Chapter 17: Who Told?
Dearka was exiting the locker room, clad in his basketball jersey and shorts, when Cagalli approached him. Her hands were balled in tight fists and she wore a scowl on her reddened face. Dearka watched her, befuddled.
"How could you?" she shouted.
Dearka looked around as if he were searching for the one she was truly talking to, not believing that it could possibly be him. His teammates, however, nosily watched as they passed by. Kira, who had heard Cagalli yelling from inside the locker room, stood behind Dearka to see what was going on. Cagalli noticed Kira, as she marched toward Dearka, but did not care if he overheard what she was going to say.
Word probably reached him, too, she thought.
"How could you?" she repeated, now face to face with Dearka. "I trusted you."
Dearka had a puzzled look on his face. "What did I do?" he said.
Before answering, Cagalli glared at him with such intensity that Dearka found himself taking a step back.
"You told," she whispered.
Dearka still looked confused and it angered her even further. Two days had passed since he learned about her being an Atha. After him witnessing the confrontation with Yuna—and the fact that the two have been seeing each other for weeks—she felt that there was no use in hiding it from him. Both had gone into a nearby, empty classroom, where she told him about her parentage, and the fact that she and Yuna were promised to each other by their parents when she was just a baby.
She told no one else about her truth, and the only other person at the school who knew was Flay. But she had already confronted Flay, demanding to know why she was spreading a "rumor" about her. Flay looked highly confused and had mistaken the rumor for something else. Apparently, Flay was still mentioning the idea that Cagalli has feelings for Kira. Cagalli ignored this. She eventually saw no reason for Flay to lie. Flay had many opportunities to rat Cagalli out, but she didn't, and why would she now? That left only one other person.
"Cagalli, what are you talking about?" Dearka asked. "Do you think I told people about what was said the other day?" his voice was hushed.
Her glare was his answer.
"Why would you think that?" he said in a pleading tone. "I promised you I wouldn't say anything."
To not be suspected of eavesdropping, Kira slowly began to make his way around the pair.
"Because four people called me princess today. Four!" she held up her fingers. "Not only that, but I keep getting these looks and people whisper whenever I come around. Do you want to know what I heard someone say in my last class? 'I bet she thinks she is all that because she is that president's daughter.'"
Stopping in his tracks, Kira turned to face them once more. His eyes wide from shock.
"Cagalli, I didn't—" Dearka started.
"I don't want to hear it! You are the only one that I told, and now so many others know! This isn't how I wanted it to be and you knew that."
"I know," he said.
He reached to touch her cheek, but she smacked his hand away.
"Who else could it have been?"
"I don't know."
"Well, until you find out, I don't want to be bothered by you," and with that Cagalli left the gym in the same manner she had entered it.
Kira wanted to call after her. He wanted to question her, comfort her, do something, but Dearka was already desperately shouting her name. Still, the gym doors slammed closed behind her. Kira turned to face Dearka, who looked a way that Kira had never seen him before: hurt.
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