Partner or Lover Chapter 12: Wake Up Calls
Walking out from the battle room with Kizna and Erts on either side of him, Zero felt pretty happy about what he had accomplished today. He saw Azuma rush past him, almost knocking him down. Zero frowned as he held onto his two friends for support. "Where is he off to?" Zero thought out loud.
"Must be important if he's in a hurry," Erts said. Kizna nodded in agreement.
In an hour or so, Zero, Kizna, Erts, and the rest of the gang found themselves seated once again in the mess hall for lunch. They seated themselves around their usual table with their lunches, talking about whatever the topic was for the day.
After lunch finished, Zero and Erts decided to head off out of the mess hall, when they heard Kizna holler back at them before they left. "Hey! Hold up you guys," Kizna screamed as she ran to catch up.
Zero lifted his eyebrows in question and she said, "the rest of the girls... well at least Wreka and Saki are being a pain right now so I thought I could hang out with you guys... that is if you don't mind..."
"Sure," Erts said, nodding towards the pink haired repairer.
As they walked down the halls, it was mainly about the ingrids, Erts and Zero contributing the most to the conversation. Some where in the middle though, Erts suddenly remembered what Teela had asked of him the day before.
Erts' eyes immediately widened in remembrance and he asked, "Kizna, Zero, I need to talk to you guys. Can you please meet me in the gym, say... like two hours before dinner?" Both nodded and they continued on their way.
"I'll meet you before dinner, but for now, I just want to go find a nice bed to rest in," Zero said as he felt his eyes droop a bit. He heard Kizna chuckle beside him and he tried to hit her lightly on the arm, but found that he was too tired to do so. Erts and Kizna took Zero back to his room and let him get some rest.
"So Kizna," Erts started, trying to start up a conversation with the pink- haired repairer. Truth be told, he was not as close to her as he was to Zero, but being Zero's girlfriend, he had a feeling that he would be seeing a lot more of Kizna in the weeks to pass.
"Hey Erts, you think you would be able to train me in the art of fencing?" Kizna suddenly asked out of the blue.
The only reply Erts could come up with was, "huh?" as he gaped openly at her.
Kizna sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and said, "Well, a long time ago, I myself wanted to be a pilot but did not have the proper requirements to become one so I became a repairer. And you know how Azuma trains the repairers in the same fashion that he trains the candidates. We run the same number of laps, now the candidates have to repair the pro-ings just like us, and we're learning pretty much the same things. But I feel like I can do more for Zero..." Kizna explained.
Erts nodded and urged her to go on.
"Well, if I can at least get a feel for how it is out there for Zero, maybe I can appreciate what he does more. And perhaps I can help him on his battle moves than just sit in front of the monitor and watch as he gets pummeled. I want to get a first hand feel for what he does."
"All right Kizna. If that is what you want to do, then perhaps I can help you," Erts said grinning at the pink- haired repairer.
"Thank you Erts," she exclaimed as she gave him a light hug.
"What's this?" a voice drawled out behind them. Kizna jumped back slightly and turned her head.
"Hiead!" she chastised as she placed a hand over her fast- beating heart.
"Tsk, tsk... cheating on your boyfriend now?" Hiead asked, grinning slightly. Kizna glared at the silver- haired boy and huffed. Erts just snickered at her reaction. Hiead, shaking his head, walked into the room, the door closing behind him.
Kizna sighed but then perked up when Erts asked, "So, you want to get started now?"
"Really?"
"Yes, we can work on fencing for now," Erts said as he took off towards the gym.
----
Teela rushed down the halls with a slight feeling of dread hanging heavily over her shoulders. 'I hope he knows what he is doing,' she thought as she turned the corner and entered a darkened room.
The man sitting in front of her did not have youth on his side. He brushed a few strands of gray hair behind his ears and leaned against the table on his elbows. "Please sit down Teela," the man offered, pointing out the chair in front of his desk. She nodded and took her seat.
"Dr. Crow," Teela started, but stopped when Dr. Crow lifted one hand, motioning for her to stop talking.
"It's okay Teela. I know what is going on around here. No need to explain anything to me," Dr. Crow said, giving her a small smile of reassurance. The blue- haired girl eased back into her chair, her shoulders slumping down in relief. "Now, who do you think is best?"
Teela lifted her head and looked the man in the eye. "I think Rei is the best, even if he is an underclassmen. He has made great progress over these past few months hasn't he?" Teela asked the gray- haired man. He nodded.
"Yes he has."
"But I'm afraid that Errn- Laties might not accept him for Eeva- Leena has already called him to her," Teela explained. Dr. Crow suddenly got up from his chair, walked around his desk and kneeled in front of Teela.
He put his hands on the chair's arm rests and said, "Teela, do not worry yourself to death on these matters. Whom ever the goddess picks, it will be her choice and her choice alone. You know they will not go wrong... Or so I hope," he said, adding the last part in a whisper.
Teela smiled for the first time since she got back to G.O.A. "Thank you," she said. "At least I know you can reassure me on any insecurities that I have."
The man chuckled and gave her a pat on the leg as he stood up once again. "If you ever need to see me again, do not hesitate. I will see what I can do about the next pilot, but for now, enjoy your stay here for it will not last long I am afraid," Dr. Crow said in a somber tone. Teela nodded and stood up.
"Thank you again," she said as she walked over to the closed door. She turned around; saw Dr. Crow nod once, and then she let herself out of the room. Unbeknown to him however, Teela still had a little uncertainty that she knew she could not talk to him about... if they were truly doing the right thing by fighting the Victim.
----
"Hey, wait up Erts," Kizna screamed at the blonde haired boy as she broke into a jog to catch up to him. "So are we going to the gym now?" Erts nodded.
They walked silently until they reached the front enterance of the gym. Erts pushed the two great doors open and stepped inside. He waited until Kizna was inside before he let the doors close behind them. Kizna then turned to Erts and gave him a questioning glance, silently asking him what to do now.
"Well, if everything is as I remember it, then the equipment should be over here," Erts mumbled to himself as he walked over to a far corner of the gym. Opening a small compartment door, he rummaged through the closet until he could find what he was looking for. When his hand landed on something sharp, he gave a slight yelp and immediately pulled his hand back. He examined it for any injuries, and seeing a light scratch that could only be made from a fencing sword, he said, "Well, it seems I've found what we're looking for Kizna."
Kizna walked over to the closet and stood by Erts, watching curiously as he thrust his hand back into the closet and gathered the things he needed. First he pulled out two fencing helmets, then the suits, and last, the swords. "Here we go," Erts exclaimed as he closed the closet with his foot.
"Ok, this is what you do first," he explained as he strapped on his armor. He explained how to put it on and helped Kizna with her suit. Then they strapped on their helmets and grabbed their swords. Walking over to the middle of the gym, Erts started with the basics. "I'll teach you the very beginning steps. The foot positions, streching exercises, and battle positions. Tomorrow, or whenever you want to meet again, we can start the real stuff. How does that sound?" Erts asked.
Kizna nodded. "That sounds fine to me."
"Ok then." Erts placed his sword down on the ground and sat down beside it. He patted the floor beside him and indicated that she take a seat beside him on the gym floor. Once seated, Erts took Kizna through various streching exercises to get her muscles ready for other things. Once through with that, they both got back up onto their feet and grabbed their swords off the floor.
"Here are a few of the basic positions when holding your sword," Erts started off. "Make sure your sword is always pointing away from your body and never at your body." Kizna nodded in acknowlegment. He once again took her through the basic sword holding techiniques until he was satisfied with her performance.
"You're a fast learner," Erts exclaimed. Kizna, in response, blushed at the compliment. Erts chuckled when he could feel her embarrasement. "Ok, now I'll show you a few of the basic moves." Erts held the swoard in front of his body and swung it downwards to the ground. Then he proceeded to show her a few other moves, explain their use and their names, and then said, "How about you give it a try?"
Kizna nodded and tried to mimic his moves. At one point, when she just could not perform one of the exercises, Erts came up behind her, held onto her hands, and gently took her through the motions.
Once done with the lesson, Kizna whipped off her helmet and took in a deep breath. "Wow, I did not know sword fighting would be so complicated..." she muttered, taking a seat on the cold, hard floor beneath her. Letting out the deep breath that she had been holding, she picked herself off the ground with the help of her sword and walked over to where Erts was putting his equpiment away. She silently hands him her sword, helmet, and armor, the blonde haired boy only emitting a small "thank you", then closing the closet door.
By this time, a couple of hours passed since the time Kizna and Erts left Zero and Hiead in their room, and the two in the gym decided to head back over to the room to see if Zero was awake. Padding over the soft floor of the halls of GOA, Kizna and Erts soon found themselves face to face with Zero's room door. Knocking twice on the metal door, Erts stepped back and waited for the door to open. There was the sound of footsteps inside the room, indicating that someone was coming to open the door. Hiead, once the door was open, tried to glare at the intruders but was interrupted by a yawn. Kizna pushed Hiead to the side and peeked into the room. She saw Zero still fast asleep, lying on top of the bedsheets, his arms and legs spread out, hanging off the sides of the bed. Kizna shook her head and pushed her way into the room. She dissmissed the quiet 'Hey!' she got from Hiead and walked over to the brown- haired teenager.
Sitting down on the bed beside him, she let her gaze linger on his face longer than necessary, taking in his features as he slept. As if he knew she was staring at him, Zero groaned and turned his head slightly, a frown forming on his face. Kizna smiled, ran a hand through his mousy hair and finally let her hand rest on his cheek. Bending down, she placed a small kiss on his lips, pulled back up and grinned. Bending back down, she placed her lips next to his ear and whispered, "Zero, wake up." Yet the boy did not move an inch. She slowly kissed her way down from his ear to his jaw, but she still got no response out of the chocolate- haired boy.
Groaning, she turned around and asked Hiead, who was watching her every move, if he had a small bucket in the bathroom. He gave her a weird look but nodded nevertheless. Still with that silly grin on her face, Kizna ran over to the bathroom, grabbed the small bucket, more like a bowl, from the bathroom floor, turned the handle of the sink tap and waited for the water to get to the desired temprature. Once she was satisfied, Kizna filled the bowl up with ice cold water and came back into the room, making sure she did not spill any water. Erts just looked on with an amused look on his face.
Kizna placed the bowl on Zero's bedside table and climbed onto the bed. Carefully placing a leg on the other side of Zero, she slowly moved her body so that she was straddling his waist. She leaned over, picked the bowl of ice cold water off the bedside table and placed it on his stomach. Zero moved slightly, but it did not phase him to such a degree that he would wake up. Kizna dipped her hand into the bowl and sprayed a few drops of water at Zero's face. The only response she got was an annoyed groan out of him and she frowned. "Fine, you asked for it Zero," Kizna muttered under her breath as she lifted the aforementioned bowl high into the air.
Kizna turned the bowl slowly downward, so that a little water would splash on his face. Zero mumbled something incoherent, frowned, and continued sleeping. Kizna laughed at his reaction. Once she finally stopped laughing, she put on a serious face and dumped all the contents in the bowl onto Zero's face and chest. Kizna just sat back and watched his reaction.
Zero's eyes shot open as soon as the water seeped into his skin. The chocolate haired boy took in great gulps of air, trying to get his voice to work. He spluttered out something that made no sense whatsoever, so he just stopped trying to talk for now. Once he got his heart to stop having a seizure, he realized what happened. Fury was etched in every cell of his body, his eyes flashing with rage. Zero even heard someone laughing at him. That only fueled his anger. Zero sat up, only to end up bumping heads with someone. Closing his eyes, he rubbed the spot on his wet forehead where he collided. Then only was it that he realized someone was sitting on him. 'Well, it can't be Hiead. He would kill himself before he sits on me... Clay? ... Nah, he would be too chicken to even think of doing anything like this...' Zero opened his eyes and glanced in front of him and came face to face with...
"Kizna?" Zero asked, shocked beyond believe that she would do something like this to him. He heard her laugh once again and he growled. "That.... That was... HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!" Zero finally managed to ask. That only sent the pink haired girl into another fit of giggles. Zero was taking in deep breaths to calm his nerves, but it wasn't doing him any good. He glared at his laughing repairer. Kizna was finally able to subside her giggles for a little bit and looked Zero into the eye.
"You wouldn't wake up," she said grinning as she ran a hand through his wet locks. Zero rolled his eyes.
"Well you could have just yelled in my ear, or knocked me out of bed or something... instead of DUMPING FREEZING WATER ON ME!" Zero burst out. Kizna just laughed at his response.
"Aww... Well, I'm sorry..." Zero smiled.
"Actually," Kizna started; Zero felt his smile falter. "I'm not that sorry... I'll tell you that I didn't think of throwing you out of bed to wake you, but you have got to admit that it was funny!" Kizna said as she went into another fit of laughter. Zero sighed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled Kizna closer to him as he felt a tad bit colder because he was drenched and wet. Kizna wrapped her legs around his waist in response.
Zero glanced around and spotted Erts and Hiead standing by the door. Erts was snickering silently, while Hiead had a big smirk on his face. Zero motioned for them to come in. Erts took a seat by Zero, on the bed next to his and Hiead took a seat on his bed. But immediately after Hiead took his seat, he jumped back up, his eyes widening slightly. "I just remembered I have to go meet someone in a few minutes," Hiead said as he walked out the room. The door closed behind the silver haired boy and that just left a pilot, repairer and candidate in the room. Kizna buried her head into the side of Zero's neck after she had stopped laughing and mumbled a soft "sorry" before lifting her head and gazing into his bright blue eyes.
Zero smiled and said, "I'm cool with it... err... no pun intended," laughing lightly after he finished. Kizna gave him a light hug and pulled back when Erts cleared his throat. The girl felt a faint blush take over her cheeks and she sat silently on Zero's lap.
"So, where'd you take my girlfriend?" Zero asked Erts giving him a playful grin.
"Oh, you know. Over to the recreation room for some alone time, then over to meet the other goddess pilots to show Kizna off..." Erts said laughing. Zero soon joined him, their laughter filling the room. Kizna glaired at the two boys.
"You do know that I am right here, right?" Kizna asked.
Zero chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Of course." Erts smiled at the show of affection.
Kizna suddenly felt Zero shiver through his wet clothes. She gasped and then said, "Zero, you'd better get out of these clothes."
Zero nodded. "You may be right." Kizna unwrapped her legs from around his waist, crawled over to the next bed, and sat beside Erts. Zero pulled himself off his bed, went over to his dresser, and took out a clean pair of clothes.
"Hey Zero, did you know Kizna-"Erts started off, only to be cut off by Kizna herself with her hand covering his mouth. Erts immediately felt fear and hesitation from her and he gave her a questioning look.
"I don't want him to know just yet!" Kizna hissed into Erts' ear. Erts nodded.
"What were you saying Erts?" Zero asked, turning to face Erts. He grabbed a shirt out from the drawer and forgot Kizna was there as he took off the current shirt he was wearing. Kizna's eyes widened and she felt her eyes glued onto his now exposed chest.
"Ahh, nothing Zero. Forget it," Erts said. Zero frowned and glared at Erts. He had a feeling that the blonde- haired boy was keeping something from him. Feeling someone gazing at him, he turned his head over to Kizna and saw her heated gaze on him. He felt the blood rush to his face and neck when he saw her eyes fill with desire. He gulped and quickly put on the clean shirt, throwing the wet one over to the side for the time being.
AN: Well, I know this chapter is not as long as the previous one but the ideas just suddenly left me... I have future plans, but the stuff inbetween the present and the future need to be sorted out... I will most likely have the next chapter in about two weeks, that would be July 9th. Check back then for an update. I will start trying to get a new chapter out every two weeks from now on... every other Friday if possible. Hopefully I can make the next chapter a longer one... Please review and tell me what you think.
Walking out from the battle room with Kizna and Erts on either side of him, Zero felt pretty happy about what he had accomplished today. He saw Azuma rush past him, almost knocking him down. Zero frowned as he held onto his two friends for support. "Where is he off to?" Zero thought out loud.
"Must be important if he's in a hurry," Erts said. Kizna nodded in agreement.
In an hour or so, Zero, Kizna, Erts, and the rest of the gang found themselves seated once again in the mess hall for lunch. They seated themselves around their usual table with their lunches, talking about whatever the topic was for the day.
After lunch finished, Zero and Erts decided to head off out of the mess hall, when they heard Kizna holler back at them before they left. "Hey! Hold up you guys," Kizna screamed as she ran to catch up.
Zero lifted his eyebrows in question and she said, "the rest of the girls... well at least Wreka and Saki are being a pain right now so I thought I could hang out with you guys... that is if you don't mind..."
"Sure," Erts said, nodding towards the pink haired repairer.
As they walked down the halls, it was mainly about the ingrids, Erts and Zero contributing the most to the conversation. Some where in the middle though, Erts suddenly remembered what Teela had asked of him the day before.
Erts' eyes immediately widened in remembrance and he asked, "Kizna, Zero, I need to talk to you guys. Can you please meet me in the gym, say... like two hours before dinner?" Both nodded and they continued on their way.
"I'll meet you before dinner, but for now, I just want to go find a nice bed to rest in," Zero said as he felt his eyes droop a bit. He heard Kizna chuckle beside him and he tried to hit her lightly on the arm, but found that he was too tired to do so. Erts and Kizna took Zero back to his room and let him get some rest.
"So Kizna," Erts started, trying to start up a conversation with the pink- haired repairer. Truth be told, he was not as close to her as he was to Zero, but being Zero's girlfriend, he had a feeling that he would be seeing a lot more of Kizna in the weeks to pass.
"Hey Erts, you think you would be able to train me in the art of fencing?" Kizna suddenly asked out of the blue.
The only reply Erts could come up with was, "huh?" as he gaped openly at her.
Kizna sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and said, "Well, a long time ago, I myself wanted to be a pilot but did not have the proper requirements to become one so I became a repairer. And you know how Azuma trains the repairers in the same fashion that he trains the candidates. We run the same number of laps, now the candidates have to repair the pro-ings just like us, and we're learning pretty much the same things. But I feel like I can do more for Zero..." Kizna explained.
Erts nodded and urged her to go on.
"Well, if I can at least get a feel for how it is out there for Zero, maybe I can appreciate what he does more. And perhaps I can help him on his battle moves than just sit in front of the monitor and watch as he gets pummeled. I want to get a first hand feel for what he does."
"All right Kizna. If that is what you want to do, then perhaps I can help you," Erts said grinning at the pink- haired repairer.
"Thank you Erts," she exclaimed as she gave him a light hug.
"What's this?" a voice drawled out behind them. Kizna jumped back slightly and turned her head.
"Hiead!" she chastised as she placed a hand over her fast- beating heart.
"Tsk, tsk... cheating on your boyfriend now?" Hiead asked, grinning slightly. Kizna glared at the silver- haired boy and huffed. Erts just snickered at her reaction. Hiead, shaking his head, walked into the room, the door closing behind him.
Kizna sighed but then perked up when Erts asked, "So, you want to get started now?"
"Really?"
"Yes, we can work on fencing for now," Erts said as he took off towards the gym.
----
Teela rushed down the halls with a slight feeling of dread hanging heavily over her shoulders. 'I hope he knows what he is doing,' she thought as she turned the corner and entered a darkened room.
The man sitting in front of her did not have youth on his side. He brushed a few strands of gray hair behind his ears and leaned against the table on his elbows. "Please sit down Teela," the man offered, pointing out the chair in front of his desk. She nodded and took her seat.
"Dr. Crow," Teela started, but stopped when Dr. Crow lifted one hand, motioning for her to stop talking.
"It's okay Teela. I know what is going on around here. No need to explain anything to me," Dr. Crow said, giving her a small smile of reassurance. The blue- haired girl eased back into her chair, her shoulders slumping down in relief. "Now, who do you think is best?"
Teela lifted her head and looked the man in the eye. "I think Rei is the best, even if he is an underclassmen. He has made great progress over these past few months hasn't he?" Teela asked the gray- haired man. He nodded.
"Yes he has."
"But I'm afraid that Errn- Laties might not accept him for Eeva- Leena has already called him to her," Teela explained. Dr. Crow suddenly got up from his chair, walked around his desk and kneeled in front of Teela.
He put his hands on the chair's arm rests and said, "Teela, do not worry yourself to death on these matters. Whom ever the goddess picks, it will be her choice and her choice alone. You know they will not go wrong... Or so I hope," he said, adding the last part in a whisper.
Teela smiled for the first time since she got back to G.O.A. "Thank you," she said. "At least I know you can reassure me on any insecurities that I have."
The man chuckled and gave her a pat on the leg as he stood up once again. "If you ever need to see me again, do not hesitate. I will see what I can do about the next pilot, but for now, enjoy your stay here for it will not last long I am afraid," Dr. Crow said in a somber tone. Teela nodded and stood up.
"Thank you again," she said as she walked over to the closed door. She turned around; saw Dr. Crow nod once, and then she let herself out of the room. Unbeknown to him however, Teela still had a little uncertainty that she knew she could not talk to him about... if they were truly doing the right thing by fighting the Victim.
----
"Hey, wait up Erts," Kizna screamed at the blonde haired boy as she broke into a jog to catch up to him. "So are we going to the gym now?" Erts nodded.
They walked silently until they reached the front enterance of the gym. Erts pushed the two great doors open and stepped inside. He waited until Kizna was inside before he let the doors close behind them. Kizna then turned to Erts and gave him a questioning glance, silently asking him what to do now.
"Well, if everything is as I remember it, then the equipment should be over here," Erts mumbled to himself as he walked over to a far corner of the gym. Opening a small compartment door, he rummaged through the closet until he could find what he was looking for. When his hand landed on something sharp, he gave a slight yelp and immediately pulled his hand back. He examined it for any injuries, and seeing a light scratch that could only be made from a fencing sword, he said, "Well, it seems I've found what we're looking for Kizna."
Kizna walked over to the closet and stood by Erts, watching curiously as he thrust his hand back into the closet and gathered the things he needed. First he pulled out two fencing helmets, then the suits, and last, the swords. "Here we go," Erts exclaimed as he closed the closet with his foot.
"Ok, this is what you do first," he explained as he strapped on his armor. He explained how to put it on and helped Kizna with her suit. Then they strapped on their helmets and grabbed their swords. Walking over to the middle of the gym, Erts started with the basics. "I'll teach you the very beginning steps. The foot positions, streching exercises, and battle positions. Tomorrow, or whenever you want to meet again, we can start the real stuff. How does that sound?" Erts asked.
Kizna nodded. "That sounds fine to me."
"Ok then." Erts placed his sword down on the ground and sat down beside it. He patted the floor beside him and indicated that she take a seat beside him on the gym floor. Once seated, Erts took Kizna through various streching exercises to get her muscles ready for other things. Once through with that, they both got back up onto their feet and grabbed their swords off the floor.
"Here are a few of the basic positions when holding your sword," Erts started off. "Make sure your sword is always pointing away from your body and never at your body." Kizna nodded in acknowlegment. He once again took her through the basic sword holding techiniques until he was satisfied with her performance.
"You're a fast learner," Erts exclaimed. Kizna, in response, blushed at the compliment. Erts chuckled when he could feel her embarrasement. "Ok, now I'll show you a few of the basic moves." Erts held the swoard in front of his body and swung it downwards to the ground. Then he proceeded to show her a few other moves, explain their use and their names, and then said, "How about you give it a try?"
Kizna nodded and tried to mimic his moves. At one point, when she just could not perform one of the exercises, Erts came up behind her, held onto her hands, and gently took her through the motions.
Once done with the lesson, Kizna whipped off her helmet and took in a deep breath. "Wow, I did not know sword fighting would be so complicated..." she muttered, taking a seat on the cold, hard floor beneath her. Letting out the deep breath that she had been holding, she picked herself off the ground with the help of her sword and walked over to where Erts was putting his equpiment away. She silently hands him her sword, helmet, and armor, the blonde haired boy only emitting a small "thank you", then closing the closet door.
By this time, a couple of hours passed since the time Kizna and Erts left Zero and Hiead in their room, and the two in the gym decided to head back over to the room to see if Zero was awake. Padding over the soft floor of the halls of GOA, Kizna and Erts soon found themselves face to face with Zero's room door. Knocking twice on the metal door, Erts stepped back and waited for the door to open. There was the sound of footsteps inside the room, indicating that someone was coming to open the door. Hiead, once the door was open, tried to glare at the intruders but was interrupted by a yawn. Kizna pushed Hiead to the side and peeked into the room. She saw Zero still fast asleep, lying on top of the bedsheets, his arms and legs spread out, hanging off the sides of the bed. Kizna shook her head and pushed her way into the room. She dissmissed the quiet 'Hey!' she got from Hiead and walked over to the brown- haired teenager.
Sitting down on the bed beside him, she let her gaze linger on his face longer than necessary, taking in his features as he slept. As if he knew she was staring at him, Zero groaned and turned his head slightly, a frown forming on his face. Kizna smiled, ran a hand through his mousy hair and finally let her hand rest on his cheek. Bending down, she placed a small kiss on his lips, pulled back up and grinned. Bending back down, she placed her lips next to his ear and whispered, "Zero, wake up." Yet the boy did not move an inch. She slowly kissed her way down from his ear to his jaw, but she still got no response out of the chocolate- haired boy.
Groaning, she turned around and asked Hiead, who was watching her every move, if he had a small bucket in the bathroom. He gave her a weird look but nodded nevertheless. Still with that silly grin on her face, Kizna ran over to the bathroom, grabbed the small bucket, more like a bowl, from the bathroom floor, turned the handle of the sink tap and waited for the water to get to the desired temprature. Once she was satisfied, Kizna filled the bowl up with ice cold water and came back into the room, making sure she did not spill any water. Erts just looked on with an amused look on his face.
Kizna placed the bowl on Zero's bedside table and climbed onto the bed. Carefully placing a leg on the other side of Zero, she slowly moved her body so that she was straddling his waist. She leaned over, picked the bowl of ice cold water off the bedside table and placed it on his stomach. Zero moved slightly, but it did not phase him to such a degree that he would wake up. Kizna dipped her hand into the bowl and sprayed a few drops of water at Zero's face. The only response she got was an annoyed groan out of him and she frowned. "Fine, you asked for it Zero," Kizna muttered under her breath as she lifted the aforementioned bowl high into the air.
Kizna turned the bowl slowly downward, so that a little water would splash on his face. Zero mumbled something incoherent, frowned, and continued sleeping. Kizna laughed at his reaction. Once she finally stopped laughing, she put on a serious face and dumped all the contents in the bowl onto Zero's face and chest. Kizna just sat back and watched his reaction.
Zero's eyes shot open as soon as the water seeped into his skin. The chocolate haired boy took in great gulps of air, trying to get his voice to work. He spluttered out something that made no sense whatsoever, so he just stopped trying to talk for now. Once he got his heart to stop having a seizure, he realized what happened. Fury was etched in every cell of his body, his eyes flashing with rage. Zero even heard someone laughing at him. That only fueled his anger. Zero sat up, only to end up bumping heads with someone. Closing his eyes, he rubbed the spot on his wet forehead where he collided. Then only was it that he realized someone was sitting on him. 'Well, it can't be Hiead. He would kill himself before he sits on me... Clay? ... Nah, he would be too chicken to even think of doing anything like this...' Zero opened his eyes and glanced in front of him and came face to face with...
"Kizna?" Zero asked, shocked beyond believe that she would do something like this to him. He heard her laugh once again and he growled. "That.... That was... HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!" Zero finally managed to ask. That only sent the pink haired girl into another fit of giggles. Zero was taking in deep breaths to calm his nerves, but it wasn't doing him any good. He glared at his laughing repairer. Kizna was finally able to subside her giggles for a little bit and looked Zero into the eye.
"You wouldn't wake up," she said grinning as she ran a hand through his wet locks. Zero rolled his eyes.
"Well you could have just yelled in my ear, or knocked me out of bed or something... instead of DUMPING FREEZING WATER ON ME!" Zero burst out. Kizna just laughed at his response.
"Aww... Well, I'm sorry..." Zero smiled.
"Actually," Kizna started; Zero felt his smile falter. "I'm not that sorry... I'll tell you that I didn't think of throwing you out of bed to wake you, but you have got to admit that it was funny!" Kizna said as she went into another fit of laughter. Zero sighed. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled Kizna closer to him as he felt a tad bit colder because he was drenched and wet. Kizna wrapped her legs around his waist in response.
Zero glanced around and spotted Erts and Hiead standing by the door. Erts was snickering silently, while Hiead had a big smirk on his face. Zero motioned for them to come in. Erts took a seat by Zero, on the bed next to his and Hiead took a seat on his bed. But immediately after Hiead took his seat, he jumped back up, his eyes widening slightly. "I just remembered I have to go meet someone in a few minutes," Hiead said as he walked out the room. The door closed behind the silver haired boy and that just left a pilot, repairer and candidate in the room. Kizna buried her head into the side of Zero's neck after she had stopped laughing and mumbled a soft "sorry" before lifting her head and gazing into his bright blue eyes.
Zero smiled and said, "I'm cool with it... err... no pun intended," laughing lightly after he finished. Kizna gave him a light hug and pulled back when Erts cleared his throat. The girl felt a faint blush take over her cheeks and she sat silently on Zero's lap.
"So, where'd you take my girlfriend?" Zero asked Erts giving him a playful grin.
"Oh, you know. Over to the recreation room for some alone time, then over to meet the other goddess pilots to show Kizna off..." Erts said laughing. Zero soon joined him, their laughter filling the room. Kizna glaired at the two boys.
"You do know that I am right here, right?" Kizna asked.
Zero chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Of course." Erts smiled at the show of affection.
Kizna suddenly felt Zero shiver through his wet clothes. She gasped and then said, "Zero, you'd better get out of these clothes."
Zero nodded. "You may be right." Kizna unwrapped her legs from around his waist, crawled over to the next bed, and sat beside Erts. Zero pulled himself off his bed, went over to his dresser, and took out a clean pair of clothes.
"Hey Zero, did you know Kizna-"Erts started off, only to be cut off by Kizna herself with her hand covering his mouth. Erts immediately felt fear and hesitation from her and he gave her a questioning look.
"I don't want him to know just yet!" Kizna hissed into Erts' ear. Erts nodded.
"What were you saying Erts?" Zero asked, turning to face Erts. He grabbed a shirt out from the drawer and forgot Kizna was there as he took off the current shirt he was wearing. Kizna's eyes widened and she felt her eyes glued onto his now exposed chest.
"Ahh, nothing Zero. Forget it," Erts said. Zero frowned and glared at Erts. He had a feeling that the blonde- haired boy was keeping something from him. Feeling someone gazing at him, he turned his head over to Kizna and saw her heated gaze on him. He felt the blood rush to his face and neck when he saw her eyes fill with desire. He gulped and quickly put on the clean shirt, throwing the wet one over to the side for the time being.
AN: Well, I know this chapter is not as long as the previous one but the ideas just suddenly left me... I have future plans, but the stuff inbetween the present and the future need to be sorted out... I will most likely have the next chapter in about two weeks, that would be July 9th. Check back then for an update. I will start trying to get a new chapter out every two weeks from now on... every other Friday if possible. Hopefully I can make the next chapter a longer one... Please review and tell me what you think.