A/N: Sorry about taking so long to update, guys! I've been so busy!

In loving memory of Akatsuki Will's deceased hampster, Shuffle. We shall never forget you!

Thanks to TearSheild Alchemist, May Flourence (AKA Acebuddy) and Akatsuki Will for reviewing!


CHAPTER IX Second Strikes, Predicted

Deaths and Random Hatred

5:00 P.M. at the Movie Theatre…

"That movie sucked…" Kira muttered as he walked out of the theatre with Lacus. "Well of course it did. You only saw the end of it. You were blind half the time," Lacus pointed out. Kira looked at her. "Oh, yeah… I forgot…"

She giggled. "You're cute…"

"You really think so?" He asked stupidly. "Of course. Who wouldn't?" She smiled then proceeded to give him a kiss, but Kira was quick to pull away.

"What's the matter?" Lacus asked. "Sorry… I was just a bit surprised…" Kira answered blushing. They were quiet for a moment.

"So, shall we walk home?" She finally asked. "Sure…" He agreed. With that, they walked back towards the subdivision.

Four days later at the Jule Mansion, 8:00P.M. …

Ezaria sighed as she walked into Yzak's room. Now was the moment of truth... if his temperature was 104 or higher, he'd die. If not, he'd live.

When she'd entered his room she was shocked to see beads of sweat on his forehead.

"Yzak? How are you feeling?" She asked, already knowing the answer.

"Like... like I'm on fire..." he whispered between laboured breaths. Gently and fearfully, she put the thermometer in his mouth.

"Please... spare my son..." she thought holding back tears.

When Ezaria pulled it from his mouth, she stared in disbelief at what it read. Yzak looked at her shocked face. "What...? What does it say...?" He hardly managed to ask. Her answer was shaky. "105..."

He stared at her. "That's a bit high, don't you think...?"

There was no answer. She just looked totally devastated. "No..." she thought. "This just can't be happening..."

"Mother? Is there something you haven't told me?" Yzak asked. "Something... important?"

Again, there was no answer. "Mother-?" he asked again. She suddenly snapped back and cried. "Just go to sleep!"

He stared after her as she quickly left the room. "What the hell's going on-? Why is this such a big deal-?" He thought weakly. Deciding he was going to figure out what was the big problem, he lifted himself from his supposed death bed with great difficulty, almost collapsing in the process.

"I'm so... weak..." Yzak muttered, giving a large effort just to keep standing.

When he'd finally managed to get to the door, he heard Ezaria downstairs dialing a number on the phone...

"Hello? Doctor Hahnenfuss... I just called to tell you that Yzak's fever is a solid 105... I just can't believe he's going to go like this..."

Yzak's eyes widened. 'Go like this'? What the hell was that supposed to mean? Unfortunately... he already knew the answer. "Oh my God... I'm gonna die..."

At the Hahnenfuss Residence, 8:30p.m. ...

(The "DOCTOR" is just on the phone with Ezaria right

now. It's still the same moment in time...)

"I'm so sorry... this is devastating..." Doctor Hahnenfuss tried to sound comforting for the distressed Ezaria.

Upstairs, in her room sat the eavesdropping Shiho. She'd heard everything.

"Oh-no..." she whispered in disbelief. "Yzak... he just can't die..."

At the Elsman Mansion, 9:00p.m...

Dearka sighed as he walked out of his room. His mother had no idea that he'd left his room two other times to go out. But this time, he had a good excuse for leaving. He felt unwell, and it showed. His face was pale, he looked tired, his throat was sore, his head ached and he had a fever.

"Dearka! What are you doing out of your room and why are you so pale?" His mother asked upon meeting him on the stairs. He groaned. "Do we have to make small talk every time we pass?"

"Dearka... this is odd... Coordinators don't get sick... there must be something wrong with you..." she said worriedly, as she felt his forehead. "You have a fever."

"Nah. I just need some Tylenol..." he muttered. "We don't have any Tylenol because we're not supposed to need Tylenol..." she pointed out. "Oh yeah..." he said. "I guess you're right..."

"You go to your room right away, Mister!" She said quickly. "And get some rest!"

Just as she'd finished her sentence, the phone rang. She dashed down the stairs to the nearest phone. Dearka listened in. It sounded something like this...

"Hello? Oh, Ezaria... what's the matter? Why the tears?... What Coordinator Plague? –It's going around? Oh my God... Dearka's sick... do you- ...what? Yzak? He's not going to make it?... Oh, Ezaria... I'm so sorry... Don't cry... Ezaria..."

Dearka was shocked. "Yzak's going to die from a Coordinator Plague-? Great... that means I have it too and I'm going with him... that's just fantastic..."

Suddenly, all the lights in the house flickered off and Dearka felt his head get light. Before he lost consciousness, he saw someone familiar standing at the bottom of the stairs, just glaring at him. As he fell, the glaring person vanished into thin air.

At the Allster Residence, 9:30p.m. ...

Nicol's bruised leg was now pretty much good enough to walk on. He'd spent the last five days in one of the guest rooms in the Allster mansion. He phoned his parents to tell them he was just staying at a friend's house for the week. (Yeah, like they'd approve of that...) He didn't want them to know that he'd been hurt. It had taken quite some time to heal, even for a Coordinator...

Nicol was worried. When Fllay left at three, she said she'd be back by seven thirty the latest. It was now nine thirty and there was still no sign of her.

She lived with her mother in this mansion- her father had died a while ago. For the week, though, her mother was out of town with a friend.

Suddenly, Nicol heard the front door slam open. He lifted himself up and put some weight on his bruised leg. It didn't cause him too much pain. He started to walk towards the door (there was a slight limp in his steps but it was hardly noticeable) and just as he reached it, that door flew open.

Fllay was standing there with a gun in her hands. Here's the fun part- it was pointed at him. Nicol stepped back. Shocked, confused, and scared.

"Don't move..." she hissed. "It's time you Coordinators got what you have coming to you..."

"A hug-?" Nicol asked timidly. "NO! AN UNTIMELY DEATH!" She screamed, pulling the trigger. The window behind him shattered. "OH MY GOSH!" He cried. "You were really gonna do it!"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! OF COURSE I WAS GONNA DO IT! WHAT ARE YOU! RETARDED!" Fllay screamed, keeping the gun pointed at him. "No!" Nicol cried in tears. "You're crazy lady! You're screwed up in the head!"

And from here on in, the sound of screaming, shooting, yelling and running could be heard in the subdivision. Nicol managed escape Fllay's mansion and was now running down the street screaming bloody murder while she chased, occasionally shooting and shouting "colourful" insults with "colourful" language.

"Somebody HELP ME! She's got a gun and she's gonna KILL ME! OH, PLEASE HELP ME!" Nicol cried as she-um... HE ran. The lights of houses came on as they passed them.

When Fllay realized she was out of bullets, she screamed angrily, picked up speed and managed to catch up to Nicol, tackling him to the ground. He hit the street with a cry of pain. She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and shouted angrily while shaking him, "You stupid Coordinator! You have no right to call yourself human! You should just die, go to hell, come back, die again then GO BACK TO HELL WHERE YOU BELONG!" She glared down at Nicol's tear-stained face. He just kept on crying. There was blood on the right side of his face from when she'd tackled him, causing him to smash his head into the street.

Fllay's eyes softened... she thought Coordinators to be emotionless and cruel. Yet here she had Nicol, a Coordinator, at her mercy... and to top that, he was crying like a baby... He was innocent... so innocent...

Her anger just suddenly vanished. She felt stupid for what she had done...

She pulled him closer so his face was right in front of hers. He flinched. "Nicol..." she whispered. "I'm so sorry..."

After that apology, she just kissed him, wanting to embrace his innocence. As she pulled away, his eyes closed and he lost consciousness. Fllay hugged him close and with how overwhelmed she felt, lost consciousness as well. (Oh dear! I'm so delicate! HA!) They both laid there in the middle of the street while currently the world around them was in a panic.

At the Jule Mansion, 10:30p.m. ...

Yzak sat outside his door listening in disbelief as his fever rose. Ezaria was calling everyone she knew and telling them that he was going to die. He was in complete shock but managed to pull himself up and walk with great difficultly back to bed. He just laid there, letting it all sink in. His eyelids got heavy, and eventually and slowly began to close...

10:45 at the Amalfi Residence...

"Dear, I'm worried... Nicol's been gone for five days and did you hear those gun shots? And the screaming? What if he's hurt? Oh, my poor baby..." Nicol's mother, Romina, said to Nicol's father, Yuri.

"You heard him; he said he'd be at a friend's house. I'm sure he's fine," Yuri said with a shrug. "You know, we've never met these new friends of his... they could be an awful influence on him. They might even try to kill him!" Romina cried. "Paranoid..." Yuri muttered under his breath. "What did you say?" She asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Uh... I was just saying that it would be a good idea to go look for him..." he lied. "Yeah, right..." she muttered, heading to the front door. "Where are you going?" Yuri called after her. "TO LOOK FOR MY SON!" She screamed, followed by the door slamming. "Uh... wait! I want to look for your son too!" He shouted, chasing after her.

Ten Minutes of searching later...

After walking along the streets for (like I said) ten minutes, Romina and Yuri came across the unconscious Nicol and Fllay in the middle of the street.

"Oh my goodness!" Romina cried. "Why is Nicol in the middle of the road? Why is he unconscious? Why is there a redheaded girl on top of him? And-" She stopped and stared in shock when she saw the gun lying beside them, and that Nicol was bleeding from the head.

She screamed when it finally sank in. "OH NO! SHE SHOT MY BABY BOY IN THE HEAD!" With that said, she slipped to the ground in a sudden faint.

Yuri chose not to jump to conclusions, though. Instead, he walked to where Nicol and Fllay lay, pushed Fllay off of Nicol (who needs her?) and examined the wound to his head. He sighed with relief. It wasn't a bullet wound and it hadn't bled that much. Nothing severe.

Yuri hugged him close, then tried to wake him. "Nicol... Nicol... please wake up..."

Groaning, his eyes slowly opened. "Father...?" He asked groggily. "Where am I-?"

"Lying in the middle of the street for some reason. Now I think you have some explaining to do," he answered, helping Nicol up, then picking the still unconscious Fllay up and setting her down on the sidewalk. "Uh... Father... one more question..." Nicol suddenly spoke up. "What's the problem?" He asked. Nicol frowned "Why is Mother lying on the ground?"

"Oh, right..." Yuri muttered, leaning over his fainted wife and giving her a gentle shake.

"W-what happened-?" She asked as she came to. "You fainted," he answered while helping her up. "By the way, Nicol's fine. He just has a little gash in the side of his head- nothing really severe."

"Oh! Where is he?" Romina cried. "Behind you..." He answered. She turned to see Nicol. "I was so worried!" She cried, throwing her arms around him. "You explain yourself, Mister!"

He sighed then took an extra big breath. "Okay... when I left home five days ago I saw a kitty stuck up in a tree... so I went to the top to rescue it but when I was almost to the kitty I remembered that I'm afraid of heights! So I was stuck up there for four hours until that GIRL" he pointed to the unconscious Fllay "found me. I asked if she could help me get down, she said yes. Then she screamed really loud and I was shocked so I fell out of the tree! That knocked me out for half an hour and when I woke up that GIRL" he pointed to the unconscious Fllay again "was there. I tried to stand up but my leg was bruised too badly, so I couldn't walk. She offered to let me stay at her mansion until I could walk. Five days later she went out on a date. When she came home she tried to shoot me. So I obviously ran away and she chased me all the way out here then tackled me... she said she hates Coordinators... then when she finished shaking me she said she was sorry... then... she kissed me... I lost consciousness and I guess she did too... then that's when you showed up."

They seemed to believe him. "So it all started with that redheaded girl..." Yuri said. Nicol shook his head. "No. With a kitty."


A/N: That wasn't very good... OH WELL! 1 more chapter of Shuffle to go! Then I'll have Shuffle 2 up. It'll be a lot better and there'll be a lot more weird pairings in that one. Trust me. Well, that's all!

!WiSpY!wAs!HeRe!