Partner or Lover Chapter 8: Hiead and Zero Team Up
A teenager with red eyes took in the sight in front of him. His lips turned upwards, forming a slightly
sadistic smile.
He gave a stiff grin and started talking. "Oh, looks like I caught you
Enna," Hiead said, a smirk playing on his lips.
Zero just growled and stood up, offering a hand to Kizna, but never taking his
eyes off of Hiead. "H - Hiead. What are
you doing here?" Zero asked, his voice lathered of loathing.
"Just mind your own business, Enna.
I do not have to give you a reason for my being here, and I should be
asking you what you two are doing here so late at night!"
countered Hiead, as he raised his eyebrows and walked a little closer towards
them. By that time, Kizna was standing
up and had a tight hold on Zero's hand.
"What are you doing here Hiead?" Kizna asked venomously.
"Ha. Don't worry your pretty little head about it. Oh, I thought I'd let you know, I know about
the little stunt you're pulling on the others," Hiead said, grinning once
he saw the looks they had on their faces.
Zero looked a bit doubtful, with a thoughtful look on his face, but
Kizna just looked shocked.
Zero recomposed himself and threw an icy glare at Hiead. "You'd better not tell anyone about us. You know well enough what Azuma will do if
he finds out we are together," Zero said, desperately hoping Hiead would
agree not to say anything about their relationship. Otherwise Zero and Kizna's place at GOA would be in jeopardy.
Hiead chuckled and decided to play along with Zero for a bit. He enjoyed watching Zero squirm under his
intense gaze.
"I'll see," Hiead said. He turned around and headed towards the door of the recreation room. Zero ran up and caught Hiead by the back of his shirt. "Enna," Hiead said in a dangerous whisper. "Let go of me!" Hiead screamed, pushing the brown haired boy back.
"You're not going anywhere until I have your word that you
won't tell a soul about Kizna and I," Zero said, crossing his arms as he
stood in front of the doors of the recreation room preventing Hiead from
leaving.
"If I say yes, then you have to do something for me. All right Enna?"
Hiead asked, a malicious grin spreading over his face. Zero growled, but agreed
grudgingly.
After a moment of silence, and a thoughtful look on his
face, Hiead finally spoke. "I
don't have anything for you right now, so once I figure something out, I'll let
you know," he said, pushing Zero aside as he walked out of the recreation
room. Zero watched Hiead's retreating figure with narrow eyes. Kizna came up
behind Zero, and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind.
"You know, I have no clue what is up with him. Sometimes, he is in the weirdest moods. I can never figure out that guy.
He was even acting funny around Ikhny," Kizna said, resting her
head on Zero's shoulder from behind.
Zero turned around. "You know,
Hiead could have asked me to do something that would deter my chances of
becoming a goddess pilot, yet he didn't.
Something fishy is going on.
I'll find out later," Zero said as he wrapped his arms around
Kizna's waist, pulling her closer, resting his chin on top of her head.
They stayed like that for a few minutes, until Zero spoke again. "I think
we should be heading back now," he said, kissing the top of her head
lightly. Kizna smiled slightly, pulling away from him.
"Your right."
The candidate and his repairer headed out of the recreation room hand in hand,
back to their designated rooms. Kizna and Zero stopped by her room first.
Before Kizna could enter her room, he squeezed her hand lightly and placed a
chaste kiss on her cheek before he let her disappear back into her sleeping
quarters. Zero walked in the other
direction, off to his sleeping quarters, and slipped into his chambers trying
not to make too much noise.
"Finally back are we?" a voice whispered through the darkness,
scaring Zero a bit.
"Hiead!" Zero hissed into the dark. "What are you doing up
anyways?"
"None of you business Enna," Hiead said, before he laid down, closing
his eyes, trying to get some sleep. Zero followed his example, and tried
to fall asleep, but to no avail.
Zero tossed and turned all night, but couldn't seem to fall asleep. He was too
worked up about what Hiead was going to make him do, that he could not get a wink
of sleep all night. By the time morning came around, Zero would snap at any one
that came in his way.
In the morning:
"Clay!!! Get OUT of the bathroom THIS INSTANT!" Zero screamed, as he
pounded his fists repetitively over the door that lead to the bathroom.
"What's wrong with you this morning Zero?" asked Clay, walking out of
the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his waist. Zero grumbled
something, and went into the bathroom, pushing Clay aside.
Clay made a face and just stared at the now closed door, wondering what made
Zero so cranky. 'Not to self: Talk to Zero later today.'
Clay dried his wet hair, put on his uniform, and waited for Zero to come out.
Hiead had already left, so Clay did not have to put up with the suborn
candidate.
Out in the hallway,
Hiead walked around aimlessly, trying to figure out what to do, since he did
not want to be in the same room as Zero when he woke up. 'That boy is too
damn cheerful all the time! Gets on my nerves every time!' Hiead thought,
fuming.
Up ahead, he saw his repairer and a few of the other candidate's repairers with
her. He just growled in annoyance, as he heard the high-pitched voice of Wreka
reach his sensitive ears. His eyes narrowed as he walked past the giddy
repairers, and shot death glares at all of them except for Ikhny, who was out
in a corner, slightly away from the commotion.
Hiead saw Ikhny turn her head and stare at him for a few seconds as he turned
the corner. After he got around the bend, he tried to shake out all thoughts of
those babbling repairers out of his head, but Ikhny's face just wouldn't leave
his mind. 'Is she trying to torture me, or something? Why won't she leave me
ALONE??' he thought, his own voice screaming in his head.
Hiead walked towards the recreation room, and slid the door open. He walked in
and the door closed behind him with a silent whoosh. Once inside, he sat under
the tree that was in there, the same tree that Kizna and Zero sat under before.
His head hit the trunk with a loud thud, but he felt no pain.
Even if he did, he didn't bother to voice his pain.
He just sat down, staring into space, trying to sort out his thoughts. But it
was no help for him. The same picture of his repairer's face kept flashing
before his eyes, never letting him get a moments peace.
The silver haired boy closed his eyes, and wondered what was going on with him.
'How the hell am I supposed to fix this problem if I don't even know what
the damn problem is?' he thought, as he felt the boiling rage fill his
veins. His eyes still closed, and eyebrows knitted together in fury, he raised
one hand, and pounded his fist against the ground beside him in frustration. He
let out an audible sigh, and tried again, to sort out his thoughts about the
brown haired repairer.
All he knew was that he felt an immense sense of pleasure fill him when he saw
his repairer smile, or laugh, but then again, it was very rare to see her smile
when he was around. And when it did happen, he got scared of his feelings and
covered it up with anger and rage towards her. He didn't want to admit it, but
he took a liking to the timid repairer.
The last time he pushed her into the wall, he felt his heart taken over with
grief, and pain, upon seeing his repairer cowering in fear because of him. He
didn't know why he felt that way, but he knew he had to apologize to her;
otherwise his conscience wouldn't stop bothering him.
But his pride wouldn't let him, so he made it up with a simple sorry. That way, it would satiate both him and his
'conscience'.
All the thoughts of what happened these past few days played over and over in
his head. Kizna slapping him.... pushing Ikhny against the wall.... what Kizna
said about him needing his repairer…
That certainly got him thinking.
'I won't admit it as of now, but I think she might have been right about
Ikhny,' Hiead thought, finally opening his eyes. 'True, without her, I
would have had to repair the pro- ing by myself. Sure I can figure it out, but
it saves me the work. And she even gave a little help out there when I needed
it.'
Then all of a sudden, his thoughtful expression turned into one of scorn and
malice. He felt some bile rise up his throat as soon as he realized he was
having benevolent thoughts about his repairer.
'Why am I even THINKING about HER like that?? SHE is my REPAIRER and
all she has to do is REPAIR! I DON'T need HER help now, and I WON'T need IT
later!' But even as he said that
over and over in his mind, he was having second thoughts... Even though he admitted that she was
"worthy" enough to be his repairer, in his mind, his pride wouldn't let him
accept this fact.
Hiead growled in annoyance, trying to get these frustrating thoughts out of his
head, but they wouldn't leave him alone. Class was about to start anyways, so
Hiead got up, dusted himself off and walked out of the recreation room towards
his class.
*With Zero and Clay*
Zero stepped out of the shower, with half of his uniform on. He grabbed the top
of the uniform that was lying on his bed, and slithered into it. Then he saw
Clay still sitting on his bed, staring at Zero with a weird expression.
"What?" asked Zero, looking down at his clothes, making sure if
anything was wrong with them and to check if that was what indeed what Clay was
looking at.
"Never mind Zero," Clay said, realizing that Zero was back to his
normal self, and walked out the door. After a few minutes, Zero decided to
chase after Clay and find out what he was talking about.
"Clay come back! Tell me what you were going to say!" Zero whined,
running to catch up with Clay, but Clay was too far ahead of him. Zero stopped
running in the middle of the hallway, and spotted Kizna in a hallway perpendicular
to the one he was in.
Since no one that he knew was around, he ran up and snuck behind Kizna, wrapping
his arms around her. He felt a sudden
urge to spin her around and kiss the daylights out of her.
Kizna let out a small yelp, and turned around as soon as she felt a pair of
arms snake their way around her waist. "Zero!" she hissed, her eyes
widening with shock. "What if someone spots us here? What if Azuma comes
down this hallway?" she said, trying to get out of his arms. But that just
made him wrap his arms around her more tightly.
He saw an empty classroom beside them, pulled her inside, and the door closed
behind them automatically. 'Ha! At least this is better than a closet!'
he thought, laughing inwardly.
Kizna turned her head slightly and saw the grin on his face and asked him what
was so funny. He pulled her a little closer towards him, pressing her back up
against his chest. He could feel her
shoulder bones pushing into him, but it didn't bother him. "I was just thinking that the classroom
is much better than the closet we were locked up in," he said laughing.
Kizna smiled at that thought and turned around in his arms. Kizna's breath got
caught in her throat as she realized how close she was to Zero. A faint blush
took over her cheeks as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
Zero stared down at her, bringing a hand up to her face, caressing her cheek
with the palm of his hand. He pulled her a bit closer, bending down, and placed
his lips over hers. He closed his eyes and Kizna followed suit.
Zero pulled her closer, drinking her in as if she was a drug that he never got
enough of. The hand that was previously
on her cheek went back down to her waist as he deepened the kiss. He no longer
knew where he was, only that he was kissing Kizna.
Kizna felt Zero pull her closer to him, fully enjoying the feeling of being in
his arms and kissing him with so much passion. There was nothing stopping her,
no Azuma, no Hiead, and no other person. She lifted on of her hands from his
neck, and ran it through his soft brown locks. Though Kizna knew they couldn't
continue like this even if they wanted to.
She pulled back, taking in deep breaths. Zero did the same, except had a
confused look on his face. Kizna saw his look and gave him a smile. "As
much as I would like to continue, we can't, we'd be late for class
otherwise," she said, giving him a tender smile, and placing a chaste kiss
on his lips, before slipping out of his arms and heading towards the door.
Zero stopped sulking and followed her towards class. On the way there, he saw
the rest of the repairers up ahead, and soon saw Kizna run off to meet them. So
Zero decided to find the rest of the candidates and head off to class with
them, not wanting to be around squealing girls.
*With Hiead*
Once Hiead arrived in the classroom, he saw Ikhny with Kizna, laughing about
something Kizna said. Hiead all of a sudden, felt an overwhelming sense of
calm, and pleasure fill him, as he looked towards Ikhny in a new light. As soon
as she saw him standing in the doorway, she became silent, her lips forming a
thin line on her pale face.
Hiead's heart immediately closed up, and he realized that he was causing
her that pain, that she was truly afraid of him. Even though Hiead had his
poker face on on the outside, on the inside, it was like a raging battle, with
no end in sight.
It hurt him to see her hurt because of him, and wanted to take back everything
that he ever said to hurt her, but he couldn't. His damn pride was in the way.
Not wanting to show anyone what torture his brain was putting him in, Hiead walked past Ikhny and Kizna, shrugging them off coldly.
By that time, Zero and Clay entered with the rest of the candidates and Azuma,
finally giving him some time to get his thoughts off of Ikhny and on to
something else. 'At least if my thoughts keep bothering me, I can always
take my frustration out on Zero,' Hiead thought, smirking.
Hiead turned towards the door when Azuma walked in, and saw Zero pestering
Kizna with something. He smirked, thinking back at what happened the day
before. 'Maybe...just maybe, I might be able to use Enna to vent out my
problems, and anyways, he'll forget it by the next day, so it won't affect me.
But I still wonder if I should go through with it...' Hiead thought. He
thought he could tell Zero about his problems, maybe get some help, though he
would never admit to Zero that it was his own problem, and that Zero would
forget about it by the next day.
'It's worth a shot…' Hiead thought grudgingly.
Hiead started walking over to Zero, only to be stopped by Azuma's sharp voice.
He was talking to someone who just entered the classroom. Azuma turned to the
group of repairers and candidates, and started speaking to them.
"It seems that a problem has aroused. I hope you won't take it too hard
when I say there will be no class today," he stated, smirking at the
shocked looks his class of ten was giving him. "Now get out of here!"
Azuma said, sending them all out the door.
The door closed behind the last person, locking Azuma and the stranger inside
the classroom. "You were saying?" Azuma started, with a morbid tone,
turning towards the person he was talking to earlier.
*Outside, in the hallways with the candidates and repairers*
All the repairers decided to have a girls day out, so they all headed out in
one direction together, leaving the candidates by themselves. Roose and Yamagi
headed over to the pro- ing hanger to catch up on some training, and Clay went
with them just to make sure they didn't screw up anything. That just left Hiead
and Zero together for the day.
'This is just way to easy for me,' Hiead thought, looking over to Zero,
in the corner of his eye. 'It's as if someone is setting me up with him just
to get this whole soap opera stuff over with.'
"Enna, can I talk to you, some where more private?" Hiead
asked, turning around to face him.
Zero just raised his eyebrows in response. Hiead sighed at the dense boy. He
grabbed Zero's arm and dragged him in the direction of their sleeping quarters.
Once there, he pushed Zero inside, and closed the door.
"Look Enna, I don't want to do this, but this is my only choice unless I
want ALL of GOA to know about my problem."
Zero looked shocked. "YOU have a PROBLEM???? Who would have thought the
great Hiead having a PROBLEM!"
Hiead just glared at him in response.
"Well, I know what I want you to do for me," Hiead stated, coving up
his emotions, once again, with his poker face.
"And that is…?" asked Zero with his eyebrows raised and a slightly
smug look on his face.
"Don't get too cocky!" Hiead snapped. "There has been something
bothering me for quite some time..." Hiead started, sitting on his bed,
which was across from Zero, and where he was sitting.
Hiead told Zero, from beginning to end, what his problem was, including every
detail in his explanation. Starting from the time Zero and Kizna got together,
a good month and a half ago to be exact, and how his brain was torturing him,
never letting him get a moments peace, up till present day. When he was finally
done, Hiead gave a great sigh, and Zero just blinked in response.
"What?? Can you please repeat that over again? You sort of lost me at the
beginning…" Hiead just glared at Zero.
"It took me long enough to explain it to YOU. I don't want to have to go
through that experience again," Hiead growled. Zero feigned a hurt look.
Zero put his hands up in mock defense. "Sorry!! I'll help you though. I
can't believe you were going through all that... and I thought you had no heart
too!" That just caused Hiead to
shoot a death glare at Zero. "Well
at least that explains the odd behavior Kizna was telling me about," Zero
stated, looking Hiead straight in the eye.
"Ok. So what can YOU do to be of service for me?" Hiead said, picking
out his choice of words very carefully, not wanting to admit that he needed
help to sort out his problem. Zero got a thoughtful look on his face, and
started talking about the plan he had.
(Rewritten: 4/17/04)