizna, sorry about this, but it seems this door has a pad lock
on it, and it won't open up until two hours before lights out. So we can only get you out then." Said
Clay.
"Don't worry Kizna, we'll be here and extra five minutes before the time
is up to get you two out." Said Saki.
Kizna growled and started banging on the door again. "Let us out of
here!" Kizna banged on the door
for a bit, but finally realized they wouldn't get out of the closet till the
others let them out. So it was no use breaking her hands trying. She heard the others outside say good- bye
and walk away. Once they were gone far
enough, she quieted down and rested her head against the doorframe.
"I am so going to get back at them this time!!" said Kizna, in
an angry tone. "So many cheap excuses!
HA!" Kizna huffed.
"Why are you going to do that? Now we don't have to worry about hiding
from them." Zero whispered. He got
up and wrapped his arms around Kizna's waist as he pulled her back further into
the closet.