Author's note – Gah! The typos and errors! And I'd changed them too! …Stupid uploading thingy… Oh, you're reading this... Oops!
Okay, just to let you guys know, in this chapter, given to me as a suggestion, I'll be going backwards in time and start it off when Rinoa gets to her house Monday afternoon.
I'm doing this because I really stretched the final paragraphs of the last chapter. I was afraid of making it too long (think around +8,000 words), because I didn't want to lose readers' interest and I also had in mind about something my English teacher kept on saying to me whenever I'd submit a piece in English. It was that he would always say that I should be less wordy (stop using so many words) and try and condense it more. But on the contrary, people here seem to like my 'wordy-ness' so I apologize and make a humble offering by offering to pseudo-rewrite the last bit from the last chapter.
Eek! I've already wrote… 169 words, better get on those reviews! Fast!
Responses to reviews for Chapter 5
DBZ Fanfiction Queen – Thank you for the overall comments, I didn't realize that Laguna's comments were all that funny, and don't worry, I'll backtrack to show what Caraway's like.
Sorry about rushing the last part, if you've read the author's note, you'll know why. As far as thoughts go, the intention for that last chapter was to give a bit of insight from Rinoa's POV for a brief moment. But the main focus however, is on Squall, though. As you'll soon see I'll be reverting back to that system as soon as Tuesday morning begins in this chapter. But there's a reason for that, you'll understand later. Hee…
Ayato – Thank you for the short and sweet comment. Sometimes, those end up being the best you get. :)
silver-nex / heartillyangel – Since your reviews were so darn similar (It freaked me out…), I'd thought to respond to both of them at the same.
You guys will be happy to hear that I did have something in mind for the pair at school. Plus, Squall will stop thinking his brains out and finally do something for a change. I won't say what though. I'm so evil… Muahaha! Who am I kidding?
tidusXyuna637 – Glad to hear that you liked it, and trust me; I get impatient waiting for things too.
Tsuki Leonhart – I'm pleased to know that my winding chapters are worth it, thanks!
Lady-Rinoa – I'm happy that you liked the transition and where this thing is going, and I will try and maintain the quality too.
Breath of Fire – Ooh… I'm glad that somebody reviewed about that part, I'm surprised no one thought of that sooner, and don't worry, that question gets answered sometime soon. Hee!
SavannahX – Thanks for your review!
(2x) Luis – You must really want me to update if you sent me two reviews saying to me to update soon, hope you'll like this lengthy chapter. Also, I hope that you'll have a good vacation as well.
…Seeing as I'm done all reviews, I should really get a start in moving onto this chapter! Charge!
-Crash!-
"…Ouch… I tripped over my feet…Oww…Go…"
Edit (08/07/06) – Fixed some typos.
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Chapter VI – Obscurity, Aftermath, and Metamorphosis
Coming home from Squall's was unbearable; the awkward silence shared between Rinoa and her father during the trip home waned her patience, she knew he wanted to say something yet… he somehow didn't dare to fill the void.
And it was this very thing, this silence, which was driving her so insane.
How could he be so calm in face of this situation? How could he show no care, no concern, no …difference towards the possibility of the endangerment of her well-being so effortlessly? Hyne, she'd be happier if he'd yelled blue-murder at her, that way - at least he'd be saying something then.
Stepping out of the car, Rinoa grabbed her things very hastily, in hopes of beating her father to the doorway. As he neared the front entrance to insert the key, she ran behind him and dipped underneath his right arm to block the door with her presence. Mr. Caraway looked very perplexed indeed from his daughter's sudden actions.
"Rinoa, what are you doing?" He asked curtly.
"-Did you even care where I was until Squall's father called?" Rinoa questioned fiercely.
"Well… of course I did." He replied somewhat half-heartedly.
"Typical, you obviously didn't. I can tell when you don't mean what you say, General."
"-How could you say such a thing, Rinoa, you're always with one friend or another, I can't keep track anymore!"
"Well, when you did realize that I was stuck at school all weekend after speaking with Mr. Loire, and went to pick me up, why didn't you say something then? Something to let me at least know you cared for me for Hyne's sake!"
"Well…I... -To be honest... I just didn't know where to begin."
"Yeah, because you need to care in order to begin!" She then paused to stand aside. "Lets' just go inside…it's pretty obvious what happened here."
Rinoa's father unlocked the front door, but stood still, keeping it closed behind him. His eyes were set in such a way towards Rinoa, that, they were seemingly suggesting that she should say what she really thought.
"Oh… You want to know, do you?" Her father nodded silently, anticipating the answer.
"Well, I can't tell you. If you can't figure that out yourself, you don't deserve to know. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to my room."
She opened the door and sauntered off to her room on the second floor, where, she started putting certain things away. Only when he was out of an earshot and she was getting reacquainted with the insides of her bedroom walls did she explain what she personally thought happened to them; but she deliberately introduced the idea by a full-scale hypothesis of how their family blew apart into a million pieces in several fragments first. Not to her father of course, but to herself and the various inanimate objects scattered in her room.
"Well… Our family fell apart when you stopped living when Mom died, and when you stopped caring too. –and that's just for starters..." She interjected to herself while putting some gym clothes in her hamper.
"…You got absorbed in your work as General…" She mumbled when taking out her notebook and paper.
"…Totally forgot about my existence past middle school…" The raven-haired Heartilly stated after she started recopying her homework.
"…Then fell ill to the illusion that I constantly go over at friend's houses… even on school nights…" That same girl declared angrily subsequent to when she finished republishing that said homework.
"…and lately, you started to only find it important to say something to me when you were under the assumption I was trying to hook up with guys…Which, I'm surprised to say you broke that rule today…I'd have expected you to say something, a possible casual side-line comment to try and sneak it in…" She muttered later as she readied herself to go down the stairs for supper.
The evening meal was a formal affair, the 'please and thank you's were exchanged in between some simple food passing, but other than that, all was silent, which was surprisingly a new record in the Heartilly-Caraway household. But things did, however perk up around the end of the meal. Volume-wise, that was.
"Rinoa?" He said, filling the stillness, breaking the record.
"Yeah?"
"I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier, I'd thought that…maybe you wouldn't want to talk about with me."
"…Really?"
"Yes." Rinoa truly wanted to believe her father's reply, she really did, but after years of living this way, she'd learned to close her heart to her last remaining family member. She wanted to make sure she wouldn't get hurt again.
"I don't believe you; you're only saying what I want to hear." She replied cynically before leaving.
"Rin- Wait here young lady!" In spite of these words, Rinoa waited for no one, and night scenery soon greeted her tired deep brown eyes. Looking out on her balcony window provided a temporary release, a release she'd desperately needed for so long.
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After gazing at the stars for quite some time, the final concluding thought, the thought that she explained all, came to her mind; it came fully-developed after she looked back towards her sullen room, it was an atmosphere befitting to her mood at the moment, gazing out the window into the night sky started to make her sick from all hope it inspired.
"You only stopped caring about me only since I reminded you of too much of Mom, just because it pained you inside to remember a part of what you once had, and that's what hurts. It hurts because that was the only reason you stopped caring about me. But you know what? It's hurt me more than it's ever hurt you, General. It's worse than being an orphan, it's worse than losing everything…"
She ceased her cleansing rant to take another deep look into the heavens, and to brush off a single tear that had fallen onto her cheek, and with that, her thoughts immediately turned to something else to get her mind off the misery that she'd learn to live with.
'I wonder what it'd be like to have Laguna as a father… Hmm, I probably either laughing 'til my sides were sore everyday or we'd be one of those close-knit families…I've really got to stop thinking that, it's disturbing and getting me back to the same stupid subject…'
'-Now that I think about it, I'd like to know why Squall was acting so weird- …err… weirder than usual at his house? Never really got the chance to think about it... Wait a minute; he was fine until I'd asked him about-'
In a flash of insight, Rinoa finally got the complete picture and soon marveled in its' complexity. 'Poor Squall…' She had last thought before talking aloud to herself looking through the windowpane.
"Wow… I didn't think that he was all that complex, I just though he was simply anti-social… Imagine losing both your sister and mother, no wonder he's so distant and cold. I wish that I could help break out of that shell, but he'd just reject me. At least he's gotten a bit better, I think... Who knows with him though, it's like he's under cloud of mystery or something… He's got nice blue-grey eyes though, when he's not glaring them at you that is…"
Deciding to try and not nauseate herself too much in thought, fearing that she'd become the next Squall, Rinoa tried to go to sleep. However her efforts were in vain as a few more things slipped into her brain, prohibiting sleep and causing more lights to turn on inside.
'You know what? I don't really have it all that bad, at least I can try and fix things with my dad if really wanted to, but Squall…well he doesn't have that option, they're both gone and he can't do anything about that…and I'd think even if he began to see past that shell of his, it would be… so hard to break everything that he'd been sticking to for all of those years to be normal… It kinda makes me think that what I'm doing is…sorta childish… -I really should get some sleep now…'
But instead of sleep, she lulled into a very recent flashback of what she'd said to Squall earlier today before she left.
"…Why don't you want to go home?"
"Family issues. I don't like him and he doesn't like me-"
"That's not really true…isn't it? It's more like I hate him because he ignores me…Maybe my father really did mean what he said today…but…how could.. I be sure of that? I don't know what to be sure of anymore…" She wondered aloud in response to the memory in her final moments of consciousness.
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The next morning Squall was in more of a rush than usual; he woke up 15 minutes late (forgot to set his alarm), he had to endure an icy-cold shower (his father 'forgot' to tell him that the water heater broke Monday morning), and to top it all off, the car was gone for some reason (grocery shopping at 7:00 am?), so that meant that he had to dash to catch the bus or else he'd have to feign a mysterious illness to stay home until…about.. 9:39 am, and Squall was just about ready to do so… if the bus hadn't been 18 minutes late. He thanked Hyne that at least he'd packed his backpack the night before.
As he got on the bus, people halted their normal conversations as usual to be available to stare at his presence. The equation was simple to understand why they were all doing this, and the solution to balance this formula was to give them an equally icy glare back at them. Squall couldn't have imagined a more horrible morning even if he had the holy grail of horror books at his disposal.
'They're all like this because I haven't taken the bus consecutively like this since the ninth grade, but why should that bother them? People are getter stranger every day, I swear…' He thought after he'd finally taken an unoccupied seat.
"Hey Squall!" A voice shouted in his general direction, Squall assumed that it was directed to him for the obvious reasons so he calmly ignored it, figuring that answered it would only yield pointless conversation. Although he found it quite hard to ignore once the speaker fervently sat down right beside him.
'What is she doing here? Rinoa doesn't take this bus… Well… I can't really be sure since I never take the bus in the first place… But why does she always do weird things like this? I mean, isn't there another seat she can invade…Doesn't she have any friends around or something… Why does it always have to be me?'
"Squall, did you not get enough sleep or something? You look like you're two steps away from a coma."
'Never quite get it, do you Rinoa.' He quipped internally for possibly the hundredth time today.
"…No." Squall monosyllabically replied to brush her off…again.
"Uh, you do realize that I was joking right?"
'Oh yeah, I forgot, it's Squall research day and today we're now studying the Squall response mechanism! How stupid of me! What's next, an experiment to test my immune system?'
"Hmm…" Rinoa observed during the lapse of speech, "…Judging by the glare set in your eyes an position of your hands… you're thinking of something sarcastic… Am I right?"
'Dead on. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be ignoring you now just to annoy and throw you off… Can't you just leave me alone?'
For the remainder of the trip, Squall kept peered towards the windows on his right, avoiding his seat-companion's gaze; eventually she did leave midway through, being completely peeved at the fact that chewed-up textbooks had more social skills than the window-mesmerized Squall Leonhart. Meanwhile, that said person was actually transfixed into his continuous thoughts and notions about the now-gone Heartilly.
'I know that this sounds repetitive even to me, but, what is it about her that gets through my defenses? I mean that even when I do succeed at blocking me inner thoughts to her, how come it feels like I've failed? Another thing I wonder about is what draws her to me? Why is she putting all this effort in the first place to want to do all of this?'
After that block of notions came to pass, as did the bus's trip to the school, students were leaving and as soon as Squall got out of this reverie, he realized that he was the only one still there, so he quickly exited as well.
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Once inside the school, Squall simply retreated to the library, as he usually did with his first period spare when it wasn't the S.D/Weaponry class. He usually did some reading or homework when necessary. Today, however, the library's ambiance and mood felt a little different for some inexplicable reason, or maybe it had to do with the people whispering to each other whenever they went past him. Finally, one of the conspirators got brave enough to approach him and actually say something.
"Is it …true?" The aforementioned male conspirator nervously squeaked, to Squall, it seemed like the boy must have been under the impression that he bit people's heads off if they tried to speak to him.
"…What's true?" Squall inquired, coming off as being a bit annoyed.
"That… youwerelockedinsidewiththatgirlinsidetheschooltogether-"
"…I what?"
"That y…ou… were stuck inside the school w..i…th that other black-haired girl…"
While wondering why in the world that scared little kid would even know about that, Squall replied very nonchalantly to his question with a 'Yes…', then after his inquiry was fulfilled, the boy somehow became braver, finally figuring out that the rumour of the head-biting was indeed false.
"Oh, see… But another rumour has it that you two also… 'hooked up' in that time as well, if you know what I mean… -Was that also true?" The conspirator asked slyly, albeit very stupidly. This got Squall very angry as well, but somehow managed to resolve the untrue allegations without resolving to throw this guy against the wall.
"…No, and that'll never happen because I'm not that kind of person. Where did you hear that kind of stupid rambling?"
"…I overheard it from that guy… uhh… what's his name- …Captain of the football team…tall blonde guy…um-"
"-Seifer Almasy?" Squall interjected very acidly.
"Yeah, that's the guy! Sorry for bugging you… I didn't mean to-"
"…It's fine."
"Okay, bye…Gotta go!" The guy then sped out of the library and Squall resumed reading his novel, apparently when he answered all of those questions the other whisperers stopped their murmuring, possibly because they overheard the answers they sought. All of the natural serenity of the library was restored, but yet, Squall couldn't seem to focus on his book at the moment.
'Seifer… I should have known that it was him behind that ridiculous rumour about Rinoa and me sleeping together… Although I could probably ignore something trivial like this, I just hope that Rinoa can take this sort of thing as well…err… -Because I really don't want a clingy basket case on my hands…Who am I kidding? What is it that causes me to always have to justify myself like this all of the time? I know that the clingy basket case part wasn't true but what am I trying to cover? My empathetic side? No, that doesn't sound right… Nevermind, I'd better start reading or else I won't be able to finish it in time…'
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After the bell for the end first period rang, Squall was already scrolling towards his locker as the masses came from the various classrooms, filling up the previously bare hallway, he managed to spot a familiar face among the thousands, and it was speeding towards him. It was extremely easy to figure out who it happened to be.
'I'm guessing she didn't take too well to that rumour…' He noted mentally for a brief second.
"Squall, I need your help, everyone-"
"…is spreading a rumour that you and I, were fooling around?" He stated flatly, being unusually calm about the situation.
"…Yeah, that's more or less it… -Hey, how did you know about it?"
"Lets' just say an individual came up and… bluntly asked me about that." Even in light of the situation, Rinoa burst out laughing once Squall had given her the explanation.
"He..he… came right up to you and said that?" She stopped talking as he simply nodded and when she had to stifle her giggling, "Well, that's pretty brave considering the person he's talking to…"
After Squall gave her that almighty glare of his for that one, she resumed on with her story.
"-Okay…I think… I think that I'm done laughing now. Anyways, it had started when I was at my locker this morning, I thought I had heard Seifer mentioning something about us, but I figured that I was only hearing things so I brushed it off and left. Later people were giving me odd looks and pretty soon they were shouting stupid things like 'So did two really go all the way?', 'What was it like?', 'Did you actually make Leonhart crack?' and other ridiculous things like that. So I was wondering what they meant by until Quistis informed me about the rumour that Seifer was saying about us. Whether it was a joke or not, I don't know, but all I do know is that it got much worse afterwards for me. …Now, I don't know if I can't take it anymore…"
"…Why don't you just ignore them, if you know that it's not true, is it not what matters?" Squall suggested to the emotionally-shaken girl.
"Thanks for trying, but I don't think that'll work very well. People are calling me horrible things like 'slut' and other stuff like that, and even though I try telling them otherwise, they won't believe me… If there weren't so many people saying it, I could take it, but with these numbers, I don't know anymore…"
At this moment, Squall was speechless, not because he chose to say nothing; he actually didn't know what to say. For the first time in his life, he let his ego aside and took the time to think a thought, not of complaint, but one of sorrow.
'She's actually suffering at my hands… This is horrible. I was all worried about letting her in, that I've failed to notice that others are pushing her out… I don't care if it was Seifer who started the rumour, it's my fault he started it, he wanted to get back at me, so he's aiming for both of us…Why make a promise to let people out of your life if all you're doing is hurting them? I won't promise to break my vow to Ellone, but I will do something to get her out of this…I have to…'
"...Is there anything that can be done?"
"No, not really," Rinoa lamented, "Unless if you can testify in front of the whole school that you didn't do me… But that's being very unrealistic. I suppose all that we can do is bear it, and if people ask, we just tell them the truth."
"…Sounds reasonable."
"Well, I need to get my stuff for Art. See you around Squall."
Right after she'd left for her locker, Squall gathered up his things for his own English Class in haste, not to be late, seeing as he only had 3 minutes left. When the bell rang for second period, Squall managed to just sit down in his third row seat. Needless to say, he had to endure a bit of questioning from some students - which he had no problem ignoring.
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That day in English went by pretty easily seeing as nearly everyone had received extra grammar worksheets as a consequence for handing in sloppy, error-filled short stories last Thursday. Meanwhile, Squall and that girl Rinoa was talking about earlier were left to help the teacher with various tasks, one which involved returning a television cart to the library. During the walk, she started to talk to him.
"I believe that you and Rinoa didn't do anything." She affirmed. Squall chose not to say anything and just continued to direct the cart.
'That's great, now can you please convince the other 1000 students who think otherwise so I can get on with my life and have it restored to what it was, thank you very much.'
"I still can't believe Seifer would to something like this, even though it sounds like he was joking, I only thought that he was just cocky, but I guess not." Quistis added while steering the cart.
"…You'd be surprised of what that guy can do."
"…Out of curiosity, was he the one who gave you that scar?" Squall nodded and whispered to himself a scarcely audible, "…Yeah, that and a lot more…"
"Yeah, that was big news that day… I guess nothing ever goes easy for you, does it?"
"No…Not really…"
"I know that I may be talking a little too much but, you don't seem as cold and distant as people make you out to be-"
Squall stopped pushing the cart as hard and stared at her with a slightly subdued cold look.
"…What to do mean by that?" He inquired with a hint of irritation. She got the idea and stopped the cart to talk about it.
"Well, today you didn't give those death glares to everyone who came up to talk to you about the rumours. Also, when I passed by you and Rinoa, you looked a bit more sympathetic than usual. It seemed like something in that conversation was out of place for some reason. And you just seemed... different today. Well… regardless of that, we should go and bring this cart back."
'Have I really changed that much?'
Right after they had successfully returned the cart, the bell rang as they were both retracing their steps to the English class to retrieve their things. Soon, all of the students scattered outside and went in their respective directions to their own lockers along with the teachers exiting their own classes for lunch. While Squall was the last to go back in to get his binder and pencil case, he noticed that inside there were several notes so he took the time to read them all. From what he could tell from the contents of the various scraps of paper, ignorant people were writing things about him and Rinoa that ranged from obscene to completely revolting. Right there, in the empty classroom, the adolescent crumpled up the last letter and slid his binder off the desk violently, and dropped the pencil case from his hand's grasp. He then slammed his arms onto the surface of his desk along with his head; he couldn't take it anymore, his resistance had depleted.
'I can't do this… the picture they're painted of me is my exact opposite on every aspect- I am not at all like this! I …can't subject myself to this anymore… I need an escape. I… thought I was…stronger than this! Why…'
At that point, Squall had recollected something on he had thought about yesterday morning.
'What should I do? I'm so confused… She knows too much already… What if she tells somebody else? To tell the truth... I worry too much about what others think of me. I hate that side of me... That's another reason why I didn't want anyone to get to know me. I wanted to hide that side of myself. I hate it. Squall is an unfriendly, introverted guy. It made it easy for me when people perceived me that way. But now, I don't know if I can continue like this…'
'…Why can't I keep it that simple anymore? What caused the complication that's preventing me to revert to what it used to be? I mean, all that I have to do ignore everyone's stupid comments until they stop and forget about it, but no, it's the little flaw in my personality that's screwing it all up…No…Not now…Why…is that stupid migraine is coming back, I don't…think…I'll-'
Squall's train of thought was interrupted by the severe onslaught of the migraine originating from the 4 day-old scar across the bridge of his nose, the effects this time round were downright more intensely excruciating compared to the other times by an extremely large margin. The pressure put on the adolescent was extremely rapid in contrast; he immediately clutched at his sides ardently, and quickly, the pain escalated, causing him to buckle from his previously-standing position and the intolerable agony forced him to vomit, and then he progressed to pass out within a matter of seconds. The chances were very slim in regards to someone discovering him before lunch, and right now with those odds, and his life was in peril.
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"Oh Hyne, Mr. Leonhart! Are you okay? This doesn't look good… HELP!" Mrs. Pine, the English teacher exclaimed in horror upon finding Squall out cold on the floor after her lunch break, when he wasn't responding to any of the jostling from her hands. After having no success, the professor swiftly flagged down Dr.Kadowaki from the teachers' lounge.
When they both got back, Dr. Kadowaki looked over the passed-out Leonhart and gave judgment on his status.
"Hmm…He doesn't look well at all, I won't be able to treat him properly with the supplies we've got in the school, so I'd advise that he should go the hospital. As fast as possible."
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'Huh? What am I doing on a white bed again? This feels exactly like what happened on Friday, but I'm not in the infirmary, there isn't that adjacent bed…Am I in the hospital?' Squall wondered as he was adjusting his eyes to the harsh white glare of the room, when his eyes focused, he saw Dr. Kadowaki, another doctor, and Mrs. Pine all surrounding him.
"…Why am I here? I remember passing out… but how come I'm in the hospital?" The bed-ridden Leonhart inquired. Then the unknown doctor started to talk about his medical history after he motioned for the other two to leave the area.
"…I'm reading your last file entry Mr. Leonhart and it says that you recently received a diagonal gunblade wound across… the bridge of your nose and that there would be no nerve or physical damage besides scar tissue, am I correct?"
"…Yes."
"Okay, there are some questions that I need answered before I can proceed any further on any diagnosis or treatments since you don't have a history of any specific medical problems, is that okay?"
"Sure."
"Okay, have you been subjected to any environments or health problems that might have weakened your immune system besides the blood loss from that prior injury?"
'Yeah, nearly starving for 4 days being locked up in the school with Seifer and his 'posse' ganging up on me, so that's more blood loss… Would that lead to a weakened immune system? You bet it would, but seeing as you wouldn't believe that tale, I not going to be very specific…'
"I hadn't been eating very well in the last… 3-4 days and I fell down the stairs and lost some more blood in the process, and I've been suffering from these kinds of migraines at less severe intensity sporadically near my scar. …Would that do it?"
"Oh yes… That would certainly do it, I'm just going to jot this down and you'll have to get on the scale to see how much damage was done since your records do indicate that you're constantly on the borderline for being underweight for your specific body frame. Will you carefully get out from your bed and go on that scale outside the room so I can record the number please, thank you."
After the process and the tabulations were done, the pair both went back into the room and the doctor resumed the questioning.
"Hmm… a 5 pound loss from the checkup last month…at greater risk for being underweight and having an effect over the immune system…" The doctor mumbled to himself before he actually talked to Squall, "There! Done with that, you're still at an okay range, just be careful that you don't do that again or else it might harm your immune system's effectiveness for fighting against illnesses."
'That's weird; I've always been pretty healthy even though I've always been lighter than the doctor's recommended… I wonder if they were all quacks? Heh… that kind of reminds me of what Rinoa said about me when I suggested what to do about our limited food supply when we were first stuck… Hey- why did I bring that up?'
"Okay, Mr. Leonhart, last question, have you been subjected to any badly executed magic? What I'm talking about is anything where the spell-caster may have accidentally combined the spell with the effects of another."
"…Well, I've had fire spell and curative spells performed against me… Would any of them apply under what you've said?"
"No, I'm sorry, I meant a status inducing spell - those are the only ones known to have the magical properties that can be cross-contaminated with other spells."
"Not that I know of."
"Well, I'm going to take a precautionary measure and give you some low-dosage medicine that counteracts the effects of secondary spell poisoning, because judging by your symptoms, it seems like that's what's been ailing you, taking in the factors of a weakened immune system stemming from recent malnutrition and substantial blood loss. I'll call your father to pick you up and give him the information and medicine you require. In the meantime, you'll need to take it easy and rest."
Squall nodded in agreement and lied down on the hospital mattress in contemplation.
'I was poisoned? And Seifer wasn't to blame for this? That's a first, usually he's the only who has always caused any suffering since the day we met – well, except when my father takes the car on short notice, but that's besides the point… But what I really wonder about is what could have caused all of this, not just the secondary poisoning, but for everything, like why had Mrs. Edea forgotten us? Why did Seifer make us suffer even more when he'd already had gotten his revenge when he had the advantage in that fight? And why do I always have trouble shaking off thoughts of -Hmph, I guess I'll never get those answers… I might as well rest… '
After the sleeping adolescent had roughly an hour's sleep, his father came into the room and started flicking different spots on his face in order to get him to wake up.
"Wake up sleeping beauty, we've got to go. The hospital needs this bed for a man coming in for treatment who received a severe Moomba bite to his- …well I'm not going to say what, but they still need the bed for that poor fellow, so you've to get a move on. C'mon Squall…" Laguna explained. Oddly enough, it was in a very humorous tone.
"Erm…" Squall mumbled groggily before sitting up properly, "…Why do you always have to flick my nose?"
"-Because that's the only way to get you to wake up since you sleep like a brick. Okay, c'mon now, we've really got to get a move on, the man will be here any minute, so get changed in your normal clothes and we'll go."
'Geez, I think he forgot about the part about me being sick too… Oww… I hate it when he flicks me like that…'
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During the course of the trip back home, there was an awkward silence between the both father and son; and that was very unusual since Laguna normally talked too much for that to happen, so he turned the non-existent conversation to one about the medicine Squall would been receiving.
"Well it looks like you'll be missing only one day of school because the doctor told me that you'll need some rest and the medicine has a drowsy effect at first. Heh, I can already imagine the reaction of your secretary when I'll call to justify your absence," He paused for a moment to get ready to make fun of what he'd say to the school's secretary, " 'Hello, this is Mr. Loire speaking to justify my son's absence at school today, yeah, he somehow managed to get poisoned and the medication he'll be taking won't allow him to stay awake so he'll just stay home today, thanks, bye.' "
When Laguna had a moment to grin at his son during a traffic delay, Squall countered it simply with a glare and a simple retort of, 'Don't…'. His father found this amusing and continued talking when the temporary blockage of cars had cleared.
"I wasn't going to do that you know. Even though I'm a goof of a father, I know better than to not protect your privacy. Hyne, imagine if I didn't, remember when you were 12 and you managed to-"
"…Can we not relive that story, right now I'd be 1000 shades of red from embarrassment if I weren't feeling so run-down at the moment, okay?"
"Okay, I understand, I was just trying to lighten things up, that's all. Squall, sometimes you're too uptight for your own good… Now how are you ever going to get a girl with an attitude like that? Although that Rinoa girl seemed awfully-"
"-Will you please get off my case about her! I hear enough of that at school, okay?" Squall interrupted angrily.
"Hear what at school? Does she like you or something?" Laguna teased, knowing that bugging him about anything personal always worked to tick his son off to no end.
"NO! It's not like that. …By the way, you just missed the house."
"Oops, better turn around. Now as soon as we're inside the house, I want you to go directly to your room to sleep after you've had something to eat and taken your meds, okay?" Squall nodded in agreement.
'This must have been the first time he actually wants me to stay in my room; he usually wonders why I stay in there so much… But then again, I've never been poisoned before have I?' The brown-haired teen thought ironically before getting out of the car towards his house.
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A few days after Squall had made a successful recovery and ridding himself of the unnatural poisoning that was plaguing him, things at school returned to normal. Now, very few people were giving the pair of former captives' suggestive stares, and all of those people were the ones who took, what Seifer claimed to be a joke, far too seriously.
Meanwhile, the others came to the full realization to who they were talking about, figuring that Squall wasn't that easy to crack in 'that' way and that he'd probably never come close to doing anything like that until maybe receiving a kiss by the age of 40 from a senile grandma mistaking him for her own husband. Rinoa found that second conclusion to be downright hilarious while Squall wondered who put in the 'senile grandma' part. He never did get an answer, though.
Anyways, both Rinoa and Squall were relieved about the shroud covering their details of their predicament had lifted into clear image of truth. Even though nearly everyone now knew about the part that they were locked inside, it didn't bother them one bit and even worked to give them some sympathy among most of the student populace, although it did manage to stir up questions among the school personnel. The vice principal disclosed on the subject and said that it was a 'very, very, very unlikely occurrence and that they shouldn't bother thinking about it if the parents of both students weren't going to press charges'. Laguna's only worry that concerned the school was when he was unable to function properly for a day after he completely cracked up over the 'senile grandma' part when Squall told him about what happened to him at school.
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While waiting for the bus Friday morning (The car had a motor problem), Squall started to ponder about something.
'I must be getting used to taking the bus in the morning, I'm never late anymore, and people seem to not have that urge to stare at me anymore. Hmm, looks like an improvement here.'
After embarking onto the designated school vehicle, the now-adapted adolescent took his newly normal seat at the back, waiting for the perfect moment to take out the new novel he'd become engrossed in lately. Right now, every thing seemed perfect; things were back to normal, nobody bugged him, and he was essentially now free to live his life to the way he'd been accustomed to, and to Squall, it felt very nice.
Actually, almost everything went back to normal. There only one difference, and it started with a 'R' and ended with an 'inoa'.
At her stop, she was heading towards the seat across from him. Right before she reached the back row, Squall found that perfect opportunity to open that 'engrossing book' and acted as if he were deeply submerged in the analysis of each syllable printed on the page. Although the book was interesting read, he found it increasingly difficult to ignore the currently-sitting Heartilly. Everyone near Squall pretty well knew what was really going inside his head but falsely-reading teen couldn't figure this out for himself, or simply wouldn't allow himself to realize the feeling he was experiencing because he subconsciously knew that if he did, he would have broken his promise to his departed sister, and then some.
Whatever the case, whatever he was trying wasn't really working out anymore.
"So… I never got around to asking you, why weren't at school Wednesday? Were you trying to dodge the masses?" Rinoa asked during the moment he put his book down to rub his eyes.
'Well I can't get out of this one, can I? I probably should tell her what happened or she'll be hounding me forever…'
"…Well, you know how during the weekend how I… sometimes fell ill…" He paused for a second to let her nod and to try and phase the next part with some dignity, "…well it happened again, but it was very severe this time and I …"
"Actually… Squall, I know about that part, Mrs. Pine ran right past me with Dr. Kadowaki talking about the problem."
'Oh great, so she knows about how I threw up and blacked out, there goes my dignity out the window. Might as well tell her the rest…'
"…Well, then they must have brought me to the hospital since I somehow woke up there and it turns out that I was poisoned from a cross-contaminated status spell…I just …stayed home on doctor's orders."
After that, the only response that Rinoa could spit out was, "Oh my…" before they returned to their respective things.
When the bus had stopped at the school somewhat later, after Squall and the others had all come out from the bus, he noticed that Rinoa had speedily dashed past him, while nearly grazing his arm, to meet up with her female friends. He thought nothing of this considering her social nature, but something was naturally picking at the back of his mind about the last comment she'd said to him. He often cursed his habits of over-analyzing every little detail. As he walked towards the library to read his novel, he started to ponder once more on his lack of self-control.
'Okay, this is getting stupid, even though I keep telling myself to stop thinking about everything little thing she does, it still plagues me. Ever since the lock-in, there hasn't been a night or day where I haven't thought about her for some little thing, whether she was ticking me off, or just simply thinking about something she did or said. I know now what this must mean, but I … can't do it. I just can't, that could mean breaking my promise but, now that I think of it, would Ellone want for me to be isolated like this? She probably wouldn't, but then, who was I making to promise to then?'
The question Squall asked himself was answered within a matter of a split-second by the logical part of his brain.
'-Myself. I just used the promise to make it easier to keep myself distant and never risk losing anyone dear to me, not because of Ellone. …I'm so sorry, sis… I was only afraid of any comfort getting taken away like that again… Well, eventually people do die, just some pass away faster than others, and that just happened from chance… it was an accident… Hyne, I'm so stupid! '
'Maybe I ended doing the very thing I was trying to prevent by not letting anyone in… I was hurting myself more by denying my feelings- err…it still feels odd admitting that…rather than just maybe accepting them, even if I wasn't planning to do anything about it. Okay, so I've gotten that off my chest, but what now? I can't say much to Rinoa or else she'd probably have a heart attack, but… at least I can admit to myself that I think that I lo-'
"You actually put a sleep spell on him Friday afternoon, and he got sick because it?" Selphie inquired (at a much higher volume than the library normally tolerated) to Rinoa in the library among her circle of close friends. Once the dark-haired girl turn around for a moment when she heard a book drop, her face went bright fire-engine red realizing Squall was staring at them, jaw agape. After overhearing Selphie talking, err, shouting to Rinoa, he had a change in his thoughts before taking in the full dimension of what it meant.
'…I think that I lo-athe her…'
"Wait! You don't understand, come back Squall!" Rinoa pleaded desperately.
He waited for no one, he simply pick up his book and strode out furiously and never looked back.
'This is exactly why I didn't bother to open up to anyone… and thanks to you Rinoa, I never will, ever again…'
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End of chapter comments – I can bet that you weren't expecting that one; did you?
Anyways, I hope that answered some questions meanwhile possibly creating new ones. Although I can't really promise when it'll be done since you guys probably guessed that I'm really an off-and-on writer, but the next chapter will be the conclusion to the story because it would be too hard to put it all in this chapter. Even though I might just be speculating, but the final chapter might not be as long, but keep looking for that update you'll never know, I might be able to pull it off. Now, it's time for that trademark sentence…
…Keep on reviewing with ideas, comments or anything you guys have to say! Thanks a billion you guys!