Chapter 3: I know your secret

The once familiar room had an uneasy feeling to it. The four students stood staring at one another, each of their eyes fixated on a significant other. The uneasy feeling that they all felt gripped tightly and made it all the more difficult for anyone to utter any words. Laughter suddenly erupted from Cagalli's direction, to say the least; it was one of the least expected sounds to be heard at this particular time.

"This is so silly, why is everyone so nervous for?" Cagalli said that, but it was obvious by the tremble in her voice that she also shared the same sentiments. The remaining three gave each other a glance and after a bit they too started to laugh. Shortly after the butterflies in their stomachs had flown away, they gave a formal introduction, and then a unique bond was formed. It was a unique yet unusual since they had only just met, but it felt as though they had known each other for ten years not ten minutes. Although Kira was still very uneasy talking to Lacus, he was able to act more natural since he was also surrounded by familiar faces. Silence was now the unexpected sound.

Cagalli was in the kitchen preparing snacks for the guests, Kira had offered his assistance but was denied, he has yet to figure out why. The remaining three sat on a large leather sofa seated in front of the television set. They were conversing about school related topics, when the door leading to the kitchen swung open.

"Lacus, can you help me in the kitchen for a second?" Cagalli inquired

"Sure, I'll be right there" Lacus got up from the sofa and proceeded to meet with Cagalli.

Upon entering the kitchen Cagalli shut the door tightly and watched through the glass frame as though monitoring to see if she was being followed. Realizing that she came alone she turned to face Lacus with a determined look. Lacus placed her hands in front of her and nervously asked "Is something wrong… Cagalli?"

"Kira is the one you called to talk to me about last night wasn't it?"

A bright red flashed onto her face, "Wha… wha… what are you talking about Cagalli!" she screamed.

"Oh-ho… I'm right" Cagalli snickered.

Lacus's face became even redder as she looked down at the floor, and twiddled with her thumbs. "Whatever you do, don't tell him!" she pleaded to the conniving girl.

"Why shouldn't I tell him?" she screamed

"Cagalli! Your voice!"

"Is everything okay?" Kira asked as he approached the kitchen.

Cagalli stuck only her head through the door and shooed away the concerned Kira with a simple motion from her hands, then returning to Lacus.

"Promise me you won't tell him!" Lacus begged.

"Fine..." Cagalli sighed surrendering to Lacus' puppy eyes.

"Thank you!"

The high pitched whistling of the kettle attracted the two's attention as they started preparing some snacks and tea. Meanwhile, in the living room Kira's face had a smile, but an eerie smile, Athrun sensed something was going to happen… something bad. Kira placed his hand on his lips, and let out a subtle "Hmm…", while carefully examining Athrun.

"I guess if it's you, it's fine." Kira finally stated after minutes of excruciating silence. Athrun eyes opened widely clearly showing his dismay.

"What are you talking about?" Athrun asked, almost afraid of what the answer may be.

"I'm saying, if you were to date my sister I'd have no problem"

Once again there was a moment of silence until Athrun turned to a bright shade of red and screamed "Kira you idiot!"

"Ouch…" Athrun whined, as there was a sudden tap on his head. Athrun started rubbing where a bump would soon form and looked up to see who had done it. It was none other than Cagalli her hands culprit still lingering above his sapphire hair "Don't call my brother an idiot, only I can do that"

"Cagalli!" Athrun exclaimed while practically jumping out of the sofa. There was a low giggle at first, which eventually broke out into a laugh. Kira tried to contain it, but he couldn't help but add to his friend's embarrassment "Like I said, I'm okay with it".

"Ooooooooh is that how it is Kira?" Athrun's embarrassment faded as his face signaled the beginning of something sinister. "Lacus, Kira has something to tell you"

Lacus tilted her head towards Kira, she didn't say anything, but then she didn't have to. Lacus' face plainly showed that she wished to know. Now, it was Kira's turn to be embarrassed, his face turned red, and no matter where he looked, whenever he checked back with Lacus, her eyes still did not wander.

"I…" Kira began. "I…" Kira's hands gripped tightly on the cushion beside him.

"I hate you Athrun!" Kira finally exclaimed, while picking it up and tossing it at Athrun. The throw itself was a soft one, but the unexpected event threw Athrun off, and caused him to fall to the floor.

"That's it! I've had enough of you!" Athrun shouted.

"Calm down please" Lacus pleaded trying to calm the boys down afraid that it might escalate further, it was obvious that neither boy was listening. Athrun picked himself up, and walked towards Kira. Athrun calmly sat next to Kira, the two just started at each other. Then in an instant they made a dash for the playstation 2 remotes. They loaded Street Fighter vs. Capcom 2 and chose their characters and began to duke it out.

Lacus sighed with relief noticing that the tension was gone. Cagalli placed her hand on Lacus' shoulder and walked up beside her and smiled.

"My brother doesn't like confrontations. He won't fight, especially with his best friend"

"YES!" Kira shouted as the television flashed a 'Player 1 Wins'.
"Again!" an upset Athrun pleaded.

"It'll be the same no matter how many times we play" Kira taunted.

Lacus regained her smile as she looked at the two boys who just minutes ago seemed as though they were going to fight, but now were laughing and having fun with one another. A slight push from behind caused Lacus to stumble forward as she turned around Cagalli whispered into her ear, "Now's your chance, serve him some tea and start a conversation!" afterwards Cagalli winked and waved goodbye as she retreated to the safety of the kitchen. Lacus turned back to face Kira, who had yet again defeated Athrun. At first, her feet seemed paralyzed and it was difficult to move forward. Lacus took a deep breath and began walking towards her goal. She was finally within arms-reach of her goal, but she was so self conscious that she forgot to look where she was stepping and ended up tripping over a stack of magazines. Lacus closed her eyes and braced for the impact of the hardwood floors but was instead met with a warm, comforting feeling. Slowly she opened her eyes, witnessing the tea dripping out of the teapot and cookies laid scattered across the floor; she adjusted her line of sight and came face to face with her saviour – Kira. Their faces were but centimeters apart. The warm breath escaping from Kira's bow shaped lips brushed gently onto Lacus' face. Kira had wrapped his arms tightly around and, she felt so at peace, so safe in the confines of his arms. Lacus' ear rested upon his chest and the sound of his heart was clearly heard, and it wasn't much unlike her own, it was racing and nothing seemed to slow it down.

"Are you guys alright?" a concerned Athrun asked.

The two quickly descended from their paradise and released their tender embrace. They looked over to Athrun and gave him a small nod. Lacus wasn't sure if the fall had affected her vision in some way, but she could have sworn that Kira was beginning to lean over to her in a kissing gesture before Athrun called out to them. Lacus placed her fingers on her lips and deeply considered the results of such an action. Cagalli rushed out of the kitchen and like a bloodhound she immediately noticed the injury on Kira's arm.

"Kira, your arm! Are you alright?" she questioned.

"Huh?" Kira looked over to his left arm, and noticed that a tiny portion was burnt by the tea.

A sense of guilt began to swell up in Lacus and she burst out in tears, while continually apologizing. Kira comforted Lacus by placing his hand on hers "Don't cry, there's nothing to be sorry for." Lacus wiped away the tears that were brimming in her eyes and turned to face Cagalli.

"Where's do you keep the bandages?"

"Uhh… upstairs in the washroom."

"Kira, c'mon upstairs I'll treat your burn" Lacus' voice was full of determination, she wanted to do at least this much. She grabbed Kira's hand which instantly made his face the same colour as his wound and dragged him upstairs, leaving behind a big smile on both Athrun and Cagalli.

Cagalli grabbed a cloth off a nearby table and began to clean up the spilt food. Cagalli stooped down to start, but there before her was Athrun, who had already begun to pick up the larger fragments of food.

"Thanks…"

"It's nothing"

A few minutes passed, and the mess was cleared from the floor, the two stood up and met each other eye to eye. Just as swiftly as they had met they turned away.

"I'll get some more tea…" Cagalli announced.

"I'll help you out"

Cagalli thought for a while then nodded in agreement.

Lacus shuffled her way through various objects in search for some ointments and bandages. Meanwhile, Kira just watched quietly from behind admiring her figure, his mind was going crazy, he wanted to walk up to her and wrap his arms around her and kiss her softly on her cheeks, but reality set in and he gave up on the idea. A few minutes of searching and Lacus finally located a jar of ointment, she turned around quickly only to see Kira staring straight at her. Kira turned his head quickly as to not raise any suspicion. Lacus approached him, and unscrewed the top of the lid.

"I'm sorry" Lacus whispered while applying the ointment on Kira's minor burn.

"Don't be, I won't change a thing about what happened. I'm just happy you're alright"

Soon after Lacus had finished with the ointment she placed it down and brought her face close to the burn. She curled her loose hair with her hands behind her ears, as she gently blew cool air onto the burn. After a few seconds, Lacus picked up the ointment and placed it back to its proper location and just happened to look at Kira, who had a shocked expression on his face. She deduced that it must have been from the irregular action she just preformed.

"My … mother use to do that all the time… I thought…" she began.

"It was very soothing" Kira interrupted noticing her difficulty to place it into words.

Lacus nodded but seemed a bit sad. "What's wrong?" Kira inquired.

"It's nothing" she replied instantly, and placed a fake smile on her face as she made a dash out of the bathroom.

Kira stood silently in the bathroom recalling all of what had happened over the past few days. Kira's emotions were running out of control, it must have been because they were in close proximity of one another that his feelings magnified, he almost kissed her in front of everyone. "I like you Lacus" he practiced with his reflection in the mirror.

"Kira!" his tomboyish sister called out to him.

Hearing his own name made him jump out of his skin, especially since what he had just said was purely confidential. Sighing in relief that no one was around he preceded downstairs.

In front of the doorway stood Lacus, she was just slipping on her last shoe. Lacus lifted her knapsack and placed it on her back, it was evident that she came here directly after school.

"Bye, thanks for having me over Cagalli…" she turned to Kira who stood midway on the winding stairs, "… and Kira" and with that she turned to unlock the door then she headed for home.

"I guess I'll be going too…" Athrun stated as he emerged from the living room.

"You too Athrun?" Kira asked

"Yea, I just remembered I have a big assignment due and I haven't started"

"What about the movie?"

"Don't worry, it's not going anywhere"

"Oh… okay, alright, I'll see ya later then."

The house suddenly became quiet with the sudden departure of their two guests. The twins were in front of the television enjoying their lunch when Cagalli suddenly raised the question "So… you like Lacus huh?"

Kira almost choked on the tea he was consuming and immediately asked "Wha… what… what makes you say that?"

"Let's just say a hunch…" she snickered. Kira regained his cool, and just gave her the cold shoulder, hoping she'd drop the subject, which she did, but he could sense that somehow it wouldn't end so peacefully.

The soft chime of the old doorbell alarmed Lacus of a visitor; she opened the door to see who it was, but already knew the answer. The door opened revealing on the other side of the storm door Kira.

"Morning Lacus!" Kira said with a bright smile. It's been a week since she unexpectedly appeared before him in his house, and since that day he's been making it his duty to escort her to school. Of course, it was all a façade, the real objective was so that he could get closer to her in hopes that someone like him would be able to ask her out. His shyness had for the most part disappeared, although there would still be times when he would become suddenly self conscious and end up doing something clumsy, he thought it was embarrassing, she thought it was cute.

"Good morning Kira" Lacus replied with an equally bright smile. She looked around until finally noticing that this time Cagalli and Athrun had not accompanied him.

"Where's Cagalli and Athrun?"

"Oh, they left early today, not quite sure why…" Kira lied, he knew exactly why.

"Oh…" For whatever reason it was, she was really looking forward to her time alone with Kira.

This simple walk to school started when Athrun showed up in front of Kira's house one morning claiming that he wanted to talk to Kira about some things, but Kira knew his real intentions and thus forced him to suggest a quick swing near Lacus' neighbourhood. Athrun knew that if he did not comply certain consequences would follow so he brought up another excuse so that they would go to Lacus' house. Ever since then, it was a routine for the four of them to walk to school together.

The two arrived at school faster than what they had hoped. A dark figure stared at them in the distance. "Kira…" the mysterious figure muttered. The bell rang its usual sound as it signaled the start of yet another day of school.

First period passed uneventfully, except for when Mwu threw the chalk at the sleeping student who was obviously sleeping since his snoring was so loud. Once again the same ringing sound marked the end of the first period and everyone rushed out just as quickly as they rushed in, if not faster. Kira was among one of them, he had told Lacus earlier that he was unable to accompany her to her next class because his assistance was required from one of the teachers. Before leaving the class, Kira looked back and she gave him a wave goodbye, his heart refueled with energy raced back to his task.

"Is there something you're not telling me Lacus?" Mir asked. "You seem happier these past few days, I could literally see the light radiating from you!" she exaggerated.

"Really?" Lacus asked, as she perked her head up.

"Really really!" Mir said, annoyed that it seemed as though Lacus won't tell her anything.

"Something happened I guess" Lacus said smiling.

"That's the expression I'm talking about" Mir exclaimed placing her two hands in front of her to imitate that bright light was shining from Lacus. "Something happened… as in something happened with you and Kira?" she asked placing her hands on her hip.

"Mhmmm, yea, we're really good friends now" Lacus got up from her chair, and walked out of class with Mir not far behind.

"Suspicious!" Mir shouted.

"Alright everyone! Gather around, today we're playing one on one basketball, just a friendly competition, you can choose your partner" The teacher yelled, his voice scratching the very inside of everyone's eardrums. After the teacher's mind numbing announcement Kira approached Athrun, but a tall figure stood in his path. Kira looked up at the monstrous height of his fellow classmate, distinguishing him to be Ryosuke. Kira tried to walk past the tall figure by taking a detour to the left, but once again Ryosuke was there in front of him.

"Ummm… excuse me" Kira asked politely.

"I challenge you Kira Yamato" he gruffed ignoring Kira's plea completely.

"Sorry, my partner is Athrun"

"No… your opponent is me!" Ryosuke said correcting him.

Athrun shrugged his shoulders telling Kira to just give in to his petty demand. With that, Kira agreed to a friendly competition with Ryosuke.

The two boys stood toe to toe with one another at the center of the court. The teacher stood between them with a ball in hand and a whistle attached to his mouth. Ryosuke was clearly taller than kira, a full one and a half head taller to be exact. Anyone could see that, the opening was going to go to Ryosuke. The high pitched sound of the whistle initiated the start of the battle as the ball was thrown vertically into the air. Ryosuke jumped and as expected Kira was no where to be seen. Landing with a thud Ryosuke smirked at his opening victory, Kira still stood in his original position.

"Giving up so soon?" Ryosuke taunted

"No, I thought I'd give you a chance"

"What!" Ryosuke screamed, his voice was filled with hostility.

"It's over…" Athrun commented watching the two.

Ryosuke started to dribble but as soon as the ball left his hands, it had seemingly disappeared and reappeared in Kira's hand. Kira twirled around the massive Ryosuke with his back facing him and quickly made a dash for the basketball net. Ryosuke quickly followed and was right behind Kira. Kira had a hefty lead, or so he thought, he slowed his pace to correct his aim for a two-pointer. Midway in the air with a stunning display in form he was tackled from behind by Ryosuke. The net was near the stands and the force of impact had sent Kira staggering towards the wooden benches. Kira only stopped when his head met with the benches. The ball rolled from the fallen Kira's hand till it came in contact with a nearby wall, he could hear his name being called, at first it was loud but soon it was nothing but a whisper in the distance, he fainted, blood trickled out of a gash on his forehead.

Kira's eyes fluttered open, the bright light entering from a nearby window made his eyes squint. He raised his left hand just above his line of sight to shield himself, when a shot of pain made him abandon his shield as it now caressed his throbbing head. As the pain slowly subdued he released his grip and took time to survey his surroundings. A small desk stood a few feet away from the base of the bed. On it were papers littered everywhere, there was hardly a sense of organization. A small figurine which Kira wasn't quite able to make out from this distance held the loose paper from blowing away as a gentle breeze entered from the left window. White transparent curtains draped the frame and as the wind blew through it made the curtains dance with excitement. Kira closed his eyes and took time to take in the calming effect the room had. He almost drifted into slumber when the sound of the school bell made him quickly sit upright. Looking at his digital watch he realized that he had been sleeping for the past 5 hrs or so.

'Oh man, what happened, what am I doing here…' he thought. Flashes of the incident immediately appeared in his mind as he recollected the event. "Oh yea… that happened…" he muttered. Kira shook his head slightly to erase the images from his mind when the door slid open, behind it appeared the school nurse – Talia, she wore a long lab coat that reached just a bit above her ankles. She had dark blonde hair, and a very unique pendant wrapped around her neck. When the door was fully opened Talia couldn't help but notice that her only patient was up and about.

"Kira! What are you doing? Lie down!" she screamed as she hastily ran up beside him.

"Huh? No, I'm fine it's okay Ms. Talia"

"Are you sure? You can stay here for a couple more hours if you want" she said concerned.

"No it's okay, I'll just go home" Kira replied as he started walking towards the door.

"Oh your sister already went home without you, I told her you won't wake up for a while, so to go home without you… I didn't think…"

"It's okay" and with that Kira left, and headed for home.

Kira let out a loud sigh as he stood in front his house, 'What a day… I can't believe that happened, now I gotta make up for the classes I missed' Kira scrambled the key into the lock and swung the door open. The house was eerily silent, Kira assumed that Cagalli must have went to Lacus' house. Exasperating yet another sigh Kira started climbing the stairs to go to his room. Regardless of what he said to Ms. Talia, he was still a little bit dizzy, he just wanted to get out of school as fast as possible. He rotated his doorknob and practically crawled to his bed, which was beneath a window with curtains. The window was open and it let in a cool breeze every now and then which seemed to soothe his pain. Kira finally made it to his bed and just dropped his bag and jacket onto the floor and hopped into bed, he rolled over to his side and was met with something rather unusual. His bed had seemingly formed a lump sometime between this morning to now. Kira could feel heat emitting from this 'lump' and then a small moan was heard causing Kira to leap out of bed and fall on the floor, his heart started racing and his mouth went dry as he yelled out "Who are you?"

A louder moan was heard as the lump started moving and then stretched for a bit. There in the light of the setting sun, pink hair flowed elegantly as Kira was finally able to make out who it was, it was none other than Lacus. Lacus started rubbing her eyes a bit as she adjusted her vision she saw Kira sitting on the floor stunned. Noticing that Kira was home, she lept out of bed onto him, "Are you okay Kira?" she asked while tears started to form in her eyes.

"Yea, I'm fine, sorry for making you worry"

Lacus shook her head, she looked down at her right hand and Kira followed her eyes, in her slim fingers was the letter he tried to give her from before, he couldn't believe how she came to obtain it. His mind was racing with different scenarios, when his train of thought was broken when Lacus silently whispered "I know your secret"