English is not my first language. Please bear with grammatical errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own GS/GSD.
Season of Farewell
Chapter 3: Jealousy
Her eyebrows were knitted into a deep frown. "My brain's become totally useless," his girlfriend lamented, a container of ketchup in her hand. "It's because I have so much to memorize, you know? Names and equations and phrases and whatever. There isn't much room to stock good ideas in my brain anymore."
They were standing in front of the counter at the school cafeteria. She had ordered the omelet with rice set and, as always, been trying to come up with what to draw or write over the yellow surface with ketchup.
Athrun had never really understood this habit of hers. Whatever picture or word you put there, you were going to eat it; so what was the point of wasting time and energy? He would just pour a small pool of ketchup on his omelet if Cagalli didn't insist on putting a word or a picture in his stead when he ordered an omelet. At least, though, watching her face while she was pondering was fun, especially when it was for him.
He threw a glance over his shoulder and nudged her with his elbow; his hands were holding a tray with his lunch. "I think he is waiting for the ketchup." He didn't mind waiting for her for a little longer, but he couldn't ignore the presence of a guy hovering behind them.
"Oh, sorry. I'll be quick," Cagalli apologized, looking over her shoulder at the guy. Athrun also sent an apologetic look and the guy nodded.
Hurriedly, she drew a big sun on her omelet and handed the container of ketchup to the guy. She and Athrun headed for the table near the windows where Kira was sitting. The brunet seemed to be engrossed in texting, a plate of omelet with fried noodles—zigzag lines of mayonnaise and ketchup covering the omelet—in front of him barely touched.
"Who are you texting?" Cagalli asked, sitting across from her brother.
"Lacus. She's shooting a commercial, but on a short break right now," Kira replied, glancing at them, then picked up his spoon.
He scooped red pickles off his plate with the spoon and dumped them on his sister's plate without saying anything; Cagalli didn't say anything either, simply starting her meal as if nothing had happened.
From his seat next to Cagalli, Athrun watched it with slightly narrowed eyes, and let out a sigh with no comment. He believed that Kira should put a little more effort into eating the food he didn't like and that Cagalli shouldn't spoil her brother like that, eating the food for him. He had actually tried to stop them from doing it several times, but the twins had just shrugged it off and kept doing it; he had more or less given up.
Noticing his gaze, Cagalli pointed the two piles of pickles on her plate with her spoon. "You want some?"
"No, thanks." He shook his head and silently told himself that he had done what he could do before starting to eat his cabbage rolls.
"Don't you eat, Kira?" Cagalli asked. "Your food is getting cold."
"I know," he replied absently, his fingers moving busily on the phone screen.
Cagalli made a face in Athrun's direction. He shrugged his shoulders. There was still plenty of time before the lunch break ended, at least.
"I can't believe it!"
Plates and utensils clattered as Fllay dropped her tray on the table and took the seat on the other side of Cagalli. "Ms. Badgiruel took my phone and wouldn't give it back to me!"
"What did you do?" Cagalli asked.
"Nothing. I was just returning a text during her class, which took only a second. She caught me, though, and took my phone away. Then, said after class she wouldn't return it until after school! How can she be so cruel?"
"Not your day, hmm?" Cagalli said before putting a spoonful of egg and ketchup-flavored rice into her mouth.
"What am I gonna do without my phone?" Fllay whined. "She's such a tyrant. She shouldn't be allowed to abuse her power like that and torment us."
Natarle Badgiruel was the strictest teacher in this school who would rarely engage in a friendly conversation with students and was feared and disliked by them. Athrun didn't have a problem with the politics-economics teacher's no-nonsense attitude, though. She was actually easier for him to talk to than a teacher like Mwu La Fllaga who often teased students and made Athrun feel at a loss as to how to react; she required only politeness and obedience, not a witty comment.
He also didn't think there was anything wrong with teachers trying to make students follow the rules. In his opinion, if you were using your phone during class, which was forbidden, you deserved a punishment like Fllay's.
Not that he said it out loud. He wasn't the type to talk without thinking first and he wasn't looking for trouble. So he kept silent and focused on his meal until Dearka took a seat next to him, sighing deeply.
Athrun gave the blond a sidelong glance, and after a moment, commented, "You look unusually down today."
"Yeah." Dearka let out another sigh. "Did you hear Miri got accepted by her first choice?"
"I did. Cagalli is excited and planning to throw a congratulation party. Probably after Nicol's result comes."
Cagalli had just informed him of the news while they were waiting in line to buy lunch earlier, then asked his opinion about the party: whether they should wait one more week so that they could congratulate Miriallia and Nicol together or they should have two parties to congratulate them separately.
Their green-haired friend had applied to his first choice of college—a college of music—using an early decision program as well, and everyone including his teachers was positive he would get accepted. Athrun had told his girlfriend that it would probably be better to wait since they were busy studying and preparing for the sport festival and that it was difficult to gather everyone twice. She had been convinced.
"I actually tried to talk her out of going there, you know."
Athrun looked at Dearka with mild surprise. "You did?"
"Yeah. I suggested she could apply to schools around here. They are good schools and she wouldn't need to move out of her home, which would help her family financially. But"—Dearka's voice turned more irritated and frustrated—"she was, like, standoffish. 'I don't need you to tell me what's best for me or my family,'" Dearka imitated Miriallia's voice, then heaved a yet another sigh. "It's not like we're dating, sure, but she could be more...considerate or something, don't you think?"
Listening to the blond, Athrun searched his mind for the information on the college Miriallia was going to. It wasn't far enough from here to take planes to visit, but it still took several hours by car. Miriallia would probably rent an apartment near the college—he remembered Cagalli had mentioned something like that—and probably it was the major reason why Dearka was upset. As far as Athrun knew, Dearka was planning to study machine engineering and his first choice was Martius and Maius Technical Institute in PLANT. Dearka and Miriallia were going to live far away from each other—like Athrun and Cagalli.
As if reading Athrun's mind, Dearka asked in a low voice, "How are you handling Cagalli moving away? Her college's pretty far, right?" The blond moved his gaze from something behind Athrun—most likely Cagalli—to Athrun.
Athrun glanced behind as well. Fllay was still complaining and it looked like Cagalli's attention was divided between her lunch and the redhead. Then again, it wasn't like he was going to say anything his girlfriend shouldn't hear. He empathized with Dearka, but not enough to share his honest feelings which should be kept hidden.
He lifted his shoulders, careful to make the gesture look casual. "Yes, it's four hours by plane. But she is quite excited to go there."
Dearka gave him a scrutinizing look. "But what about—" The blond closed his mouth as their silver-haired friend sat across from him. "Hey."
Yzak gave a curt nod to the blond, then the blue eyes met Athrun's. Athrun nodded in greeting, secretly thanking the silver-head for unknowingly interrupting Dearka. But Yzak only sent him a glare.
Athrun suppressed a sigh as he looked back at his lunch. He and Yzak went to the same cram school; results of an English test they had taken there had come back three days ago, and his score had been higher than Yzak's, which made the silver-head more hostile toward him than usual. It was nothing new, actually, but still somewhat troublesome.
He went over his class schedule for cram school in mind, and put some effort into not grimacing. He had an English class today, which he and Yzak shared. It meant he was likely to share a bus ride and then a subway ride with Yzak after their study session with their friends at school; Nicol and Dearka would probably be with them in the bus, but not in the subway.
Silently, Athrun wished Yzak would decide to leave for the cram school earlier than he should as the silver-head sometimes did. Given the silver-head's hostility toward him, Yzak surely didn't like the idea of spending some kind of alone time with him any more than he did.
His mind mostly on what was going to happen after school, Athrun absently kept clearing his plates. To his relief, Dearka was doing the same, seemingly with no intention of resuming the previous conversation. Yzak didn't seem to be in the mood to talk, either.
The silence at their corner didn't continue for long, though. Nicol and Miriallia arrived shortly after, taking seats next to Kira's.
"Ah, I knew you'd chosen the cabbage rolls set," Nicol said playfully after glancing at Athrun's tray. "That's your favorite meal, right?"
"Yeah." Athrun smiled a little before turning his eyes to Nicol's tray in front of his. "You ordered the daily special?"
"Yes, I like saury." Nicol pointed his chopsticks at his grilled fish. "They are especially good now since they're in season. Perhaps you can—" He broke off with a sheepish face. "Sorry. I forgot you can't eat fish."
"It's all right," Athrun reassured him. "It's a good thing you don't have to be troubled by an allergy."
"Yeah, you're right," Nicol said with a vague smile before turning his face to the right. "By the way, Yzak, have you already finished Orb History homework?"
Yzak quirked an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"
"I wasn't sure about some of the answers, so I was hoping you could tutor me a bit," Nicol explained.
"I don't know why you bother," Dearka chimed in. "You're more or less accepted by college already. You don't have to study at all. I'd just write down whatever looks okay and turn it in."
Yzak snorted. "That's why your grades are worse than Nicol's."
Dearka leisurely lifted a shoulder. "I just don't wanna waste my energy on what doesn't matter." Then he grinned. "Besides, you should be glad about it. That's why I've never threatened your position."
Yzak smirked. "You think you are able to outdo me? Not in a million years."
"Oh, don't be so sure of yourself. Overconfidence tends to trip you up, don't you know?"
"Hey, Athrun."
At the voice and a tug on his arm, he shifted his attention from his bickering friends to his girlfriend.
Cagalli was showing her phone screen to him with a wide smile. "I just got a text from Ahmed," she said excitedly. "He said he'd go for Tassil Uni!"
His eyes darted over the text on the screen: Fine. You win. Will apply to TU.
"I'm glad I probably won't have to go to Tassil alone." Relief was evident in her face and voice as she looked at the screen again as if savoring the text. She had been pretty disappointed after finding out that no other senior at SEED High was applying to Tassil University.
He managed to put on a small smile. "That's good news." His voice was somewhat hard, but she seemed too thrilled to notice it.
"You succeeded in persuading Ahmed? Congratulations," Miriallia chimed in and Cagalli turned to the brunette.
"Yeah. I knew he'd see my point!"
Athrun dropped his eyes on the empty plates on his tray, trying to contain a swirling emotion in his chest. He grabbed his bottle of green tea to gulp it down, which tasted bitterer than it had only a minute ago.
As he had wished during lunch, it had turned out that Athrun didn't have to share rides with Yzak. He was the one who had left school early, though. After school hours, instead of going to the library, he had told Cagalli that he was going to the cram school early because he had some questions to ask teachers there. She had looked a little surprised, for he rarely did it, but simply said, "Okay then. Good luck on your study, and see you tomorrow." She had not seemed to be suspecting anything.
Why should she? He had been careful not to give her any reason to. And he had not been able to spend time with her today, after hearing the news, if he wanted to keep it that way.
His eyes absently looking through the bus window, he clenched his teeth, struggling to keep the smoldering fire inside him under control.
He had never liked that Ahmed guy. Or rather, he had never liked Cagalli hanging out with a guy who had had feelings for her, who might still have feelings for her. He had never said it to her; he didn't want to sound like an overly jealous boyfriend or a petty person. And it had not been so big a problem before, anyway.
Maybe he should have, though. Maybe he should have done something about it earlier, before this Tassil thing had happened. Then the situation might have been a little different. Maybe Ahmed wouldn't have been going to Tassil with Cagalli where they would be alone among strangers while Athrun was far away.
Then again, would she have listened to him even if he had tried? Would she have distanced herself from that guy so that Athrun could feel at peace? He couldn't believe she would have, not when she had been acting like this—like she didn't care much about him.
The thought was too painful and he squeezed his eyes shut, letting out a deep sigh and tousling his hair. He groped for something else to think about, then remembered Dearka's words at lunch, which got him wondering. Wouldn't girls feel hesitant to leave their boyfriend—granted, Dearka and Miriallia weren't dating, but still—behind in pursuit of their dream? He had thought girls put more importance on their romantic relationship, but it seemed he had been mistaken. Maybe he should have known better. Then Cagalli's choice might not have shocked and pained him so much.
Either way, Dearka's situation seemed to prove Athrun's strategy was the right one. Trying to stop her was probably futile, then providing her with what she wanted would be wiser. It was a little consolation that his decision had been confirmed—
"He gave you a ring?!"
He started as a squeal came from behind. His eyes automatically turned to the source of the voice: two girls, both his age, sitting right behind him. They appeared embarrassed since everyone in the bus was staring at them, but kept talking in lower voices.
"Yes, look. Isn't it beautiful?"
"It's gorgeous! He must really love you."
At her friend's words, the girl wearing the ring smiled happily, her cheeks pink. "Yeah, I was a bit...like, had some doubts about us before. I even thought about breaking up with him. But when I look at this..." She sighed dreamily, gazing at the ring. "I have no doubt we belong together. Almost like this ring connects our souls, you know? We're totally soulmates."
Her friend imitated the sigh and the look. "Oh, I so envy you. I want—" She broke off as her gaze met his.
His face flushed, Athrun hurriedly turned forward. Whispering voices and giggles still reached his ears, which burned. He was quite mortified that he had just been caught eavesdropping.
He couldn't stand the situation so much that he got off the bus at the next stop, as if running away, though his destination was still several stops away.
As he walked down the street, the warmth gradually left from his face and ears. But the burning feeling in his chest didn't seem to follow. If anything, the heat increased further and further, slowly but steadily. It scorched the inside of him, urging him to do something though he didn't know what.
For some reason, the girls' conversation had not left his mind. He had actually considered giving Cagalli a ring while shopping for her birthday gift this spring. A piece of jewelry, especially a ring, had seemed like a suitable present for his girlfriend. However, giving a ring had seemed premature and he had not wanted to make things awkward between them. So, he had given her a gold bracelet with hibiscus flowers and some other plants etched on it instead, which she happily accepted with a hug to him. It was probably why the girls' conversation had interested him enough for him to keep eavesdropping, which he normally didn't.
He suddenly stopped as his eyes fell on a shop across the street. The sign above the shop indicated it was a jewelry shop.
Thank you for reading!
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Below are replies to the reviews.
To Fuyu Aki:
Thank you for another review!
By "Athrun's plan," you meant his plan about college, right? Cagalli didn't ask about it because she already knew. But I realized it wasn't clear while reading your comment, so I added a few sentences to the previous chapter to make it clearer. Thanks for your question!
Yes, Lacus will make a few appearances, and Kira will show his protective side. But Cagalli meeting Patrick and Athrun meeting Ulen and Via won't happen. Sorry.
To PegasusInCage:
Thank you for another review!
Sorry...I can't replace Meyrin with another character. Maybe you like to wait to read until this fic is completed? Reading all chapters at once is probably easier than reading one by one over months. It is to me, at least. If you think it works better for you, don't hesitate. I know this fic isn't easy to read.
About Cagalli and Kira's parents, Ulen is the kind of father almost always absent from his children's lives except financially. So Via practically raised the twins by herself (with the help of Uzumi, her father).
Before Ulen went to the conference, Via had told him to buy souvenirs for both of the children. He remembered it and bought two key chains. To him, the task his wife had assigned to him was over at that point. After a while, he found a book he bought for Kira and just thought it would be good for his son. He didn't think about his daughter or remember the rule: If you buy something for one twin, you have to buy one more for the other twin. Partly because in his head, buying the key chains and buying the book are different matters.
Via more or less knew it, but said what she said to comfort Cagalli.
I'm curious about your déjà vu. Is it a famous TV show broadcasted in many countries? I wonder if I got influenced without realizing it.
*posted 02/02/19*
*edited 02/02/21*