Highschool Drama!
By Rosegirl18
Chapter 13: The Downfall of the Dance
It was after springbreak, and after the finals when the principal, Murrue and all the other teachers suddenly called all of Heliopolis High to the main theatre. The students were bleak and unhappy looking, due to the fact it was a Monday, the first day after their abnormally short break.
"Alright everyone," Murrue talked to all of them with her loud, important-sounding voice, "I have something very important to tell all of you."
The students ignored her claim, slumping in their seats.
Murrue twitched, but didn't let her composure fall. "Kira Yamato, Athrun Zala, and Lacus Clyne, please come up to the stage.
The three of them, who were sitting beside each other at the moment, looked up, startled.
Staring numbly at their principal, who was looking back at them expectantly, they stood up slowly and walked up to where she was standing.
"You three…" Murrue started, looking into the eyes of the teens before her, "Have gotten perfect scores on the regional level test."
The fact rang throughout the large theatre, until it finally registered in the listeners' minds. Kira held his breath, rather happy at the news.
"Just goes to show how Academy of ZAFT educates," Yzak gloated. "Those Pure Earth idiots just can't compare."
"You didn't get a perfect score," Miriallia fumed at him, "so don't brag over others' work!"
Murrue continued with what she was saying, despite the all-around chatter. "These three will be moved up a grade to apply for university as soon as possible. Five of the most famous universities in the world have offered scholarships for all of you."
Everyone who heard gasped in amazement, marveling at the three smartest people in the region. One day, they would tell their children about how they once shared classes with the soon-to-be famous three. Yet Lacus was still smiling calmly, without a change in her serene expression, while Athrun looked on, slightly embarrassed. Kira only looked a bit dazed. It was as if they had been expecting this.
Later, at lunch, the other students got to check their scores. After the perfect trio of their group, Miriallia had scored the next best, with only two questions wrong. Shiho got 82 percent and Dearka and Yzak both got 80. Cagalli had a surprising improvement with her 85 percent.
Fortunately for Kira and Lacus, the two found that they, along with Athrun were in all the same classes for the upcoming semester with more challenging classes. In other words, Fllay was all but neglected for the whole day, except for lunch break.
.lll.
With every class Kira took, Fllay became more and more annoyed with him and all her surroundings. People around her began to drift away in a flurry of whispers and gossip, and all of a sudden, the popular queen of Heliopolis High had become all alone, and crumbled down to face her fall.
"What's going on with you, Fllay?" Kira had asked one afternoon. The girl had remained silent, sullenly looking to the left side of her.
"You're my only source of support, Kira. Don't leave me," she had said quietly, so that Kira only heard a bit of it.
Kira could see her now, fallen and under so much. She had brought this upon her, but somehow, a slight twinge of guilt poked at him. The same feeling came when he was with Lacus. He knew he needed to choose one or the other, but the balance was so hard to maintain. Fllay's sanity was hanging ever so dangerously at the edge, and Lacus's happiness hung at the other. In the middle was Kira, trying to position himself so that neither would fall off.
But everything was getting so complicated. Both of them were starting to fall out on their own, weighted down by each of their opposing forces from outside of the measuring device.
"Kira, are you okay?" his twin sister came out from behind him, touching his shoulder. She sat down on his bed. "What's wrong with you?"
Kira blinked a few times, feeling his surroundings come back to him. "Sorry," he replied. "I just…zoned out for a while, I guess."
"Well, don't." Cagalli said worriedly. "You're really getting me scared, Kira. I'm worried for you. What's going on?"
He smiled weakly. "I guess in the younger years, everyone needs to go through this sort of stress."
His sister's lips tightened. Kira had never seen her so concerned. "This isn't the sort of normal troubles, Kira. Fllay is your problem – you need to cut ties with her."
He shook his head immediately. "How can I? She needs me."
"Many people need you, but how can you make all of them happy? And most of all, don't you think that most people closest to you would care more about your own happiness?"
Kira looked up, startled by her words. "Make sure that in the end, you are acting for yourself, or you will hurt everyone who loves you."
Cagalli gathered him in a hug, patting him on the back.
A while later, when he was alone again, Kira sighed and looked up at his ceiling. So many people were calling to him, so many of them wanted him. But Cagalli's words had struck something. In the end, whom would he choose to please? And would this decision make him and his loved ones happy as well?
.lll.
"So he still isn't out of his room?" Athrun talked in a low voice, careful not to let his anxiety show. "This is taking a toll on him. It needs to stop."
"But you need to understand," Cagalli replied, "He cares for both of them. And Kira has been such an awful decision maker since birth…" She remembered how she had always picked things for him – ice cream flavors, elective courses, even friends – but this was his choice. She could never even make a statement in this struggle.
Athrun sighed. "Lacus is…"
"She's not very used to having something like an affair, isn't she?"
"Yes. But she's just like him, never making decisions for herself. If Kira will be happy, she would do anything."
"But the problem is that he isn't happy. And she isn't either."
Athrun suddenly started laughing, a laugh filled with irony and hidden nervousness. "I can't believe we're dealing with these kinds of problems right now," he said. "I wish we could chuck everything away and hop on a cruise headed to who-knows-where."
Cagalli smiled at the impossibility of it. "You know that Fllay is having problems. Kira's decision could easily decide her life or death. Do you know that I saw a few pills in her purse the last time she came over for the party?"
"She is involved in…bad things," Athrun admitted. By now, the whole school knew, and Kira probably knew best of all. Frustrated by the situation, he put a hand to his forehead. "Well, I need to study for my tests. See you tomorrow, Cagalli."
"Alright," she replied faintly, holding the receiver even after he hung up. Sighing, she put it down and sat on the couch in her room. Suddenly realizing that the youngest members of the family were nowhere to be found, she opened her room door and called out their names.
"Mayu! Shinn!" Thankfully, Mayu had become brighter since she began to hang out with Ezra. Probably, they were together right now. And Shinn was possibly with his crush, Stellar. "Right, he said something about going shopping with her." A slight smile appeared on her lips. At least they weren't suffering. Feeling a bit more relieved, she went back in her room to do her unfinished homework, due tomorrow.
The Sunday sky had been perfect for Shinn's little date with his infatuate, Stellar. A sparkling light of happiness and innocence, she had asked him to go shopping with him for that day. Lounging at a café in the huge and elegant mall, they sipped on parfaits, looking shyly at each other.
"I hope I didn't drag Shinn around…" Stellar stammered nervously in her third-person dialogue. "Many boys don't like malls…"
"No, I'm fine," Shinn insisted, "I had a great day today." In truth, today wasn't anything so great, with the added anti-bonus of shopping, which he had never really cared for, but the fact that Stellar had been by his side for the whole day made it the most special out of all the ones in his memory.
Stellar rewarded his sincere reply with a radiant smile. "We should go out…more often." She said.
"Yeah, we should." Shinn agreed heartily. Finished with their parfaits, they both rose to head back home.
Hand in hand, they walked out of the building with many bags from different clothing stores. Stellar had bought everything that she had tried on, because Shinn had said for each outfit that it was pretty on her.
Shinn is so nice to Stellar, she thought dreamily, feeling the warm, early summer sun on her arms. I wish he were Stellar's boyfriend.
All too soon they were met with the sight of the Clyne mansion, towering all the other houses in the near distance.
"I'll walk you to your house," Shinn said, reluctant to part with her.
"Okay," Stellar instantly accepted, and they turned to cross the street.
Maybe it was his daydreaming of them. Perhaps he was too giddy with their enjoyable date. But whatever the reason, Shinn didn't hear the car approach him. Obviously a speeding car, it didn't even stop to honk. Only at the last minute did he sense it, feeling the adrenaline of the moment, hearing Stellar's frantic shriek, and the rushing sound of the car reaching his ear.
I'm going to die.
The thought struck him, paralyzing him, forcing his eyelids shut. And the impact hit him, but from an unexpected angle.
"Shinn!"
His whole body met with the heated gravel driveway, and his last moment of consciousness was a mix of the dusty smell of the gravel and the metallic one of machine oil and blood.
The darkness was engulfing him. He opened his mouth to scream, to yell, but it didn't move. His body was no longer his. And in front of his wide eyes, opened in fear, a screen ran like a movie. A wisp of blond hair. A blur of movement.
No pain. Just blood.
"Stellar!"
Waking up with a violent jolt, Shinn woke up on an unfamiliar bed, colorless and eerily neat.
"Shinn!" beside him, his sister looked at him with teary eyes. "You're awake!"
"See now," said Cagalli, "The doctor said it was nothing serious."
Kira was there too. All his siblings were. "W-what's going on?" he looked around. "Why am I in a hospital?"
"You got into an accident, remember? But don't worry, you only lost consciousness out of shock." Strangely, Cagalli, even though she was saying all these reassuring things, had tears in her eyes, which were puffy and red. Even Kira's held traces of tears, though Shinn couldn't tell.
"What's going on?" Shinn asked for the second time, suddenly afraid and frantic. He was frustrated and impatient, and the most annoying thing was that he couldn't find out why.
Kira laid a hand on his shoulder. "You should rest, Shinn."
"No," Cagalli cut in. "He should…"
"I should what?" Shinn could feel his voice rise from a whisper to almost a yell. "Tell me!"
"Shinn," Mayu sobbed into the hospital bed sheets, "She's dead… Stellar is dead!"
Murrue was shuffling through the works of the three genius children of her school when she realized that there were notes on all of them from their individual teachers. There had never been notes before. Murrue had only been told that their work was perfect. Beyond perfect.
Lacus Clyne resumes her work with the brilliance of a true multi-genius, and her effort as a student is undeniable. However, during the last few days, her work quality has been falling, and she continuously zones out during class time.
Athrun Zala has been working on his experiment, as he is unusually successful in the area of engineering, yet these days he is not getting decent progress than usual. Both Miss Clyne and Mr. Zala seem to be preoccupied by a certain concern or worry, which I suggest should be taken care of before going further in the curriculum.
Murrue raised her eyebrow in surprise. Flipping the page, she realized that Kira's report was longer than both of them combined.
Kira Yamato is a brilliant student. He is capable of many, many things and possesses more talent than anyone could ever imagine. However, since the beginning of the new semester, he has been unable to show us his potential and his skills. I myself have been trying to figure out the cause of this distressful strain on him, but I am unable to guess, being a complete stranger to him. I ask you to please warn him of his shadows and maybe talk him out of whatever he might be doing to harm his interior so much.
Other than that, Mr. Yamato remains to be a consistent student, not being outshone by his two companions in class.
What was it that caused her students to be like this? Wondered Murrue. She stood up, deciding that she should talk to them.
lll
"Absent? All three of them?"
"Yes," nodded Aisha, showing her the attendance results on her computer.
"But why?" Murrue questioned, completely baffled.
She let out a sound of anxiety. This was making her curious. Very curious. Somehow, she got a feeling that her best students were undergoing something out of the ordinary – a problem, or a stream of problems, that could possibly prevent them from showing their full potential for their benefit.
Unbeknownst to her, she was right.
The shiny beads of red shone in the dark room, glittering in a sinister light. The silver object he was holding fell to the floor.
"I'm sorry," a choked voice let out, echoing in the large room. He doubled over, grasping at his carpet. "I'm sorry."
Letting his hand lie limply and drip its newly spilt blood, he felt an unbearable hollowness in his heart. "I couldn't protect you, could I? Yes, I'm too weak to protect anyone. I'm so worthless – I don't deserve to live."
A new stream of tears rolled down his cheek. "You should have just let me get hit, Stellar."
-Chapter End-
A/N: Lol… I bet you guys must be holding there with pitchforks… Yes, I know, my chapter's late by almost a whole month! Gomengomen… For the last month and a half I've been infatuated with the joy of PRINCE OF TENNIS and YAOI of all things… My little new fascination with yaoi has made me crazy and a slight bit more angsty than usual with my writing, as you can see from what you've just read. Eee Stellar's dead You can flame me all you want, but I've become to dramatic for now. And for those who are wondering, I will probably kill off all the people who died in the original series since I've killed Stellar anyway. Shinn's going kinda insane, isn't he? Ohh yes. BTW Lacus and Fllay bitchfight in the next chapter, so EXPECT!
Also, I've started to actually USE my livejournal, so visit me! Now what else was I gonna talk about? Oh yeah, my happiness at becoming so devoted to my stories. About a half-year ago I would have been totally biased and unserious, but look at me now! Killing off the good girl. Sigh. Anything for the goodness of the story!
