Chapter 5

Love Hurts

Quote: "When all is said and done, more is said than done." - my P.E. Coach's white-board.

Story Recommendation: I Never Knew You by Attharun

Blah Blah Blah: So it's been a while since I wrote this story, but I've been preoccupied. Right now.. No. For a while, my life had been a little more hectic. I guess it's just a little harder than I thought to work in the many stories I want to write into my schedule. Anyway, here's the next chapter. -smile-

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed. If I did things might end like my story. -smile grin- Of course, you have to wait to see that.

– – – – – – – – –

Nicol tried numerous times to talk to Susume but she'd always turned him away saying she was too busy to talk. She spent all her time studying or training and had gotten to level 58 while the rest of the class was still on 34. All her extra time went into these two subjects where she found she could improve herself. By level 50 she'd begun to strap heavy weights to her legs to strengthen herself.

'If I become stronger, I'll never get hurt.' she'd told Nicol when he'd asked why she had to train so hard.

"Level 59. Complete." a computer voice announced. Susume punched one dumbie one last time and sank to her knees, panting.

'If I become stronger... just have to...' she huffed. Yzak flashed in her mind. She had to show she was better than him. So much better that he'd have to see her as an equal, at least.

Her mind was filled to the brink with all the information she'd need for her test and she was still studying. She was more than 20 levels above the other students but she kept working. Because...

'If I get stronger.. It might not hurt anymore.'

– – – – – – –

Yzak walked down the hallways toward class with Athrun, Nicol, and Dearka. They were all talking about how they were starting to worry that they weren't prepared for the test and were asking Yzak if he could help since he wasn't tutoring Susume anymore.

Speak of the devil. Said girl walked around the corner. Yzak's eyes narrowed and she didn't even look at him as she walked past.

"Hey S..." Nicol attempted a confrontation and failed miserably.

"Whoa, Yzak. What did you do to her?.. she's acting like.. like.. You!" Athrun snickered at Dearka's comment but did so behind his hand.

"Whatever. Are you guys so stupid that you can't prepare for a simple test by yourselves?" the silver haired teen asked, stepping into the classroom in a haughty manner.

"Wow. What a jerk. No wonder Susume changed.." Dearka whistled his amazement.

– – – – –

Yzak, Dearka, and Athrun were heading to the gym for training like they had when first meeting Susume. Each of them were up to level 40, about 5 levels above everyone else. Susume never trained in class with everyone else to get admiration like they did. The first time the coach yelled at her about it was the also the last. She'd simply held out a piece of paper and he'd gawked at it before returning to teaching the class. Once a month she showed him a paper and he'd nod and forget it.

She seemed to get more distant lately, huddling to herself and going over notes or reading books assigned the next day. Mrs. Long was surprised too, but she was satisfied. She knew working with Yzak would boost her up but she didn't know how much. Susume never told her about Yzak crushing her feelings by lowering her to the size of an inch worm in his eyes.

Athrun was once again the first to enter the room. He paused and Yzak stopped before he could see inside. Dearka also took a look. Nicol was already inside. He was huffing, hunched over on the floor.

"Nicol! Are you alright?" Athrun asked.

"Y-yeah.." he sighed. "I'm just tired."

"What were you doing?"

"Training. I have to catch up to Susume. I want to keep helping her train but she's gotten so far ahead of me.." he gave a weak smile.

"What level are you on now?" Dearka asked. An attack dummy sprung up suddenly and Nicol wasted no time in beating it.

"Level 50. Complete."

"Whoa!" Both boys exclaimed.

"If you're at 50, what level is Naegino at?" Yzak finally stepped in. Nicol looked up, surprised, at Yzak.

"Um.. Well.. She just finished level 70 yesterday morning." he informed them all. They were all shot speechless. They had thought themselves to be hot stuff at level 40.. But Nicol was level 51 now and Susume was 71.

Without a word Yzak took off his shirt and reset the area to his next level. The others moved out of his way and watched him train. Dearka lowered his voice considerably.

"You know he's impressed. It's why he's trying to catch up."

The head of a practice dummy flew and hit said blonde in the head. Dearka fell to the ground, unconscious. Yzak shook out his arms and returned to what he was doing. Athrun and Nicol sweat dropped and sighed. Young love was harsh.

– – – – – – – – – – –

Scores for the Finals were put up on the bulletin board just inside the classroom. Everyone crowded around it to see what they got on their finals. Susume paused and looked up. Yzak stood before her, his usual glare in place.

"Morning, Y.. Joule." She caught herself. She wanted things to be like before. She called him Yzak and he'd call her Susume or Naegino, she didn't care.

"Morning." he turned to the mob of people around the board. He clenched one fist, feeling Susume watching him. She was just begging him to smile at her like he used to.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE ALL DOING!" Yzak yelled and everyone shut up to watch him. "This isn't some normal highschool! Line up to see your grades! Stop standing around like a bunch of loose bees and get it together!"

Everyone moved to let him see the board and Susume was soon to follow him. Yzak ran his eyes down the list to find everyone. He got ... the highest score. Good. Perfect. He looked for Susume and paused. He hadn't gone far. She was number two. Following her was Athrun, Nicol, Dearka, and then Rusty.

Susume smiled at her grade and then frowned as Yzak walked away. As soon as he was out of earshot everyone began to talk about Susume's surprising rise and murmuring about their own grades.

Susume frowned and pushed from the crowd.

"Yzak!" she called. The silver haired boy didn't seem to hear her. "Yzak Joule!"

"Can I help you?" Yzak finally turned around with his military like smirk on.

"Aren't you going to say anythi..." Susume stopped and composed herself. She noticed Yzak readying a retort and switched her game. She held out one hand. "Good job, Joule. I hope we get to work together again soon." she smiled.

Yzak shook her hand, though he was caught off guard. He nodded and then they stood silently, watching each other for a moment. Yzak noticed he was still holding her hand and quickly dropped it.

For Susume, what he did next was not what she wanted but it was what she expected. He bowed his head, turned on his heel, and walked away.

"Goodbye.." she whispered, smiling.

– – – – – –

Yzak sat in the library at a long table. He flipped through a book for his tactics class. He turned the page and read.

'Sometimes the best offense is a good defense. Patience is rewarding. Turning and leaving the front battlefield is not always retreat. More of a promise to return with full force.'

Yzak closed his eyes and tried to block out that female voice.

"Where did you read that?"

"I came up with it by reading this part." Susume pointed in the tactics book. Yzak looked where she pointed and nodded.

"Not bad." he smiled.

"Wow." Susume leaned on the table.

"What?"

"You smiled. I think that's the first time you ever did that. At least around me..." she laughed and Yzak smiled again.

"I think that's the first time you've laughed around me." he noted.

Yzak closed the book with a sigh. He wasn't going to get anything done this way. Instead, he packed up his stuff and hurried to his room to put his stuff up. Next class was tactics and today they didn't need anything with them. Today was a virtual set up of entering an enemy base.

– – – – – – –

Gun shots rang out and Yzak ducked as something near him blew up. He glared harshly as he spotted someone directly across from him, hiding like he was. They were on the same team but he couldn't help but feel his chest swell whenever they came near him. He was angry.

The other person noticed him too and took off, dashing for the goal. Yzak held his gun down and followed quickly. However, with all the extra training, the other person was well above his level.

Yzak looked up and saw an enemy aiming carefully.

"Watch out!" he yelled. His teammate jumped back just before the bullet hit the dirt where they'd been standing. The black clad soldier flipped once and landed not 5 feet away. They could hear the click of the gun and looked away from each other, running into safety.

"You helped me. Thank you." the girl nodded, reloading her gun. It was only down by 4 but it would be best if it were loaded in an emergency.

"I was just..."

"Following orders. I know." Susume nodded. She didn't even seem to be trying to start a conversation this time. She turned her head to the side looking to see if the coast was clear.

Yzak was angry at her. For training alone, for trying to beat him in studies, for ... Everything was different since he'd realized she was prepared for her test. He'd felt... unneeded.

"Yzak..." he was drawn from his thoughts when he heard his name. Wait. That was his first name.

"Wait. Did you just call me.."

"Stop daydreaming, Joule." Susume turned away from him and he swore he saw a blush.

"You shouldn't run so recklessly into battle. You need to think more before you act. You're going to get yourself killed." Yzak scolded her. Susume turned back to him with a cunning smile.

"Knock off the whining, Joule, and bag that trophy!" She ordered smugly. She was technically a higher officer than him in this situation. Yzak was taken aback. "Let's go." she held her hand out.

To Yzak, it was like she was saying she forgave him for how he'd acted. For everything. She wanted things to be the way they were before, like Yzak did. When had he decided he wanted things as they were?

'Ever since they day it happened, idiot.' his mind told him.

Yzak smiled, grabbed Susume's hand and, before she could pulled him along, pulled her to him. He pressed his lips to hers in a short, message filled kiss.

He broke away, Susume lost in the moment. Yzak had just... kissed her. After all the bullshit and bad mouthing and ignoring... Where did this come from!

"You..." she looked at him, face covered in confusion.

"I'm sorry." he apologized. He would've said 'I felt abandoned when I thought you wouldn't need me' but it was corny and not an Yzak thing to do.

"You just..." she began. Yzak cut her off.

"...bagged myself a trophy." He smiled again and she beamed. He took her hand in his and they took off in the other direction. When they weren't fighting, these two were a great tag team. Together, they avoided the bombs hidden in the ground, found their way through the last of the maze, and found their target.

"It's.. up there?" Susume asked.

"This is bull crap." Yzak growled. The target was a document addressed to the ZAFT council. It proved you were ready to become a red coat. Sure, you were mostly already set for being a redcoat if you had top grades and training scores like Susume, but Susume did not have any family on the council as the other top students did. She had more to prove.

Yzak didn't need the scroll but he couldn't lag. That scroll could make him a higher officer than the other red coats.

But the scroll was under a glass case. The case, they noted, was set on a pedestal about 10 feet off the ground, only about 4-5 feet above their heads. However, the motion detectors were obvious and lifting the glass would certainly cause some damage.

"You can have the prize." Yzak finally spoke.

"Huh?"

"I'll get the glass off and you grab the letter before the backup defense closes it off again." he pointed at the ceiling where another, heavier covering was waiting to protect the letter. Susume didn't like the idea of taking all the glory but she nodded anyway.

Yzak leapt up and easily lifted the glass as he pushed off the rock pedestal. Beams shot around the letter and singed Yzak's shoe. Susume waited for the lasers to die, her opportunity, and snatch the letter. A loud buzzer rang out of the chaos of the training simulation. Athrun, who was just arriving in the final section, stopped.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. He had a feeling his father would not be pleased.

– – – – –

About an hour later, Susume had taken a shower and gone to see the council. Yzak pretended not to be waiting on her as he calmly walked down the long corridor outside the room. Athrun, Nicol, and Dearka, however, were waiting at the end. The door to the room opened and Susume stepped out. She let out a breath she'd been holding and smiled.

Turning her head, she instantly spotted Yzak, who smiled just a little. Laughing, Susume bounded up to him and wrapped her arms around him.

"I did it, Yzak! I'm a red coat, like you. I'm finally on your level!" she cheered.

"You're a lot higher than my level. But I guess we're equal now." Yzak shrugged, being his smug self. Susume heard a joke in their somewhere cause she started laughing softly again.

"When did they get so close?" Dearka asked, the three never getting a chance to leave the end of the hall.

"I don't know, but I'm glad for them." Nicol smiled brightly. "Come on. Let's go grab her some lunch."

Dearka and Nicol turned and left while Athrun watched the couple sadly. It was strange that while watching a happy couple... all he could think of was Kira and how he'd never followed him to the school.

"Athrun!"

"Coming!" Athrun turned and hurried off. Yzak froze slightly. Had those guys been watching?

"Hey, Yzak. Don't worry about it." Susume pulled away from her hug. "Let follow them. They're heading toward the food court."

Hand in hand, they began to walk and Yzak was glad he'd taken Susume's advice today.

– – – –

"Guys, why do you think they left real training till the second semester?" Nicol asked randomly.

"Ask Athrun's father. He's the one in charge." Dearka passed it along.

"Father says the first semester is there to weed out those who are not cut out for the job." Athrun quoted his father perfectly.

"You're father's going to get in trouble one day with his way of thinking." Susume nodded, biting into her lunch. Yzak just nodded. He and Susume were doing something they hadn't done in weeks. Sitting next to each other, and eating lunch together.

Silence fell over them and Nicol exchanged glances with the others.

"Are you two... dating?" he asked. Both people involved nearly choked on their lunches. "Sorry." Nicol covered his head.

When Yzak and Susume could breathe normally, they looked at each other and then turned away blushing. Yzak may disagree, but the others liked this version of him.